What my Five Year Old Taught Me About Sales!

Sometimes the best thing that will ever happen to you is losing a deal. It probably doesn't feel that way when it happens; after all sales people get paid to close deals. The problem when we lose a deal is most of the time we don't go back and evaluate what we could and should have done differently. Instead, we say things like:

"That guy was a jerk anyway!"
"They are so stupid, if only they knew what they really buying instead."
"They probably couldn't afford my product anyway!"

My five year old daughter recently learned to ride her bike. And on that first day when she was screaming at me to let go; insistent that "she could do it," I agreed and let go of the bike. 4.9 seconds late she hit the curb, fell off the bike, stood up and screamed at me "why did you let go?"

"I let go because you told me too! You said you could do it!" I said

Tears screaming down her face she said, "But you should have known!"

"You said to let go, that you could do it! What could you have done differently?" I asked trying to sound like a good parent.

"I could have kept my eyes open!"

When you lose a deal, take responsibility. Go back and ask yourself what you could have done differently. Call your prospect and ask them why they made the decision they made. Offer a gift card to them for their honestly. Sincerity works.

Otherwise we sound like my five year old, who for the record, has never hit a curb again.

The Millionare Sales Mind

Salespeople who are million dollar producers aren't necessarily smarter than everyone else, they just use their brain in a more effective way. They say things to themselves like "I won't quit!" or "That no, really means a yes but my prospect just doesn't know it yet!"

And they don't give up. They have a tenacity and a passion that doesn't see and can't hear all of the negative stuff going on in the world today. They are strong in their believes about their product or service. And they remain dedicated no matter what the odds.

To join that million dollar sales club, you must begin to change the way you think and stop joining in the negative tidal wave that so many people now seem to enjoy. For the record, tidal waves are a fairly destructive force in nature. Swimming in one is the surest way to drown. So unless you wish for a mean, suffocating death, begin the process of adding and creating positive thoughts in your mind.

The Hidden Secret in Procrastination!

Wouldn't it be amazing if everyday we woke up every morning and completed everything we had planned to do that day? Actually, that would be more than amazing; on some days it would be a down right miracle. Sometimes life just gets in the way. But most of the time, we get in the way of ourselves.

Procrastination can be the difference between succeeding in a business and failing miserably. If you're in sales and you KNOW you need to make 10 cold calls a day and you choose to not do it, ultimately you hurt yourself. But when we procrastinate we also affect the well being of other people. In fact, if your procrastination is causing you to make less sales by doing the things you need to do, you hurt every single person in your orgaization whose job depends on you making the sale. From your direct manager, to the accounting department in house, to even the CEO.

To move forward, make a list of the things you intend to do that day. Methodically check them off. And then reward yourself in some way that will be meaningful to you. The economy depends on all of us doing our jobs better.

The Unsophisticated Customer

It's a price war today. People are sacrificing quality for price and it doesn't matter what industry we talk about. It's really that simple. But there is one word that you can add to your presentations or you sales copy that helps instill trust and handles the objection to price so many people have today.

The word is "Value."

When we say to a customer, "the value in this is....." or it's a value to you because..." we align our words with the true objection of most buyers today.

Try it. We have seen enormous successes by using it as a closing tool. And actually, it's the single most successful word I have taught, salespeople have used and sales are closed.

Remember, the more you understand people, the better you will be at finding the words and phrases that affect them most.

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Who Ate My Chicken?

A few weeks ago I ordered dinner for my family. The delivery was 35 minutes late and my chicken caesar salad arrived without the chicken. (I guess that technically made it just a caesar salad.) I called the restaurant to inquire about the missing chicken. The Manager picked up the line and said without apology, "I was expecting your call, the driver left your side of chicken for the salad in the back."

I paused and then asked, "Were you going to call me to let me know or just hope I didn't mind eating my salad without the chicken?"

Without pause he responded, "Well, I can refund you $1.90, the cost of the chicken."

Now I wasn't asking for money and I'm certain $1.90 wouldn't have cut it if I had been. As a matter of fact, the cost of the salad was $12.95, so one dollar and ninety cents for the only ingredient that seemed of any value was laughable. And so I did just that, I laughed.

Which brings me to a story about a man who knew a little something about customer service. Over the weekend in Arizona a small helicopter crashed killing all those on board. One of the men on board that perished in the crash was Thomas Stewart. Stewart owned the 2nd largest privately held company in Arizona, Services Group of America, that has an annual revenue of 2.5bln dollars. The website for Services Group of America listed the one basic philosophy of Stewart: "Take care of the customer, and everything else will take care of itself." How true that is.

Customer Service is about being proactive. When a mistake is realized, it's being the first to reach out. Often all we need to do is say we are sorry; other times we might have to go a bit farther and offer something of value to the customer.

I have become convinced that the tougher the economic times, the less businesses are willing to go above and beyond. But it's in these tough economic times that consumers are insisting that the money they choose to spend be worth every penny. And when they are not satisfied, they will seek services elsewhere.

I never did get my chicken but after some painful negotiations the Manager promised to refund the cost of the salad. 7 days later my credit card still doesn't show a refund. Technically though, they lose; I will never order from them again. Because just as Thomas Stewart understood: "The customer is the boss!"

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From First to Worst – The Battle for Salespeople

Today, most Americans hope like hell that the “the Great Recession” is nearly over and a new era of prosperity is about to begin. Yet after two years of hard times one thing remains clear, the damage to the psyche of the American Consumer has been done. Weary and untrusting, many continue to believe they were pawns in the ultimate game of sales; a game that was rigged from the start, destined for their failure.

The result has been a giant tectonic shift in buyer’s attitudes and a compromised ability to process and make decisions. It’s a shift in attitude not seen since the Great Depression where people remained emotionally wounded for over thirty years.

“Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their minds.” Franklin Roosevelt

Today we read about this “New Economy” and many wonder exactly what that term means? In fact, it means that buyers have changed; they are spending less and taking longer to make decisions when they do purchase. They have become untrusting and are no longer easily swayed by fast talking salespeople selling a dream in a box.

The question I get the most in my seminar and workshops is can salespeople still make the kind of living they once did in the past?

For salespeople, the answer to this question is “yes” or “no” depending on their true sales skill, their character as person and their ultimate ability to overcome the negative attitude and fear of their prospects and customers.

It is an absolute fact that many salespeople today have never learned the basic skills necessary to sell. In years past, hard work, scare tactics, and selling “dreams” that never existed, in what appeared to be a thriving economy, allowed many salespeople to succeed in astonishingly big ways. Although many egos admired their own success, the façade simply could not last.

I’m certain there are a few consumers left who will still respond to crazy tactics so prevalent in the last decade. But for the majority of Americans, these tactics are a road to “rags” and one they can no longer afford or want to be a part of. The game has changed and for sales people to succeed today, they must step up and become the person they want selling to them.

Winning Today

Today salespeople who can get their prospect or customer to “yes,” will be those who change not “what” they sell, but “how” they sell it. The basic skills necessary in the selling and closing process should become inherently second nature. But that’s just the beginning in moving towards sales success today.

Anyone selling in this economy must understand and embrace the inherent problems in the psychology of the consumer and work to overcome it. They must adopt new and better methods to present, speak, build trust and forge deeper relationships. And in doing this, the referral process that only a few salespeople have ever relied upon to grow their business, will become a much more important and meaningful tool to their ultimate success.

The Psychology of the American Consumer!

Understanding what motivates consumers and their decisions to purchase the product or service you sell has never been more important to American businesses. In fact, in order to move this teetering economy forward, understanding the true nature of the consumer is the first step to renewed economic growth. Recent history provides a clear picture.

In early 2000, many NASDAQ stocks traded to astronomical highs. Average consumers, many of whom had never before invested, bought speculative stocks on the advice of family members, work associates or even strangers. Everyone had the “hot tip” and most were investing in companies they had never heard of prior to their investment. It didn’t turn well for most investors but the bigger lesson of the decade was yet to come.

In mid-2000, with low interest rates as a catalyst and the feeling this asset class could never lose value, housing prices exploded to never before seen highs. In less than 4 years my home in Arizona had risen nearly 100%. Friends and neighbors were buying multiple properties and those that weren’t were using their homes as giant ATM’s to purchase boats, cars and trips. Today, where I live in Maricopa country, 1 in 42 homes are in foreclosure. The devastation to families and communities is enormous.

Many would call this calamity the price you pay for “ego and greed” running rampant in the marketplace. And while this may be partly correct, it doesn’t explain the true, underlying motivation of smart, rationale people who end up making choices that later make little sense to even to them. Consider this simple story.
A few years ago I was watching an Arizona Cardinals game at a Phoenix bar with a few friends. It was a Sunday afternoon and the bar was crowded. Across the bar from me sat a young, very rough looking couple who were clearly not enjoying each others company. By the start of the third quarter they had become so enraged at each other, I was sure a Manager would ask them to leave. But before anyone intervened, the young man suddenly swung his arm high and backhanded the woman with such force, she nearly fell off her chair.

For a moment, everyone in that bar sat in a stunned silence. Did he have a gun? Could he go to his car and get a gun? Even though this man was outnumbered 100 to1, not a single person broke from the herd to come to the aid of this woman or even dial 911. Imagine what would have happened if someone had attempted to restrain the young man? Likely, most would have followed and a different outcome would have occurred.

Fear, not greed, is the overwhelming emotion that drives people to make decisions; right or wrong. But is the collective fear of the group that often causes people to make highly irrational decisions that later make absolutely no sense, even to them.
This collective thinking is called the “herd mentality.”

In nature, animals travel in herds to protect themselves from lone predators. When a member of the herd becomes weak or breaks away, a certain danger lies ahead. Likely, they will be eaten. In civilized society, human beings often exhibit the same kind behavior but instead of staying safe within the herd, they often find themselves face to face with a predator.

Bernie Madoff provides one of the best examples in recent history of the power of the “herd mentality.” Imagine the investor who watched his friends being accepted into this exclusive fund while they remained on the outside. You see, this fear isn’t simply about making decisions. People inherently “need” to be apart of the herd. And if they are not, they become afraid others will get ahead, while they remain behind. Or, afraid their status will be diminished by being an outsider looking in. And in the case of Madoff, some of the wealthiest men and women in this country allowed the collective thinking, once inside, to overlook one very big, obvious fact. It was impossible to achieve the kind of consistent returns he made for his clients, year in and year out. The power of the herd can be mind numbing.

Understanding that it’s impossible to change society and how it works, the first step to successful revenue growth in this economy or in any economy is to create a herd of your own. Today consumers are jaded and creating a herd where information is accessible to the masses and opinions are easily shared is the only way for it to be successful. In order to create your own herd with genuine intention, social medial leads the way.

1. Facebook, Twitter and Linked in- These resources provide a direct way to connect to people and build a following based on trust and information. The more information you provide, the easier it becomes for others to honestly and faithfully follow you and buy from you. In this new economy, people are looking to buy from people they trust.

2. Testimonials – The more testimonials you can garner from your clients, the stronger your brand becomes. When you can do more than show written testimonials, the better. Today it’s important to videotape happy customers and show them prominently on your website, your sales presentations or in your office.

3. Referrals – So many businesses never ask their customers for referrals. In this economy, consumers want to do business with people they trust and the recommendation of a trusted friend is more important than a rich advertising budget. Your mission should be to get 5 referrals from every client you do business with.

Sharon Knecht is an author, speaker and sales trainer. Her new book “Overcome the Madness – 8 Laws for Sales Success in a Crazy Economy” is scheduled to be released in Mid February. For more information on Sharon, go to http://www.sharonknecht.com.