Category - sales tips

Your 100 Dollar Business Card

Whenever I go anywhere — a lunch, a networking event, a fundraiser people are

constantly giving me business cards, sometimes often before they say ”hello”. We

put so much emphasis on these 2-by- 3 cards and for what? Do you think it’s

going to sell for you? Have you experienced the people who hand out so many

cards that you want to know where they get them printed so you can buy

stock? We also get this question from lots of our clients ”What title should we

put on our salespersons’ business cards? If we want them to be consultants, we

should say consultant. Or how about account manager?” I shake my head. They

don’t get it. Who cares? Its how you act, not what you say on your card, that

makes you a salesperson or a consultant. While we’re on the subject, let’s

address business cards in general. I don’t think the format has been changed in

100 years. Ask yourself, when you look for a business card, what are you looking

for 90 percent of the time? You know, so just say it: It’s the phone number. Lets start from the top. First and foremost, you should have a logo or name of your

company on the card. Top left corner or across the top is fine. No need to

scream across the card what your company name is. Don’t worry, we can see

it second to your name. Make it legible and large enough to read. This is one

of the most important things on your card. Third, the phone number. Why do we put the most important thing on the card in 6-point type that even with my granny glasses (no snickering) I still can’t see is beyond me. Make it easy to see. Big, bold, green … something. Finally, the fax number. When was the last time you pulled out a business card to fax something? You didn’t. You spoke to the person on the phone and they asked you to fax something, at which point you asked for their fax number. So leave it out. Business cards are what we hand out after we have a conversation with someone, not before, so force yourself to engage in conversation with someone first. Ask about their business, what they do, how long they’ve been doing it, etc. Don’t just hand out a card. Build relationships first by asking good questions. Try this: Pretend your business card is worth $100. If it were, you would make sure you didn’t just give it out like food samples in the grocery store. You would first see if there’s value. This mindset will force you to engage in conversation with people and begin to form a relationship with them through learning about them, not “telling” them about you, especially through the use of a business card. Isn’t this what you are

really looking for anyway?

Don’t ask to get married before courting your prospect!

Well it’s the love season! Valentines day is around the corner and love is in the air.
What would you say to a friend who said he met a great girl and after 2 dates he
was going to ask her to marry him. Though I don’t actually know your answer I
am guessing most of you reading this would say, “are you crazy?” you don’t
know enough about her, you think you are a good match but how do you really
know.
Additionally, if you are going to ask someone to marry you, isn’t it expected that
they will say yes since there is a courting period? If there were red flags you
could pick them up early and either address them or get out before it’s too late.
Makes sense right?
Of course it does. Then why in sales, are we getting to know very little about our
prospect and asked them to marry us so soon? Somehow we think in business
courting is not necessary. Well it is! A prospect needs to understand you, your
organization, get questions answered and you need to truly understand what
their real needs are, not just the ones they tell you upfront they want or need.
You need to know the whys. They whys help you customize a true
recommendation for them that reflects all of them, not just what they initially told
you wan the issue they were trying to resolve.
The courting period is the time where you really get to know the prospects issues
and how they are affecting them and their organization. I don’t mean taking them
to lunch and to play golf. That is fine but its not what building relationships are
truly about. The idea of courting should help your prospect self-discover that
he/she wants to do business with you. Yews you can tell them why early on my
giving them your ‘dog and pony’ show of all of your features and benefits of how
you can help them or worse, how you have helped ‘others just like them’.
Imaging using that line on a date….
Here are some tip in being successful in sales and frankly in dating….
1) Slow down. The courting part takes time. It is also if done well, some true
discovery is done and will help really come up with the best plan in the
end.

2) Ask great questions to get your prospect talking. I’m not talking about
questions like, “wouldn’t be helpful if you had a solution that would print
your widgets faster and for less money?: That is a leading question and a
very silly one. Do you really think they can’t see through that? No. Ask
open-ended thought-provoking neutral questions. Think of these questions
like this, if you didn’t have an ulterior motive to sell this person, what would
you ask them to try to help them with their issue? Those are the right

questions. They show that you care about the entire picture and not only
what revolves around your particular solution.
3) You must truly understand what the Clear Next Step will be at the end of
the meeting or phone conversation. Not just “Ill call you next week with the
proposal” or “Ill send a proposal to you on Tuesday”. NO! You must get a
clear date and time that you both agree to and have it on the calendar!
Your responsibility is to get the agreement of that next step, not suggest it
to them. There must be skin in the game, and this is how to test
that…BEFORE you propose anything!
4) Make sure that you have a full understanding of what they will do if you
decide to get them some recommendations based on what they need and
how working with you will solve those issues. In other words, don’t buy
the ring until you know she’ll say yes.
So is sales really like dating, yes and no. I will tell you it is more like it then
you think. Understanding people, TRULY understanding people is the key to
a successful career in sales…..Unless you have enough money to buy lots of
engagement rings.

The Old Elevator Speech is just that; Old

“I’m going to try my best to do a great ‘elevator speech/benefits statement’ so the customers know exactly what we do”. We put so much time and energy into coming up with this big introduction/benefit statement and honestly, it is not as important as any of the other things that we do.

 

This thought is on the mind of most sales people. They feel that they have to have some great, two-sentence explanation of what they do, and that will help sell it. Now, it is important to summarize what you do, but that is not what sells. Let me illustrate this point. Think about the last time you read a book, and then saw the movie. Which is typically better? Well, almost every one I talk to says the book is better. Why is that? Because when you read a book, you have the ability to create what the scene looks like, what the characters look like, even the voices and sounds therefore the story becomes yours. When you put something in your own brain, you are able to create what it looks like, and what it sounds like, and what it feels like to you. You attach more directly to the story because it becomes yours. Your interpretation of the events as opposed to some producer, or director’s interpretation of what the story should be. This is the same reason why telling someone what you do and the “features and benefits” of your product or service is much less powerful then asking great questions and getting them to see how it can help through their own eyes.

 

When you tell someone why they should work with you, what the benefits are, what the advantages are, those are your interpretations of the benefits or the advantages that you offer. When you ask really good questions to get people to think about what is important to them, it is their idea. If that they had the ability to use your product or service and what difference would it make to their organization it allow them to begin to interpret their own book.

 

— If they had success in a particular area, how we can change things, it is a lot of those kinds of thought provoking questions that allows a prospect to see the advantage on their own, on what your product is supposed to bring. So, ask me questions is really much more important than coming up with an important benefit statement.

 

There are a couple different types of questions. The first question that I talk about is what I call big picture questions. Big picture questions are thought provoking questions that are questions about the person that is talking about the overall situation. For example, talk about the goals that you set for your organization, and where you are along the line of those goals. Right now it is plug in the date and if it was project to ourselves a year forward, if it was one year from today and you were to look back

 

So you have the ability to ask big-picture questions and get people to think. So if you say, if a year from now you were to look back and say, that was a really successful year, what would have had to happen over those 12 months to make you say that? What are the things that you fear the most over the next 12 months and what are you doing to avoid them? What are the things that are in your way in reaching your goal, and how are you planning on working around those things? What does success look like to you? There are so many what I call big-picture questions, and when you ask questions like this, it allows that person not only to think, but to put things in their own perspective. And when they give you the answer, the answer is coming from their own thoughts and their own processes.

 

The second type of question is what I call advantage questions. Advantage questions come directly from what you believe the advantages are that you portray. For example, if you sell advertising in a very high-end magazine, you might ask the question: talk to me about how you get in front of high-income, or high-net worth, individuals now. And if you had the ability to get in front of more of them, what would you say? So it forces them to think about not only being in front of two potential clients that they’re trying to get in front of it, but it has them think about what the message would be. It begins to develop where you’re going to go with your recommendations or proposals in the end. So rather than you saying, here’s what you can do, the difference is coming up with question to get them to self-realize it. Remember when you read a book, it’s the author’s interpretation of those words, but you have the ability to put what it looks like and feels like. When you go to the movies, it is purely the director and the producer’s interpretation. It’s much more effective when it’s yours.

Is Social Media Killing Our Sales Skills?

Is Social Media Killing Our Sales Skills?

Recently, I spoke to an organization that spent an ungodly amount of time, energy and money on Social Media to create Lead Generation. So my question was, “Now what?” they said, “What do you mean?” I said “Okay, so you got a whole bunch of people calling you or contacting you through a web form, email etc. How’s your closing ratio?” They looked at me like I had three heads.

The issue is a simple one, just because we believe that we have found a new way to generate business, it is not generating business…alone. Lead generation is Interest; lead generation is getting people to the door. Are they coming over the threshold and are you closing the door behind them? That’s a very important step. One without the other will result in no revenue.

 

Between Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google and Bing ads on any of the Social Media sites, or email-marketing powerhouses like Infusionsoft, amongst other things we do today to build leads is it really working? That’s one question. If we’re doing all of the things that we need to do in Social Media and all the ‘white noise’ is going out, what is it bringing us? Well, it should be bringing us Leads. It should be bringing us Emails, filling out contact Information or a website, web forms and phone call, and if that’s happening, Great you have reached step one. This is a very important step but it is ONLY step one.

The million-dollar question is “Now What?”

It’s important to make sure that we know once people contact us or when we return a request call, we are using the right process to follow up from any kind of lead generation that we get. Are we setting some ground rules at the beginning of the conversation? Are we asking well thought out open-ended questions to engage them and truly understand their needs? Do we have a true picture of all of this before we have the cost conversation and do we clearly understand the next step and what that means as opposed to just “checking back” or “following up” with them?

We often have the naiveté to assume that If they are calling they are already primed to buy. This couldn’t be further from the truth. You don’t have a relationship built nor is there is not a true understanding of your product or service. There was just some low level of interest that got them to contact you. Is it better than you calling out cold? Well certainly it is but you still needs the same attention to your sales process as you always have. Getting somebody to call you is only the beginning. So, what are the other steps: What are we doing when we contact them or they call us. Are we using the process properly? Here is what we typically see.

 

When we get them on the phone, they will typically ask you a simple question that I call a “Wall Question” which is they put up a wall and the question sounds something like this “Hey, I see you guys sell widgets. Can you tell me if I bought a hundred widgets what that would cost?” and we say, “Sure, let me look. What can of widgets you are looking for?” “We’re looking for widget A or widget B.” “Okay well, widget A would be $75,000 for a hundred widgets and widget B would be $82,000. “Oh, that’s a lot of money. “Well, maybe I can do a little better.” You negotiate a price and they say “Okay sounds good, ah we’ll call you back” Or “Sounds good, can you send me a proposal / price sheet/ some more information?”

 

We get their email, we send that information in writing and cricket, we never hear from them again. We try to contact them back, they don’t contact us. We try to call them, they don’t take our call, and we leave messages.

Sound familiar? Of course, it does. The same situation that happened before when you did your prospecting more proactively occurred. Prospecting hasn’t changed. Sales and the sales process haven’t changed just because they’re contacting you. In fact, I would say that it is more difficult now because we are not as on top of our game since they contacted us we feel it is a ‘hot’ lead.

Not only do you need to do a good job on working on the sales process in closing the sale, you need to do a better job than you ever have before because remember, they have control. They’re the ones that are calling you but they’re also calling your competitor. So they’ve done a little homework, they know who’s out there and they know what the pricing is out there. That’s where the sale process comes in. If you don’t have a process, you’re going to fail whether they’re lead generating through Social Media or not.

 

 

Greta Schulz is President of SchulzBusiness, a sales Consulting and Training firm. She is a best selling author of “To Sell IS Not To Sell” and works with fortune 1000 companies and entrepreneurs. For more information or free sales tips go to www.schulzbusiness.com and sign up for ‘GretaNomics’, a weekly video tip series or email sales questions to greta@schulzbusiness.com

Are Hiring Millennial’s in Sales the Right Move?

Are Hiring Millennial’s in Sales the Right Move?

 

“I can’t find any good salespeople out there. I even tried to hire some young college kids and that was a mistake,” said Matt, the sales director of a ___ Business. “I hired a few of them and they just aren’t engaged, they just seem board.”

 

Well, they probably are board. Today this age bracket (18-35) looks at things completely different from some of us more experienced in business. Even one generation before can be a black and white difference to this generation.

 

According to a study from UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and the YEC, Millennials are highly ambitious, with a majority placing an importance on jobs with chances for career progression, personal growth, as well as freedom and flexibility. Millennials prioritize value and meaning in their work over money — if their jobs are aligned with their passion, they will go the extra mile.

 

We need to relook at whom we hire, how we hire and how we train these recruits. Our interaction with them will need to be interactive and fluid.

This generation has had more freedom, which they crave. If we try to put them into your corporate “box”, you will probably fail.

 

The Entrepreneurial Spirit  

 

Business leaders say they want creative thinking. Do they really? One of the challenges in hiring this young, free spirit, creative thinker is watching them do things so differently then we did. Often companies aren’t willing to make internal changes to create this type of environment because it often seems uncomfortable or even wrong. Letting go of the past and the way it used to be is a big part of getting the most out of this generation.

 

I have been trying to get organizations to hire salespeople that could be true “intrepreneurals” meaning an employee of the organization with a true creative entrepreneurial spirit. To get this kind of creativity and spirit it will be important to give them an environment they can thrive in.

 

The characteristics most associated with entrepreneurs are; self-motivated, creative, have initiative and risk-taking. They tend not to fit inside the rules and bend them often to make things happen.

 

Do we want these characteristics in our sales organization? You bet.

 

 

 

Create the Right Environment

 

So what do we do? Here are some changes you’ll need to make by creating an environment they can thrive in;

  • Look on Social Media for candidates. Today these candidates are looking in the non-traditional places; Linkedin, Facebook, twitter, Instagram and glassdoor.

 

  • Create a casual, open environment that encourages open communication and out of the box ideas. Be open to change the rules if there may be a different way of doing something.

 

  • Let them communicate with technology, even if you wouldn’t. This is how they really do communicate. Their first choice may be to put something in an email and not in person, let it happen.

 

  • Use flex-schedules. Don’t hold them to a 9-5 check into the office requirement. Give them the goal and very long leash to get there.

 

 

Make sure you are creating this environment. Today this generation checks you out in lots of different ways. One of the most popular sites is glassdoor.com. A critical consideration for candidates today since this job and company review site began.

 

Millennials are much more productive than they are given credit for. They know how to use technology efficiently, they are completely invested in work when it aligns with their passions, committed when their contributions and ideas are encouraged and recognized. They are also superior at communicating your brand – These make them natural recruits for top talent. There are lots of good reasons to hire them.

The 7 Critical Elements to Sales Success

The 7 Critical Elements to Sales Success

 

Selling is one of those things that most CEOs think if they hire their team with a good resume of experience, poof…they can sell. How’s that workin’ for ya?

That has been a badly failing method for as long as I have been in sales so lets talk about the B2B Sales Playbook of success. What does it really take?

 

  1. The very first thing is hiring right. Easier said then done. What criteria are we using? How are we finding our candidates? How are we interviewing? Are we using an assessment to help and if so which one? Quick tip. Look for people already on the job. Great salespeople are not out looking for work, they always have another potential job lined up because they are an asset not a liability.

doitright

 

 

  1. Train them the way you want them trained. Don’t rely on what they learned before. Teach them your method, the way you want them to sell. If they haven’t worked before, even better no bad habits. Get a true training process in place. There are a few good ones out there. (email me for more information on this).

training

 

 

  1. Use a repeatable and trackable sales process. The key word here is ‘repeatable’. When everyone adopts the same sales process, there is a common language that is understood, not just by sales, but by the whole organization. This is also important for managing the team and coaching the team to success.

repeat

 

 

  1. Motivation is individualized, not one size fits all. People are people and are motivated by different things. Is money a motivator? Sure but is it the only one? Don’t assume want motivates one will motivate another.

onesize

 

 

  1. Your Sales Leader is the Critical Link to Sales Success. Being a sales manager/leader is one of the hardest jobs in sales.  It is also the critical link to sales success.  Unless the sales manager has with all the tools he or she needs to easily manage the business, the whole performance of the sales organization will suffer.

link

 

 

  1. True and critical tracking methods. Complete integration with your CRM delivers the optimum information for you and your sales people. Without true data it becomes nearly impossible to eliminate failure and repeat success.

tracker1

 

  1. The ability to Forecast Sales Properly. Sales forecasting for most companies leaves a lot to be desired. It is a guessing game of percentages that some piece of business will close. If you have to and actually need to forecast more closely, a process for the sales funnel needs to be adapted.

forecast

 

 

The key to all of this is your sales leader. Do you have the right one? Better find out. Here is a place you can go: www.SalesLeadersAlliance.com. There is lots of good information there.

iTALK (Apple doesn’t make it but you’d think they did!)

“I feel like nothing is working. Whatever I do, it doesn’t seem to matter. I thought the economy was getting better but no one is going to buy right now,” Connie said in frustration about her recent sales numbers. “I really think that, once the economy truly turns around and people are feeling more confident, things will start to move again. But until then, it’s just not happening. I may actually have to get a part-time job or something until that happens because I am scared that I can’t pay my bills.”

Connie and I talked about some of the scenarios she had been dealing with, and she told me that people really like her product, but they just can’t afford it right now.

“Greta, I hear this every day: People are just not spending right now,” she said. “My numbers are down so far that I think it’s just a waiting game.”

When I hear Connie’s story, it isn’t unusual — but it is self-fulfilling. Why are some people thriving, and others are in Connie’s boat? I truly believe it is less about the external situation and much more about the internal self-talk we have going on.

I have narrowed it down to what I call ITALK — an acronym I think might explain what’s going on:

I: Initial situation. The initial situation here is that the economy went through a one-two punch that most of us have never seen the likes of before and — hopefully, once fixed — will never see again. The fact is this truly did change a lot of people’s way of life, and certainly the way business is conducted today. The initial situation is what it is: It’s fact.

T: Thought. The thoughts we create because of the situation we are presented with are completely ours. This is the filter we see the situation through. How do two people see the same situation differently? It is this filter that creates our thought. Connie’s thought is “people can’t afford it right now.” That is certainly a big assumption, and we all know what happens when we assume.

A: Attached feelings. The feelings that we have based on the assumptions we make are very damaging. They are damaging because of the depth of feelings or beliefs in the way we conduct ourselves. Connie was so scared that she actually thought about getting a second job.

L: Lead action. Our lead action is what we do because of our beliefs. It is the way we approach a particular situation and will be different, depending upon the belief. When Connie approaches a prospect, she doesn’t have confidence to handle the money objection because she herself believes it. Therefore, she is practically waiting for it to come — and with it is either feeling defeated or is quick to offer a discount. Neither of these is the outcome she would like.

K: Known result. The known result is what actually happens as a result of these beliefs. This is very difficult because you will almost always get the result you believe you are going to get. When you do, you say to yourself, “see, I knew it,” and the cycle continues.

ITALK is the talk we have with ourselves. It is our internal dialogue, our internal beliefs. In my opinion, there is nothing more dangerous then this. No matter how many times someone tells you it’s not that way, your subconscious is much more powerful than your conscience or anything someone might tell you.

Fix your internal negative thoughts and you can change your outcomes. It’s not the economy; it’s your thinking that is hurting you the most.

Greta Schulz is president and CEO of Schulz Business.

Raw Talent

If there were one thing I could emphasize to C-level executives is that starting

 

with the right people, the best people, is the key to everything. Yes there are lots

 

of other important factors, if there wasn’t, I wouldn’t have contents for the book,

 

but I often get asked to “train-up my salespeople”. When I ask a few questions I

 

learn that they are just not trainable. Not everyone is trainable and probably for

 

different reasons than you might think.

 

There are 3 things that make salespeople successful.

Those things are

Attitude, Activities and Approach.

These are the three ‘secrets’ to sales success.

 

 

Are they secrets? Of course not but I am amazed how often they are not adhered

 

to, therefore, maybe they are secrets.

 

To me the most important is the first one; ATTITUDE.

 

 

Attitude is the belief in yourself, your environment, your work ethic. It’s that fire in

 

your belly that makes you do whatever it takes to get the job done. No excuses,

 

no “almost” no sort of, no close but not quite there

 

Attitude is the real deciding factor in success. That being said are there some

 

things, some raw talent that helps move this along better and faster? You betcha!

 

Pay attention here if you have any mediocre salespeople. If you do,

 

ask yourself why. Let me answer it for you, because you allow it! That’s right.

 

Your fault. You. No one else. Let me tell you a story to help illustrate this point.

 

 

 

Raw Talent.

 

Our son was recruited in 2012 to play for the Kansas City Royals as a left-

 

handed pitcher. Of course he began in the minor leagues. His first week in

 

Arizona was an exciting one. Barely holding in his excitement, he proceeded to

 

go on the field to work with the pitching coach early in week one.

 

Immediately after the introductions and hand-shake niceties Clayton began

 

showing the coach his pitches. “I was really known for my change up. I also have

 

an excellent curve ball”. He could barely contain himself in anticipation of what

 

the coach would say.

 

After he threw his pitches and looked at the coach for his endorsement, the

 

coach began the conversation like this, “ Clayton I don’t give a “darn” (expletives

 

replaced) how you pitched in college and I sure don’t care that you were known

 

for your change-up. We hired you for your raw talent boy. We didn’t pick you for

 

your fancy pitches you threw in school! I will teach you how to throw a curve ball

 

and that change-up? Forget it! You will do it my way and I will make you a pro

 

player. You don’t like that, you can leave today!”

 

 

When he called home with his tale between his legs and told us that story, I

 

explained that was a good thing. If all you had were your pitches, he didn’t have

 

much to work with to make you great! They see something in you that is the

 

makings of someone great. That is to be proud of.

 

The moral here? In business, hire for RAW TALENT. These are things like

 

confidence, bravery, desire and commitment. The rest can and should be taught.

 

If you hire off of a resume of someone who has sold, you may be looking over

 

Someone that can…you may be missing the boat!

Top 5 Sales Presentation Fails

When making a presentation there are some mistakes that will often cost you the sale

1) Handing out your “proposal” before you present.

Steve c present

Well if you are going to hand out the presentation, why do you even need to be there? At best they can ‘follow along with you’ which means they will not be looking at you, at worst, you haven’t truly discussed things like the cost and they are jumping ahead and looking at the back page with pricing and you begin to sound like Charlie Browns teacher, “waa waa waa waa”.

2) Not engaging all of the people you are presenting to in your meeting

Gonna ignore you

Working with one person in the organization and then having to present to several is a scenario most of us will experience. If this happens you have no idea if they agree with the issues your contact had and even if they do agree, if you don’t get them talking right at the beginning, you are just “pitching” and not engaging them in the recommendations. Big mistake!

3) Talking to your projector screen and not to the prospects.

dont look at screen

So often we are so proud of the presentation we put together that we watch it as closely as they do. First of all there is nothing more frustrating for your prospect then feeling ‘pitched to’ and not listened to.

4) Not talking about money beforehand and having to justify cost at the actual presentation.

Show me the money

It is truly important to have learned enough to ask the right questions to be able to discuss some round numbers and get an agreement before you present.

5) Not understanding what will happen after you present.

Not understand whats next

The common misunderstanding is that after you present your recommendations or proposal is that you have to then wait for their answer be cause they have to ‘think it over’. NO THEY DON’T. Learn what that process is before you present and if there needs to be a next step, you need to know that before and find out that day.

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