Last week we hosted out 2 day Sales Powerhouse event and frankly…it wore me out! Now don;t get we wrong. It was a super event, with amazing speakers and our audience had a great time - learned a lot too! Its just exhausting to host an event for 140 people and my brain is fried.

I’ll be back to normal in a couple days and in the meantime I didn’t want to leave you high and dry so here is a posting I think you should check out from my friend Jill Knorath of Selling to Big Companies.

Cheers Colleen

Today I received the following automated email response from a vendor:

Hello and thank you for your message. Your message has reached my inbox; however, in order for me to stay focused and serve you better, I only check my e-mail once a day.

Due to the high volume of email messages at this time I need to let you know that an immediate response to your message may not be possible. A reply will be sent within a few days if necessary.

If your message is urgent, please call me at ……..and leave a detailed message. I will get back to you ASAP.
If you’re interested in an upcoming workshop or would just like to get to know us better, visit: xxx.com

This is crazy. Now…I know this approach to managing email comes directly from Tim Ferriss The 4 hour Work Week, (which I liked) AND I do know that managing email correctly is critical to time management and productivity. The trouble is that this email will be interpreted by the client differently than the writer intended. In fact I would argue that a client will read this email in the following way:

Hello, I am important than you. Your message has reached my inbox, however, my inbox is overflowing and because I don’t know how to manage my time effectively, and I am lazy, it will take me at least a week to get back to you.

Your message is not important enough to me to give it high priority so you’ll have to wait until I get around to it. There is a chance I may get my act together sooner and if I feel up to it you may receive a reply within a few days. Don’t hold your breath.

If your message is urgent, please call me at 250 588-3303 and leave a detailed message. I will get back to you ASAP. Its not that I don’t want to talk to you really, it’s just that I don’t want to waste my time with people who aren’t serious prospects to call and hound me to sell to them.
Check out how fabulous I am at xxxxx and enjoy your day! (I know I will because I am ignoring all my email today!)

What you write and how it’s interpreted can be 180 degrees apart if you are not careful. This email message I received was interpreted as self serving trying at best, to hide behind passive aggressive at worst. Remember that selling is all about putting the customer’s needs first, not yours. I did not believe for one second that this email had my best interests at heart as a customer

The worst case scenario with this email is that you will lose business. I can draw on dozen’s of examples where if I had used this approach to handling emails, I would have lost the business. Just this week I had a client with an urgent need. They had to make a decision in 24 hours. If I had waited a week to respond I would have lost out on a large project worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Best case, the client is left with the impression you are a self serving, disorganized, non professional who doesn’t care about their business.

Either way you lose the business. Manage your time wisely, but not at the expense of serving the customer.

Dedicated to increasing your sales,
Colleen

Listening is the most critical selling skill you can develop. Here are 5 tips to master if you want to be in the top 10%

1. Pause and listen. Count silently to three (at a regular speaking pace!) every time your contact finishes talking. This will give them enough time to gather their thoughts and continue what they were saying if they haven’t finished, while also not being a long enough pause to seem awkward if they are done talking, and are simply waiting for your response.
2. Support what they tell you only when you mean it. Before you ask your next question, make sure to thank your contact for the information they already provided in response to your previous one. It’s not always easy for a contact to open up, especially in the early stages of your relationship. If they have been generous with their information, thank them for being open. If they ask a great question, thank them for it. But while this approach can yield great results, don’t ever fake a compliment or expression of gratitude. If you don’t truly believe what you are saying and thanking your contact for, then believe me - you won’t be fooling anyone but yourself.
3. Take notes and ask for clarification. To make sure you remember the details as well as the substance of what a customer is telling you, take notes, and ask for clarification any time they say something you don’t fully understand. Remember, in telesales, your best friends are “why,” “how” and “what.” Use them often to get additional information from your customers - and then don’t forget to document their answers!
4. Echo and paraphrase. You never really understand something until you have to teach it to someone else. To be certain you really understand what a customer is telling you, repeat it back to them, using your own words and interpretation. Then end with a question, to gain their confirmation that your understanding is correct.
5. Watch your tone! I never cease to be amazed at how many professional sales people ask questions of even their biggest clients or most promising prospects in a tone that sounds aggressive, accusatory or downright belligerent. If you’ve ever gotten the sense that you’re coming on a little too strong, practice asking a colleague questions to determine whether you sound inquisitive or interrogational. If this isn’t an option, take your manager with you on a call, and ask them for their constructive, honest feedback. 93% of the way people react to your questions will be based not on what you ask, but on the way you ask them. Finding out how you really sound could make the difference between being an average performer, and skyrocketing to the top of your profession.

Listening NOT talking wins you the business!

Helping you to shut up and sell more - Colleen

1. First, keep yourself in check by making sure that your body language, words, and are congruent with each other and the message you want to convey. 
2. Pretend to make eye contact with everyone on the demo. Picture them as if they were sitting across from you. It’s been said that there are only three degrees of difference between equality (looking squarely at someone), egotism (looking down your nose at someone), and insecurity (looking up at someone with a bowed head).
3. Capture the atmosphere and spirit of the conversation, and match the other person’s mood. Stand, walk, or sit like you would if you were face to face with the prospect.
4. Match their tone of voice. Vocal tone is comprised of pitch (high or low), speed (fast or slow), and volume (loud or soft). If those around you are speaking in quieter or more boisterous tones, do the same.
5. Be genuinely excited and enthused. People are more easily influenced when they sense that you are enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and interested in what you are sharing. So smile, and always look confident.
6. Check your attitude problems at the door. Use your positive body language list to reposition your attitude until your mood improves.
7. Know the audience you want to influence, and dress accordingly. If you know they are a suit crowd, wear a suit. If they’re a jeans and t-shirt crowd, choose something closer to that style. You’ll be surprised how quickly trust is built when you appear to be one of them. 
8. Smile!
9. Listen, take notes and sit with your mouth closed – lips together!
10. Send thank-you cards to everyone you meet, everyone who takes the time to talk to you about themselves or their business, and everyone who helps you with something. Make sure these cards are handwritten on good stationary, usually the simpler the better, and don’t use them for advertising or self-promotion.

Remember that it takes less then one minute to make an impression with a decision maker. Make the right impression and you will develop trust and get the sale. Develop the wrong impression and you will lose the business to someone else.

 ”We know you, they know me
Extrasensory
Synchronicity” - Sting, the Police

I was at the Police concert Thursday night and they didn’t disappoint - except that they missed my favorite from Synchronicity, Synchronicity 1.  As always, I can’t just sit and enjoy the music (and to be honest, enjoy  Sting himself) without thinking about what I can learn from the experience.  I know, all you balance freaks will tell me to close my eyes and breath…I can’t. My brain is wired to look for opportunities and relationships everywhere. Perhaps I do have something in common with Gene Simmons after all…..

So what did I notice at the Police concert that is related to sales:

1. While I was obsessing about them playing Synchronicity 1 and running through the lyrics in my head it dawned on me how sales is about synchronicity between the buyer and the seller. If we are in synch, they buy. This is why I don’t like selling systems and instead advocate a selling philosophy or model. You get out of synch with your buyer when you are focused on your system and not on the relationship. And when you are out of synch, you lose the sale.

2. Memorability. With 60% of the songs, Chris and I looked at each other and exclaimed “Ohhh I forgot about that one!” We then went on to sing along to ALL the lyrics. Synchronicity was recorded in 1983 and the others years before; yet, I could remember all the lyrics to all the songs. Because they were memorable. Are you memorable? Do your clients remember your information, your details? Studies show that your clients receive 8000 marketing messages per day. Your’s might or might not be one of those messages. Regardless, are you being remembered about all this marketing noise?

3.Premium pricing. The floor seats were $225 per ticket and were sold out. I could only get my hands on a 300 level (nose bleed) seat at $59. The stands at that level were only 2/3 full. You will always have a subset of clients that are not affected by the economy, or financial pressures and who WANT to spend more. Find those customers and build the strongest relationships with them

4. Longevity. The Police have not released an album since 1983 and they are selling out shows around the world. They sounded great, and Sting looked great, (but I think I mentioned that before). Clearly they are happy doing what they are doing or, why would they hit the road again? I can’t imagine that they need the money. Or at least I have not read that they are bankrupt in People Magazine! Rather I think they are driven to perform out of passion. And they know that their fans will respond positively, with lots of money. Do you have the passion in your business to last 30 years or more in sales? To you have a stable of clients that you know will respond by opening their pocketbooks with every new offer?

In summary, focus on the relationship is sales. Build synchronicity with your buyers and find a way to be memorable. Doing so will ensure that each and every time you offer them something new, they will respond positively and profitably.

Committed to helping you get into the top10%

Colleen

During a sales meeting, the prospect will likely be examining your competence, determining whether they can trust you. It’s up to you to prove your potential and to build rapport.

• People do business with people they like and trust.
• People do business with people who are like them
• People respond to people.

In his book, You Have to Be Believed to Be Heard, renowned speech coach Bert Decker confirms that trust and rapport are developed through positive non-verbal communication. According to Decker, the power of body language is, in fact, so strong that it can literally take less than a minute for trust to be built or eroded based on non-verbal communication alone. Successful sales people have known for a long time that decision makers buy from sales people they like and trust. Positive non verbal communication is therefore, critical to your sales success.

Of course, positive body language doesn’t just mean smiling, making eye contact, or assuming an open stance. Researchers say that when you match or mirror the postures, gestures, and tone of voice of whomever you are communicating with, their brain receives unconscious signals that say, “Hey, you’re like me!” Since people trust those who are most like themselves, you need to think of non-verbal rapport as a dance, where you are the follower and whomever you want to influence is the leader.

Over 90% of a sales dialogue is interpreted through non-verbal communication. This includes facial expressions, physiology, and body language or positioning. But, it also includes your tone of voice and such other factors as your choice of clothing, the car you drive, or the brand of laptop computer you use. Since we tend to react more to what we think a person meant than to what they actually said, when attempting to build rapport, we need to pay just as much attention to our non-verbal signals as we do to our words.

Now that you know that non-verbal communication is such an important part of selling, there are a few techniques you can try to strengthen the rapport you have with others. Remember, the key is to be subtle and discreet. The purpose of mirroring, for example, is not to mimic precisely what a person is doing, such as scratching your left cheek whenever they do. It simply means trying to capture the atmosphere of the interaction, while keeping your actions outside their conscious awareness.

Dedicated to increasing your sales,

Colleen

2. Voicemail should only be used as a last resort. Too often, we give up as soon as the voicemail kicks in on a call, either leaving a message (bad idea) or simply hang up (better, but not great).

3. When in doubt, hit zero. You owe it to yourself to try everything you can to either locate them, or at least find out something about them. One way to do this is to hit zero when a voicemail message kicks in. You’ll likely get bounced to a receptionist, an executive assistant or a co-worker. Try asking the following question:

“I was hoping you could help me. I’m trying to reach Jane Smith, and her voicemail picked up. Do you know if she’s in a meeting, or out for the rest of the day?”

Depending on the response you receive, you can then try one of the following strategies:

Strategy one
Them: “She’s in a meeting.”
You: “Thanks for your help. Do you happen to know when she’ll be available?” “Maybe it’s best to call back then?”

Strategy two
Them: “She’s away today.”
You: “Thanks for your help. Do you know if she will be back tomorrow?”

Strategy three
If you speak to your prospect’s personal assistant, ask if it’s better to schedule a call in advance, and then have them set a fifteen-minute appointment.

You can’t make a sale if you don’t talk to your prospect! Try these strategies and let me know how they work.

Dedicated to getting you into the top 10%

Colleen

The most effective way to get more leads is to ask for referrals. Referrals from clients, and associates to other prospects are the best way - and most profitable way -  to expand your network.

There is a right and wrong way to ask for referrals.

The BEST way to receive a referral is to first give referrals freely to others. In other words, share your network. Start making introductions within your network of local contacts. Be the first at a networking event or party to provide a contact to someone you’ve just met, rather than waiting for them to give you something first. Once you start sharing your contacts and making connections with others, your contacts will soon start returning the favour…and your local network will grow!

How NOT to ask for referrals

When talking to others, unless you’re specific in your questions, you risk getting an unfavourable response. Here are some examples of questions that are simply too vague:

Who else do you know that might benefit from our services?

Do you know anyone else I should talk to?

How TO ask for referrals

You can expect a favourable response from questions such as:

I’m trying to meet…of …BAC Corp. Do you know him?

Do you have other branch or field offices that manage IT services as well?

Do you have an IT director?

Do you have a marketing department that runs special events?

Referrals have a closing ratio of 5:1 whereas cold calls have a closing ratio of 75:1. I don’t know about you but I would much rather make 5 calls and get a sales than 75!

Dedicated to increasing your sales,

Colleen

If you find prospecting always somehow slips to the bottom of your “To Do” list, here are 12 Tips to help you ensure your sales funnel is consistently full of leads:

1. Sell more products to existing customers.
2. Set a goal for the number of networking events you will attend each month, and the number of new people you’d like to meet at each event.
3. Reward yourself for closing new business.
4. Take a look at opt-in email lists.
5. Ask your current customers for referrals.
6. Check out on line directories for associations in your territory 
7. Make a habit of having lunch, coffee or breakfast with at least one new person each week.
8. Write articles for relevant on-line or print publications your prospects might read.
9. Volunteer to speak at trade shows and conferences.
10. Be excellent at what you do and a reputation
11.  Join the trade associations or organizations your clients and prospects belong to.
12. Try sending mailings to prospects, complete with relevant items of interest.

All you have to do is pick one a week to master and at the end of the quarter your business will be overflowing with qualified leads

Dedicated to increasing your sales,

Colleen

 Last Friday I was in a full day training with a client and the following question came up:

“Colleen, a trainer once told me that if I followed the SPIN(tm) methodology correctly I should have no objections during the sales cycle. What do you think?”

I think it‘s impossible to eliminate objections entirely because we are selling to humans, who have minds of their own, AND corporations where anything can change (mergers, takeovers, personnel changes) that are beyond your control.

Yes, you can reduce eliminations if you complete a proper needs analysis. No, you will never eliminate objections 100%. The secret is asking questions and listening to the answers. Think: talk 20% and listen 80%.