Hello! It’s Sarah again

I hope this post finds all our readers well. I know Andy has been out of the loop for some time but I just wanted to reassure everyone that he is not gone for good.  Andy has been zeroing in on his main full time job of consulting to Business Owners and working with their teams one on one to get them back up where they belong – on top!

We have realized something over here at AMI – It is something that we have known for a long time but didn’t really know how to go about fixing it but I think we have found a solution There is one other reason why you have not seen anything from Andy in a long time – he is not terribly excited about writing. He is an amazing thinker and speaker but when it comes to putting his thoughts down in an “article” it is not really his cup of tea.  Do not get me wrong – he has and he can do it and well. However it just takes him a lot longer then he would like or has time for.

That is why you will be hearing a lot more from me. I am going to be interviewing Andy and either posting the videos or just summarizing his knowledge to keep it coming your direction as fast as possible.

Please feel free to contact me at anytime with question or comments (I have some more free time then Andy and can oftentimes get your questions answered a bit sooner) and I love to hear from Andy’s fans.

In the meantime, I am busy helping Andy to build a 26 week sales training course that will be available hopefully by early to mid October. If this is something you will be interested in please go to:  my sales training course and sign up! Hope everyone is doing well.

Until next time!

Sarah

No matter what you sell there are natural steps, common questions and a normal way of doing things. I often work with clients to help them define what is normal and what is abnormal. I have talked about the four buyer types in a past blog and it is true that each one operates in a different way. The difference is how slow/fast they move or how much/little detail they need. With that said, there is still some commonality to the sales process. What do I pay attention to if the prospect wants to move through the sales process in a normal vs. abnormal way? Because when something falls outside of the norm my radar detector goes up and starts flashing warning signs. I am not saying everyone has to conform but usually if something is outside the norm then typically you are loosing the deal. That makes me slow down and dig deeper so I understand what is going on. Fortunately many times you can save yourself from losing the deal if you acknowledge that there is something abnormal with the deal and act in a proactive manner before problems arise.

So what are some common warning signs you maybe losing the deal?

1)       They withhold relevant information

2)       They want way too much information for where they are at in the
sales process

3)       They want price quote or proposal prematurely

4)       They tell you there is an opportunity here but don’t let you
develop a relationship

5)       The deal moves way too slowly

6)       Typical decision makers are not involved

7)       You don’t have access to decision makers and influencers

8)       Your competition has met with the boss but you are blocked from
meeting the boss

9)       When they dictate and demand vs. collaborate

Many times we know these these red flags are there but we are too worried or scared to acknowledge them and thus continue on our normal process with our fingers crossed that these flags will disappear. The more you ignore the warning signs and not take the action needed the more deals fall through the cracks.  In summary – work proactively instead of reactively.  If you have any more warning signs that you are losing a deal I would love to hear them!

Thanks!

Hoping that prospect will turn into something more? - Stop!

For years I have heard sales people tell me they want to learn how to qualify better. As odd as this may sound there is a danger to wanting to qualify better. It sets you up to have the wrong mindset and starts a tug of war between you and the prospect. You see there is little or no relationship and prospects are mistrusting of sales people from the start. So you start asking qualifying questions and what happens…they give you the “short answer”. You can feel the tension and resistance but we don’t want to push too hard because this has some potential and we can keep “hope” alive. From my perspective hope sucks!

Hope lets you fill your pipeline or sales forecast with junk (sometimes called deals) that are never going to close. Hope lets you lie to yourself that you have a lot going on and helps you procrastinate from making real sales calls. I once worked with a fortune 500 company who didn’t want to get real. They preferred to live in the land of hope even after I warned them they were setting themselves up for a shortfall. Sadly as I predicted the last week in the quarter $10 million in deals evaporated… not moved into next quarter but actually evaporated into thin air never to be seen again. Painfully they were $10 million short of what they told Wall Street and their stock was punished severely for it.

Until Next Time!

What will make 2009 a different sales year than 2008?

I was talking with some clients earlier this week. They wanted to know what they need to do to make 2009 the best year ever. As we discussed what needed to happen one of the senior managers said, “We have had this conversation every year and we say the same thing. WHAT IS GOING TO MAKE 2009 DIFFERENT?” What a great observation and question. You see everyone is looking for the secret sauce for exceptional growth. It is typical that companies try to fill in the missing pieces with training in sales, presentation, negotiations, improved sales process, CRM, new marketing approaches, new brochures and a whole bunch of other things yet nothing changes. What my client realized, is the piece that nobody likes to look at.

It is not about what you know it is about WHAT YOU DO! You see the majority of salespeople and sales organizations fail to do enough of the proper sales activity. It doesn’t matter if you have additional skills training, a more effective sales process or new marketing materials if you aren’t talking with the right kind of prospects! It doesn’t matter if you sell face to face or over the phone… proper activity makes all the difference in the world! I say it is like having a health club membership but never taking your expanding buttocks to the club. You have the knowledge to eat better and you know you need to exercise but the action or activity to actually go to the club 3 times a week is lacking. Now if you really want great results then you would exercise a little longer per session or go 4-6 times a week. Exercise and sales activity are very similar…bottom line is low activity gets low results and high activity gets high results. Professional athletes and professional salespeople both know this is absolutely true. So the honest question to ask yourself is…are you doing enough of the right kinds of activity on a daily basis?

Do you let this guy stop you from getting the deal?

Years ago I had a scheduled an appointment with the VP of sales for FedEx. I had done everything right…found his pain, set an agenda, confirmed the appointment and tied it down to make sure it didn’t get canceled. He knew I was flying in to meet with him and had confirmed the night before. However when I showed up for the appointment he wasn’t there. I was concerned because he had confirmed and I didn’t believe anyone would miss it unless an emergency happened. I had his assistant track him down and she found him at home. He said he decided not to come in that day and that was it. So now I had a few hours before my flight out and I decided to make the best of the situation. I pulled out my org chart that I had made and started calling around. Everyone was either in meetings or out of the office. So I decided to shoot for the moon and do a cold walk-in on the CEO, Fred Smith.

With a little detective work that even Scotland Yard would have been proud of I found out that the CEO was in town and was in his office that day. I found out what building he was in and took the campus bus over to his building. When I walked in it was about 10am and the security was tight. I knew I couldn’t just ask for the CEO so I asked for the Sales VP who I knew was not there because he stood me up. So the security guard started tracking down the sales VP and after a few calls got nowhere as I knew would happen. What this did was gave me time to get to know the security guard. While I was getting to know him I asked him where he liked to go for lunch and he named his favorite place. I asked when he liked to go and if it was crowded because I liked to avoid the rush and he told me when his lunch break was. So guess what. I left and returned when he was at lunch. When I walked up to security I said “Hey you aren’t Joe…oh yea it’s his lunch time”. The point is I sounded like I belonged there!  I told the security guard that I was there to meet with Fred Smith and they told me to take the elevator to the 6th floor and he was the hallway on the right. Earlier I had found out his assistant’s name so when I got up to his office and she was there I told her I was there to meet with Fred.  It was a good idea and I almost made it all the way but unfortunately at the last minute they realized what had happened and I was excorted out by security.

Ok so I didn’t actually get the meeting but what surprised me was how far I could get with a little tenacity and creativity.  My question for you is have you ever pushed the limit and been thrown out of an office building?  I am willing to bet the most of the time you are “playing safe”. I say go for it…shoot for the moon and see just how far you can get. You may be surprised.

Good Luck!

Happy Friday sales world! I am getting ready to hop on a plane to Albany to visit an old friend but before I do I wanted to share a quick question I received this week. I also want to share my answer with everyone because I feel like it can benefit many here in the professional sales world. The question was: What are all the questions I can ask a customer to get all the necessary information I need to close a sale? This question is a little generic so I am going to answer fro a few perspectives.

I did not know what industry the reader is in and if the person is really a customer or a prospect? Jay Abraham, the marketing guru, talks about the difference between a customer and a client. A “customer” is someone who you do a transaction with; a “client” is someone who is in your care. That means you have an ethical obligation to understand what they want to accomplish and make sure you can help them make that wish a reality. Too many times I see a sales rep that is all about making the sales and getting the order. Unfortunately the prospect senses that the rep is out for them self and they start to resist. This is why you may feel some tension during the call because you are trying to “close” them. Nobody likes to be closed but they easily buy when the feel your solution will accomplish their goal. How do you change that… by focusing on the prospect and not the order. I don’t know enough about the reader’s situation to give him a list of questions. What I would suggest is that he asks questions that give a full understanding of what the prospect/client wants to accomplish. Then he can show his prospects how his offerings will help the them accomplish those wishes, hopes and dreams. If you have done that to their satisfaction then they will want to buy. There is no hard close just one simple question…what would you like to know Mr/Mrs prospect?  

That said, I do want to fully applaud the reader for asking a the question in the first place! This is the first big step at becoming a top performer – becoming educated.  It took a little while for me to figure that out (see the post about how I had to figure that out the hard way). Kudos to you. If you want some more education – sign up for my weekly newsletters. They are filled with good lessons (and tips, research and action items) that I had to learn the hard way so hopefully your wont have to.

Hope this helps!

Tired of not connecting with your Clients?

In my last post I told you about my seven components to effective communication and I let you in on what I know is the be-all and end-all when it comes to connecting with a client or prospect – your intentions. (Go check it out if you have not already.)

I have had a few of you ask me to elaborate some more on the other components.  I realize that you have heard some of these components before but maybe not in this context. The main focus of these components are to eliminate the many pointless road barriers of communication that can put many of your deals “on hold” leaving you with a lot of wasted time and unnecessary frustration. How many times have you been frustrated by a stale deal because you did not take the time to “get real” (in a professional and polite way obviously) and ask the questions that need to be asked. I see this happen in business all the time. We are too afraid that we will step on toes, cross the line, or to step out of our comfort zone that we avoid asking the questions that need to be asked. And many of the times you will not only get the answers you need, but you will end up creating better communication between you and your client! 

So here are what I see are the Top Seven Ways To Avoid BS When Dealing With Clients:

1. Intention is the first and most critical communication skill we will discuss.  Your intentions are more important than your techniques.  People can sense your intentions.  Good intentions, stated poorly, are always better received than bad intentions stated masterfully.  Prospects always intuitively sense your intentions, which are the foundation to building or breaking their trust of you.

2. Asking for what you want is the second communication skill we will discuss.  It is amazing how many salespeople don’t ask for what they want.  Yet there are two major studies showing that, if you ask for what you want, most of the time you will get it.

3. Reflective listening is the third communication skill we will cover.  Many people do this naturally.  It is the ability to really listen to what someone is saying and repeat back to them what they said.  Many salespeople, however, don’t practice reflective listening.  Instead, they have a monologue going on inside their head while the prospect is talking, so they miss valuable information that the prospect tells them.

4. The fourth communication skill we will explore is Congruency. Congruency is the ability to listen beyond spoken words.  It is the ability to observe the speaker’s tone of voice, word choices, and body language in order to hear what is being said and what is “not” being said.  In other words, is the speaker fully expressing what is going on or holding back vital information that is needed to really help solve the problem?  Being able to read non-verbal cues will tell you whether the speaker’s words are congruent with – or match – the speaker’s true thoughts and feelings.

5. The ability to listen without filtering is the fifth communication skill you should master.  It is important not to apply your own subjective “filter” to what someone else is saying.  If you don’t filter, you will be able to fully listen to what the prospect is saying without jumping to conclusions, passing judgment, or creating a “story” in your mind about what you think is going on.

6. Questioning style is the sixth communication skill we will look at.  It involves the ability to determine which questioning approach will work best to help us get to the truth, and then to use it to get a clear understanding of the prospect’s situation.  There are three different questioning styles that can be used, depending on the situation and what the prospect is saying.

7. How to have a difficult conversation is the last communication skill we will discuss.  How many times have we heard the prospect say something that we felt was incorrect or wrong, but we left it alone because we didn’t want to cause trouble?  Or how about when we accidentally misinformed a prospect about something that was critical, and we knew he or she would be angry when we called back to say we had made a mistake? 

And remember some of these may not always get you the answers that you want to hear but they will undoubtedly get you the truth! I encourage you to go try it for a week. Next time you sense that something your client/prospect is saying is not what you think is going on – ask them. Do you want that big fat deal that is a perfect fit for you and your business? – go ask for it! But always remember, you have to have good intention or else none of these will work.

Let me know what worked and what didn’t. And let others know – you can stumble, digg, email this post and much more by using the share this link below.

Thanks and all the best,

Do You Know The Most Important Components of Communication?

Today I was spending some time putting together some good information for my weekly newsletters when I realized that there was one piece of information that I felt really compelled to share everyone. 

I have found what I consider to be the seven key components of communication: 

1. Intention

2. Asking for what you want

3. Reflective Listening

4. Congruency

5. No Filtering

6. Questioning Style

7. Having a difficult conversation

While each of these are a vital piece of the communication puzzle that successful people use in order to connect with and understand others, there is one that I deem as the most critical communication skill of all – intention. Why? Because people can sense your intention. Good intentions stated poorly, are always better recieved than bad intentions stated masterfully. Prospects always ituitively sense your intentions, which are the foundation to building or breaking their trust of you.

Everyone wants to focus on saying the right words or learning some fancy techniques.  However, your intentions are far more important than any technique you could learn!  Prospects can sense your intentions and they will respond in kind.

I have seen salespeople who were very awkward and clumsy from a skill’s perspective, but they closed a lot of business.  Why? Because prospects trusted them.  Prospects knew they were going to be taken care of and that the salesperson would deliver.

In contrast, I have seen sales reps that were very polished and had mastered the sales skills and processes that I have taught for so many years.  But they never closed nearly the volume of business they should have, because they were talking “at” the prospect instead of “with” the prospect.  Whether or not the prospects could express their discomfort to the sales rep, they were able to recognize that something didn’t feel quite right, so they would go off in search of another provider who was more trustworthy.

If you want more details on the other components of communication that I mentioned above you can either sign up for my weekly newsletters (in the right hand column), submit it as your question of the week, or simply leave a comment on this post.

What do you think is the most important component of communication?

All the best,

Have a Sales Question?

Over the years I have encountered all types of questions about selling. Some are pretty common but many times I have been asked very tough and intriguing questions.  Often I have my opinion as to how something should be handled. I recognize that there is more than one way to handle a situation so I am always in search of the best ways and practices. In my search for the “truth” I have had the good fortune of connecting with some of the best sales and marketing minds in the business. Until a few years ago, almost everything you learned about selling was based upon practical experience, conventional wisdom, some sales training and very little if any research. Now with Universities around the world offering degrees in selling they are compelled to research and publish their findings. I have been fortunate enough to have access to the latest sales research as it gets published.  Typically there is a 10 year lag between research findings and the sales force having access to that information. I have to admit the research is very academic and as about exciting to read as a scientific abstract on the cell division of an amoeba.  In spite of the dry reading there is one thing that I do glean from the research – proven statistical facts about sales practices… what works and what doesn’t.  This means that not only do I have my experience to answer the many questions I get asked on any given day, I also have knowledge and data to back up all types of questions.

So what does all this mean to you? I have decided to put together a little opportunity for all of my blog readers.  I invite you (and your colleagues, employees, friends etc.) to submit any questions you have (by filling out this form) at anytime during the week.  I plan to read through them and choose 2 – 3 of the best to answer on my blog each Friday.  This is one way I can give back to the sales community and dispel all the bad and outdated information that is out there.

Go Submit Your Weekly Question and don’t forget to check back on Friday to see if your question was chosen. (fyi – even if you question was not chosen this week there is always the chance that I may address it in a later post or in the weekly newsletters.) Ask away!

I get a lot of calls from salespeople who ask me about different techniques and sales methodologies. Many of the reps are looking for ways to become top producers and want a roadmap for success. What many reps are missing is a framework on which to determine where to start the journey. So let’s discuss that framework so you can determine how to become more effective or a top producer. You need:

1) A strategy whether your company provides one or not. The strategy includes researching your market, determining what makes you unique and how that can help your market. Also it includes your ideal client profile and a way to go after prospects that fit that profile. All of this is based upon research from your prospects perspective…not yours. All of you phone calls, meetings, sales and marketing efforts focus on and reinforce that strategy.
2) Strategic activity that stays focused on your ideal client and fills the pipeline. Many salespeople fall short here because they don’t do enough activity or it is the wrong type of activity. I have seen study after study that top performers do 2 to 3 times more strategic activity then the average rep.
3) A sales process that helps qualify or disqualify prospects. It doesn’t matter if you are doing a transactional, consultative, solution or enterprise sell you need a process. The more decision makers and influencers the more complex the sale becomes. So you will need to combine a strategic selling map with a consultative selling model.
4) The skills to be effective at selling. That includes asking questions, listening, presenting, closing, objection handling, negotiating and understanding buyer styles to name a few.
5) Knowledge of your industry, products and services, prospects challenges and trends so that you are actually seen as an expert who can contribute value to their business.
6) The mindset that allows you to engage like you are a doctor not a poker player engaged in games and deception.
7) A burning desire to be successful. In the book The Science of Getting Rich, Wallace D. Wattles makes a compelling argument on why you have an obligation to your loved ones and society to become wealthy. Every top performer I know not only has goals but a burning desire to be wildly successful.

So there you have the roadmap to become a top producer. The ball is in your court… how badly do you want to reach the top?