One Hour of Goal Setting

As part of my sales training for my clients, we hold monthly telephone calls with small groups of sales people. On those calls, we talk about deals they struggle with, opportunities they see and tactics on how to land those prospects.

On a recent call, I was asked about goal setting. Specifically, “How much time should we spend in goal setting activities?”

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My answer surprised them. I suggested that for every hour they spend setting goals, they should spend 20 hours planning them out. 20 hours!!!??!

The idea with “goal planning” is to give yourself a roadmap of EXACTLY how you will accomplish the goal.

Doubling Your Business

Let’s say you have a goal to double your business in the next year. Pretty awesome goal I’d say! But before you hit the streets to accomplish it, write it out on a piece of paper, place it in front of you and set aside 4 hours for Goal Planning. Read more

Selling Isn’t Meant To Be A Struggle

51pCTMwjjLL._SX355_BO1,204,203,200_One of my favorite books of all time was a 60-pager written by Stuart Wilde called, “Life Was Never Meant to be a Struggle.”

In this book, he addresses how life demands effort, but not struggle. As he defines it, “struggle is effort, laced with negative emotion.”

In sales, we struggle a lot, don’t we? Struggle to get an appointment. Struggle to get to the right person. Struggle to position our product in the best possible light. Struggle to close the sale.

But, should we feel ‘struggle?’ I don’t think so.

Life-Not-Struggle

In markets that are abundant, you should be on the lookout for “ideal fit” between your customer’s pain and aspirations, and your solution. If there is no ideal fit, then you must move on.

Traditionalists among you will say, “No, Bill, you must be persistent and press hard to make the sale.”

Really? Is that really what you think? Sounds like struggle to me.

Instead….

1. Be clear about the value you bring. How can you determine an “ideal fit” if you aren’t quite sure of the value you bring and what problems it will solve for the customer? Bullet-list the elements of your value so you can become clearer about it.

Another bulleted list you should make is the characterization of your ideal client. Do they have money? Are they interested in growth? Do they look outside for help? Do they respect your ideas?

These two lists should be the filters that you shoot prospects through to see if you should spend one more minute with them.

2. Align behavior with purpose.  If you struggle in a component of the sales process, say lead generation, then you aren’t looking at it correctly. I had a mentor who said, “If you’re feeling pressure, you’re doing something wrong.” This is why I say, “align with purpose.” This means to state what your purpose is in your profession.

If it’s to make a lot of money for yourself, then you aren’t operating from a place of High Intent. Every thing that happens to you in the sales process will be seen as a threat to your core purpose.

But if your purpose is to be a hero to your target audience…or to serve them exquisitely…or to solve the biggest problems they have, then you are “on purpose” and in sync with what they want. You both want the same ting.

And when you are on purpose, prospecting behavior will never be a struggle. 

3. Take the pressure off early. Tell the customer upfront that it’s OK if this is not a fit. Why would you have any other point of view than that? If it’s not a fit in his/her eyes, are you going to continue to hang around? No, of course not.

But by saying it…out loud…you separate yourself from the hundreds of amateurs who have come before you.

When you apply pressure, you are not in-disposable. Your are DISPOSABLE.And if you are disposable (or feel like you are), you will struggle in the profession.

Let me know how you do at implementing these three simple ideas!

What You Can Learn About Achievement From The Stacey Dash Interview?

Recently, Stacey Dash (unknown to me until I saw this and researched her) was on Meredith Vieria. Personally, I don’t watch Vieria mainly because of the tact she took in this “interview.” The video is below.  Watch it, then come back and read on.

I love this girl! Unafraid to speak on a hot, controversial issue, and speak her truth.

I hear this all the time: “My territory isn’t large enough.” “My compensation plan isn’t fair enough.” “People don’t answer the phone like they used to.” “Prospects lie.” “I can’t get referrals anymore.” My company doesn’t invest in me.” “My company has no vision.”

All of these statements (and Meredith’s unbelievably arrogant questions) are perfect examples of our buy-in to a victim mentality. And it wears us out. Actually, it renders us unable to adopt a stance of personal empowerment.
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The Average Of 5 People

On this week’s audio post, I want you to evaluate who you spend most of your time with. Are you surrounding yourself with people that you admire and look up to? The people you choose to be around are a direct reflection of who you will become. The rule is, you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.

Fear Gets In The Way Of Intention

Do you ever feel self-conscious during a call with a prospect? When that fear creeps in all your prior intentions go right out the window. If you are focused on yourself, you are focused on the wrong person. You are there to help them solve their burdens. When you are fearful, it keeps them from getting the solution they really need.

When You’re in a Dip, Do These 7 Things

Since I coach people, I’m privy to their psychology. Often, my coaching clients come to me in a bad state of mind. They’re in what I call, “a dip.”

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Let’s get this straight, the dip is a signal that your state of mind is off. You are out of sync. There is nothing wrong with you. There IS something wrong with the conditions you’ve created. Oh, and something else – I am not a psychiatrist. If your dip lasts longer than a few weeks, probably should get professional help.

But for most of us these few ideas can get us started.

Here are seven ideas I gave to a client who came to me about a month ago. He was a super high achiever, but he wasn’t in the right mental framework, and he felt it.

1. On Outcomes. Stop trying. Stop trying to make friends. Stop trying to get deals. Stop trying to get the outcomes that you believe you deserve. We call this “detachment.” The more emphasis you put on your outcomes, the less likely you are to run the process well. Let outcomes come to you. Go out and be interested in others. Be a good listener. Be curious (which I know you are), but let it happen if it’s supposed to happen. Read more

How Do You Build a High Performance Sales Culture?

As part of my coaching and training work, I see sales culture problems everywhere. Yes, we train sales people. Yes, we coach leaders. And little of that has any impact on culture.

'If-you-want-to-learn-about-the-culture,

So what does? The quote says it all: Stories. Read more

3 Things You Can Do To Challenge The Sales Status Quo

Status quo is a Latin phrase meaning the “existing state of affairs.”

Sales Training - Challenge The Status Quo

In my sales training practice, I watch sales teams continue to do the same things, over and over, and expect results to be different. I hear them say, “Well, if I could just do more…” But the correct way to challenge it is not to do more. It is to do different.

Here are three things you can begin doing immediately, that cost you NO MONEY, but that begins to challenge existing paradigms. Read more

Winning People Over Is a Horrible Sales Strategy

The topic below will be addressed in an upcoming webinar, Calling On The Right Person, on February 21, 2014. To learn more, go to:

http://caskeyone.com/onlinelearningseries.

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Think about how much time in life we spend trying to “win people over?” It could happen in a job interview. Or a romantic pursuit. Or in the quest for a sale.

After 22 years in the sales training business, I conclude that strategy is hopeless.

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