Category: Sales

Before I start writing every morning,
I state my goal for the day
and I translate that goal into dollars.
This gives me an extra push
to perform.

It turns out
that the money reminder
should work for everyone.

Oliver Broudy shares
in the September 2012 Men’s Health

“In studies from the University of Minnesota,
researchers found that
just seeing a picture of money
jerked our brains into Wall Street mode,
ramping up our math memory
and priming us to keep our eyes
on the prize.
In fact, on a sluggish morning,
the sight of a crisp fifty can be as motivating
as a blast of caffeine.

In a 2006 experiment,
for example,
people reminded of money
worked 70 percent longer at an assigned task
than a control group did.
And a follow-up study found
that the effect extends to the social sphere,
boosting our confidence
and immunizing us against the pain of rejection.”

Use the power of money
to drive you toward your goals.

Frugality is very trendy now.
People are making do
with what they already have.
They wear their clothes longer
and there’s no stigma
on buying second hand.

Saving money (and the environment) is great.
Saving money
at the expense of income
or success
isn’t.

A loved one found out
he was going to see the client.
The first thing he did
was switch the frayed belt he was wearing
to a new client appropriate belt.

The thing is…
all of his coworkers,
his internal clients, saw the ratty belt.
These internal clients
could be key for promotions,
connections, referrals, assistance.

Would you invite a salesman dressed inappropriately
to a high level meeting with the CEO?
Of course not.

For the cost of a belt,
he was limiting his success.

So yes, save money
but wear client-appropriate clothing
ALWAYS.

Sales and marketing
often has a love/hate relationship.
The common refrain
within sales
is that they don’t know what marketing does.

A loved one is a great salesman.
He has, however,
always worked with smaller companies.
Recently, he moved
to a larger company,
a company with an established brand.

After his first sales call,
he told me excitedly
“I didn’t have to explain what we did.
And I didn’t have to tell them
why they should trust us.
All I had to do was
concentrate on the product.”

THAT is what marketing does.
A strong brand
(often the product of great marketing)
allows salespeople to concentrate
on the product,
the relationship.

Strong marketing should translate
to an easier sale.

You’ve drafted and polished your book pitch.
You get lucky and snag an editor appointment.
You defeat your nerves
and razzle and dazzle the editor.
The editor asks to see your manuscript.

What do you do?

If you’re like 90 percent of all writers,
you do nothing.
Yes, absolutely nothing.
You don’t send your manuscript.

According to Bob Mayer,
90% of all requested submissions
following author pitch sessions
with agents and editors
at conferences are never sent.

Is this terrible news?
Not for those of us
that DO send our manuscripts.
We’re automatically the exception,
the serious,
the writers to watch.

This percent roughly applies to other areas
requiring work and bravery and follow through.
If you follow through,
you are the exception.

Be the exception.
Be the 10 percent.

When a certain writer
stands up at our writing meetings,
many of us groan.
She has a lot of knowledge
and expertise
but it takes her 15 precious minutes
to get to her point.

A few days ago,
a telemarketer for a charity called.
I have respect for this charity.
It is a cause I’ve given to.
But the telemarketer talked so quickly
and so abrasively
that I said ‘no.’

The myth that
great products sell themselves
is exactly that
– a myth.

Your sales style matters.

Spend time developing your sales style,
perfecting it,
ensuring it works with your prospects.

You went to that industry convention.
You networked, meeting influentials.
You returned home
with a suitcase full of business cards.

All of this work is wasted
if you don’t follow-up
with the people you’ve met.

As Ivan Misner and
David Alexander,
authors of
Networking Like a Pro:
Turning Contacts into Connections
share

“A contact that you do not follow-up with
is a contact that will never
become a part of your network.
There will be no business
—no sales, no referrals,
no meeting the powerful CEO he knows
—unless you follow through.”

I’m horrible at following-up
and that’s unfortunate
because I meet so many people,
people who could really help
my writing career.

So this is a reminder to you
and to myself.

Touch base with your contact list.
Follow-up.

When I worked
for a telemarketing company,
the first thing
I was given
was a sales script.

The sales script
was the basis for every sales call.
The top sellers didn’t look at the script
and they had tweaked
their script for their own style
but they had the company sales script
“just in case.”

Just in case, they were tired.
Just in case, they worried
about something else.
Just in case, they had a bad day.

Rory Vaden from Southwestern Consulting
shares

“Most salespeople are
far less technically proficient
at selling than they think.
They are scared to call
on new business
because they aren’t good at it
and they don’t know what to say.

While they will complain about
being forced to say word-for-word scripts,
you must have them available
and they must work.

If you don’t,
stop everything you are doing,
find the nearest consultant
and get some.

A sales team without talk tracks
is like a business without a business plan,
scattered and inconsistent.”

Develop a sales script
for your sales team.

An interview is a sales call.
You’re presenting a product
(you)
to a prospect
(the employer),
and you’re asking her to buy
(hire).

That means
you find out what the employer needs
(ask about the position),
you frame yourself
as being what she needs
(frame your experience and skills
around what SHE wants),
you ask for the sale
(look her in the eye
and say “I want this job.”),
and you follow up
(send an email
thanking her for her time
and asking if she has any additional questions).

When you’re interviewing for a sales job,
this is especially important,
and most higher level positions
are sales jobs.

Employers are looking
for people who can sell their ideas.
Impress them by selling you
as the best employee.

We all know needy people.
They cling.
They ask for constant reassurance.
They irritate
and we tend to avoid them.

Needy salespeople are as bad.

As Bruna Martinuzzi shares

“Being needy is
an emotional advertisement
to others.
It is something that people sense
right away.
It will translate itself in
a myriad of behaviors
that will hinder rather than
help the sales process:
continuing to sell
past the buying signals;
anxiety if you are unable to make progress;
repeated contacts with the client;
lowering of your price below
what you are worth.”

Needy salespeople make us feel
more nervous about the prospective purchase
and nervous people don’t usually buy.

Be eager, not needy.

If a writer pitches to an agent or publisher,
she will likely be asked
to submit her manuscript.
Why?
Because agents and publishers know
most writers won’t follow up.
They won’t submit their manuscripts.

Following up matters,
especially in sales.

As Paul McCord shares…

“During your initial conversation
with a prospect,
try to find an area or
reason for follow-up.
Maybe you need to supply
more information,
find an answer to a question,
or research a competitor.
Maybe there has been a recent trigger event
that provides for a follow-up call.
Maybe your research uncovers new information
that your prospect should know about.

Spend at least one hour a day
following up with those prospects in your database
that are good prospects
that you haven’t been able to move along.
Every prospect should be contacted
at least quarterly if possible.”

Find a reason to follow up.
(hint: if you can’t think of a reason,
that’s a sign that you don’t know
your prospect)