Most of my teenage and early adult years I was described as out of control, troubled, difficult and overly-active. Mostly I was just bored out of my mind, looking for activity and adventure and trying to figure out how to make my day interesting. This 'wandering' continued on through high school and college. I graduated from college but it was like pulling teeth and I hated every moment of it. It took me five years to acquire a degree in accounting. I owed the government tens of thousands of dollars and knew more about alcohol and drugs than I did about how to get a job or balance a checkbook. At about the age of 23 I had been labeled as troubled, compulsive, obsessive, attention-deficit prone to an addictive personality and some even suggested I had a disease. Trust me, I knew I was having problems, but had never considered any of them disorders or diseases. I went for this hook, line and sinker, as I knew something was wrong, I just didn't know what it was. It was clear that I wasn't living up to my potential and these labels seem to fit some of what was going on with me.
At the age of 25 I quit the drug thing and it was recommended that I get on prescription drugs to help me handle my "other" problems. Instead of more drugs I took all of the time, energy and misdirection I had been wasting and focused on my career. Almost immediately, I became the top producer where I worked. For the first time in my life I was winning and the more I won the more I wanted to win. Literally the only difference was I took all my restless energy and focused it on one thing- learning my career and my financial stability.
I was working 12+ hour days, when others were working 8. Someone suggested that I had just replaced one addiction/obsession- disorder with another. I couldn't believe it. For the first time in my life I was doing well and was now being told that this too was a problem. Most of the people who I worked with couldn't keep up with my energy so they labeled me with a problem. Who had the problem- why was I getting labeled? The same people that were saying something was wrong with me were either just plain lazy or simply didn't want for much. It hit me that this had been happening since childhood with people always finding something about me that was somehow wrong or bad or deficient. Why aren't the labelers being labeled? Maybe they have the problem and need to be labeled with "under-performance disorder" or "settle for crumbs compulsion" or " gave up on the dream disease"?
I decided in that moment that I would no longer accept the labels of others and use all my energy even if it was a problem to focus on what I wanted. I started reading 2-3 books a week, listening to audio programs daily and learning from highly successful people. All the successful people talked about being 'all-in' on an idea, none of them talked about balance - they were all obsessed with an idea. It made me think, "Is the commitment to do something extraordinary so profound that in order for 'ordinary' people to make sense of the 'extraordinary' they label it something bad?" Also all of these people had an interest in doing something very special as though they were going to leave their imprint or footprint on planet earth.
Once I made these same decisions I quickly reached the top 1% of all sales people in my industry and went on to build three successful businesses. To make things happen you need a lot of drive and an unwavering commitment to do so. In the last 18 months I have written three books (one of which became a NY Times Best Seller), written over 120 articles that have been posted around the world, created a virtual training product and a phone app and still able to make time for my family everyday.
Here are a few steps you may want to take today:
Quit allowing people to label you- tell them to !@#$- off.
Take all your creative energy and focus on your purpose.
Become obsessed with the concept of leaving a footprint on this planet.
Someone told me recently, "you have attention deficit", and I told him, "broham, just because you can't get my full attention don't make me wrong." Today, I dare anyone to label my gifts a disease, dysfunction or a deficit. I was doing an interview in my home when I was asked, " are you obsessed with success?" I told them, "ABSOLUTELY! It is my ethical responsibility to create success - show me anyone that has done something exceptional who is not compulsive, obsessive and even addicted to manifesting his/her ideas." If these traits are considered disabilities or disorders or problems, I want some more of them because it takes a lot of energy to leave your footprint on this planet!
Video Strategy: Creating an Internet Presence (Part 2)
After multiple frustrated meetings with high priced gurus I committed to travel into this new universe and explore it for myself in order to grow my presence on the internet. The first thing I did was get my websites in place so that they were a place for people to come to find out about me and my company. This should be considered the passive creation of your presence. I then created multiple websites centered around me, our products, our services, our area of expertise and any other endeavors or achievements associated with those sites in order to increase my footprint.
The next steps required the entrepreneurial think and actions where you will take every social media site available; Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Buzz and others and USE them to gather people that are interested in your products and services by building fans and followers. The way to do this is to give your audience information that they find valuable and useful. Social media is like creating a place for people to gather. People want to be entertained, feel good, be right, make good decisions, know things others don't, stay connected, make money, save money, hear the latest gossip, and be on the 'in'. For social media to work you have to be entrepreneurial, creative, engaging and entertaining. Understand the internet is about people not technology.
Now you are going to combine the social networking with Blogging, where you write information articles for like-minded websites that have similar interest and also launch as much informational video/visual content as you can on You Tube, Daily Motion, Veoh and the likes. Obscurity is your problem with the internet. This combination of active efforts will get you a footprint in the internet universe and the more creative, consistent and relentless you are the greater your presence will be and the more attention you will get.
After a just a six month push on the net using the actions above our followers increased 10x. About the same time I received a call from world class Wiley Publications who had discovered some of my blogs and offered me a book deal. That book, If You're Not First, You're Last, recently became a New York Times and Wall Street Journal Best Seller. Just weeks later, I got a call from a television production company in New York stating they had been looking for someone with my skill set for a television show and that they had found video of me on YouTube. We just finished shooting the teaser to pitch to the networks.
Anyone can get a presence once you understand these four things:
1) You can NOT delegate this activity.
2) It is way bigger than you imagine.
3) The Internet is about technology, it is about people.
4) No single effort or action will get you what you want. You will utilize all of them.
I recently heard a consultant state to a mutual client that he was evaluating Facebook. I thought to myself, 'you are dead and don't know it yet.' The client asked me what I thought and I told him, Facebook and YouTube have been the single best things that ever happened to my business. Facebook by itself has more users than the entire population of the United States and I would like to know them all.
After just a bit of work we are in better communication with our client base today than ever before and have now horizontally extended to individuals and companies both here in the USA and around the world. The feedback received from them is proving unbelievably valuable allowing my company to create new products and solutions that comes from the constant communication and feedback. At the beginning of the year we introduced an virtual online product that is screaming and about to release a new phone app for sales professionals, all as a result of this new internet presence.
This internet thing is much bigger than anyone understands and the biggest mistake people make is not to be on it and not USE it. Second mistake is not to have each of your people be an extension of your presence. The third biggest mistake is the incorrect estimation of effort required and how many different fronts you must attack. You ain't delegating this one unless you have someone in your organization that has more entrepreneurial juice than you do.
Video Strategy: Creating an Internet Presence (Part 1)
Creating an internet presence requires more effort than building a website and hiring a geek to manage your Facebook page. And don't think you can learn about it in a two day seminar. That would be like thinking you could cap the BP spill with a toothpick. Just like you can not learn leadership skills at a 3 day retreat you will not create a true sustainable presence on the internet by delegating it to tech geeks and gurus.
The first thing to understand is the enormous and massive opportunity. Estimates suggest the internet will have just under 2billion unique visitors this year with 4.2billion unique internet addresses, housed in some 44+ million servers that consume 5% of the world's electricity. Amazing it comprises some 40 million gigabytes of information which only weighs 56 millionths of a gram. Some 90 trillion emails in 2009 of which 80% were spam come from some 235 billion different websites. The point of all these facts is that you must think in terms of a universe that is massive, yet weighs nothing. For a company or individual to create a presence in this vast universe and then maintain that presence it will take more than a fancy website, a techno-geek, a guru, a Facebook page, a tweet or two and a few video testimonials on YouTube.
I have spent tens of thousands of dollars on fancy websites only to find out that the moment they were live they were already dated and no one could find them. Then I spent hours in meetings with supposed SEO gurus who told me it would take me years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to create the presence I wanted.
First let's dispell some myths:
1) No one guru can create a presence for you. 2) You can not delegate this activity. 3) The internet is bigger than a department. 4) SEO, Social Networking, Blogging, Video do not stand alone as efforts. 5) It does not cost 100's of thousands of dollars.
Your internet presence initiative will require a massive effort of resources in order to create, maintain and sustain a presence that generates real clients and real money for your company. You will have to utilize all social media not one or the other-- FBook, MySpace, Flikr, LinkedIn, Buzz and whatever else is to come. Then you will be forced to blog and write articles for like minded sites, tweet and use video sites to disseminate, (not advertise) information that is useful, maybe even secret and then do it in a way that is entertaining. And close out these efforts by engaging traditional efforts like TV and radio to bring even more credibility and life to our efforts.
Part 2 will be out on Thursday, or you can Call 800-368-5771 and have it sent to you.
When economies change from being very optimistic and positive (expanding) to very difficult and negative (contracting) people generally move through a number of responses. These responses are somewhat similar to experiencing the loss of a loved one. The first response is denial, then anger, resentment, and for some, apathy before they are able to accept the situation and DO what is necessary to recover from the loss or change in conditions. Those that succeed during major economic contractions use these challenges to inspire solutions, creativity and new levels of production!
The current economic situation is not hopeless and you should not give up, and more importantly there is something you can do. This moment presents a great opportunity for those who really 'up' their game, their attitude, and their responsibility levels. For the last twenty-five years I have been able to work with individuals and companies to help them obtain their goals. I have had the pleasure of learning a great deal from many exceptional people, and the one common trait is their commitment to growing--regardless of any and all challenges. The amount of creativity that comes as a result of this commitment is magical. Now is the time to commit to increased levels of success and not use the economy as an excuse but as inspiration! There are exact actions that must be employed during economically challenging times that are different than when times are good.
The most important step is to first make the decision to expand, conquer and even exploit the challenges! There exist simple, doable and exact actions that will make sure you and your business thrive and that will allow you to seize market share away from your competitors. Now is the time to learn exactly what you have to do so that you can advance and conquer the market and create your own economy. This is a different time and it requires different ideas and different actions. You can no longer afford to be dependent upon the economy in which you live and work, as it has nothing to give you or your company! A weakened or even damaged economy is an opportunity for the strong to take market share from weaker competitors. Your attitude must be to USE the contracting events to create the economy you want for yourself, your company, and your family, independent of the local, national, or world economy. Whether you know it or not, there are great advantages to periods of economic contraction, and once you know the secrets of exploiting those, you will expand and conquer while others shrink, submit, and disappear. If you are afraid the economy will be tough for some time but are not the type of person to quit and are willing to learn and do whatever is necessary to forward the progress of your finances and your business, COMMIT NOW TO BEING FIRST IN YOUR MARKET. You are not alone in the number of people who are looking for answers today during these challenging times, as many have become aware that their position is dependent upon what they do each day.
WARNING: There is a big difference between those looking for answers and those who are willing to actually learn and execute. Most of your friends and family unknowingly have already ceased believing there is anything they can do, but not you! I congratulate you for searching for the answers; they exist only for those who commit to being first in their markets!
Your presentation of your product or service is where you build value and desire for ownership. This is where you have to paint the picture of ownership and create the "must have this" because they love your solution or because they are certain it will solve problems for them. The presentation of your product or service should handle every concern, build value and motivate your prospect to ownership.
Have you ever given a sales presentation and felt like your never connected with your prospect?
Have you ever given the presentation and they didn't seem all that interested or, even if they were interested, they didn't want to buy from you?
Here are five tips which will help you to avoid this ever happening to you again, and these tips will help you give sales presentations which consistently sell:
Tip #1: Tailor the presentation to your prospect's dominant buying motives. Before you can give a presentation, find out what drives or motivates your buyer the most. "What is the single most important thing you would like to resolve?" "If there was one thing you could fix, what would it be?" Before you present your product, ask lots of questions and dive deep into the answers so you can understand what problem he is trying to solve. Understand that no one buys anything without trying to solve some problem, even if they don't see it as a problem.
Tip # 2: Use the "magic question" in the presentation.
The "magic question" will make the need for many presentations and proposals disappear. That's why it's magic. With this question you simply ask, "Just suppose that I give you a presentation on our products and services, and you see they're a perfect fit for you, what would happen next?" The answer to this question will often indicate the next best step-- whether it's to launch into your presentation or more likely, you have more work to do with this prospect.
Tip # 3: The 20%+ 10x rule.
If you give a standard, one-size-fits-all presentation, hoping that something you say will be relevant and hit a hot button, chances are your prospect won't be listening. If you are giving a standard presentation, you are leaving it up to your prospect to work out what is relevant and most prospects simply can't be bothered. Assume that 20% of your product will sell 100% of it; find out what the 20% is and hammer it home. To give highly relevant presentations, only present those aspects of your products and services that are relevant to the prospect's specific problem. Ditch the rest, but then be sure that what you do present demonstrates 10 times the price of the product.
Tip # 4: Paint pictures of ownership.
With tip #1, I said to only give a presentation once you understand your prospect's motivation for solving his problem. During your presentation, you then simply paint the picture of how your prospect will use the product or service to solve the problem. Paint pictures of ownership: "Your people will use this daily and save your company money." You reflect back what they've told you about what the problem is costing and how the new product will save money. Assuming your product does indeed make sense financially or otherwise (and you should not be giving a presentation unless it does), your prospect will be very motivated to buy.
Tip #5: Always, always, always write up the buyer after the presentation.
This tip may seem obvious, but selling to prospects will not happen without a write up. This is one of the first things my company seeks to improve when we work with an organization, and it's one of the biggest mistakes made by sales people and companies. To not write up after a presentation means your presentation was a waste of time. I will get to a price proposal 100% of the time even if I have to force it. In this way you will also give yourself a competitive advantage because so many companies have been taught to wait until all the stars are perfectly aligned before presenting price.
Apply these five tips and watch how your sales presentations will consistently sell!
The world of selling has changed forever and now companies must use information-assisted selling in order to ensure growth revenues. The convergence of the internet and a less-than-perfect economy are putting double pressure on companies that are dependent upon sales to search out new ways to sell their products and services. While discounts seem to be the favorite mode of operation, some companies are actually seeking new ways to handle customers in order to effectively improve their bottom line.
With growing numbers accessing the web either for information or the purchase itself, organizations that are unable to use information to assist them in the sale will find themselves extinct. Lets face it, very little new information has been offered up to the sales world since the days of Dale Carnegie, yet the world has changed dramatically. Back in Carnegie's day competition only existed between local competitors and now competition is global. Things like customer satisfaction did not even exist as a corporate term when most of the old philosophies were created, now companies are rewarded by manufacturers and consumers for their ability to satisfy customers. The current market place has proven that companies have been teaching their people archaic and highly ineffective approaches. As a result, the reputation of sales people is only higher than that of lawyers with even the unemployed avoiding sales as a career. The sales industry is treated with disdain because of the ploys promoted by the so called 'sales-gurus' of decades past that have damaged the industry's attractiveness.
Combine that negative reputation with US retail numbers suggesting nearly twice as many stores closing as opening and it's no wonder that companies are aggressively investigating new ways of reaching and selling customers. I developed information-assisted selling as a new way of handling customers where the company uses information in order to assist consumers in the selling of their product or service. I first introduced information-assisted selling to solve problems for auto dealers. This new way of selling was immediately validated with improvements in sales effectiveness, employee retention, and customer satisfaction.
By survey from real sales situations, consumers suggest that sales organizations have become predictable, that they avoid information in order to "control" the sales process. This outdated approach was heavily promoted over the last three decades or more and I believe it's the reason for high turnover and ineffectiveness. Information-assisted selling anticipates and initiates buyer-sensitive issues and uses information as a way to control the sales process. This causes the prospect to be happily surprised by the willingness to make service senior to the sale. This leads to better results (more sales) from a highly sensitive consumer who is looking for reasons not to buy.
Corporate America is now searching for solutions to the most difficult sales environment in 25 years. New ways of selling customers may finally be an option worth investigating. When the internet hit critical mass it became obvious to not just auto dealers, but to all industries, that companies must learn a new way to communicate with and handle a more informed, internet-savvy customer to have any chance at making the sale. Information-assisted selling is an intelligent, effective and customer friendly method that reduces the time spent in the sales cycle, creates a better relationship, and gets better results.
No one denies that the economy is different and that the customer has changed, so who would think that the way in which you sell them would not also have to change? In these times, anyone with a computer and internet connection can know they best prices on your product. That fact, coupled with the forces of a very difficult economy, makes a company dependent upon every sale for its revenue, for it's future survival. Thus, companies must embrace new ways of selling-- information-assisted selling is the new way for handling the informed and more selective consumer.
I stated at the beginning of '09 that sales jobs would be the place to be during this major economic contraction and recently Forbes looked to the online job site Vault.com for a clear snapshot of the current job market. Vault.com developed a list of recession-proof jobs by examining all the 1.2 million jobs it aggregates through its partner site simplyhired.com and then determined the ones that were available in the greatest number. Sales jobs represent 4 of the top 7 most recession-proof jobs (see below).
Unemployment rates continue to rise currently to the highest level since 1983. The already bad news is getting worse-- the question is what do you do about it? The way to counter the gloom and doom is always to ask yourself a good question. If you are out of work it would be-- what jobs do companies have to have?
While you may detest the idea of selling, learn to sell and you will never be without work and never without money no matter how bad the economy gets. The reason sales jobs are recession-proof is because companies depend on sales for revenue. Organizations depend on sales like the human body depends on blood. Companies always need sales people because they depend on revenue for survival. Job hunters can find reasons to be optimistic if they are willing to go where the growth is. Those who know how to sell or who are willing to learn how to sell will always been in demand! Don't believe that sales people are born, that is a myth. Anyone who is motivated, likes people and who is willing to be trained can learn to sell and be successful at it... Anyone!
Assist in ringing the register and you are WANTED! Also selling can be fun, you have the ability to control your own schedule, it has the potential for unlimited income and there are lots of tax write offs. Here are the top 7 jobs listed by Forbes: 1) Registered Nurse 2) Retail (store manager or retail associate) (sales) 3) UPS Driver 4) Financial advisor (sales) 5) Occupational Therapist 6) Sales 7) Customer Service (sales)
You may think that I miscounted how many jobs are sales positions in the above list. Just for the record, number 4 is a financial advisor and that is a sales person with a license to sell insurance products and recommend financial products in which to invest!
That is probably why demand for our new online virtual sales training site is such a big hit right now. It allows organizations to train their sales people 24/7 in the comfort of their own location, on their own schedule. Using virtual online technology, we are now able to provide companies with everything from very basic training to the most advanced sales techniques/motivation for pennies per employee. The sales person or manager is even able to access hundreds of selling situations (problems) and find out, in seconds, what I would do in a similar situation.
Call yourself a salesperson, problem solver, or what you will, but know that nothing happens in a free economy until someone sells something. During periods of major economic contractions all the titles in the world are stripped and companies cut back on anything and everything until they realize that the heartbeat and survival of the company is in the selling of its products and services. Companies are always willing to hire sales people.
For an exact breakdown of the job description and income read the article below. http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/career-articles-the_most_recession_proof_jobs_right_now-1045
The so-called Great Recession, the longest and deepest since the Great Depression, may be over but you won't feel relief unless you and your company are able to sell your products and services. Businesses and individuals may find relief in the idea that the Recession is finally ending, but trust me, you won't feel any relief in how the market responds to your products and services unless you master selling, building the value-add propositions and closing the deal. Selling, not organizing, not planning, and not product development, is the most important skill of every company when coming out of a recession. The only way now to grow your company is to grow revenue and that means selling!
Most economists think the recession ended in the summer or early autumn and the Commerce Department's advance estimate of third quarter gross domestic product came in at 3.5 percent, the strongest gain since the third quarter of 2007. We won't know for sure which month the recession ended until the National Bureau of Economic Research makes the call, and they usually wait for several months after the fact until the data are unequivocal. But who cares and what does it matter when it ended? The only thing that matters is how to you drive revenue by getting your products and services sold into the market. When the recession ended or began is no more than a history report. Surviving is about what you do today and tomorrow, not what happened yesterday.
Even if the recession is over, the people and companies that need your products will still be left with residual fear for some time to come as a result of the economic implosion over the last year. Unemployment numbers will continue to climb and consumer confidence will stay weak. Decision makers will be protecting cash and continue to hoard cash.
The single most important skill today is the ability to sell over objections, budgets, and fears. Just getting in front of the right person is an art. Overcoming fears and resistance and successful closing a transaction and getting companies or individuals to part with their cash is the lifeblood of the organization. If you are a business person and hate this idea of selling, you will feel like the recession continues on long after it is over. Now is the time that you and your organization learn everything about selling so that you can take market share away from the weak. Now is the time for your company to make sales training and sales solutions the number one most important single activity of the organization.
Mistakes Made in Handling Price (During the Greeting)-
Mistakes Made in Handling Price (During the Greeting)-
Any form of "no", "can't", "not yet", financial qualifiers, "I don't know" or the like will guarantee you fail in the greeting and are mistakes!
Avoid these responses:
I don't know
I can't tell you
It depends
We can't give you that yet
Best price comes from my manager
How much do you want to put down?
What price would you pay?
Any and all jokes are suicidal.
While you certainly don't want to give prices prematurely you will only make the situation worse by saying any of the above.
You have to walk this fine line of assuring them you will take care of them and get them the best price....
To know all the right things to say at ALL times in ANY situation, call for you free access to Sales Training Virtual Technology where Grant Cardone will be your personal coach on every deal and in every situation 24/7 whenever you need him.
Attitude (1)- your mental disposition, feeling, position to another or a thing. It can be negative, neutral, good or great.
To sell you need a great attitude. Your paycheck is dependent upon this one thing! Without it you have no chance.....
Your attitude is that "x" quality that is difficult to measure but so critical in the road to the sale that we include it as a step to the sale itself. This step is taken before you get to a customer....before you take a call, handle an appt or take your first physical step to greeting a customer!
Without the right attitude- the steps you take will not matter...Many sales people underestimate the value of the steps of the sale only because they incorrectly asses that the steps don't benefit them. They become convinced to shortcut and miss steps----what is really wrong is their attitude.
This goes back to you being convinced and sold that attitude is critical to your and your customer being successful.
People typically don't buy from people they don't feel good around and if they do, they make their decision on price only.
So if you want to ensure that you get the lowest price for your product have a negative and neutral attitude. If you want every chance to get a higher price then have a great attitude and nothing less.
This is not just about being positive it is about 1) Knowing you are going to sell the customer, 2) dressing like a winner, 3) carrying yourself professionally, 4) having light in your eyes, 5) a smile on your face and 6) service in your heart!
Attitude will determine how far you ultimately get in life. Hard work will not ensure that because if you have a neutral or negative attitude your hard work will not pay off.
There exist three basic groups of sales people and employees in the workplace. Two of these groups are at high risk of either losing their jobs or seeing their income get hammered. There is one group that not only will be protected but is greatly needed and valued in the economy.
1) Poor Performers - performing below levels at which the cost to your employer does not out-weigh what you produce. This person is not in the game all the way, rarely considers creative solutions and performs just shy of what is expected of them. Typically they find fault with the company and spend a lot of energy and effort complaining rather than doing. The tend to exhibit some clues as to their lack of commitment with signs of tardiness, leaving early, low levels of effort, and overall not interested in the survival of the company and only slight interest in their job. This group has a high risk of losing their job or having their incomes slashed and almost no chance of producing financial security for themselves or their families.
2) Average to Good Performers - Good, dependable, trust worthy sales people (or employees) that do their job but not much more than that. They know the product and have a basic understanding of their job but you don't see a great deal of motivation from them to take it to another level. While this group believes they are doing what is required of them when a company starts cost cutting again this group is considered because it is not clear that they produce more than they cost. This group incorrectly believes that because they do 'their' job, may have tenure and show up each day they are protected. While they show signs of promise and they know what to do, their production is spotty at best. The only way they or management make sense of their production levels is to compare it to the poor performers which makes their production look acceptable. Management can easily confuse this group with the 1st group when it comes to the next round of cost cuts. Remember that in sales you don't need to be let go to be unemployed. This group is at risk and does not know it. Certainly their income and financial futures are at risk.
3) Over Performers - this group of employees produces at levels so far above others that the company will never let them go. They are unreasonable in the amount of action and creativity they use to produce and they do produce. They don't talk about their production, they just produce, they solve problems while others make excuses. The revenue and relationships they have are worth way more than their cost to the company and the company depends on their production. Even when they have difficulty closing a transaction the amount of visible outward action they are taking is so noticeable that they are valued. You will see these people taking actions that others would never take in order to make things happen. They are willing to do what others won't do and typically break the rules that the other two groups seem to adopt. They also tend to move by themselves. Only a management team that is psychotic will get rid of these people. This group is never at risk and will always be able to produce income no matter the economy.
You know the old political saying, "it's the economy stupid." Well today the saying is, "it's the economy stupid and you'd better do something about it!" Look, the only way to protect your position and job today is to be in the third group of over performers. All others are not just at risk but at high risk. The way a company measures production today most easily is how much revenue you can generate. This is the single best indicator that you are valuable to your company and the revenue that you generate is determined by how much action you take!
Doing your job, showing up on time, being a team player, tenure and the likes are nice but they don't pay the bills. If you don't want to become one of the 27 million unemployed or see your income cut in half it is critical that you become seriously unreasonable in the efforts you make to contributing to the company and being labeled an over-performer.
Staying late, starting early, going the extra mile, doing other things than just those things required of you, being unreasonable, prospecting your neighborhood, and doing whatever is necessary to produce or assist in the generation of revenue opportunities are the only things that will protect you. Let your actions and results alone be an indication that you are in the group of over-performers and you will not need to rely on office politics to insure your position in the workplace.
Do you know why your sales leads don't close or is it a mystery to you? Too often sales go unclosed and the salesperson has no conception of why. In my book, The Closer's Survival Guide, I isolate ten specific reasons a deal doesn't close. Closing a deal is like a recipe and if you leave out a key ingredient your cake ain't gonna bake. I cannot stress enough how important it is for you to adopt this concept, especially when so many are caught up in the financial bad news. Learn the key components to closing the deal and you will be able to sell in any economy.
I've listed the ten barriers below.... If you don't know them, get this book and devour it. If you have the book, go read this section again. It will only help.
This week we're going to examine one of the most powerful tools you have to increase your sales. Calling back those that you didn't close.
First, I want to say this: It's better to make the call and fail than not make the call at all. Its better to make the call sooner than later (more on that in a bit).
So why don't many salespeople use the phone effectively and consistently when they know that the only way to get people to return is to call them. Face it... you already have time and money invested, now is not the time to quit. To start over with a new prospect when you haven't finished this one does not make a lot of sense.
So why don't sales people follow up? - Don't have to (not required). - Don't know how to. - Don't know what to say. - Lack of effective time management. - Fear missing new opportunities while chasing old ones. - Can not figure out what to do next with this client believing you have exhausted all efforts.
I am not going to handle all this here but want to see if I can convince you of two things. 1) make the call regardless, and 2) make the call as soon as the buyer leaves (or you leave your buyer). Let's say I own a store and we couldn't close the customer who had driven miles to visit us and collect information about our product. The first thing that will happen is that the customer will be called back (no exception), regardless of what happened. Secondly, the customer will get a call before leaving our property.
I know this seems a little crazy as you can come up with many reasons not to follow people up and even crazier when I tell you to call people before they leave the property. But that is what I do! I do the crazy things, not the normal things. 72% of all customers who return will buy! Waiting until tomorrow or until they get home or whenever is just your way of procrastinating. This is one of the great weaknesses of mankind and the 'death rattle' of sales people. Call them back now. You just spent two hours with them call them while they are leaving. That means you need their cell phone.
"John, Grant Cardone here. I need you to turn your car around and come back! I have something I have to show you." "What is it?" the customer says, "I just spent three hours there". I'd say, "I can not tell you over the phone, come back now!"
You will be shocked how many people will return and even more blown away at how many will appreciate you taking the time to call them and show interest right away. I have had people tell me, thanks for calling me before I got all the way home. When they get back, create other products or inventory to show them that you did not consider while they were here and in most cases your buyer will either demonstrate that you were on the wrong product or they will show their hand and close on the product offer you had them on.
Try this today and I guarantee you a deal tonight! Call everyone and Call now and watch your sales go up. This is the action of a super freak. When it works for you email or call with your success story and I will send you out a super freak poster signed by me.
You want to make more money? You want more sales? Then quit blaming the economy and get completely unreasonable and immediate with all your actions. Do what others refuse to do and you will advance and conquer your market!
Sign
At about the age of 23 I had been labeled as troubled, compulsive, obsessive, attention-deficit prone to an addictive personality and some even suggested I had a disease. Trust me, I knew I was having problems, but had never considered any of them disorders or diseases. I went for this hook, line and sinker, as I knew something was wrong, I just didn't know what it was. It was clear that I wasn't living up to my potential and these labels seem to fit some of what was going on with me.