Ask for a Commitment
When I speak to groups of sales reps, I often ask if the following statement is true, “I am more likely to ask a closing question when my boss is with me than when I am by myself.” Virtually every time, by a show of hands, all sales reps agree that this is what happens.
Sales people know that their managers expect them to ask closing questions and that’s why they ask them when their bosses are present. But when queried, they ad...
Changing Habits
What affects virtually every aspect of your life and determines how your life operates? Habits! Studies have shown that 90% of our normal behavior is based on habits. Habits are pervasive – they affect nearly every area of our lives: work, family, our income, our health and even our relationships.
Since a habit is something that you do without thinking, then how do you make yourself (or someone else) think about a habit in order to...
Communicating Better
On a recent flight, I read an article in the in-flight magazine in which the writer (Katherine Dudley Hoehn) talked about a lesson she learned about how to communicate better. Her “insights” matched with what I’ve been advocating for years so I thought it might be worth a second mention.
Hoehn talked about giving advice. Instead of saying, “You should…” she advocated saying, “Have you considered..?” This made sense t...
Being Influenced By Others
How easily are we swayed by others? In sales, we try to influence or persuade our customers to use our products. Yet we often encounter misperceptions and misunderstandings, either about our products or our competition in the mind of our customers.
It’s been said that our customer’s perception is their reality. I recently read about a study done in the 1950s that showed how powerful those perceptions can be. Dr. Solomon Asch did ...
6 Rules for Setting Goals for Success
A few months ago I wrote about Reggie Williams and his dream of playing for the NBA (“Reggie Williams and Setting Goals”). Today I wanted to share with you 6 rules that if followed, greatly increase the likelihood that you’ll achieve your goals and make your dreams come true.
What is Selling?
There are a lot of definitions of selling. It’s probably safe to say that each individual has their own definition. This variety can create conflict in an organization because our beliefs drive our behavior. When an organization does not specifically define selling with clarity for its sales team, it is likely that team members will behave inconsistently, which will in turn have an impact on the relationships and messages customers will hear. Obviously, this is not optimal for salespeople, the brand, or the company.
Handling Objections Effectively
Objections are often the major reason that customers hesitate before they buy or don’t buy at all. They are always an obstacle to a final sale unless you know the correct way to respond to each of them. But before uttering a standard response to an objection, it makes sense to take a step back and determine exactly why the objection was raised.
I’ve learned that there are basically four main reasons that our customers throw obstacles in our path (known as objections):
Mindset and Selling Success
In Paradise Lost, John Milton wrote, “The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of Hell, a hell of Heaven.”
Within your mind are the synapses and thought processes that create you as an individual—it’s a powerful thing. Within this wonderful creation called a brain resides your mindset—the established set of attitudes and beliefs that you hold. You accumulate the attitudes and beliefs that compose your mindset from your parents, friends, schooling, and life experiences. Indeed, virtually everything you see, hear, touch, taste, and smell may affect your mindset.
The Biggest Differentiator in Selling
Can you identify the reason most people buy your product? Is it price? Is it the unique features and benefits that make what you sell so attractive? Actually, it’s you, the sales person! This was substantiated by a McKinsey study published in May 2010. Even though customers may claim that their decision of what to buy was made based on the cost or the product features, in most cases, this is simply not true. It is the quality of the selling experience that makes all the difference.
Interesting Openings
It’s been said that you create a person’s interest in—or resistance to—what you have to say in the first 20 seconds of your conversation. I’m not sure that time can be measured so precisely but I do believe that very early on you either stimulate interest or provoke resistance. So, if this is true, what can you do to make those 20 seconds work for you? The key is to say something pretty interesting.
I’ve learned that you can create interesting openings basically in three ways. First, you can use relevant facts