Bombard Your Sales Prospects With . . .

Bombard your sales prospects and customers with benefits.

It's your benefits that sell, not the features.

Too bad not every entrepreneur and professional sales rep gets this.

If you're getting beat-up on your price it's because your sales prospects and customers don't see the benefits.

Benefits don't come by way of osmosis - they are presented by the seller.

Clearly stated benefits will increase your sales substantially.

Also - you can save 52% on my 6-pack of CDs, if you order before Labor Day.

Check it out here:


Let's go sell something.

Warm Sales Calls

Most salespeople dread making cold calls.

Who can get excited about calling someone
you don't know anything about?

Well, there is a better way you know.

Consider your best customers as a limitless
source for referrals. Like gold buried deep
into a mountainside it has to be mined before
you can get your hands on it.

Your best customers like you and your products,
otherwise they wouldn't be your best customers.

Don't ask for referrals, ask for introductions.

You're sitting face-to-face with a happy customer.
You know he's happy because he just told you he's
happy.

There's no better time to ask for an introduction.

You could say something like this.

"Your business is like my business it depends on meeting
new people. Would you be kind enough to introduce me
to one or two people like you who might have an
interest in hearing about the work we do?"

Just ask him to call these people right now.

There's no harm in asking - is there?

I hope you'll agree that's a pretty good sales tip
for you.

There are 56 more sales tips just waiting for you.


Let's go sell something . . .

A Good Selling Idea

It's always a good selling idea to ask your
sales prospects how they got started in their
work.

People just love talking about this stuff.

The person who asks about this shows genuine
interest - and that's good.

And then you can follow-up with "When did you
get started?"

Get the month and the year and add it to
your electronic calendar.

When you send them a "Happy Anniversary Card"
it'll be the only one they get!


Leet's go sell something . . .

Sales Tip - Happy Anniversary

How would you like you to surprise your
sales prospects and customers?

How would you like to do something no one
else in your industry is currently doing?

Well, here's a small sales tip for you
that will have a big impact for years to
come.

Ask your sales prospects and customers
this question:

Here's the sales tip.

Imagine you're calling on doctors.

Ask them, "How long have you been a
doctor?"

He responds, "About 20 years."

So to confirm you say, "You started
in 1989."

"Actually he says, it was 1988."

And then you ask, "What month did you
start?"

Then he says, "September."

Everybody know the answer to this question.

So now you know he's been a doctor
since September 1988.

Note this on your electronic calendar
and have it pop up annually.

When you get a reminder for an anniversary
date you can send a card that says
something like:

Dr. Bill

Congratulations on your 21st year in
medicine.

Sign it!

Think about this for a minute. How many
anniversary cards do you think he gets on
this very special anniversary?

Your right - zippo!

Your note says you're thoughtful and care
enough about the doctor to send it.

If your competitor has the business it
also raises an interesting red flag. The
doctor can't help but wonder why he got
a card from you and not from his longtime
current supplier.

Your anniversary notecards will
differentiate you "Big time"
from your competition.


Let's go sell something . . .

Selling: Job Or Passion

Let me let you in on a little secret.

People who can tell you exactly how much time they have until they can retire are probably not passionate about their work.

They go to work but they don't love the work.

Nothing wrong with being a union worker. But every union worker can tell you how many years, months, and days they have until retirement.

Here's a wild thought for today - life is not a dress rehearsal.

You have one shot at it.

Here's my advice in a nutshell. I believe it applies during good times and even during recessions.

What are you passionate about?

What kind of work is associated with your passion?

If your work is your passion - it's not really work is it?

On the subject of retirement, why would you stop doing what you love doing?

Going to a job is hardly living your life.

Being passionate about your work is a whole different ballgame.

21 years ago I resigned my position as a vice president of sales and marketing for the Baxter.

Here's why I did it. I didn't want to reach the end of my life thinking "If only" or "It might have been."

So I made the biggest decision of my life to follow my passion. That also happens to be the best decision of my life.

If I can do it, so can you.

When you're passionate, it's easier to make every day in your life a masterpiece . . .

Selling Tip

When you're dealing with a procrastinator, ask him "What would have to happen for you to (insert what you want to happen)."

It always works.

Telephone Selling

The first step in the sales process usually involves using the telephone to get the first appointment.

How many times have you answered your own telephone and been truly impressed with the telephone skills of the person calling you?

Yeah right!

You have to master fundamental telephone skills if you want to be the top sales dog in your company.

My good friend Art S. is the one place to go to get everything you need to improve your telephone selling skills.

Go here and see for yourself.

I hope you have a personal business library and I hope you have one or two of Art's books on the shelf.

In my business, I have to make a sale before I can give a speech.

In your business you probably have to get the appointment before you can even think about making a sale.

What you don't know about the telphone could be crippling your selling results.


Let's go sell something . . .

Why Sales Training

Why sales training?

Why now?

Why not?

There's never a better time to acquire
new selling skills or to sharpen your
existing skills.

Your company can do or you can do it.

Think of it as your self development.

The emphasis is self. It's up to you.

On 9/9/09 at 9 AM I'm launching my
Sales Trailblazer V.I.P. Selling Club.

It's 24 lessons over 24 weeks and delivered
via email and MP3 files.

Earlybirds can take a look right now.

The Ultimate Sales Tip

I stumbled on the ultimate sales tip while waiting
for a plane. Let me explain.

I'm sitting at an American airlines gate waiting to
board flight 1679 to Chicago.

Tomorrow morning I'm scheduled to do a one half day
sales training program for a dental manufacturing company -
a program I've done 28 times for them.

I was reading a chapter out of a copywriting course
titled, "127 More Secrets Of Direct Mail."

Then it happened.

I got to number 123.

It grabbed me by the lapels of my sports jacket.

It really throttled me.

It caught me by surprise.

It wasn't an entirely new concept for me.

It was the words. It was the language. It was
exceptional because of its brevity . . .

Go here to discover the Ultimate Sales Tip.

Never Underestimate . . .

I was re-reading one of my eBooks and came
across this and thought you might be interested.
Selling is easy only if you work hard at it.

Never underestimate the power of a smile.

Never underestimate the power of enthusiasm.

Never underestimate the power of a positive attitude.

Never underestimate the power of expecting the best
outcomes.

Never underestimate the power and importance of
self-management.

Never underestimate the power of continuous learning
and improvement.

Never underestimate the power of making mistakes
and learning from them.

And for Pete’s sake, never underestimate your ability
to become the person you’re capable of becoming!

Getting Referrals Is Easy

Hey - my good friend Art Sobczak just released this week's
newsletter. If you don't know Art - he's Mr. Telephone.

You should really take a look at his work. The follwoing
is from the current issue of Art's Newsletter.


ASK THE RIGHT PEOPLE, AT THE RIGHT TIME

A life insurance sales rep called me, gave a horrible opening
("I'm with ____ insurance, and would like to schedule a time to
get together with you to discuss your life insurance. Would two
or four o'clock be better on Tuesday?") After telling him I wasn't
interested, he said,

"I see. Do you have any friends I could contact?"

I answered that with about the same enthusiasm as I would
an IRS agent saying, "So, do you have any friends I can audit?"

So who IS the right person, and when is the right time?

Common sense--and experience--tells me it's someone who
just bought from you, or complimented you on your products
or services.

They're in a frame of mind where they're thinking
about how good you are, and how they gained from what you
provide.

Be on the lookout for, and seize the opportunities
you might encounter every day.

That's good advice from Art.

You can get even more good advice on how to effectively use
the telephone from his books.

You can check them out here!


Make everyday a masterpiece . . .

Step Up Your Marketing

Selling isn't easy during the topsy-turvy economic times we're going through right now.

Everybody's watching their purse strings, which means good old-fashioned salesmanship isn't enough to build your book of business.

Most salespeople relegate marketing to their company's marketing department - and that's a big mistake.

You'd be wiser to see yourself as the CMO - chief marketing officer in your sales territory.

When you mix professional selling with creative marketing in your sales territory you'll see better selling results.

Here are four marketing ideas you can use to grab attention and build stronger customer relationships.

1. You can create an e-mail newsletter for your sales prospects and customers.

2. You can use Twitter to reach your contacts with your marketing messages.

3. You can use a P.S. on every e-mail message you send to promote a special offer for one of your products or services.

4. You can also prepare value added sales proposals instead of mundane bids and quotes.

Integrating marketing with your selling efforts will differentiate you from your competition in a big way.

It will also improve your credibility and rapport with your sales prospects and customers.

I suggest you step up your marketing if you want to step up your selling results.


P.S. - You might learn a thing or two from my CD titled, "5 Secrets To Winning Proposals."


blogarama.com

Ready Set Change

Jeff Stahler had a cartoon in the paper the other day.

It showed two guys talking. One guy says "I'm all for change."

In the next breath he added, "As long as it doesn't disturb the status quo."

That's funny!

And it got me thinking.

Occasionally during my sales training programs I will toss out this question to the group. "How many of you consider yourselves to be risk takers?"

Guess what - almost all the hands go up.

I then ask everybody to gather all their belongings and move to a new seat.

It's like a deer being surrounded by headlights - for some it's almost a panic attack.

Why would moving to a different seat cause such fear and panic?

Right - there's the risk of the unknown.

It's like the guy who says, "I'm all for change."

Saying you're all for change is not the same as being eager or even willing to change.

For the most part nothing new happens in the status quo - youg otta remember this.

I'd like to give you, what I believe is a good question to stimulate your thinking about change.

Change is good. Change is certainly better than the status quo.

If not for change I'd have two horses and a buggy in my garage instead of two cars.

Here's the question you should ask throughout every selling day.

"How can I do it better?" It's a great question that forces you to consider making minor adjustments in the way you sell.

Now you can say, "I'm all for change - as long as it involves making minor adjustments."

Ready set change!


Let's go sell something . . .

Tiger Woods Does It Again

Tiger Woods is an amazing person and an even more amazing professional golfer.

I think professional salespeople and entrepreneurs can learn how to be more successful in sales by observing Tiger's approach to golf.

In case you didn't know this Tiger Woods won the WGC Bridgestone Invitational by four strokes yesterday. He beat Padraig Harrington.

It was his seventh victory at the Firestone Country Club.

It was his 70th victory as a golf professional. He did it at age 33.

By comparison, Jack Nicklaus also did it, but not until he was 40 years old.

Here's the thing about Tiger. His focused. He's extremely focused. When he's playing golf, he always plays to win and not surprisingly he often does.

I watched him play yesterday for a couple of hours. You can see the intensity on his face. You can see it as he walks down the fairways.

You can really see it when he's standing over a putt - 100% concentration.

Here's what else I noticed. He plays the game without distractions and for the most part without interruptions.

I've seen other less successful golfers chitchatting their way around the golf course. Sure the fans enjoy this interaction. Nevertheless - it's a distraction.

Stretch your imagination for a minute. Imagine Tiger Woods is a professional sales person.

He would be prepared for every sales call.

He would rehearse what he prepared so he would be ready for the sales prospect.

He wouldn't bring his cell phone into the sales call.

He would be focused on achieving his very specific sales call objectives.

After the sales call he would go to the driving range, in his mind, and practice whatever skills need work.

Whenever Tiger steps up to the first tee, 100% of the time, he expects to win. He doesn't want to settle for finishing in the top 10 as so many other golfers do.

In sales you can be focused on every sales call.

And I might add - it's okay for you to expect to succeed every selling day.


Let's go sell something . . .

Sales Tips Plus

This is a new Blog dedicated to professional salespeople
and entrepreneurs.

I plan to fill this Blog with common sense sales tips plus
whatever else I can share with you to help you grow your
business.

Okay - let's get to work.

If you do what your competitors are not doing - you will
stand out!

Another way of looking at this is if you don't stand out,
you end up getting fenced in with the mediocrity brigade.

In essence - you're doomed.