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Have you ever asked a salesperson a question and instead of getting your answer, you are asked another question? While this may seem frustrating, it is common for an experienced salesperson to use this tactic. Experienced sales people understand the art of questioning and how to take control of a conversation by asking questions. It is the inexperienced salesperson who thinks that by talking or presenting, you’ll take control of the conversation.

Many salespeople never learn the power or value of asking questions and this can prevent them from reaching higher sales volumes. The most important thing to establish is a purpose for the conversation. I am surprised by how many salespeople initiate a sales conversation without a plan or objective for the outcome. In this article we explore methods of taking control of a conversation using a few rules to follow as we enter into a conversation.

If conversations were a game and points were awarded toward a victory, the victory would always go to the person who asks the most questions. In sales, we sometimes think we’re in control when we’re talking or presenting. Too often an inexperienced sales person believes that an aggressive sales pitch and going straight for the presentation will impress the client. This might work well on a used car lot, but it does tremendous damage on the sales front in business to business. The following are a few rules to help you maintain control of a sales conversation.

Rule No. One: Set the stage at the beginning of the call.

If you don’t begin your appointments by gathering or verifying your information, the contact may be in the dark about why you are talking to them in the first place. By sharing your objective with the contact, you invite their support and assistance toward your goal. In this way, you are asking the contact to help you achieve the right objective.

This will establish the team effort and your contact will know why you are asking some of the questions you might ask. Here is an example: “Before we review and present the benefits of my service, let’s verify that my assessment of your application is accurate, by confirming a few questions.”

Rule No. Two: Prepare for the contact and the conversation.
Seasoned salespeople know the questions they will ask, and based on the answers they get they will guide clients through the conversation they desire. They ask open and closed probing questions toward an objective. For some, the skill of asking questions has become an art form. They intuitively know the questions to ask — to get the information they need — to move forward in the sales process. For the less experienced, each opportunity in front of a contact is challenging and in these cases, preparation is key. We recommend you walk into each situation with a minimum of three questions.

Rule No. Three: Slow down, savor the opportunity and listen.
Regardless of the situation, take your time. There is nothing worse than to rush a conversation even if you have another appointment later. Always allow for enough time, when you can’t either reschedule or push back the next appointment. If you are prepared and confident, you can take time with your questions. Listen intently and use silence when appropriate. A little silence will often prompt the client to offer more information to fill the void of discussion. Remember, the answers will help you develop the next question. If you feel rushed, slow down, act relaxed. It might also be wise to ask for a drink of water.

Steve Martinez is a Sales Management Growth Strategist and Founder of Selling Magic. Ask for a Sales Audit and subscribe to his ezine to Increase sales with the best practices of sales management at Selling Magic

Think it’s a hard thing to do? Think again my friend. You don’t need to be that good of a salesperson either. I’m sure you’ve heard this “That person is such a great salesperson they could sell snow to an Eskimo.”

To find the answer to what make these salespeople so great I studied them. Here’s what I found each one had in common.

#1. They all studied their potential customers to learn their needs and desires.

#2. They were all creative and knew how to target only people that had a need or desire for the product or service they were selling.

#3, They each had determination.

The first trait I’m sure all of you reading this article have. You can all ask questions. Just make sure you fashion your questions in a manner that gets you the information you need to learn the person you’re asking needs and desires.

By now I’m sure you’re saying to yourself, “Yea, but how can I sell snow to people that already have more snow than they know what to do with.” To do this you will need to have the second characteristic of the super salesperson.

Creativity is something we all have. It’s just some of us don’t know it. Here’s how I found the answer to how to sell snow to Eskimos. I posted a question on marketing consultant Willie Crawford’s message board at:

http://www.williecrawford.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi

The question I asked was “What can you make out of snow?”

Willie gave me a list of things that could be made out of snow. You see Willie stayed in Alaska for a while and knows snow. I myself have no idea because I live in Texas and rarely every see snow.

I also posted my question on the “Home Business Web Sites Forum” ran by Steve MacLellan a Canadian. Steve told me of a Hotel built of snow and ice in Canada. He also mentioned a few other items that could be made from snow and/or ice. Steve is a web developer but knows more than I about snow. You can post business related questions on his message board at:

http://www.homebusiness-websites.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi

Steve is very knowledgeable and helpful.

While I’ve never sold a single Eskimo snow, If I were really determined to do so I could. How? >From the list of things Willie and Steve gave me of what could be made from snow and our discussion of living in Alaska. I found several ways I could process or repackage snow to sell to Eskimos.

Let just say I was determined to sell Eskimos snow. The first thing I would need to do is talk with some Eskimos to find out what their needs and wants are. Then all I would need to do is show them how my snow-based product is just what will satisfy their needs and desires.

So remember ask questions, satisfy needs and desires, and be determined. And soon people will be saying you can sell snow to Eskimos.

Determining your RV’s TRUE Wholesale Value

The first thing you need to know is that the ONLINE valuation guides for RVs are usually much higher than the values in the dealer’s copy of the NADA guide. In other words, what YOU think your RV is worth is probably much, much higher that what the DEALER will actually allow for it.

This is the same for the automotive, boat or RV industries. The dealer MUST take trade-ins at or below wholesale to ever hope to eventually make a reasonable profit. He must allow for interest payments on his used inventory, commissions to sales people, overhead, and much more.

A typical mid-sized RV dealer will have a monthly overhead of $50,000 to $150,000… or more per MONTH! Believe me, it’s not an easy game. He has laid out millions of dollars to allow you to browse a decent selection of RVs, so please… Don’t think of him as the bad guy.

Online RV Valuation Sources

Lets take a look at the online RV valuation sources and how to use them in order to place a realistic wholesale and retail value on your RV.

The best place to get fairly accurate online values for RVs is at: www.nadaguides.com

Go to the RV section and select the appropriate letter that corresponds to the make of your RV.

Now is where you’re going to have to grit your teeth and do something completely against your nature. DON’T ADD FOR ANY OPTIONS! The dealer won’t, so in this case we won’t either. Understand that we are only trying to determine what the dealer will allow for your trade-in. This doesn’t mean that you have to take it. In fact, you will be many dollars ahead if you decide to market your RV on your own, and then approach the dealer on a cash only basis…. But that’s another topic we’ll address in another article.

At the bottom of the NADA page, click on the “Get Price” button. Now, let you your jaw drop as you look at the value for: “Low Retail.”

Now emit a mild groan, because it gets worse from here. DEDUCT another 7% to 10% of that figure to establish the wholesale value in the dealer’s copy of the NADA book. This is the value that the dealer will be looking at. If your RV is an upper-line or luxury RV, or if it is a specialty RV you will need to deduct even more – 10% to 15% of the “Low Retail” figure. Since the online Low Retail prices do not match the wholesale prices in the dealer’s NADA guide, this is an educated guess for you. It will however, get you close enough to decide whether or not you are willing to trade your RV, and accept the actual cash value the dealer will allow.

Remember NOT TO ADD FOR OPTIONS! I know you tried to sneak a few in there didn’t you? Remember… The dealer NEVER adds for options when determining an ACV on a trade-in. In some rare cases such as hydraulic leveling jacks or other options that are very expensive, he MAY allow a little more, but nowhere near the actual cost of the option.

Your best bet in determining what the dealer is allowing you for your trade-in is to take the “Low Retail” figure minus 10%. (More for upper-line or specialty units.)

Certain factors such as mileage, condition and unit popularity and salability my influence the actual cash value allowed for your vehicle. Remember that we are dealing with an inexact science. We are simply trying to establish a guideline for estimating the actual amount allowed for your trade-in. Whether or not you decide to trade, is completely up to you. Now you have a way to weigh one against the other. The final decision of course… is up to you.

Barry Wilder President, Best Rate, Inc.

Have you ever started something and not completed it? Or
maybe there’s something that you know that you should do but
you just don’t seem to get around to it? Or perhaps there’s
something that you know would benefit from more attention /
more focus but you just don’t give it the attention that it
deserves?

For a lot of business people this sums up the selling experience!

Most people that I speak to who are involved in sales freely
admit that they don’t focus on new business enough or that they
frequently put off new business generation to do
something else instead. This seems surprising when every
business person knows that new business generation is essential
to helping them to hit target, push them over target or build the business that they desire.

Given this – why is it that we so often don’t take action?

A large percentage of people that I speak to complain that sales
isn’t seen as professional and that they don’t consider
themselves as doing a professional job. When I ask them when
they last read a book or attended a seminar on selling,
communications or motivation they look at me like I’m stupid.

90% plus haven’t read a book in the last year and …well over
80% have never read a book on selling!

Is it any surprise then that they feel unprofessional?

Question.

Would you consider a brain surgeon with no training and who
had never read a book or attended a seminar? I don’t think so!

So why is this the case?

I believe that it simply comes down to leverage. We often know
what we need to do but it’s just easier not to do it. Think about it for a second. Have you ever thought that you really needed to so some cold calling? You maybe got the client list together, got yourself a coffee and sat down to do it. All ready to go but then you ended up going through your email inbox! I think every business person has done that because sometimes it’s easier just not to do it!

As we’re still at the start of 2005 I decided today that we should focus on what you want and on how to get leverage so that you feel compelled to take action right now. Record the results of your findings in your sales success log and remember … the more detail you go into, the greater the leverage … the greater the leverage, the more the call to action.

But before we do this… consider the fact that according to all of the statistics – you are about to catapult yourself into the elite group of sales winners!

Why?

* 90% of sales people don’t buy books or listen to audios

* 90% of books / audios won’t be read / heard past the first
chapter

* 80% of readers / listeners won’t take any action

That means that if you read AND take action you will be part of
an incredibly elite group! Interested?

Where are you now?

No seriously! Where are you now? When I work with
individuals and teams I have discovered that it takes an
incredible amount of courage and honesty to really investigate
where we are currently. In life we all live in our own
perceptions of the world – prejudiced by the spectacles that we
habitually wear. If you are going to make a radical difference to any area of your life it is essential that you break through this barrier and be honest with yourself. Only by taking this crucial step will you get what you want.

Over the course of the next few minutes I am going to ask you
some questions. The more time you take to really consider these
and think through the answers, the more they will help you to
get leverage. I strongly recommend that you record the
questions and the answers into your Sales Success Log (SSL).

Questions to Ask Yourself

What is the most pressing issue or challenge that you face with
new business generation at the moment?

If you were to know, what is the biggest issue that you need to
resolve at the moment such that if you solved it you would
make a major breakthrough?

Sometimes this question isn’t so easy to answer. Keep asking it
of yourself over and over. Let’s face it, if this was dead easy,
everyone would do it and then you’d only be keeping up not
getting ahead!

Typical answers include:

* I don’t have enough time to generate new business
* Making excuses
* Fear of rejection
* Not confident enough
* Not enough training, knowledge, support, back-up etc.
* Market depressed
* Client rejections
* Price
* Existing supplier relationships
* No database
* Unqualified leads
* And many, many more…

Am I sure that I understand this issue fully?

Sometimes the presenting issue is not the real issue at all.

Before we carry on you need to ensure that you have a full
understanding of the issue at hand.

* What is really going on here?
* How long has this issue been going on?
* Have I always considered it a challenge?
* How bad are things really?
* Is this worth working on?

For the rest of this exercise I am going to use fear of rejection and not having enough time as my examples. I will be basing my answers on typical answers given by coachees in sessions that I run.

Fear of rejection. “Before I even make the call I am worried
that the client will reject me. I wasn’t always worried about
this. When I first started selling I didn’t care at all. I guess that I started to feel this way about 3 months after I started. I seem to get rejected much more often now and, if I’m honest I do very little new business generation. This is definitely worth working on as my lack of proactivity is effecting my business.”

I don’t have enough time. “I think that this is more wrapped
up with the fear of rejection. I am very busy but generally I do
make excuses when it comes to cold-calling. If I didn’t have the
fear of rejection I am sure that I could find the time. I started finding things to do as soon as I started to win my first clients and things have really got pretty bad now. If I were to lose a client I really have no back-up as I haven’t been focusing on new business generation at all recently.”

What is the Impact of This Problem on Me?

Now… I said that you had to be honest! Ask yourself…

* How is this problem currently impacting on me?
* What results am I getting due to this problem?
* How are these results impacting me; my team; my business?
* When I consider this impact how do I feel about it?

Remember to consider each incidence separately.

Fear of rejection. “I’m not doing hardly any new business
generation. I know that this is impacting my potential client
base. I used to bring on new clients quite regularly but I can’t
remember the last time that I brought on a really new client. My
team don’t really see me as a new business winner and I know
that the boss thinks that I only “cherry-pick” easy business.
his makes me feel annoyed as I know that I can be better than
this. What’s more I think that I am less confident in my dealings with existing clients and this is impacting my potential revenues.”

I don’t have enough time. “Because I don’t make the time to
generate new business I am sabotaging my own chances of
success. When the others are doing business generation I am
usually doing administration. I’m not really part of the team
because of this and it upsets me.”

What Future Consequences Will Your Problem Bring?

Quite often when we don’t do something right now it doesn’t
really matter. Doing exercise today or not doing exercise today
will do little (or nothing) for your fitness levels, your physique or your health. When considered over a larger period of time however daily actions such as exercise will determine massive differences in the results that you get.

When considering your actions and their consequences you
need to look at the long-term. It’s important that you take time
to really think through and picture these consequences. The
more real they are for you, the more leverage for change will be
created.

Questions to ask yourself…

* If nothing changes in your current situation what will the
consequences be?

* What’s the likely outcome of your continued action (or inaction)?

* What consequences will this have on your sales career,
finances, business, promotional prospects and self-esteem?

* What’s at stake for you?

* How will others such as your family, friends and
acquaintances be affected?

* How do you feel about this course of events?

Fear of rejection. “Ultimately, I will not have enough business
coming in and I will probably be sacked or go bust. No business
can survive without new sales. I have been quite ambitious in
the past and have taken on loans for cars and a new house. If I
don’t make the sales then I could easily lose these. My industry
is quite small and it would not be good for my reputation or
future employability if I were sacked or made redundant. I
would hate the thought that I had failed to do my job. If I lost
my house it would put an incredible amount of pressure on my
family life too as we are hoping to have a baby next year.”

I don’t have enough time. “If I don’t create the time to
generate new business I won’t make any sales and I will lose my
job. This will make me unemployable as my reference would be
poor. I wouldn’t be able to keep up the car payments or my
mortgage. This would create massive family tensions and
personal stress.”

Take Personal Responsibility

People often ask me what the differences are between great
salespeople and sales superstars. This is a truly great question
which, I believe, has several answers. High up on my list would
be that sales superstars’ take personal responsibility for their
success no matter how hard things around them may get. Only
by taking total personal responsibility can you become totally
accountable for the results that you get.

Keeping this foremost in your mind consider how you
contributed to the current situation or problem?

I totally accept that your initial answer may well be that you
didn’t contribute. For many people this way of thinking
represents a quantum leap in their habitual behaviour so it may
not come easily.

Keep asking yourself…

If I knew, how have I contributed to this current situation or
problem?

Fear of rejection. “I have allowed myself to fall prey to my
own imagination and become fearful of generating new
business. I have focused on the times that I have not succeeded
rather than the times that I have. I have listened to people
around me who are not getting results rather than focusing only
on those who are peak performers.”

I don’t have enough time. “I have allowed myself to make
excuses and rationalise my own behaviour because of my fear
of rejection. I have listened to and adopted the mindsets of other salespeople who are making excuses rather than taking action.”

Do You Want to Change Now?

Before we start talking about what you want instead I think that
it’s important to know that you do want to change now don’t
you. So take a moment and consider…

* What you will gain when you resolve this situation?

* What results will you begin to get and why will you enjoy
them?

*How do you feel about your decision to move towards a
satisfactory solution?

Fear of rejection. “When I let go of the fear I will be able to
generate new business confidently and professionally. This will
allow me to take control of my own destiny whatever sales
challenges are thrown into my path. I will begin to create new
client relationships, new sales and new opportunities. Knowing
this makes me feel alive and ready to get going.”

I don’t have enough time. “I will gain the ability to choose
how I spend my time rather than being dictated to by my
irrational fear. I can concentrate on planning my sales
campaign so that I gain maximum benefits from my efforts. I
feel excited at the possibilities ahead.”

You + 100% Commitment

Many times in my programmes I ask you to commit yourself to
action. In the minds of sales superstars there is no greater
commitment than to yourself. Grab your Sales Success Log and
answer the following questions…

1. What is the most powerful and congruent step that you can take right now?

2. What’s going to get in the way of you taking it?

3. How are you going to deal with this challenge?

4. When will you start and complete this step (put a date on it)?

My suggestion is that you sign and date your commitment to
this step.

Welcome to the new you … let’s get going!

For the last 10 years, Gavin Ingham has been helping sales people to explode their sales performance by turning self-doubt, fear and lack of motivation into self-belief, confidence and action. With his inspirational approach to sales performance and motivation Gavin combines commercial experience, personal excellence and communications technologies in delivering personal and business sales success.

Visit http://www.gaviningham.net now to join Gavin’s free monthly newsletter packed full of sales secrets, strategies and tactics. Join now and get Gavin’s ground-breaking 9-part objection handling course absolutely free.

When I was a kid, I knew by heart most of the batting averages and other vital statistics of the Chicago White Sox, my hometown team. Like most people my age, I relished predicting who would do what, when his time at the plate was coming up.

Statistics make sports more fun to watch and even to play. But they can be misused, especially in the arena of selling.

For instance, who is the better salesperson?

(1) Joe is able to close one out of every two prospects he meets, and this gives him 20 orders for the week.

(2) Mary closes one out of three, giving her 25 orders for the week.

In terms of batting averages, Joe stands at .500 and Mary at a less efficient, .333. From this perspective, Joe reigns supreme.

Or does he?

After all, Mary outpaces him in total runs scored, or sales made. In that department, she’s 25% more effective, or so it seems.

But we can’t be sure who is the better seller, overall. That’s a judgment call, and it may require we look at more variables, such as the cost of sales, overall availability of sales leads, who is easier to work with, whose sales are more likely to stick over a longer term, who requires more coaching from the manager, and so on.

If you close nine out of ten sales, but it’s because you’re discounting and cutting your commissions, that may actually portend disaster.

From a personal standpoint, it makes sense to defy statistics and just focus on dollars earned. Is your income higher, and is it continuing to move upward? That’s all you need to know, yet even that can be misleading.

There are times when you might be learning to sell a very new type of product that defies conventional introductory practices. Consequently, your initial production looks abysmal, but that handicap will disappear, imminently, if you just keep plodding along.

Keeping perfect scores of your accomplishments may be possible in baseball, but don’t let this pastime carry over needlessly into the sphere of your professional life.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman © 2006

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of www.Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service. A frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide, Gary’s programs are offered by UCLA Extension and by numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. Gary is headquartered in Glendale, California. He can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com

Hello everyone, hope your day is going well! I know this one is short but it is very helpful!

1. Tell your prospects that you offer free delivery.
This may cost a little money, but, you will gain the
extra customers to make up for it.

2. Tell your prospects that you offer a lower price.
If you can’t afford to offer a lower price you could
always hold the occasional discount sale.

3. Tell your prospects that your product achieves
results faster. People are becoming more and more
impatient and want results fast.

4. Tell your prospects you’ve been in business for
a longer period of time. People think if you’ve been
in business longer you have more credibility.

5. Tell your prospects that your product tastes,
smells sounds, looks, or feels better. When you
target the senses you’re triggering human appeal.

6. Tell your prospects your product is compact or
light. People may want to take the product on a trip
or don’t have much room where they live.

7. Tell your prospects that your product lasts longer.
People don’t like to spend more money purchasing
replacement products all the time.

8. Tell your prospects that your product is easy to
use. People don’t want to buy a product that they
have to read a 100 page instruction manual.

9. Tell your prospects that your product has better
safety features. People want to feel safe when they
use your products.

10. Tell your prospects that you stand behind all
your products. People want to know that you back-
up any claims you make about your product.

Warm regards,

Andrew Cantrell
http://www.zipzoombiz.com

P.S. Try his eBook:
http://www.zipzoombiz.com/ebook.html

Andrew Cantrell, the founder of ZipZoomBiz.com has helped thousands of ordinary people succeed with their internet/online businesses. Make sure to visit his site and sign up for a 365day free newsletter on how to earn residual income!

Keeping Sales Simple

For those of us working in the exciting world of sales, we are all too familiar with the pressures of meeting our daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly goals. This pressure can sometimes cause us to loose focus on the simple things that made us successful to begin with.

When we make a sales presentation, it is all too essential to look and sound the part. A professional appearance and product knowledge are to very important ingredients involved in sales.

But don’t ever loose sight of the fact that sales is supposed to be fun!

A personal story . . .

I can remember a time a few years back, when I was managing a bank branch inside a supermarket, otherwise known as In-Store banking.

At that time, we had daily goals that we were required to meet, and those goals were unit and dollar driven. It was a fast paced environment and every technique we could think of was incorporated into our sales. Nothing was taken for granted.

Including the simple stuff.

One particular afternoon I received a phone call from a woman who informed me that she was new to the area, and she was shopping around for a bank.

We had a pleasant conversation, and I explained to her all of our products starting with our free checking, and ending with our more exclusive products.

Once the conversation was over, she thanked me and told me she would consider us.

I thanked her as well, and ended by telling her my name again, and that she could ask for me, if she decided to come in.

The next day, that same woman walked into my branch and asked for me, she reminded me of the conversation we had the day before, and than proceeded to tell me that she came in because I was so nice on the telephone.

The fact is, I was really nice on the telephone, I knew I had a potential customer on the phone and I killed her with kindness. Not because I was being slick, but because it was easy, it was simple, and I had fun doing it. And it worked.

There was no selling involved in that conversation. I was just being a nice person.

Salesmanship is important, but people want kindness to.

My point is, take some of the pressure off of yourself and start having fun! Be nice, smile. It is not always necessary to act and speak so professionally, it can come off fake, and worst of all boring. So starting tomorrow, take a load off, roll up your sleeves, smile, laugh out loud, and most of all have fun and keep it simple!

The average decision-maker has an attention span of just a little over seven minutes. I’m convinced that adult attention spans have been carefully programmed by network television, by the seven to eight minute time segments of entertainment, wedged between commercial breaks. On the other hand, the average sales presentation in the United States runs from one and a half to two hours in length. As a sales manager, you should easily figure out what’s wrong with this picture.

Those of you with complex products or services, or with large product lines may be saying to yourself, that it takes at least an hour to demonstrate all of the features and benefits of what it is you sell and another 20 to 30 minutes for questions and answers, right? Well, if you want more sales, help your staff to cut the length of their presentations down appreciably.

The $elling Edge®, Inc.’s Sales Success Strategies workshop, teaches a six-step selling process that can be completed, no matter how complex the product or service, in 30 minutes or less. We speed up the selling process, not only because of a decision-maker’s lack of attention , but more important, so that a sales professional can make more presentations in a given time period. And, the more presentations made over time, the more sales that are consummated.

You do the math. If a sales representative averages one and a half to two hours for each presentation as compared to an average of 30 to 40 minutes, how many more presentations can your staff make each year? How many more sales?

The six-step selling process, taught in the Sales Success Strategies workshops, is outlined in detail in a self-directed learning manual of the same name. You can learn more about it at: http://www.TheSellingEdge.com/manual1.htm

VIRDEN THORNTON is the founder and President of The $elling Edge®, Inc. an Ohio consulting firm specializing in sales and sales management training, personal coaching, advisory services and publishing. Clients have included Sears Optical, Eastman Kodak, IBM, Service Linen Supply, Bank One, Jefferson Wells International, and Wal-Mart to name a few. Virden is the author of the “best selling” Building & Closing the Sale, Prospecting: The Key To Sales Success and Close That Sale, a video/audio tape series published by Crisp Publications a division of Thompson Learning. He has also authored a client acclaimed Self-Directed Learning series of sales, coaching, telemarketing, and personal productivity manuals. To obtain a substantial discount on two of Virden’s latest books, 101 Sales Myths or Organizing For Sales Success, go to: http://www.TheSellingEdge.com/

I did a teleconference a few weeks ago with people who were new in sales and new to prospecting. The focus of the call was to help participants get beyond fear and understand their prospecting process.

One of the participants on the call told me that she had been given the telephone prospecting script that her team leader uses to set appointments. The team leader was a highly successful sales professional who had been in the business for many years and made quite a lot of money. The participant, who had been in the business for approximately a week, told me that she was going to work with the script and “make it her own.”

“No!” I cried out. “Don’t do that! Don’t make it your own!”

My reasoning? This participant was a beginner. She knew nothing about sales or prospecting. She had a script that was crafted by someone who was highly successful on the telephone. This particular participant did not know enough to make it her own. More than likely, in making the script her own she would eliminate all of the powerful, persuasive and motivating language used by the sales super star who had given her the script.

Some words are better than others. Some words are stronger and more evocative than others. When you are on the phone with a prospect, you have about 10 seconds to grab and hold your prospect’s attention. If you do not do that within that first 10 seconds, your call is more than likely over. If you get through that first 10 seconds, that buys you another 10 seconds. If you get through that 10 seconds it buys you yet another… and so on… 10 seconds is not a lot of time. To get through those 10-second increments, you want to use the most powerful words that you have at your disposal.

If you are a beginner it is entirely possible, indeed even likely, that you may not be comfortable with certain powerful words or phrases. They may be very unlike your usual way of speaking. Even if you’ve been in sales for a while you might be set in your ways, accustomed to a certain delivery, and changing that might feel uncomfortable.

I’ve met many people who say they do not want to work with scripts because then they “cannot be themselves.” Remembering that your prospecting call happens in 10-second increments, you want to be the very best self that you can be, every time. That requires preparation.

One of the things that I’ve always loved about being inis sales is that it is crystal clear. You always know exactly where you are. You are either scheduling appointments, or you’re not. You are either closing, or you’re not.

If you are new to sales and a successful professional gives you their scriptdon’t change a word. That script will be your gold mine. If you’ve been in sales for a while and want to try out a new script, test it first. Your old script becomes your baseline. For example, make 30 prospecting calls using your usual script and keep track of the number of appointments that you schedule. Then make 30 more prospecting calls using your new script exactly as written. Keep track of the number of appointments that you schedule. At the end of those 60 calls you will know which script works better. That becomes your new baseline.

© 2005 Wendy Weiss

Wendy Weiss, “The Queen of Cold Calling & Selling Success,” is a sales trainer, author, and sales coach. Her recently released program, “Cold Calling College”, and/or her book, “Cold Calling for Women”, can be ordered by visiting http://www.wendyweiss.com Contact her at wendy@wendyweiss.com. Get Wendy’s free e-zine at www.wendyweiss.com

Here we are, at the final chapter so to speak. Today, lets talk more on how you go about utilizing the potential for “Relationship Selling”.

You know I’ve done this myself more times than I can count. When people point out the obvious to me, a little alarm goes off in the back of my head saying “You knew that”! Sometimes it’s the most obvious things you overlook. So, when that little voice says that to you, just think right back, “Well, why didn’t I use it then”?

I started last week with a couple of tips which we’ll recap quickly and then move on to some more Tips & Techniques for Relationship Selling.

Steer clear of the “I’m here to sell you something” approach. Since the beginning of the Television era, people have been trampled with Sales and Advertising. Most will shut you down before you can get ever get started.

See yourself as a guide if you will. You’re there to assist and lead them to their final destination, your product or service. You are there to help them, not sell them!

Don’t vocally paint yourself into a “What’s it gonna be?” corner. If you use direct sales or hard persuasion techniques that’s exactly what it comes down to, and you better be prepared!

Remember, “Relationship Selling” is not something you turn off and on like a light switch. It’s a way of life. Although we are focusing on your business here, the theories behind Relationship Selling can apply to all facets of your life.

Go in with the client, not after a client. If you enter the relationship assuming that they are already a client, you’ll be less apt to try and sell them, and more apt to building a relationship.

Moving onward and upward….

Often “Relationship Selling” starts in social settings. People used to ask me what I did, an I would answer abruptly “I do freelance Perl Programming and Web Design on the Internet”. So what’s wrong with this picture? The easiest way to show you, is to answer it again the right way. “We provide small businesses with low cost alternatives to expensive Internet development”. Ok, which sounds better? I hope you said number two. If not you have a lot of work in front of you. Rule of thumb: Never tell that what you are, tell them how you can help. In this case, I have aligned myself with the small business person, who is my target market, but at the same time, I have expressed that I am helping, not selling.

Did you notice that I didn’t use any technical terms or words that are difficult to understand. Dump all the techno-garbage and those terms that nobody really gets. If you’re using them because you think you are impressing them, welcome to the real world. It’s called “Frustration”. How would you enjoy spending lunch listening to somebody and not understanding half of what they say. Oh yea, I’m buying your thingamajigger…

Listen to your prospect. The more they say, the better you can anticipate their needs and wants. Most often their needs and wants are two different things. Their needs are their bottom line, while their wants are top of the line. Don’t try to sell them what they need, make it clear that you can give them what they want, how they need it.

When using Relationship Selling stay away from “Power Words”. You have phrases like “productivity”, “competitive advantage”, “your bottom line” and on down to the hard sale oldies like “MAKE MONEY NOW”, “Revolutionary Product” or even “Sensational New Offer”. These power words have their place in advertising headlines, but not here.

A sure fire way to know if their is something wrong with your relationship selling approach is to examine the relationship you have with current clients. Was the relationship the same before they became your client as it was after? Did you then lack confidence that you now exhibit (afterwards), while showing them you really are as good as you said your were? You are probably losing customers from exhibiting that lack of confidence going in. Perhaps you’re the opposite, you’re actually more confident with the sell, than you are with the service or product. In that case, I would have to say it’s time to change products. Nevertheless, confidence is the key note here. Your listener must know you are confident enough to introduce it, for them to be confident enough to buy it.

I’m one of those rare breed who sometimes enjoy listening to telemarketers and insurance agents (to a point). Not for any sales tips I can use, but for any bad habits I may still unwittingly be using. When it comes to Hard Sales, these guys are like dinosaurs. If any part of their sales pitch starts to sound familiar, stop and re-examine your Relationship Selling. Point being; Be sure that those annoying little sales pitches don’t ring a bell with your own approach. Sometimes it can be downright hard not to come off sounding like a salesman.

All kinds of things can build or destroy a good relationship. This is where the word “Alignment” comes in. You must align yourself with your prospective client. If your prospective client is a frat house and you’re in the DJ business, you would hardly show up in a suit and tie, unless of course you want these boys to eat you alive. On the other hand you don’t want to meet the president of an accounting firm wearing sandals and a tie-dye tee shirt either. But it goes much farther than appearance. It’s in your language, your mannerisms and the way you move. Everything about you should align with what your client needs to see and hear.

Most relationships in your life are built without a second thought. It’s simple action-reaction. Two strangers meet. One says “good morning” (action), the other responds “good morning to you” (reaction). Soon you’re talking about what you do for a living and so on. A simple, subconscious event. Action-Reaction starts a relationship, but planned action-response relationships often require research and planning. You want to lead the conversation in a certain direction, so you know the response to their reaction to cue the next reaction-response. Remember, you’re a guide. Lead the conversation in the direction you want, without using sales pitches, buzz words or mentioning products or services. The trick is to lead them to the point of asking you what you want to tell them.

There is only so much I can get across in this article, but throughout this series of three articles I have been recommending a book by Rick Beneteau. If you would like to learn more on “Relationship Selling” & “Personal Branding”, I strongly urge you to read his Powerful new book that puts YOU on the fast track to becoming an Internet Celebrity. Not only does Rick teach you step- by-step how he did it; he also asked many of the top Internet personalities to share their success secrets with you. If you’re at all serious about achieving success on the Internet, you need to start Branding YOU and Breaking the Bank! Do yourself a favor. Check It Out at: <http://www.roibot.com/bybb.cgi?IM4069_iz>