Sales – Page 10

You People

I’ve walked out of businesses
because the salesman
used the phrase
“you women”
while talking to me.

It is disrespectful
and it conveys
the message
that person is NOT
on my side.
He doesn’t believe
he’s anything like me
and why would I buy
from someone like that?

This is true
for other demographics.

MimZWay shares
(this entire Twitter thread
is a must read
for salespeople)

““You people”?
Now the man could have
simply meant “people”
who dare to bring in
photos of what they are looking for,
trying to make his job easier –
but in case you don’t know –
the words “You people,”
is triggering for black folks.
It groups us –
and not in a good way.”

Align yourself with the customer
when talking with them.
Always.
And never put them
in a different group
than the one
you have put yourself.

And try not to be
a woman-hating or/and racist
a$$hat.

Neil Young, Spotify And Ultimatums

Neil Young,
a polio survivor,
issued Spotify an ultimatum
– either they pull
a vaccine misinformation spreader’s catalog
or he would pull
his catalog.

Spotify chose
to continue to work with
the vaccine misinformation spreader.

That is the danger
with issuing ultimatum
– sometimes this tactic doesn’t work
in our favor.

Only issue ultimatums
when you are prepared,
as Neil Young was,
to live with the consequences.

Use ultimatums
solely
for very important issues.

To Get To The Next Level

I grew up dirt poor.
I knew how to be dirt poor
and survive.
I had that skill set.

But I wanted to be rich.
My Wonderful Mom matched me
with a couple
who had amassed enough wealth
to retire in their 40s.
They taught me
how to be middle class
and also how to be
their level of rich.

These were two different
sets of skills,
two different knowledge bases.

There is a knowledge base
needed
to ‘succeed’ at each level.

A ‘successful’ poor person,
for example,
has mastered
how to rent an apartment well.

A ‘successful’ middle class person
has mastered
how to buy a primary home well.

A ‘successful’ rich person
has mastered
how to buy investment properties well.

There are also
different skills needed
at every level of business building.

Building a Mom and Pop business
requires a different knowledge base
than building an international corporation.

To get to the next level,
you have to learn
new skills.
Expect to do this.
Allocate the necessary time.

Power By Connection

I recently attended
a live presentation held by
a certain online bookstore
given to writers.

The presentation was billed as important,
as being a means
to make a connection
with people in that organization,
to learn things
few other people knew.

The presentation could
have been recorded.
Everything said
was taken directly from
their website.
There were no ‘insider secrets’
or revolutionary tips.

During the question and answer time,
the presenters
looked up data on the website
and relayed it.

They weren’t powerful.
They merely worked
for a powerful company.

Seth Godin
shares

“Google and Amazon used to invite
authors to come speak,
at the author’s expense.

The implied promise was that
they’re so powerful,
access to their people
was priceless.

But the algorithm writers
weren’t in the room.

You ended up spending time
with people
who pretended they had influence,
but were more like weatherpeople,
not weather makers.”

Merely working for a powerful company
doesn’t mean that person
is powerful.

Ensure you’re connecting
with the right people.

Special Delivery Instructions

In the past,
when something I ordered for my beloved Mom
was delivered,
the delivery person often couldn’t find
the buzzer code
on the apartment building’s ‘menu.’

That created delays in delivery
or canceled deliveries.

So I used one of the extra
address lines
on the order form
and added the buzzer code.

That solved the problem
and made the process easier for everyone.

If you’re designing
input forms for deliveries,
always add an extra address line.

If you’re ordering something
and have special instructions
for the delivery person,
use that extra address line.

Earning Money As A Goal

I write for the love of it.
I publish my stories
for readers.

I judge whether or not
readers want my stories
by how many of them
are willing to pay for the stories.

THAT is,
for good or bad,
the benchmark of adding value
in our current society
– how much people are willing
to pay for something.

If readers aren’t willing to pay
for my stories,
my time would be better spent
doing something else,
something society values
enough to pay for.

As Seth Godin
shares

“How many people
would be doctors
if being a doctor
was something
you couldn’t get paid for?”

Very few.
Because it would indicate
being a doctor
wasn’t something others valued.

And most of us
want to do things
that are valued.
We want to BE valued.

Never be ashamed
of using sales or salaries
or other financial compensation
as a determinant
of whether or not
you take a job
or complete a task
you don’t really want to do
or build a business.

As long as society
continues to tie value to money,
it SHOULD be a deciding factor.

One Of The First Tasks To Do

One of the first work-related tasks
I do EVERY morning
is ensure
my books are still listed
on the major bookstores.

Yes, bookstores will tell me
if they’ve been delisted
or if the site is having problems
…eventually.

But every day delay
is a day of no sales.

I have a plan set
if books are delisted
or the bookseller site is down.

I redirect readers
to a site that offers that same eBook format
immediately.

Then I contact the impacted bookseller
and try to get the book relisted
or inquire about when
the site will be back up.

Having a plan already set
allows me to act quickly.

If you’re selling a product,
verify frequently
(every day if possible)
it is available for sale.

Have a plan
if it suddenly gets delisted
or the site goes down.

(This happens
at a certain large bookseller
OFTEN.
Plan for it.)

The Wishy-Washy No

I asked a dear friend
if she wanted to
have lunch.

She must have given me
a dozen reasons
why she couldn’t do that.

I tried to accommodate her,
at first,
offering different dates,
different restaurants
until I realized…

She wasn’t yet ready
to eat in a restaurant.

She merely didn’t want to
or couldn’t
communicate that
likely because
it was an emotional reason.

There’s no combatting
emotional reasons
with logic.

Her mind was made up.
She wasn’t listening
to my pushback.
I accepted her decision
and moved on.

Seth Godin
shares

“A meandering no
doesn’t turn into
a yes
because someone with a good idea
listened very carefully
to every spoken objection
and rationally and clearly countered it.

Because the objections aren’t real,
and the naysayer isn’t listening
very hard to the responses.”

Often a wishy-washy no
isn’t a no
for the reasons stated.
It is often emotional.

Logic won’t sway that decision.

Reheating A Now Cold Call

A writer friend and I
hadn’t communicated
for a couple years.

She had to ask another friend
for my email.
That was how long it had been.

Then she contacted me,
asking for help
promoting her new book.

There was no “How have you been?”
or
“What have you been doing?”
or
“I’ve missed talking with you.”

It was direct to the ask.

If she had done this
a couple years ago,
that would have been okay.
I would have been a warm lead.

But I was now a cold lead
and I said no without hesitation.

If it has been
more than a year
since we’ve interacted
with a prospect or former customer,
that first renewed contact
is a cold call.

The relationship should
warm up quicker
than a brand new contact
but we still have
to do that intro work.

Treat it like a cold call.