Move to New Site
This blog has now moved to :
http://www.greatexpectationscoaching.com/Sales-Coaching-blog.html
The new site is operational from 19 Dec 2005.
See you there!
Maitiu
Sales coaching tips for Executives, Business Pofessionals, Sellers, and those seeking to explore their FULL potential. CHANGING THE WORLD ONE MIND AT A TIME
This blog has now moved to :
Hi Gang,
"How you play the game is for amateur football. When you're playing for money, winning is the only thing that matters." Leo Durocher
“Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they've got a second.”
Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.
“Don't worry about failure. Worry about the chances you miss when you don't even try.”
“Brownie Biscuits!”…
“Brownie Biscuits!”…
“Brownie Biiiiiiiscuiiiiiiits!”…
Those were the words being bellowed from beside the platform as I joined the queue for the LUAS a couple of weeks ago on my way from a meeting in central Dublin. I had no intention of buying as I walked past the table of screaming Brownies who were selling their homemade biscuits. But that all changed in an instant.
A young girl in a Girl Scout Brownie uniform started walking next to me. “Excuse me, ” she said politely. “How would you like to get a big welcome from the gang when you get home tonight?”
Of course I knew what she was getting at, but her original approach stopped me in my tracks....already the thought forming that I was looking at a youngster with a HUGE future in selling.
I replied, “Sounds good to me”
She introduced herself as Jessica and asked if she could show me the different ways I could earn "the big welcome from the gang". (My gang at home is my beloved Sylvia, Hamish the Scottie, and Sky the "mongelar", but don't spoil the story by letting minor details get in the way). Jessica walked me back to the table and pointed to the Peanut Butter Sandwich, the Shortbread biscuits, and “the ones everybody likes, Blueberry Muffins.”
I said, “OK, I’ll take the muffins.”
“Great!” she replied with superb aplomb, “and what other type would you like?”
“Okay", I said,"I’ll take the shortbread as well, but that’s all. How much are they?”
“Seven euro for both.”
As a test, I asked, “How about six euro?”
“Sorry,” she replied. “Seven euro is my best price.”
I gave her the money and went on my way, completely impressed with the young lady’s selling skills.
Here are the sales principles that Jessica reinforced for all of us:
1.Go where the customers are. More passengers ride the Luas than any other commuter line in Dublin. Every three minutes between 4:00pm and 6:30pm, hundreds of Dublin commuters flood the terminal area on their way home.
Sales lesson: We must look for prospects in places where there is a high-percentage chance of finding qualified potential customers.
2.Fire a rifle, not a shotgun. Her pals who were yelling “Brownie Biscuits!” to the herd of commuters couldn’t effectively connect with individuals.....were annoying them more than anything. Jessica walked up to me, targeted me individually and landed the sale.
Sales lesson: Target an individual and tailor your message to him or her. Sending a sales letter to an “Operations Manager” will get few results.
3.Get attention with benefits. While her pals were asking, “Do you want to buy some Brownie Biscuits?” Jessica got my attention by having me envision "the big welcome" from my family.
Sales lesson: Your prospects are people who are thinking, “What’s in it for me?” Get their attention with a specific benefit that makes it impossible for them to ignore.
4.Use the Assumptive upsell. I had no intention of buying more than one bag until the little rip put the idea into my head with polite authority -and an Assumptive Close! Doing so doubled the amount of the sale.
Sales lesson: Once a customer commits to buying, always try to earn add-on sales.
5.Don’t negotiate price after the sale is made. I had already agreed to buy two bags and my wallet was in my hand. So why would "Salesperson of the Year" Jessica reduce her price and profits after the sale had already been made? And where did she learn this stuff?
Sales lesson: Of course, Irish Brownies don’t offer volume discounts, but salespeople everywhere make this mistake every day! Stay firm on your price especially after the customer has committed.
6. Brownie today, sales pro tomorrow Thirty minutes or so after Jessica made the sale, her promises became reality when I arrived home. Sylvia was happy to see me as soon as I walked in the door. But she was absolutely delighted to see the two bags of very edible muffins and biscuits in my hand.....son and grand daughter were on the way over to visit!
I'm accosted, as most of us are, by street sellers all the time, but I’ve yet to come across a street “salesperson” who sells as effectively as young Jessica. I have a feeling that one day she will have a career in professional sales and will be selling her sales targets through the roof.
And when that happens, you should just hope Jessica doesn’t go to work for one of your competitors!
PS. To answer an often asked question again.....YES, ANYONE can learn to sell! Whatever your position/ function you can sell. Check this out here Although it is written in relation to selling on the web it has many applications for all all types of selling.
Health & Blessings until next time.
Maitiu
CHANGING THE WORLD ONE MIND AT A TIME
A Salesman, travelling from Cork to Dublin by train, placed a mobile phone call to his client to follow up on a possible order.
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away". ~unknown.
Not on a selling theme, but very thought provoking.........
How much time and money do you invest in improving your selling skills?...(voice off: "Please, Maitiu, do you know how pricey training is?".....
Here's a chilling and sobering thought that has emerged from a book I'm reading at the monet, called "The New Era in Selling" by Thomas Freese.
“I realised that selling is the greatest career a man could want.”
This is quick and easy. I have compiled an e-course consisting of the Top Ten Persuasion & Selling skills....from my 23 years training sales people.
I was watching the New England Patriots vs the Pittsburg Steelers ( I love them!) American football game last weekend and heard something very interesting. And what I heard is so important to your success thatI want to share it with you.
Now that the annual nonsense of New Year Resolutions is finished, time to take a look at making something really happen for yourself and your selling during 2005. Read on and pay attention, I'll be asking questions later....and these thoughts apply even if selling is not your business....you are your business.
To read the Introduction to this Unique new workshop, click on this link:
To read the Introduction to this Unique workshop, click on this link: Unlock Your
Selling Mind
#2 Reduce Your Targets!
You'll be so lucky...;-))....What I mean is that we often set ourselves a target that is way beyond what we are presently hitting, and Mt. Everest appears in front of us. It's pointless to set yourself a monthly personal sales target of €50K if your present performance level hovers around €30K per month. Yet I frequently see sellers attempting this Himalayan feat in the burning light of a bright new year.
Be sensible........15%- 25% is a reasonable growth rate to aspire to and reach...it stretches you, but is achievable and will give you that satisfied feeling you live for. Just suppose you increased your yearly sales by 15% each year for the next few years. What level would your business have reached at the end of year five?....I'l take that, thank you very much.
#3 Go for Mars, not the Moon!
Sounds like a contradiction of #2?....not really. Let me tell you a story.......
Back in the early 1980's when I first set up my own training company, we were firmly in "Death Valley Curve" ( Harvard Business School gave this name to the first three years in a start-up business....money flowing out far faster than it is coming in as you build your business to break even).
A friend with an original mind suggested this idea to me. I called in my three sellers and challenged them with, "What would we need to do to invoice four times as much as usual next month?". When their laughter subsided they realised I was serious. Monthly invoicing was running at £10K per month- those were the days when a punt was a punt -and I made the reward deal tasty enough for them to look at each other, and I could see the cogs of their small but beautifully formed minds beginning to wonder how much of the reward they could claim.
What happened next was quite extraordinary...they contacted every lead they ever had logged, they contacted "orphans", they became really creative is gaining decisions and committments, they covered each other (the reward was both individual and team based), they pulled monkeys out of hats where there weren't even hats.......
Alas, at the end of a frantic month they didn't reach their target. They didn't reach the £40 K bulleye. But they did reach £36K! 360% over the normal in four weeks!....God, I love sales people....they can be awkward, stubborn, sarcastic of head office staff, a pain in the butt sometimes...but they are magnificent and hugely talented when challenged....What?....Of course they got their reward! Their efforts made a huge difference to cash -flow and that was the last time we bottomed out.....MacCabe Training became a legend in it's own lunchtime and twenty three years later has evolved into Great Expectations Coaching and is firmly established as a market leader in it's home territory of the Republic of Ireland, with clients and associates in UK, Holland, Switzerland and Kenya.
On an irregular basis afterwards, I'd spring a similar challenge and the sellers loved it. If they thought the gap between had been too long, they were known to bring the matter up at sales meetings on at least two occasions. Don't you just love them?
You too can do with "Can Do".
Good luck for 2005 and may you be (modestly) embarrassed by the increase in your sales at the end of the year.
Maitiu
www.greatexpectationscoaching.com
Read this revealing introduction: Unlock Your Selling Mind
My apologies for the dearth of entries in the past few days....Christmas preparations and getting coaching/ training materials ready for early January caught up with me.