The difference between being a pest and being persistent

Have you ever wondered how many times you should contact a hot prospect but worry you might be perceived as a pest? We have all heard that persistence in selling is important but when is it too much.

The standard statistic for the number of “touches” is between 7 to 10 times. The average sales person will stop at 5. This means that you can set yourself apart with the additional touches. A “touch” can be a call, voice mail, email, etc. However this type of persistence works best when you are in the beginning of the sales cycle or the prospecting stage. The goal at this stage is to find a qualified prospect who is interested in learning more about your product or service.

Make sure that you bring value to every touch. This means you will have to get creative. You can send information or articles that could be pertinent to their industry, congratulate them if they have won any recent awards or provide them with some new ideas of how you can help their business.

When can these touches go from being persistent to being a pest? Here are a couple examples:

1. When you leave the same voicemail over and over.
2. When you call too many times in a short period of time.
3. When you do not build rapport and seem to be interested in them
only for a sale.

In order to avoid being a pest once you are further along in the sales process, you will want to also follow a few rules:

1. Be sure to always set up a follow up action and set a date for next call while you are still on the phone.
2. Ask questions about when they will move forward.
3. Ask questions about the factors they will be considering to move
Ahead with your product or service.
4. Be straightforward. Let them know that you want to be sure that becoming your client is the right choice for you and the prospect.

You can be persistent without being a pest when the approach is thoughtful and smart. Don’t be afraid to be direct and let your prospect know that you are excited to work with them so you will continue to stay in touch. Your new clients will appreciate your honesty and your persistence.

Your success is our mission!

Warmly,

Joanne

ph: 888.856.3185
fx: 415.663.4183
www.salessolutionsusa.com
www.breakthroughsalessystem.com

What are the qualities of a great sales person?

I get asked this question all the time and have found that there are some consistent qualities of a great sales person in the new rules of business and selling. I was part of a panel discussion a couple weeks ago where there were differing opinions on the qualities of a great sales person. One person was convinced that hunger was the magic ingredient. His sales people were so persistent that they angered his clients and he got complaints about them. The close of the sale is only the beginning of the relationship. I believe it's important to start off on the right foot.

You must be able to:
1. Show them that you understand their needs or problems.
2. Communicate the value of your product or services to your prospect powerfully.

When you are able to do this, I have found that it is not necessary to call to the point of anger with your prospects.

There are new rules to selling which makes these qualities important in a great sales person.

1. Ability to listen
The ability to listen and not pitch is critical in modern selling techniques. Prospects do not care about your business, how long you have been in business or any of the fancy widgets you think is important. A prospect wants to know that you understand their needs and their problems. I heard a quote once that perfectly explains my point which is, "Listen to understand, not to respond." You want to listen for information or clues the customer is telling us, anything from their successes and obstacles, to stories about their children or hobbies. All this will help with the selling process. You also want to be listening for emotional clues about how they feel about your product or service or any fears they may have with moving forward.

2. Ability to empathize
Along with the ability to listen to your prospects, you will also want to be able to empathize with their needs and problems. This means that you are able to put yourself in their shoes and see your product or service through their eyes. This will help you present your value proposition base upon what’s important for them.

3. Have a strong desire to learn and be coachable
Some of the best sales people I have ever met are always ready to learn something new in sales and personal development. They understand that sales is always evolving and they want to improve their skills. They also do not take it personally when someone provides them with feedback or a better approach to their techniques. They are always open to new ideas, scripts and ways to improve their performance.

4. Have a positive attitude
Yes, we have all heard of this before. Now more than ever, this is critical. We all hear the media droning on and on about the problems in our economy. However business must go on! We cannot come to a standstill in our businesses because of these events. Let me put it this way too. Have you ever gotten a tele-marketing call from someone who sounds down and out? Does it inspire you to want to do business with that company? No. We must put our fears and problems aside to sound enthusiastic and energized. This will be attractive to your prospects and encourage them to want to build a relationship with you.

5. Care but not that much
Now this is the secret to my sales success. If someone does not want to do business with you or even continue the sales discussion, there is no reason to take that personal. Not everyone is my customer. My job is to continue my search to find those businesses who are the right customer. When I take this approach, it is never personal. Also, I want to spend my time with the prospects that have the greatest chance of becoming a customer. To do this, I need to quickly brush off any rejection and move on to the next great new prospect who could turn into my great new customer.

Whether you have a sales team or you are selling your own products or services, these are skills that most of us have or can easily learn to foster.

Selling can be fun and by utilizing the skills above, it can also be easy.
Your success is our mission!

Warmly,

Joanne

ph: 888.856.3185
fx: 415.663.4183
www.salessolutionsusa.com
http://www.breakthroughsalesystem.com/

The Science of Six Degrees of Separation and Sales

I was watching a show on one of the discovery channels about the science of 6 degrees of separation. I was surprised to find out this theory goes back before Kevin Bacon. The idea dates back to a 1967 experiment by Stanley Milgram, who tried to determine how many acquaintances it would take to pass a letter between two randomly selected people. The result is it took six steps or fewer to bridge the gap between any two people. Since 1967, there have been various groups of mathematicians and scientists who have worked to prove this theory.

So, how does this apply to business and sales?

Well, whether or not the scientists prove this theory, we can still leverage the concept in our businesses especially with tools out there like Linkedin and Twitter. For many of my clients, the challenge is getting in front of key decision makers to begin a sales dialog to sell their products or services. However, your connections to key decision makers may not take an obvious path. For example, if you want to reach the Director of Marketing at a company like Yahoo, you may be able to leverage relationships around you that you wouldn’t normally think of. You neighbor’s uncle’s wife’s hair dresser may have gone to high school with the Director of Marketing at Yahoo. This would be a great way to get an introduction to this decision maker.

When I was in corporate sales, we did not have tools like Linkedin or Twitter. This makes it even easier than the scenario above. Look through your connections to see who they are connected to and ask for introductions. People are always eager to help. Once you get that introduction, set up meetings either by phone or face-to-face.

Once you get these meetings, it will be important to be prepared with your sales skills. You will want to make the right impression and start your sales dialog off with a bang!

Your success is our mission!

Warmly,

Joanne Hernon
ph: 888.856.3185
www.salessolutionsusa.com
www.breakthroughsalessystem.com
Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joannehernon

What is sales anyway? Wouldn't you like to know...

There seems to be a lot of different opinions about sales out there.I thought I would share mine since I talk about and provide salesanswers every day. Simply put, "Sales" is: Creating and building relationships, communicating value and closing the sale. This last part is what sets sales apart from marketing.

How can this information help your business?

You can use these three as the corner stone of your sales and marketing strategies. It is so important to be strategic and focused on how you continue to keep new leads coming into your pipeline. This will help stablize your income if you focus on the following techniques to brining in new business.

1. Focus on creating and building relationships with your ideal customer. I am sure you have heard this before, but everyone is not your customer. Focus on the types of customers who will bring youthe highest return. 80% of your revenue comes from 20% of your clients. If you focus on bringing in more of the 20%, you will growyour revenue exponentially.

2. Communicate your value to your specific ideal client from their point of view. You want to demonstrate you understand their problems and needs. Then you can demonstrate how you have the solutions. By communicating your value this way, you will build trust and customers need to trust you to buy from you.

3. Closing the sales seems to be the trickiest for people. I hear from my clients that they are not good closers. If you focus on the above, I can guarantee that closing will be much smoother. And don't forget to ask for the sale!

Closing is so easy when you focus on your ideal customer and youcommunicate your value from their point of view. New business with the right clients will help you build a sustainable and profitable business. Not to mention how much more you will enjoy yourself as you create your success.

Your success is our mission!

Warmly,


Joanne Hernon
ph: 888.856.3185
http://www.salessolutionsusa.com/
http://www.breakthroughsalessystem.com/
Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joannehernon

What Could You Do if You Understood What Your Prospect is Thinking?

The answer: Close more business!

Now I am not suggesting that we become some type of mind readers but it is important to understand what motivates our prospects to buy in order to effectively sell to them. If you are able to quickly identify the personality style of the customer, you will know the "hows" and "whys" of what to say to meet their needs. Once they feel that you truly understand them and feel an emotional connections, they will come up with the logical reasons to buy from you.

It is always my goal to make sure that my solution is the right solution for my clients. I do this through a sales process which includes understanding the emotional reasons motivating them to make a purchase. Because of my personality type, I may think certain aspects of my service are important but my prospect may not feel the same depending upon his or her personality type. I need to talk in a way to show I understand them.

Here are the personality types that I use in my selling process as well as in my Sales Mastery Training program:

Analytical - Analytical people are known for being systematic, well organized and deliberate. These individuals appreciate facts and information presented in a logical manner as documentation of truth. They enjoy organization and completion of detailed tasks. Others may see him at times as being too cautious, overly structured, someone who does things too much 'by the book'. When selling to an Analytical personality type, you will want to talk about the numbers. They are not risk takers so you will need to be able to demonstrate logically how making a decision to buy from you would not be a mistake.

Driver - A Driver is a mover and shaker who is definitely not averse to risk. They are extroverted, strong-willed, direct, practical, organized, forceful, and decisive. Look for someone who tells it the way it is and is very persuasive. Watch out or you’ll be worn down and bowled over. When selling to a driver, you will want to get to the bottom line quickly. You will want to show that you appreciate their accomplishments and experience.

Amiable - They are dependable, loyal and easygoing. He or she is a team player, cooperative and easy to get along with, trustful, sensitive and a good listener. Working in groups with cooperative individuals, the Amiable tries to avoid confrontation. He or she enjoys company, performs best in a stable environment, and often has a stabilizing effect on others. The Amiable personality is concerned with the team. You will know someone is an amiable if they always defer to others. When selling to an Amiable, us "We" in your conversations and build yourself in a member on their team.

Expressive - Very outgoing and enthusiastic, with a high energy level. They are also great idea generators, but usually do not have the ability to see the idea through to completion. They enjoy helping others and are particularly fond of socializing. They are usually slow to reach a decision. Often thought of as a talker, overly dramatic, impulsive, and manipulative. Expressive personality types make decisions based upon emotion. They can also make decisions quickly that may can sometimes get them in trouble. You can tell you are talking to an expressive if they are talking about how they feel about something. When selling to them, make sure you express that you understand the emotion reasons why they are making a purchasing decision.

This information is instrumental to my own sales success and for my clients. I am always excited to help my clients have those "Ah ha" moments where they see how they can utilize this information into their own sales process. It helps build confidence and develop new profitable client relationships.

To your success,

Joanne Hernon
CEO of Sales Solutions
http://www.breakthroughsalessystem.com
http://www.salessolutionsusa.com

ABC’s of Selling - The Art of the Close

Do you know how to close a sale?
When we think of sales, it usually conjures up images of a used cars salesman and being pressured to buy. If you have ever seen the movie Glen Gary, Glen Ross you get to take a peek into a sales world of the stereotypical sales person. In this movie there are pressures to close the sale regardless of the customer’s needs and they are willing to go to any length, ethical or not, to make sure they hit their sales targets. When it comes to selling our own products or services, many of us have gone so far the other way. If we do not feel comfortable closing a sale and our businesses may be suffering because of this.

There was a concept from this movie that I have used in to train clients how to sell, feel confident closing and increase revenues to their business. The concept is A-B-C which stands for Always Be Closing. Selling is a process with stages and if you follow a process, you will simply be closing your prospect to the next stage in your own individual sales process. Each business can take the blueprint of the sales process and customize it to their product or service. Here is a sample of a typical sales process:

• Prospecting. Sales is a numbers game. Be sure you have a steady supply of new prospects from multiply sources.
• Qualification / Needs Analysis. Confirm your product or service will meet the needs of the prospect through a series of questions to uncover whether you and the prospect are a good fit.
• Presentation / Proposal. Create your unique value proposition and pricing to meet the needs of your prospect.
• Negotiation. Be prepared to be flexible, within reason, with your new clients.
• Close. Listen for buying signals and do not be afraid to ask for the sale.
• Follow Up. This is one of the most important steps. Your new clients will turn into your new sales force if your follow up is flawless.

To use the Always Be Closing strategy means you are looking to simply close your prospect to the next stage in the sales process. Your individual sales process could be short or long depending upon what type of product or service you are selling. Outline your own individual process for your product or service then use it with your new potential customers. This takes the pressure off of you and the prospect to make decisions quickly and reduces the risk of making the wrong decision.

When you feel comfortable with your process, you will be amazed at how easy it will become to close a sale. Your new clients will be happy you took the time to make sure you are the right fit too. The bottom line is you will confidently be able to close your sales and increase revenue to your business.

To your success,

Joanne Hernon
CEO of Sales Solutions

http://www.breakthroughsalessystem.com/
http://www.salessolutionsusa.com/

Closing the Sale without Being Slick

When it comes to selling skills, many people tell me that they need help with closing the sale. Although closing is an important skill set, it is at the end of the sales process. I have found that the beginning of the sales process is actually where the closing starts. If you create and follow a sales process for your business, you will be closing to each stage in your process. Utilizing the sales process will make closing the sales an inevitable outcome. At the request of several clients, I am focusing this entry on closing techniques. I will provide more details about the sales process in my next entry.

When we think of sales, many of us have an image of the aggressive sales person who is going to pressure us into making a purchase whether we need the product or service or not. This person is trying to separate us from our money. We conjure up images of used car salesmen who might say things like, "What do I need to do to see you in this car today?" Have we gone too far the other way? Are we now too concerned with appearing aggressive that we are too passive when it comes to closing a sale?

Asking the right questions is the key to closing a sale. When I first started out as a fledgling sales person, I was afraid of asking too many questions, bothering someone on the other line and appearing too pushy. My sales results reflected this fear as I had a tough time hitting quota. I made a lot of calls and talked to a lot of people but I was just nice to everyone. Now I have applied proven sales techniques and I am still "nice" but I work towards "closing the sales" always. What I mean by this is I follow the ABC's of selling -- "Always Be Closing."

Closing is not pressuring someone to buy. It is a technique to ask the prospect if they are ready to move forward to the next step in your sales process and if not, then why. Many times there may be questions or concerns the prospect has about your product or service and they simply need further explanation.

As you are in a dialog with your prospect and you are discussing the benefits of your product or service, you want to also be asking questions to gauge their understanding of your benefits as well and their interest level. Here are just a few examples of closing statements that will help you close the sale:

"How does this sound to you so far?"
"When would you like to get started with something like this?"
"Does this sound like something that would help you? How?"
"When would you be interested in moving forward?"

When customers make a commitment to buy from you, they are in reality placing their trust in you to deliver solutions to solve their problems. A customer's commitment to buy is a natural part of the sales process that must make the customer feel good about buying from you.

To compete in today's marketplace, it is important not to manipulate our customers into commitments they later regret. Long-term selling success is built on repeat customers who see results and tell other people about the positive experience they have with your business. You will also be pleased with the results of all the happy customers as well as the increase to your sales numbers.

To your success,

Joanne Hernon
CEO of Sales Solutions
http://www.breakthroughsalessystem.com
http://www.salessolutionsusa.com