Category Archives for Sales Tips

Zig Ziglar

It’s up to you!

“Your raise becomes effective as soon as you do.” – Zig Ziglar

The late Zig Ziglar is still a great influence in my life. I learned so much from him in his books and seminars. He always said; “You can everything in life you want if you help enough other people get what they want.”

What a great inspiration he still is in so many lives. Zig, helped me understand that if I mastered selling I would be the one to determine how much I made.

Thank you Zig Ziglar!

Frustrated with your sales efforts?

I Hate Prospecting So I’m Going To Automate My Marketing

The reason so many people hate prospecting or reaching out and following up on leads they have generated is they hate selling and they are doing their prospecting all wrong.

It seems like every time I turn around I run into a coach or consultant that doesn’t have very many clients but they are convinced that if they just do more marketing everything will be fine.
What is really happening is they don’t want to have a sales conversation so they are looking for a process that skips that step and get’s them clients any way. I’m going channel a little Dr. Phil here; “How’s that working for ya?”
My guess is it’s not working all that well.

So let’s take a look at why. In order to sign up clients you should stop trying to get around having a sales conversation. People buy from people and if you’re a coach or consultant you aren’t selling a widget you are selling personal transformation.

The reason you are avoiding the sales conversation is usually because you’re uncomfortable in the role of salesperson. If you’re like most people I work with your view of salespeople in general is not good. So when you start to sell someone something you feel slimy or disingenuous even though you believe in what you have to offer.

This creates doubt in your mind because you’re uncomfortable and it comes across as a lack of confidence to your prospect. So most of the time they don’t sign up for what you have to offer. Then because you want to help them so much you slip in to coaching mode and start coaching them right there in what should be an enrollment conversation. Any of this sound familiar?

What you have to understand (and I know that deep down you do) is that if you fix the easy problem they were willing to share with you they think they solved their problems so they don’t need a coach or consultant. They don’t have your experience and haven’t really been honest with themselves either so they don’t even really understand what the underlying issue is that’s holding them back. As a coach or consultant you know that even though you can help your clients have breakthroughs early on the really big breakthroughs come after they have had some successes and the trust relationship has been established and they are willing to really open up.

Do yourself and your clients a favor and stop coaching during enrollment calls. That is not the place to solve problems. It’s the place to uncover problems and show them that you have a plan that will help them get where they want to be.

Stop trying to sell and simply uncover problems and what the cost of those problems are while determining if you are a good fit to work together or not. If you are, and only if you are, then you can propose a program to help them. If you can’t help them refer them to someone that can help them or simply tell them that you don’t believe what you have to offer is right for them.

When you are no longer focused on selling and instead put the prospect and their needs first you will find the sale takes care of itself. That’s Healthy Selling.

If you struggle with your sales or you have a breakthrough you want to share leave a comment or a question.

 

Let Them Buy

Where does sales resistance come from and how do you avoid it?

There’s an old saying that goes something like this; “people love to buy but they hate to be sold.” The funny thing is that everyone, that doesn’t understand sales, thinks that selling is about getting someone to do something. It’s not.

Sales resistance is created when you as a salesperson try to sell whatever it is you have to offer. The harder you try to sell the more resistance you create. The solution is simple to state but hard to master. Stop selling.

Because sales has such a bad reputation prospects have a natural defense process they use to protect themselves from being sold things they don’t want. The problem is that the moment they think they are being sold anything they launch the defenses even if it’s something they want.

For example; what did you say the last time you walked into a clothing store and were approached by someone that worked there when they asked you, “Can I help you?” If you’re like 99% of the population you said “No thanks, I’m just looking.” Really? Don’t get me wrong I know some people actually like to look at clothes but aren’t you really there looking for something to buy?

My daughter worked for a popular clothing retailer when she was 17 and she was the number one salesperson in the whole company out of 197 stores. She did that by helping people buy.

Would you like to know what she did to make that happen?

Knowing the typical response to the question “Can I help you?” which, she tried to begin with, wasn’t going to help sales I asked her what people do ask for if they ask for anything. So she thought about it and told me they just about always ask where things are located more often than anything else.

With that in mind I asked her how well she knew her store’s inventory and where things where at in the store. She let me know she knew where everything was and that she was also taking the time to learn about the different brands and material they carried so if asked she would know what she was talking about. (In other words she did her homework and knew her products)

With that information I suggested she greet people when they come in by saying “Hello, welcome to “store” my name is “name”, (without pausing say) most people ask me where things are so if you’re looking for anything in particular just ask because I know where everything is and I can help you find it. (pause) So just let me know OK.”   (Then, I told her to wait for just a moment and then start to turn and move to doing something else nearby)

What happened is that more people were open to the suggestion for help and would go ahead and ask. When they did she would take them to the right place in the store. (Notice, she didn’t just say “You can find those over there” and point. She took them to the exact thing they were looking for.

From there she would help them by finding and recommending things that coordinated with the outfit or whatever was appropriate. This approach virtually eliminated their sales resistance because the genuinely felt she was there to help while doubling or tripling the average order.

So, what can you learn from this and apply it to whatever it is you sell? Start with the beginning. How do you begin your first conversation with your prospect? Are you trying to sell them something before they’re ready or are you there to help them buy? One is an act of taking the other is an act of giving. Is there a different way you could approach what you are doing? In other words; how could you start giving your prospects the opportunity to buy instead of trying to sell them what you have?

When you stop selling the natural byproduct is for resistance to fall. If you do find yourself falling into your old patterns and you sense resistance rising up in your prospect stop selling and ask them a question that will help you understand their situation or needs better. When you do you will find resistance drops and sales increase.

Do you see how this can apply to your particular situation? Do you have questions about how to apply this? If so, leave a comment. Also do me a favor and share this so others can read it as well.