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The High Hazard of High Emotion

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We love emotion don’t we? When we see a coach ranting and raving on the sideline, we say, “Boy, look at that passion!!” Usually, what we mean is “He’s come unhinged-but it’s for a good cause.”

But is out-of-control emotion all it’s cracked up to be in the sales cycle? I say, “No.” Here’s why.

We have a saying in our business when we’re working with clients: “The only emotion that should be seen is the prospect’s demonstration of emotion of why they need to fix their problem.” Not only does your emotion (desire to sell the product, desire for the resulting income, ego satisfaction) not help, it hurts the process.

You want the prospect’s emotion to fill the air and the space between you and him. The more your emotion is on display, the less room there is for theirs to play out.

Catch Yourself

Believe me, this is hard for me to do…and I see it difficult for others. When your points are falling flat and your customer resorts to “Your price is too high,” you WILL get emotional. But it won’t come out as passion…yelling…screaming. It will come out as defensive. And the instant you go defensive, you’ve lost the battle.

Write down the thing that your prospect commonly says that drives you crazy. Then come up with a strategy/device so that when they say it, you stay calm and in the moment. Then you can, logically, walk thru how they got to that decision/conclusion.

And, of course, practice detachment. If it is not meant to be, then you must move on. But don’t use detachment as a way out of the process. Detachment is merely a ‘way of being’ so that you can logically sort out the truth.

You Might Be Calling on Someone Who Hates Their Job. What Should Your Sales Strategy Be?

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This fits in the category of “things-you-should-be-aware-of-that-are-under-the-radar-screen.”

Our friends at Walker Information just released their 2007 Walker Loyalty report. Surprisingly, employee loyalty leveled off in the last year to 34% of employees being TRULY LOYAL.

Every sales company on the planet should read this report in it’s entirety. Why?

According to the Walker Report, there’s a 1 in 2 chance (59%) you’re calling on someone right now who isn’t particularly ecstatic about their job. (Walker calls that TRAPPED or NEGATIVE about their job). So how much of a champion do you think they’re going to be for your cause if their heart isn’t in theirs? Not much.

Most of the study has to do with what employers should do in light of this data.

But, you should read this report with an eye toward your prospect and how you call on them. We’ve been preaching (sometimes it feels that way) for decades on how you should talk to ALL STAKEHOLDERS of the problems you’re trying to solve — not just the decision maker.

By doing so, you eliminate the risk of putting all your eggs in one basket (one person).

According to the data, If you look at your sales pipeline right now (sales funnel) you can safely conclude that half of your contacts are in that area of Not Truly Loyal employees. Sales Managers – talk about that at your next sales meeting. See if there are some sales strategies you can execute to address that issue.  Ignore this one at your own peril.

The Ultimate Selling Strategy: Change Your Thinking.

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I got a call from a client last week. She had just begun our program with her company and had heard us talk about “changing how you think” in order to get better results. We hadn’t yet gotten into the details of that, but since she called, I shared with her the five areas of change needed to radically change results.

I hope you can use this information to achiever better sales/business results for yourself. We’ll probably do a podcast (The Advanced Selling Podcast) on it soon.

=1 Change how you think about yourself. Most of us see ourselves as victims in a big economy–held hostage by market forces and company forces. We are quick to blame others for our malaise. That’s what’s so cool about sales–it’s up to you. It’s your accountability that is THE factor in whether you’re a success or not. See yourself as an abundant being on a mission to bring value to your customers. Whether they buy or not–or whether they buy on your time line–is irrelevant. All that matters is that you’re in the present moment with them while in conversation about their pains/issues/matters of the heart. The greatest sales strategies in the world won’t work if you aren’t thinking correctly about your self in the sales process.

=2 Change how you think about your market potential. Most markets are abundant. Yet, when I hear salespeople talk about their sales funnel, it appalls me at how scarcely they see things. Your market is in a lot of pain that they need you to fix for them. Never forget that. And because there is an abundance of pain–and an abundance of money available to fix that pain–then you are in an abundant market. Period. Never let the scarcity of another (even a prospect) effect you.

=3  Change how you think about your roles as a sales professional. This is cool and very simple. Your role in the sales process is to create an environment for the truth to occur. You have to create a safe atmosphere where your prospect is so comfortable telling you the truth, that it’s easier to do that than to lie to you. You’ve heard the expression “buyers are liars.” Well, it’s only because amateur sales people drop into “convince and persuade” mode and make them lie. If you’re creating the right environment, buyers won’t lie.

=4  Change how you think about your value. The value you bring to customers hovers around the intersection of THEIR PAIN and YOUR SOLUTION. Stop thinking your value is all about your benefits and features. Your benefits are only relevant if they have a pain and they believe you have a solution for it. NEVER LEAD WITH YOUR VALUE. Lead with them telling you their problems–and you determining if you can help them. Most corporate selling strategies lead with how great they are for the client. If your a prospect, do you want to hear that?

=5  Change how you think about the sales process. “OK class, who should control the sales process? The one with the money?” NO. THe one wtih the solution. Most sales people get this wrong. But you can only control the sales process to the extent you change your thinking on #1-4. If you merely try to exert control of the sales process without work on #1-4, then you’ll appear crass and amateurish.

So that was my answer to my client. Obviously, in training, I go into much more detail, but thought you’d maybe get a little something from that.

Any comments? I know someone will take me to task for something I said (or didnt’ say), so have at it. And recognize that a change in sales results starts in the mind–not in the market.