In Part 1 we talked about Law #1: The Law of Value and proposed that there are five primary categories: Excellence, Consistency, Attention, Empathy and Appreciation, that you can use to increase the value you deliver to your clients and customers. (These are covered more in-depth in “Go-Givers Sell More”, Bob Burg’s and John David Mann’s second installment in the series, although that’s getting a little ahead of ourselves.) The main point is that we discovered giving doesn’t necessarily mean giving away for free.
The second Law, the Law of Compensation, states; “your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them”.
In January I had the privilege of attending Bob Burg’s Big Event 2011, with speakers such as Dr. John Maxwell, Les Brown, Carrie Wilkerson, Randy Gage, and Paul Martinelli and came away with a new appreciation for the seminar format. I’ve been to quite a few seminars, mostly motivational in nature, and I always left all fired up and ready to take on the world – for about 72 hours. Then for the following week I would have that adrenaline letdown, like you get after a minor fender-bender. You may have experienced the same thing. This time was quite different, though.
The six speakers, and all the sponsors, applied the Law of Compensation so expertly that a week later I’m still going strong. AND I’m a Personal Walking Ambassador for each of them, and a customer, for life. Why? Because I came away with so much Value that I’ll be nurturing the ideas and connections for a long, long time. I came away feeling I could put into action one idea from each of the speakers. Most importantly, I came away feeling that I can do it too.
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This is the second in a series of Articles I wrote for TLT Magazine back in 2009. I still believe that making the commitment to give up the news is one of the most important decisions you can make to stay motivated and on task. Check it out and let me know what you think in the comments.
And don’t forget to snag your free copy of “Motivation 101: Five Steps To Activate Your Potential In Any Economy” while your at it.
No News Is Good News
Are you as tired as I am of all the bad news being offered up by the national media? If so, please join me in a special campaign this week. I’m officially designating it National News Free Week.
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While I was wandering around the show floor and in the mixers and meetups at CES, I noticed an interesting trend. When I would ask people, “So, what do you do?” most would regurgitate their company name and tag line, followed immediately by the phrase “And what that means is…”
I began to wonder: if your tag line requires a follow up explanation, is it the right tag line? Wouldn’t it be better to work a little harder and devise a tag line that clearly communicates what you do, no explanation required?
I know we all like to think up these clever, cute phrases that force people to ask “Oh? What does that mean?”. Here’s the problem, though: most people don’t ask. Instead, they smile, nod politely, and go find someone else to talk to, all the while at a loss for what it is that you actually do.
If you find yourself saying “And what that means is…” after your company tag line, try simplifying. Just say what you do, no bells, no whistles, no mysteries wrapped in enigmas. You’ll probably be surprised at how refreshing the people you talk to find your transparency.
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This article will appear in my “Selling Points” column in the February 2011 issue of TLT Magazine. You get a preview; after all, membership has it’s privileges!
With the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) a little over a week away, I’m being bombarded with email requests from companies and publicity firms asking me to “stop by our booth” to see the latest blah, blah, blah…
I’ve got all the emails flagged for follow-up; I know I need to get back to all of them and make the appointments and yet I can’t quite bring myself to do it, mostly because I just don’t care. Don’t get me wrong: I’m really looking forward to the show and getting the chance to see, touch and play with all the new toys that will soon hit the shelves of your local Best Buy. And I’m really looking forward to four days in Las Vegas. What I don’t care about is the hype.
I have some bad news for you: nobody, and I do mean NOBODY, cares about your new products nearly as much as you do. I know that probably comes as a bit of a shock; after all, your company may have dumped hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of dollars into researching, developing and testing that new product. You may be prepared to spend millions more on marketing it to the public. It’s sad, I know, but it doesn’t change the fact that I don’t care.
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Wow! Has it been a week already? It seems like only yesterday when I wrote that I was going to post the second part of this series. A week? Are you sure? Well…sorry about that. What with the new blog and things totally exploding (in a good way) at GLB HQ, I’m not surprised I missed seven days. So again, sorry. Let’s get down to it…
Mistake #2: You Don’t Know What You Want Them To Do
In the last post, we talked about the importance of knowing who you’re talking to, in other words, knowing who your ideal clients are. Once you’ve identified who those folks are, though, you have to immediately get down to the business of deciding what you want them to do.
Easy, right? You want them to buy! Well, as strange as it might sound, I don’t think that’s really the case. The odds of someone actually buying off your marketing piece (or on a prospecting call) are pretty small; on the other hand, the likelihood of them taking some other low-risk action can be pretty significant if the request is framed properly. More on that later.
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I received an email today from a well-known information marketer (who I have the misfortune to share surnames with) inviting me to join him at a “Herd Building Day” at an upcoming seminar he’s putting on. I’m sorry, but something about the title of that program just screamed “Come on out…you can learn to be a douchebag like me!” when I read it.
“Herd Building Day”? Seriously? I have a question: are they going to teach me how to build a “herd”, or am I going to become part of the “herd” that they’re building? My guess is the latter. But wait, there’s more: if I’m one of the first 800 to sign up, I get a super-razzoo discount AND they’ll let me to be part of the “herd” day for free! Please. Spare. Me.
I’ve had my suspicions about this particular marketer before. The worst was when I received a series of “invitations” to a previous event that became progressively more abusive the closer the event got, eventually culminating in an email that seemed to question my intelligence, pleading with me to pay up and attend the seminar so I could be smart like them. I wish I would have saved that email, since it was about the closest thing to a perfect example of how to market like a jackass I’ve ever seen. Instead, I let it get under my skin and deleted it. Oh well…I’m sure there will be another.
So, back to “Herd Building Day”. Can you think of a more insulting way to refer to your clients than calling them your “herd”? I can’t, and I’ve been trying to think of something for the past 20 minutes. Maybe your “mindless zombie pack”? No: I think I’d actually rather be a zombie than part of your “herd”. At least if I was a zombie, I could still come after you to eat your brain.
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One of the worst questions a sales manager can ask a salesperson is, “So when is Prospect X going to sign with us?” I’ve got news for you Mr./Ms. Sales Manager: not only is that question impossible for your salesperson to answer, it clearly demonstrates that your management efforts are misguided. Instead of managing the sales process, which is squarely under the control of you and your salespeople, you are trying to manage the outcome, something that neither you nor your salesperson is capable of doing.
Understand this: while you and your salespeople are in control of the sales process, your prospects and customers are in control of the buying process. And the buyer is ultimately the one who controls the outcome of any sales situation. We’ve all had the experience of executing the sales process flawlessly only to have the prospect we were courting say “No thanks” in the end; it happens, and it’s out of our control. Getting frustrated or angry about it is silly; it’s like being mad that it rained today. Recognize that it’s out of your control, let it go, and move on.
Does that mean that sales managers should just forget about the performance of their sales people? Not at all! They just need to shift their focus from the things they can’t control (outcomes) to the things they can control (processes). Are the salespeople in their charge following a good sales process, or are they “making it up as they go”? Has the process been clearly defined? Are their rules of engagement and scripted responses for different contingencies? Those are the things you have control over; manage them.
And if you’re reading this thinking that it doesn’t apply to you because you don’t manage salespeople, think again. If you’re an entrepreneur or small business owner who is an army of one, you have to apply these same principles to your own sales efforts. Too many solo business owners are not taking their sales efforts seriously. Sales is something they do when they feel like it or something they will try to get to “when things aren’t so crazy.” As a result, they’re in a constant feast/famine cycle that they just can’t break.
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What a great day! I was spending some time on TweetDeck when one of the Tweets in the stream caught my eye. It said, “I take pride in the ‘No’s’ that I get (means I am taking action!)”
What was this? Another crusader for “No”? I checked the Twitter profile and found not one but two advocates for our two-lettered friend. What a great connection. This is why I love social media! So keep up the “No” campaign Andrea and Richard, and I’ll be cheering you along the way.
On with the series, then. Today’s step offers you the keys to the kingdom when it comes to getting to “No”. Asking better questions really is the best, fastest, most efficient way to get to the “No” you need to hear and avoid that “Maybe” trap.
Let’s start with the reason you’re asking questions to begin with. First of all, lose the illusion that qualifying questions are supposed to help you close sales. Not so, my friend. Qualifying questions are meant to help you sift the wheat (potential buyers) from the chaff (friendly people who have trouble saying “No” and want to keep you in the “Maybe”-loop). Great questions help prospects self-select so that you can find the ones who really want to work with you.
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I’d like to make a couple of clarifications before proceeding with the Getting to “No” series. First, when I’m addressing salespeople, I’m including you business owners and entrepreneurs in the conversation. If you’re not doing all the selling in your organization yourself, you’re likely the one managing the salespeople. You need to pay attention to this stuff.
Second, this series is focusing on the importance of getting to “No” faster and more often in the early stages of the sales process, specifically when prospecting and qualifying. In the latter half of the process (presentation and conversion), you’re definitely looking for a “Yes” (look for a follow-up series on getting to “Yes” next week). And if you apply the principles in this series to get more “No”s, you’ll be more like to succed when it comes time to ask for a “Yes”.
That said, thanks for tuning in to part 3 of our 5-part series, “5 Steps To Get To the 2nd Best Answer In Sales”. The third step in the process is simple: Clearly State Your Intention.
Like many of the suggestions you read in this blog, this is really just common sense. The idea here is to get an agreement from the prospect regarding the outcome you’d like to acheive right at the beginning of your conversation. If you state your intention right at the beginning of the conversation, your chances of getting the outcome you’re looking for go up pretty significantly, right?
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I just finished a post over at the Sales Bloggers Union about the importance of getting to “No” faster and more frequently in order to be a successful salesperson. You can read that post here.
As I was writing that post, though, I started thinking of some ways to help salespeople get better at eliciting those “No”s from their prospects more efficiently. I decided to write a series here called “5 Steps To Get To the 2nd Best Answer In Sales”.
We’ll start with the most important step: getting your mindset properly aligned.
Step #1: Remember That “No” Really Means “Not Now”
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