Happy Holidays & Happy Selling

We are going to take the rest of December to refresh. But first, we’d like to take the opportunity to thank each of you for your support of our mission . . . providing insight and information to the most dynamic and interesting set of people in the business world . . . salespeople.

I make this next statement with complete conviction and sincerity.

‘Tis the Season

The holiday season is a great time to experience just about every level of sales quality when we hit the malls. Obviously we are not going to expect the same level of training resources for most retail and seasonal salespeople that we would in the business to business environment, but it is still worthwhile to pay attention to preparation and, most of all, attitudes.

In making the rounds over the weekend, I loved dealing with the young kids who are working for a few weeks through the season. These are the kids that need the money and I had watched them earlier in the year filling out applications and heading into managers’ offices for interviews.

Nothing against the richer kids, but how much stronger are these people going to be when it comes time to go after a full-time job?

Anyway, for the most part, these seasonal employees came ready to play. They approached me immediately, almost always knew where to find what I was looking for, and usually had a decent grasp of the products they were representing.

It’s a Numbers Game

Research shows that numbers have 10X more impact than words in the context of a sales conversation.

That is obviously a huge incentive for you to convert as many benefits of your products and services as you can into numbers you can communicate at key moments.

Black Friday and What it Can Teach Us as Salespeople

It was not that long ago when Thanksgiving weekend was all about family, turkey and football and the concept of Black Friday – the manic shopping day after Thanksgiving – did not even exist. Oh sure, people might head over to the mall and start doing some Christmas shopping, but it was a far cry from the institution and media phenomenon that exists today.

So, how were the retailers able to drum up this feeding frenzy?

It’s a Blast

 
In their book (which is great by the way), “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing,” authors Al Ries and Jack Trout make a great point when they state:
 

“You have to BLAST your way into someone else’s mind!”

 
Think about that for a moment. Buyers are bombarded with marketing and sales from all sides. Almost all of it is mediocre or average in terms of making a real impression or turning their heads. The amount of noise and clutter is astronomical these days.
 
So, how can you break through all that and “blast your way into someone else’s mind?” Read More

One Technique to Get to “Yes”

 
We have all been in situations in which we know the buyer wants to pull the trigger, and the outcome will be good for everyone, but he cannot quite overcome his fear of making a mistake.
 
Here is a technique to help move toward closure. It goes something like this. Read More

How Pros Connect the Dots

 
There is a very successful Realtor I know who sells high-end second homes in a fashionable resort community. It is well-documented that the vacation home market is under severe pressure, but, of course, that is when the talent in the industry shows its stuff.
 
Here is an example. Read More

Expert Advice

 
What is your specialty?
 
The reason that I ask is because customers love to buy from specialists. That is, from people they believe are absolute experts in a given area in which the buyer has a high degree of interest.
 
Doctors are great examples. If we are told, God forbid, that we may need to have a quadruple bypass, the chances are that we are not going to seek out just any doctor’s advice. We are going to try to find the best heart specialist we can . . . someone who can convince us that he/she has great knowledge and expertise about open-heart surgery.
 
A more mundane example: Read More