The Content Hoarder

All business starts with a sales lead. There are no appointments set, no presentations, no sales closings, no completed sales, and no commissions without getting that first sales lead. So, to get paid you gotta start with a lead!

I vaguely remember watching the movie Glengarry Glen Ross just before I started my sales career. In that movie there is a salesman that is not selling very well. He’s on the brink of being fired. It’s Christmas time and he needs to pay a visit to a family to sell them time shares. He was nervous and his life depended on making the sale. This was a family man and he had a family to support. What a life he must have had when every sale was almost a matter of life and death. Sell and his family survives, don’t sell and his family goes hungry.

Glengarry Glen Ross portrayed the sales career as cut-throat. Sales leads were like gold and salespeople needed to do anything to complete a sale - ANYTHING. So the image of the salesperson was portrayed as conniving and deceitful. This seemed to be the popular culture image of the salesperson at that time and it was enforced by movies like this. Just mention the term “used car salesman” and immediately negative thoughts come to mind.

But movies like this also showed a glamorous side to sales jobs. It showed that the top salespeople were wealthy and lived like royalty. It was reasons like this that made me eager to get into the sales profession. Making a lot of money was huge motivation for me.

Now, I had a problem. I think I’m a good person and I don’t like to screw or disparage people. I want to earn a lot of money and want to be rich. There was cognitive dissonance here. Can I be a great salesperson, be honest, help people, and make a lot of money all at the same time? The popular culture answer seemed to be “no” as salespeople were conniving and deceitful. But I had to do it. I had to try.

I started my sales career selling copiers and fax machines and then moved on to selling insurance. I am pleased to report that movies like Glengarry Glen Ross portray a totally false image of the modern salesperson. The top sales performer today is a top sales performer mainly for one reason - people like him. People buy from people that they like. People can spot liars and scammers and they just don’t deal with them. The top salesperson today is someone that has empathy, someone that can interact with other people, someone that is a “people person.” Bad salespeople are quickly weeded out don’t don’t stay in sales very long.

So, back to the sales lead. It’s true, sales leads are like gold. You must start somewhere and that somewhere is a sales lead. The true performers recognize the value of a lead because it all starts with a lead. Where do leads come from? Remember, a top sales performer is someone that people like. Someone that people like will get referrals. Be a good person and you will get sales leads.

It All starts with a lead!

Tino Buntic provides sales leads to business professionals across North America through his company, TradePals.

As conflicting a statement as it may seem many would be wise to subscribe to this advice.

If you are a sales person, you are in one of the toughest professions out there. It has been said less than 1% of the population has what it takes to be successful in sales. Those are not great odds. But many of us are attracted to the sales arena. We are the modern day gladiators who face daily challenges, survive and often thrive. We like helping people; we enjoy the competitive nature and recognition that comes with being successful at what we do.

So how do some men and women rise to the top while so many others only dream about success?

Many of the top sales professionals I know have been fortunate to have had a mentor somewhere along the way who shared nuggets of golden advice. Many years ago my Regional Sales Manager made a statement one day that offended me. It also changed my life.

He said, “Clayton you’re a good sales person, but you could be a great sales person.” As one of the top sales people in the region my ego was bruised. I went away mad that he would say such a thing. I considered myself a dedicated student of selling, I had been on many sales courses and my results were very good.

His statement rolled around in my head for the balance of the day and that night. I needed to understand his thinking. The next morning, I worked up some courage, not really sure what I would hear and went into his office to ask him what he meant with his comment the day before.

He asked me to sit, and began by telling me how pleased he was that I was on his team, and explained he believed his role was to get the best out of people. I told him I felt a bit insulted, I considered myself better than just good at sales. He reassured me I was, but if I wanted to be a great sales person I had to listen carefully to some advice. I still remember as if it were yesterday, at 9 am on a Friday morning he said two words that stunned me, “Stop selling.” I was dumbfounded, stop selling? He went on to explain, “Your job is not to sell anything. Your job is to help your customer make an informed purchasing decision.”

Well he had to repeat the statement two times before the light bulb began to come on for me. Of course he was absolutely right. I needed to move from being a gladiator ready to do battle, to becoming a trusted advisor. My responsibility was to bring subject matter expertise to the table and help the potential purchaser understand the pros and cons of their decision. It is their money, it is their decision. Had I done everything I could to help them make an informed one?

Over the years I have shared this nugget with many “good” sales people. I smile as I watch their reaction when I suggest they can improve their sales if they STOP SELLING. If you practice this philosophy today I commend you. Should you adopt it going forward, I wish you much personal success.

Clayton Shold hangs his hat at SalesDialogue Systems Inc. a company committed to assisting sales professionals better understand how their internal conversations impact sales success. Learn more at http://www.salesdialogue.com.

With more and more people using broadband we are seeing and increase in options for content from the internet. One of these is movies. Due to the large file size of video content, it was not practical for this type of content for dial up users. This is all changing as broadband becomes the standard method to use the internet.

Early adopters of this new approach have gone so far as to cancel their cable TV subscriptions but not all content can be downloaded on the internet at this point. Still, this trend will likely continue as more content becomes available. Let’s look at some of the top five latest sources for online movies.

CinemaNow.com offers downloadable movies that can be played for up to 24 hours after you start watching them. There are no membership fees and you pay $2.99 to $3.99 per rental. The current selection includes over 7500 films as well as a selection of free movie downloads.

Movielink.com has movie downloads starting at $1.99. They have a decent and growing selection of new releases and classics. Unlimited viewings per download for 24 hours. Nice selection of free downloads also. They offer student discounts and weekly half off specials.

Stars.real.com offers a monthly subscription plan that allows unlimited monthly downloads for $12.95. Like the cable version of Starz channel, you won’t find the latest releases, but there are over 300 movies each month to choose from. They offer a 14 day free trial, so it’s worth checking out.

Vongo.com contains over 1000 titles with new titles weekly. This service is also related to the Starz cable channel. Unlimited downloads and unlimited view times for standard titles. The monthly subscription is $9.99. They also have a pay per view fee for latest releases.

There are a number of other sites that offer legal movie downloads of non-mainstream theater movies, and of course TV programs. For more sources see www.new-free-movie-downloads.info .

EVERYONE is experiencing slow sales right now.

Considering all of the world events that have hit America during the last two months, we are lucky it is not much worse.

America is at war. This makes for an uncertain economic environment no matter in what part of the world you might happen to live.

But that should not keep us from moving ahead while doing everything we can to improve, expand and increase our sales.

Here are a few KEY tips to “Cash In Big” right now:

1. Have A Sale.

Just dropping your price is not always the answer. Review your sales records and see what is NOT selling for you right now. Then drop the price and let ALL of your customers know about it.

Set a time limit to make it important to act now.

2. Re-Package Your Produce or Service.

Take those slow moving items and give them new life. Re-Package your product or service to give your customers more value for their money. We have had excellent results by bundling multiple ad exposures and dropping our per ad cost to less than half.

Yet our average per customer sale is about $100.00

You can maintain a good rate of return at a good average per customer while the customer buys a product or service at greatly reduced prices.

Everybody wins!

3. Add A Bonus.

Everyone loves to get more than they expected. Give your customer a pleasant surprise by giving them something totally unexpected.

You can also use this technique by telling the customer, BEFORE the purchase, exactly what extras they can expect.

The bonus can either close the sale for you or provide your customer with such a positive experience that they plan to make future buys.

Take America Online as an example.

They recently released version 7.0 of their famous software disk that allows you to log onto their service for a full 1000 hours and/or up to 45 days. They just keep making it so tempting that you have to try it.

BTW, there are NOT many FREE offers left online when it comes to Internet Access. We did compile a list of all the FREE Internet Access Providers we could find. Access it for FREE by sending an email: mailto:fiap@emailexchange.org

Use any of these proven techniques as best fits your individual situation and expect to INCREASE your cash flow.

Every customer looks for 3 special benefits when they do business with you. They may not specifically ask for these benefits. But you’re losing sales if you don’t automatically provide all three.

1. FAST RESULTS

Prospective customers may take a long time deciding whether or not they will buy from you. But once they decide to buy, they expect instant results. When people buy a car they want to drive it home today. When they sign up with a health club they expect to look and feel better by the end of the week.

Look for ways you can reduce the time your customers have to wait after a transaction before they can start enjoying the results of their decision to buy. Try to deliver your product at the point of sale. When that’s not possible, look for creative ways to provide a benefit your customer can start enjoying immediately.

For example, a publisher I know recently created a special package combination of his latest “how-to” book in print and several eBooks on the same subject. When customers order his new book, they can immediately download the eBooks on their computer. They don’t have to wait for the hard-cover book to arrive before they can start enjoying the benefit they paid for.

2. EASY PROCEDURES

Customers want products that are easy to use and services that produce results without disturbing their daily routine. You can increase your sales by stressing the “easy to use” characteristics of your product or service in all your promotions. Convenience and ease of use are often more important to customers than price.

Simplify your buying procedure too. Make it easier for customers to buy from you and you will get more sales.

For example, many online shoppers are impatient and won’t tolerate a lengthy ordering process. Minimize the number of times your customer has to click to another screen when ordering online. Use a simple order form instead of a shopping cart if you only offer 1 or 2 items. And don’t ask them to give you more information than you need to process their order.

3. PERSONAL ATTENTION

Every prospect and customer wants personal attention. One way you can provide it is by giving them an opportunity to ask questions.

Only interested prospects will take the time to ask questions. Many will buy from you if they get valuable information from your answer. You can often include a promotion for your product or service as part of your answer.

Answering questions is not time consuming. The same questions will be repeated over and over again. But you only have to answer each question once if you save your answer to a permanent file. Copy it into your reply whenever you get that same question again …and revise it slightly to personalize your response. You can answer questions quickly and your prospects will appreciate your personal attention.

TIP: If you find yourself personally answering a lot of questions, add a Questions and Answers page to your web site. Post the answers to your most frequently asked questions. It will reduce the number of questions you have to answer individually. But remember, it also deprives you of an opportunity to impress prospects with your personal attention.

Every customer wants fast results, easy procedures and personal attention. Most won’t ask for these benefits. But they won’t buy from you unless they get them. Make sure you provide all 3 of these special benefits …and look for ways to improve the quality of each. Then watch how quickly your sales increase.

The last two weeks I have been waiting for an answer from a potential client on a large piece of business. While playing the waiting game I have been thinking a lot about the sales process. I realized I have not been turned down much lately. Before I got too excited I also realized I had not been asking for the business much lately either. My excuse was I had been busy with speaking, coaching and writing assignments and had taken my attention off generating new business. Ask yourself, are you asking for the business often enough? Are you too busy delivering your product or service this month that you have not been thinking about what business you will bring in next month?

If this rings true for you that would be about normal. Being busy is an excuse. The truth is it is easier to stay busy with any project than risk rejection. The biggest reason we do not ask for business, try to close the sale, or insist on taking an order, is because we do not want to be rejected. Especially if what you are selling is you. Think about it, you can sell 100 raffle tickets for your child’s school, sell chocolate bars for your church, or ask people to write a check for a good cause, but when it comes to asking people to give you a check, a big check how do you do?

Often we do not ask because we project in our mind that the answer will be no, and for most people our biggest fear is rejection. Sure, it can be scary to get turned down. Here is an important secret though, the more you do it the easier it gets, and the less scary. To be successful we have to embrace rejection, know it is a part of the process of getting what we want, it must not be avoided instead it must be sought out.

This is not easy to do, in business there is always plenty to keep us busy or shall I say plenty to distract us from what is one of the most important aspects of business- selling. Instead of selling people will do just about anything, schedule meetings, organize their desk, respond to emails, take a longer lunch, go to a networking event, even write articles. While all these things are helpful to the success of any business they are less of a priority than the task of selling. Selling, let us define for our purposes as the process of qualifying prospective clients, identifying their needs, presenting our product to them and closing the business. This process must be completed with each potential client for any selling to be successful. To stop anywhere in the process is a waste of time.

Being successful in business is the result of finding enough of the right people and asking them to buy the products and or services they need from you. If you are not asking you can not get agreement to provide them with products or services.

If you realize that every no is closer to a yes and you are ready to embrace rejection, here are some things to do to help you start asking more.

o Write down or review your annual and quarterly income goals. Break that down further into monthly income goals.

o Then decide how many houses, policies, hours or consulting, cars or whatever, you have to sell each month to achieve that goal.

o Decide what is your Prospect to Client Ratio, ie: on average how many people do you have to ask for the business before you get a yes. In most cases depending on your product service and industry you may have to offer the opportunity to between seven to 25 or more people before you someone actually says yes and gives you an order.

o Once you know your Prospect to Client Ratio, you can calculate how many qualified prospective clients you have to ask for the business every week to achieve your goals.

For example if you need 5 sales a week and you have to ask 25 people on average before one person agrees to buy then you have to ask 25 people 5 days a week to buy.

When you do these calculations the number of people you must ask for the business could be up to five times greater than what you are doing currently. Do not be discouraged. Sales is like any business skill and like any muscle in your body, it takes time to develop and strengthen. If you hold steadfast to your goal and figure out how to generate the necessary number of prospects coming through your sales pipeline, eventually you will find it workable to meet with the number of prospects you need to achieve your goal.

Once you are asking enough people every week for the business, the next thing to look at is how are you asking. Are you asking timidly, can your prospects hear fear in your voice or do you convey confidence and enthusiasm when you speak to your potential clients? I hope you do the latter. Even if you are making 100 sales calls a day if you are conveying anger, confusion or frustration in your voice no one will say yes. You must make your calls with enthusiasm and confidence.

The only way to meet your goals is to successfully ask for the business as often as you can. Do not worry about who says no and who says yes, if you ask enough people you will definitely get some yeses. Focus on your goal, making your predetermined number of sales. When someone turns you down do not dwell on it, that depletes your energy and your self-esteem and makes it harder to ask the next time.

At one of my recent public speaking workshops a participant gave me a page from a calendar that said on it “Hurrah, I did the thing I feared the most. Excuse me while I cheer. Now here I stand a stronger soul and all I’ve lost is fear. ” Embrace rejection, remember every no is closer to a yes and you will gain more success for yourself and all you will have lost is fear.

Although I never met the man, I imagine Lou Boudreau would have made one heck of a field sales trainer. In 1942 the 24-year old Cleveland Indians shortstop was promoted to player/manager of his team, and for the next eight years Boudreau did what we, as trainers, are called upon to do every day: demonstrate success, inspire success and cultivate success. Think of it as the triple play of sales training.

DEMONSTRATE

A seven-time All-Star shortstop, Boudreau was only the second manager to take the Indians to a World Series Championship, and no one has done so since. Clearly, he was a man who demonstrated success. As field sales trainers we must similarly make success a habit. A field contact with a trainer may be the first “in situ” opportunity a new rep has to test their impressions of the company, and possibly selling in general.

Is what we say consistent with the corporate sales direction? Is what we do consistent with what we say? Most importantly, are we successful at gaining customer commitment and moving the sales process forward?

Inexperienced reps may need guidance on effective territory management and specific techniques for gaining access to prospects. Experienced reps are more familiar with the demands of the position, so their concerns are usually more territory-specific. Their willingness to accept us as role models may depend on how well we demonstrate successful resolution of field challenges: “The key thought leader in my area is on the speaker’s bureau for Competitor X. How can I compete with that?” “Most of my key decision makers won’t see reps. What can I do to impact their decision making process?” Established reps need to know that we have successfully overcome similar challenges and can give them strategies to do the same.

Demonstrating success is also vital because as field sales trainers we hold a uniquely dual role in the sales organization. In addition to the time we spend training and coaching sales reps, most of us are responsible for increasing sales and growing market share in our assigned territories. Our ability to manage our time and territory productively is vital in order to reach our own performance goals.

INSPIRE

Selling is fun when sales are good, but experienced reps know that’s not always the case. Without any warning you run smack into a competitor’s newly expanded sales force. Your blockbuster technology launches with software challenges. You spent your weekend studying a new clinical reprint, but every doctor you see wants to talk about last night’s exposé on the cost of prescription drugs.

Inspiration is our second wind. It keeps us focused on the big picture when our progress temporarily stalls. It’s a safe bet that all sales reps want to succeed… a good trainer will inspire them to succeed. The wanting gives us aim, but it is the inspiration that makes us reach.

Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller understood the power of inspiration to drive performance: “I remember in 1948… I was having a rough season, and instead of replacing me Lou (Boudreau) said ‘We’re going to sink or swim with Feller’. After he said that I won 10 of my last 12 games. He instilled a confidence in his players they never forgot.”

In the final analysis inspiration is unique to the individual, so figuring out how to inspire our sales reps may be the most challenging aspect of being a trainer. It can also be the most rewarding.

One way to inspire success is to celebrate its many forms. Baseball fans illustrate this perfectly. Do they wait soundlessly for the final out in the bottom of the ninth? Of course not! They cheer every solid crack of the bat… every difficult catch… every stolen base, because they recognize that each of these small successes brings them closer to their ultimate goal. The more skillful the play the more fervent the cheer, which motivates the athletes to stretch their abilities to achieve even more.

I think the single most inspiring thing you can do is to pay attention to your reps. Don’t wait until the bottom of the ninth to commend their progress. Make a point to notice their incremental gains and celebrate their success!

CULTIVATE

When I first started in sales I thought I should be just like Gregg, the most successful member of my team. I stifled my own personality and conducted my sales presentations as if I were Gregg, copying his voice inflections, the rhythm of his speech, and even some of his jokes. It wasn’t long before I began to suspect that his achievement was more a matter of luck than skill, because clearly, this selling approach was a failure!

In truth, the failure was mine. By rejecting my personal style I had violated one of the fundamental principles in cultivating success: respect individuality. Gregg’s approach worked for him because it was his. When I rediscovered my style and trusted my own instinct, that’s when I developed success. When Boudreau was promoted to player/manager his team was made up of more than just shortstops. He led his team to victory by relying on each player’s unique strengths to overcome the challenges of their position. Whether we are working with new or veteran reps, we must respect that their individual traits and talents have gotten them this far. Our job is to expect more.

How can we help our reps progress from expecting more to achieving more? By encouraging risk taking and new behaviors. Too conservative a team culture makes it difficult to raise the bar; few are willing to reach higher, for fear of falling short. As trainers we should be first at bat, risking innovative approaches and new ideas. Boudreau wasn’t afraid to think differently. He recognized that teammate Bob Lemon was misplaced as an infielder, so he reassigned him to pitcher, liberating Lemon from mediocrity and helping him achieve MVP/All Star status.

BATTER UP!

Just as a coach can’t swing the bat for the player at the plate, we can’t be with our teams every play of the game. We must share our best techniques for sales success, so that when split-second adjustments need to be made, they have the skills to make the right ones.

“I can’t be with you every day” has become something of a team slogan; a reminder that ultimately we each bear responsibility for creating our own success. As trainers our mission is to teach the art of unflinching self-assessment. Perhaps the most important thing we can give our reps is the ability to evaluate themselves honestly and specifically. Once they master that skill set they will be rounding third and heading for home!

Copyright ©2004 by Sally Bacchetta. All rights reserved.

Alcoholism can have a deadly affect, not only on those who abuse alcohol but also on their families and friends. Alcohol abuse can be devastating for spouses, parents, children, and friends, in how they perceive themselves, how they related to their significant others in their life, even their work and their ability to succeed on a business level, can all be damaged. So the mantra that alcoholics use to defend themselves, “It doesn’t hurt anybody but me,” is actually completely inaccurate. Rather than seeing the damage they inflict as yet another source of guilt, people who abuse alcohol can use this as an impetus to change.

The body loves to live in moderation. There are all kinds of studies on the wine drinking habits of people in Italy, the rice wine in Japan, and so on, talking about the beneficial effects of a moderate amount of things like red wine. When we go to the extreme, though, the body can be severely damaged. Alcohol abuse over time destroys the liver, kidneys, heart, digestive system, and brain, just to name a few. The body just cannot digest that much alcohol without being poisoned by the waste products it produces. The dehydration alone is enough to hurt the body. So please, enjoy alcohol in moderation!

Buying a motorhome can have its on pitfalls. Overpricing, defective vehicles, disputed property and weak crafts are among the dangers of purchase.

As the first step in your purchase, you will have to determine your needs as that will determine the kind of motorhome you should go for. Motorhomes come in all sizes and therefore in all prices. If you plan well, you can have a small motorhome with all the features as you can buy the accessories and then add them onto a motorhome which lacks them. In buying, take extra care to see that you do not purchase a motorhome with options you don’t need. This is because the options add up to the price so you will be eventually paying more for things you will not use if you go ahead with such a purchase.

You will have to go round the motorhome dealers and look for good deals. Be sure to ask questions about any vehicle you are interested in as further probe can bring out some issues that will not be quite obvious. When you cannot come into contact with dealers, you can look through classifieds to obtain information about latest sales.

You should be concerned about the sleeping space of the vehicle. Check inside to see how big the beds are and if they will fit the kind of people you intend to travel along with. Although the motorhome companies can label the beds as kingsize, they are actualy not the size you would find in the home. For this reason, you need to make a inspection to see how big they really are. At camping, you need to change clothes a lot. Has the vehicle got enough room space to store both unworn and dirty clothes? You may not realise so but then clothing and accessories can soon overwhelm the camper and soon he may find himself looking for extra space to store them Does the kitchen come with amenities? Think of the utensils you intend to bring along and the kinds of food you intend to prepare. Can they be made comfortably in the kitchen that size with those accessories in there? Has the kitchen got shelves, sinks and boards to do chopping? Check out the bathrom accessories to see if it is a shower or tub. If you are coming along with children, you may need a tub as that is the kids preference. If you are all adults, then a shower can be all you need. Now the legalities. Before you finally make payment ensure that the property is freehold and that it will be free from litigation if you made the purchase.. Ask for documents covering theproprty and check up with the license bureau whether the seller is the rightful owner. Also make sure that the property is not the subject of a collateral by checking with the mortgage bureau. A motorhome is a lifetime purchase. It therefore has to be done in a prudent manner so you dont lose out on cash or get your vehicle grounded in a matter of months after purchase.

Paint a Picture With Your Words

Depending on what you sell, it is not always easy to get your point across, so it is very important to paint a picture with your words to give your customer a visual of your product, or a visual of themselves using your product.

When you are meeting someone face to face, and you can show them your product up close, it is easy for them to get a visual because they are looking at it with their own eye’s, and they can hold it in their own hands.

But seeing and feeling the product is not enough. You want your customers to see themselves using your product. You want to give them the visual of being in action with the product.

For instance, the last time I was on the market for a car, I went to a local dealership looking to test drive some jeeps.

The salesman showed me the jeeps he had on sale, and he even let me test drive a few of them.

Not only did he go over all of the wonderful features the jeep had to offer, such as the CD player, the electric windows, and the heated seats. He also said to me; Can’t you picture yourself cruising through the mountains with the sun setting behind you, and a cool breeze flowing through the open cabin as you play all of your favorite Cd’s?

The visual of me cruising up into the mountains in my new jeep with mother nature in all of her glory was all I needed to picture in my mind, and I was sold.

Well, I still have that jeep, and I enjoy it just as much today as I did the day I bought it. However, I have yet to experience anything as serenely as I had visualized the day I test drove it for the first time.

But the salesman’s technique worked. I bought the jeep.

If I were selling baseball bats, I would give my customers the visual of hitting a home run in the bottom of the ninth too win the game with the exact bat they were holding in their hand.

I could sit here all day coming up with scenarios to get my point across, but I think you get the picture.

So the next time you sell a product, paint a picture. Put a visual in your customer’s head of them using the product in a positive light. It will make a world of difference.

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