Jonathan Farrington’s Blog

The JF Guest Author Spot

Keith Rosen MCC

When clients ask for help in closing more sales, I’d ask them to list the objections they are hearing that prevented the sale. It’s when they start stumbling over their response that I ask, “Are these the objections you are hearing directly from your prospects or what you’re assuming as the reason why they don’t buy?”

Whether it’s around our sales efforts, during a conversation with our boss (and our kids), or when trying to uncover ways to best manage your team, certain assumptions can dramatically affect the results we seek to achieve, especially during a conversation.

Rather than uncovering the real barrier to the sale, assuming the objection becomes a detrimental process that spreads like a virus throughout every sales call. These assumptions are not based on the facts but rather the salesperson’s assumption of the truth.

Salespeople often fall into this trap when creating solutions for their prospects. During a conversation with a prospect, they uncover a similar situation or problem that they have handled with a previous client. So, they assume that the same solution will fit for this prospect as well.

The problem arises when the salesperson fails to invest the time to go beyond what may be obvious and explore the prospect’s specific objectives or concerns.

Thinking they “know” this prospect, the salesperson provides them with the benefits of his service that he perceives to be important, without considering the prospect’s particular needs.

The next time you’re speaking with your boss, your family your employees, or if you’re on a sales call, rather than assuming the objection, how the prospect makes a buying decision, what they know or what they want to hear, follow these suggestions to create more selling opportunities.

1. Identify The Knowledge Gap.
That’s the space between what people know and what they don’t know. Instead of assuming what they know, start determining what they need/want to learn in order to fill in this gap and ensure clear communication. What may seem old or common to you is new to them. Use questions up front to uncover what’s needed to fill in the gap. Example: “Just so I don’t sound repetitive, how familiar are you with-?”

2. Be Curious.
Question everything! Since you’re in the business of providing solutions, invest the time to uncover the person’s specific need or problem, as opposed to providing common solutions that you assume may fit for everyone. For example, the words “Frustrated, successful, affordable, reliable and quality,” can be interpreted in a variety of ways and often carry a different meaning for each of us.

When you hear a prospect make a comment like, “I want a quality product that will give me the results I want at an affordable price,” use this as an opportunity to explore deeper into what they want or need most. “What type of results are you looking for?” “What is affordable to you?” Questions allow you to clarify what you have heard or go into a topic in more depth so you can become clear with what they are really saying.

3. Clarify!
Make each prospect feel that they are truly being listened to and understood. Use a clarifier when responding to what you’ve heard during the conversation. Rephrase in your own words what they had said to ensure that you not only heard, but also understood them. Then, confirm the next course of action. Examples: “What I’m hearing you say is…” “Tell me more about that.” “What do you see as the next step?”

4. Just The Facts, Please
“I told a prospect that I’d follow up within a week. Two weeks later, I figured I missed my chance and they went with someone else.” Sound familiar? Effective salespeople don’t guess themselves into a sale. To ensure you’re operating with the facts, ask yourself this, “Do I have evidence to support my assumption or how I’m feeling?” Enjoy the peace of mind that comes from gaining clarity rather than drowning in the stories that you believe are true.

5. Recall Your Learning Curve. Think back to your first day on the job and the time it took for you to learn a new skill set. Chances are, you’ve probably experienced some frustration during the learning process. After all, at one point, all your knowledge was new to you. The same holds true for the people you come in contact with. Support others by being empathetic throughout their learning curve.

Recognize that learning and wisdom are results of experience. You’re more knowledgeable than you think, so don’t assume that your sense is common. You’ll notice that many communication breakdowns will immediately be eradicated.

Eliminating these costly assumptions will enable you to make better decisions and prevent the breakdowns in communication that act as a barrier to creating desired results, such as more sales. Once this knowledge gap has been closed, you’ll experience fewer problems and recognize greater opportunities that clearly make sense.

Keith Rosen is the preferred, authentic coach that top executives and sales professionals in many of the world’s leading companies call first. As a prominent, engaging speaker, Master Coach and well-known author of many books and articles, Keith is one of the foremost authorities on assisting people in achieving positive, measurable change in their attitude, in their behavior and in their results. Keith’s articles can be found in Selling Power Magazine and has appeared in feature stories in The New York Times, The Washington Times, Inc. Magazine, Sales and Marketing Management’s Ultimate Motivation Guide with Stephen Covey and The Wall Street Journal. For his work as a pioneer in the coaching profession, Inc. magazine and Fast Company named Keith one of the five most respected and influential executive coaches in the country.

To speak with Keith about personalized, one to one or team coaching or training or to receive his free ezine,
call 1-888- 262-2450, e-mail info(at)ProfitBuilders.com or visit www.ProfitBuilders.com.

Today’s News: No news today as I am with clients and very stretched for time, but I promise lots tomorrow, to compensate

Tomorrow: How to get to the end of a negotiation in better shape than you were at the beginning.

Active listening is a powerful way of listening and responding to customers, that improves mutual understanding. It is the foundation of effective communication and demonstrates real respect.

According to Nancy Kline, author of the book ‘Time to Think’, when you are listening to someone, much of the quality of what you are hearing is your effect on them.

Giving good attention to people makes them more intelligent. Poor attention makes them stumble over their words and seem stupid. Your attention and your listening is what is important. When we are in conflict, we can sometimes contradict the customer, denying their description of a situation. This tends to make them defensive and they will either lash out or alternatively, withdraw and say nothing more.

However, if they believe that we are really tuned in to their concerns and want to listen, they are more likely to explain in detail what they feel and why. This in turn gives sales people a much greater chance of being able to develop a win-win solution.

Your role in the sales situation alternates between sender and receiver of messages. The very best sales professionals devote a large portion of the sales interview to listening, because sincere listening demonstrates sincere interest. Ultimately, good listening is the shortest distance between you and more sales; better sales, faster sales.

How often has a customer said something that has been misinterpreted by you? If you accept the view that everyone is unique, then every word has a different meaning to different individuals? What we say can be different to what we actually mean, because we all have to edit our thoughts in order to communicate them in words. We do this by a combination of deletion, distortion and generalisation

Communication involves four steps:

1. Sensing the message and the stimuli that goes with it
2. Interpreting it (to be sure you understand)
3. Evaluating it (never judge before you understand)
4. Reacting (either verbally or non-verbally)

That’s why it pays to listen with your eyes as well as your ears. Frequently, a gesture, an expression, will reveal as much or more than words. Therefore, effective listeners seek to understand the meaning behind their customers’ words. This requires giving the other person full attention and demands conscious practice.

To become excellent at listening, there are three main techniques:

1. Build high levels of rapport and trust your instincts.

When two people have established high levels of rapport, they unconsciously pick-up on the feelings of each other. At this point the sales person may get an instinct about something the customer ‘feels’, which is important feedback that is driven from their unconscious mind.

Trusting these instincts can sometimes prove to be a challenge for people who work in a corporate, logical environment, yet the ability to ‘listen’ and act upon these instincts can make the difference between a good listener and a great listener. If for example, you have created rapport and start to feel nervous, then chances are so is your customer. Imagine the impact of asking, “I’m getting a sense that you’re feeling nervous about this, what specific concerns do you have?” will have on your customer.

2. Demonstrate that you are paying attention.

This really encourages the customer to continue talking and helps put them at ease because they can see that you’re interested in what they are saying. Using noncommittal words with a positive voice tone that neither agree or disagree with what is being said, will ensure that the customer remains motivated to want to continue talking. For example, “I see”/ “Uh-huh”/ “That’s interesting” are great ways to achieve this. Nodding your head and taking written notes are also effective when demonstrating your interest.

3. Clarifying your understanding.

Adopting a consultative approach means that it’s vital to fully appreciate your prospect’s requirements. Even if you think that your prospect has made them very clear, it’s good practice to summarise your understanding of them. For example: “So what you’re saying is (requirement).” “You obviously value (requirement) as being very important to you.” These summaries will strengthen your relationship and demonstrate a genuine desire to really understand what they want. Rephrase their main points at regular intervals and ‘play them back’ to them. This helps them see if they have said exactly what they wanted to say and to make sure you understand. Put their feelings into words. This will help them evaluate and perhaps modify their statement…and it gives further evidence of your understanding.

If you are keen to improve your active listening skills, you will enjoy this:”How To become An Active Listener” 

Today’s News: Over on Salesopedia today, the hot topic is “Strategic Selling” and there are some great articles by:Jim Pancero, John Doerr, Lee Salz, Mike Schultz - oh, and me!

Finally today, if you haven’t discovered the JF Resource Area yet, do pay a visit - my plan is to add even more resources shortly and expand the number of sections.

Tomorrow: On The JF Guest Author Spot - good friend, fellow Top Sales Expert and best selling author, Keith Rosen makes a welcome return.

The JF Guest Author Spot

Joan Paul

She is a champion swimmer in a retro bathing suit surrounded by U.S. dollar bills and she is called ‘MONEY WOMAN.’    I bought the poster because the imagery made me laugh.  As an entrepreneur in a start up business I thought it would be a good reminder that hard work, practice, persistence and finesse would bring success.  It also speaks to me of old fashioned values and beliefs in a new age of marketing techniques and technology.  She looks proud, confident and sincere.  And she is clearly achieving her dreams.

If ‘money woman’ was competing to win today, she might find it more complex than it was in her time.  Entrepreneurs have access to amazing tools to help grow their businesses.   There are so many entry points for selling your services now that it can be overwhelming.  Have you ever walked out of a shoe store, or a high tech shop because it became so dizzying with choices?  You may laugh, but as a business coach, I meet all kinds of entrepreneurs and leaders in corporations who are ‘stuck’ because they don’t know where to begin or how to focus.  Too much information, too many tools, too many clients or potential clients, too many bosses, too many people relying on them.  Where is the relief?  I say it’s in the discipline of applying the basics.  Put the blinders on and keep your vision clear.  Don’t be distracted by every opportunity that comes your way or all the bright shiny ideas that aren’t critical to your immediate success.  When you’ve reached critical milestones, you can look more to the future and longer term goals.

Whether a leader in a large corporation or an independent entrepreneur you can’t sell your ideas, your products, your services if you aren’t focused on a vision that clients and potential customers can relate to and clearly understand.  When I see clients visibly relieved and moving past the obstacles that get them stuck in a rut it is usually because:

A. They begin to set goals and milestones that are achievable, taking a building block approach.  They keep the long term in mind and focus on short term goals that add up to long term success.  Sue, a Sales Manager struggling with the issues of territory assignments, reorganization of her team, increasing profitability and revenue growth got stopped in her tracks because it seemed so big and so daunting.  Once Sue was able to prioritize and establish a few related goals, she became incredibly relieved, recognizing that achievement of one goal meant she could move onto the next.  Not everything had to be done at once.

B. They have a strategy for achieving goals that are straight-lined and cut out the clutter.  For example, you are an entrepreneur with a new service to introduce to the market.  There may be 10 effective ways for you to market your new service.  Why not choose just one to begin with and do it well before moving onto the next?  You can always write an article or attend a conference.  Marketing methods don’t disappear just because you are focused on one method at any particular point in time.

C. They DECIDE to set aside the time to work ON their business rather than IN it.  AND they stick to their decisions and resist the temptation to put out fires, answer phone calls, and whatever else distracts them from fulfilling their personal commitment to working on their business.   I can’t tell you the number of times clients tell me they’ve scheduled their marketing or mentoring time into their calendars because they know how important it is to their business growth, apparently a number one priority.  Yet they consistently put the scheduled time aside without a blink of an eye when something that seems pressing enters their line of vision.  Would you reschedule an important client if two of your colleagues wanted to chat about a problem?  No, you would reschedule your colleagues and not the client.  The same should be true for your precious marketing or mentoring time that you so religiously keep putting into your calendar only to delete it.  It’s like going to the gym – if you keep finding a reason not to do it, you won’t get fit and the same applies to your business.

D. They employ innovation to their businesses without trepidation – they take risks and free themselves from the usual marketing constraints.  For example, I advise women lawyers who are bored with the traditional marketing tactics to take their clients to the spa for a day or have an ‘iron chef’ night for adventuresome clients.  If work/life balance is an issue, build marketing into your family activities.  Ask clients with children to join you on an outing.  Don’t be afraid to break traditions.  People are looking for connections and it takes discipline to find the time to build relationships.

My good friend and colleague, George told me he couldn’t be disciplined about anything if his life depended on it.  He even hated the notion of discipline and preferred to believe things would just unfold as they should.   When George heard the word ‘discipline’ he smelled constraint.  George asked for help because his business wasn’t going anywhere and he had no idea why.  Once George began to understand the word ‘discipline’ really meant ‘freedom’ he was sold and unstoppable.  I put “MONEY WOMAN’ on his office wall for a while and today, after wrestling with putting together simple, practical goals, George’s business has grown 20% in less than one year.  I rest my case.

As principal of J. Paul Training Inc., Joan provides Executive Coaching and Corporate Training to professional service firms and corporations in a variety of industries. With over 25 years business experience working with small to Fortune 500 companies in both Canada and the U.S., Joan brings to her work a signature presence in getting results. She is a Sales Strategist, Certified Executive Coach, member of the International Coach Federation and Canadian Professional Sales Association.

Visit Joan’s website: www.jpaultraining.com

Today’s News:

The standard of this week’s nominated articles is extremely high, and I urge you to take a peek - just click on the banner above.

And over on my Sales Managers Mentor Blog, I reveal how I designed my A + S + P + K formula for success.

Finally, here is a great blog post for you:”Is Your Sales Process Adapted To The Internet Era” from Christian Maura. 

Tomorrow: Effective communication is one of the secrets of success - you can read my thoughts about it tomorrow

The most valuable resource we have is time and sales people more than anyone know how challenging it can be to cram everything that needs to be done into their available time. According to Stephen Covey, author of ‘First Things First’ we should focus on our high priority tasks, those that provide the biggest levers towards achieving our goals. That is why being clear on what you want to accomplish in every facet of your life, will determine the importance and therefore the priority of everything you need to do.

Essentially, we spend our time on tasks that are categorised into one of four areas:

1. Urgent and Important – these activities will include crises, pressing problems, deadline-driven projects, meetings and preparation for all of these things. Whilst we do have to spend time on these tasks, it is vital to appreciate that many of them become urgent because of a lack of planning.

2. Important and Non-Urgent – these activities include preparation, prevention measures, planning, relationship building and creating. In fact, all these types of tasks can be summarised as activities that are directly linked to the accomplishment of our long-range goals.

3. Urgent and Not Important – these activities will include interruptions, some phone calls, some emails and reports and those types of tasks that we may enjoy doing - popular activities. The term ‘urgent’ can create the perception that these types of tasks are important.

4. Non-Urgent and Not Important – these activities will include trivia, some phone calls, junk mail, time wasters, watching mindless television shows and anything that we do to escape doing those tasks that we need to do. If we are battered by spending too much time on urgent activities, we may seek solace through doing these types of activities. We can summarise these tasks as those that waste our time.

When working on urgent tasks, two things are likely to occur. Firstly, the feelings of urgency creates an adrenalin rush that can fill us with a sense of excitement. Once the urgency has been withdrawn from our situation, we can feel down and depressed. This develops into an addiction to urgency – we crave the highs and do whatever we can to avoid the lows. Secondly, urgent tasks can create a ‘choking effect’ when we feel so overwhelmed that it impairs our ability to think clearly. Neither reactions are helpful if we want to remain in a peak state over a long period.

Many people who experience ‘burn-out’ have spent too much of their time working on urgent things, this creates an imbalance and they simply become exhausted. They simply cannot see ‘the wood from the trees’ and negative thoughts begin to dominate the positive ones. Many sales people become stuck at a certain level of success because they have allowed themselves to become buried under countless details, demands and activities that drain their energy.

When people have more balance and more free time to devote to important tasks they are rejuvenated and better equipped to increase their productivity. This is why spending a larger proportion of our time on activities that are important yet not necessarily urgent gives us a greater sense of control over our lives.

Planning your time accordingly will save you time and ensure that you remain focussed on those tasks and activities that take you closer to your goals. Also by scheduling your tasks, you are more likely to complete them.

I think you might also enjoy: “How To Gain A Thirteenth Month Every Year”

Today’s News: Good friend from NY,NY, Wendy Weiss has an upcoming event tomorrow (Tuesday) and you can grab all the details by clicking on the banner below.

Presenting on Business Expert Webinars this week are three Top Sales Experts - details below and just click on the BEW banner to book your place:

Startup Sales: The Personality of the Business Evangelist
Topic: Small Business
7/29/08 1:00pm EASTERN TIME
Presented by Karl Goldfield

Fill Your Pipeline with Hot Prospects
Topic: Sales - Business Development
7/31/08 2:30pm EASTERN TIME
Presented by Joanne Black

Get A Life! You Work Better And Live Longer
Topic: Personal Development
7/31/08 5:30pm EASTERN TIME
Presented by Peter Nicholls

Tomorrow: On the JF Guest Author Spot, I am delighted to welcome Joan Paul who is making her debut.

 
When customers perceive the value of a proposition outweighs the risks, then generally speaking they will go ahead and make the purchase.  Customers will often pay more for added value, which is usually related to one of the ”Three Rs”: Reputation/Reliability/Relationship.

Good sales people are able to paint a graphic picture of what is at stake, quantify the value, and help the prospect understand how it will make them feel.  It’s important to really believe in the value of what you are offering, so that you are better equipped to convince your prospects.

If you are unsure about the value your product or service can provide, you will project this unconsciously onto your prospects. Conversely if you are completely convinced that your product or service offers superb value for money then your entire communication, from your voice tone, your eye contact and your gestures will convey ‘VALUE’.

Present your price using the lowest possible denominator:

Break down the price into small chunks, such as cost per use or per week.
“And you can enjoy all those benefits for just $200 a week.” The smaller the number the more attractive it will be to the prospect. And it helps put a manageable context around the prospect’s possible outlay.

If you are producing a quotation for a product or service that has multiple elements, itemise the cost for each element. This helps to build the value because prospects can see at-a-glance all the elements involved and the individual prices for each element will be lower than the total sum.

Offer the correct solution:

If you have correctly identified the prospects requirements and proposed aligned solutions then the chances are, you won’t be suggesting a ‘Rolls Royce’ version when the customer requires a ‘Mini’. It’s much more effective to give the prospect something they have asked for and makes it easier for them to compare prices. Once the prospect is satisfied that your prices are pretty much the same, you have created a stronger platform to ‘up-sell’ from.

Focus on the difference:

Focus on the difference between what they say they are willing to pay, and what you are asking for. This reduces the amount in their mind and is another opportunity to highlight the additional benefits they will gain. For example, “You’ll get all these extra benefits for just (difference in price) a week more than you’re paying at the moment.”

Reduce the price only by changing the proposition:

If you need to lower the price, then change the deal. This can help you to maintain your credibility and justifies the reason for you lowering your price. If you simply comply with their request to match a competitor’s price, you imply that you were asking too much in the first instance. Take out aspects of your proposition to bring the cost within their budget.

Compare initial price with long-term value:

Ultimately, the price of something is what the customer invests now. The cost is what they end up paying in the longer term. A product/service that requires a higher initial investment may be more cost-effective and provide long-term better value for money.

For example, imagine two brands of dishwashing liquid. Brand A costs more to buy initially than Brand B, yet because Brand A is more concentrated, (feature) it washes twice as many plates as Brand B (benefit). So, overall Brand A is actually much better value in the longer term. In fact, if you calculate the investment per ‘plate’ then you have reduced the price to the lowest common denominator.

You may also enjoy “Categories Of Buyer Resistance”

Today’s News: Details of the most significant event of the year for professional saleswomen, have been posted and you can find out all about it by clicking on the banner below.

Fellow Top Sales Expert Karl Goldfield - yes he, who is always the first to challenge paradigms and push back the frontiers, has launched a brand new product, which at first glance looks really excellent - I am not going to spoil it for you, check it out yourself here

We have been literally stunned by the incredible response that the Top Sales Experts latest E-book has received. If you still haven’t downloaded your copy of this incredible 140 page extravaganza, including contributions from fifty of the world’s leading sales gurus, you can do so here 

Last couple of blogposts this week for you to check out: “Why online communities fail - and how many succeed…” from that man Gossieaux again - with a name like that we might be neighbours!

And from the immaculate Ardath Albee: “Success Stories Are Sales Tools”

Tomorrow: I am off to the UK to do some real work for a couple of weeks, but be assured, I’ll still be here again next week - have a great w/e and thanks for your continued support - JF

The JF Guest Author Spot

Bill Sayers

What happens when you write things down?

Writing down your goals and activities forces you to think about what you need to do and provides you with a checklist and guide to follow. That check list gives you a list to follow each day. This checklist keeps you focused, allows you to prioritize what the most important tasks are and ensures you know what you did each day. I find that sales people who don’t write down their goals each day are the ones who are distracted by every interruption and who never seem to get the things done that they set out to do in the morning.

Successful sales reps always have a written plan and goals. They review their to-do list each day and at the end of the day they review what was done and what needs to be done for the next day. They set time lines against their strategy and each day make sure they are getting another step closer to their success. This knowing what you are working on will bring you a confidence and focus that helps you to be successful. It allows you to know whether you are meeting your goals for success. It also provides you with a document you can discuss and review with your boss. If your company does not mange you this way, it is a means for you to self manage yourself.

Writing things down makes you accountable and helps you to get clarity on your strategy and goals. Watch what happens when you send a written account to a client or prospect that is not committing to something. They become agitated at your written note and deny everything or commit to what you are asking for. You now know where you stand with that account! The main reason this happens is because there is now a written document that commits them to action. A client or prospect that only verbalizes their intentions will never be wrong or be able to be corrected because there is no written account to get the facts from.

What do you write down?

I suggest that you write down the things that are important to you. If it is a to-do-list write down a list of all the activities you need to do for the day. Review this list and determine what the most important activities are. Highlight or identify these items. As you move thru your day and begin completing these activities do the most important items first. By doing this you ensure that you are successful with your top activities. If all you do is complete the easy tasks each day then you will take a lot longer to complete anything of consequence.

Keep a pad of paper nearby during the day. As ideas and thoughts come to you write them down. As you think of things that need to be done write them down. If you don’t write it down, too often the thought goes away and you can’t remember what it was or it is too late when you remember. It has been proven that people who write down grocery lists leave the store with the things they need and very little else. If you shop without a list then you bring home all the junk food and items that you really don’t need and forget the milk and eggs.

What are your written plans?

Take some time in the next two weeks and write down all the things you need to do, to be successful. How much money do you want to make, how many new customers do you need to close, what marketing do you need to do, what activities do you need to do, what is going to make you successful. Write down in as much detail as you can. Then review what you have written and begin to organize these plans. Now rewrite your goals in priority and set timelines for your success.

Bill Sayers speaks, coaches, leads education sessions and provides management consulting services to a variety of companies. For the past five years he has run his own sales consulting practice and has recently completed the writing of his new book – “Funnels and Forecasts – The Great Game of Sales”. Bill has been a professor at George Brown College teaching Personal Selling Skills to the Sports and Event Marketing Graduate Program, and is on the faculty of Canadian Professional Sales Association and Canadian Management Centre.

To receive his free “How are you Playing The Game” Scorecard and a 45 minute one-on-one session with Bill, email: info@TheSayersGroup.com or visit: www.TheSayersGroup

 
Today’s News: This week over on my other blog, “Sales Manager’s Mentor Blog” I am discussing Major Account Management - just click on the incredibly clever widget, or is it an avatar?

Over at Salesopedia, Clayton is in conversation with another good buddy, Drew Stevens, a guy who always has something relevant to say and here, he is talking about goal setting.

Apart from looking like he should be on a toothpaste advert, Dr Drew is known as the “Sales Strategist”, and what he does is “help individuals and companies make more money in less time.” We could all do with some of that! Just click on the banner to listen in - it’s only ten minutes and it will be worth it and you will thank me!

Tomorrow: It’s all about proving value! Plus some great news, and a new product you will want to know about - allegedly
 

Rapport is the cornerstone of all mutually effective relationships. It needs constant vigilance to keep it alive and effective.

Why is it so important?

Rapport is similar to money – when you are short of it, it increases in importance. Without rapport you will reduce your chances of getting:

• Unconditional agreement to your ideas and suggestions
• Full commitment from others
• Business, promotion, fiends

The way in which you interact with others has a major bearing on your success as an influencer.

Being in rapport means that you are in agreement with others both verbally and non-verbally.

Ten Good Reasons To Build Rapport:

• To really win friends and influence people
• To connect rapidly with a wide range of people
• To communicate magically
• To build solid, lasting relationships
• To create incredible results
• To help others improve performance and increase success
• To handle conflict
• To get promotion
• To talk your way in to things
• To talk your way out of things

Self-Disclosure:

Telling others how you feel and what you think and believe, as well as telling them about your background, is a kind currency. Give out information and usually you will receive a lot back in return.

People swarm, flock, and group together by type, background, interests, beliefs, gender, work and so on. And one of the most efficient ways to get close to one another is through self-disclosure.

As we begin to experience a powerful common bond, so too does rapport begin. Mutual interests, ideas, values, and beliefs are the wrap and weft of social interaction.

Most people like people who are like themselves!

Biographic Matching:

It is rare for two human beings to be together very long before seeking to discover similarities about themselves. This biographic matching can be social or economic, achieved through outlook, education, or background – common experiences of the world.

When you match, you reduce resistance by playing down differences while building on similarities.

You can read this article in full here: “How To Develop Rapport More Easily”

Today’s News: Here’s a message from a good friend:

“More and more of us in sales are finding it more and more difficult to keep our pipelines full with high quality prospects.  The slowing economy is putting a great deal of pressure on prospects–both business and individual–to think very carefully before they commit to any purchase.  Consumer confidence is down.  Unemployment is inching up.  Inflation is becoming a concern.  Both oil and the stock market are on wild rides. 

Salespeople are waking up every morning wondering where they’re going to find this month’s commission check.  And although the signs of an economy that was headed for a major slowdown if not a recession have been around for almost two years, few salespeople took the time and invested the effort to prepare by learning more effective ways to find and connect with quality prospects.

The good news is it isn’t too late to change your prospecting and personal marketing strategies so they more closely match the way prospects want to be connected with and that will identify and engage more high quality prospects.  You can learn techniques that will open more doors, identify more high prospects, and generate more sales.  

How? 

To start, tomorrow, July 24, McCord Training is offering three one-hour tele-seminars, each deals with a separate technique of reaching quality prospects.

You will find all the details by clicking on the banner below.”

My Best Wishes

Paul McCord

Tomorrow: I am delighted to welcome one of the latest recruits to the Top Sales Experts team, Bill Sayers

The JF Guest Author Spot

Craig Elias

Jed (a hypothetical salesperson) keeps getting what sound like positive buying signals with his prospecting calls. Somehow, though, he’s not getting very far.

“People tell me to call back in two months, four months, six months, when they will be looking at this problem” he says, perplexed. “When I call back, I get people telling me how glad they are that I called … but my close ratio is low, and my sales cycles are way too long. What’s going on?”

In response, I would give Jed the following advice.

“Jed, when you cold call someone in an attempt to sell them something, you’re interrupting that person’s day. The dominant instinct is always going to be for that person to find any reason to get off the phone and get back to what they were doing before you interrupted them.”

“Your goal has to be to maintain your poise and get past that first fifteen to thirty seconds of the initial call … which is always going to be a little bumpy.”

“BUT — the reason you’re riding out those first fifteen to thirty seconds is not so you can try to turn the person into a short term prospect on the spot! ”

“Actually, you’re trying to discover if this person has experienced a Trigger Event. If there has been such an event you want to find out what it was and when it happened. The Trigger Event could have taken place quite a while ago, it could have happened only recently, or it could still be on the horizon.”

“These Trigger Events typically fall into one of three categories:”

1.Bad Experience: The buyer has a bad experience with a product/service, with people, or with a provider. For instance, there may have been a product/service change that creates dissatisfaction.

2.Change/Transition: The buyer has a change or transition in people, places, or priorities. For instance, there may have been a change in the buyer at an account.

3.Awareness: The buyer becomes aware of the need to change for legal, risk-avoidance, or economic reasons. For instance: The person may have a new understanding that buying from someone like you is less risky than continuing to buy the existing solution.

“During the first minute of your call, use the opportunity to understand which of the following three buying modes the buyer is in:”

Status Quo: The buyer is completely happy with what he or she currently has. There has not been a Trigger Event in the recent past, but there may be one on the horizon. You may think this person is a waste of time and may want to move on to the next person on your list. Actually, if this person has money, authority, and influence, this is a great long-term opportunity. A strategy for this type of call is to start the relationship building process. I would also suggest that you check back in on a monthly basis to see if a Trigger Event has recently happened.

Searching For Alternatives: This person is unhappy with what he or she has, has spoken to several suppliers, and probably already has a favorite. A Trigger Event took place a while ago, and they’ve already taken action on it. You may think that this is a short-term opportunity … because the buyer is actively talking to a number of potential suppliers.

This is in fact probably a medium term opportunity … because it is highly likely this buyer already has a first choice! Selling to buyers under these conditions typically results in a lower close ratio and a longer sales cycle - exactly the problem that you are experiencing. A strategy for this type of call is to position yourself as the buyer’s number-two choice — so you get called first if the buyer’s current favorite falters. You should check back every other week to see where you stand.

Window of Dissatisfaction: A Trigger Event has recently taken place and this buyer knows that what they are currently using is no longer sufficient, but has not done anything about it yet. Because they tell you to call back in two months, four months, or six months you make a note to do that and move on to the next person on your list. Wrong answer! This is actually a short tem opportunity, because the buyer is not talking to your competition — yet.

When you call back a few months later, even if you call a few weeks early thinking it will give you and edge, it’s very likely they will already be talking to your competition. The strategy for this type of call is to identify the business opportunity and pursue it immediately — with as much happening on this initial call as possible and future contact taking place in the very near future. You must find a way to push a little bit and learn more about the Trigger Event, then try to set a near-term course of action.

“As it stands, Jed, you are focusing on those people who are already talking to your competition … and missing the biggest opportunities: those buyers in the Window of Dissatisfaction, who recently experienced a Trigger Event and have not started talking to your competition. That’s why your numbers are as bad as they are; that’s also why your sales cycles are so long.”

“Jed, you need to do a better job of ’staying on your feet’ for the first thirty seconds or so of the call — long enough to ask a couple of questions that will help you learn whether the person has:”

 - Not experienced a Trigger Event in a long time
 - Experienced a Trigger Event a while ago and already doing something about it
 - Recently experienced a Trigger Event and has done nothing about it — yet

“Once you learn if, and when, a buyer has experienced a Trigger Event you can apply the appropriate strategy. When you do that, and focus FIRST on those people in the Window of Dissatisfaction, who recently experienced a Trigger Event and have done nothing about it yet, you will have a much higher close ratio … and you’ll have much shorter sales cycles!” 

Craig Elias
403-313-0412
 

The creator of “Trigger Event Selling“, and contributing author to the #1 Selling Book on both Amazon and The Wall Street Journal,  “Masters of Sales”, Craig Elias has received coverage on NBC news, in The New York Times, The National Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Nikkei Marketing Journal, Sales and Marketing magazine, and had his last company chosen by Dow Jones as one of the 50 most promising companies in North America.

For almost 20 years, Craig has used Trigger Event strategies to be a top sales performer at EVERY company he has worked for including WorldCom where he was named the #1 salesperson within six months of joining the company and to win a global, billion dollar idea competition where he collected a $1,000,000 prize.

Today’s News:

A really superb set of nominees this week over at Top 10, which I urge you to discover for yourself.

A second reminder, as if you needed one, that my good friend Leslie Buterin is presenting her latest webinar on Thursday and you really will not want to miss it - just click on the banner below.

Just one blogpost for you to read, but it’s a good one:”Selling To The Big Guys In A Recession”

Tomorrow: Thoughts about “rapport” - you have to feel it to understand it!

Using the funnel questioning technique will uncover needs if they are there to be uncovered. However, it is one thing to uncover the need it is another thing to prove that there is adequate pay back and value in fulfilling the needs.

Having uncovered the needs we must probe and find out as much as we can about those needs and the implications to the customer if they are not met or fulfilled. We do this by asking past, present and future questions i.e. “How did you use to do this?” (Past), “How do you do this now?” (Present) and “How do you plan to do it?” (Future).

What we are trying to establish is the difference between what the customer used to do and how they do it now. If we can establish this then the comparison between what they are presently doing and what they may be able to do based on our solution, will be easier to grasp. This is important, because the difference between them doing something and not doing it is the “value gap.” We need to find value gaps that we can attach a price to, so that we can justify the benefit in terms of added value.

Let’s take an example:-

Your support customer used to have a manual stock and inventory system. Using your database for an automated system has enabled them to increase shipments by 20% per day. With the shipments of goods totalling $10,000 per day, the value gap i.e. system or no system, is $2000 per day. If the system is down it would cost $200 to $400 in lost or delayed shipments per hour. Staying as they are or going for a support agreement that would reduce down time is the value gap opportunity. That gap is worth $200 to $400 per hour.

Value Added Arguments:

You should always be looking for opportunities to offer more features that will be of benefit by asking the customer to tell you areas in which they would like to see greater support or additional services. If you say “Mr Smith we would like you to upgrade to our gold support agreement, you will receive earlier notification of software upgrades” the usual response will be, we don’t need them. Far better, using reasoning and questions to manoeuvre the customer into a position where they ask or enquire about additional services, explain to you what the possible outcome would be if they did not have those additional services and then you present a value added argument, to fill the gap.

Summary:

The best product, at the best price does not always win the order; we have all been outsold by a competitive salesperson probably offering less of a solution and sometimes even at a higher price. By selling benefits, not telling about features, the prospect will understand the pay off that your solution will deliver. Do not leave them to work it out for themselves, they might not bother!

If you can identify the need for more services and explain, using benefits, how you can meet those needs, it will be a lot easier to up sell and cross sell.

You may also enjoy: “Understanding Types Of Needs”

Today’s News: I usually start the week by giving you details of upcoming webinars being presented by Top Sales Experts, and today is no different!

Reach the Top Dog: the Golden Keys to the Gatekeeper
Topic: Sales - Business Development
7/24/08 1:00pm EASTERN TIME
Presented by Leslie Buterin

Selling to Your Most Difficult Customers
Topic: Sales
7/24/08 4:00pm EASTERN TIME
Presented by Kelley Robertson

Finally, a couple of great blog posts for you:

“The 2008 Tribalization of Business Study” from Francois Gossieaux and “How To Form Selling Partnerships That Really Work” from Dave Brock

Tomorrow: On The JF Guest Author Spot, Craig Elias makes his debut.

Maximizing a workforce around one common goal that creates value for the customer, the organization, and the employee is the only way to focus the activities of a sales team. It is critical that each employee is able to measure the value of each activity undertaken during the day and can make the connection to the overall goals and strategy of the organization. If there is no clear line of sight between what they are doing and the value to the customer, clearly they are doing the wrong thing

The more existing accounts that salespeople have, the less time they can devote to prospecting for new client business. Therefore, they need objective criteria to determine which of their prospects to contact first.

This can produce the huge timesavings that have enabled several organizations to increase sales purely by introducing “prospect criteria”.

The concept behind prospect criteria is that the salesperson creates a profile of the type of customers who offer the greatest potential for doing business. Factors that enter into a customer’s priority score might include such things as level of business need, budget, referenceable accounts in the same industry, demographics and of course psychographics.

A simple rating system allows the salesperson to determine which prospects to contact first and ensure that they visit all of the right people.

When planning sales activities, the following five questions answered fully, help maximize sales activity:

 When looking at potential customers, how do your salespeople decide if they are right for your organisation?
 Which of your salespeople’s prospects do they contact first?
 How do your salespeople objectively define the probability of new business?
 What actions do your salespeople take to reduce the risk of losing their customers?
 What actions do your salespeople take to develop new business from existing customers?

Only when Sales Directors have clear, comprehensive answers for these questions can real, effective, activity management begin.

You may also enjoy - “Management - Some Thoughts About Structure, Self-Sufficiency And Responsibility”

Today’s News: I have not forgotten that I promised you links to good blog postings and today you are in for a real treat: First up, a wonderful new friend, Ardath Albee is writing on Jill Konrath’s blog - “Who’s Qualifying Who?”

Next up, Drew Stevens presents his “Customer Experience Toolkit Pt 1″ and finally, Dave Stein gives us “Avoiding IT Salespeople” - enjoy!

Tomorrow: Well, I have two more chapters of “Tougher At The Top” to write, plus I need to prepare for a UK visit next week, and then I have a whole list of outstanding actions, ahead of the re-launch of Top Sales Experts in September

So, as usual, wherever you are in this recession bound world of ours, have a great w/e, and be sure to come back again next week - JF