Rule #23 – Know Upfront…

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Have an upfront understanding prior to a sales call.

I’ve been called on by a lot of sales people over the years. And few–very few–ever tell me what the call is going to look like. They never send an agenda upfront–they never tell me the process they’ll use–they never tell me what the outcome could be.

Shame…shame…shame….

If you are in professional sales–and make face to face calls on prospects, Rule #23 says, always have an upfront agreement prior to the call. What that means is have a conversation with your prospect on the phone talking about the topics of conversation for the meeting–maybe some of the questions you’ll ask–and maybe what the potential outcomes are (we meet again, we abort the process). Have a “process” agenda.

We always speak the line, “I respect your time,” yet when it comes down to it, very few of us respect our prospect’s time by sharing an agenda for the call, upfront. Do it and watch the level of truthfulness soar.

Are Your Canaries Still Breathing?

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You know the story of how canaries were used in coal mines–miners would take the birds down because their metabolism was sensitive to poisonous fumes. If the canary died, that was a leading indicator of danger for the miners.

As an advanced sales professional, you have to have your own set of canaries to serve as indicators for what’s happening to you in the sales process. The best indicators are words used by both you and your prospects. Here are three phrases that are warning signs your sales process is in trouble.

[1] “This is a done deal.” Typicalliy this is spoken by you when descibring the deal to your manager. As a sales coach, when I hear a person say this, I know the deal is in trouble. If you feel a deal is a “done deal,” then you will get sloppy. Usually, this sloppiness happens at exactly the wrong time in the process. If you find yourself saying this–or your people say it to you—beware. The deal is about to unravel.

[2] “That was a very good presentation.”  Usually spoken by a propsect after a lame presentation. You don’t want your presentations to be “good,” you want them to move people to “action.” When I hear I did a “good job” I know I fell short. If you hear that, say to the prospect, “I’m not sure I hit the mark. What didn’t you like about it?”

[3] “He just needs a little more information.”  Usually spoken by a sales person after the prospect has asked for more stuff. I have some bad news…there is never enough stuff (info) to share. If you’re hoping to fill up the belief gap (that gap that must be filled before a prospect will believe you have the right solution and act on it) with information, you’re dreaming. More information never sold anyone. What sells people is the pain they experience by not getting what you have. IF you can’t communicate that, then you’ll keep believing that information is what’s lacking.

These are just a few indicators that your sales process is messed up. I coach people that it’s better to do something about these indicators when you hear them, than to have your head in the sand.

Habits To Break

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Since the name of this blog is called Advanced Selling Strategies, I can think of no better post than to coach you a bit on “habits to break.” I see these habits so ingrained that you may not even think they are ‘bad.’ But they are.

[1]  Talking Excessively. I know–this doesn’t sound very advanced–but it’s simple. Just shut up and stop convincing people of how much you know. Let your buyer work a little bit. They will.

[2]  Presenting Before You Know The Problem. It’s hard isn’t it? Every fiber in your body is screaming to present your knowledge. But if you do it too quickly, they won’t have a chance to *make the connection* between what you have and what they need.

[3]  Doing Something Without an Agreement.  What that means is if someone asks you, as a sales person, to give them a price or give them a demo, slow down. Don’t do it unless you have a fairly good understanding of what will happen next. You control the process so never do anything without a clear agreement.

[4]  Having a Meeting Without an Agenda.  I see this mistake made even by seasoned pros. Always have an agenda on a first call. You can send it to them in advance, or you can bring it with you. But have one. It helps you. It helps them. Stop winging it.

[5]  Saving The Money Discussion for the End. In the sales process, talk about money early–right after the prospect admits his problems to you. You bring it up. But always do it in the context of the cost of the problem to be fixed. There are two sides to the economics discussion–the cost of the problem, and the cost of the solution. Cover both. Don’t let your buyer talk about the *price* side only.

One Great Question

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Sometimes a client will ask a question that I don’t know how to answer. I had just such a situation last week, which prompted me to write this and add an Audio.

“What is The Ideal Sales Process?”

As long as I’d been in training I don’t think I’d thought about that–from the very beginning (in the marketing stage). So I went into the studio and recorded this Advanced Lesson.

Download IdealSalesProcss11khz.mp3  (Dnload Time: :03 Secs./Listening Time: Approx 12 Mins)

A Simpler Way to Beat the Competition

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Link: A Simpler Way to Beat the Competition.

STRATEGY is hard, and most business books that have tried to explain it haven’t made it easier. I like the idea that the traditional strategy is dead.

I prefer these three books, all of which I’ve purchased.

Sure We’re Sane, Or Are We?

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I’ve always heard the definition of insanity is: Doing the same thing and expecting different results. But I happened on another definition the other day that I think it applies to the business world. That definition is: Trying to manage things we can’t control.

When you think about it there’s a whole lot more things we can’t control than can. Yet we make a valiant effort to create certain outcomes–when certain outcomes are going to happen no matter how bad we want them.

Take the average sales process.

We work, and we work, and we work trying to create an optimum process that ushers people from the suspect stage to the prospect stage to the client stage. Granted there is quite a bit of “influence” we can have on that process. But control it? No way.

So in my training I tell people that creating some influence and input into the process is quite sane. Trying to control it is total insanity.  By determining what is “in” and “out” of our control we can create a clearer pattern of thinking that allows us to do the next right thing in an attempt to influence the outcome of the sale–yet stop short of driving ourselves crazy when we are dealing with complex, irrational (and sometimes insane) buyers.

Raise The Yellow Flag!

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It’s your responsibility as the seller to raise the yellow flags. What are yellow flags? They are those objections that customers usually raise–but in our method, it’s up to us to raise.

If you are going to control the sales process–which you should–then you have to be the one raising objections. The person with the power in the sales process is the one with the objections. That’s why we teach salespeople never, ever try to overcome the prospect’s objection.

Instead, think of all the things that could get in the way of the sale and make that your Yellow Flag List. Not talking to the right person? Yellow Flag it. Never bought from you before? Yellow Flag it. They haven’t convinced you they really have a problem worth solving? Yellow Flag it.

Stop using the old selling system of Persuade, Convince and Defend. Instead, be more discernng about who you work with. Make them come to you!

THE PATHETIC RESUME

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Have you ever seen a bad resume? I haven’t. And it’s time I did. Let me tell you why.

Every resume reader is skeptical of what he reads. Here’s what I think when I read a glowing resume: If this guy were that good, then why is he looking for a job? Or, “if he’s that good, why did his last company let him leave (or let him go)?”

You know my rule: everyone lies. Consequently, here is my dream cover letter that accompanies the resume:

“Thanks for reading this. As you may have seen from my resume, I’ve bounced around a lot in the last five years. I’m not proud of it but it’s a fact. Quite frankly, I haven’t found a company that I want to devote the rest of my life to. Maybe yours is that company. Maybe not.

“I believe that I bring enormous value to an organization. I have listed all of my accomplishments on the resume. However, that means nothing if it isn’t what you’re looking for in an associate. So that brings me to my request. Please read the resume and call me to talk about whether you think I can be of value to your company.  I think we’ll be able to tell pretty quickly.

“If you’re looking for wild promises and embellished accomplishments, you won’t find it from me. I will tell you the truth about what I’m looking for and you can do the same. Regards, Truth Teller.”

Let me know when you get that cover letter. And give that person a shot.

When Will They Learn Not To Close?

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What is there about health clubs that turns nice, normal people into hammering sales people. I visited a local (new) health club this weekend. I’d had it with rain, cold and snow and their interference with my health. Rachel was my “tour guide” (a.k.a. pressure sales person).

I know that she wanted to care about my well-being–that she was interested in me as a person–yet when a prospect walked in the door (me), all of that care went out the window, in favor of the health club sales training she had received. She wouldn’t tell me the price until she gave me the tour. (And she wouldn’t give me the tour until I filled out the paper work with 5 other sales people looking over my shoulder.)

She had to tell me all about the features of the equipment. She never let me ask any questions, for fear that I would take back control. After 10 minutes, she put the close on me: “Mr. Caskey, if you sign up today, I can knock $100 off the upfront fee” (she never told me what that fee was.)

As I looked around and saw one person working out — which told me their sales process wasn’t working too well (it was a Saturday morning at 9:00–prime time for a health club), I had a question: Why do they treat people that way? Do they really think they’re calling on bozos? Do they not think we know what they’re trying to do? She lost me and a lifetime value, perhaps in the thousands of my dollars.

If they paid me to come in for a day and work with them…I would have told them a) find out why the person walked in the door, b) offer me a drink, a coffee or something so I feel part of the family, c) tell me the price upfront so that I can spend the tour justifying the price, (rather than spend the tour wondering how she’s going to close me) and d) give me a weekend pass (or even a week- remember there was no one there so the week pass costs them nothing). With the pass, I can get to know the staff, get comfortable with the radios and tvs and equipment.

If I owned the club, I would even throw in a free hour of personal training (invest small money to make big money). Why is this so tough? It’s not. They make it that way. Everyone lost. I lost because I still don’t have a place to work out. And they lost because they didn’t get my money (and a new member, who can refer them to hundreds of others). They just don’t understand the economics. Have you had similar experiences?