“Just as the tumultuous chaos of a thunderstorm brings a nurturing rain that allows life to flourish, so too in human affairs times of advancement are preceded by times of disorder. Success comes to those who can weather the storm.”
-- I Ching No. 3
Tag Archive for: success
What do you need to know about the prospect’s business to engage?
I mean if you just walk in the door and say, “Tell me a little bit about your business,” how unprepared does that make you look?
Answer: TOTALLY UNPREPARED.
Prepared is going to their website and printing out several strategic pages, reading them, and making notes so you can ask about what you don’t understand, or need elaboration on—not asking about them from TOTAL IGNORANCE.
NOTE: Just so we understand each other, “Tell me a little about your business,” is the third dumbest thing you can say to or ask a prospect. The second is “Let me tell you a little about my business.”
The prospect couldn’t CARE LESS about you or your business, and probably already knows enough to not want to hear it again. The first most dumbest? I’ll tell you later. Let’s talk about where to find out information about a prospect and his or her business before your sales call.
1. The Internet. Don’t just look up their site. Enter their company name on Google or other search engines like dogpile.com and see what pops up. There may be an article or other important information. Then enter the name of the person you’re meeting with. Then enter the name of the CEO. Then tell me why you’re not meeting with the CEO. (Just a little jab there.) By the way, if you look up the name of the person you’re meeting with and you find nothing, that also tells you something.
2. Their literature. Even though it’s we-we, it has the basic “brags” covered and may talk about shifts in emphasis and market coverage. It also tells you what they think of themselves and their products.
3. Their vendors. Usually reluctant talkers, but they can tell you what it’s like to do business with them and all about how you are going to be paid—valuable information to say the least. Vendors are a rarely used resource.
4. Their competition. Oh man, talk about dirt, here it is. Just ask casual questions about how they win business—it will tell you what it will be like to negotiate with them. By the way, the more their competition hates them, the better they usually are. Competitors hate the people who take business away from them.
5. Their customers. Customers talk. And they are the real word on delivery, organization, quality, and the subtle information that can give you an insightful competitive advantage.
6. People in your network who may know them. A quick e-mail to your inside group asking for information will always net a fact or two and may just be the bonanza you were looking for.
7. Their other employees. Occasionally the admin will help, but don’t count on it. A better bet is their PR department or their marketing department.
8. The best and least used resource: Their sales department. Salespeople will tell you anything. You can get details you won’t believe.
8.5 Google yourself. Want some pain? Look up your own name. Where are you? What’s your Internet position? Suppose they are looking you up. What will they find? If it’s nothing, that’s a report card on you.
And it’s not just Internet preparation. It’s other research, such as finding mutual friends, calling a few vendors, maybe a few customers. Getting VITAL information as it relates to the buying of your product or service. There’s one more thing in preparation: Be prepared with an objective or two about what you want to accomplish in the meeting.
Proper preparation takes time, but I assure you it’s impressive to the prospect. He or she knows that you have prepared, and is silently impressed. It’s an advantage that very few salespeople use. They make the fatal error of getting all their own stuff ready. PowerPoint slides, samples, literature, business cards—you know, all the same things the competition is doing. Biggest mistake in sales. And almost every salesperson makes it.
And it’s not only preparation about the sale—it’s your personal preparation for sales—your personal training. How ready are you? Get ready baby. Turn off the TV and get ready.
—Jeffrey Gitomer
Click on this title to Buy the Little Red Book of Selling: 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness
By Nickolove Lovemore
Some people spend most of their lives within their comfort zone and so limit the success they achieve. For whatever reason they're afraid to go beyond their personal edge.
A friend recently admitted that although they didn't like their job, they stuck at it because "it paid the bills". Now while paying the bills is important, it's also important that we lead fulfilled lives.
When you don't live life out full you are not only depriving yourself of a happier and more abundant life, you are also depriving the world of a person who is imparting their unique gift to the world. We all have a special contribution to make to the world and it's something that you can't delegate. If you don't fulfil your role then no one else can do it for you.
But when I asked this person what they really wanted to do they said that they didn't know. The thing is this person is not alone in this regard. Many people say that they don't know what they truly want to do with their lives and so they just drift along feeling unfulfilled and disempowered to make the impact that they could be making.
The reality is though that these individuals do know what they want even when they think they don't. The answer lies within and this is one reason why it's important to get to know you. Self-knowledge or self-discovery is empowering.
"How can I know what I want when I don't know who I am? The inner knowledge must be there to support the outer action."
It's funny how so many people are literally afraid to search within themselves for answers to questions that could literally transform their lives. You would think that your inner self is one of the safest places within which to search. Instead, people tend to search outside, knowing their search will be futile.
And the reason why so many people do this is because if they do identify what it is they really want then they would feel obligated to take action to achieve what they've identified. And they're fearful that if they do this that they might not succeed.
The irony is that their inaction automatically means that they fail. It's like with certain sporting competitions when it's your turn and the clock starts ticking you've a limited amount of time to make your move or else you're disqualified. Plus, by not taking action they don't give themselves the opportunity to succeed. However, Wealth and Lifestyle Strategist, Christopher Howard believes:
"The quicker you can make the decision about what you want your life to be about the more success you're going to have."
And that makes perfect sense when you think about it. People shy away from going after their dreams because they think it will be too hard, too difficult. Yet, you are never more alive than when you are living on the edge. And by this I'm not referring to adrenaline-type sports, although for some this is applicable, I mean living at the edge of your comfort zone - your personal edge.
Your willingness to reside at the boundary of your personal edge is in direct proportion to the rate and extent of your personal growth. You have to learn how to step beyond your personal edge in order to create change in your life and you have to be prepared to do so time and time again. And, when you do so, you will grow, you will achieve greater success and you will start to live a most extraordinary life.
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If you are not one hundred percent satisfied with the current status of your life as it is right now in terms of anything including relationships, finances, career, parenting, etc. there is only one thing that you need to assess and that's your decision making process.
You see, our lives are shaped by our experiences and all experiences are the result of a decision.
If you decide to touch a burning stove, the result will be that you get burned. If you decide to jump in a pool of water, the result will be that you get wet.
Sometimes however, the result that we experience from a decision isn't so clearly visible prior to making that decision.
In other words, we think that by making a certain decision, we will achieve a certain result but somehow that result turns into something else. And that's when things get tricky.
And this is why if areas of your life aren't moving along as planned, you must assess your decision making process.
Decisions are driven by two things; the confidence in one's ability to achieve a certain result and more importantly, emotions.
The reason why I say "more importantly" is because emotions ultimately guide every decision and will always override one's confidence.
For example, if you decide that it's time to lose weight or quit smoking, you can have all the confidence in the world in your ability to achieve those goals but if your emotions point you in the opposite direction, you will ultimately never achieve those goals.
Therefore, to truly enhance any areas of your life, you must work
on both your confidence and your emotions.
on both your confidence and your emotions.
Steve G. Jones is a clinical hypnotherapist who has been practicing hypnotherapy for over 20 years and has worked with the likes of just about anyone ranging from regular everyday folks to high profile celebrities.
In fact, pretty soon he will have his own television show called "The Celebrity Hypnotist."
Steve also has the largest collection of hypnosis recordings on the planet and is well respected in his field. Some time ago, Steve realized that while he was helping improve various areas of people's lives using the power of hypnosis on a subconscious level, that working on someone's confidence was a must no matter what.
It's almost like a prerequisite for true transformation. The only problem was that people would have to fly to his Savannah office for the hypnosis session and pay a pretty penny to do so.
Steve decided to create a program that would equip any person with the ability to build confidence using hypnosis right in the privacy of their own homes, which would make it much more convenient and affordable.
And so he did just that. The only problem; it was missing something.
While Steve's program was in fact ultra effective at building confidence, it didn't focus on emotions on any level.
Knowing that the only true way to deal with one's emotions is through Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT for short, Steve knew he had to incorporate the principles of EFT into his program.
But Steve is an expert in hypnosis, not EFT.
So what did he do? He decided to enlist the the help of a man who is arguably the world's foremost EFT expert......Brad Yates.
While it certainly was no easy task (it took nearly a year), Steve finally did track Brad down and got him to join forces with him to create what is perhaps the most powerful formula for building confidence known to man.
Introducing Confidence Beyond Belief by Steve G. Jones, M.Ed. and Brad Yates.
We all make excuses.
But the successful ones are those who can kill the excuses like the miserable maggots they are.
I’m too tired. I don’t have the time. I don’t feel motivated. I’d rather do nothing. I don’t have the money, equipment, space. I can’t because …
We’ve all made the excuses. Here’s how to kill them. >>>
How do stellar sellers work their magic? From the first cold call to closing the deal, discover the top sales secrets of some seriously successful salespeople.
How to sell more, better and faster: It's what keeps salespeople awake at night, no matter what they sell. And in an economy that's still soft around the edges, selling well is more important than it's ever been.
So how can you and your sales team excel in turning prospects into long-term customers? Here are 17 how-to secrets and words of wisdom from sales experts and entrepreneurs for mastering the entire sales process.
How to make a cold call
A cold call is not a time to make a sale. It's [a time] to give something. The first question is, "Is it OK if I share with you what we do and why people use us? Then, we can decide whether it makes sense to go further." Be as discerning of the prospect as they are of you. No one's going to do business with a beggar.--Bill Caskey, author of Same Game, New Rules: 23 Timeless Principles for Selling and Negotiating" and founder of Caskey Achievement Strategies, a B2B sales training and consulting firm in Indianapolis,
How to get past the gatekeeper
Voice mail is today's gatekeeper. The [most important] part of an effective voice mail is establishing your credibility by referencing a referral, your research or some newsworthy event in their company. The secret is to not talk about your product or service; focus on results. Talk like a businessperson, not a salesperson.--Jill Konrath, founder of Selling to Big Companies, a St. Paul, Minnesota, sales training firm
How to write a sales letter
The secret to a successful sales letter is making it look just like a typical business letter. You want to position yourself as a peer who has a great idea and a helpful offer. In working with sales consultants at IBM, we coach them to start where the last conversation left off--something like, "After your comment to me on the phone last month, I've been thinking about a way to X." Your opening shot can't be a misfire.--Dianna Booher, author of E-Writing: 21st Century Tools for Effective Communication and CEO of Booher Consultants Inc., a Dallas/Fort Worth-area communication training firm
How to generate repeat business
Our customers aren't customers; our customers are owners. That sets a certain bar. If one of our owners is going to take a flight, a sales vice president may be helping with the luggage and the catering. We feel like if we get in front of our customers and we hustle, at the end of the day, it will be translated into repeat business.--Kenny Dichter, founder of New York City-based Marquis Jet, an 80-employee global leader in private jet cards whose Marquis Jet Card Program has a 90 percent customer renewal rate
How to upsell your current clients
I asked a client if they were thinking about redoing their website. They said, "No." I didn't tell them, but I was going to work on something because I had a vision for it. I presented it to them, and they loved it. I had a $10,000 sale for that website. The biggest secret is just taking the time to think, "What does my client need that he's not asking for?"--Paula Yakubik, founder of MassMedia, a 7-year-old Las Vegas PR and advertising firm with 18 employees and $3.5 million in annual sales
How to hire a good sales manager
Successfully hiring a strong sales manager is a balance between science and art. All strong sales-manager candidates exhibit three behavioural traits: a high energy level, tenacity and competitiveness. The biggest mistake companies make is that they try to find someone who will change the process because sales are not at the desired level. The majority of the time, the process isn't broken; what they didn't find was someone who has sold in that process before. Finding a manager compatible with the process is crucial.--Jim Kasper, author of Creating the #1 Sales Force: What It Takes to Transform Your Sales Culture
How to offer great customer service
The big secret is to passionately believe in your people. It's easy to say and difficult to execute unless you're in a culture that supports and encourages great customer service. Everyone's going that extra mile. Behind every transaction is a personal relationship.--Jack Mitchell, author of Hug Your Customers: The Proven Way to Personalize Sales and Achieve Astounding Results and CEO of Mitchells/Richards, a high-end Connecticut clothing retailer with $70 million in annual sales
How to close a sale
At the end of a sales conversation, the customer knows everything [he or she] needs to know to make a decision. The key is to ask the customer to take action. Simply ask, "Why don't you give it a try?" Don't sit there hoping that somehow, sometime, somewhere, the customer will take action on his own. Like a dentist's job is to pull the tooth, the sales-person's job is to ask for the order at the end of the presentation.--Brian Tracy, author of The Psychology of Selling: Increase Your Sales Faster and Easier Than You Ever Thought Possible and founder of Brian Tracy International, a Solana Beach, California, sales consulting firm
How to sell when price is the determining factor
If you're selling something on price, you'd better start learning how to declare Chapter 11, because you're on your way. Look at what's going on with the airlines and department stores. Everyone gets confused thinking it's all about price, but it's about relevance. Get away from price, and get to value.--Sergio Zyman, founder, chairman and CEO of the Zyman Group, an Atlanta management consulting firm
How to meet a prospect in person
This is your big chance to make an impression. Don't have your cell phone and your pager on, and don't have anything in your notebook that doesn't have to do with that customer. Ask follow-up questions, clarify that you understand what they're saying, and give them feedback that you're listening. You don't want an hour to go by where [the prospect] didn't feel it was valuable spending time with you.--Seleste Lunsford, co-author of Strategies That Win Sales: Best Practices of the World's Leading Organizations
How to give a great sales presentation in five minutes or less
Whether you have six minutes or 60 minutes to make a presentation, always organize your content, adapt to the moment, and dialogue with your audience. Reveal your core statement early and clearly, and support it with no more than three main points. If pressed for time, leave anecdotes and stories on the sidelines.--Bob Lipp, president of Better Business Presentations, a Great Neck, New York, firm that helps executives improve their presentation and public speaking skills
How to surpass a sales quota
People sit back and relax when they've made their quota. But that's when you really pour it on. At 5 o'clock, make 15 more calls. When you have a lot of business coming in and you're doing well, that's the best time to make calls to surpass your quota. Your actions are much more powerful when you're doing well than when you're trying to get started.--Barry Farber, Entrepreneur's "Sales Success" columnist and president of Farber Training Systems, a Livingston, New Jersey, sales management and motivational company
How to schedule your week most effectively
Every weeknight I would complete my Day-Timer with contacts I needed to make and proposals I needed to present the next day. I always had a complete plan written down. Map out your sales calls so you minimize drive time. Log all details about each appointment, tracking all steps of the sale until it's closed. This prevents redoing or forgetting scheduled items and will keep your day on task.--Henry A. Penix, author of Unwrap Your Gift and a former salesperson who ranked in the upper 2 percent of all salespeople for The Pitney Bowes Corp.
How to create customer loyalty
The hardest thing is getting somebody to trust you. After you build a relationship, the trust comes. Going the extra mile, being a good communicator, letting them know if there are problems--that makes people feel good. Be consistent. Do what you say you're going to do. When I see a parent with one child bring a second child to me, that's when I know I've created customer loyalty.--Kara Vample Turner, president and CEO of 7-year-old Primary Colors Daycare Center in Durham, North Carolina
How to relate better to your prospect
Ninety-five percent of what's sold in the world isn't an end unto itself, it's a means to an end. Nobody wants to buy computers; what they want is the ability to transfer information more quickly and accurately so groups can work together better, so they can put products out to market faster, so they can capture more market share. What does the client want to achieve? When you ask that question, it changes everything.--Bill Stinnett, author of Think Like Your Customer and president of Sales Excellence Inc., an Evergreen, Colorado, sales training and consulting firm
How to follow up with a prospect
I learned the importance of follow-up early on. I probably lost several projects because I was shy. [Now], we look for reasons to call back. If we get a sense of what they want, we'll sketch something, call them and try to get them back in. If you don't care enough to [take the initative and] call, I can't imagine people wanting you to build their dream home.--Lambert Arceneaux, owner of Allegro Builders, an 8-year-old Houston home builder with eight employees and projections of $12 million in sales for 2005
How to reduce the sales cycle
There is little magic to this, but a lot of work. Reps are loath to ask tough questions. [Does the prospect] have a committed budget? What's the process for releasing funds, and who has final authority to do so? What is the event driving this initiative? [If you] want to reduce the sales cycle, target prospects better, and qualify them rigorously.--Barry Trailer, partner with CSO Insights, a Corte Madera, California, sales effectiveness research and benchmarking firm
How to increase market share
To truly grow market share, a company must not only increase overall revenues but must also increase new customer acquisition rates and average deal sizes. The 2005 "Miller Heiman Sales Effectiveness" study revealed that less than 5 percent of companies accomplished this goal. The interesting thing about the winning companies is commonality in the key strategies they pursued. Most of their new product initiatives were aimed at providing additional value to their current clients rather than trying to create new markets. These top companies also had a much more evolved process of sharing best practices; they understand the benefit of quickly communicating and implementing successful strategies. --Sam Reese, CEO of sales consulting and training firm Miller Heiman in Reno, Nevada
Chris Penttila is Entrepreneur's "Smart Moves" columnist.
Equip yourself with the tools that you need to live the life you want to live!
With this special 29-CD Collection of recorded Teleseminars, you will learn the most powerful secrets of creating wealth in all aspects of life.
Here are some of the titles included in this collection:
- The Miracle of Self-Discipline
- Communicate With Power
- Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life
- The Art of Closing the Sale
- Goals!
- Power Networking
- Selling Higher-Priced Products Against Lower-Priced Competition
- The Secrets of Raising Super Kids
- Customers for Life
- Crunch Time!
- Simplify Your Life
- Magical Marketing
- Fit and Trim for Life
- Money, Money, Money
- Rapid Learning Made Simple
- Unlock Your Potential
- Negotiate the Best Deal
In this must-have set of CDs, you will:
- Learn and retain new knowledge with ease
- Practice higher levels of self-discipline and self-control in every area of your life
- Boost your speaking skills to become an outstanding communicator
- Learn to wrap up the sales process with confidence and experience amazing results
- Put price in it's place and sell more than you ever have
- Learn how to raise happy, healthy, self-confident children - and give your kids the winning edge
- Be the one people look to when things start to fall apart
- Have the body you've always wanted and enough energy to keep up with your family
- Out-Think, Out-Market and Out-Sell the Competition
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- Make an extraordinary first impression every time
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- Plus much, much more!
These Teleseminar CDs have helped millions of people become successful -- whether in their business or personal life.
You probably already know that the most successful people have incredible levels of self-confidence. They have accomplished great levels of success and happiness in their lives and seem to be unstoppable in everything that they do.The fact is, that when you develop unshakable self-confidence your whole world will change for the better.
Unfortunately, through years of life experience, our beacon which is located inside all of us, begins to loose strength. For some reason or another we forget how truly powerful we are.
We lack the Self-Confidence to put our ambitions and desires into action!
Do not live one more day with these limiting thoughts and beliefs. You have the power to take control of your life. You have complete artistic creativity. Whatever you can imagine, you can bring into your reality.
Brian Tracy's The Science of Self- Confidence Training Kit contains the proven secrets possessed by every successful person in the world.
"Build Rock Solid Self-Confidence and Achieve All of Your Goals"
You will receive:
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The Science of Self-Confidence (6 CD Program) By using the ideas in The Science of Self-Confidence, everything becomes possible. Your belief in your ability to succeed in all areas of life becomes unshakable. Your life will never be the same, once you learn to practice The Science of Self-Confidence. |
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The Science of Positive Focus (2 Hour DVD Program) Would you like to know how you can stay positive, energized, and powerful? In my 2 hour DVD I teach you how to defeat negativity. I teach you how positive focus can create the life that you want! |
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Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life (60-minute CD) Change the way you think about yourself and your potential. Open new doors to unlimited possibilities and put yourself on the road to a better, more fulfilling professional and personal life. This 60 minute CD will show you how to take charge of your life, become wealthy, and achieve every goal you set for yourself! |
| The Science of Self-Confidence Training Kit |
***BRIAN TRACY'S TIP OF THE WEEK***
An excerpt from Brian Tracy's Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life:
The Great Truth:
"You can learn anything you need to learn, to accomplish any goal you can set for yourself." This principle offers a way for you to take complete control over your future. When I was young and struggling, failing and frustrated, this principle came along to change my life.
Generally speaking, no one is smarter than you, and no one is better than you. Just because someone is doing better than you doesn't mean that he is better than you. It usually means that he has just learned how to succeed in his particular field before you have. And whatever someone else has done, you can probably do as well.
This is not an easy rule, but it is definitely simple. You, too, can learn anything you need to learn to accomplish any goal you can set for yourself.
Once I learned this idea, I was unafraid to change jobs, and even industries. I learned how to sell advertising, investments, automobiles, and office supplies. I worked in real estate sales and leasing, and then real estate development. Then I engaged in importation and distribution, then banking, printing, consulting, and eventually speaking, writing, recording, and corporate training.
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Resolve today to make 2008 your highest achieving year - get Rock-Solid confidence
