The Sales Leader Blog

Every week I am reminded that I am Canadian by members of our community. Every time I send out an e-mail, I inevitably get notes back complaining about my spelling. Many times there are legitimate corrections (I am a terrible speller) but just as often, they are based on my Canadian spelling. Words like favourite, cheque, labour, etc… are proper Canadian/British spellings but clash with most default spell checkers, and Americans.

The reverse also applies to Canadians reading the American version of words. We notice that it’s coming from another country. The only real difference being that rather than citing the issue, we Canadians typically apologize for being different.

When we use social proof in our business, the exact same issue can make or break our efforts for one simple reason: the more someone is like you, the more you trust what they say. If you know someone is from your same town, or same province/state or same country, you have more in common with them and therefore you are more likely to identify with them and believe what they say. If you see a testimonial and the person making the statement is obviously from a different location, you will inherently trust it less than if they were one of your neighbours (oops – neighbors).

It should be noted that specially in business-to-business marketing, the same is true in terms of the business size and industry but for today, we’ll focus on location.

So what do you do about this? Well luckily, there are relatively simple ways today of detecting where visitors to your web site are coming from. In fact, at no cost you can determine it right down to the province/state and sometimes even the city. A company called MaxMind provides free versions of a tool you can use to determine where a visitor is coming from. The technique is called IP-Geolocation and it just takes a bit of effort on the part of your web developer.

Once you know where your web visitors are coming from, you can then tailor your web content to their location, including which testimonials are shown. For example, if a visitor is from Canada, you can show prices in Canadian dollars and use those testimonials with the Canadian spelling. And to really capitalize on this, include the location of the customer in their by-line (the information that shows who provided the testimonial). That’s way it is clear that the source of the testimonial is someone from the same area – and can be trusted even more!

While this may seem a bit daunting, it can be very simple, especially if you are using Testimonial Director. As you review and approve a testimonial, you can simply indicate where each testimonial is from (using Categories) and Testimonial Director takes care of the rest – showing those testimonials that match the location profile of the visitor. Then just sit back and enjoy your higher conversion rates!

If you want to see the specific steps to implement this, whether or not you use Testimonial Director, make sure to check out our Unleash Webinar on implementing this on your site.

Dedicated to increasing your sales,

Colleen

“People tend to become what they think about themselves.” I’m fond of that quote by psychologist William James, because it applies so well to the selling profession. It underlines how important it is for each of us to ask: “what kind of a salesperson do I want to be?”

Your personal philosophy for success is formed by your beliefs and exercised in your daily business habits. By deciding you want to join the top-10% of sales performers in your organization, you’re adopting a mindset that will shape the choice you’ll make.

Be choosy about whom you associate with. Tony Robbins said it most eloquently when he said your income is a direct reflection of the expectations of the five people closest to you. Open your mind to new ideas. Make a habit of reading and writing reviews of some those great sales-related books that are out there today. Look outside your market. Good ideas have endless applications to how you work and think.

Everything that goes into your personal philosophy defines you. It’s what will make you stand out and be memorable to your customers.

Dedicated to increasing your sales,

Colleen

Here at Engage Selling, we continue to watch closely how the marketplace is changing. So much has happened in a short period, such that today is a really exciting time to thrive if you’re prepared to respond to wisely to trends while emulating timeless approaches that work.

Among the key trends I have been talking about: selling is far more relationship-based than it used to be, your buyer’s decision-making process is longer and it’s tougher than ever to attract and sustain the attention of your customers and prospects.

What is just as important, however, is what hasn’t changed.

The top sales performers continue to adopt and implement well-defined business habits that result in more sales in less time. It’s important to pay attention to those business habits and adopt them in your own sales organization.

Among those winning habits: the mastery of closing your sale every time.

There are important, field-tested, timeless insights in this area. They take work to adopt and implement, but if chart-smashing sales matter you, they are well worth your time.

Here are seven closing practices engineered to sell more in less time…and that you can get started implementing in your sales organization right away.

1.  Know your maximum and minimum.

Pinpoint what’s needed for someone to make the decision to buy from you today. On every sales call, know in advance the maximum you expect out of the call (e.g., to receive verbal approval…to negotiate a final price?), versus the minimum level of commitment you need to obtain from the client or prospect to close the sale.

2.  Always start with the draft approach.

Never let the final proposal be the first proposal they see. Prepare a draft proposal first and walk the client though it point-by-point. This is where you address and respond to objections: not later.

3.  Know how decisions get made.

Get a clear explanation about the client’s review process for every product or service proposal. Who decides what? How many steps are there before a decision is made? Know this and you can address objections skillfully, dealing with the right people at the right time.

4.  Step back.

Step back and look objectively at every qualified lead and make sure you’re asking the right qualification questions upfront. Make sure you are operating on facts rather than feelings of what think is true.

5.  Make persistence your eternal flame.

A sale that seem lost can be found again, but only if you’re persistent! Very rarely have I seen any of my clients lose a sale forever. We have one client in Vermont who sells in the dairy industry. She waited 25 years for the customer to say yes.

6.  Understand the why of no.

When a prospect or customer says no to your proposal, understand the meaning behind “no.” Ask probing, specific questions to determine why they are resisting or refusing to close.

7.  Follow-up rigorously.

It’s not enough to just follow-up when you feel it’s the right time to do so. Schedule all follow-ups in advance, set to a rigorous calendar. Make it a process, not a task. Stick to it like clockwork and your sales will do the same for you.

Science fiction is rife with stories of invading robots versus a seemingly helpless human population. For many salespeople, the future is here and the robots are threatening to eat their lunch. Rather than metal cyborgs, these robots are self-checkout kiosks and online stores powered by intuitive software. U.S. Department of Commerce statistics say online sales have grown steadily since 2000 by an average 20% annually.

 Don’t despair! You have a secret weapon! Empathy and compassion sell. Salespeople can create a positive experience for customers that, when done right, no amount of software can match. With an investment of time and effort, you can fine-tune your sales approach, constantly creating a buying experience that customers will want again. This includes giving away things that add value, such as tips and best practices, referrals to another client, or sharing an idea that could help customers solve a problem. Love what you sell the customers you serve! It attracts people and helps build the kind of rapport that will help you rise to the top.

Dedicated to increasing your sales,

Colleen