In 2008, I traveled to Brazil for work with a large client. I added on a day trip to Rio since I was ‘there’. And during my day with a travel guide, was introduced to the term ‘tribe‘ to describe a group of ‘like’ people.

Marcio Goedes (an excellent guide if you ever travel to Rio) spoke fluent Portuguese and fluent English, so I knew I didn’t misinterpret him. But I asked him to explain more about ‘tribe’ used in this way. Marcio explained that different tribes hang out on the beach together- the family tribe, young single tribe, been-here-forever tribe, athletic tribe, etc. – have their ‘spots’ on the beach and you join the tribe that fits with your lifestyle and taste!

Since then I have used the term Tribal Types to describe the customs and characteristics of groups of people. And this use of the word Tribe has not always been received well!

So, imagine my vindication today when I received an invitation to a new social networking site for bloggers (well, they claim to be so much more) called Triberr!

I laughed out loud because I was WAY ahead on the use of the term in the U.S., I guess.

Triberr invites you to create your own tribe, invite others to be a tribal member and so on. The use of the word, Tribe, has caught on!

Now, maybe I can connect more easily with others when I use tribe in my language! You see, in working with people, we need to speak the same language to be understood, to build trust and to win sales.

In my work with dozens of companies each year, I hear the different ‘languages’ of each company. There are many terms and acronyms unique to the company’s work, culture and solutions. And yet, as sales professionals, if this language makes NO sense to others, we lose the ability to build trust and win sales.

Now, though I stuck with the Tribal Type term for the last three years, I did stop using it with some customers that could not accept the modern meaning.

It’s the same for you, if your terms/acronyms are unique to your company, prepare to explain them or substitute them for the language that makes sense to your prospects and customers. After all, it’s their understanding and comfort that matter.

For me though, just for today I am feeling great about the term Tribe and that it is ‘catching on’!

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Filed Under: Sales Productivity, Sales Tips, Success Tips
Tags: maximize sales productivity, Sales, Sales Tips

I’ve been in Florida for 5 days. It’s a chance to rejuvenate and write. the ‘plan’ was morning walks on the beach, writing, maybe a swim in the pool in the afternoon, and more writing. A good plan, right?

Well, the weather changed that plan – it rained for 4 days – serious rain, high winds and gloom. 

Today is my day of departure, and of course, the skies are clear and the sun is shining. I made time for a walk on the ocean’s edge before the airport!

As I was walking, I looked for shells. Each trip I find one or two special sea shells to take back to Wisconsin. We put them in the rocks around our pool to connect the two spaces we loves.

The beach was full of people hunting for shells this morning after the storms. There were thousands of shells – or rather parts of shells.  As I walked the shoreline like everyone else, I didn’t see any special shells, they were probably picked up already. So I waded into the ocean a bit to see what else I could find. Some, but still mostly broken. Then I waded out knee deep – figuring its a better workout anyway – and THERE were beautiful shells aplenty!  I filled my pockets within ten minutes.

Isn’t this how it is with sales? We need to look for prospects and opportunity. Yet often its easy to stay where it is safe on the shore and wait for the perfect opportunity to find that perfect prospect to surface.

We then find that many of the prospects may not be qualified – like the broken shells. So we need to exert more effort, wade in further and get ourselves really wet to find the perfect prospects – maybe they are even untouched by our competitors!

By taking the extra steps, we differentiate ourselves from most other sellers. They stay at the shoreline and fight for the easy picks.

By wading in, we can find a more bountiful opportunity.

As you think about this – are you playing it too safe by the shoreline? What waters should you wade deeper in to find your opportunities?

I challenge you this next week to take that step by:

• Identifying what is happening in your market that has washed ashore some opportunities?
• Where are your competitors focusing their efforts because of this?
• What is the next level for finding more opportunities? Is it calling someone you never have?Asking for referrals from your happy customers? Finding a plan for opening new relationships? Mining your CRM for stalled sales or former customers?

Identify at least ONE action  you can take – and then wade in to grab it!

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Filed Under: Collaborative Selling, Marketing Tips, Sales Productivity, Sales Tips, Success Tips
Tags: Collaborative Selling, learning, maximize sales productivity, prospecting, Sales, Sales Tips

I was shipping four boxes of training materials to Canada. It was a project I had worked on full-time for weeks and was so excited to box them up and ship them out.

I’ve shipped boxes consistently – and globally – for the last 12 years, so I was expecting the regular drill – we even had the forms completed in advance.

The normal shipping drill?

• Who are you shipping to?
• When do they need to arrive?
• Is there anything hazardous, liquid or perishable?
• blah, blah, blah

I was thinking, ‘Let’s hurry this up, we have a a celebration lunch to get to!’

But this time was different, we encountered Ann as we entered the FedEx Office Store. It was immediately apparent Ann took her job seriously as she directed us to a cart to use.

Later as we discussed the ‘regular’ questions and she asked for the value of the contents, she looked concerned. And she started asking  more ‘risky’ questions. I explained that we’ve done this before and let’s just keep it moving. Ann examined the boxes and asked more questions,  two of which got me thinking…

What happens if, when you get to Canada, your contents have been damaged?

Do you realize that these boxes move down conveyor belts at more than 40 miles per hour and that without extra paper packaging and padding, the corners of the box can dent? then she pointed out the boxes we had packed the materials were in – which the empty original binders arrived in – were  a bit crinkled in the corners already.

Well, this caused me to pause.

Ann then continued, “I could pack these in a larger box with good padding and you won’t have to worry about any damage.’

I asked ‘How much?’ She calculated it was a total of $40 – to protect materials worth over $12,000!  This was a small price for ‘insurance’.  I agreed it should be done, and Ann got to work – smiling and enjoying every minute of packaging those boxes. Ended up only $35 extra!

The lesson?  As we seek to understand the ‘sitautino’ of our buyers – we need to ask risk questions!  I had no idea of the risks until Ann asked those questions. I never considered I needed to do something different with a job I’ve done so often. her questions opened my mind to new information…and I bought!

Ann increased her sale by 5% that day. Not bad for asking a couple of extra questions. How would you like to expand your sales by 5% or more each time?

It’s possible if we ask our prospects questions about the risk of doing nothing different. These risk questions might sound like:

• What types of liability are you expected to to if your situation remains  unchanged?
• Tell me what will happen in your facility if you don’t make the change/
• What might be the potential downside for not making a decision in the near future? or What is the potential downside if the decision is delayed?
• What could happen if this issue isn’t addressed in the next 6 months?
• Based on your experience, what type of liability is present when ____________ happens?

Caution! I am not an advocate of manipulating people or scaring them to make a sale. In collaborative selling that is not necessary. We can explore the risks together if we ask the right questions.

Now, I’m not a pushover in any way. I’m always on the lookout for ‘getting sold’ to and scams, and I know that Ann was sincere in her desire to help me…and scare me potential harm. So it worked well.

With some thought on the risks your prospects may encounter…IF they move forward in a decision with your solution OR if they do nothing, you can ask great risk questions that  elevate the sense of urgency and advance your sale more quickly.

Those benefits sound like they are worth the risk of asking risky questions, don’t they?

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Filed Under: Collaborative Selling, Sales Productivity, Sales Tips, Success Tips
Tags: Collaborative Selling, maximize sales productivity, Sales, Sales Tips

When you  present or discuss your solution with buyers, do you let them touch or get in touch with your solution? Do you let them take ownership of the solution before they buy?

Research shows touch is a powerful influencer on sales decisions.  Authors Joann Peck (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Suzanne B. Shu (UCLA) report the following:

“In four studies, we find that merely touching an object increases the feelings of ownership a person has for the object. This, in turn, results in a person being willing to pay more for most objects that they touch versus objects that they cannot touch,” the authors write. “We also find that when touch is unavailable, such as shopping online, having people imagine owning a product increases their perception of ownership and how much they are willing to pay for a product.”

If people have a positive or neutral response to touching an object, they are willing to pay more for it, the authors explain. However, if an object does not feel particularly pleasant to the touch, it decreases the amount consumers are willing to pay. “For most products, the touch experience is positive or neutral so merely touching a product usually increases how much a person is willing to pay for an object,” the authors write.

The research may help explain the link between touch and impulse purchasing, the authors explain. “Encouraging touch in a retail store, as Apple does for products like the iPhone, may increase the feelings of perceived ownership and influence the amount a customer is willing to pay for a product.” Likewise, offers of “free trials” for a certain time before the consumer is obligated to pay are likely to increase perceived ownership and product valuation.

Encouraging ownership imagery can be an effective way for online retailers to increase sales, even when touch isn’t possible, the authors write. “Our findings that consumers respond effectively to the combination of no-touch and ownership imagery suggests a remarkable opportunity for online retailers to increase perceived ownership and purchase.”

Fascinating information!  As sales professionals, we need to get our buyers to ‘touch’ our solutions tangibly or mentally.  How do we do this?

• Demos of the product where THEY are using the solution themselves,  not passively observing us. Example, if we are selling a vehicle, they need to be in the drivers’ seat, not us.
• Stories and analogies are powerful for non-tangible products and services. Relate an example of how someone/company is using and benefiting from your solution.
• Pictures - not a picture of the product/service – a picture of the value/benefits of the product.  If you were selling hotel rooms, showing the configuration of the room is nice, but more powerful is a picture of someone getting a good night’s rest or sitting at the well-equipped business station.
• Customer events where your customers get to talk with each other and share experiences. Using social media to do this is economical and efficient. Forums, customer showcases, Facebook pages all work.

These are thought starters, I’m sure with your creativity you will find ways to let your buyers TOUCH your solution…and increase their ownership and willingness to buy!

Please share any great ideas you have with the rest of THIS community!  All comments are helpful.

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Filed Under: Collaborative Selling, Sales Productivity, Sales Tips, Success Tips
Tags: Presentation, Sales, Sales Tips

Sweaty palms.

Rapid breathing.

Nervous chatter.

Uncertainty.

No, I’m not writing a romance novel. I’m recalling what it feels like to do something ‘new’.

Last week, our youngest child, Jenna, got her learning permit for driving a vehicle.  As I sat in the passenger seat with her at the wheel the first few times, I observed the behaviors listed above. As Jenna kept apologizing for her mistakes and I observed her focusing SO hard on what she was doing, it brought back memories of a younger me.

When I started in sales, EVERY sales call was like that. I was nervous, jittery, unpolished and I made mistakes!  I didn’t want to do those things, but I did. I wanted to be like the successful professionals I observed right away. It was frustrating to not do something well right away.

Looking back now, I realize that this was a stage I needed to go through. To become proficient -and then excel, I had to build my success habits.  I had to work through the stages to build these habits.

Awareness - I needed to know what to do – what worked and what didn’t.

Assessment - the opportunity and openness to critique and feedback on how well I was doing each part of sales.

Application - action! I couldn’t get better at selling if I wasn’t selling. Sitting in my office and not picking up the phone or making calls was holding me back.

Adoption - Learning what worked or didn’t and making the right actions part of my subconscious activities. making them a part of who i was – or better yet adapting the best practices in a way that let me be a ‘better’ me.

In our state of Wisconsin, Jenna has six months to perfect her driving skills and earn the right to drive without me (or her Dad) observing and correcting and monitoring.

In sales, my observation is that the BEST and top performers are on a continuous loop of improvement. they continually move through the four actions of awareness, assessment, application and adoption.

In our training workshops, the top performers do not generally sit back with their arms crossed and ignore the tools, ideas and opportunity to learn from others. They are actively engaged and look for ANYTHING that they can do better. This is how they perform best each year, why the economic conditions don’t impact them as much and is who they are in and outside of work.

What about you? Remember being new and striving to get better?  How it felt when you became proficient and successful?

If you haven’t felt nervous, had sweaty palms or been uncertain about your actions lately, maybe you are in a rut and need to bring the ‘newness’ back to your career again. Try something new, contact someone you know you should or dreamed you should, and stretch your possibilities and opportunities.

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Filed Under: Sales Productivity, Sales Tips, Success Tips
Tags: maximize sales productivity, Sales, Sales Productivity, sales success, Sales Tips

Ever considered  the power of the pause? A well executed pause can create understanding, anticipation and credibility.

A few well-timed pause-ing possibilities:

• After asking a question. Pause wait and listen. It allows the other person to think and respond. It demonstrates your care for them and the information you asked for.
• When hearing a question, concern or objection. Many of us feel we need to immediately respond (even cutting off the speaker to do so ) Pause, listen and then respond by asking for clarification or more information.

How long do you need to pause? Well that depends!  My recommendation:

• Observe  your ‘pause’ time now. Over the next few days pay attention to how often and how long you pause.
• Then DOUBLE your pause time. if you pause 2 seconds, make it 4, etc.

It’s estimated that a powerful pause may be 8-30 seconds!  What’s important is for you to pause more often and then to reap the benefits of more information sharing, relationship strengthening and people waiting to hear YOUR response.

Just think of the possibilities of powerful pausing!

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Filed Under: Sales Productivity, Sales Tips

A few weeks ago, I hosted a webinar through the Verizon Wireless Women in Sales efforts at SalesGravy.com.  Alice Kemper, my Sharpenz partner, and I were sharing our tips on how to sell to and with different Types of people.

Verizon Wireless, as the sponsor, was represented by Debra Palme, a Business account Manager in Minnesota. Debra shared a tip to the hundreds of participants that day – and I’ve asked her to share it with you!

Debra’s tip on a strategy for those ‘stuck’ prospects or the ‘no call back’ customers  is powerful!  

I have been working in outside sales for almost 10 years and I have been a sales manager for over 5 years.  One of the top challenges my sales professionals encounter is a customer who will not return follow up calls or emails after an appointment.  The sales representative will wonder if they are not following up with the customer enough or maybe they are “stalking” their customer too much.

I encourage my sales reps to be more aggressive and ask the tough question, “Are you still interested in Verizon Wireless?   It is ok to tell me no.”

This question comes in various forms, but the intention is the same.  The sales person wants to know if they have a chance of winning the opportunity.  Each one of my sales representatives has encountered a non-respondent customer and every time they use this form of questioning with the non-respondent customer, they have received a response back within days and sometimes hours.

Many times the customer will say, “Yes we are still interested,” but when a customer says they are no longer interested it allows the sales person to move on and spend more time working on other opportunities.

As a manager, coaching your team members to ask the “tough” question is a good way to monitor and measure those sales people who put all their eggs in one basket; this teaches them to fill up their funnel.

Think of how much time and effort you can say when you KNOW where you stand with a prospect.  Funneling your energy and time into probable prospects is a good time management – and successful strategy.

I thought you might want to know more about Debra. Read about her success in leading her team, wouldn’t you like someone like Debra to be YOUR manager?

I started as a Business Account Executive at Verizon Wireless and after three years I was promoted to a Major Account Manager.  I was a MAM for a year and I have been a Business Account Manager for over 5 years.

I inherited a team that was not achieving quota, but by the end of my second year of management the team was averaging over 120% of quota.  My team has been very successful and over the last 5 years 7 people that have been promoted.

The two objectives I focus on with my team are prospecting and attending their customer appointments.   After prospecting or attending appointments I offer constructive feedback to help them improve sales aptitude.  How we sell has evolved throughout the last 10 years and it will continue to change.  It is important to focus on the basics, but it is imperative to be informed on new ways of selling and evolve with market demands in order to become a successful sales professional.

Thank you Debra!!!

And this was a great reminder of a fantastic book, Go for No, by Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz, see this post for more information. Yes is great – but being open to NO makes the difference!

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Filed Under: Sales Productivity, Sales Tips, Success Tips
Tags: maximize sales productivity, prospecting, Sales, Sales Tips

Most of my posts focus on tips of what TO do, today is a what not to do example.

Yesterday, I had a door-to-door sales rep visit my home. I am always excited when I have a sales rep visit so I can see how they approach the sale!

This man started talking AT me as soon as I approached the door and I wasn’t sure what he was talking about. Though I could tell from the truck in my driveway that he was selling beef.

Now I was a bit intrigued because I know people that have made great food purchasers from this company!  But he never gave me a chance, he talked and talked – actually he sold and sold with comments such as:

• I’ve got to end my day to pick up my kids.
• If I return to my warehouse THEY make me pay ‘like’ $20 a box to return them if i didn’t sell them.
• Just for YOU (looking to the side and behind him to make sure no one was listening) I’m going to do a Buy 1, Get 1 today.  THEY don’t care how I get rid of this stuff.
• Blah, blah, blah – list of features that were meaningless and incorrect
• THEY, THEY, THEY when mentioning his company

Turn off!  So many slimey, manipulative techniques in the first 3 minutes.  But I wasn’t done, I wanted more to remind myself how it doesn’t have to be this way.

He put a brochure in my hand and and I heard more “They’ statements.

I asked, “Do you work for THEM?’

He responded with a surprised expression and a sarcastic tone, “No…I just drive their truck and have their product to sell.”

I said, “Well, you keep saying THEY so I’m not sure if you are part of THEM.”

He stuttered and then went on with his slimey sales pitch and ‘deal’.

The finale was when I asked him how many actual pounds of meat come with the $375 price  and he told me ‘I’m not sure – like 25 or 30 I guess.’

Well, I quickly counted the pounds on the sides of the boxes at my feet and it was 16 pounds. And I was done with the fun. Explained I was not interested and walked back in the house.

But it wasn’t over – he asked me for his brochure back!

The top What Not To Dos from this example?

• Do NOT talk about ‘THEM’ when referring to your company. OWN what you sell.
• Do NOT talk AT your prospects, customers and buyers.
• Do NOT play ‘let’s make a deal’ – it makes you look less than ethical.
• Do NOT misrepresent what you are selling – if you don’t know the answer, let the prospect know you will find the information.
• Do NOT waste my time.

Now I didn’t find this 7 minutes was a waste of my time at all – it turned out to be a great reminder that not every sales rep is a sales professional.

How about you? Have any fun or annoying ‘door to door’ stories to share?

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Filed Under: Sales Tips
Tags: Presentation, prospecting, Sales, Sales Tips

Opening a sales conversation effectively is important. Preparing how you will engage, turn the focus to them and earn the right to get into a good convereation helps ensure you oare successful.  Yet with all the time spent on opening conversations, I notice very little, if any, time is spent on how to close the conversation!

Closing the conversation may mean asking for the buy! Yet in today’s complex sale, the close of the conversation may really mean getting a commitment to what is next.

We call the end of the conversation the Consolidation versus the close. Consolidate means to ‘bring together pieces into a whole.’ Think about ANY conversation you have, isn’t that what you need to do at the end of every conversation?

to advance your sales cycle, build stronger value and save you TIME in follow-up efforts, Consolidate your conversations with these specific actions:

• Summarize what you covered in the conversations -what problems, opportunities, wants or needs were revealed?
• Check for readiness. Are they ready to end the conversation? Pay attention to body language, words and sounds, and responses to your trial close questions.
• Confirm value for what you are asking them to do.
• Ask for a decision or commitment to something.
• Identify next specifics, with specifics. What are you going to do? What are they going to do? By when?
• CLOSE - this is your final comment.  The ‘Thank you’ or ‘Thanks’ is so overdone, it doesn’t even register that you’ve said it. Be specific in personalizing the last comment. Make it about THEM, the value they are going to receive, something you appreciate specifically about them or the conversation.
  • “Sharon, I appreciate that you were able to take the time to explore your __________. I look forward to our next conversation.”
  • “Mike, thank you for the confidence that we can help you _________. i will do everything I can to ensure this is successful.”

I’m often told (just this week two different sellers mentioned this) that they run out of time and the end of their conversations become rushed and this miss pieces of consolidating.  A solution? PLAN in your agenda for the 5-7 minutes needed to consolidate. Set the expectation that you will need to identify what comes next at the end of the conversation.

Think about how much quicker your sales will advance and how much less follow-up or chasing you will need to do if you consolidate EVERY conversation in this way.

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Filed Under: Sales Productivity, Sales Tips, Success Tips
Tags: maximize sales productivity, Sales, Sales Tips, skills

It’s no secret that selling to ‘real’ people can be challenging. (Yes, even with the fast growth of e-commerce, many of us still sell to a human being.) The same input does not guarantee the same output (closed sale, upsells, etc.) How frustrating that can be!

Yet, how do we increase our probability of making each sales call and prospect contact valuable? Well, tomorrow (Wednesday August 17th) Alice Kemper and I will share the Secret to Selling Success and how YOU can:

• Connect more easily with people
• Sell with them in ways that make them comfortable
• Build value for your solution
• Advance the sale
• Close the sale
• Get the referrals and upsells that help you achieve long-term sales success

The webinar is 60 minutes and we have secret gifts for you at the end to help YOU succeed in selling.

Please join us for the FREE webinar, The Secret to Selling Success sponsored by Verizon Wireless and SalesGravy.com. It’s part of the Women in Sales webinar series.

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Filed Under: Sales Productivity, Sales Tips
Tags: Communication, free webinar, maximize sales productivity, Sales, sales success, Sales Tips