The Selling Sherpa

Sales Tip of the Day: IN THE MOOD

Whenever I work with sales teams to fine-tune their selling strategy (or help them create one), there is usually some one-on-one training with people who are “call adverse”.

They make excuses for not making calls, or setting appointments, or meeting with prospects.  Sometimes it’s because they haven’t been trained sufficiently.  Sometimes it’s because they’ve recently missed a sale and take it personally.  And sometimes, they just aren’t in the mood to do the work.

If you ever feel the same way, or know someone who does, you might try this exercise: start visualizing your paycheck on the other end of the phone and you will find it much easier to reach out.

Let’s face it, all of us have days when we aren’t “in the mood” to prospect.

But our job as professional salespeople is to get in the mood, because our paycheck, and the paychecks of everyone else in the company we represent, is waiting for us to call.

© 2011 YOU ROCK!®

REQUEST LINE IS OPEN – Got a sales or marketing challenge?  Send an email with the details, and I’ll share some ideas in a future sales tip.

Sales Tip of the Day: THE WAITING

Have you ever called a prospect, left a great voicemail message, and asked them to call you back?  Sure you have!

Ever waited for a return call that never comes?  Chances are you are still waiting for a return call from last week, or last month, or even last year.

The moment you rely on a prospect (or client for that matter) to call you back is the moment you given up control of the selling process, which greatly reduces your chance of making the sale.

That doesn’t mean you should call daily to hound your potential customer.

Get an agreement during your first call or meeting for an appropriate follow up time and procedure.  Ask them how they would like to be contacted and when, and honor that agreement.

When you do follow up and get their voicemail, leave a message telling them you will contact them again soon, but they can always call you back at your direct number if it is more convenient.

Don’t let the waiting kill your sales.  

Start taking charge of the follow up process, and you will close more business than ever before.

© 2011 YOU ROCK!®

REQUEST LINE IS OPEN – Got a sales or marketing challenge?  Send an email with the details, and I’ll share some ideas in a future sales tip.

Sales Tip of the Day: WHO DO YOU LOVE?

Most of the time, we take whatever business comes our way and in that crapshoot of customers, we end up with all kinds of scenarios:  win-win, win-lose, lose-win, and even some lose-lose.

That is because we rarely discriminate in our sales and marketing efforts.  Instead, we cast out the largest net we can and bring in as many prospects as we are able, whether or not they are right for our company.

If you could choose your customers, who would you choose?  

Which prospects would make the perfect clients?  

Who do you love?

Decide who you want to be in business with and develop a deliberate, focused strategy to make that happen.  

Concentrate your efforts on bringing in the best customers and two things will happen: most of your customer service issues will disappear and your profits will soar.

© 2011 YOU ROCK!®

REQUEST LINE IS OPEN – Got a sales or marketing challenge?  Send an email with the details, and I’ll share some ideas in a future sales tip.

Sales Tip of the Day: DON'T WALK AWAY

Over the weekend, I had lunch at a nearby rotary sushi restaurant that recently opened.

They have a great promotion running to generate traffic, and it’s working very well.  What’s not working so well is the customer service.

To be fair, they don’t have enough staff on the floor to handle the crowd, so the team they have is a little frazzled.

I asked for a special dish that isn’t always available, and the sushi chef confirmed the request and walked away.  After about 15 minutes, I had to get one of the servers to track down the order.  

As it turned out, the dish I had requested was not available that day, but the chef had not come back to let me know.  Actually, it looked like he was trying to avoid coming back at all.

You can almost guarantee that some customers will ask you for solutions that you can’t provide.

When they do, don’t walk away and leave them wondering whether or not you care.

Inform them of the situation and help identify another way to solve their problem, even it means going to another firm.

You may lose a sale for now, but you may earn a customer for life by showing them how much you really care about helping them.

© 2011 YOU ROCK!®

REQUEST LINE IS OPEN – Got a sales or marketing challenge?  Send an email with the details, and I’ll share some ideas in a future sales tip.

Sales Tip of the Day: MONEY FOR NOTHING

One of the biggest hit songs of the 80’s was “Money For Nothing” by Dire Straits. Chances are good you’ve heard it a few times.

What most people don’t know is that band leader and lyricist Mark Knopfler didn’t have to work very hard to write the song.

Knopfler overheard a conversation in an electronics store where two employees were discussing what they saw on the showroom televisions, all of which were tuned to MTV.  He quickly jotted down the banter, then repeated it virtually word-for-word in the song. The song become a big hit because anyone who isn’t a rock star could relate to the message.

Unknowingly, Knopfler tapped into one of the strongest selling techniques in the word, and you can use it to make selling easier than ever.

The technique is simply this: speak your customer’s language!

If you talk too far above a customer, you’ll lose them. The same thing happens if you talk beneath them.

In retail, try to match the verbal style of your customer as closely as you can, and they will be more comfortable and open with you. Repeat some of the same phrases they use and you will help them trust you to guide them in making the right purchase.

If you sell to companies, do a little research on their industry and make sure you use some of the same terminology they typically encounter every day. This suggests to prospects that you are knowledgeable about their unique business and might have valuable insights to share.

The truth is there is no such thing as ‘money for nothing’; but, when you mirror and match your customer's language, you’ll start closing more business than you would without it.

© 2011 YOU ROCK!®

REQUEST LINE IS OPEN – Got a sales or marketing challenge?  Send an email with the details, and I’ll share some ideas in a future sales tip.

Sales Tip of the Day: HELLO, HELLO

Pressed for time yesterday, I grabbed a quick bite in a nearby food court.

The table where I sat was near one entrance to the area, and I kept hearing someone behind me say “hello, hello!”

I turned around and saw a young lady behind the counter of a burger restaurant calling to every person who came through the main entrance with a cheerful greeting.  

Every person who heard her call out a “hello” turned and looked her direction, and a lot of them stopped to look at the menu board.  Many of them decided to order a burger without looking at any of the other lunch options available.

Being friendly is a great way to meet new people and start conversations, and you never know when you might meet someone who will turn out to be a customer.

© 2011 YOU ROCK!®

REQUEST LINE IS OPEN – Got a sales or marketing challenge?  Send an email with the details, and I’ll share some ideas in a future sales tip.

Sales Tip of the Day: ONE STEP AHEAD

When I was managing the market’s leading radio station, we worked hard to stay one step ahead of our competitors.

They copied our promotions, replicated some of our programming, and continuously attempted to poach our clients.  They tried everything they could think of, honorable or not, to steal our thunder, our listeners, and our advertisers and sponsors

One day, a junior salesperson was completely irritated because another radio station finally realized that our annual Super Bowl Party was a great way to generate non-traditional revenue.  Now they were going to do the same thing we’d been doing for three years.  I reminded him that we did it first and we’d do it best because we already knew how.

While they did fine with their promotion, ours still rocked.  Maybe it was because we gave away a trip to Hawaii and tickets to the Pro Bowl, while the competing station gave away t-shirts.

Yes, it is important to keep track of the competition.  Be aware of everything they do.  

But it is more important to continuously create new and exciting ways to engage and serve your customers.

And remember this: when other companies copy what you do, everyone can see who the market leader really is.

© 2011 YOU ROCK!®

REQUEST LINE IS OPEN – Got a sales or marketing challenge?  Send an email with the details, and I’ll share some ideas in a future sales tip.

Sales Tip of the Day: RIGHT DOWN THE LINE

According to body language experts, people who are right-handed will feel more calm and comfortable when they look to the right.

Looking to the left will cause the same right-handers to feel anxious and maybe even a little fearful.

What does this mean for you?

If you can position yourself to the right of a right-handed decision-maker, they will automatically feel a little more positive about you than if you sit or stand to the left of them.  The opposite will be true for left-handed decision-makers.

Will it mean an automatic sale?  Probably not.

But using every possible advantage, even the small psychological ones, can help move the sale right down the line.

© 2011 YOU ROCK!®

REQUEST LINE IS OPEN – Got a sales or marketing challenge?  Send an email with the details, and I’ll share some ideas in a future sales tip.

Sales Tip of the Day: FIRE

One of the most brilliant advertising minds of our time, David Olgivy, once said, “when you advertise fire extinguishers, open with fire.”

That is great advice for anyone in sales.

Unless and until your prospect is fully engaged with the problem, they will have no interest whatsoever in your solution.

Don’t start your sales conversation with all the details of how your product, service or treatment performs, or how many customers use it now, or how many industry publications have endorsed it.

Instead, start by asking the prospect questions to help them determine if they have a “fire” that needs to be put out, and what kind of “fire” it is.

Once you understand what problem your prospects face, only then can you recommend the right solution.

© 2011 YOU ROCK!®

REQUEST LINE IS OPEN – Got a sales or marketing challenge?  Send an email with the details, and I’ll share some ideas in a future sales tip.

Sales Tip of the Day: ANTICIPATION

If you have been selling the same product or service for 6 months or more, there probably is not a single objection that you haven’t heard.

Because you can anticipate them, you can prepare answers for every objection or stall a customer can give you.  And, if you have prepared adequately, you shouldn’t miss many sales.

Anticipation is your ally.   

Use that anticipation to build confidence in handling objections and your closing percentage will improve.

© 2011 YOU ROCK!®

REQUEST LINE IS OPEN – Got a sales or marketing challenge?  Send an email with the details, and I’ll share some ideas in a future sales tip.