GOALS: Ready, Aim, Fire . . .NOT Ready, Fire, Aim!
Recently a major company that I train for announced plans for a sales contest that would run over the next six months. The consultants who qualified for the trip would, along with their spouse or guest, be treated to a delightful five-day Caribbean cruise on one of Royal Caribbean’s top-of-the-line cruise ships. If that wasn’t enough, the company would be picking up the airfare and just maybe a few extra perks. This is something that the consultants would not want to miss.
When we communicate with others, there is a preferred “speed” at which people have the highest amount of “connectability,” or the ability to hear, comprehend, and understand our words. Get out a stop watch and see where your listenable rate of speech is! Read the following passage out loud and time yourself:
READ OUT LOUD:
As a representative of your organization, it is important that you speak clearly. That means that you must articulate. It also means that you must speak so that you can be understood. Although there is no set rate of speech, most expert speakers talk at between one-hundred-forty and one-hundred-sixty words per minute. That is a good speed for verbal communication. It is not too fast to be understood. It does not give the listener the impression that you are under pressure nor is it too slow. The one-hundred-sixty word rate adds an element of dignity to your voice. The one-hundred-sixty word rates also gives a sound image to your audience that establishes both you and your company as efficient and well-organized. To give the audience the kind of impression of yourself and your company that you wish, speak correctly, speak at one-hundred-sixty — that’s one-hundred sixty words per minute.
Solve it with a Holiday
“Sharpen Your Sales” Tune Up!
It’s that time of year again, when sales volume slumps during the holiday season. The CEOs and Sales Managers I work with have fits this time of year. They know their sales forces are mentally preparing well in advance of the holiday season for the usual mental check out, or what I refer to as the Seasonal Sales Melt Down, or Seasonal Sales Slump.
Their bad news is good news for me, because the Seasonal Sales Slump brings me business. My programs, SalesMastery, PerformanceMastery, GoalMastery, a Sales Tune-Up or my ESP Program all solve the Slump by keeping sales forces in line and on target.
The bad news for the Sales Industry is the lack of sales effort which yields low sales volume. Yet the one element that increases over the holidays ¡s the increase of excuses of why this didn’t happen, or why their usual markets weren’t receptive, and new markets were too busy with other things to give them the time and attention they need for an adequate sales presentation. That excuse list is long and wide all yielding little or no results (sales) for your department.
It warms my heart when my sales students actually L-I-S-T-E-N and I-M-P-L-E-M-E-N-T what they learn. More importantly, when they create those positive habits and apply them to their sales processes, then their revenue will grow by leaps and bounds.
Watch this short video as one of my students actually put into A-C-T-I-O-N something he learned from the T.I.P.S. “To Insure Prompt Sales Video” that is found on this website.
Now, for review, read: “T.I.P.S. “To Insure Prompt Sales”.
Need Sales Tools? Then check out www.cbsalestools.com
Questions and/or Comments?
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Take a moment and think about your days in high school … when every so often, to everyone’s dismay, your teacher would stop right in the middle of class and deliver a POP QUIZ! In spite of all the moans and groans, you held out hope you’d get a passing grade that would improve your overall grade in the class.Well, today, I have for you a Sales POP QUIZ that I’d like for you to take. I need for you to grab a pen or pencil and a sheet of paper. Understanding the results of this POP QUIZ could add hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to your weekly and monthly income.
OK, ready for the POP QUIZ? Here it is.
Holy cow! Have you been watching the UPSETS in college football this year? Check this out . . .It all started with:
Appalachian State UPSETTING Michigan 34 – 32
Then . . . look what followed:
Stanford UPSETTING USC 24 – 23
Oregon State UPSETS California 31 – 28
Kentucky UPSETS LSU 43 – 37
Personally, I am amused as I sit back and watch all the hoopla created by the media and the pollsters as to the changing status of the #1 College Teams and all the “analysis” of why these NUMBER 1 teams are being upset at an unprecedented rate. Come on, how many times this season are we going to hear “Quite possibly the biggest UPSET of the year, if not in all of college football!”?
How did this all happen? I am NOT a sports expert by any means, but the simple truth is that this topsy-turvy college football season has been caused by BELIEF! Appalachian State is the modern day “Roger Banister” story. Roger Banister BELIEVED he could beat the 4-minute mile. He did! Appalachian State had the BELIEF they could beat Michigan. They did!
Look what happened when people started to BELIEVE. Three major – and I mean MAJOR – college football UPSETS after Appalachian State beats Michigan. After Bannister broke the 4-minute mile, over the next 12 months following his amazing feat, more than 30 people broke the 4-minute mile. In fact, by now over 20,000 people have done it, including many high school athletes.
‘Tis The Season To Be Sales Smart . . .
T.O.M.A. Principle:
“Start Counting the People Who Count Versus Counting The People You Reach!”
Every fall at this time of the year I get astonished looks from my audiences when I tell them to STOP sending holiday cards to their client’s. That’s right, STOP sending holiday cards. Instead, super charge your holiday sales and START sending very personalized holiday cards that utilize TOMA (Top Of Mind Awareness) principles that will get you noticed!
Think of it this way. As fall arrives, most (please note that I said MOST, not ALL) salespeople, companies, and entrepreneurs DREAD the thought of HAVING to send holiday cards to their clients or clientele. Those who dread this task are often consumed by the daily grind of business. They WILL not (or DO not) want to take the necessary time it requires to really supercharge their Holiday Touches. Yet, you can implement some simple and practical ideas, starting today, so you can have the best holiday season ever.
But before we begin supercharging our Holiday Touches, let’s put some STOPS in place!
As we supercharge our Holiday Touches, I want to bring to your attention some major philosophies that I need you to understand and embrace.
First, understand the game you are in. When sending holiday cards, you are up against the busiest time in the world for mail. The more holiday cards that are sent, the less effective they become. You, just like everybody else, are competing for your clients’ attention. If you want to win your clients’ attention, start sending them 4th of July cards (in July, of course!) instead.
I have always found communication between salespeople and their clients very interesting. I usually refer to it as Humanities 101, where we get to witness first hand why, very often, salespeople dig themselves into a hole: Too much talking, not enough listening, not adjusting the sales presentation to the personality style of the client, and hundreds of other sales violations that occur hourly.
The good news is that every salesperson out there, with just a few good, new sales skills, can change their sales revenue dramatically by using the “Top Secret Sales Question.”
Here it is:
Can you believe how simple that is? Four words. That’s correct, only four words. One of the most powerful questions a salesperson can have in their sales tools box. It is easy to ask the question, yet it is easy NOT to ask the question if you don’t incorporate it into your sales process and really understand the significance of it. Most importantly is the client’s response to it.
Marketing Co: 94.7% Sales Increase from 12 months of Business Consulting!
Now, please note E X A C T L Y how the Top Secret Sales Question reads. It doesn’t say “Tell me about your business” or “Tell me about you personally” or “Tell me about your company?” It simply says: TELL ME ABOUT YOU. Here is why you MUST ask the question exactly as I pose it to you. When you ask it in the way I am emphasizing, the question is neutral and open ended, meaning that it does not prompt your client as to how they respond to the question. By your not prompting your client within the confines of the question, it allows for a free flowing response from them.
Why should you ask this type of neutral question? The biggest and most significant reason is that through the client’s spontaneous response, two very important insights will become obvious:
1. The Personality Style of the Client!
IE: Director, Socializer, Relater, Thinker
Knowing this allows you to structure your presentations so you can mold it around the personality style of your client. This brings you closer to CLOSING the deal!
One of my Top Ten “sales-systems” that I encourage all my personal sales coaching students to use as well as my sales management students is a specific Prospect Follow-Up Chart. I have found through my sales travels that most sales people and sales managers “lack” what I describe as precision-based selling, meaning that most do not have any set sales steps or “flow” to follow – especially as it directly relates to the necessary sales steps to take with a potential client.
Therefore, I will implement a Prospect Follow-Up Chart with the sales person or company based on their industry and sales procedures. I examine closely the product, company and their typical salesperson. Looking further, I place their typical client style under a microscope and apply closing principles to my thoughts and ideas. From churning all this information, I can put together a follow-up chart, that, when followed very closely, will assist sales people in tracking their specific sales steps with their clients. In all cases, the salesperson will always know what their next action item will be. Even more powerful is when the salesperson utilizes MS Outlook calendar to make sure all their follow-up steps are recorded and implemented with the client.
As many of you know, I encourage all salespeople to have a plethora of sales tools at their disposal. From structured sales infrastructures, to personal websites, Fast Facts Profiles©, Main Point Cards©, and using video e-mail, there is a broad range of tools to use in all phases of a sale process.
On my TOP TEN LIST of sales tools list, you would find the book titled “Words That Sell” on the top of that list. This book has four main functions that each and every salesperson can benefit from:
Words That Sell has received many accolades from various salespeople and organizations and Advertising Age summed it up with this comment: “You’ll wonder how you ever managed without it.” How true!
When I first found the book I was shocked at how much useful information was contained in it. I was so impressed I did two immediate things. One, I purchased books for my entire Sales Tools Development Team, including my staff writer, proofreader, graphics artist and webmaster. Secondly, I contacted all my current sales coaching and sales management students and encouraged them to make a small investment and purchase one. Hello . . . it is only a $12.00 investment at amazon.com!
Reviewing the chapters in the book will give you an immediate idea as to why this needs to be a book that should be within reach of your laptop at all times. Here they are:
Grabbers
Making The Reader Sit Up & Take Notice
Descriptions & Benefits
Conveying The Value of Your Product or Service
Clinchers
Closing Statements That Motivate Your Audience To Respond!
Special Strategies
Building or Bashing an Image, Selling Yourself, and More! Now, don’t let the fact that there are only four chapters in this book sway you away from investing in it. In fact, just look at the sub chapters found under Clinchers & Special Strategies:
As usual, IMPLEMENTATION is at the heart of all my trainings! Do yourself a favor, invest in the book, implement with some action and activity, and e-mail me with your progress and let me know how this book as a sales tool is helping you!
Need Sales Tools? Then check out www.cbsalestools.com
Questions and/or Comments?
Please respond to my blog at the bottom of this article!
"The SalesMastery seminar exceeded my expectations. I was impressed with your command and confidence."
Mike Doviak
Dallas, TX
