Greetings! 
Last week Chris and I were visiting family in Edmonton and we took two of our nieces to the Edmonton Street Performers Festival. The best part for everyone was the "be your own busker" workshop where we all learned how to juggle, spin plates and use one of those "tea cup on a string things". As an adult, it’s always frustrating at first to learn a new skill and I found my patience tried over and over. I was ready to quit and just become the official photographer when their enthusiasm resonated with me. The kids had no problems with failure. They just picked up the plates, or the balls, and tried again. It was a great lesson for Chris and I. Emily and Elizabeth's persistence to "get it right" encouraged us to keep going. As you can see - Chris and the girls started to master the plate spinning with a bit of concentration! After this picture was taken I too went on to master the "tea cup on a string things" but there was not enough time in the day to figure out how to juggle! In the last newsletter our poll results were tied with 50% of you assuming you will succeed to hit quota this summer and 50% assuming you will fail. I think it's time for those in the bottom 50% to "pick up your plate" and learn a new sales skill. Now is the time to put in a little more effort. Make a couple more calls, try a script, master a new objection handling idea, attend some new networking events, revive a customer relationship that has gone stale, and generally work a little harder. It's also a great time to review your skills inventory and brush up on some new selling techniques. If you are in Ottawa, consider joining me at a free sales event July 23rd sponsored by Peak Sales Recruiting: New Rules to Skyrocket Your Income Past Six Figures. And make sure you come out to meet some new sales pros at our annual Engage Summer party – see the RSVP below! Dedicated to increasing your sales, |
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Learning
from Mistakes.
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Time Management
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Ask ColleenHi Colleen, Is it even possible to be successful in sales today? Do you have any advice for “recession proofing” my sales results? Hi Lawrence, Your success is directly determined by the way you are perceived, and the amount of effort you put into your career. Changing either of those variables will have a huge impact on whether you succeed or fail when the going gets tough. In other words, in good times or in bad, the type of sales person you choose to be is 100% up to you. Choose to be "nice" - by which I mean, honest, open and empathetic to your customer’ needs - and you will experience consistent sales growth, build an excellent reputation and become a leader in your field, regardless of the market you sell in or the state of the economy. Any recession will only be what YOU make of it. Just look around, in my town I still see people jammed into shopping malls and spending, spending, spending. Every flight I am on these days is packed full with passengers, and the high end restaurants we treat ourselves to are still the toughest reservations around. Compared with the rest of the world, we really have nothing to complain about. Now, I know prices are going up for many things. You may have lost some equity in real estate. Last week it cost me $96 to fill up my car and Chris’ mom (who we were visiting in Edmonton last week noted that she paid $13 for a bag of flour). But it's especially important as sales people that we do NOT follow the thinking of the masses. If you let the news get to you and become timid about your sales efforts and stop asking people to make decisions, you WILL feel the "recession". So it's important more than ever to simply refuse to participate in all the worry. Here are two steps to recession proof your business... 1. Stop blaming the economy. It's not the economy that's the problem. If you're not making enough sales today, it's because of one of two things:
The first is easy enough to fix. If you're not working hard enough, work harder! Get out and make those extra calls. If that doesn't work, make five more. The second problem is more difficult. To solve it, you first need to answer two questions: How do your customers perceive you? And how should they perceive you? For detailed answers to this question check out our article called What Type of Sales Person are You? 2. To start improving how you are perceived, go on a media news diet. Mainstream news is only interested in promoting fear, because fear sells. Have you ever noticed that after watching just 20 minutes of CNN, CTV or Fox you actually feel depressed and saps your confidence to succeed? I mean, you may as well curl up under the covers and hide because there are no businesses left to sell to! The trouble is, your depression is palpable. Your customers can sense it. And no one wants to buy from a depressed sales person who lacks confidence. The biggest risk to you is the creating of a self fulfilling prophecy. You get depressed from the news. You take a depressed attitude into a sales meeting. Your client will not buy because you are… well… depressing and sucking the life out of them. You go back home a failure and take solace in the news that it’s the economy’s fault. You continue to fail. Stop it! You need to safe guard your mind, look for the good news, turn off your TV and use your brain. Canada’s economy is expected to grow again this year according to McLean’s magazine. The US has just experienced their 4th quarter of unemployment decline (yes that means LESS people are unemployed) and the LA Times recently reported that although the middle class is disappearing, 2/3 of them are moving UP (not down as the news likes to insinuate). Be persistent. Even if the economy gets worse there can be a huge opportunity for those sales pro’s who hang in and creatively find ways to succeed. You will find less competition from those throwing in the towel because they aren't made for the game. Best of Luck! Colleen |
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