Now you and your sales team can get informative and motivating sales tips, stories and quotes by following Sales Coach Chuck Bauer at http://twitter.com/coachchuckbauer, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/SalesCoachChuck, on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/getsalesresultsnow and through LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/chuckbauer

In addition to free sales tips and resources, you’ll get notified of expert training opportunities for your entire sales and management staff.

Why Chuck?

With more than two decades of winning experience in sales, marketing and communication-related fields, Sales Coach Chuck brings his innovative and distinctive business insight to any business environment. His passionate commitment to excellence is illustrated in his consulting, coaching and speaking work. With his no-nonsense approach to sales professionalism and managing for real results, Chuck has set himself apart from a field too often full of hucksters of half-baked formulas and hawkers of outmoded sales “tricks”.

Each week he personally oversees numerous sales processes; from listening to LIVE sales phone calls to sitting in on LIVE face to face appointment between professional salespeople and their clients. He truly lives out his motto: “Set the example by exceeding the standards.”

So what are you waiting for?
Follow Chuck Bauer on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn today!

Do Your Clients Follow You?

Social networking sites are growing more and more popular each year. Most are used for simple chit chat, but we’re doing something different! Our Social Sales Media Page increases your opportunity to BRAND yourself and your products and services and thus INCREASE YOUR REVENUE. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to keep your name in front of your clients and to keep up with them!

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“Top Of Mind Awareness” (T.O.M.A.) is the guiding principle of my unconventional ideas for follow-up and encourages your clients to do business with you and your company.

“My client received the package I sent her last week.  It consisted of a couple of promotional items that Sales Coach Chuck had taught in his “Marketing Yourself Shamelessly” course. I was beginning to think she hadn’t received it, because I hadn’t heard back from her.  By the time she got it this morning it had made it’s rounds in the office.  My client said it was the most creative sales idea she had seen in terms of getting someone’s attention.  I told her I wish I could take credit for it, but the idea came from Sales Coach Chuck Bauer.  In my opinion it was a resounding success in regards to “Top of Mind Awareness.”  – David Wright, Sales, A.F.T.S. Addison, TX

Creating T.O.M.A. with your clients’ staff introduces fun and personalized touches in unique ways that enhance your relationship with them and your clients and advocates. Pull ahead of your competitors and get their attention with original, thoughtful reminders of who you are and what you do. And the more fun you have giving them, the more fun they will have receiving them. What cool follow-up ideas are you using that will cause clients’ support staff to THINK OF YOU when the clients are ready to enter or reenter the marketplace?

Valentine’s Day is a perfect holiday to implement a T.O.M.A. sales procedure. First, the rush of holiday cards is over—this means much less competition in the mail box, thus more attention on YOUR business. Second, I guarantee that 99% of all salespeople will miss this timely opportunity to be noticed and appreciated. Valentine’s Day provides a perfect time to touch your clients’ support staff with an entertaining follow-up technique.

Your Valentine’s Day T.O.M.A. Campaign:

1. Resist stopping before you start; tuck away your pre-conceived notions about follow-up ideas. Watch out for that little voice in the back of your head saying “I would never do this” or “This won’t work.” If you buy into that thinking, you become like all the other salespeople who just exist rather than succeed. As taught in my SalesMastery courses, I say “You had better become distinct or you will become extinct!”

2. Find and invest in kiddy Valentine’s Day Cards just like the ones you used in 2^nd Grade, the little goofy ones that you exchanged at school and the ones your children still exchange on this holiday. Find them in Hallmark, WalMart, Target, and most neighborhood groceries. The choices are abundant and colorful with many different messages–the dorkier the better.

3. Find some fun stickers to use on the outside of the envelopes. The stickers need to be small because the kiddy Valentine’s Day cards are smaller than most standard card sizes. Place one or two stickers on the outside of the envelope.

4. Personalize the envelope by HAND WRITING the recipient’s name and address on the envelope. Better yet, use a calligraphy pen for a unique and professional touch. DO NOT use a return address on the outside of envelope. The lack of a return address creates curiosity on the part of the receiving client. When the mail is delivered, your T.O.M.A. will be the first envelope opened and your message the first message read.

5. Poem time! Yes, you need to create a poem to add to the envelope and card. You should keep the poem short, crisp, and fun. Now, I know none of you are professional writers. Writing a dorky poem is not something you may want to do, so I will help you write one right now.

It’s really simple, easy, and fun. Brainstorm with your family or associates. Check out the verses in the cards in the stores or the ones your children buy for school. Write a few different rhymes, play with them, and then pick the best one for your sales process. As soon as your verse is polished to perfection, copy it for as many cards as you need to cover your client support staff base.

Consider adding a gift card, a tea bag, your business card–anything slim and thin–or something else to get your recipient’s attention.

For postage, a first-class stamp at .44 cents should do the trick. But not just any .44-cent stamp. Never miss an opportunity to attract positive attention to yourself! Visit your local post office or go to www.usps.com to purchase your stamps. Don’t use the regular type of stamps: find something unique. There are various types of .44-cent Valentine’s Day stamps, or select something relevant to you or your business. You can also get customized stamps at http://www.zazzle.com/stamps to make this T.O.M.A. touch even more memorable!

Last but not least, plan on having the cards arrive around 3-5 days BEFORE the actual holiday.

For those of you with a large database of clients, here is a solution to give you the maximum bang for your buck—implement an 80/20 rule for these follow ups. If you have 100 clients in your database, take the top 20% who are clients, those you value the most (VIP’s), and send your T.O.M.A. cards to their support staff. For the other 80%, send their support staff an e-card or a nice Valentine’s Day message via e-mail. This method works for 1,000 or 10,000 in your database, and maintains your high level of sales efficiency.

A rule of thumb to follow: “Reach the people who count versus counting the people you reach.” In other words, you should not treat all clients’ support staff the same way. You must put in more personal time and place more significance on the support staff of those clients who advocate you and your business. Spend less time on those clients who may be prospects. When they become VIP’s, move them over to your T.O.M.A. list. Remember, return business and referral business is good business.

T.O.M.A. touches are unique and your VIP clients’ support staff and the clients themselves will certainly appreciate the value of such a personal touch and an indirect method of follow-up. Pass-through marketing usually occurs when your clients pass along your unique follow-up ideas and T.O.M.A. pieces to others. This small effort will foster referrals and place you on a pathway of sales distinction.

Next major T.O.M.A. Holiday – April Fools Day!

The following procedure creates multiple printed poem copies without hassle

• Open up MS Word.

• On the “Tools” menu, point to “Letters and Mailings,” and then click “Envelopes and Labels.”

• Click the “Labels” tab.

• Click “Option.”

• In the “Product” number box, click “Name Badge #5883.” This is a perfect label size for your poems.

• Click “New Document.”

• A new page opens with 8 boxes, and thus room for 8 poems on one page.

• Save and title your document.

Great so far! Now let’s create a nice border around the eight squares, and add your poem to the boxes.

• Click on format, then select “Borders and Shading.”

• With the “Border” tab selected, click on “All.”

• Pick your style, color, and width. Click “ok” when finished.

• Highlight your poem. Make sure your website or e-mail address
  is included with the poem—the recipient is apt to show the poem to someone! It may lead them to your website. (What, no website?
  Ya gotta be kidding me. Call me at once! We have to chat!)

• Right click and select copy

• Go back to the document with your boxes. Place your cursor in the box in the upper left hand corner of the page.

• Right click, select “Paste,” and presto—your poem has now been imported into the box!

• Clean it up graphically. Make sure the text is either centered or aligned left. Check your spelling and then add some different colors: red for the “Roses are Red” line and blue for the “Violets are Blue” line, of course!

• Once you have that box the way you want it, cut and paste into the remaining seven boxes.

• Remember to save your document and save often.

• Other things you can consider if you have above-average computer skills: maybe add your logo, some other type of graphic, etc. Regardless, try to keep it simple.

Now you are ready to print your pages. Consider using colorful paper to print your poems on. Once printed, cut out the poems with scissors. Then put a poem along with a card into an envelope, address it, stamp it, add cute stickers, and you’re ready to send a special T.O.M.A. touch that will have the recipient talking– the special Valentine Card—and YOU!

Questions and/or Comments?
Please respond to my blog at the bottom of this article!

Today, more than ever in the sales industry, using time to be more productive is an alarm being sounded around the country in our industry. Because of the “perceived” economic slowdown, companies are asking sales forces to do more & be more, so that everyone can have more.

As I listen to sales people and sales managers, this “theme” is being replayed all over the country. To the sales manager who is griping that his and his team goals have now been increased; to the sales person who suffers the same fate and continues to gripe to his colleagues, I say to each of you STOP wasting time griping and START today becoming more sales efficient and become major TIME PRODUCERS.

These step by step Time Producers are based on actual time spent with sales people, sales managers, and high level sales executives who own companies that have sales forces. Because I am working in the depths of their sales organizations on a day to day basis, I really get a front row seat to the R-E-A-L-I-T-Y of the inner-workings of salespeople, and more importantly, who is a Time Producer and who is a Time Waster.

The Lunch Hour
By far, the Number One Time Waster of all time. Okay . . . let’s see how this really plays out for the typical salesperson. (You, the reader, are not typical, correct?) At approximately 11:15 am your time zone, you start looking at your watch, counting down the minutes you have until it’s time to go to lunch. Worse than that, you don’t realize that the “shift” in your brain has just decreased you from being at the highest levels of being in your sales zone (hopefully) to the lowest levels of sales focus.  The closer you get to noon, the more of your focus is being spent on “lunch” versus “sales.”  This situation is just like writing out a blank check to your aggressive and tenacious competitors.

From there it probably develops like this. You have communication with your fellow salespeople on who is going and where to go. You hook up, leave a little early to beat the crowd, enjoy lunch, and then head back to the office after running a quick errand or two. Back at the office for a photo finish 12:59 pm arrival while observing if the sales managers’ car is in the parking lot. With a mad dash, you’re back in your chair by 1:00 pm.

Because of eating unhealthy food, we’re a little sluggish and you feel like taking a nap. So, off to the Red Bull bar for a quick “upper” while meeting others at the bar/kitchen for more non-sales related discussions. By the time you get back to your office and start working, you have really just Time Wasted about 1-2 hours. (For those of you now thinking you need the 1-2 hour break to be more tuned in to your next set of sales calls or appointments, make sure to read the next section on Dinkin’ Off!)

Let’s take this 1-2 hour Time Waster and turn it into a Time Producer. First, consider eating lunch at your office. Early each day, prepare a meal/snack and take it with you to your office or with you in your car, if your car is your office.  For me, I use a dorkey food bag and tote my meals around in that. You can go as far as preparing meals on Sunday night that could cover you for 3-4 days.

Secondly, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, only go to lunch with a prospect or client. I promise you that in doing so will only further your career versus going with your sales buddies. Successful professional sales people know that selling time is their most valuable asset. In fact, it is more important than money itself.  You cannot recklessly squander away time on sales buddies or non prospects. You must learn to maximize time spent with prospects and clients!

Sales Managers – these same principles apply to you. However . . . you should be taking one of your salespeople to lunch every week. And when you take them, STOP talking to them and really listen to what they may have to share!

Dinkin’ Off Time
Almost as bad as the lunch hour! I classify Dinkin’ Off in a variety of ways:

• Hanging out in the lunch/break room
• Mentally checking out
• Having the dreaded country club mentality
• Excessive or lengthy bathroom breaks
• Smoking
• Improper cell phone usage
• Text messaging
• Day trading
• Stock market watching
• Improper Internet usage
• Social phone calls
• Sales buddies golf
• The list could be endless!

You, the readers know exactly what YOUR specific dinkin’ off items are. Neither I . . . nor your sales managers would expect you to get rid of all these bad habits yet we expect you to get close to eliminating them. If you truly have an ownership mentality (versus an employee mentality) as it applies to your sales positions, you know that dinkin’ off is just like robbing a bank. You rob your bank and the bank of your company. Robbing banks is a felony. Robbing your own bank is stupidity.

One of the companies that I consult has a very strict policy on NO CELL PHONES being allowed in the office. Now, think about that for a moment, most of you have co-dependent relationships with your phone. Your phone OWNS you. Don’t believe me?  Okay . . . just video tape yourself the next time you hear your cell phone ring and you are unable to locate the phone by the end of the first ring. Send me the video; I am always up for a good laugh!

I know that many of you use your cell phone in your business. I understand. It is the Time Wasting tactics that you employ through the use of your cell phone that needs to stop.  If you are serious about your personal and professional goals, you’ll eliminate some of these bad dinkin’ off Time Wasters and turn yourself into a Time Producer.

Sleep
I am lucky. Lucky because I have been blessed with a great work ethic and major amounts of correct disciplines. Through these traits, I have utilized sleep to help me become a Time Producer. My discipline is early to bed almost every night, usually by 9 pm. Sometimes even earlier!  Going to bed early allows me to get up . . . E-A-R-L-Y!

Those two to three hours each morning allow me to get the jump on the day, and remember I have clients nationwide. Getting up at 5:30 every morning still allows me to get ahead of my east coast stuff and stay ahead of the other time zones. You would be amazed at how much productive time you will have by using these quite times each and every day.

Know this . . . getting up at 5:30 am is not that BIG of a deal. I have a client here in Dallas, Craig Foy who is the CEO of VITEC Online. Craig’s day starts each and every day at 4:30 am. In fact, he starts off his day with an invigorating bike ride which helps him with the daily demands of running a multimillion dollar business.

Whether you are an entrepreneur working from home, or a sales professional that works out of an office, getting up early and using that time to get the jump on your sales day will help you become a major Time Producer.

Daily Exercise/Eating Correctly
Obesity is now the #1 killer of Americans based on recent finding of preventable diseases that kill Americans. Smoking use to occupy the top spot. Smoking is now #2.

Being unfit physically is a Time Waster. It slows you down and in some cases you might even be medicated which could serve as a double whammy. Not to mention the loss of productivity, visits to the doctor, health insurance claims, etc., etc.

Eating unhealthy food is another HUGE Time Waster. Fast food, sugar laced drinks, caffeinated drinks, etc., all have negative effects on your body. You Red Bull addicts . . . know this. What comes up . . . MUST come down. Fast Food addicts . . . go watch the DVD titled “Super Size Me” and you’ll know what I am talking about.

To ward off being physically unfit, start a discipline of daily exercise. It could start with parking your car further from the front door of your office. Some may walk the stairs in your building during the lunch hour. Some may have a full blown exercise or workout regiment.   Another company that I consult for, the President works out and provides a health club membership to his sales staff. You’ll find many of them at the gym on their lunch hour. Perfect!

Food?  Eat energy providing foods! How about some green vegetables to start with? Or commit to no cheese for a month. Or, drink more filtered water and become better at portion control? You may not fit exercise into your sales day yet you still eat, usually 3-4 times a day. You can instantly benefit from making positive changes into your eating habits.

Recently, one of my sales students “joked” about the President of his company. He said the only way to get the President exercising was to “hang a pork chop out in front of a treadmill!” Well . . . if that is what it takes, make sure to order the pork chop without butter!

Start having better eating habits and start exercising each day. The advances you’ll receive will benefit your both professionally and personally. More importantly, you’ll become more of a Time Producer!

Food Bonus:
A few years ago I wrote an article titled “Become a Fat Buster!” My top techniques to busting up some of that body fat and becoming more physically fit through some proven eating/lifestyle changes. E-mail a note to chuck@chuckbauer.com and I’ll gladly forward you that article!  And remember, there is a bonus section about Health & Fitness in my SalesMastery Book of Quotes! Would you like a FREE copy of this book? CLICK HERE!

Office Organization
Your office needs to be set up as a “command center,” not a junk yard! You need to be clutter free and organized. Every extra pile of papers, every extra post it note, and every extra item that is not put away in it proper place, takes away from all your positive energy and in some cases it takes away from your sales focus. When you are time crunched for a deadline, the cluttered office or desk will catch up with you and can really cost you in efficiencies and could cause you to miss deadlines.

Utilize MS Outlook for everything. There is a huge amount of functionality with Outlook and it is possible to become paperless. Know this . . . every time you reach for a piece of paper, a post it note or scratch pad, you are INEFFICIENT.  If you will learn the ins and outs of Outlook, you will be able to do the work of two or more assistants.

You will find only TWO stacks of papers on my desk. The first one is my “day” calendar from Outlook (e-mail me at chuck@chuckbauer.com and I will send you a couple of examples of my actual daily sheets – you might even see your own name on my sheet?!) that I have printed off. I do this each day and I keep about two months worth clipped together. This helps me keep an eye on all my specific appointments and if I need to write something down it will go on the print out for that specific day. This eliminates the need for endless amounts of Post It notes.

The second stack of papers on my desk is my “pile” of active prospects. Each one has their Outlook Contact page printed out which of course contains notes, important facts, and sometimes my handwritten notes about our on-going conversations. Again, these papers are clipped together and within an arm’s reach of me at any given moment. The reason these papers are kept on my desk is simple. It is my reminder that when given moments of down time, I can pick up this stack of papers and start making sales calls without hesitation or THINKING ABOUT IT. One thing I will tell you is that I am a stickler on scheduling specific next steps with clients so this stack of prospects are ones that the communication has become “loose” for whatever reason.

A viewer of my YouTube videos once said: “An uncluttered office = an uncluttered mind!” How true, and when you are uncluttered you have more time and energy to focus on the major stuff happening in your sales career!

Law of Associations
You become the average sum of the five people you hang out with. Look around you and the sales people you are spending time with. What are they doing? What are they doing to you? Who is selling who? And what are they selling? What is their personal sales production? Are they a winner or a loser? Are they positive or negative? Are they drug free? Do they have high levels of discipline and tenacity? Do they implement important sales processes? Are they REALLY a friend?

What you may not realize is that they may purposely want you to fail because you are a competitor! Listen up Sales People. In many cases your fellow sales people do not want you to succeed!  Most sales offices contain bitter and unhappy salespeople who can infect others with their opinions and outlook on sales/life if given the opportunity. In some cases they may even try to create opportunities to spread their “cancer” throughout the office. WATCH OUT for these types!

I remember way back when. I could drink a ton of tequila; catch a bunch of largemouth bass; hit a softball a country mile; yet was making an okay living. Guess what? So were all my friends. Same thing. So, I had to expand my horizons and leave others behind to attain the higher goals I had set for myself.

Your associations have everything to do with becoming a Time Producer. Hang with people who will be your advocate and are doing better than you. Look for successful salespeople or business owners who intimidate you. Ask them if you can buy them lunch. Listen to their stories. Learn and implement. And STOP hanging around others that are Time Wasters!

Alcohol – Drugs
Both are HUGE Time Wasters. Okay, let’s make this simple. If you are going to drink alcohol, do it socially on Friday or Saturday.  Utilize Sunday to get your body recovered if that is the case so you will be ready for your sales week on Monday.  Limit use or stop alcohol all together. Drugs – STOP right now, get help if needed, grow up and STOP hanging with people who do drugs!

Bring Everything to Completion
This may be the second largest Time Waster, right behind the lunch hour. Sales People (and some humans) are notorious for not bringing things to completion or full circle. Example . . . your last sales call. Did you set a specific next step with your client, confirm the time and send an Outlook Appointment Invite via e-mail to get the client to accept it on his/her side?  That is being complete and not leaving things in a fog bank.

Being incomplete with typical daily tasks will drive President’s and CEO’s of companies crazy. Why?  Because it costs them TIME and MONEY and they constantly feel like the incomplete sales manager or sales person is in REVERSE rather than being in FORWARD.  Just this last week I am in a meeting with a President of a Sales Company and one of the major challenges that he faces is the amount of incompletions on his sales floor with his sales people.  Tasks left undone, paperwork not completely filled out, just a disorganized mess. TIME WASTEING!

Okay, watch the humanity of this Sales Person.

This “tasks” chart shows COMPLETIONS as well as incompletions. The full circles represent tasks that are completed; the half circles represent tasks that are incomplete. The left side of the page represents a current phase of the sales person’s life, full of incompletions and maybe a few completions. Then the unthinkable happens. Not really understanding the effect of the incompletions in their life, in their sub-conscious they throw their hands up in the air, say to themselves “that is too much to handle” (denial) and they draw a line in the sand and cross over to their next phase of life or in the example the right hand side of the page.

Guess what happens next? They repeat the same pattern! Get it?  Time Wasting at its finest. They are so far in REVERSE that they can never gain the sales traction necessary to attain the highest levels of sales success! Sadly, in some cases, this happens in their personal life as well.

A simple example of the very same thing would look like this. Imagine for a moment your kitchen. Think about every cupboard door, every drawer, the oven, the refrigerator and the microwave doors ALL OPEN AT THE SAME TIME. Now, this is an exaggeration but it really drives home the point with sales people. Close all doors and bring all items and tasks to completion in an effort to become a major Time Producer!

Procrastination
Procrastination is one of the biggest Time Wasters there is. “Procrastination is one of the biggest thief’s of time!” Recently in a SalesMastery seminar, a student claimed that before making a cold call that he spent, in some cases, as much as 30 minutes getting prepared for the call. He would get all of his thoughts organized, he would do Google Intelligence, and he would think about this and that and spend a ton of time on preparing to make the call PERFECT.

Ladies and gentlemen . . . what this student was telling me is that he suffered from a dose of call reluctance and procrastination. Sometimes it is simpler when you DON’T THINK and JUST DO!  So, instead of trying to make the perfect call, make each call perfect! Same thing goes with your sales processes. DO IT, probe a little in your fear or procrastination areas, get a little bumped and bruised, learn from your mistakes, tune it up and MOVE ON!

Want to be more of a Time Producer? Think about how many cold calls you can really make in thirty minutes, how many “probes” you can make looking for that significant call that YOU can turn into perfection. I’ll take 10-20 dials versus one dial every thirty minutes for sure! STOP over extending the “think,” stop over extending the procrastination and START DOING!

In regards to time and appointments, remember this:
Always early to appointments? You are a salesperson.
If you are LATE to an appointment . . . you are a BOZO.
If you are on-time to your appointments . . . you are a GENIUS!

Implementing these techniques will keep you from being overwhelmed & trapped in your sales positions. You can buy back your time by becoming a Time Producer and becoming more efficient.  When you start your implementation & disciplines, turn them into habits. Matt West, one of my top sales students often says after creating a good sales habit . . . “Pull the check book out and pay to the order of ME!” You have that same opportunity – get started right now and write out the check to YOU!

God speed & good selling,
Chuck

Need Sales Tools?
www.cbsalestools.com

New Services – Available NOW!

• SalesWATCH
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Questions and/or Comments?
Please respond to my blog at the bottom of this article!

Need Sales Tools?
www.cbsalestools.com

New Services – Available NOW!

• SalesWATCH
• SalesCHAT
• SalesFOCUS

Questions and/or Comments?
Please respond to my blog at the bottom of this article!

Need Sales Tools?
www.cbsalestools.com

Watch For These New Services – Coming Soon!

• SalesWATCH
• SalesCHAT
• SalesFOCUS

Questions and/or Comments?
Please respond to my blog at the bottom of this article!

Need Sales Tools?
www.cbsalestools.com

Watch For These New Services – Coming Soon!

• SalesWATCH
• SalesCHAT
• SalesFOCUS

Questions and/or Comments?

Please respond to my blog at the bottom of this article!

Your clients have set up a “shield” around them when it pertains to salespeople. Why?
Come on now, we all know why! Do the words intimidation, manipulation, and hype
come up for you? How about embellishment? Or how about the bad experiences your
client has with the assembly of salespeople lined up in the lobby each week. You know
exactly what I mean. Unfortunately for us in sales, our customers have their”past” sales experiences to deal
with.

There are many ways to increase your intimacy-building skills. I’m not speaking in
terms of rapport — every salesperson can build rapport. But only true professionals can
build intimacy with their clients. So, what is an easy way for the salesperson to uplevel
into intimacy with their clients? Well, it is easy as “One, Two, Three!”

That’s correct, One…, Two…, Three! In other words, giving information in the form of
first-party, second-party, and third-party. Here is an easier way for you to remember. If I
tell you about the big fish I caught, you’re not as likely to believe me as you would if
Tony steps up and tells you about my catch. What if Tony told you about my fish and
backed up the story with a photo? Or another way to look at it is, you may not believe me
but you might believe my mother!

Most sales people live in the first-party world — the world of telling their clients from a
first-person platform. Such as “tell the client and, when you get done telling them, then
tell them again.” Well, telling them too many times is redundant and may trigger a past
experience that might have had a negative outcome. Beyond that, it’s HOW you tell them
that will make a difference. Telling them things that come from a first-party platform, in
most cases, will never move you towards closure or intimacy; it will always move you away.

A second-party platform is utilized by salespeople who like to tell stories. Sometimes it
is effective, sometimes it is not; though it is always better than telling something from a
first-party platform. Storytelling can be effective in making points with clients. Clients
who have a socializer or relater type of personality love stories, but clients who have a
director or thinker type personality dislike stories and tend to think you’re too chatty or
taking up too much time. Okay, so it seems like we need to find a better way.

The better way is to speak and share, whenever possible, is from a third-party
platform. Remember, it’s easy as one, two, three. A third-party platform offers evidence
to your client that in almost all cases is quite believable and effective versus information
or speech that comes from a first- or second-party platform. Even better, all the main
types of client personality’s salespeople deal with (directors, socializer, relaters, and
thinkers) are moved towards closure & intimacy through the use of a third-party platform. Using
third-party evidence is a way to uplevel into building intimacy with your clients; not to
mention that it increases your sales strength and position with them.

Chuck’s SalesMastery Believability Scale:
When you present, where do YOU rate with your clients? Low, medium or HIGH believability? It could be as easy as one . . . two . . . THREE!

Now, here is a list of tools that helps build a third-party platform:

1. Newspaper, Magazine, or Internet Documentation
Find articles or information related to your industry that can bolster your position or
product. Prepare them professionally by having them laminated for your presentation.
Scan them to include in your PowerPoint presentations, and leave copies with your
clients. Create a permanent record of these on your web-site.

2. Your Personal Business Website
Your personal track record is important to your clients, so establish a web-site that your
clients can visit, even before your appointment. Again, with the four main personalities
(director, socializer, relater, thinker), they all come to satisfaction through knowing your
personal track record. Your web-site can be a wonderful and inexpensive tool that, when
used properly, can satisfy all four main personality types by providing your personal
track record from a third-party platform. It’s the internet telling them about you versus
you telling them about you. Make sure that when you design your site, that you mix
professional along with family or personal information. This way, no matter what
personality style your client is, they’ll find something of interest on your web-site.

3. Use Visual Impressions
Your client processes visual information 66,000 times faster than auditory
information. So, anytime you can use a photograph, graphics, or a chart, you become
better connected with your client, again building intimacy & clsoing the sale. I share with some of my
audiences, “If your lips are moving, you should be pointing or clicking” meaning that
when you speak to a client, point to an article about a particular subject, or fire up the
internet and refer to information on a web-site that will back you up.

4. A Recorded Voice Message
Have a short (less than five-minute) recorded message that covers the main points about
you, your company, and your product or service. The message could be in the form of a
voice message on a local phone number, it could be a message provided on an 800
number for your long distance clients, or have a “click” on your web-site that allows a
message to be played by the client visiting your site. This is an incredible third-party
convenience that you can offer and, remember, most other salespeople would never take
such a step! What should you put in your recorded message? Three to five minutes of
bullet points that will be meaningful and impactful to your client as it relates to you, and
your products or services. Do hire a professional voice to perform the message!

5. Fast Facts Profile
Create a one-page document that covers the main points about YOU, and your company
and services. Each Fast Fact should be some item that will buy you many points when the
client reads about them. From your educational accomplishments, to sales schools you
have graduated from, to your family background, to the main points and
accomplishments of your company’s products and services, your Fast Facts document
will save you time in building intimacy with your client. Make sure that your Fast Facts
are included in all your initial documentation that you provide to a client, backed up with
a faxable form, and included on your web-site. What do you title the hyperlink? “Fast
Facts” of course! Click HERE on how to make your own Fast Facts Profile!

6. Utilize Your Managers & Corporate Office Staff
Many of you work in a structure that includes some sort of corporate umbrella. Within
that umbrella, in most cases, are managers or staff that are experienced and financially
connected to you. They should be available to help or assist with your clients. It’s
certainly a positive move to allow a manager to have access to your clients in an on-going
intimacy-building discussion, one that regardless of the outcome of the call, the manager
listens to the clients and builds intimacy. Use your managers, let them help you!

7. Testimonials
Testimonials provided from a third-party platform can be a very powerful part of your sales
process. Wherever your career is at, compiling testimonials on yourself and or your
company is another way to build intimacy and build on your own personal track record.
Right now, start a file in which to keep a history of these. Remember, you need to ask for
them to get them. As an example, when I finish speaking to an audience, I have them fill
out a two-page evaluation of my speech. Included in that evaluation is a place for
testimonials.

What to do with testimonials? First off, most of them will have to be condensed into
bullet points. Shorten ‘em up! Then, there are a variety of places they can be used, such
as:
– Your personal web-site
– Your fast-facts profile
– The footer of your outbound e-mails
– Your PowerPoint presentations
– Back of your business card or Main Point Card

By implementing these suggestions into your method of operation, you are virtually
guaranteed a few more sales each month. These skills and techniques are a certain way to
uplevel your selling and intimacy building skills, and they’ll work as long as you
remember…, it’s as easy as one, two, three!

Need Sales Tools?
www.cbsalestools.com

Watch For These New Services – Coming Soon!

• SalesWATCH
• SalesCHAT
• SalesFOCUS

Questions and/or Comments?
Please respond to my blog at the bottom of this article!

If you truly want to make more money in your sales career,

Let’s begin. Close your eyes. Imagine a peaceful place that you have always wanted to belong . . . feel that deep sleep coming on . . .  DEEP sleep.  Good. Now, tell me what your #1 Top Secret Distinctive Sales Technique is?  YOU: “I give out Starbucks Gift Cards. I give out Starbucks Gift Cards; I give out Starbucks Gift Cards!” Wow. I’m impressed. Giving out Starbucks Gift Cards? That is the most distinctive sales tip I have ever come across!  Okay, I just snapped my fingers. It’s time to WAKE UP. You are not dreaming . . . this is  . . . R – E – A – L – I – T – Y. And the reality is this; if you are using the proverbial Starbucks Gift Card it is time to start understanding SALES DISTINCTIONS.  And by reading this article I guarantee that you will make adjustments to your follow up procedures and you will close more sales!

Sales Distinctions are a very important part to becoming “Sales Attractive” in your sales and marketing plan. Your personal and professional distinctions are something that you can control; they are easy to accomplish and maintain. Why?  Because most salespeople are not distinctive – all they do is follow one another.  Or, they’re afraid to venture out to untested waters.

It’s okay to be distinctive. It’s okay to be different and do things differently. It’s okay to stand out in a crowd. That’s where the adventure begins! Being distinctive is an Attraction skill that each salesperson should place high significance on. Give your Advocates and Clients reasons to want to work with you – being “distinctive” is a great place to start.

The dictionary defines DISTINCTIONS this way:

• Being different from others
• The act of distinguishing
• The condition or fact of being dissimilar or distinct
• A distinguishing factor, attribute, or characteristic
• Excellence as of performance, character, or reputation: a diplomat of distinction
• A special feature or quality conferring superiority
• Recognition of achievement or superiority

If you dig deeper in your sales processes you will see that most of your skills are non distinctive. Again, is what you do REALLY distinctive and does it set you apart from the Sales Pack? Example: Mailing Holiday Cards to your clients, is that really DISTINCTIVE? (SPECIAL NOTE – My coaching clients never send Holiday Cards in mass – they replace that technique with something more distinctive!) Come on . . . really think and feel your way through this, you CAN do better!

Let’s look at some broad based personal and professional distinctions that you might want to consider:

• Immediate & Precision Based Follow Up Skills (this could cover 100’s of ideas)
• Using a Calligraphy Pen for Follow Ups
• Use BRIGHT Colored Envelopes With FUN Stickers
• Tea Bags in Mail – Have a “Tea” on Me!
• Crinkled Sales Letter
• Send a Personal Letter to The Product Instead of the Client
• Video E-Mailing Vs. Regular E-Mail
• Fax Versus E-Mail or Mail – Yes, Faxing is making a Come Back! (watch for my new article on this subject!)
• Manicured Nails if You Are a Guy!
• Increase Your Dress Standards – Get a Personal Tailor
• Increase in Your Health & Fitness – Get Lean!
• Use of the Outlook Calendar Invite Feature for ALL Sales Appointments & Phone Calls
• Purchase a Domain Name On Behalf of A Client
• STOP Answering the Phone When It Rings
• Send An EMPTY Envelope Through The Mail; You’re Asking “Okay Chuck, WHY?” Gotcha!
• Purchase Shredded Money – Place a small amount in your letter or card. Write on the note:
“Save more money by using (your name) and (your company name)!”

Feel Free to Add Your Sales Distinctions On My Blog at The Bottom Of This Article!

ACTION ITEM:
Implement These Action Items RIGHT NOW – Remember, Make Them Distinctive!:

Identify Your Top Three Professional Distinctions:

1._______________________________________

2. _______________________________________

3. _______________________________________

Identify Your Top Three Personal Distinctions:

1._______________________________________

2. _______________________________________

3. _______________________________________

Now, for the most amazing sales distinctive idea I have ever come across in 20+ years of being involved with sales. I recently met a sales person who resides in Central Texas. After five years in the financial planning industry he had become a HUGE success. He had over 2000 clients in his database, he does ABSOLUTLY no advertising, and most importantly, he now works only FOUR days a week. (The fifth day he volunteers for a charitable organization).

Yet, during his typical four day work week he has only three appointments a day and they all happen right at his office. Clients FLOCK to see him. He has a nice office, comfortable food and beverage, and just a wonderful setting that makes his clients want to do business with him. His typical appointment last about two UNHURRIED Hours. So, what are his MAIN Sales Distinctions?

His #1 Sales Distinction?
He sends a limousine service to pick up his clients and bring them to his office! After the appointment is concluded, the limousine service takes them back to their home or office! Remember, he spaces his appointments so the clients are not hurried and thus have a positive and distinctive experience with him.

His #2 Sales Distinction?
Once a year he provides a Holiday Bonus to his top twenty five clients. Remember, his top twenty five. The clients are aware of this! They have to be in the top twenty five to go on the Holiday Bonus Trip. Sub conscious note – they invest in larger amounts of his product so they qualify to go!

Now for the trip – he rents five limos (five clients per limousine) and treats those twenty five  VIP’s to a special holiday dinner at a fabulous Dallas restaurant. After dinner, they are ushered off to a special holiday theater production of A Christmas Carol. They then return home via the limousine service!

That . . .  my sales friends . . . IS DISTINCTIVE! This sales person truly understands what being Distinctive is all about. His clients do nothing but talk about him all year long. It was easy for him to build a referral based business once he understood the power of being Sales Distinctive. Talk about T.O.M.A.! His Top Of Mind Awareness with his clients is off the charts!

For those of you reading this . . . START TODAY. Not tomorrow, RIGHT NOW! Don’t procrastinate, get going. It does not have to be a limousine service, it could be as something as simple as sending a thank you card the moment you meet a potential new client or just using an envelope that is a bright color.

Remember, whatever DISTINCTION you choose to start with, create a 30 day discipline. Commit to doing this one distinction for 30 days. You may even commit to doing the distinction multiple times per day. Open up your Outlook Calendar, and log it in for the next 30 days by using the recurrence feature. Follow your plan and watch, after 30 days of disciplined activity, your Sales Distinction will then turn into a HABIT. I know you can do it, get started on this TODAY!

Need more ideas on Sales Distinctions? Then review the numerous free articles and videos at www.chuckbauer.com or www.cbsalestools.com

Questions and/or Comments?
Please respond to my blog at the bottom of this article!

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.

Imagine them, for a moment, as they picture in their minds the highest degree of pampering, food and more food, shows, sun, relaxation, reading, activities, movies, and ports of call with golfing and sailing! Beyond that, what about every water sport (bass fishin’?!) they could think of; not to mention spending time with friends and peers. Come on, they won’t even have to turn down their bed sheets; the cruise ship staff will do it for them.

Do you think every consultant, after picturing all this, would want to attend? Of course, who wouldn’t! Yet, why does the “end of the story” always have the same conclusion? It doesn’t matter what company, what salesperson, or what industry you’re in, the end result is that 20-percent will make the trip and 80-percent will not. In fact, it’s events like this that always find us remembering that old 80/20 rule.

What if your company offered you an incentive such as this trip or something of equal value? So you want to be in the 20-percent bracket, correct? Yet, do you REALLY want to be there? Do you REALLY want to make the cruise? Know this… REALLY means having that red-hot burning internal desire to do two things, to do them now, and to do them well. First, you have to get out of the way of yourself. Most of us have a tendency to do things that get us in the 80-percent bracket. In the Attraction In Action world, it’s called being on the correct pathway. Modify your paradigms so you place yourself in the 20-percent bracket. Secondly and the most important, you must have written goals that will get you on track and keep you on the correct course.

So, let’s share some specific “tackle” (fishin’ acronym for “ammunition”) you’ll need as it pertains to goals. The “lures” you choose to use from your tackle box will help you make that jump into the 20-percent bracket.

Before we start, I am reminded of a favorite quote: “The purpose of goals is to focus our attention. The mind will not reach toward achievement until it has clear objectives. The magic begins when we set goals. It is then that the switch is turned on, the current begins to flow, and the power to accomplish becomes a reality.” — (Author unknown)

Quite a clear “statement of fact” for what we are talking about!

Specific Method Of Operation

• Your goals must be in writing, not just thought out. “My goal is to…”
• Your goals must be clear and concise with measurable results. “I must maintain a minimum of $7500 in weekly revenue to…”
• Set the goal so you really “get” what you want from it. In other words, the reward! “By attaining my goals, I will be attending the trip (or whatever your contest or reward is) and enjoy…”
• The goal must have an ETA (estimated time of arrival). “I plan on reaching the minimums for the trip/contest by…”
• Write out “benefits” for reaching the goal. “By reaching my goal, I’ll feel good about making the trip/contest and will enjoy it because I deserve it…”
• Write out the “consequences” for not reaching the goal. “If I don’t make the trip/contest, my wife/husband/significant other will not be happy and my peers will…”
• Have an “Accountability Squad” that will hold your feet to the fire. “I will ask Chuck or Susan to be part of my accountability team. I will ask them to speak with me once a week to offer support and ideas that will help me along with reaching my goals.”
• Now, here is an area for the biggest amount of growth — publish your written goals to your peers so they will know your level of seriousness and commitment to the contest/trip.”

Chuck’s Professional Pointers

• Define your obstacles — what are they?
• Capitalize on your best skills.
• What people or resources can help you make it?
• What additional knowledge or education could help you?
• Create a “Goal Getting” book and carry it with you.
• Recite your goal(s), out loud, twice daily.
• Maintain consistent focused action.
• Have a goal bigger than you, like helping someone else make the contest/trip.
• Focus on your rewards.
• Set goals in the 5 Pillars of Attraction: Spiritually, Relationships, Finances, Health, and your Environment.

Why People Don’t Have Goals . . . A Mystery Of Life!

• They have no belief in themselves.
• They don’t know how to set them.
• They are afraid of the outcome.
• They shy away from being held “accountable.”
• They lack self-esteem.
• They procrastinate.

Do a mirror check. Do you fit into one of these? If so, just being aware that you fit into one means that half the battle is already won. Ask yourself, “Who could you have discussion with that might help you write your goals?” A friend, a coworker, your sales manager, your coach?

A study conducted by Yale University in 1956 showed that the top three-percent of the graduating class wrote out their goals. A follow-up study 30 years later, in 1986, showed that this same three-percent was significantly more successful than the rest of the class, and again the major difference was that they were still writing goals.

Do what it takes to be part of that 20-percent group we spoke about earlier, or even better than that, do what it takes to make the three-percent club! It’s the plans that are laid now and your activity between the beginning and the “end of the story” that make the difference. You have to get out of the way of yourself. You must be unbending. You must be tenacious. And, you must maintain and have persistence until your goals have been achieved!

Need Sales Tools? Then check out www.cbsalestools.com

Questions and/or Comments?
Please respond to my blog at the bottom of this article!

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.

If you read the passage above in 60 seconds, you are reading at 160 words-per-minute, which is the preferred speed.

If you’re at 75 seconds, you could be considered a “bore” by your audience or the person with whom you are communicating.

If you read the above passage faster than 60 seconds, your audience or person with whom you are communicating just might consider you a “salesperson.”

Chuck’s Professional Pointer:

Many first-time OUT LOUD readers of “Listenable Rate of Speech” read much faster than 60 seconds. Many of us speak just a little too fast, period. We’re too busy telling versus having a conversation. By communicating confidently, we build an intimate connection with our clients and audiences. Here’s a tip that just might aid you in gaining that intimate connection.

In an effort to speak like a polished speaker or presenter, try this technique. Speak in a tone and speed to your audience or client as if you were reading a Dr. Seuss book out-loud to a small group of children.

Imagine for a moment, you have a small gathering of children sitting around you on the floor, looking up at you as you prepare to read your most favorite Dr. Seuss book. “One fish… two fish… red fish… blue fish!” Or…, “Did you ever fly a kite… in bed? Did you ever walk… with ten cats on your head?” As I say to my audiences that I train in public speaking, “You Seussem’” (your clients and audiences)!

Now, what Seussem’ means is that you are speaking at 140-160 words-per-minute. You articulate, you use a correct voice pitch, pause, and pace. Pitch means your voice quality, pause means using silence to “cliff hang” or emphasize a point, and pace is the correct listenable rate-of-speech you should be at.

Many of my students or audience participants will go as far as taking their own presentation (the one they use in their job or career) and read it out-loud into a tape recorder. Then, they play it back and are able to check their own “Listenable Rate-of-Speech” pitch, pause, and pacing. By listening to themselves on tape, they are able to coach themselves by refining their presentation over and over again.

I wish for all of you the wonderful ability to communicate confidently. For most, this is a learned skill and, by implementing these steps in this short training, you have taken that one step that I hope will lead to many others…, others that will help you communicate confidently with all those people you touch with your words.

Need Sales Tools? Then check out www.cbsalestools.com

Questions and/or Comments?
Please respond to my blog at the bottom of this article!