Sales Is…

Whatever your situation is this morning…don’t stand still.  That is a ‘prey’ activity and not a ‘predator’ activity.  While I am not advocating going around with a ‘killer’ attitude…don’t act like a victim and stand still (unless you are going for the Blue Heron fishing technique).

It is so easy to lull yourself into sleep and stop ‘doing’ sales.  A couple of questions for you to answer and work on:

1. Do you have your top 100 prospect list?
2. What is your method of contacting them?
3. When was the last time you did so?
4. How can you get in front of the decision maker and when?

The key is this…move.  Do something, call a prospect, drive around your territory and look for a new business.  Sometimes, the best marketing is face to face and don’t discount the value of letting prospects know you exist.

So, whether you are in England (hello Peter) or in Franklin County (hello Justin), get out there and make something happen today.  If the most you can muster is a search on Linked-In so be it.  The power is in the action!

God Bless,

Mike

Real simple:  To work on HOW to sell in your company system better!

Think of how much money companies invest in training their sales people and in creating effective sales systems that produce revenue in good times and bad (now anyone?).  Then ask yourself what does all that investment create?  The answer is potential to create sales.  That is absolutely critical for increased sales (potential), but, worthless without the next step.

The next step is, after learning WHAT the system is and WHAT you are supposed to do as a salesperson in it, to work on performing better within that system.  A Sales Coach helps a trained salesperson (that knows what they are supposed to do) to do it better.  All the roadblocks that can be thrown up in ones face during the implementation of your sales proces is where a Sales Coach earns their keep by helping your salespeople sell more within your system.

Additionally, by having an outside person that helps them to perform better, the Sales Coach is a very important retention force within your company.  When evaluating hiring a Sales Coach for your company, evaluate the investment within the scope of how much it costs to find, hire and train a  NEW sales person.  All of the sudden, the investment of paying someone to get more out of what you all ready paid for becomes a whole bunch more exciting.

Mike

The natural state of things is decay.  Over time, without continual practice and focus on improvement all things decay.  Even if you are a seasoned sales professional without continual coaching (even self) and training you will inevitably find your sales effectiveness slowly slipping.

Your experience may overcome that slow decay in skill, yet, why give up the highest level of performance you can achieve?!?

Fight the natural state of things…seek to be a partner in continuous improvement and consider how you will achieve that goal.

God Bless,

Mike

In many cases of injury that results in death it is NOT the injury that causes death…it is shock.  Your system starts to shut down and that is what kills you.

I am observing this same situation occurring all across the nation in business right now.  We are all trying to hoard and scrimp our way to survival.  This is not inherently a bad thing, but, here is a major problem:  You can save yourself to death!

How you say?  Let’s look at it as if you ran a farm for your livelihood.  Even through a very difficult winter, eating less and trying to hang on, you are planning for the spring and for planting your next harvest.  If, out of fear (shock) you wait to long to plant your next crop…you will have only one option left to eat for you and your loved ones:  hunting.

Herein lies the problem:  Hunting is not and should not be the primary way you feed your family (business).  There is nothing wrong with planning on going out and getting sales via ‘instant’ solutions when the economy picks back up.  However, if you don’t have your fields plowed and prepared with seed in the ground ready for the first warm weather…you will miss out on valuable time to be back in a sustainable sales environment.

If you, like so many of the business owners I see, wait too long you will be out in the woods with everyone else hunting and very likely starving.  The wise farmer understands the seasons and is always working to prepare for the next one.  You should be too!

Do something!  Get out of your cave and talk to people!  Don’t die from shock!

I pray that enough business people in our nation and around the world, start plowing and planting again so that we all will return to better times.  I also pray that you and your business will be sustained through this difficult time.

Peace,

Mike

Do you have yours yet?!?  I have one and its name is:  WORK!

That’s right…I said work.  The truth is that, no matter what political stripe you are, you either have to work or just give up.  No one is going to do it for you, irregardless of what Obama says, so either lay down in the ditch or pick yourself up and get to it.

What you say?!?  Work?!?  Everyone is depressed and I am having a hard time selling in this economy.  I submit that hard work is good for you and that everyone is having a hard time right now.  So, get out and work harder than your competition, adjust what you are saying, doing, thinking, feeling to the reality of our current situation and you will immediately start having better results.

One quick point:  If you had been selling with value statements that were about creating profit and future growth before the downturn…adjust your value statements to reflect the immediate impact of your product and service and its ability to help NOW.

Survival sells right now.

Mike

Do you have your goals done for 2009?!?

Do you have your plan written that proves to you that you will hit those goals?!?

Do you expect your business to grow the same way it did before the economic meltdown?!?

Do you expect your current and future customers to buy and be sold the same way you used to?!?

A few very important questions for any business owner or salesperson to answer now and work out as they go in 2009.

All the Best,

Mike

What a good summer it has been for me.  Thanks to my friend Justin, we are back at the attack. 

I wanted to talk briefly about the value of having a sales system, no matter how simple, for the sales professional that wishes to earn up to their potential.  Here is the inescapable fact:  When you are without a sales system (written down with scripting) you spend your time trying to remember what you should be doing at any given time, or, you spend your time trying to recontact your prospect to ask the question you forgot to ask because you don’t have a system!

However, when you have a sales system/process and actually use it, you spend your time trying to implement it better.  Did you catch that?!?  What you are doing is working on your performance IN the system.  I guarantee that you will experience far more growth in your commission/profit in this paradigm than the earlier one.

What is stopping you?  YOU!

Write your system and then work to improve your performance and the system’s results every minute of every day you are selling!

Peace,

Mike

I was asked what one of my secrets for getting more sales accomplished in less time and I thought I would share the answer with all of you out there in cyberspace:  My answer was that I ask myself one question.

The question I ask myself is:  “What action can I take, right now, that will have the biggest immediate and future impact on increasing the profitability of my business.”

Too often we prioritize emotionally and don’t force ourselves to look at prioritizing by the net result of our actions.  I promise you that if you start prioritizing and acting in this manner that sales growth and profitability is just around the corner!

One caveat, you must have a defined sales process, concise and powerful value statements and the willingness to ask for the business.  Otherwise, no amount of prioritization will help your sales business.

Peace,

Mike

Hi there!

Last week I had (as one of my key mentor’s Art Radtke always put it) a BFO:  Blinding Flash of the Obvious.

My BFO was this:  Most sales people think they are asking questions when they are actually making statements.

How is that Mike, you say?

Example 1:  You want the client to agree to a meeting this week in which you pitch your product.

“Ray, I would love to have a meeting with you this week to sit down and talk to you about my widget!”

That, while I am sure is being uttered on a regular basis by people thinking they are asking a question, is actually a statement.  You would LOVE to have that meeting, BUT, you aren’t asking him to agree to meeting with you.

How you should do it:

“Ray, will you meet with my on either Wednesday or Thursday afternoon at your office?”

That is a question. 

I think (know) the reason we make the statments is because of our inner poultry (chicken).  We are trying to float something we would really, really, really like to have happen in front of our prospect in the hopes that they will bite and take some of the risk away from us asking directly.

This is crazy talk.  Serious business people will appreciate a polite and direct request.  It allows them to say yes or no and moves you to either scheduling the appointment, or, discovering and then overcoming the objection that was just out there waiting.

Time management is so very important to us as sales people and we are wasting time like crazy in our communication.  Be polite, be insightful, be considerate and most of all…be direct!

Ask for what you want, the way you want it as directly and succinctly as possible and watch your sales results skyrocket!

Peace,

Mike

I want to spotlight one of my favorite sales blogs today for my readers:  Dave Stein Sales Blog.  Whatever you do, make sure you read his entry today (http://davesteinsblog.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/sales-training-box/).  This entry clearly illustrates the problems with creating performance in sales organizations in today’s corporate culture.

What is especially relevant for those of us that work on the small business level is the last part of his post, in which he details what ANY company must do before conducting/hiring sales training:

1. Define your requirements and find a company that can meet them.
2. Redeploy and replace any sales person that isn’t suited to the job.
3. Have a selling methodology in place before you train.
4. Install a solid coaching process.
5. Measure the results of everything you do that impacts sales performance

I couldn’t agree more and so should any company that really wants to excel. 

Finally, as Rick Ruby from The Core says:  “Stop talking about sales and start making them!”

Peace,

Mike