Summary of Stephen R. Covey's: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

In his #1 bestseller, Stephen R. Covey presented a framework for personal effectiveness. The following is a summary of the first part of his book, concluding with a list of the seven habits.

Inside-Out: The Change Starts from Within

While working on his doctorate in the 1970's, Stephen R. Covey reviewed 200 years of literature on success. He noticed that since the 1920's, success writings have focused on solutions to specific problems. In some cases such tactical advice may have been effective, but only for immediate issues and not for the long-term, underlying ones. The success literature of the last half of the 20th century largely attributed success to personality traits, skills, techniques, maintaining a positive attitude, etc. This philosophy can be referred to as the Personality Ethic.

However, during the 150 years or so that preceded that period, the literature on success was more character oriented. It emphasized the deeper principles and foundations of success. This philosophy is known as the Character Ethic, under which success is attributed more to underlying characteristics such as integrity, courage, justice, patience, etc.

The elements of the Character Ethic are primary traits while those of the Personality Ethic are secondary. While secondary traits may help one to play the game to succeed in some specific circumstances, for long-term success both are necessary. One's character is what is most visible in long-term relationships. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "What you are shouts so loudly in my ears I cannot hear what you say."

To illustrate the difference between primary and secondary traits, Covey offers the following example. Suppose you are in Chicago and are using a map to find a particular destination in the city. You may have excellent secondary skills in map reading and navigation, but will never find your destination if you are using a map of Detroit. In this example, getting the right map is a necessary primary element before your secondary skills can be used effectively.

The problem with relying on the Personality Ethic is that unless the basic underlying paradigms are right, simply changing outward behavior is not effective. We see the world based on our perspective, which can have a dramatic impact on the way we perceive things. For example, many experiments have been conducted in which two groups of people are shown two different drawings. One group is shown, for instance, a drawing of a young, beautiful woman and the other group is shown a drawing of an old, frail woman. After the initial exposure to the pictures, both groups are shown one picture of a more abstract drawing. This drawing actually contains the elements of both the young and the old woman. Almost invariably, everybody in the group that was first shown the young woman sees a young woman in the abstract drawing, and those who were shown the old woman see an old woman. Each group was convinced that it had objectively evaluated the drawing. The point is that we see things not as they are, but as we are conditioned to see them. Once we understand the importance of our past conditioning, we can experience a paradigm shift in the way we see things. To make large changes in our lives, we must work on the basic paradigms through which we see the world.

The Character Ethic assumes that there are some absolute principles that exist in all human beings. Some examples of such principles are fairness, honesty, integrity, human dignity, quality, potential, and growth. Principles contrast with practices in that practices are for specific situations whereas principles have universal application.

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People presents an "inside-out" approach to effectiveness that is centered on principles and character. Inside-out means that the change starts within oneself. For many people, this approach represents a paradigm shift away from the Personality Ethic and toward the Character Ethic.

The Seven Habits - An Overview

Our character is a collection of our habits, and habits have a powerful role in our lives. Habits consist of knowledge, skill, and desire. Knowledge allows us to know what to do, skill gives us the ability to know how to do it, and desire is the motivation to do it.

The Seven Habits move us through the following stages:

1. Dependence: the paradigm under which we are born, relying upon others to take care of us.
   
   
2. Independence: the paradigm under which we can make our own decisions and take care of ourselves.
   
   
3. Interdependence: the paradigm under which we cooperate to achieve something that cannot be achieved independently.

Much of the success literature today tends to value independence, encouraging people to become liberated and do their own thing. The reality is that we are interdependent, and the independent model is not optimal for use in an interdependent environment that requires leaders and team players.

To make the choice to become interdependent, one first must be independent, since dependent people have not yet developed the character for interdependence. Therefore, the first three habits focus on self-mastery, that is, achieving the private victories required to move from dependence to independence. The first three habits are:

• Habit 1: Be Proactive
• Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind
• Habit 3: Put First Things First

Habits 4, 5, and 6 then address interdependence:

• Habit 4: Think Win/Win
• Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
• Habit 6: Synergize

Finally, the seventh habit is one of renewal and continual improvement, that is, of building one's personal production capability. To be effective, one must find the proper balance between actually producing and improving one's capability to produce. Covey illustrates this point with the fable of the goose and the golden egg.

In the fable, a poor farmer's goose began laying a solid gold egg every day, and the farmer soon became rich. He also became greedy and figured that the goose must have many golden eggs within her. In order to obtain all of the eggs immediately, he killed the goose. Upon cutting it open he discovered that it was not full of golden eggs. The lesson is that if one attempts to maximize immediate production with no regard to the production capability, the capability will be lost. Effectiveness is a function of both production and the capacity to produce.

The need for balance between production and production capability applies to physical, financial, and human assets. For example, in an organization the person in charge of a particular machine may increase the machine's immediate production by postponing scheduled maintenance. As a result of the increased output, this person may be rewarded with a promotion. However, the increased immediate output comes at the expense of future production since more maintenance will have to be performed on the machine later. The person who inherits the mess may even be blamed for the inevitable downtime and high maintenance expense.

Customer loyalty also is an asset to which the production and production capability balance applies. A restaurant may have a reputation for serving great food, but the owner may decide to cut costs and lower the quality of the food. Immediately, profits will soar, but soon the restaurant's reputation will be tarnished, the customer's trust will be lost, and profits will decline.

This does not mean that only production capacity is important. If one builds capacity but never uses it, there will be no production. There is a balance between building production capacity and actually producing. Finding the right tradeoff is central to one's effectiveness.

The above has been an introduction and overview of the 7 Habits. The following introduces the first habit in Covey's framework.

FROM DEPENDENCE TO INDEPENDENCE

Habit 1: Be Proactive

A unique ability that sets humans apart from animals is self-awareness and the ability to choose how we respond to any stimulus. While conditioning can have a strong impact on our lives, we are not determined by it. There are three widely accepted theories of determinism: genetic, psychic, and environmental. Genetic determinism says that our nature is coded into our DNA, and that our personality traits are inherited from our grandparents. Psychic determinism says that our upbringing determines our personal tendencies, and that emotional pain that we felt at a young age is remembered and affects the way we behave today. Environmental determinism states that factors in our present environment are responsible for our situation, such as relatives, the national economy, etc. These theories of determinism each assume a model in which the stimulus determines the response.

Viktor Frankl was a Jewish psychiatrist who survived the death camps of Nazi Germany. While in the death camps, Frankl realized that he alone had the power to determine his response to the horror of the situation. He exercised the only freedom he had in that environment by envisioning himself teaching students after his release. He became an inspiration for others around him. He realized that in the middle of the stimulus-response model, humans have the freedom to choose.

Animals do not have this independent will. They respond to a stimulus like a computer responds to its program. They are not aware of their programming and do not have the ability to change it. The model of determinism was developed based on experiments with animals and neurotic people. Such a model neglects our ability to choose how we will respond to stimuli.

We can choose to be reactive to our environment. For example, if the weather is good, we will be happy. If the weather is bad, we will be unhappy. If people treat us well, we will feel well; if they don't, we will feel bad and become defensive. We also can choose to be proactive and not let our situation determine how we will feel. Reactive behavior can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. By accepting that there is nothing we can do about our situation, we in fact become passive and do nothing.

The first habit of highly effective people is proactivity. Proactive people are driven by values that are independent of the weather or how people treat them. Gandhi said, "They cannot take away our self respect if we do not give it to them." Our response to what happened to us affects us more than what actually happened. We can choose to use difficult situations to build our character and develop the ability to better handle such situations in the future.

Proactive people use their resourcefulness and initiative to find solutions rather than just reporting problems and waiting for other people to solve them.

Being proactive means assessing the situation and developing a positive response for it. Organizations can be proactive rather than be at the mercy of their environment. For example, a company operating in an industry that is experiencing a downturn can develop a plan to cut costs and actually use the downturn to increase market share.

Once we decide to be proactive, exactly where we focus our efforts becomes important. There are many concerns in our lives, but we do not always have control over them. One can draw a circle that represents areas of concern, and a smaller circle within the first that represents areas of control. Proactive people focus their efforts on the things over which they have influence, and in the process often expand their area of influence. Reactive people often focus their efforts on areas of concern over which they have no control. Their complaining and negative energy tend to shrink their circle of influence.

In our area of concern, we may have direct control, indirect control, or no control at all. We have direct control over problems caused by our own behavior. We can solve these problems by changing our habits. We have indirect control over problems related to other people's behavior. We can solve these problems by using various methods of human influence, such as empathy, confrontation, example, and persuasion. Many people have only a few basic methods such as fight or flight. For problems over which we have no control, first we must recognize that we have no control, and then gracefully accept that fact and make the best of the situation.

SUMMARY OF THE SEVEN HABITS

Habit 1: Be Proactive

Change starts from within, and highly effective people make the decision to improve their lives through the things that they can influence rather than by simply reacting to external forces.

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind

Develop a principle-centered personal mission statement. Extend the mission statement into long-term goals based on personal principles.

Habit 3: Put First Things First

Spend time doing what fits into your personal mission, observing the proper balance between production and building production capacity. Identify the key roles that you take on in life, and make time for each of them.

Habit 4: Think Win/Win

Seek agreements and relationships that are mutually beneficial. In cases where a "win/win" deal cannot be achieved, accept the fact that agreeing to make "no deal" may be the best alternative. In developing an organizational culture, be sure to reward win/win behavior among employees and avoid inadvertantly rewarding win/lose behavior.

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood

First seek to understand the other person, and only then try to be understood. Stephen Covey presents this habit as the most important principle of interpersonal relations. Effective listening is not simply echoing what the other person has said through the lens of one's own experience. Rather, it is putting oneself in the perspective of the other person, listening empathically for both feeling and meaning.

Habit 6: Synergize

Through trustful communication, find ways to leverage individual differences to create a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts. Through mutual trust and understanding, one often can solve conflicts and find a better solution than would have been obtained through either person's own solution.

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

Take time out from production to build production capacity through personal renewal of the physical, mental, social/emotional, and spiritual dimensions. Maintain a balance among these dimensions.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Personal Workbook

Know your competition

There are a lot of things that go into winning the sales game. There are the sales skills that have to be learned. There are the interpersonal skills that have to be mastered in order to build solid relationships. There is the self discipline that you have to have in order to keep going when things are not going the way you want them to. Another thing to add to the list is knowing your competition.

First, let’s be clear on what competition is. Competition is any alternative that your prospect may be considering as an option to the solution you will provide. So then, competition could be another company that provides products or services similar to yours. Or, competition could come in the form of something completely different. For example, your competition could be your prospect is contemplating not outsourcing what they need from you or another company, but doing it themselves.

You have to know the competition in order to sell against it. You have to know not only the features of the competition, but you must also know the impact those features will have on your prospect. Understanding what your prospect wants to accomplish is critical in presenting your solution and positioning it against the competition. If you focus on what matters to your prospect, which may not be the best features of your product or service, you will have a greater probability of winning the sale. To win the sale, you have to show how your product or service is superior to any other alternative that your prospect is considering. In order to effectively do this you have to first know what alternatives are being considered and you have to be an expert on the competition.

To learn your competition you have to study. Read the trade journals associated with your industry. Stay up to date with the latest trends that have an impact on your target market. Know who the key sales people are for your competition and get to know how they like to approach and sell prospects. Have a regular systematic self development program for learning the competition. It’s not just enough to know what your product or service does, you have to know your competition too.

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Martin Luther: I have a dream

Martin Luther King lived for just over 39 years.

He traveled over six million miles, spoke on over 2500 occasions, became an icon for civil rights, was the youngest Time magazine Man of the Year (35), and won the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize.

What’s in a Card?

I was at a networking event last week and I noticed a woman having difficulty getting her business card out of a case to give to another person. A man who was standing next to her asked if she considered herself to be a sales person. The woman said “yes.” The man said if she was going to succeed in sales, she should always have her card ready to give out to someone. On the surface, there is some value in what he was saying. But as I was thinking about what he said, there is another side I think needs to be explored.

When you give someone your business card, the business card is a marketing tool. Your card is a reflection of you, your company, and the quality of both you and your company. Therefore, you want your business card to have a nice layout and be on good paper stock. The purpose of the business card is to give someone your contact information and an idea of what you do. That’s it. The business card is not the sales person; you are.

With that in mind, the main thing about business cards is not to pass them out, but to collect them from other people. It’s going to be a rare occasion if someone calls you because you gave them a business card, especially if you gave them the card at a networking event. Imagine how many cards that person got besides yours! The key to selling success with people you meet is to get their business card and follow-up with them.

By following up with people, you make it clear you want to do business with them and you get to control the situation. Even if someone asks for our card and tells you they will call you, find out what a good time would be for you to call them. Never leave the responsibility to move a sale forward with the prospect. You have to be the one to steer the sales process.

So, if you arrive at a networking event and you forgot your business cards, don’t worry. You now have a good reason to follow-up even if it’s just to give them your contact information. Remember, you’re there to get cards not to give them.

Gladwell talks about the front work that goes into the "overnight success

Harry Smith spoke with author Malcolm Gladwell about his new book "Outliers," which tackles the secrets of individuals whose success is beyond the norm.

Roosevelt’s inspirational words from “The Man in the Arena.”

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

What is Value-created selling and why does it matter?

What is Value-created selling and why does it matter?

To understand Value-created selling we need to examine the interaction from both sides.

Buyer – the value created buying culture is used when the buyer has recognised they have a problem, an idea of where they want to be in the future and they have started to envisage various options to take them to that point on the horizon. The challenge for them is to understand the different levels of controllable and uncontrollable risk in the different options. With this being the situation they will call on vendors who can give them insight on unforeseen and critical risk. Solutions are not relevant at this stage.

Seller – they will be looking for issues creating change in the buyer’s world and by understanding the dynamics created by the change for the customer they will be able to create a vision of the future and to certain areas of risk in their response to the market conditions: by revealing these areas of risk to the customer and by showing where they can mitigate or migrate the risk they will initiate a Value Creation engagement.

In summary, Value-created selling is the approach taken to help a customer who has identified a problem or sub-optimal situation, to mentor and position a way forward where risks are unknown and there is no established buying category. In many cases the client will not be aware that a solution to its requirement exists; it takes the sellers view of the market, thought-leadership and industry insight to create understanding of how the products could be used to solve the problem and to mentor the buyer through the internal approval process.

I hadn't heard of the term value-created selling until I read "Why Killer-products Don't Sell", by Ian Gotts and Dominic Rowsell. This book is a revelation for technology sales professionals and I have since incorporated their I-M-P-A-C-T buying process into the sales training and E-Learning courses we deliver. See my review of the book.

According to Dominic Rowsell, "you don't choose how you want to sell. The customer, or rather the maturity of the product in a marketplace, determines the buying culture at any point in time."



Why is it important?

Because in order to achieve success selling innovative products in the market the seller must adapt their sales process at each transition of the Technology Adoption Life-cycle to effectively match the way companies buy.

The great majority of sales professionals selling technology in the B2B space today operate in value-added or value-offered modes. Here buyers know what they want, have established buying procedures and a formal process to compare, evaluate and acquire products/services, including industry analyst briefings and product rankings from various sources and recommendations from colleagues. There is nothing wrong these selling modes, provided they are in sync with the buyer, it's just that corporations and salespeople who sell this way will not be effective in selling into the early market until they are retrained and develop value-created selling skills and adapt their business models accordingly.

As a sales trainer, having observed hundreds of sales role-plays with sales people in all stages in their careers in the past 5 years, I have seen less than 10 sales-people who are really good at engaging the buyer in a "conversation of possibilities". If your company is selling technology products into a market that is still forming, then your sales team will function best if they acted like consultants....not fast-talking sales people. Time for training?

If you are an early stage company, how do you know there is a problem?

• In value-created sales there will be little competition yet big deals won't come through,
• Pilots will not convert to meaninful deals,
• Salespeople get an initial meeting, but no second meeting,
• Salespeople are talking to weak mentors who are not decision-makers and sales are stalled,
• Salespeople talk a lot about their products in meetings and fail to listen to the information the buyer is imparting,
• Salespeople use trial-close techniques, which perplex the buyer who is trying to sort out a problem and is not ready or able to buy.
  

What can be done to improve the success in selling to the early market?
1. Get marketing and sales aligned with the value-created selling process and clearly identify the Buyer Persona and how the products specifically create value for the persona.

2. Adopt an Inbound Marketing approach to get-found on the Internet, create mind-share, and incubate interested prospects

3. Equip your sales team with appropriate communication, language and listening skills - in an emerging market, the buyers may know there is a problem, but may not be able to clearly articulate how to go about solving it.

4. Run regular training events and use performance support tools to develop great communication skills, industry knowledge and practice critiqued role-playing until skills are mastered.

5. Align the operations of the company to support the new value-created selling mode.

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Differentiation vs. Competition - and how to achieve it

The following is a true story extracted from a recent call in a company, possibly just like yours.

Julie, a sales rep from ABC Software, just got back from an initial meeting with a prospective client who registered interest in your products on your Website. Your inside sales team spoke with the prospect and qualified interest in a meeting to discuss ABC application usage in Acme. Julie's Sales Manager, Bob, asks "So how did the Acme meeting go?"

"Well it went pretty well, we had the buyer tell us about what they were thinking and they actually shared with us that there is a real need driving their interest and they also mentioned that they are looking at a couple of our competitors. I gave our standard presentation and we had some good questions at the end of the presentation, which I had to cut short because the prospect had another meeting and we started late."

"So what are the follow-ups?" Bob asked. "Well they said they would consider what we had told them and get back to us with a configuration spec., so we can deliver a quote."

Unfortunately, Julie did not get a second meeting with the client. (like 3 out of 4 reps today* CSO Insights). Julie dutifully submitted a quotation in response to the spec. and a month later received an email from the client advising them they had run second in a close-run thing.

This story has some of the details removed for brevity, but it illustrates a common problem in many companies that affects both sales and marketing; differentiation vs. competition.

The question is - how do marketers and sales people actually achieve differentiation?
The key to differentiation that is widely mis-understood is that differentiation occurs in the mind of the buyer, not in PowerPoint presentation or on your Web-site (unless both are based on the criteria below).

According to Geoffrey Moore's "Chasm Theory", in the early market you may be alone in the market, striving to get found on the Internet and to convert visitors to take more than a passing glance at your product. As the market matures, competitors will emerge; - either "fast-followers" or "innovators" working on the same idea at the same time; competitors that look and feel from their descriptions on the Internet, just like you. Your product might be cheaper, faster or have more gizmos, but the base functionality provided in the product-class appears the same to the buyer.

In our Post-Internet World, where competitive advantage is fleeting, differentiation is a major issue for all companies.

In the B2B and B2C space, differentiation is achieved through the interactions your prospects are having with your Web-site and the quality and relevance of the conversations of your sales and support team...but how is it achieved?

Differentiation for both sales and marketing occurs in the mind of the buyer and for sellers, it starts by identifying your ideal customers and developing their buyer-persona's.

1. By analyzing the interests of your target buyers, their likely needs or goals, the issues preventing them from achieving them, and the cost of not achieving them, we can engage buyers in "what's in it for me" conversations for each target buyer group.
2. If we know what our buyers really care about and take the time to think through the value-exchange that occurs when using our products; we capture and share this insight, along with best-practices diagnostic questions (in Buyer-Relevant Messaging Templates) with the sales and marketing team, then we can use this Messaging to improve the quality of our Internet site and to improve the quality of sales and support conversations both over the phone and in person.

This is just first-base though. Your sales and support team needs to be trained in how to use the templates and how to truly engage buyers. Improving the skills of your sales team to engage targeted buyers in conversations about their business and relevant industry issues requires industry knowledge, product knowledge, communication and language skill. (Most sales training is centered on product knowledge, not inter-personal skills).

The Internet-era mainstream buyer (value-added, value-offered) knows what they want, in many cases what they are prepared to pay and often are more knowledgeable about the market than our sales reps.

• Our sales and support team needs classroom training and performance support tools to master new interpersonal communication language and psychology skills.
• Regular role-playing is required to master diagnostic conversations based on content within the templates and to engage buyers in conversations about their business and to create buyer-vision.
• Finally we need collaborative tools and feedback mechanisms to share our success, what works and what doesn't, and to tune the ineffective and unused templates out of the Messaging Architecture over time.

Sales naturals (the top 5-10% of your team) will have figured out how your products create value in the eyes of the buyer and are effective in engaging buyers in the value-exchange....that's why they are the top-sellers.

If the other 90% of your sales team is not armed with a clear understanding of the goals, needs and issues confronting your target buyers, skilled in using best-practices questions to diagnose whether your capabilities are of value and to create buyer-vision; then the default behaviour for sales will be to revert to "product-speak" in front of an LCD projector and as Julie discovered, this usually spells no follow-up meeting and the end of the opportunity.

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Sales Process Defined

Sales is rocket science. And just as rocket science is built from a foundation of physical and mathematical laws and principles, sales can be distilled to its very simple laws and principles.

While branded selling “systems” and “approaches” serve several purposes (they help differentiate sales books and training material in order to sell them better as well as assist in articulating a message so it’s easily learned and/ or implemented) the simple laws and principles underlying them all have remained relatively unchanged since the beginning of time.

Here’s the bottom line for your records – fluff removed. Depending on what you sell, parts of the process may not be needed and some parts might need repeating.

Use it as a guide for the in-house sales development of your team or for your personal sales skill development (you do work on your most valuable asset, don’t you?) Focus on one area each week or month. Print it out. Send it out. Build from it.

____________________

The sales process

Assuming you’ve identified the features & benefits of your product/ service – and you’ve identified and defined your target market – the sales process begins…

1. Prospect
2. Interview
3. Analyze needs
4. Present
5. Negotiate
6. Close
7. Service & follow-up



Throughout the sales process, the salesperson should be continually…

* positively expectant
* enthusiastic
* asking questions
* listening
* qualifying the opportunity (for both parties)
* discovering hot buttons (what’s in it for them)
* building rapport
* establishing trust
* developing credibility
* developing a valuable relationship
* addressing objections
* planning next action steps
* confirming understanding
* asking for referrals
* seeking additional opportunities to serve & sell
* evaluating responses & results (positive/ negative)
* affirming decisions (minimizing buyer’s remorse)


Now go sell something.~>

Think Different

Here’s 1 minute from Apple’s “Think Different” campaign to get you fired up.

LIKE: to feel attraction toward or take pleasure in : enjoy (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

Based on the definition above, found in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, it is easy to see why prospective buyers don't have to "like" the salesperson involved in their sale.

You might find a different definition, you might even have your own personal definition, of what it mean

Cold Calling Success: How to Make the Cold Call “Warm”

The rate of success for making contact in cold calling is somewhere between 2 and 5 percent. The gatekeeper or voice mail often blocks the salesperson from making contact and moving the sales process forward. This means that the salesperson has to make a lot of cold calls to generate enough sales opportunities to be successful. So how can the salesperson lessen the impact of these barriers to success?

The Pre-Approach Letter

Using pre-approach letters is an effective way to “warm-up” a cold call. After all, the purpose of the cold call is usually to set up an appointment to meet. Using the pre-approach letter helps you get pass the gatekeeper and increase callbacks from voice mail. A pre-approach letter is correspondence or letter sent to a potential prospect before you attempt to make telephone contact. The letter should give information about what you do, what problems you solve, and build enough curiosity to make the prospect want to talk with you. Don’t make the letter too company centered or “me” focused. Focus on the problems you solve and how you go about creating better situations for your clients and customers. Always make your pre-approach letters specific to your prospect’s industry. So if your prospect is a manufacturer make the letter specific to manufacturing. You can have several pre-approach letters for each of the industries you work in. Most importantly, the letter should state specifically the date and time when you will be contacting the potential prospect. This means you have to plan your pre-approach letters with your call back schedule.

Follow-up Call

Now that you have sent the pre-approach letter with the specific call back time, you are ready to make your “warm” call at the appointed time. A common question the gatekeeper will ask is: “What is this in reference to?” You can then confidently answer: “I have a commitment to call Mr. / Ms.______ can you put me through?” If you receive voice mail you can leave an effective message such as: “My name is ________ with __________ and my number is _________ (slowly). I am calling as I promised in my brief note to you the other day. In working with companies like yours we have helped them (do, save, implement, improve, etc.). Give me a call at __________ (slowly). I have something very important to tell you about how we have discovered a proven way that can help you (do, save, implement, improve, etc). Call me back when you get this message and we can set a time discuss it” You want to leave a short message that creates curiosity and a sense of urgency. It’s curiosity that gets a potential prospect to call you back. Your voice mail message must show the uniqueness of what you can do for your prospect. Consider your prospect gets many voice mails each day from salespeople wanting a call back. You have to differentiate yourself from all the others so they will call you back. Also, be persistent. If you don’t’ get a call back in a couple of days call back and leave a similar message. Of course you can repeat the process over again of sending another pre-approach letter.

Try using pre-approach letters to “warm-up” your cold calls

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Measure Your Sales Performance

An old performance management tenant states, “When performance gets measured, performance improves.” The truth of this statement is revealed over and over. We see time and time again in the sports world how records continue to be broken. The reason for keeping records is so comparisons can be made to top performance. The same holds true winning the sales game.

Your Measurement System

The first step in setting up your measurement system is to determine what is important for you to measure. What sort of activities should you be measuring? The answer is every significant sales activity. For example, if you make cold calls to generate prospects, then you would want to track at a minimum the number of phone calls made, number of times contact was made, and number of appointments generated.
Once you have determined the activities to measure, make a simple form for you to track the activity. You can use an electronic spreadsheet or simply make tic marks manually. Don’t get hung up on what type of method to use, just use a method that works for you. Keep it simple and easy to use.

How To Measure Activity

After you have determined the activities you are going to measure, then you can assign a point value to each activity. Next, determine the number of points you want to achieve each day. Measure your performance daily and weekly to your goal. Remember the purpose of keeping the measurement is to improve performance. Reviewing your activity helps you analyze are you doing the right things and are you doing things right. If you are not doing the right activities to be successful, you can analyze your time management, attitude, etc. If you are doing the activities but not getting the results, you can analyze your methods, seek training, etc.

Therefore, in order to win the sales game measures performance and analyzes the results.
Always seek to improve performance.

The Four Major Sales Questions

If you know anything about selling, you know that one of the keys to developing a winning proposal and selling it successfully is having the skill to ask questions. Asking questions engages your prospect and allows you to get the information you need to develop a unique proposal and solution.

While there is no limit to the information that you could get from a prospect, there are four questions that you must get answered for every sales opportunity:

1. How will the prospect determine the best alternative to solve their challenge or problem? You have to know the criteria that will be used to make the decision. Knowing this will help you develop a proposal that is focused on what the prospect is seeking. Rather than giving a generic proposal you will be giving one based on specific needs.
2. Who will be involved in that process? You want to know who is going to be influencing the buying decision. Often, there will be more than one or even two people involved in a decision to purchase. While there is only one decision maker, there can be several who influence the decision. You want to make sure you have each of the buying influencers’ needs addressed in your proposal.
3. What is the time frame for making a decision and implementation of the solution? Knowing when the decision will be made and when they want to implement can be very important in the development of your proposal. Not knowing this can lead to wasted time and effort. In addition, if the implementation is far into the future, it could affect your pricing.
4. What is the budget? You want to know the budget so you can prepare a proposal that lines up with the needs of the prospect’s ability to pay. You could be thinking Cadillac while your prospect is thinking Chevrolet!

To get the answers to the four major questions you have to ask them. Practice doing so and watch your sales increase.

Credibility - the quality of being believable or trustworthy.

Going to work WITH the client is the way to solve HIS/HER need, or to provide solution or opportunity with your product or service. You estabish yourself as an advisor/consultant learning your client. You do that through exploration with well intentioned open ended questions that are designed to have your client provide information that relates to what they do, who they are, how they operate without your product or service or with a competitors product or service.

Dispensing a little small talk, exploring the clients situation with properly formulated questions, and then offering suggestion of how your product or service would fit varying situations you've uncovered with your questioning from YOUR CLIENTS POINT OF VIEW.

Speaking of Presentations

A preacher concluded that his church was getting into very serious financial troubles. While checking the church storeroom, he discovered several cartons of new Bibles that had never been opened and distributed.

So at his Sunday sermon, he asked for three volunteers from the congregation who would be willing to sell the Bibles door-to-door for $10 each to raise the desperately-needed money for the church.

Jack, Paul and Louie all raised their hands to volunteer for the task.

The minister knew that Jack and Paul earned their living as
salesmen and were likely capable of selling some Bibles. But he had serious doubts about Louie who was a local farmer, who had always kept to himself because he was embarrassed by his speech impediment.

Poor Louis stuttered badly. But, not wanting to discourage Louis, the minister decided to let him try anyway.

He sent the three of them away with the back seat of their cars stacked with Bibles. He asked them to meet with him and report the results of their door-to-door selling efforts the following Sunday.

Anxious to find out how successful they were, the minister immediately asked Jack, 'Well, Jack, how did you make out selling our Bibles last week?'

Proudly handing the minister an envelope, Jack replied, 'Using my sales prowess, I was able to sell 20 Bibles,20and here's the $200 I collected on behalf of the church.'

'Fine job, Jack!' The minister said, vigorously shaking his hand. 'You are indeed a fine salesman and the Church is indebted to you.'

Turning to Paul, 'And Paul, how many Bibles did you sell for the church last week?'

Paul, smiling and sticking out his chest, confidently replied, 'I am a professional salesman. I sold 28 bibles on behalf of the
church, and here's $280 I collected.'

The minister responded, 'T h at's absolutely splendid, Paul. You are truly a professional salesm an and the church is indebted to you.'

Apprehensively, the minister turned to Louie and said, 'And Louie, did you manage to sell any Bibles last week?' Louie silently offered the minister a large envelope.

The minister opened it and counted the contents. 'What is this?' the minister exclaimed. 'Louie, there's $3200 in here! Are you suggesting that you sold 320 Bibles for the church, door to door, in just one week?'

Louie just nodded. That's impossible!' both Jack and Paul said in unison. 'We are professional salesmen, yet you claim to have sold 10 times as many Bibles as we could.'

'Yes, this does seem unlikely,' the minister agreed. 'I think you'd better explain how you managed to accomplish this, Louie.'

Louie shrugged. 'I-I-I re-re-really do-do-don't kn-kn-know f-f-f-for sh-sh-sh-sure,' he stammered.

Impatiently, Peter interrupted. 'For crying out loud, Louie, just tell us what you said to them when they answered the do or!'

'A-a-a-all I-I-I s-s-said wa-wa-was,' Louis replied, 'W-w-w-w-would y-y-y-you l-l-l-l-l-like t-t-to b-b-b-buy th-th-th-this b-b-b-b-bible F-f-for t-t-ten b-b-b-bucks ---o-o-o-or--- wo-wo-would yo-you j-j-j-just l-like m-m-me t-t-to st-st-stand h-h-here and r-r-r-r-r-read it t-to y-y-you??'

Advanced Sales Training - 8 What-to-Do’s About Cold Calling

Cold calling is dead, but still kicking. It's not to say that cold calling doesn't work, but everyone will agree, it's highly inefficient and very demotivating. Therefore, cold calling should go away, but it won’t.

I stopped at my Starbucks today and saw a vitamin or similar sales rep recruiting a new employee. I overheard some words such as "pitch", "benefits", etc. and thought about this new recruit. Obviously, the recruit needs a job, and more importantly, she needs money. So what if she takes on this new line? What will she do to meet her financial obligations? What will her manager do to help her succeed? How will the new recruit generate interest/leads that convert to sales? Well, I guarantee, cold calling will be her main thrust, at least initially.

Getting new customers is a common problem, not only among new recruits, but also among seasoned salespeople with established territories. We all need new customers, so what can we do? Cold calling, in one form or another, is our default tactic. It's what we do when we don't want to try, change, or venture into other tactics.

So since cold calling will not go away, let me help you with some tips, not to encourage you to cold call – because there are better ways -- but to make you more productive and less demotivated, if you and/or your bosses insist on cold calling.

1. Who Needs What You Have?

Don't say everyone. This attitude makes cold calling overwhelming, and you'll get lots of rejections. You must establish a list of criteria, and here's where your boss and other successful salespeople can help you.

Ask them, "What are the characteristics of our/your 3 best customers?" Get them to think deeply about the specifics -- the people, the environment, the circumstances of each customer. List these characteristics and notice similarities among these customers.

Then, asked them, "What are the characteristics of 3 prospects that never buy?" Again, try to get them to be specific and add these to your list.

These characteristics will give you an idea of the type of prospects that really need what you have and those that don't. Caution: Don't get sucked into, "should need what you have to offer”. Although many “should need” it, you will be successful when you find those that want it.

2. Approach with Sincerity.

People don't want to be bothered, and you know that. They are doing you a favor by talking with you. However, you may be able to return the favor by helping them if they have a problem, concern, dissatisfaction, or unmet opportunity.

So apologize for your intrusion -- "Sorry to bother you." Then say something like one of the following;
"Do you have any issues or concerns about XYZ?" Where XYZ is the general field you serve. In my case XYZ would be sales or revenue generation or salespeoples' productivity.
"Are you satisfied with your XYZ?" If they say “Yes”, asked them what they like about. If they say, “No”, asked them,"What are some things you don't like about it or are dissatisfied with?"
"Are you missing any opportunities because of XYZ?"
"Are you experiencing any inconveniences because of XYZ?"

Expect an "Everything is fine" because that's the easiest way to get rid of you. However, what you've done with this approach, and these questions, is to be polite and focused on the prospect. This helps to establish a modicum of credibility. Needs and wants, coupled with the salesperson’s credibility, are what makes sales happen.

You probably should start with an intro -- your name and the company you represent -- but quickly follow it with a customer focused statement. This, again, is to minimize the all about you effect. For example, "Hi, my name is Sam Manfer, with Sales Mastery. Sorry to bother you, but you or your company could be experiencing some challenges that we've help others like you eliminate. Can I ask you a couple questions?" Putting the second person, you/your, in the front of the sentence, and the first person, I/we, at the end of the sentence makes it more about them, rather than you. This is a subtlety that has a profound, unconscious impact on the listener.

3. Be Prepared to Expose and Entice -- No Pushing.

When the prospect gives you the expected " Everything is fine ", you must try to get the conversation going without putting them on the defensive. Therefore, have two or three issues ready to offer, one at a time that you think they should have. For example, in my business, creating more sales, shortening the sales cycle and cross-selling are three common issues among the prospects I pursue. So when I get the -- "Everything is fine." -- I might say, "Well what about sales cycles. Is this an issue?" If s/he says, "No", I then might say, "And cross-selling, is cross-selling meeting your expectations?"

I will do this for a maximum of three No's, and then I give up, politely leave and recycle this prospect for a future retry in three or four months. If however, one of these exposes and/or entices gets a "Yes", then I'll go into my selling mode.

The idea here is to see if this prospect has a need or want, that she realizes she has. If she doesn't, you're beating your head against a wall and setting yourself up for rejection. You'll think you're just not good at selling. Whereas, the prospect just isn't interested. Basically, the reward for her to change is less than the effort plus the risk to change. Think about that for a second. The key to selling is finding people that have an issue or want, and would like to do something about it. Give up on the idea that "I have to convince him or her." You need to find those that want help.

4. Cost Reduction Is a Low Excitement Benefit.

Revenue generation is a more exciting benefit. People want more money, more business and more customers to grow or just survive. If you can show them how your services can get them more sales or more customers, it is about four times more effective than cost reduction.

Many salespeople assume that the mere mention of cost reduction will get a prospect's attention. Prospects hear about cost reduction all the time, and unless they specifically tell you they have a cost problem, avoid it or use it as a low priority expose and entice.

Now, how can you spin revenue generation of some sort into your expose and entice?


5. Handling the Gatekeepers.

My website offers a free e-book on handling gatekeepers and avoiding blockers. So I won't go into it here.

However, voicemail is another form of gatekeeper. To get a return call, you must leave a message that hits an issue the person wants to do something about. Typically, you won't know this, and that's why your calls don't get returned. So when talking with admins and receptionists, ask what issues their head people are worried about today. The other reason your calls don't get returned is because you have little credibility at this moment.

6. Plans and Practice.

Before cold calling, you must practice what you're going to say to (1) be polite, (2) be sincere, (3) expose and entice to stimulate interest, and (4) handle gatekeepers. Practice out loud either with an associate or in front of the mirror so that you become expert in getting the words directly out of your mouth and listening to how they sound.

7. Avoid Drop–In’s While in the Area

Be careful cold calling in buildings or offices adjacent to a customer where you've just made a sales call unless you plan for these cold calls. Many, especially your bosses, will tell you to just drop in while you're already in the area.

Cold calling should be planned. In other words, if you know there are other prospects in a building or area that you'd like to cold call, just get the names and then plan your schedule to visit them when appropriate. It would be great to do a little research via the Internet. You can also make a phone call and probe the admin for issues and good times to drop-in. Some may call this a warm call, but not by me. Besides, drop-in cold calls can ruin your day. Your approach will usually be cavalier and self-defeating. They will also take away time and motivation from your scheduled appointments with bread-and-butter customers. Cold call prospecting for new clients is important but should be planned.

8. Once They Show Interests, You Must Switch to Selling Mode

If your cold call catches a live one -- someone that admits to a problem, concern, and/or opportunity, be sure to reframe from immediately going into your pitch. You have to dig deeper with this individual to find out more about the problem, etc. and determine what s/he wants to do about it. "Tell me more." Should be the next words out of your mouth, and this will move you into the selling mode. I strongly suggest you read some of my interviewing articles on my website.

Although I don't encourage cold calling, I know you will have to do it. So use these tips to help you move forward generating qualified leads. For more ideas on generating leads, see the prospecting and territory management articles on my website.

And now I invite you to learn more.

Bonus Tip: Free Book – “TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER$” – The Complete Guide to C-Level Selling – hardback version. Network, get past gatekeepers, interact with executives, secure commitments and sell more than you ever thought possible. Click http://sammanfer.com/Book/freeoffer.htm to learn more about this fantastic offer.

Sam Manfer

Developing Client Trust

Selling is not so much about the features of our products or services--or even the benefits the customer receives. Rather, it is about our relationship with the customer. People do business with people they trust.

That doesn’t mean people won’t make an occasional purchase of a specific item or service from someone they don’t trust, because most people will. However, those purchases tend to be exactly that—one-time purchases.

Read more...

Sales Strategies to Tackle Voicemail

It is not surprising that so many sales reps complain about not having their voicemail messages returned. Judging by the dozen or so voice mails I have received from sales people over the past couple of weeks the reason is obvious: they are rubbish!

Read more...

The Elevator Pitch

So you’re on a train, queuing at the bank or perhaps even in a lift and you start talking to someone rather interesting.

This person happens to be the major decision maker for a company you’d love to go after. Your seasoned sales brain tells you not to pass up this opportunity. You commence the selling process only to find that you’re not getting to the point fast enough and the prospect is quickly losing interest. In the end they get frustrated and you end up hearing “why don’t you just email me?”

You Never Know!

If you are sales savvy then you have probably taken the time to draw up an elevator pitch for moments just like this. However, did you take the time to learn it?

If not then shame on you! An ideal elevator pitch will consist of a well rehearsed, 30 second insight into your company and its product or service. 30-40 seconds is the estimated length of time these ad hoc situations will usually give you. Think of the time it takes to ride to the top floor in a lift.

What you have to remember is that the right person to speak to has not always got the time to listen to your pitch, even if they actually need your offering. Your ability to spot new business opportunities will set you apart from the rest, so why not take the time to plan for any eventuality. Be ready to pitch!

How often will you encounter a new business opportunity in a lift? Probably not very often, however that doesn’t mean to say that it can’t happen; here it is again, be ready to pitch!

Well Constructed

For 30- 40 seconds you need to be able to speak both efficiently and effectively about your business and its products or services. If there is confusion in your delivery there is a danger of confusion being experienced by the prospect. It must be plain enough for someone without any knowledge of your sector to understand. Clarity will become paramount in the short time you will have to deliver. Yes some may find it difficult to do their business justice in 30-40 seconds however it must be done. It may be that you are inconveniencing the prospect, so try to make sure that you are adaptable to the time they have. If you ask whether they have got a minute and they say yes then use that minute effectively. Present a clear and concise insight into your company that will turn those 30-40 seconds into a meeting.

Remember your aim is not to close; it’s to create an opportunity to do so. You want to provide enough information about your company to generate further interest.

The Content

There are many different forms that the elevator pitch can take in terms of content. An effective model is as follows…

• Who you work with: what type of client, demographic, position
• What their problem is: the type of need your business can fulfil
• What you do: the sector your in, the product or service your provide
• How this will benefit them: how this will help that particular business
• The bigger picture: what this means for the prospect in the long run

These are the most important details that you want to get across to the prospect regardless of the situation you find yourself pitching in.

What has probably not gone unnoticed is that there is nothing about any possible competitors or the financial benefits. Don’t waste time talking about the competition and how you compare in a 30-40 second pitch. The focus in this short period of time is all on you, your business and what you can do for the prospect. Any financial benefits your company can offer must pass the ‘so what’ test in order to warrant an inclusion into your pitch. It must have some long term value to the prospect and their company. If it does it will form part of the bigger picture.

Learn It!

Thoroughly rehearse your elevator pitch if you don’t want your next ad hoc sales opportunity to end in failure. The whole point of the elevator pitch is to take the pressure off any unplanned encounters by prearranging a sales pitch that will compensate for a lack of time. Realising that you need an elevator pitch is one thing, taking the time to learn it is another. Unfortunately this discipline seems to sometimes elude even the most seasoned sales people. Always work towards mastering your delivery until it’s flawless. Remember you may only get one shot at the ever elusive managing director.

If You Don’t Practice

What’s the worst thing that can happen if you don’t learn it? Well you may miss out on a golden opportunity. If you think that you will never be presented with such an ad hoc opportunity to pitch your making a dangerous assumption. This will do nothing else but ensure you miss out on a possible new business opportunity.

Take a moment to think about all the events that you will attend in your annual calendar. Think about the networking events, business lunches, dinners, meetings etc. Now take a moment to consider exactly how long you are likely to have to talk to each ‘interesting’ person you meet. Finally think about all the business you could be missing out on if you don’t get to the point quick enough.

Move With Times

The truth is that business practices have changed. Business is done on the move, hands are shook in passing and the go-a-head for a meeting is given in an instance. No doubt you’ve noticed this but are you really paying attention? If you’ve not taken the time to implement and learn an elevator pitch then the answer is no! Make sure you are equipped to take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way, even those random encounters.

Suddenly the effort seems more worth wild. Give yourself the best chance of a new business meeting; start practising!

Craig Fisher - The Sales Expert

http://www.salesmagazine.com/the-elevator-pitch-100.html

BEST AD of the YEAR, so far?

a one-shot-talk as 5 minute history commercial

johnny walker walks thru company history with robert carlyle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7lnnZiORpk

Do You Trust Your People Enough To Let Them Succeed?

File this under “Practice What You Preach.” Over the past few months, I’ve been involved with a small organization trying to achieve something very important. It’s a very tough challenge with some degree of personal and professional risk to the team. I’ve been advising them—perhaps more than advising them because of the significance of what they are trying to achieve.

The team has been struggling, we’ve been spending a lot of time trying to figure out what is going wrong and how to get back on target. I’ve been watching plans, schedules and commitments, jumping in to lend a hand—whether it has been requested or not. In reflecting on this, I realized a couple of things that were at the core of our probelm:

• We were no longer focused on success. We’re obsessed with not failing, all our discussions, all our plans, our focus is directed at not failing. While it seems like wordsmithing, it suddenly struck me that we were no longer having conversations on what it takes to succeed. We didn’t realize it, but a discussion focused on not failing is a very different discussion than the one on how to succeed.
• As a sponsor of this project, I didn’t trust the team to not fail. I kept parachuting in, albeit with the noblest of intention and the sincere desire to contribute. I’d conduct reviews, discuss new ideas, throw myself into helping them. Pretty soon I discovered that this was becoming my project, not the team’s project. While I didn’t do this consciously, my behavior was saying to them, “I don’t trust you to not fail, I am here to help you not fail.” It was demotivating and took away their ownership and joy in executing the project.

Well, it hasn’t worked and won’t work. After several hours of quiet reflection, thinking about “fixing” this issue, I discovered several things:

• I was as much a part of the problem and driving the “failure,” as everyone else.
• This was becoming my plan, my responsibility, my problem, not the team’s project.
• My lack of trust was destroying the team and effectiveness.
• Our—becoming my constant focus on not failing was keeping us from succeeding.

I just finished meeting with the team, we had a long painful discussion about what was going on. At times it was painful to each of us. We all wanted to succeed, we just had become unconscious of how our behaviors had changed our focus and direction.

I have made a new commitment to them and to myself:

• It’s the team’s project, not mine.
• The team needs to tell me how I can be most helpful to them, and I need to honor that.
• Most difficult, I need to let go, trusting them to be successful.

Practicing what you preach is tough–and painful.

by David Brock

What’s A Killer Question To Ask A Customer….

Visit enough social networking sites, LinkedIn questions, and sales forums, and you will see questions like this: “What’s a killer question to ask a customer?” or “What’s a killer value proposition that will win?” or “What’s a killer close?”

Someone is always looking for the “killer” approach, as if you can answer that independent of the customer, the situation and the solutions you represent. Is the killer question I ask a consumer looking to buy a new car the same killer question I ask a CEO investing millions of dollars restructucturing his organization and strategy, or the same question I ask an EVP of sales looking to improve the productivity and effectiveness of his sales people?

Continue reading ...

How many calls can you do per day?

Depending on the sales position this person is in, you should be able to reasonably manage anywhere from 20-60 calls per day (remember you need to enter notes so you remember who, what and why you called/talked about). If it’s cold call and all you are doing is placing outbound, you can probably handle 50 - 60 calls (Notes can take 1-2 minutes each call.)

It also depends on what you are selling. If it’s a complicated product, your conversation can last 5-10 minutes or more.

Below are averages based on previous and current career/s I have had. Every product I've sold has been complicated and needed at least 5 minutes of conversation time or more.

My average cold call (with client interested) lasted about 5-10 minutes

My average warm call lasts/ed about 10-40 minutes some times longer. Since I have gained the clients/prospects trust, I can take all the time I need. I also drive the conversation so this allows me to control the amount of time I spend on the phone.

WARNING: Buyer’s say what salespeople do wrong?..PRICE is not on the list!

Published April 23, 2009 Market leadership , Sales , strategy

Business development has been hard enough over the years. Salespeople work hard to grow their existing business while opening new business. When we look at strategies for growing a business we have a number of options;

· Sell more of what you have to your current accounts

· Sell your current accounts new products

· Sell your current products to new accounts

· Sell your current products to new accounts in new markets

· Sell new products in new markets

· Acquire another business, sell their products to your accounts and sell your products to their accounts

I am sure there are more, but above are some that I have used, and I understand the difficulty and costs associated with each. The best way to accomplish any of the above strategies, (and I recommend you only pick 3) is to know your buyers buying process and match your sales process to that buying process. Not many organizations accomplish this, but if you do, you will create tools for each stage of the buying process to help the conversation continue. If you study buyers, what would you say are “the top 5 Sins of salespeople?” As a reminder, the word “sin” means to “miss a mark, or target, goal”. So where are most salespeople missing the mark?

#1 not listening

#2 does not follow up timely

#3 does not understand the problem I am trying to solve

#4 they talk too much

#5 never built a foundation in trust

If you study your market, and conduct win-loss analysis you will find as I have that in most cases 50% of lost sales are neither about the product nor price. 50% of lost sales are due to the process the salesperson is taking to close the sale. Maybe they are doing the all too frequent; “ring the bell selling?” You know what this is…the salesman starts rattling off all the features and benefits he learned in the 15 power point slides of sales training he had and he waits for you, the buyer to ring the bell when one connects. Other words we waits for one of the things he said to hopefully connect to a problem you have, and hopefully you have been able to translate that particular feature into how it will solve your problem.

Based on the above “top 5 sins”, how can salespeople close more sales and drive explosive growth in the markets they serve?

#1. Listen and observe

#2. Ask open ended questions, seek first to understand

#3. After you understand the buyer’s problems, explain how what you are selling solves those problems (since your sales tools probably don’t)

#4. Story-Speak, don’t speak in features and benefits (ringing your bell) but instead share stories of how what you are proposing as a solution to the buyers problem solved it for others who had similar problems

#5. “Serve” your customers, don’t “sell” them

I have personally taught this system to sales teams in various industries and it drives explosive growth in sales and profits. Profits? Yes! When you sell by ringing your bell of features until one connects, (and you may or may not know why) you quickly jump to the negotiation of price. You have not built trust. Sales people who know the buyers problem, understand their pain intimately focus on solving that problem. A buyer who has a salesperson who is speaking to their problems becomes so focused on solving their problem they connect to the solution more than price.

So how is your sales team performing today?

When was the last time you observed your sales people in the targeted group you are trying to grow?

How are you trying to grow your business?

In your target group(s) what are their top problems?

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Start-up sales success

Start-up companies face challenges getting sales traction. It doesn’t matter if the goal is IPO, acquisition, or more VC/angel funding – you need to get sales ramped up quickly. Here are some keys to success:

1. Ensure that all activities are customer focused. Engineering must focus on actual, not perceived needs. While you need to get the technology perfected, you must meet customer needs and respond quickly to customer inquiries & support issues. You are perceived by many prospects as inferior to your established competitors – so don’t risk alienating your limited prospects. A start-up company must view all departments as sales support.
2. Hire a sales team that has a history of startup success. Your field sales team should be given autonomy to do their jobs – no micromanaging! Set standards on price discounting & margin requirements up-front (within reason – what margins do you need if you have little or no sales…).
3. Consider a channel sales model. If you can reasonably expect your channel partners to understand your technology, then engaging them in your growth makes sense – especially if you can’t hire a significant direct sales force early. See http://bit.ly/KKD7Q for a discussion on channel sales partner selection.

Start-up risk can be limited by working smart. Take stock of your financial resources, and think out of the box. Combining these sales strategies with guerilla marketing & social media will increase your odds.

Curtis Waters

The key to learning more about a prospect, customer, or colleague is asking more open-ended questions (questions that cannot be answered by a yes or no) and then listening -- really listening -- with complete attention.

No leading. No prompting. No interrupting. (You can do it.)

Guerrilla Marketing – When Conventional Thinking is Just Not Sufficient

Guerrilla Marketing – When Conventional Thinking is Just Not Sufficient BUSINESS COACH WARNING! Please consult your business advisors, board, attorney, stakeholders, industry regulators or trade association prior to attempting any of these tactics as they may cause harm to you, your business, employees, partners, vendors and more importantly, your reputation. QUESTION: As a business owner, what are some of the more creative, inexpensive activities you have resorted to, in… Continue

First, Let Your Customer Finish Their Sentence, Then Ask Three Questions

#Everyone wants to be heard--they want the chance to express their views and know
they are being listened to. They want the chance to tell their story---and they
need to tell their story to someone who is listening.

#As smart as we are, until we have heard the customer's view, until it comes from their mouths, we are just assuming---and we know what assumptions make us.
If we give the customer a chance to complete their thoughts, we will learn something new.

#If we ask the customer three questions before responding, the quality of both our listening and our knowledge increases exponentially. We can then respond more
appropriately and have an engaged customer.

Read the full article

The Future Of Selling -- Consultative, Solutions and Customer Focused? Deja Vu All Over Again?

I'm frustrated and a little impatient. As a profession, we seem to be doing the same thing over and over, making little progress. Sometimes, I feel like I'm Bill Murray waking up every morning in "Ground Hog Day."

All sorts of sales consultants, guru's, and other self proclaimed experts (probably including me, if I'm honest) make a lot about being consultative, solutions and customer focused, value driven and even provocative in selling. These topics have been fodder for 100's of books, 1000's of articles and $ billions in sales training and other services.

Read this excellent article by Dave Brock