Sales Training

Sales is all about confidence, poise, and self-belief. Within a professional sports playoff game, the confidence level moves through peaks and valleys. Ultimately, the team with the most belief and faith in their team typically wins. Even teams with injured players or who are missing key players can elevate their level of play to win the game when the odds are stacked against them thanks to confidence and drive. Every one of us has “ups” and “not-so-ups.” Conviction and certainty about who we are makes the difference. When watching a game, you can usually tell by the body language of the players if they believe in themselves enough to push to the next level. It is in their demeanor. Your level of confidence about selling is in your demeanor. Does your stride demonstrate that you are proud of what you do and who you are? Do you think your prospective customers can tell if you have swagger? Interestingly, we have interviewed many consumers about their buying decisions. We’ve have had customers tell us the reason they made a purchase was because they just felt confident in their sales person. Do you know what that is? Swagger. Conversely, I have had prospects tell me they didn’t buy because they felt the sales person needed more experience or they did not feel all of their questions were answered to their satisfaction. Do you know what that is? Lack of swagger. Swagger is not arrogant or conceited. It is ultimate confidence in who you are and your abilities. Perhaps you have heard the saying, “fake it till you make it.” That is only partially true. The truth of the matter is when you have the clear intention you will have swagger. Genuine swagger is an underlying confidence that transcends who you are. It resonates from your posture, your words, your tonality, your thinking, your conversation, and your resolve to be of assistance to your customers. It is a deep-seated belief in yourself. Swagger looks and feels like authentic confidence. Get your swagger on and make more sales.

It’s been our experience that people do business with people that they know, like, and trust. If you could build stronger relationships with your potential clients faster, would that be of value to you and to your business? Yes? Then read on. People like people who are like themselves or who they aspire to become in the future. Have you ever met a perfect stranger and yet felt instantly comfortable with them? As if you’ve know them for ages? Have you ever, though, met someone for the first time and instantly disliked them or felt uncomfortable with them for no apparent reason? Lots of sales people say this…well I’m already pretty good at rapport, I get on with most people….there’s always going to be a few that you don’t hit it off with. I want to show you how you can get on with anyone, quickly and effectively so that you can do business with them. Even with the ones you wouldn’t normally hit it off with. This is important because they are the extra sales for your business and will give you the edge over the competition. What is rapport? Rapport is that feeling of being comfortable with someone and trusting them. A crucial component in any interaction, particularly a sales interaction. It’s the first thing we need to establish and the most important thing to keep all the way through the presentation to the client. We often don’t know WHY we like or dislike someone which presents the question of “Where does rapport take place?” In our minds we have two components – The conscious mind and the unconscious mind. The conscious mind likes to think it is in control. It’s the logical mind, the rational mind, the goal setting mind. However, the unconscious mind is that part of us that runs the body. It’s the part that stays awake when we’re asleep, listening for the alarm clock. It’s the part that keeps us breathing without thinking about it and keeps our heart beating. The conscious mind may set the goals, but the unconscious mind is the part that gets the goals. It filters out irrelevant information and makes you take notice of the things you need to look out for or opportunities to meet your goal. Rapport happens at the level of the unconscious mind, so how can we use it consciously to help us build strong relationships quickly and easily? How do you get into rapport with someone? How To Get In Rapport Start with the chit chat. Look for common interests, hobbies, acquaintances, places you have been to, styles of clothing you might like, etc. Find some things in common by having a little chat before the sales process begins. You are looking to put them at ease and enjoy having you there. In order to have this conversation and find the common experiences, we have to exchange words AND you need to have good listening skills to notice what information they are giving so that you can use to good effect. You need to be ACTIVELY listening – all too often we’re so busy thinking about what we want to say next that we are not concentrating on what the other person is saying. Key point – be present with your client at all times. Also notice the language that people use when they talk. Now obviously I don’t mean are they speaking English or Portuguese here! I mean how do they choose to internally represent the world outside? People tend to have what is called a dominant or preferred thinking style. People prefer to communicate in one of three ways:- Visual Auditory Kinesthetic We all use all three – we just have one that we prefer to use one more than the others. What to look for…… If someone likes to communicate using their auditory senses they might use phrases such as “I hear what you’re saying” “That rings a bell” “Tell me more” If someone likes to communicate using their visual senses they might use phrases such as “I get the picture” “I see what you mean” “Can you imagine that?” If someone likes to communicate using their kinesthetic senses they might use phrases such as “I get the feeling that…” “I need concrete evidence” “Give me hard facts” If you are talking to a client and you just don’t seem to be getting the connection or the understanding that you need – stop and ask yourself – how am I different to them? It may be that you are speaking a “foreign” language, perhaps by noticing their preferred style of communication and adjusting yours to match, you’ll achieve rapport. It’s Not Just The Words You Use Studies have shown that only seven percent of what is communicated between people is transmitted through the words themselves. 38 percent comes through the tone of the voice, the tempo, volume, and timbre – or individual characteristics of the voice and 55 percent of communication, by far the largest part is a result of physiology or body language. Let’s first understand what is meant by the characteristics of the voice. You could mirror the tonality and phrasing, the pitch, the speed, volume, tempo – what sort of pauses does that person make? What about the BIG bit though? Body language or physiology – one of the fastest ways to build rapport with another person is to mirror and match their body language. What aspects of another person’s body language could we mirror or match? The facial expressions, The gestures, The quality and type of movements, Mirror or copy posture….do they stand or sit up straight or are they slouched? Do they have their legs crossed or not? Do they have their hands in their lap or their arms folded or resting their hand on their chin? Do they make lots of eye contact? What are their facial expressions….if they are looking sad – you wouldn’t want to be sitting there with a big grin on your

Not many sellers like cold calling at all. They may be forced into it, but they go kicking and screaming, avoiding it with any excuse they can possibly make. Unfortunately, they think it’s the only approach to prospecting, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Bill was a managed services provider looking to grow his company. He created a cold calling plan to reach three different micro-segments that he’d identified as his hottest opportunities. Together, we put a strategy in place with a dynamite approach. He learned how to tailor his message to different companies, tips to get past gatekeepers, and techniques for leaving gripping voicemails. Bill was excited! He spent weeks perfecting everything, holding off on any calls until he felt he was fully prepared and had a clear grasp of everything that he had leaned. And then it was time to execute. After two weeks of failed attempts, Bill fessed up. He didn’t want to pick up the phone anymore. He’d convinced himself that this was the right way to prospect. Bill assumed that all successful sales people did it, and if his business was going to be successful, he had to master it, too. This is not true at all. Cold calling can be one of the most inefficient ways to find leads. Unless you have a list of specific contacts you want to reach, it simply isn’t your best technique to fill your funnel. I’m a passionate believer in alternate ways of prospecting, especially when you’ve got a big region you’re attempting to cover and you’re strapped with a large number to sell. Instead, you need a plan that’ll bring leads to the door in a manner that’s comfortable for you and your company. It’s time to change your prospecting strategy. Here are some ideas for you. Start an email campaign Afraid of the spam laws? Keep your list small and personalize your emails to participants’ needs so it feels as if you sat down to write them an individual message. Send a series of 3-4 emails three days apart to encourage a response. Know your target market John knew where to look for his hottest opportunities. You want to do the same. Keep your micro-segments small, 20-125 contacts at a time, so you can be more personal in your communications. Hold an online event Sound time consuming and expensive? You can run one practically for free so don’t let the price stop you. If content or participation is your concern, remember that you’re the expert. Make your topic relevant to your target market’s top issues and they’ll want to hear what you have to say. Share recommendations based on work you’ve done with other clients. Offer something at the end that’ll separate hot prospects from warm leads. Use social media, press releases and / or articles to get noticed They’ll keep you in front of your target market where they get to know you as an expert. You’ll begin to create a relationship even before they require your assistance. Create a mini-campaign You can do this by linking email, events, social media, and articles together to keep you in constant touch with your micro-segments. As a seller you don’t have time to run a complicated six-month campaign, but you can run a simple one over six weeks that generates new leads along the way. Some people love cold calling. But if you aren’t one of those people, relax, breathe a deep sigh of relief, and change your prospecting strategy to better fit your style and wants. Not only will you build your funnel, you’ll also create awareness for yourself and your company through consistent exposure. When your target prospects have a need, they’ll remember you and reach out. And isn’t that so much more inviting than interrupting their day with an unexpected cold call?

Getting a sale is not an easy task and most people who have some amount of experience with sales are quite aware of that. When a salesperson prepares his or her pitch, there are so many factors to be taken into consideration, including what should be avoided so as to not turn the potential client off. There is, of course, no way of reading your client’s mind completely, but there are certain things that you can be pretty sure no one would like, especially those who might be spending money on your product. Perhaps, the main thing when it comes to sales is the point that closing the sale is not only about the product you are selling. A large part of the client’s decision to accept or reject the product can depend on how you conduct yourself throughout the entire sales process. If you are amicable, confident and knowledgeable, they could warm up to you and your product, but if they do not like you as a person, their reaction to you could extend into what they feel about the product. For example, being late for an appointment (especially when you trying to sell something to a client) is an absolute faux pas. But you would be surprised at how many people go late to sales appointment, whatever the reason for that might be. As a salesperson, if you assume that you can get away with such misdemeanors, you are being extremely naïve. For starters, be aware of the fact that most people are quick with first impressions and these impressions usually last. Once they have already had a negative impression about you for making them wait, they might not be too open about listening to what you have to say about the product you have on offer. From your point of view, they might just have been waiting five minutes or 10, but keep in mind that almost everyone is running on a tight schedule and, after all, time is money. To close a sale, a salesperson has to be confident about him or herself and also the product they are offering. Part of your job as a salesperson is to convey to the client that your product is the solution to a certain problem that they have. But there is a very thin line between confidence and overconfidence. If you walk into a sales meeting acting and talking overly self-confidently it could very well be a major turn off. Your clients do not want to be treated as simpletons who do not know what is good for their business. You want to identify a need for them in their business setup and offer them a solution, and not talk to them as if they are too slow to know any better. You want to make sure than when you are presenting your pitch you never come across as being arrogant. Clients especially dislike having to speak with salespeople who treat them with disdain and superiority. If that is the case, even if the client needs the product you are offering, it is very possible that they might choose to get a similar product from somewhere else. The same goes for aggressiveness. There are many salespeople who believe that pushing the product forcefully can lead to a sale, but that is a delicate path to tread. This might work every once in a while for you, but more often than not, clients get uncomfortable when you assertively try to push a product onto them. Clients like to make their own decisions and you are there to offer them options, not to force decisions upon them. Bear in mind that your clients are usually well aware of the workings of their business and industry norms, and being as knowledgeable as they are, they will probably not digest everything you say without questions. Part of the problem lies in the fact that many salespeople do not get proper training into the dos and don’ts of a sales pitch, so they might go about doing things in any way they please, as long as they can close the deal. A salesperson that is not properly trained in sales might not realize the importance of customizing the sales pitch for different clients, body language, or the various other matters that considerably impact sales. Carrying out a good sales pitch and closing the deal is nothing short of an art, and it is most definitely not something everyone can handle naturally. If you are a manager, make sure the salespeople you are sending out into the field are those who understand the nature of sales and clients and deal with them accordingly. Knowing the ways of keeping your sales pitch under control is one of the first steps to closing a sale, and mastering this sets you apart from the crowd.

So many salespeople go into selling without understanding the fundamentals and how they can be used to build business relationships. Often, the hard sell strategies end up doing just the opposite, sometimes without even realizing it. This is why it should always be recommended to your Blitz Marketing Sales Teams to learn more about the subject and go out a make sales yes, of course, but to make friends too. Sometimes, something very subtle, a small mistake, can completely turn off a client and cause negative thoughts and attitudes. So, I would like to recommend a couple of books on the subject of sales for you to read. “Winning Moves – The Body Language of Selling” by Ken Delmar – 1984 The book has a little subtitle of interest; “the keys, strategies, moves, gestures, expressions, style and aura that work for winners.” The author suggests that religious leaders, politicians, actors, top trail lawyers, and top sales people all have these abilities in common. He further suggests that we can all do this, if we learn how – and that is exactly what this book explains how to do. Amongst the topics are how to maintain compose, sense of trust, limit stress, look relaxed, self-assured, and confident. Imagine disarming prospects, improving your voice, and allowing hostile people to backtrack with proper body language and adequate tone. Learn to look alive on camera, command a room, quell anger emotions, its all here and more, this is a great book. “How to Master the Art of Selling Real Estate” by Tom Hopkins – 1986 Mr. Hopkins starts this book by explaining what society expects a real-estate salesperson to look like and act like. How to maintain a professional attitude – then he gets into prospecting, qualifying, verbal techniques, telephone sales, open house techniques, asking for commitment or offers, and how to close the sale – next how to present the proposal and how to maintain a referral network from happy customers and their friends as well. There is also a section on staying organized, scheduling and planning. The final chapter is how to keep a score card of your successes; tracking sales, money made, net worth, and goal setting. Once you are done reading these two books, I guarantee it will help you increase sales, more importantly, it will help you be a better you and make more friends in the process.