All posts by Mike McMahon

Successful goal setting virtually guarantees success

Do Goals Really Matter?

January 2014 is now behind us and most people that set New Year’s resolutions have already given up on them.

So many people fail at their New Year’s resolution that they are kind of a joke. Did you set one? Have you failed already?

The fact is it’s not the resolution that’s the problem. It’s the mindset behind it. If you approach your resolution hoping to do better then it’s pretty much a guarantee you’re going to fail. On the other hand if you are committed to making it happen and you have genuinely decided that you are going to stick to your commitment no matter what you are much more likely to succeed.

If you take it a step further and you write down your goal and you commit to a plan of action, studies show, you are more than 80% likely to reach your goal.

People that write down their goals, have a clear action plan as well as a clear understanding, and powerful reason, for why they have set their goal and they review their goal every day are 97% more likely to reach their goal.

If you knew you could be 97% more likely to achieve something why wouldn’t you take the extra steps I just mentioned to help ensure your success?

The fact is even with all the studies showing that goal setting works less than 20% actually set goals and of those that do only a small percentage so so in a way that virtually guarantees their success.

So do goals really matter. Absolutely! Even if you’re doing it wrong you will still benefit from having a plan. If you do it right you will find it almost impossible to fail. In reality even if you don’t hit what you were actually shooting for many times as you get closer to achieving your goal you will find a better opportunity or slightly different goal to set your sights on.

The key is to be deliberate about your intentions so that your whole mind can help you get where you want to be. As the old saying goes; “Those that fail to plan, plan to fail.”

Ask yourself the following questions to see how committed you are to your own success in 2014:

  • What are you goals for 2014?
  • Are they written down?
  • Do they have a deadline?
  • Have you put together an action plan to get you there?
  • Do you review your goals every day?
  • Are you prepared to make adjustments along the way so you reach your goal?

The choice is yours. Do you want to put in motion a process that virtually guarantees your success or do you just want to be at the mercy of your circumstances?

Share you goals in the comment below to let the whole world know you will make this your best year ever.

Do you really know what your prospects want?

Do you really know what your clients want?

Do you really know what your prospects want?

Most of the companies I work with don’t fully understand what their customers or their prospects really want or need. They have a general understanding and when I question them about it they quickly realize they just don’t know the specifics.

They good news is you can find out and the great news is that once you do and you deliver specifically what your customers want you will have them forever and it will be easier to gain new clients.

So, what is it specifically your customers or prospects want or need? Do you know?

Your clients might be looking for the best quality or biggest selection. Maybe they want more features or something that makes a task easier to do or helps them get it done in less time. They may want you to help them make more money or perhaps save money. Maybe they just want to be better at what they do or they only want the latest and greatest.

When you take the time to truly understand your ideal clients wants and needs you are in a position to uniquely deliver a perfect solution. When you do you will own your market space.

Let Them Buy

Get Out Of The Way And Let Them Buy

For most people just about everything you’ve ever been taught about sales or selling is wrong. Things like “Always be closing” or “Close early and often” or “Every “No” is one step closer to a “Yes”” have been taken so far out of context it’s no wonder the average person has a bad impression of sales people.

Too many people trying to sell their products or services don’t listen and think that sales is all about overcoming objections and closing. Well, that’s only if you are doing it the wrong way.

I know I’ve talked about this before but this is vitally important if you want to make more sales without creating pressure or stress for both you and your prospect so I am going to talk about it again.

Stop using old-school battlefield styles sales tactics and start helping your prospects buy when they are ready to buy. In other words; Get out of the way and let them buy. The old adage; people love to buy but hate to be sold is true so why fight it. Help them buy.

Ask yourself what problems your clients are trying to solve. How can you help them make the best decision for them? Even if it means they don’t buy now or maybe not ever. What’s best for them?

If you are going make a presentation don’t make it all about you. Believe it or not nobody cares how great you or you company are. What they care about is will what you have solve their problem?

How well do you know you prospect’s or client’s challenges? Can you describe their pain, you know, the problems that have them worried or keep them up at night, better than they can? When you can they will know you understand and that you are the expert.

If you can’t then you need to do your homework and start asking your prospects and clients what their greatest fears and worries are. Then determine if what you have to offer solves the problem. If it doesn’t what do you need to change so that it does? If it does what do you need to change about how you present it so that they know it’s what they need?

How can you help them figure it out? The simplest way is by asking questions and caring what the answer is. You show you care when you listen and ask probing questions to really understand their situation. You prove you’re just a salesperson and that you only care about the sale when you pounce on the first problem they mention and start selling and overcoming objections like it’s an Olympic wrestling match.

If you, or your company, is doing marketing the right way then you should only be working with prospects that are a 7 or better (1 to 10 scale) in terms of being ready to make a purchase. If you determine someone is a 6 or lower they should be put back into your marketing process to maintain top of mind awareness until they raise their hand again indicating they might be ready to move forward.

If you are cold calling you will need to do a proper analysis to determine if they have a need that they want to solve now or not. If they do you move forward if not you move on but you put them into a nurturing process so they come back to you when they’re ready.

You will find that when you align your sales process with your prospects needs instead of trying to get them to align with your sales process you will make more sales in less time with less pressure or stress for both you and your clients.

Share with me what changes you are going to make of questions you have about how you would implement this in your sales situation.