How long has it been?
Wow…where did the past few months go? Professionally and personally I feel like I have been busy. Busy does not mean productive.
How do I discover the life I always wanted? Good question right? A bunch of books have been written about the topic and seminars galore have been presented. Do a Google search and see what comes up. I have contemplated, meditiated and reflected on what I really want to do. You know what stops me? Fear of the unknown.
The only consistent answer I have is to start today. Work out, help others, hug your kid, tell your Mom you love her, sing, dance, write and capture your dream. The journey starts with a single step.
What will your life look like if it is the one you always wanted? Maybe you already have it…
How to manage through a “recession”?
Sales are slow – what do you do? Is revenue down, year over year growth off? Are your customers not buying because they are “slow” or because they read the paper and watch the news. I don’t know and I don’t care. I can’t control it. I focus on me and what I need to do. In my job, I sell across a bunch of different sectors and while I have seen slowdowns with some clients, most are doing OK.
Ten strategies and ideas I focus on to drive sales and lead:
1. Be positive, people have enough things they will worry about on their own, don’t add to their frenzy.
2. Work hard
3. Be grateful.
4. Look for opportunities.
5. Help your coworkers, customers and company.
6. Try new things. Watch out for the rut.
7. Stay away from negative people. The only limit is my thinking.
8. Get fired up every day. Are you just existing and going though the motions or are you living? Packing everything you can into the mainstream of life or waiting for a break….?
9. Set goals, aim high, put a plan in place.
10. Stay in the moment. Nostalgia and worry are bad.
The true test of who and what we are is how we handle adversity and change.
#3 follow up to “Sales Are Slow”
I am a big fan of selling the customer what they need…….. WHAT? You can make a living doing that?
YES
You can exceed your company targets and outpace your competition
YES
You mean you can operate in an honest and ethical fashion and be successful in sales?
YES and you must if you want to have a CAREER in sales.
I admit, I am a fan of solution selling and building a true partnership with my customer. For this sales guy, that is the only way I know to be successful that places the needs of the customer first, works in the best interest of the client and drives referrals. I tell my prospects that I am not there to sell them anything, my true motive is to understand the needs of their business and then……. then see if I can propose a solution that meets their needs today and provides a platform for growth.
What am I helping them with? Driving productivity by providing them with simple solutions to streamline their business. People, process and time. If I can help you maximize these three resources, cost is irrelevant (at least we hope).
How do I do that? I tell them the truth; that if I do not think I can help them I walk away. If in the future something changes where I can help them, I will call them and let them know.
Sincerity is appreciated and BS is not……. when under contract do you want to feel like you are in jail or you are a partner?
#2 Do you know how to uncover real needs and build relationships with prospects BEFORE they buy
Needs based selling - what does that really mean?
What does the customer want, what do they need, is your product or service good for the client?
Sales is about building trust through the establishment of a solid relationship. Trust first, sale second. If you can build trust you will always have clients. Trust is recession proof. Trust is also a precious commodity. What type of relationship do I want with my client?
Vendor/client
Adviser/client
Consultant/client
The best way to be effective in what I do is to have a thorough understanding of what an average day looks like for my prospect’s business. I need to understand their business well enough that I can explain it to a complete stranger. If I can, I have done my job. This is important because I sell to needs. I also help customers see where they can take their business with the right tools. I sell solutions and my solutions are designed, when positioned effectively, to drive efficiency. If the right product is applied to the right need, then I know I did what was right for the customer, for my company and ultimately, the side benefit is it is right for me. Ultimately, I want to be a consultant and I need to be a consultant.
Why don’t more salespeople do this? Their people skills stink, they only worry about themselves and they don’t listen (because they are too busy thinking about their problems not their customer’s problems).
What do you do?
1. Listen, really listen with an open mind
2. Ask lots of questions. You need to know enough about the business to go back and describe it to your boss.
3. Go an inch wide and a mile deep.
4. Watch for phantom objections. Every buyer has them. Get to the true objection, explore it and determine if you can help your potential client.
5. Act with integrity and credibility.
It is easy to stand out if you do these five simple things on every sales call. Your relationship with your client is a partnership. Take time and build a solid foundation for a future relationship.
Pennsylvania Athletic Commission approves Mixed Martial Arts(MMA) in PA
This is great news for PA with the opportunity for venues in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh as well as some smaller markets.
See the link here from the Athletic Commission:
http://www.dos.state.pa.us/dos/lib/dos/press/2009/rls-dos-mmaregs-022309.pdf
“Sales are Slow” three quick things to turn it around
So you want to close more business do you? If sales are down and confidence is wavering, review these three things to “Get Back on Track”.
1. Do you know your numbers?
2. Do you know how to uncover your customers real needs and build relationships before they buy?
3. Can you show your prospect how your company can HELP your customer meet their needs ? Sales is not about who is cheaper. True sales is about positioning the value of your product or service to create value for your prospect. Master building value not trying to reduce price. If price is king, you will lose everytime you can’t reduce cost. If you can’t sell value, good luck with a real sales career.
Let me tackle number 1 first. Chances are if your sales are SLOW you created it. If you created IT then you can fix it.
- Do you treat prospecting time like an appointment? Do not take incoming calls, do not check email and do not let anyone distract you. Prospecting time is sacred time.
- Do you know your numbers? How many calls do you need to make to set an appointment? What is your average sale? What is your closing ratio? Start keeping a spreadsheet of daily activity. Something like this:
Dials per day
Live calls (spoke to a decision maker)
Voicemails left
New appts set
Sales for that day; revenue etc.
Relation to daily goal
- Track this for 6- 8 weeks, review WEEKLY, make adjustments. Do not admire the problem. Correct the problem
The only controllable in sales is activity. If you are in a sales job where your commission is generated from new business acquisition and new growth, you need to know how to drive opportunities, fill your funnel and ensure your success.
In the environment I am in today, most sales executives need to set 8-10 appointments per week to drive funnel levels and growth. I track activity levels daily.
Why? So we know what we need to do daily to meet our goals. I have to help them establish a baseline for success. If it takes 20 calls to set one new appointment and I need to set ten appointments per week , on average I will need to make 200 calls per week. Pretty basic but, overlooked 90% of the time by sales people. They rely on luck, random calls or referrals to meet numbers. As a result they have higher stress, enjoy their jobs less and sell with desperation.
To be continued -
Can you do it?
I stumbled upon the One Hundred Pushup challenge and decided I was going to use this as a late winter challenge to stay motivated. I have never done one hundred push ups before but I have been able to accomplish some pretty incredible things by following a plan.
Follow the plan and the results take care of themselves.
Test phase – ten “good” pushups.
A film production company I am involved in
About two years ago, I was approached by a friend of a friend about a project he was working on at the time. We had a couple of meetings and I was interested in the direction they were headed.
I got involved early as an investor and as a marketing adviser. Please click the below link for a movie from a three part trilogy by James Scott Flannery. I have had the opportunity to work with James and we are shooting for the third film to be complete by year’s end.
Back pain like “WOW” follow up
I posted a few weeks back about my experience with Advanced Performance Chiropractic in Plains, PA.
Well, I am ending my first week with a circuit routine given to me by Dr. A. Definitely a solid jump start to a strengthened back and posterior chain.
Thanks Doc.
