Stuff We Make Up About Our Prospects
• Go through the “no’s” to get to “yes.”
• It takes X number of “no’s” to get 1 “yes.”
• Every “no” brings you closer to “yes.”
I’ve heard these statements in so many sales training courses and read them in so many sales books. No wonder so many people hate cold calling! Who wants to hear “no”? Who wants to go through X number of “no’s” to get to “yes”? That’s exhausting and demoralizing. Ecch!
Wouldn’t it be so much nicer if almost no one said “no”? Isn’t it great to hear “yes”! Wouldn’t it be wonderful to only hear possibilities? Well, you can. And this is how:
I have been writing a lot recently about changing the way that you think. Many times, what we think is a “no” is really something that we are making up! It is important to differentiate between the actual words your prospect says and what you think your prospect is saying. There are the “facts,” or “the words,” and then there are the stories, the things we make up about what we think our prospect is really saying. Frequently, the two have nothing in common!
Learning to hear what your prospect is actually saying versus what you make up they are saying will result in hearing fewer and fewer “no’s” and feeling less and less rejection. This does take some work and practice, like learning any new skill, but it can be done. Here are some examples:
• If a prospect says to you that they are not the decision-maker and that you need to speak with someone else, that is not a “no.” She is not the decision-maker. But if she gives you the name of the decision-maker, that is a “yes.” She is helping!
• When you are trying to set a new business appointment, if a prospect asks you to “send something” instead, that is not a “no.” More than likely, it means you haven’t convinced her yet. Send her something—you now have a second chance.
• If a prospect says she’s busy and asks you to call back, that is not a “no.” That’s a request to call her back. Do so.
• If a prospect’s secretary says that your prospect is in a meeting, that is not a “no.” Your prospect is in a meeting. Ask when she will be done with that meeting, and call back then.
Many of our “no’s” are actually quite neutral. But we don’t hear them as neutral. We read extra or hidden meaning into the neutral words and turn them into something quite different. Examine the facts. Examine what is actually being said. Check to see if you are “making stuff up” about a conversation that, when you examine it, is actually neutral. Is your prospect really saying “no,” or is it a story that you are telling yourself?
Hearing “no” continually is demoralizing and dispiriting. It is difficult to be energized and interested when facing that wall of rejection. Stop hearing “no” by always checking your facts in prospecting and sales situations. As you check your facts, stop yourself from “making stuff up” about those facts. As you do this, you will find that many of your “no’s” disappear. You will hear more “yes’s.” While the “no’s” may never disappear completely, eventually “no” itself will become the aberration. You will then be able to prospect in a whole new way. Go to it!
© 2004 Wendy Weiss
Wendy Weiss, The Queen of Cold Calling & Selling Success, is a sales trainer, author and sales coach. She is the author of Cold Calling for Women and Cold Calling College. Get her free e-zine, Opening Doors & Closing Sales, at http://www.wendyweiss.com.
7 Phrases You Can’t Say in Sales
(Because They Will Undermine Your Credibility and Drop Your Closing Rate)
Years ago, George Carlin listed seven words you can’t say on television. Then HBO came along, said all the words, and the world of television changed forever. Now, I know that even before you read the seven no-no phrases in sales, you might be tempted to think, oh, whatever these are they will eventually become acceptable, too.
There are two big problems with this reasoning.
1. Television has been around for about sixty years so it is still a youngster experiencing growing pains; sales started way back when the inventor of the wheel made a few extras to sell to friends.
2. The seven sales phrases are already being said by salespeople and they are delivering decidedly mediocre results. They live on because veteran salespeople say them and novice salespeople ape them. The cycle continues.
The big challenge with these words is that they undermine the credibility of salespeople and they encourage defensive barriers to spring up in the minds of the prospective buyers. Talk about salespeople shooting themselves in the foot! These phrases either degrade what could be a great sale down to a pedestrian transaction or they scare off buyers. And worse, less experienced salespeople think they are supposed to say these phrases in order to entice buyers. Here is a word to my sales colleagues: No matter whether you are selling products, services, and/or ideas, avoid using these phrases! They will make buyers distrust you. Read the rest of this entry »
December 11th, 2007 in
Communications in Sales | tags: Sales phrases, Selling mistakes |
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Not Enough Fresh Sales Leads? Marketing is the New Sales
Your sales are down and leads are rare. The phone’s not ringing. Let’s blame marketing!
If you join this band wagon to rationalize your poor sales results, you need to step up and take responsibility for your own fate. It’s amazing how often sales teams play the victim here. They blame the marketing department, team or an individual, for their lack of sales.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m on your side. Often, in a typical, let’s say “traditional” organization, there is disconnection between marketing and the sales organization. There is a lack of communication, team work and common goals. Sad but true.
Often, the larger the company, the less marketing serves the individual sales professional. In corporations, it seems the norm for marketing is to concentrate on selling “the brand” and not products and services. Corporate marketing sells ‘the logo’ to trigger trust and positive emotions when people see it. Not all, but most, traditional marketing leans on advertising which fails to work directly for you in attracting new prospects and leads.
In small to medium-sized companies, there is usually a very small marketing team or a single very, over-worked marketeer. Worst, as a business owner or independent professional, you don’t have a budget and you do everything! Again, marketing is absent or not good enough to generate enough new opportunities. Read the rest of this entry »
Another Warm Lead
Saturday morning, I sat in my pajamas, sipping strong, black coffee and petting Ms. Kitty Cat. The telephone rang. Usually on a Saturday morning, I screen my calls, but this morning, expecting a friend, I picked up.
The caller was not my expected friend. She was a financial advisor from American Express. She asked if I had received the mailing I’d requested.
Wendy: I didn’t request a mailing.
Caller: Did you receive a mailing?
Wendy: I don’t know.
Caller: It was from American Express, outlining our financial products.
Wendy: I get a lot of mail.
Caller: So, you’re not interested?
Wendy: You should look at a program called Cold Calling College.
Caller: This is a “warm call.”
We said our good-byes as I choked back hysterical laughter. “Warm Call” … “Cold Call” … However else you might care to categorize it, this was a Failed Call!
I was a qualified prospect. I was not necessarily uninterested. What went wrong?
This caller wanted me, the prospect, to do all of the work. She assumed that because the call was (in her mind only!) a “warm call,” I was interested in the products, knowledgeable about the products and ready to move to the next step. Nothing could have been further from the truth! She made no effort to entice or interest me—instead, we had a conversation about whether or not I had received sales literature!
And then, moving from unbelievable to mind-boggling, this caller assumed rejection! (A standard closing technique is to “assume the sale” and proceed accordingly.) She had it backwards. Because I was not particularly interested in sales literature, she assumed without any questions or attempts to discover what my interests, wants or needs might be that I was saying “no.”
This (non)sales process was also unwieldy. Evidently, someone else had originally called me—I don’t remember—and sent out some sales literature—I don’t remember. What a waste of time and resources! I guess American Express can afford it. You and I cannot!
So, here’s the Master Plan for introductory calls:
1. Determine the goal of your phone call.
2. Set yourself up as an expert.
3. Articulate customer-centered benefits.
4. Ask for what you want (see #1 above—Determine the goal).
5. Use sales literature as a backup only. Do not use it as an introduction (see story above).
© 2004 Wendy Weiss
Wendy Weiss, The Queen of Cold Calling & Selling Success, is a sales trainer, author and sales coach. She is the author of Cold Calling for Women and the recently released Cold Calling College. Get her free e-zine at http://www.wendyweiss.com.
November 17th, 2007 in
Sales Teleselling | tags: Cold calling, qualified leads, Warm Calling |
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Pinging for Success: Creating Search Patterns
One of my first internship jobs as a college student was working for a defense company who, at the time, developed a highly sophisticated torpedo for hunting down submarines and destroying them. The operation of the torpedo was pretty fascinating. The torpedo was launched from the deck of a ship or dropped from a helicopter into the water.
The torpedo would then turn on and initiate a search mode, where it would make circular patterns while constantly “pinging.” Pinging is the sound the sonar device makes when it wants to bounce sound waves off objects underwater. The torpedo had what was called an underwater signature recognizer, a device that compares the echo outlines of each incoming sound wave with a database of other outlines. The goal, find a submarine outline.
Once it detected something that “might” be a submarine, the torpedo would then go after the target. As the torpedo got closer to its potential target, it would continue pinging and comparing each echo (outline) in order to be sure the object was indeed a submarine. The closer the torpedo got, the better the definition of the echo.
The torpedo would break off its “attack mode” if, as it got closer to the acquired target, it realized the silhouette did not match; if the object was a false alarm, it would steer off course. For example, the torpedo was able to discern a submarine from let’s say a whale, a school of fish or an underwater rock formation. So, as the torpedo got closer and discovered the object wasn’t a submarine, it would break off and terminate its attack mode. It would then begin a new search pattern all over again in another area.
Take a lesson from the torpedo’s behavior. Right now, many of you are in the search mode looking for your target. You’re trying to find something—something that will fulfill you, something to look forward to everyday.
“In order to find success, we need to create search patterns.”
But a recent survey confirmed that 53% of people in the workforce are unhappy and over 75% would rather be doing something else. Unfortunately, many are afraid to search for something new or have simply given up “pinging” for their true calling.
Don’t be a statistic. Continue pinging until you find what it is you truly love to do. Only then, will you be successful and more importantly, happy. Remember, the toughest road to success is the road back to you…the real you!
Victor Gonzalez, top Hispanic motivational speaker and author of “The LOGIC of Success”. For more info go to: www.thelogicofsuccess.com or by email victor@thelogicofsuccess.com
Two Mistakes That Will Cost You Money
You’ve met a new prospect, accurately assessed their needs and determined that you can provide the product and service she is looking for. You’ve presented your information in an engaging manner and the prospective customer appears interested. Many salespeople now make one or two very fatal mistakes that cost them the sale.
1. They don’t ask for the sale.
2. They talk the customer out of the sale.
You may scoff and think these don’t happen. After all, how can salesperson or business owner NOT ask for the sale or talk the customer out it? Let’s first address the issue of asking for the sale.
My experience has taught me that the majority of salespeople fail to ask for the sale. Instead, they wait for the customer to say, “I’ll take it.” However, in many cases, the customer doesn’t say this. She may be thinking that the machine will enhance her operation and, hopefully, drive more revenue to the bottom line. She may see that you offer something your competitors do not. She may also want to act quickly and have the equipment delivered and installed in the next few days. But she may not tell you that. Read the rest of this entry »
Why Are We All So Afraid?
What can strike terror into the heart of even the most successful sales professional or entrepreneur?
Cold Calling.
What can crush self-confidence, destroy self-esteem and leave even the most seasoned sales professional quivering with humiliation and defeat?
Cold Calling.
But why?
Every culture has its myths and stereotypes, and one of ours is the stereotype of the manipulative, unscrupulous salesman. The term “sales” conjures images of untrustworthiness and deviousness. We have the stereotypes of the “traveling salesman,” the “used car salesman” and, of course, the “telemarketer.”
These terms do not literally describe what the person is selling; they take on a larger meaning. For example, our cultural translation of “used car salesman” is not simply someone who is selling used cars, but instead means someone who is unethical, uncaring and will pressure you into a sale that is not necessarily in your best interest. “Telemarketer” has come to mean not just someone who sells over the telephone, but someone who interrupts your dinner, doesn’t listen and tries to pressure you into meaningless, valueless purchases. It can also mean someone who is running a scam over the telephone, usually preying on the elderly. Read the rest of this entry »
I Am A Habit
H-A-B-I-T…When 95% of people hear this word, a negative thought pops up in their minds. Typically, most people think of a habit being negative.
The secret to your future lies in your daily habits so ask yourself right now, “Are my habits today going to help me achieve my WHY in life?” This is a life-empowering question if you truly ask it and listen for the answer.
I received the following excerpt from a very dear friend of mine and felt that it is definitely the best explanation of a habit that I have ever heard:
I am your constant companion.
I am your greatest helper or your heaviest burden.
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
I am completely at your command.
Half the things you do, you might just as well turn over to me, and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly.
I am easily managed; you must merely be firm with me.
Show me exactly how you want something done, and after a few lessons I will do it automatically.
I am the servant of all great men.
And, alas, of all failures as well.
Those who are great, I have made great.
Those who are failures, I have made failures.
I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine.
Plus, the intelligence of a man.
You may run me for profit, or run me for ruin; it makes no difference to me.
Take me, train me, be firm with me and I will put the world at your feet.
Be easy with me, and I will destroy you.
Who am I?
I am a HABIT!
One of my daily habits that is the foundation of my life is spending 45-60 minutes each and every morning feeding my body physically by exercising and feeding my mental spirit by reading or listening to a motivational message. This habit warms me up for the day ahead.
Everyone washes their physical body and feeds their body every morning, but 95% of people will find an excuse about why they can not find the “TIME” to invest in a habit of feeding their MINDS! This parallels the statistic that 95% of people are dead or dead broke by the age 65. I consider this particular daily habit of mine to be the driving force behind my ability to consistently maintain my intense focus on the journey of success and living a dream life.
Is it easy all the time? Of course not, but when it becomes a habit – you will do it! If you commit today to begin each morning warming yourself up for the day ahead by feeding your mental spirit, your entire life will change in a positive fashion very quickly. It is like driving a race car with the emergency brake on and you try to go ahead, but you can’t move. You stay in the same location with your wheels spinning, burning up, making a lot of noise, but not going anywhere! All it takes is to release the brake and you will fly towards toward your WHY in life!! You need to review what your habits are and ask yourself…“Would I recommend MY habits to someone I truly love and care about?” Your entire future lies in your daily habits—positive or negative. You have the most powerful force right now in your hands, the ability to decide what your habits will begin to be.
Find Your WHY & FLY!!
As I say,
You must be absolutely clear about your goal and be relentless
in your pursuit of Your “WHY!”
Changing Lives!
John Di Lemme
http://www.FindYourWhy.com
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Selling Services
Selling a service isn’t the same as selling a product. Your prospect is buying an intangible. There are no shiny buttons to show off. You and your company are the visible representations of the service. You need to live up to them in your image (marketing) and in how you “court” the prospect (sales).
When you’re marketing, you focus on opening your prospect’s door. You’re part of the day-to-day noise, which crowds in on her, every day. Your job is to break through that clutter and produce a good enough impression that she is willing to take the next step and meet with you.
Once you get to meet with a prospect, your goals shift. The two main goals in the sales meeting are to get the prospect to reveal their desires (needs analysis) and to see you as the best solution (positioning). Read the rest of this entry »