The Selling Sherpa

Sales Tip of the Day: WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW

 

A couple of years ago, a colleague in broadcast radio was doing an on-air interview with Gwen Stefani as she was embarking on a solo tour away from her band, No Doubt.

The interview was going well...right up until the host asked how Gwen’s dog “Lamb” was doing.  Had her pre-interview research been thorough, she would have known that the pet had passed away earlier that year.  Ouch!

She recovered and managed to make it through the rest of the interview.  Gwen was gracious about it, but I could hear a slight change in her voice and knew it meant she was remembering the sadness of her loss.

When you are on a sales call, you run the same risk when you casually ask your prospect about personal topics (like family, home, politics and religion) or subjects you are not well-versed in.

Don’t talk about what you don’t know about.  If you do, you run the risk of irritating the prospect and making yourself look foolish.

Unless you know the person well, or have done extensive research, your best bet is to stick with what you know: the benefits of your product, service or treatment, and the questions that will lead your prospect to consider purchasing it.

© 2009 YOU ROCK!™ Communications

THE REQUEST LINE IS OPEN! - IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT A SALES OR  MARKETING TOPIC, OR HAVE A SPECIFIC PROBLEM YOU WANT HELP WITH, SEND ME AN E-MAIL WITH FULL DETAILS AND I MAY GIVE YOU SOME ANSWERS IN AN UPCOMING SALES TIP.

Sales Tip of the Day: RIGHT NOW

Borrowing from portions of the music video for Van Halen’s “Right Now”:

    Right now opportunity is passing you by...while you complain that nobody is buying.

    Right now you could be outside...the office meeting people who aren’t customers yet.

    Right now somebody’s got the wrong idea...about what you sell but they could be corrected.

    Right now time is having its way with you...while you wait for someone to call you back.

    Right now keeps happening...whether or not you take action to make a sale.

Do you really want to succeed in sales?  If so, make the decision right now to accept nothing less than your best effort every day.  

Demand more from yourself than any sales manager ever could and you can become the sales champion of your industry.

Decision made?  Good!

Right now, I am going to go make a sale.

What are you going to do?

© 2009 YOU ROCK!™ Communications

THE REQUEST LINE IS OPEN! - IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT A SALES OR  MARKETING TOPIC, OR HAVE A SPECIFIC PROBLEM YOU WANT HELP WITH, SEND ME AN E-MAIL WITH FULL DETAILS AND I MAY GIVE YOU SOME ANSWERS IN AN UPCOMING SALES TIP.

Sales Tip of the Day: HOLD ON

In most organizations, every year comes with a certain level of customer churn; that is, a certain percentage of your existing customers will, for whatever reason, decide to stop buying from you.

Every time you deliver less than they expect, or delay a return call, or fail to bring them more value, you give them one more reason to wonder who might serve them better.  And sometimes they find what they are looking for.

Most sales teams will put an emphasis on identifying, contacting, and convincing new customers to replace those who have left.

Problem is, acquiring new customers usually take a lot more time and effort than it does to keep the ones you got.

So, it stands to reason that you can actually increase overall sales volume by a large margin in less time by simply making it a priority to hold on to the customers you already own.

Use every idea, skill, and tactic to hold on to all of them.

© 2009 YOU ROCK!™ Communications

THE REQUEST LINE IS OPEN! - IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT A SALES OR  MARKETING TOPIC, OR HAVE A SPECIFIC PROBLEM YOU WANT HELP WITH, SEND ME AN E-MAIL WITH FULL DETAILS AND I MAY GIVE YOU SOME ANSWERS IN AN UPCOMING SALES TIP.

Sales Tip of the Day: WHY

Every now and then, even the most professional salesperson will miss a sale.

Yes, I know, hard to believe, but it might even happen to you.

But there is one thing you can do that most other salespeople will never bother with: ask the prospect why.

Don’t ask in a pleading or pathetic way; but, in a very matter-of-fact manner, ask them if they can share with you the factors that led to their decision.  

Explain that you always looking for ways to improve your effectiveness as a communicator, and their feedback will help you ensure you are delivering value for all of your clients.

Don’t wonder what happened when a sale is lost.

Always ask why.

© 2009 YOU ROCK!™ Communications

THE REQUEST LINE IS OPEN! - IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT A SALES OR  MARKETING TOPIC, OR HAVE A SPECIFIC PROBLEM YOU WANT HELP WITH, SEND ME AN E-MAIL WITH FULL DETAILS AND I MAY GIVE YOU SOME ANSWERS IN AN UPCOMING SALES TIP.

Sales Tip of the Day: BODY LANGUAGE

One of the most powerful things a sales professional can do is become a master at reading body language.  

Not only will it help you read your prospect’s true attitude about you and the sale, you can also take steps to make sure your unconscious actions don’t make selling more difficult than it needs to be.

For example, swallowing frequently, clearing your throat, tugging at your ear, or repeatedly blinking your eyes can actually create a negative perception of you.  Naturally, you want to avoid making these moves when you are with your customer.

Start learning all you can about the subtleties of body language, and put that knowledge to use to make more sales.

© 2009 YOU ROCK!™ Communications

THE REQUEST LINE IS OPEN! - IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT A SALES OR  MARKETING TOPIC, OR HAVE A SPECIFIC PROBLEM YOU WANT HELP WITH, SEND ME AN E-MAIL WITH FULL DETAILS AND I MAY GIVE YOU SOME ANSWERS IN AN UPCOMING SALES TIP.

Sales Tip of the Day: GETTING TO THE POINT

40% of the executives surveyed indicate they will allow a sales professional about 5 minutes to establish some credibility and demonstrate some understanding of their business; otherwise, they’ll be shown the door.

And over 82% of those surveyed expect sales professionals to already have a thorough understanding of what drives their business before they ever meet.

Getting to the point is essential when dealing with top level executives. So give them a legitimate reason why they should buy your product or service as quickly as you can and you stand a much better chance of actually getting the business.

© 2009 YOU ROCK!™ Communications

THE REQUEST LINE IS OPEN! - IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT A SALES OR  MARKETING TOPIC, OR HAVE A SPECIFIC PROBLEM YOU WANT HELP WITH, SEND ME AN E-MAIL WITH FULL DETAILS AND I MAY GIVE YOU SOME ANSWERS IN AN UPCOMING SALES TIP.

Sales Tip of the Day: OUTRAGEOUS

Have you seen the series of Blendtec videos?

Blendtec is a high-end, extremely durable blender that the company claims will blend anything.  They produced a series of short clips showing the president of the company blending credit cards, electronics, shoes and other unusual items, then posted them online.

Customers started emailing Blendtec and suggesting other items to blend, and they company obliged, even blending a new iPhone when they first hit the market.  The videos went viral and sales went through the roof!

By being a little outrageous, Blendtec generated more attention than they could ever get from buying advertising.

Can you do something outrageous with your product, service, or treatment?

If so, be sure to invite your customers and prospects to participate so they can help promote what you are doing to their social circles.

© 2009 YOU ROCK!™ Communications

THE REQUEST LINE IS OPEN! - IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT A SALES OR  MARKETING TOPIC, OR HAVE A SPECIFIC PROBLEM YOU WANT HELP WITH, SEND ME AN E-MAIL WITH FULL DETAILS AND I MAY GIVE YOU SOME ANSWERS IN AN UPCOMING SALES TIP.

Sales Tip of the Day: NO EXCUSES

There are no excuses for not having business cards with you at all times, including evenings, weekends, holidays and vacations. You just never know who you might meet, and what business might come from that chance meeting.

Wouldn’t it be a shame to miss out on the golden opportunity of your career just because you didn’t have a business card?

By the way, “my company hasn’t gotten new ones for me yet,” is not acceptable. When your supply is nearly exhausted, get them ordered.

Or, if you have to, buy them yourself and get the company to reimburse you.

© 2009 YOU ROCK!™ Communications

THE REQUEST LINE IS OPEN! - IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT A SALES OR  MARKETING TOPIC, OR HAVE A SPECIFIC PROBLEM YOU WANT HELP WITH, SEND ME AN E-MAIL WITH FULL DETAILS AND I MAY GIVE YOU SOME ANSWERS IN AN UPCOMING SALES TIP.

Sales Tip of the Day: PHOTOGRAPH

If a photograph is worth a thousand words, you should be showing pictures of your happy customers and effective solutions instead of just taking about them.

Most cell phones have cameras built in; but, if yours doesn’t, you can always invest in a small digital camera to keep with you at all times.

When a customer tells you how much they love what you’ve done for them, ask to take a picture for your personal marketing file.

If you sell a product, service, or treatment that lends itself to before and after comparisons, be sure to take before pictures with every customer at the time of the sale, and after photos when the customer can show the results.

And keeping a camera with you is a great way to capture ideas and inspirations that you can later share with colleagues and customers.

© 2009 YOU ROCK!™ Communications

THE REQUEST LINE IS OPEN! - IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT A SALES OR  MARKETING TOPIC, OR HAVE A SPECIFIC PROBLEM YOU WANT HELP WITH, SEND ME AN E-MAIL WITH FULL DETAILS AND I MAY GIVE YOU SOME ANSWERS IN AN UPCOMING SALES TIP.

Sales Tip of the Day: A LITTLE BIT MORE

Many salespeople love objections, some salespeople hate them.

I’ll tell you how to easily deal with any objection that comes up.

When the prospect states their objection, before you say anything, pause for a moment, and simply ask, “can you tell me a little bit more about what you mean?”

Asking that question will get the prospect to reveal more about what is really going on in their head.

Most of the time, the prospect will give you all the information you need to address their true concerns.  Sometimes, they will actually talk themselves out of their own objection.

Don’t take my word for it; try it and let me know how it works for you!

© 2009 YOU ROCK!™ Communications

THE REQUEST LINE IS OPEN! - IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT A SALES OR  MARKETING TOPIC, OR HAVE A SPECIFIC PROBLEM YOU WANT HELP WITH, SEND ME AN E-MAIL WITH FULL DETAILS AND I MAY GIVE YOU SOME ANSWERS IN AN UPCOMING SALES TIP.