The Selling Sherpa

TIME HAS COME TODAY

No matter how efficient we are with our time, there is always a list of things we plan to get to someday “when I have more time.”

It might be family stuff, or cleaning up files in your computer, or making the rounds to see all of your customers just to say “thank you!” Or there may be a special project that you have been putting off that could make a huge difference in how you sell. What about that book or audio tape you bought but haven’t read or listened to yet?

Well, guess what? Time has come today. February 29 is the bonus day you have been waiting for!

Today is the little something extra (in Louisiana, they call it “lagniappe”) that we get every time Leap Year rolls around.

It’s an extra selling day, a bonus networking day, a value-added education/administration day...or, if you didn’t plan for it, it’s just another Friday.

Did you make a plan for today? Shouldn’t you make a plan for every day?

TROUBLE

You want to have the best quality customer you can find, and that means clients that always pay what they owe when it is due.

There are early warning signs of a company in trouble and, if you heed them, you’ll know when to require ‘cash and carry’ from them.

Some signs include:

• High turnover, especially on the sales team. If your client loses 50% of their employees in less than 3 months, watch out.

• High attrition of client’s customer base. If THEIR customers are turning elsewhere for solutions, that’s a real problem.

• Significant communication problems. If they forget their promises, or recall different conversations, be cautious.

• Recurrent accounting errors. If payments are missed because of an “error in accounting”, those “errors” will likely continue.

if you see any of the signs above, be very cautious about engaging that prospect.

THANK YOU

When was last time you received a ‘thank you’ note? Not an email or phone call, but a hand-written, specific ‘thank you’ note?

Chances are it has been awhile. But chances are also good you remember who sent it to you and why they sent it.

With so much technology at our disposal, a hand-written ‘thank you’ is a rarity, and that is why you feel so good about receiving one and why you still remember the last one you received.

What would your customer feel about you if you sent them a hand-written, specific ‘thank you’ note? Would you stand out from all the other salespeople clamoring for their time, their business, their money?

Make being thankful a daily priority. Find a reason to send at least one ‘thank you’ card a day, and you will soon have even more to be thankful about.

FEED YOUR HEAD

One of the most dangerous things a salesperson can do is reach a point where they believe they know it all.

When that happens, complacency sets in and very soon the bottom will drop out.

Don’t let it happen to you. Become a perpetual student of selling. Read the books. Listen to the audios. Attend every seminar you can reasonably afford.

Continue to feed your head with information, ideas, and strategies that you can use to set yourself apart from the great mass of salespeople who think they know it all.

[P.S. - Thank you for allowing me to feed your head with what I have learned in over 2 decades of selling!]

(DON’T) ANSWER THE PHONE

How would you, as a customer, feel if a salesperson stopped a conversation with you to take a call on their cell phone?

I suspect you would think the salesperson believes you are not very important to them.

So how do you think your customers would feel if you did that?

Show prospects and clients some courtesy by turning off the cell. Or, if you leave it on and it rings in the middle of your conversation, don’t answer the phone.

The most important person is the one that is right in front of you, and you must not give them any reason to think otherwise.

Selling Sherpa’s Option: I leave my cell phone on, but in a vibrate mode. If I get a call during a meeting or presentation, I make a point of not even looking at the incoming number while turning off the vibrate ringer. That clearly shows my customer just how important they are to me.

DON’T GIVE UP

Statistics reveal that, on average, 80% of sales are made after the fourth call on a prospect.

Funny thing is, approximately 75% of salespeople stop calling the prospect after three attempts. Which is sad, because they are missing a ton of business that is only one more contact away.

In the world of selling, you simply cannot afford to throw in the towel too soon. You have to remain persistent, positive, and persuasive until you get the sale. If you don’t, your competition may earn the sale that should have been yours.

The message is clear: don’t give up!

Remain consistent and steadfast in your efforts, because you never know when those efforts will pay off.

CONNECTED

You have more contacts than you realize. And they are just waiting for you to get connected with them.

I am talking about that business card collection in your desk. The time has come to connect with these people to find out what they are doing now, how you can help them, and, perhaps, how they can help you in return.

Will it be awkward to call them now after so much time has passed? Yep.

Will it be worth the effort? Absolutely!

Schedule 1 call a week to an old contact, by the end of the year your networking base will have increased by at least a dozen people. Schedule 1 per day, and your base can increase by over 50 people before the new year.

How do you reconnect? Here’s the steps I use:
Call.
Say hello.
Remind them who I am.
Explain that I am calling because I haven’t called in so long and I just want to connect today so the next call wont be awkward.
Wish them every success in whatever they are doing now. (By the way, what are you doing now?)
Tell them I am networking a lot these days and ask what they need for their business so I can be their “bird dog”.
Encourage them to stay in touch, and tell them I will call again soon.
Conclude the call.

If you really want to build a bigger, better professional network, give this method a try and let me know how it goes.

QUESTION

Yesterday morning, I had the privilege of working with an advertising sales team (my sweet spot!) and we were discussing what would be the perfect sales question. It was a lively discussion and we developed many great questions.

During our session, it occurred to me that the best questions are always those that begin with who, what, when, where, why or how. They are the kind of questions that invite prospects to really become engaged in the process with you.

Funny thing is, simply adding one of those words to a weak question can make it stronger.

For example, asking “can you meet with me?” allows the prospect to say “no”; asking “when can you meet with me?” clearly suggests the meeting will take place and it is just a matter of when.

If you ever catch yourself asking a question that doesn’t use who, what, when, where, why or how, stop and rephrase the question using one of these powerful words, and you will elevate the level of engagement with your prospect.

SHUT UP

In the world of professional selling, sometimes you just have to know when to shut up.

One great time to keep mum is immediately upon sharing with your prospect the price of what you are selling. I can’t count how many salespeople have cornered themselves into a discounting scenario by saying something like, “the regular price is...” or “normally, this sells for...”, both of which imply all the customer has to do is ask for a discount and they will get it.

Another critical time to be quiet is when you ask qualifying questions. Permit your prospect enough time to thoroughly talk about their situation, the solution they need, and why they think you might have the answer.

Finally, when you are networking, you may want to consider letting others talk more while you concentrate on listening. You never know when someone might give you all the inside information you need to make the sale of a lifetime.

INFORMATION

If information is power, you have to know where the get the most up-to-date information to help you become a powerful sales professional

To get the latest information about your prospects, customers, industry and trends, let me recommend Google Alert. You can tell Google to pay attention to certain phrases or names and every day you will get a report on anything new that has been posted on the internet.

If you want to know about a CEO’s activities, background, and affiliations, set an Alert for his name.

If you want to know the latest about a particular company, set an Alert for it’s name.

If you want to stay current on industry trends, set an Alert for whichever industry you want to serve. Or maybe, you can set an Alert for the industry you are in.

This is a tool I use to keep track of my consulting clients, as well as trends in sales and marketing.

Use the information you get from Google Alerts to help you be an expert in your industry (or on your customers), and you’ll be ahead of 90% of your competition.