One of my favorite sales techniques/tools is knowing the buyer and seller styles and knowing how to adapt your style to meet that of your buyer.  To me, just knowing this one powerful selling tool can have a tremendous impact on a salesperson. Although this knowledge comes in many forms and has many names (personality types, behavioral styles, social styles etc.) I have found that there is one system that works well for sales people and it is called DISC. DISC stands for 4 certain types of people – Dominant, Influencer, Steady Relater and Cautious Thinker. Each of these types come with their own set of characteristics.  They communicate differently, operate differently, and build relationships differently just to name a few.  If a salesperson is able to identify the style of his/her buyer then they have a much better chance of communicating with and building a stronger relationship with him or her. I just wanted to share a little bit about each type to get your familiar with them.

Dominants

Extroverted

Influencers

Steady Relaters

Cautious Thinkers

These are just a few description words to help you start to idenify the different styles. I will be following up on this topic shortly with other rules and tactics to help you use this information in a beneficial way. Until then, have fun with this knowledge! Try to see what type your friends and co-workers are. Maybe – just maybe – it will help you understand why there are just some people out there that operate differently than you do.

Until next time!

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,

Machu Picchu

Sorry for the delay in posting. I took a long weekend and went to LA with some friends. For the last 15 years, every October, I go with 2 other friends on some exotic adventure trip. We have been trekking in Thailand, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Scuba Diving in Indonesia, on safari in Kenya, climbing volcanoes and gorilla watching in Rwanda, the Amazon in Brazil and last year’s trip was to Machu Picchu in Peru.

This year the plan was to go to Laos and Vietnam but we couldn’t go because of major health issues with our aging parents (all 3 of us). So the booby prize was a long weekend to LA for some sun and fun. We played tourist the whole time going to muscle beach, Santa Monica pier and the Getty Museum which is a must see if you haven’t seen it. (I’ll share some pictures when I get them uploaded).

Andy and Jayme Brooks

A special treat was driving up the coast to Venture where we went to see our good friend Andy Brooks. Andy used to be the executive chief at a high end restaurant in Washington DC (DC Coast) before moving to Ventura and opening up his own restaurant (called Brooks) with his wife Jayme. Andy is a great chief and a smart guy. In 18 months he had 6 articles written about him and won an award for the best wine list in California for under $150. I have always been amazed at how delicious and consistent his food is. I could go on and on but here is the thing that amazed me the most of all. Andy spent a lot of his evening talking going from table to table and giving each patron some special attention. Now Andy is a real outgoing guy so that is not too surprising but it is rare that I have been to a high end place and the chief came out to say hello.

 Andy knew how to read people and to give them just enough of what they wanted. Let me say that again. He wasn’t out there to get praise and recognition. He was out there to give each patron a unique experience in just they way they wanted it! Some patrons got a quick visit while others were more talkative and got a little extra time. Andy’s wife Jayme is an accountant during the day and greats people as the come to the restaurant at night. She is slightly on the quite side but a real joy to be around. She too knew how to read people. Each patron got a greeting that matched their style. Some got a hand shake, some got a hug and others received a warm and friendly hello. Both Andy and Jayme had mastered the platinum rule. The golden rule says treat others the way you want to be treated but the platinum rule says treat others they way they want to be treated. When you combine exceptional food (or product/service) with exceptional experience you get a following of raving fans. Isn’t that what we all want for our businesses? 

What do you do to adjust the way you interact with your customers and clients to enhance their experience? Let me know by leaving a comment at the end of this post.

Until next time!

Best,

I just got off the phone with a good friend who was looking for ways to build relationship with an executive’s assistant. He was full of ideas on how he could do that. One idea was to just drop by and say hello, another was to send a card and yet another was to invite the assistant to lunch. Those are all valid ideas but the question is how does the assistant like to build relationship? You see what you would do for one person could be the exact opposite for another. To say it a different way one persons desert is another person’s poison. So I asked my friend is the assistant outgoing or slightly reserved? He said reserved. Is the assistant analytical or cooperative? He said she is cooperative. I said that is great because we now know what to do, what to avoid and we mapped out a plan.

His challenge is one that all of us have. When trying to influence someone or build relationship we are naturally wired to take the approach we want people to take with us. At best that will works 20-40% of the time. Instead if you influence people the way they want to influence you will build a good relationship 100% of the time. In sales we know that it takes more than strong relationships to win the deal but if you don’t build a strong relationship I guarantee you won’t be getting the deal!