Episode #364: Mental Myths in the Sales Process

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advancedsellinpodcastgraphicbootThere’s only truly one thing you can control in the sales process— yourself. In today’s Mailbag Monday episode, veteran sales trainers Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale dive into a question from Rocky about how to show up and be helpful in the sales process.

Do you regularly check in with yourself to think about your inner game?

Do you truly have pure intent when talking with clients and prospects?

What myths do you have in your mind that aren’t actually real at all?

In this episode of The Advanced Selling Podcast, Bill and Bryan share strategies for inserting yourself into the sales process while maintaining clean intent. They give you language-based tools to help you know the words to use to truly be intentionally helpful to your prospects. After all, you can’t control other people or what they think… you can only control you. Show up as your best self every single time and watch the world shift around you.

Also mentioned in this podcast:

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Episode #363: Margin: Secrets Of The Pro’s

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advancedsellinpodcastgraphicbootHave you noticed that some sales people just seem like they “get it” more than others?  In today’s episode, veteran sales trainers Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale explore what the top 5% do that make them stand out and have greater success than their peers.

What are they doing differently than everyone else?

Why are people afraid to ask those at the top for their advice?

In this episode of The Advanced Selling Podcast, Bill and Bryan dive into ways you can up your selling game, including tips for the tiny tweaks that make a big impact. The great news: the differences aren’t major. True sales pros know the growth is at the margin.

Also mentioned in this podcast:

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Episode #362: Sales Assets – More Than Just Numbers

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advancedsellinpodcastgraphicbootAre you utilizing all of your assets in your sales process? In today’s Mailbag Monday episode, veteran sales trainers Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale explore a question from Chelsea about how to use your talents to strengthen your impact when opening doors in sales.

Do you have characteristics of your personality that you ignore when working your sales process?

Do you utilize your personal interests, skills and things you love to do to help you connect with others?

In this episode of The Advanced Selling Podcast, Bill and Bryan give you techniques you can use to insert more human elements into your process. They help you focus on the things you love to do outside of sales and put them into use in your sales career. If you’ve ever thought to yourself “What if they don’t like the real me?”, this episode is for you. The world needs more of the “real” person in every sales situation, and Bill and Bryan will tell you just how to do it in this episode.

Also mentioned in this podcast:

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Does Your Story Make YOU Cry?

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Sentimental.

Untold-Story

Something that most who know me will say I have none of. But, I get emotional when I do an exercise in my training and coaching when I ask people to tell me their story.

Most people are uncomfortable with their own story. They avoid it. They dodge the details. And, most of all, they run from the emotions of it. Read more

Coaching The Presidential Candidates

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As of yesterday at 5:00PM, not one candidate has called me from any presidential campaign. Hmmm. Guess that’s not unusual. THEY NEVER DO!

IF-YOU-DON'T-STAND-FOR-SOMETHING

But let’s pretend that one did call asking for help on debate prep, speech prep or just how to communicate better with the American people. I would lead with the three-headed problem to be followed by the 10-point fix:

The Problem

1. People are hungry for a candidate that people feel understands them. Most candidates are awful at establishing ‘remote rapport.’ (Rapport is easier when you’re face-to-face, but more difficult to establish at a distance, or in media). Reagan and Clinton were very good at this. Read more

Marissa Is At The Top Of Her Game. So How Does She Do It?

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I met Marissa last month at an event I was asked to speak at. She was 27 years old and, while attractive, she didn’t turn heads when she walked in the room.

And, she was assertive, but in a serene, comfortable way.

SYSTEM-THE-ROAD-TO-THE-GOAL.

As high achievers usually do, she approached me after my speech and wanted to ask me a few questions about my topic-“How To Be A High Sales Achiever In An Ultra-Competitive Market.”

She asked the question, and scribbled down some of my input. But I could tell something was different about her. So, I asked her how she had climbed to be the top ranked sales person at her software company (a company that has over 100 sales people.)

Here was her formula of how she rose to the top:

1. “I have a web page that offers a free download of a checklist I wrote about how you know if you’re ready for software.” She maintained this was THE thing that was the difference maker. Now, when she’s networking, all she does is meet people, collect their card, and send them a nice email that links to her web page.

NOTE: She spent her own money on the site, the email software behind it, and paid to have the checklist written. This total cost was about $500/year, a pittance when you see her earnings. Read more

Are you trading statements or making conversations?

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The other night I was at a dinner party with a handful of people and noticed an interesting dynamic. There was one gentleman there who was dominating the discussion. He would never ask anybody else a question – but would always have comments and opinions on what others said.

Conversation

As I’ve said before these kinds of people are what I call “reporters.” They aren’t really curious about what you think or what’s going on in your life or what your goals are. They are only wanting to comment on the world. They report to us.

What I noticed is that after 30 minutes, everyone else stopped making true conversation at the table. This was a group of business executives who typically ask each other questions and are curious about how to do things better.

But this one person had so poisoned the well that everyone at the table was doing nothing but reporting, bragging, and one-upsmanship.

I’ve also seen this happen in one-to-one discussions I’ve had with people where others really aren’t curious about knowing who you are and what you’re up to They are more focused on their own pains, strife and suffering – and want to make sure you know all about it.

That is not a conversation. 

When you get into dialogue with these people you realize quickly that your thoughts don’t matter. That your goals don’t matter. In a way, your life doesn’t matter. What matters to them is that they’re getting their point across.

These people suck your energy. Unless they’re family members, they aren’t worth being around.  If I want to be at my best, I need to surround myself with people who inspire me to be at my best – and who I inspire to be at theirs.

So the next time you’re having a “conversation” with someone, test to see if it’s really a conversation or if you’re just trading statements with them. Seek out those people who you can have intelligent two-way dialogue with. If you find yourself asking all the questions about them and they’re asking nothing about you, run quickly.

A Quick Tip On Presenting Internally

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Sales people often say, correctly, that their toughest sale is not the one to the customer – but the one that happens inside their company.

The-Toughest-Sale

In my coaching practice I work with a young lady who is the VP Business Development. She had an occasion to pitch her owner a re-branding initiative that was to cost in the tens of thousands of dollars. But, it was much-needed.

Since I know this President well, I told her I didn’t think he’d go for it, especially if she expressed the costs as she was expressing them to me. He needed something more.

This is where most people make their mistake. They load the proposal up with all of the details of the deliverable. But, that’s not what your executive wants to hear. They want to hear three things:

1. What problem does this solve?

Make sure that when you’re pitching a solution that costs money, you begin with the problem(s) the solution solves. A solution should never be in search of a problem. It should appear as the result of the problem. Keep the focus on the pain/problem that you’re solving.

2. What is the back end?

If we purchased this solution, how much will we save or earn directly because of it? Don’t be too aggressive here. Don’t promise the world. Be realistic, but moreover, walk him/her through the numbers. Your President will always ask the question (to himself), “Do the numbers work?”

3. Step By Step Implementation

I read a stat once that suggested over 70% of implementations fail due to poor planning. He knows this. You know this. The rule is that it always takes 30% longer and costs 30% more than budgeted. Consequently, you had better be specific about EXACTLY how this will be implemented to assure/guarantee success.

Finally, the internal sale must be no different than I would recommend to a client. Be honest. Be authentic. Recognize there are many options your owner/constituent has for where they invest their resources. Therefore, don’t be ‘pitchy’ when making the pitch.

Do You Recognize These 5 Warning Signs of a Bad Prospect?

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There is trouble ahead for you. I bet that right now you have prospects in your sales pipeline that are bad prospects. And it’s time for you to get rid of them.

Bad Prospect Warning Signs

In my sales training and coaching practice, I get clients who call me to strategize on how to close deals. One such client called me this morning. I won’t go into the verbatim of our discussion, but it got me thinking about how we ignore warning signs.

We get so enthusiastic and “needy” that we refuse to look at the truth.

Here are Five Warning Signs that indicate you’re in trouble: Read more