Category: Sales

I’ve attended sales pitches
for products
I had no intention of buying
simply because
the salesperson was so d*mn good.
I knew I’d learn something.
Sometimes what I learned
prompted me to buy the product
I didn’t think I needed.

Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson
shares

“Customers were painfully blunt
on this point:
They perceived very little difference
between suppliers on things
like brand, product or price.
At the same time,
the sales experiences they delivered
were highly variable.

Some reps, they said,
would so thoroughly waste their time
that at the end of the sales call
they felt as though
they’d just been robbed
of an hour of their lives.

On the other hand,
those same customers told us
that other reps would take the time
to provide information
so interesting and valuable that
— to paraphrase Neil Rackham
— the customer would have been willing
to pay for the conversation itself.

“I love meeting with those folks,”
customers would tell us,
“I always learn something
when I spend time with them.””

If your sales pitch is informative
and interesting,
prospects WILL listen.

Many people think that
writers sit in their tiny offices
and slave away on their stories alone,
isolated from other people.
That’s a myth.
Writing is a business.
Business is all about people.

Steve Forbes*
shares

“Business is serving
the needs and wants of other people.
You don’t succeed
unless the others are happy.
That forces you to pay attention to people.”

If you’re not a people person,
learn how to pretend to be one.
If you can’t pretend,
hire someone
but know that you will always be dependent
on someone else.

*Lessons From The Apprentice

In the blogging world,
we often talk about top 10 lists,
drafting posts around
5 or 10 key points.
In the world of effective presentations,
a top 10 list is a disaster.
No one can keep 10 ideas
in her or his brain
at one time.

Madeline DeVries*,
founder of DeVries Public Relations,
shares

“I’d rather put one word up
than a slide with lots of bullets.
Say, “Here’s the one
or the three most important objectives’
—don’t sit there with a list of ten.
Nobody’s going to solve ten objectives
all at once.
In a presentation format,
you want to hit
the most important things.”

With presentations,
focus on one or two or three points.

*Lessons From The Apprentice

I’m a fixer.
When I hear a complaint,
I feel like
I have to solve
the complainer’s problem.

Often,
the complainer doesn’t want
or need
her or his problem to be solved.
The ‘solution’
is merely to listen.

As Christy Whitman,
founder of
Quantum Success Coaching Academy,
shares
in the November/December 2014
The Costco Connection

“8 out of 10 times,
someone doesn’t really need
something different to happen
— they just want to feel heard.”

Listen to customers’ complaints.
That’s 80% of the solution.

When I partner
or hire someone,
I want to know this someone
will provide results.
The sooner I see these results,
the sooner I trust her.

If she brings a done deal
to the table
(this is extremely rare),
I usually hire or partner with her
quickly.

Michelle Damico,
founder of Michelle Damico Communications,
shares

“If I’m in discussions
with a potential client,
I contact one or two editors
who accept byline articles
and ask whether my prospect’s
area of expertise
is something they’d want to read about
in a self-written article.
If the editor says yes,
then I bring that opportunity
to the prospect,
who’s usually impressed that
I did some legwork
even before landing their business.”

“It validates my news instincts.
It also quickly shows the prospect
that I know how to make
the contacts he or she needs.”

If you truly want a contract
or partnership,
bring a (minor) deal to the table
during negotiations.

For many businesses,
the holiday season
is when the bulk of the sales happen.

In the romance writing industry,
December is the big month
for print sales.
January is the big month
for eBook sales.
These two months
can make a writer’s year financially.

This means
we work.
We work
while others are attending
holiday parties,
baking cookies,
shopping,
watching blockbuster movies.

Because this is when
many businesses
will break out.

Because this cash influx
will allow us
to achieve grander goals
in 2015.

Because customers
want to discover us,
want to buy our products.
We’re making their holidays
and their worlds
better.

What we do right now
counts.
It is worth the effort
and the sacrifice.
Let’s push it.

One of my salesman buddies
was ranting about
a client having it in for him,
deliberately blocking his deals.

That might be true
but most people are selfish.
They don’t have it in for someone else.
They’re looking out
for their best interests.

Paul V. Weinstein
shares

“In order to turn
deal blockers into advocates
(or silent agnostics, worst case),
we need to understand their motivations
— and we do that
by considering their position
at the table.

Blockers nix the deal
because, from where they sit,
it is in their best interest to do so.
The job of the dealmaker
is to turn that around.”

Find out WHY this person
is blocking your deal
and
then deal with their issues.

If Christmas is a big sales season
for your company,
I advise testing
your sales process now.

Rieva Lesonsky
shares

“If you’re not sure
what’s driving your company’s sales down,
try enlisting a few friends
or family members
to act as “mystery shoppers.”
Have them check out your business’s service
and report back honestly.”

I also suggest asking
new-to-your-business shoppers
test your online sales presence.
Do all functions work
on their devices (mobile!!!) and browsers?
Are features/products easy to find?

Before you invest in marketing,
ensure your sales process works.

I like to slip away at parties,
to leave without making a fuss.
This is the wrong thing to do
if you want to be remembered.

Carol Kinsey Gorman,
author of
The Silent Language of Leaders
shares
(this was written for men
but it applies to female leaders also)

“Don’t slip away.
Track down the hosts of the part
and everyone you had
more than casual words with.
Smile.
Shake hands.
Look at her long enough
to remember her eye color.
Say her name and then
“It was great talking to you
about Peru.”
(Unless you didn’t.
That was just an example.)
Letting her know
she was memorable
makes YOU memorable.”

Take the time
to say goodbye at parties.

I recently attended
an online reader event.
Writers were told
we’d be bounced from the event
and basically shamed
if we promo’ed.
One website addie
would put us on the blacklist.

So we provided excerpts
without buy links,
book covers
without website addresses,
talked about all of the extras
we give readers
without letting them know
where they could get
these extras.

It was a disaster.
Readers were frustrated
as hell.
Many of them privately messaged me
and I gave them the links
they needed.
F*ck the organizers.

Customers and prospects
want the option to buy.

That bit about 80% content
and 20% promo?
That doesn’t mean
you send out 100% content pieces
80% of the time
and 100% promo pieces
20% of the time.

That means stick 2 lines of promo
(a website and a tagline)
at the bottom of 8 lines of content.

Give prospects a next step.