Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action

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Our team is meeting with a strategic planner today an before we meet with him, we were instructed to watch a few videos.

This one in particular really hit home for me!  I can guarantee it will inspire you to look at yourself, your business and your message in a different way.

About the Video

Simon Sinek has a simple but powerful model for inspirational leadership all starting with a golden circle and the question “Why?” His examples include Apple, Martin Luther King, and the Wright brothers …

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!

Do you agree with Simon?  Why do you do what you do?

 

3 Strikes and You’re Out – How Bad Impressions Can Cause A Prospect To Run!

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I’m sure we’ve all heard that saying, but it’s important because it applies to many aspects of life – interviews, dating, networking and presentations.

A few weeks ago, I reached out to a company via email to determine if their services fit our needs.   The owner contacted me a few days later and we discussed the purpose of my email.   I clearly explained what we were looking for and we then set a time to meet.

 

STRIKE ONE!

Upon arrival, the entire staff greeted me, that’s all fine and dandy, but I was blind-sided because I didn’t expect them to join us for the meeting.

So how did that make me – the prospect – feel in this situation? Confused. If your prospect is confused within 5 minutes of meeting you, then you’ve struck out.

√ THE LESSON: HAVE A CLEAR AGENDA AND MENTION ALL THE KEY PLAYERS PRIOR TO A MEETING WITH A PROSPECT OR CLIENT.

Before you meet with a prospect and even a client, send them a CLEAR outline.  The idea is to share the content of the meeting and inform them of other people who might join the meeting.

In our eBook, Email It – A Seller’s Guide to Emails That Work, we lay out the framework of how it might sound.  One of the pre-written emails, specifically Email The Agenda Upfront, we lay how to write this email.

Here’s a checklist of things you should put in the upfront agenda:

  • What you’d like to discuss in broad terms
  • Ask them if there is anything else they’d like to discuss
  • Introduce other people who might join the meeting
  • Anything they should bring (if this applies)

**This gets back to the premise that a person with a plan will be in control of the process and will create a great impression! After all, I’m sure you don’t want to confuse or surprise your prospect.

 

STRIKE TWO!

At the beginning of the meeting, each employee stared at me like a deer in headlights.  Clearly none of them knew what we were meeting about.

√ LESSON: EMAIL THE AGENDA TO ALL PEOPLE ATTENDING THE MEETING.

Use common sense.  If you’re bringing a colleague, your boss, a friend or whomever into a meeting with a prospect or client– always fill them in on ALL the details beforehand!

 

STRIKE THREE!

Don’t suggest the FULL enchilada unless you know all your prospect’s problems.

The company recommended the entire enchilada—after blindly diagnosing my pains and problems.  Little did they know, the tasty taco would have fixed my problems.

√ LESSON: ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS BEFORE YOU OFFER SOLUTION.

One IMPORTANT part of the sales process is to find the Compelling Reason for change.  As sales professionals, we have to get to the bottom of why a prospect would change what they are doing now to a new solution.

Here are some optimum questions we recommend you ask to find pain:

  1. “What do you see as the biggest issue keeping you from your vision?”
  2. “Why is that a problem?”
  3. “What have you done in the past to fix it?”
  4. “What happens if you decide not to take action?”
  5. “How much does it cost you to have these problems?”

Babe Ruth said, “Don’t let the fear of striking out hold you back.”  But if you only have three chances to hit a home run, then why not put your best foot forward and make a great impression?

 

When One Picture Equals 62 Slides

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When we have a big presentation, why do we reach for the slide deck?

Isn’t it funny how distasteful we find PowerPoints to be when we’re on the recipient end, but how intriguing and inviting they become when we’re the ones giving the presentation?

I was speaking with a potential client the other day and asked them what their typical process was when a customer called and wanted information. He sheepishly said that they went out and gave a slide deck presentation.  When I asked how many slides there were, he responded, “62 – and growing.”

Sixty-two slides and growing!?  “Yes,” they said.

They began presentations a few years ago with a deck of 12 slides, but the Marketing Department and the subject matter guys were always wanting to add slides to be more specific about the results that a customer can expect. And now it’s up to 62 slides.

The Antidote for the 62-Slide Deck

Yes, there is an antidote for this slide deck disease and that is the Cornerstone Slide.

This is the one slide that you reveal at the beginning of any presentation that depicts the typical pain the customer will go through in the absence of your solution.  Preferably, it has no words on it, but instead, a graphic illustration or a drawing of your customer’s problem.

This could be a stick figure illustration or a high-end graphic illustration, but regardless, when a customer sees the slide and hears your explanation, they should be able to pinpoint exactly what their issue is.

We’ve watched organizations do away with the 61 other slides and just use the Cornerstone Slide because it’s the thing that engages the prospect at a deeper level of the brain than a slide with 1,000 words on it.

So rather than continuing to add slides so that in two years it becomes 102-slide deck, go back to the basics and do one really good slide up front.  You may find the rest are irrelevant.

Caution: Your marketing people may not like that (they actually will NOT like that), but your customers will and probably will buy more.

What Happens When Neediness Permeates Everything You Do?

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Are you desperate for results?  Do you really need a sale to feel good about yourself?

When we ask those questions in our sales programs, we get a resounding “NO!!!”  But the fact is, that when you listen to most people’s sales pitch and sales process, it is threaded with an element of neediness and desperation throughout.

It’s not the sort of neediness that’s exhibited by begging.  It’s much more subtle than that.

It’s that time during a presentation when you say, “So what do you think?”  Or that time at the very beginning of the process when you fail to plant your feet on solid ground and instead, follow the customer’s process and do so gladly because you think the odds will increase of you making the sale.

Here are three things you can do immediately to end the pitiful approach of neediness:

1. Want nothing.

The more “want” you have in the process, the more likely you are to slip and sound needy.  (Actually, you don’t just “sound” needy, you are needy.)  We say in our work, the only selling that should be happening in the sales cycle is the prospect selling you on why they have a problem that they need solved.

The idea of you selling them is antiquated.

2. Stay detached.

In my book, Same Game New Rules, I devote a chapter to it called “Detachment Increases Power”. I mention:

“Unfortunately, detachment and the ability to let go are not natural characteristics in any of us.  From the time we were kids, we were taught to hang on to what we had….”

Amateur salespeople always tend to have their eye on the prize – the order – the close – the commission.  But as long as you’re focused on that end result (your prize), the less apt you are to be detached during the cycle and therefore, the less power you have.

Why are we always the ones squirming?  You would think if we really believed in our solution the way we say we do, it would be the prospect squirming because they may not get access to it.  But that’s not the way it usually is.

3. A REAL Belief in Your Value.

There are two faces to this thing that we talk a lot about called “value”.  One is the product or service representation of value.  That might be the results that a customer can expect to see as a result of using your service or the distinguishing characteristics that make your product truly unique.

But there’s also another phase of value and that is your value.  Yes, as a sales professional or as a technical resource or as a subject matter expert.  This is the one that we take for granted and rarely work on and yet, this is the exact one that will make it easy for you to distinguish yourself from the pack. 

What are you doing to bring value to the relationship, not through your product or service, but through you?

Neediness is deadly.  When exhibited at the wrong time, it can turn a perfect sales process into a loss.

The instant you become needy, the prospect gets uncomfortable because deep down, their lizard brain is asking themselves, “Why should I buy from him if he seems so needy?  There seems to be danger here.” And there might be.

So lose the neediness and desperation.  Really lose it and watch your control of the sales process increase.

3 Tips On Selling A Premium Product in a Commodity Market

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A few years ago, I did a Webinar called “How to Sell A Premium Product in a Commodity Market.” It was one of our best attended webinars we’ve ever done.

Lots of interest in the topic – and I believe I know why.

In this article, I want to update some of the content and give you a couple more ideas.  I picked this topic because it is an ongoing area of concern for sales people – how to sell a premium product into a market that sees price as THE main driver.

Why it’s so tough.

Think about it. We live in a “price leads” society. Advertisers have led us on a race to the bottom by the constant drumbeat of, “Lowest Prices In The Industry!” Or, “We’ll Beat ANY Price!” I know you’ll say, “But I’m not in the retail game.” No, you aren’t. But do you see the attitude that they’ve placed in the minds of buyers?

So the context is that even though your buyer might not jump to “What’s your price?” they certainly have it on their radar.

Here are four notions that I suggest you consider as you extract yourself form the “commodity dungeon” where the only important issue is price:

1. Position Your Self Properly.

Interesting thing about positioning is that it’s not just about what you say – it’s about how you say it. Sales people spend so much time concerned with the “what” and ignore the “how.”

And that’s wrong.

Regardless of your word choice (you’ll have to decide that), the essence of your message should be centered around ‘the types of problems that you solve.’ That’s right – no enthusiastic sales pitches about how great you are – or how smart your team is. None of that.

Frame your ‘premium value’ around the pains and problems that prospects face. Some of those problems they know they have. Some they’re oblivious to. But either way, begin the conversation there.

Be a problem solver not a product seller. There is a trap waiting for you. The prospect sets it and you fall right into it. It happens when the prospect shows interest and you default to “the pitch.”

Instead, when your prospect shows interest in the types of problems you solve, refrain from pitching the product and spend more time diagnosing what that problem means to him. This one thing can do more to change your position (in the prospect’s mind) and help them see that your premium fee is worth it.

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Three Tips for a Modern Presentation

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Last week a client asked us into his office to review his presentation on a massive project he was bidding on.

He told me upfront that he didn’t do a lot of these presentations so he was a little bit rusty.

As we watched him go through the presentation, I could tell that there were some presentation principles that he’d missed. No fault of his. He just wasn’t skilled in this area.

So I wanted to give you a recap of three tips that he used that tremendously improved his presentation to his prospects.

Tip 1: Pictures speak louder than words

Always, always, always have a visual diagram or illustration of the value that you bring. Perhaps it’s a circle divided into five components or a pentagram that is divided up into easy segments but you need to have a visual representation of the process you take people through or the value you bring.

Tip 2: Always start with a story

People love stories. You’re presentations will be remembered a lot longer and will be a lot more compelling if you can weave personal stories of tragedy and triumph into the presentation. Perhaps you can start with the standard “story of woe”. That’s the story of a prospect who was struggling and came to you for a solution. You can tell your audience what they went through, what some of the problems were and the process you used to help them alleviate the pain. Make it real and make it compelling.

Tip 3: Make sure you’re answering the real question

Throughout your presentation you will have questions from the audience. A mistake we see salespeople make is they answer the question that’s posed instead of getting to the real question before you submit an answer.

A good way to test this is if you answer a question and nobody says anything, chances are you’ve not answered the right question. A good way to clarify the question is, “To help me answer the question better, I would like to understand a little bit more about it and about why you asked it.”

This wasn’t an exhaustive list of all the points we recommended he changed but I thought these were three of the most important that can help you make a more modern, compelling and convincing presentation to your prospects.

3 Questions To Always Ask on Your First Sales Call

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As sales trainers, we are guilty of making the sales process much more complex than it needs to be.  There are a limitless number of options and objections that a prospect can give to you throughout the sales process, and so we make an effort to understand and counteract each one.

But that is a mistake. Instead, we should be focused on one thing: The First Call.

Because if the first call doesn’t go right, then the third call won’t go right.  Consequently, in an effort to make to the first call correct, then you need to ask these three very simple questions of the prospect in whatever format you choose to ask them.

1.  What’s the problem?

It occurred to us that the percentage of salespeople who counsel never get to the question of “what’s your problem?”  After all, what else is move pertinent in the sales cycle than your solution matching up to a problem the customer has?

Once you can get to the point where you have a “spot-on” solution for the customer’s problem:

  • price is irrelevant
  • terms are irrelevant
  • what you’re wearing is irrelevant.

But how often do we all spend way too much time in the sales strategy meetings working on the irrelevant? Read more

How To Write An Email To A Resistant Prospect

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In this tutorial, Bill Caskey, author of Email It — A Seller’s Guide To Emails That Work, discusses one of the most stressful emails a salesperson needs to write.

Maybe you’ve had a prospect who suddenly begins to resist your offer. Bill walks through the exact words you should use in that email.

You can learn more tips on how to write emails to a prospect or your client at: http://emailitsellersguide.com/

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How To Write Business Emails That Get Results – Email Tips for Salespeople

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Sales people, business leaders and marketing types are always looking for the magic dust when it comes to writing emails.

Well, in this video, you’ll see why most ‘persuasion techniques’ fail when it comes to email. It’s not because your writing is weak.

It’s not because you use the wrong font. It’s much deeper than that. It has to do with the state of mind you’re in when you write them.

And once you’re done with the video, head over to http://emailitsellersguide.com/ to check out the 20 most common scenarios that create ’email opportunities.’ I think you’ll find some you recognize.