Need some sales tips? Better yet, some top sales tips from experts who live and breath sales?  Besides this blog and my Timely tips ezine, a great resource for you is the Top 10 Sales Articles site!

Each month a panel of judges selects 10 articles from around the sales world to spotlight.  This month’s articles are written by Jill Konrath, Kelley Robertson, Dave Kurlan. Tom Ninness, Ivan Misner  and many more – including me!  To make it even more interesting, you can Vote for your favorite!

Please visit the site and have a look – you will definely benefit from great information.  And, if you would, vote my article titled the 3 “I”s of Open Ended Questions. I’d like to win this month!   

Though its great to hear from experts, some of my best learning comes from YOU. If you have a sales tip you’d like to share – send it to me – I’ll feature YOUR sales tips in a future post.

In 2009 All Business initiated a new sales contest – Sales All Stars.  The goal is to promote the career of sales and to recognize those that excel in this very tough business!  I hope you have taken time to look into recommending someone you know for this award.

Yet, can’t we all become a Grand Champion in what we do?  What does it take?  The following Success Factors:

• Skill to perform to your best
• A strong work ethic to use your time and resources wisely
• A goal that is clear, written and attainable
• Competitive spirit to dig in and give it all you’ve got
• Emotional intelligence to weather the ups and downs

The following are also immportantk though not indivudal factors

• Having the right ‘goods’ that fit the situation
• Collaborative teammates who are supportive, skillful and in the right roles

I saw all of these in place last weekend – not in a sales situation – in a sporting event.  We spent 16 hours on a bus and 24 hours in a convntion center for the Jamfest Super Dance Nationals.  My daughter’s team came in as the unknown team from Wisconsin and were determined to make their mark.  The competition is over two days with scores only posted after Day One.

In their two genres – jazz and pom – they did well after Day 1.  Fourth place for Jazz and First place by a tiny margin in Pom.  We thought it was a good first day. Then were told that Day 2 is worth 2/3 of the total score at the end.  The coach, Kate Fabbri did a great job in coaching the girls and explaining what they need to do to advance to the win in poms and place in jazz.  She expressed her belief in them, review the judges’ comments and then got them practicing – they even raised their level of difficulty the week before.

On Sunday, the dancers (24 of them) spent time together getting ready to ‘bring it on’.  After the jazz, we knew they did well.  And for poms they performed better than they had all year (which is saying a lot since they haven’t yet lost this season).  It was energetic, spot on and the dancers looked like they were having fun.  The short story?  They placed with a 3rd medal in jazz and WON pom.  More importantly, they scored so well they were also named junior champions.

It doesn’t end there. The top scorers are also in contention for the GRAND champion award – which involves judges selecting the team they feel had entertainment value, etc.  The girls were named the Grand Champions!

Isn’t it the same in sales? We need all the Success Factors listed above to be the Grand Champion and win the big deals. And still having the right ’scores’ isn’t always enough. We need to bring that ’something extra’ to our sales calls that makes us memorable, trusting, and respected so that the prospect WANTS us to win with them. 

I hope you will make time this week to strengthen one of the Success Factors so you can be a Grand Champion in your sales this year.

Think about the most successful sales pros you know – do you see these Success Factors in them? What else would you add to the list?

Every effective sales training course teaches sales professionals to ask open-ended questions.  These are the questions that start with who, what, why, when, how, etc.  Why are open ended questions so universally taught? Because:

• They solicit great information
• Get the person talking
• Allow you and them to find out if there is an opportunity
• Can show your expertise, IF you ask the right questions

All that sounds great, doesn’t it?  They really ARE effective.  But not 100% of the time.  Sometimes they can make a needs analysis seem like an interrogation.  Even though they are open they can be leading, forced, narrow, product focused and irrelevant.  Sales pros can come off like a robot reciting their list of questions so they can get to pitching their product! 

When we use the 3 ‘I’ approach, our open-ended questions include: 

1. Intent
2. Intelligence
3. Interest

Intent.  I’ve seen sales pros launch right into a list of questions that might seem irrelevant to the prospect.  The prospect thinks ‘What’s this have to do with anything?” Instead, we need to explain the intent of the line of questions so the prospect can put it in perspective and answer thoughtfully.

An example: Yesterday I received a call for someone who had something to offer.  They immediately asked me “So, what are you working on?”  My response?  “Wow, that’s broad, in what context?” They responded, “Whatever context you choose.”  Well, I was confused.  I knew what this person was selling and thought, should I answer my question based on that narrow interest or is he really trying to find out more?

So, I turned it back to him and said, ‘What are you working on?”  And then he responded. After 15 minutes I knew the flavor of his focus and we continued.

But why should I have had to work that hard?  If I knew where the discussion was going we could have both saved time.

To share intent can sound like this.  “We are going to talk about your human resource needs. What we have learned is that understanding  how this fits into the overall company’s goals and objectives helps us narrow down the approach and we will be able to give you a more accurate picture of how we might help.  The first questions are focused on that broader picture. Then we’ll get more specific.”  Then we go into our list of questions.

Intelligence.  Your questions reveal a LOT about you. Here’s how to raise your ‘perceived’ intelligence level:

• Explain the intent  of your line of questions and ask questions that broaden the dialogue to a bigger more strategic discussion. 
• Focus on the solution or value desired versus just the product.
• Wait to LISTEN once you have asked  a question. When you ask more intelligent questions, the person may need to think before responding (this is usually a good thing).  How long? According to research, they might need 15-25 seconds to think and respond.  That’s a long time to wait, but it can payoff.

Interest.  The questions should be ‘of interest’ to the person. How?  Make the questions relevant to the situation and person. When it’s about THEM, it’s interesting TO them. Every aspect of the sales process should be wiift focused – What’s in it for THEM? – and this includes your questions!

There you have the 3 necessary “I”s for making your needs analysis informative and not an interrogation. 

Of course I have learned many of these things the hard way.  With confused looks from prospects as I took a direction that surprised them. What have you learned about open ended questions?

What does it take to be successful in the sales world?  Intelligence, drive, a good work ethic, being customer and company focused, knowing ‘how’ to sell in your industry and so much more.  Yet all of this can be boiled down to two broader items:  confidence and competence.

In my sales training courses, we build competence and confidence.  When my prospects ask me which is more important – I’m stumped.  It’s both!  Being confident with competence is what is necessary.  Strengthening each of these lasts and gives a healthy ROI to the training!

Let’s look at the alternatives:    

• Confidence with incompetence:  You know these folks – lots of bravado and nothing to back it up.  They create a trail of destruction – inside and outside the company. Often these are what people label the dreaded ‘used car salesman’ type.
• Lack of confidence with incompetence:  Not much to say, hopefully they find another career quickly. The sad part?  Often they are the NICEST people – just miscast in sales.
• Lack of confidence with competence:  They know what to do and CAN do it – but their lack of confidence can rear its ugly head in so many unproductive ways – procrastination, lack of making contact with prospective buyers, and over preparing for everything.

A competent and confident sales professional knows WHAT to do, HOW to do it and does “it”.  They are consistent, productive and proactive.

It’s Friday – let’s have some fun with this one.  Please comment with examples of salespeople you have run into that fit into one of these groups. 

Last night I returned to Wisconsin after 3 days working with my Sharpenz.com partner in Boca Raton, FL. (Don’t be jealous, it was cold and I was working.)  Traveling always provides interesting situations and sales lessons, and this trip provided a GREAT tip on stalled sales.  The lesson? Don’t be a lemming.

AirTran is the only direct flight and I arrived to check in early. This isn’t a bash on AirTrain, in fact my “TO” flight was smooth and 15 minutes early and the return last night arrived 28 minutes early!

As I entered the Check-in line, there were about 10 passengers in front of me and the line was stalled.  I could see the self check kiosks…without anyone using them.  I asked the man in front of me why no one was using them and he said “Looks like you have to go through one of the agents.”

I waited.

Now there were 6 people behind me and we were still stalled.  I saw an AirTran employee and asked him “Can we  use those kiosks?”  He said “Do you have your confirmation number handy?”  I replied, “No.” (It was buried deep and I didn’t need it on the way out.)  He told me ‘Sorry, then.” and moved on. 

The next 15 minutes were Wait. Move a little. Wait. Stall, stall, stall.  I watched the other people in line (20 or so).  One gentleman really in a panic that the was going to miss his flight.  But he stood in this stalled line like everyone else.

When I reached the front of the line there was another AirTrain employee. I asked her, “Can’t we use the open kiosks?” She said “I don’t think so unless you have your confirmation number.”

Okay.  But I kept looking at them and they LOOKED just like the one I used in Milwaukee three days earlier – you just swiped your credit card and it brought up your itinerary. So I said to the agent, “I think I just need my credit card. Can I try?”  She shrugged her shoulders like “Go ahead’.

As I approached the kiosk I thought “If this works, how many people waited needlessly?”  

Guess what?  It took me about 2 1/2 minutes to swipe my card, move through the screens and pick up my boarding pass.

Wow.  Of course being a trainer I always like to share tips and tools that help others so I turned to the Airtran agent, held up the pass and with a big smile said “It DOES work with a credit card!!”  She looked disinterested.  But the man behind me in line, quickly walked up to the next kiosk instead of waiting.

As I was on my way to security, I was thinking:  How inefficient that was!   How many people were just going with the flow and stalled because everyone else was? 

All because they didn’t:

• Want to ask questions.
• Weren’t paying attention to the details. (One half the kiosk were on and unused)
• Were given wrong information and they didn’t question it.

And that’s how this ties into a sales lesson.  How often do salespeople get stuck in the stalled sales line?  And wait it out without finding out why there is a stall and if there is a way to speed it up?

What, if instead of stalling we:

• Looked for other ways to approach the situation and take action?
• Asked questions on why and how?
• Took a chance by trying something – even if others weren’t willing to?

I think we would move the sales process along more quickly, learn something useful (I’ll never wait like that in line again with open kiosks) and be able to share the idea with others!

Last year was a perfect example of this.  While MANY salespeople ‘waited out’ the recession and followed other non-active msed that stall, kept moving forward and had great sales results!

How have you avoided being a leming and moving a stalled sale?

P.S. I’m not sure if everyone knows the leming reference:  Lemings are rodents who are ‘mythed’ to follow one lemming no matter what, even to death (going over a cliff).  The Urban Dictionary says it is a person with no originality or voice of their own.  They follow what others do.

I hope the series of Sales Predictions for 2010 that wraps up today has given you some ammunition on actions, strategy and maybe a boost of hope and confidence that THIS year can be whatever you want it to be.  As we wrap up the first full work week of 2010, I share my predictions for sales leaders and sales professionals. 

I am optimistic about this year – with a caution.  The business landscape is different.  There is hesitation on ‘is it over yet?’ and maybe a lack of commitment to MOVE.  This leads all of us in sales – really the driver of our economy in so many ways – to need to think differently, find different paths and collaborate more consciously.  And it will be worth it because there is a LOT of opportunity to ‘light up the sky’ with and for our customers!

My specific predictions:

Sales Leaders

Leaders at all levels will continue to have to do more with less.  Problem solving and finding proactive activities to equip and engage their sales team will be critical.  Retaining top and average performers will need attention as the markets start to show signs of strengthening and sellers realize there are new opportunities. 

Sales Reps:

The gap between high performers and mediocre performers will widen.  Top performers will seek skills, habits and tools to sell even more.  The ‘noise’ of social media and the internet will become louder.  Filtering to find the right tools and right information will be key to focus on what sales people need to do:  get in front of prospective buyers to determine how they can provide value with and for them.  Collaborative approaches in marketing, nurturing, selling and account management will reign.

And there you have it.  A full week of 2010 sales predictions from credible sales expertise sources - Jill Konrath, Nancy Nardin, Jonathan Farrington, Jeb Blount, Anne Miller and Alice Kemper.  What they’ve learned from their contacts with many companies and sales reps globally, and their attention to the economy allowed all of us a glimpse into what we can focus on this year to capture more sales.  If you’d like to have all the predictions in one, easy to access document for your review, click here.    

Now what?  Well, that’s up to you!  Your focus on setting your targets and goals for this year and then acting to achieve them is critical.  That’s why these next sales resources might be very helpful!

Timely Tips to Achieve Your Goals  – a new ebook I’ve written with a turn-by-turn route for you to set and achieve goals.  It even includes an effective Goal Planner!   

I’ve put all the best tips I have shared over the last 18 months into one easy to follow document.  I’m putting the final touches on Timely Tips to Achieve Your Goals and it will be available next Tuesday FREE!  Come back for the link.

The eBook will be ready in time to be a companion to the upcoming Top Sales Expert Roundtable on Tuesday, January 12th on Time to Get Into Gear Early!  (This roundtable can be free if you are a VIP member – only $25 a year! for dozens of sales sessions and tools.)  Plus, as a presenter, I have a free seats to offer you today!  (Who says the holiday gift-giving is over?) Click here to be a part of this roundtable that is sure to be helpful and entertaining.   

 One final FREEbie today, a FREE Ready-to-go sales training booster kit for you now.  Sharpenz…Half Hour of Power boosters were designed to help EVERYONE in the sales profession efficiently stay at the top of their game!  And YOU can get a free booster to equip, engage and energize your sales team!  Visit theSharpenz site for the FREE booster. 

It’s January 7th and Day 4 of the Top 2010 Sales Predictions.  So far the predictions include hope that the economy is on the upswing and what sales leaders and sales reps should focus on to build their sales, company and market share.  Today we have two sales experts with a more years of combined experience than most of you have been on this earth. 

Anne Miller, author of Metaphorically Selling and the Make What You Say Pay blog and Alice  Kemper, President of Sales Training Consultants and Principal of Sharpenz, Inc. share their predictions.

For sales leaders:

A slow rebound in business as companies will still be gun-shy about spending money until employment picks up. (Anne Miller)

Leaders in any industry are going to see that they can gain market share from the weakest competitors.  Cream will continue to rise to the top with the inferior companies suffering greater than average loses and in some cases, going out of business altogether. (Alice Kemper)

Sales Reps: 

Success will come to reps who develop (prudent) pit bull persistence with clients; who think out of the box like Steve Jobs; and who  become MBAs on their clients’ business. (Anne Miller)

If they survived the last year and a half then they have developed skills to navigate the new terrain of this economy.  The most successful sellers will continue to seek opportunities within the new terrain.  Q3 and Q4 will reward sellers who have intelligently “laid pipe” through the tough times. (Alice Kemper)

I guess the messages here are that we need to help our prospects aim and fire and MOVE from ‘wait and see’ to leaders in their markets.  This is only possible by differentiating the sales force with great information, skills and tools. 

If what you realize you need to do is find more viable prospects, A resource for today - Ardath Albee shows you how to: 

• Build a foundation for eMarketing based on buyer perspectives.
• Develop contagious content to engage prospective customers.
• Increase your pipeline and nurture prospects till they’re sales ready.

You can click here to download two free chapters of eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale for some great ideas to get you started.  And if you are ready to order the book that is full of examples, tools and exercises to help you translate the strategy into practice to achieve dramatic results?  You can order on Amazon: http://bit.ly/6KfVM5

Ready or not, it’s here!  2010 has arrived and today is the first official business day for many.  This is also the time of year for Top 10 lists from ‘things’ last year and predictions for this year. So, nothing we can do about 2009 any longer, except learn from the results.  We can look for what this year might bring as we begin anew!

I don’t have a crystal ball to tell us what is ahead - but what I have are connections with AWESOME people in-the-know!  I asked several international sales experts to share their top sales predictions for 2010.  What do we have to look forward to?  What do we need to plan for?  What opportunities should we seize?  This week I will share the predictions with you.  You might agree, you might disagree, that is up to.  I’m hopeful that the information helps you strategize your annual approach.

I asked for predictions in two sales areas:

• What will the new year bring for sales reps?
• What will the new year bring for Sales Leaders?

To begin the 2010 predictions, two savvy women!

Jill Konrath, of Selling to Big Companies, Get Back to Work Faster and Sales Shebang and Nancy Nardin of Smart Selling Tools predict.

Sales Leaders:

• In 2010, a salesperson’s ability to personally bring value to the relationship will become the primary factor in determining which company wins the business. In a world of minimally differentiated products and services, customers will choose to work with sellers who continually bring them relevant ideas, insights and information. If no salesperson stands out in this area, pricing will become the de facto determinant. (Jill Konrath)
• A new enthusiasm and focus for knocking down barriers that stand in the way of their sales team. (Nancy Nardin)

Sales Professionals:

• In 2010, sales leaders will finally realize that investing in Sales 2.0 is essential to increase sales productivity and improve sales effectiveness. It’ll become glaringly apparent that sellers who leverage Sales 2.0 tools significantly outperform their colleagues. On the downside, sales leaders will mistakenly assume this success is due to technology and overlook the substantial skill differential among their reps. This failure to invest in training will result in much lower ROI than initially projected. (Jill Konrath)
• The trend will be “back-to-basics”.  Build relationships, focus on the customer, and provide value.  (Nancy Nardin)

More predictions each day this week – with mine on Friday.  Along the way I’ll also share some great complimentary (as in FREE) resources to help you in 2010 and beyond.

The first resource?  A FABULOUS eBook on Smart Selling Tools – Free and full of lots of tools that are no cost or low-cost.   Maximizing your time and energy will be key this year!

My mom told us often, “A little appreciation goes a long way.”  How true that is!  And many people think it takes a LOT of  money and fanfare to show appreciation.  Not true! 

 Leaders, does this sound like you?

“This year has been tight, I have no budget to do the ‘extras’ to show my people I value them.”

Throughout 2009 I have had discussions with leaders thinking the same thing. I have encouraged and suggested that they find non-cash ways to appreciate and recognize their top performers. We discussed hand written notes, a small gift card for no reason, a lunch, a phone call to discuss them, not business, etc. 

Now, along comes the PERFECT way to show appreciation! Nominate your top performers to be a Sales All Star!!

AllBusiness.com has a monthly contest that you can use to publicly acknowledge your sales all stars. Details here:   

AllBusiness will honor the top-performing salespeople working hard in today’s competitive market. Just tell them about a salesperson in your network who deserves the limelight.

The panel of sales coaches and experts will select one salesperson each monthfrom among the nominees. That person will be profiled in a feature article for AllBusiness and our sister site, Hoover’s, and will receive free membership in a sales networking and coaching program. One annual winner will get a package of sales training and coaching programs, membership in Top Sales Experts, and additional tools and resources to continue developing their expertise and talent.

Think about it – how will they feel to know you nominated the for an international award?  GREAT! 

Free Sales Training Outline for Your Sales Meeting!  Looking for ideas to easily and quickly strengthen the skill and results for your sales team?  We’ve got ‘em!

We whittled our comprehensive sales training expertise into specific 30-minute boosts of power!  These proven (all tested) outlines focus on a specific sales topic (skill, attitude, tool, practice).  There’s more than 25 to pick from today and more in development.  We have tested each booster in the 30 minute format to make sure you do get a big BOOST in a little time.

Whether you are a sales manager or a member of ANY service/sales team that would like to work with your colleagues to boost each other’s skills in selling, prospecting, marketing, or personal development, there may be a Sharpenz booster for you!  (From goal setting to working through objections to team building.) 

To build excitement in our 2nd week of launching Sharpenz, we have two special offers:  

1.  A FREE Sharpenz booster for you – you can select one of two titles:

        Better Questions which focuses on helping you identify and practice better questions you can ask in your needs analysis and problem solving.  Or

       Now to Wow provides a very interactive format for your team to look at all your customer “touch points” and determine how to escalate these touches to a WOW! experience.

2.  All orders through November 15th are discounted 50%!

I’ve even put together a video for you to listen into (less than 2.5 minutes!)

Sometimes its good to hear other’s perspectives, the following blogs mention Sharpenz: 

• Jonathan Farrington’s Blog – Sharpen Your Greatest Sales Tool
• Salesopedia Blog – Sharpenz Your Sales Meeting
• Scott “Social Media” Allen – Sharpenz: Better Sales Meetings = More Sales

Give it a try today with your free Sharpenz sales booster.  You’ll find it to be the BEST 30 minutes of your sales meeting!

P.S. Sales Pro Insider, Inc. is alive and well.  In fact, we are working right now with two Fortune 100 companies to build sales and service skills  and helping another sales organization hire a KEY sales exec!

Let me know what you think of Sharpenz!  Do you think you can sharpen skills and results in just 30 minutes?