The fruit of thinking is knowledge – and knowledge is the medium from which skills are built.

In skills learning, there are four steps:

Element One

The Unconscious Incompetent – They don’t know that they don’t know. The salesperson that is making mistakes, but is not aware of them.

Element Two

The Conscious Incompetent. They know that they don’t know. This is the beginning of wisdom. The salesperson that is aware they are not cashing in on their full potential and wants to learn how to improve.

Element Three

The Conscious Competent. They have learned and are aware of what they have learned – and they use it! They know why! The salesperson who knows how to make a successful approach call and can programme and execute their presentation to achieve their objectives.

Element Four

The Unconscious Competent. They have learned so well that they use their knowledge with a semi-automatic skill. Their skills have reached a level where they are no longer self-centered. They are free to devote their efforts to the needs of others. The professional salesperson who does the right things to get results, but functions without conscious attention to what they are doing or why.

Note that I say ‘semi-automatic’ – even the Unconscious Competent should have the ability and the sharpness to call forth self-awareness.

Purposeful self-awareness, plus a knowing application of skill, generates maximum personal horsepower.

The handmaiden of creativity is imagination. Imagination is the well that brings forth the new ideas that are essential to your growing success.

Brainstorming is the way to keep imagination active, fresh and alive.

These are  the rules of brainstorming new ideas:

• Quantity – Numbers. The more ideas, the greater percentage of  success

• No criticism – Don’t pre-judge any idea until you have a basketful to pick from. This is the key. Judgment tends to inhibit imagination

• Free-wheeling – Don’t reject an idea because it is unusual or “off the wall”

• Combination – Combine ideas and see what kind of offspring they produce

Only after you’ve exhausted all possible ideas do you start the process of selecting and evaluating.

The aim of creativity is problem solving. That’s the essence of successful selling.

The foremost function of the mind is problem solving. We solve problems with our imagination and imagination is a function of our creative ability. A creative salesperson is a problem-solver.

The basics of the selling process:

• Determine desire

• Present the product to satisfy desire

• Help the prospect find the right reasons for a favorable decision

Selling is nothing more than an exercise in problem solving. By constantly keeping your imagination and creativity at work, you will develop the best attitude for problem solving. You will build an unending source of ideas. You will become an idea producer and this will be your source of “value add” that will differentiate you from your competitor.

Differentiate Between Activity and Accomplishment

Activity relates to being busy, but accomplishment equates to getting meaningful things done. It takes energy to fail. The successful salesperson channels their energy into creative, productive channels leading to pre-defined goals.

Accomplishment is measured by the amount of creativity involved.

And Finally – Value Added Asks

“What service or benefit can I add to what I give my customer, other than my product?”

Not just service in the sense of speedy delivery, prompt follow-up and personal attention, which are normal adjuncts of any real sale, but a real plus idea, something extra of value to him, beyond the immediate transaction, that goes beyond the nine dots of your job.

Value add, through idea giving, is the ingredient that earns you the right to ask for the order – and to expect it!

As with all things in life, the quality of the preparation affects the final outcome. This is certainly true when it comes to planning and preparing a presentation.

I have experimented with a number of methods over the years, but I do believe that the simplest are usually the best.

The Collection

Over a period of time, think all round the subject and note down on a large sheet of paper or indeed several sheets, everything that comes into your head about the subject of your presentation. This is rather like a personal brain storming session and should be done roughly, in the order in which the thoughts occur – do not attempt to write a speech at this stage.

The Central Theme

This second method requires you to decide on the exact message you want to get across and writing it down in one simple sentence. Then you think all around the sentence, scribbling down the ideas as they come to you – this method is almost identical to ‘mind-mapping.

Before selecting or rejecting any idea, it is important to decide:

• Who are my audience?
• How much do they know already?
• How much time will I be allowed?

Having taken account of the answers to those three key questions, it should be possible to answer one further one:

• What do I want to say?

This is the stage at which you can decide your headings and sub-headings and put them into a logical order. Your structure then begins to take shape. Essentially, you go back to the notes you made during the ‘ideas’ stage and select which ones you wish to use and then put them in the right order.

Remember, you probably will not have time to tell your audience all you know about your subject – after all, this is not an ‘information dump’. Use only what is relevant and what can be dealt with in the time at your disposal – this may involve a ruthless reduction exercise.

It is suggested that, if possible, you should leave the speech, once written, for 24 hours. Then re-read and revise – removing any jargon or unnecessarily flowery phases or faulty reasoning.

The actual notes that you speak from can be the final draft of the speech, but this will normally cause you to read most, or all, of the presentation and the audience will find this dull.

It is much better, therefore, to read the final draft and put it to one side. Then, without referring to it, write short, key-word notes or, if you are very experienced, headings only, on to numbered postcards (numbering your cards will prove to be an invaluable exercise in the unlikely event you drop them half way through your presentation!).

You can now look again at the final draft to check that you have included all the major ideas on the cards. But be careful, the chances are that, if you forgot that idea when making out the cards, you will forget it when you make the presentation…

Final Notes

Unless you are a very good actor with a phenomenal memory, do not dispense with notes by memorizing a speech ‘parrot-fashion’. Unless your audience is made up of ornithologists, they do not want to listen to a parrot!!

Also, it is easy to lose your way when giving a memorized presentation and easier still to lose an audience.

PS: If you are serious about improving your presentation skills, you will find a number of really helpful articles here

Most successful negotiators recognize that the way people involved in negotiations behave does not always reflect their true feelings or intentions. We are going to look at negotiating tactics that may be used by you or on you. Whether or not you choose to use these tactics, it is vital to understand:

• Tactics work
• They can be being used on you and can be used by you
• Once they are recognized as tactics, their effects are reduced, or eliminated

You may feel that there is no need, in your particular case, to negotiate or resort to tactics. In negotiation, this is a matter of personal choice.

In general, tactics are used to gain a short-term advantage during the negotiation and are designed to lower your expectations of reaching a successful conclusion.

There are many tactics available to negotiators, for example …..

Body Language

It is important in negotiation to react verbally and visually when offers are made.

You may have seen the more theatrical negotiators hang their heads in despair, or accuse you of being unfair and souring a perfectly good relationship, when you present your proposal. Human nature is such that we can believe and accept these outbursts against us – our negotiating position becomes weaker as a result.

Ensure, the next time you are in a negotiation, that you react to the other party’s offer. If you show no reaction, they may be tempted to ask for more and more and you will lose the initiative in the negotiation. Also, it is almost certain that their opening offer is higher than the figure for which they are prepared to settle, so it is important that you clearly signal your unwillingness to accept the opening position.

If you reach the point below which you will not go, it is important that you show this with your body language. News readers, when they have finished reading the news, have a habit of picking up their script and tidying up their papers. This tells the world that they have finished their task and are preparing to leave.

Similarly, when you make your final offer, it can be very powerful to collect your papers together and indicate with your body that it really is your final offer. Put your pen away, sit back in your chair and remain silent. Look concerned and keep quiet.

If your voice says ‘final offer’, but your body is saying ‘let’s keep talking’, the other party will disregard what you say and keep negotiating.

Tomorrow, I am running a follow-up presentation to the Masterclass I provided last month. In particular, I will be focusing on “Tactics, tricks, and threats” such as:

• Pre-conditioning

• The monkey on the back

• The use of higher authority

• Nibbling

• The good guy and the bad guy

• The use of silence

• The vice

• The power of legitimacy

• And finally – the low key approach

Why not join me?

Tuesday November 2nd 2010 12 NOON EASTERN

You can register for free here

Finally today, Happy 20th Birthday to the beautiful Alice Farrington ….