Don’t Let August Dog You
Written by Tibor Shanto, Renbor Sales Solutions
[Contributing Author]
I was working with a group of sales people earlier this week. The big complaint was the number of prospects who were on vacation. Everyone is entitled to a vacation. In fact they should be required to take one. A break might have your prospect come back with a fresh outlook that could open the door for you!
That does not mean you can sit back and take time off. It means you need to focus on something productive… something that can long term results. I’ll share two ideas…
First, spread out wider within your target organizations.
Second, concentrate on planning.
The summer is usually a more relaxed time, and while decision makers may be gone, there are others who could be of value to an enterprising sales pro. Not everyone goes on vacation the same time. Think about other influencers within an organization who will be impacted by your product or service. While their boss is out, these influencers have an opportunity to think about projects and plans in greater detail. It is a great opportunity to reach out and learn about their priorities and objectives. Later, when you connect with the decision maker, you have some great intel!
This works especially well when you approach it as building exercise (instead of a sales exercise)… to build knowledge and relationships within the organization. Establish yourself as a subject matter expert, and learn what specifically will satisfy the needs of different camps in the target company.
Say you are selling an A/R solution. It obviously impacts the A/R staff, who has specific needs and concerns. The CFO may be the final decision maker, but in this case, you learn the IT Director also has great influence. Armed with this knowledge you will be better prepared to engage with the decision maker when (s)he returns, enabling you to capture their attention, and execute the discovery phase faster and more effectively. Your competition will be looking in from the outside!
As for planning, it is about aligning your goals and activities. While Q4 may not start until October 1st, it is also true that most people and companies see Labor Day as the beginning of the last part of the year. I call it “harvest time.”
Plant seeds during vacation season… turn the relaxed nature of the season in your favor… then hit the ground running on September 7th and maintain momentum through December 31!
Those who wait until October to take stock and realign will trail behind you. The clock is ticking… it’s time for you to capture a strategic advantage and take the lead!
The Long and the Short of… Trust
“It takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.”-Brian Tracy
Results-Driven Words (Part 7 of 10)
Written by Hal Alpiar
[Contributing Author]
NEVER SAY “NEVER!”
In attempting to drive results, there is a tendency on the part of many professionals to cost themselves sales by using “all-inclusive” words.
These are the words that cast a shadow of doubt on sales rep integrity and challenge the credibility of the brand represented.
Are you using these kinds of words now?
First, to put your mind at ease, a word on why this practice is so common in selling . . . it’s because you are special! The basic sales personality is one that’s brimming over with exuberance, enthusiasm, confidence, and expressions of higher energy levels than most other types of business careers.
It’s only a natural offshoot for people evidencing these kinds of character traits that a measure of playful exaggeration will periodically rise to the surface. It’s an approach to word choices which is often employed to emphasize or accentuate a presentation point.
Playful because a professional salesperson rarely exaggerates with evil intent, or to purposely lie or mislead. Stretching descriptive words is more often a form of teasing, or a kind of good-natured humor. But that doesn’t make it okay.
It is not okay because it does not serve the sales process – particularly the closing – in a positive way. To take a giant step in the direction of eliminating this subtle invasion into sales speech patterns requires conscious attention.
Start with the following list of some of the all-inclusive type words that smack of exaggeration, or that set up what is often a one-way, no-outlet pathway for exaggerated statements, and that just plain make salespeople look bad include:
Always ~~~ Ever ~~~ All ~~~ Never ~~~ No one ~~~ Every ~~~ Everyone ~~~ Absolutely ~~~ Positively ~~~ None ~~~ No way ~~~ Impossible ~~~ Can’t ~~~ Cannot ~~~ Conclusive ~~~ Best ~~~ Worst ~~~ Greatest ~~~ Most ~~~ Fastest ~~~ Slowest ~~~ Farthest ~~~ Closest ~~~ Quickest ~~~ Biggest ~~~ Smallest ~~~ Longest ~~~ Shortest ~~~ World’s ~~~ Planet’s ~~~ Hottest ~~~ Coldest
Like many other habits and behaviors we choose, where moderation prevails, so does credibility. So consider taking a step back from using the kinds of words you might ordinarily toss off and instead inject a less inflammatory substitute to come across more unbelievably.
Try these for starters:
Maybe ~~~ Probably ~~~ Often ~~~ Generally ~~~ Usually ~~~ Typically ~~~ Frequently ~~~ Nearly ~~~ Almost ~~~ Somewhat ~~~ Probable ~~~ Estimated ~~~ Guesstimate ~~~ Occasionally ~~~ Rarely ~~~ Seldom ~~~ Periodically ~~~ Indicated ~~~ Implied ~~~ Inferred
The thinking represented here — in addition to the value in sales presentations — is almost universally indicative of approaches needed for the words used in news release content as well. Editors and writers and publishers will not accept all-inclusive language in a release because it violates the principles of needing to communicate newsworthiness.
Words like those in the orange-colored list above set off warning flares that the news release content is too salesy to pose as news. In one-on-one and group presentation selling, the warning flares that go off are in the customer’s and prospect’s heads.
They may well be thinking that exaggerated words are covering price issues and they’re getting ripped off. The more a pitch starts to sound like bragging, the more doubt that’s cast on durability issues and people can start to think about the product or service falling apart. Indirectly, there’s even a suggestion that better alternatives might be obtained from competitors!
Are YOUR words so salesy that they throw off a smokescreen which prevents you from being seen as a high-integrity resource? Are you using words that get in the way of prospects and customers, that prevents them from viewing you as someone filled with benefits and reliable information?
Are all-or-nothing words
getting in your way?
The Most Valuable of All Talents
The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do. -Thomas Jefferson
Advanced Google Techniques to Shorten Your Sales Cycle!
Written by Silvia Quintanilla, CEO, Industry Gems
[Contributing Author]
Are you looking for a competitive advantage? Google is an invaluable resource for B2B sales! Here are some of my favorite advanced techniques for finding your next prospect… fast!
Finding a Specific Decision Maker
One of the Google search functions I use frequently is the asterisk (*). This symbol is used as a “wildcard” to substitute a word. I use it to uncover a specific decision maker within a company. Let’s say that one of my key accounts is Verizon, and I want to target the Director of Marketing. I would type the following into Google: Director * Marketing * Verizon
This tells Google to substitute the * symbol with any word (such as “of” or “at”). The nice thing about using the asterisk is that you will receive more precise results. Also, your keywords will be in bold, so they are easy to locate when your results come in. When I typed the above query into Google, the first page results showed:
- Brian Price, Verizon’s executive director of marketing…
- As Associate Director, Mobile Marketing & Advertising at Verizon Wireless, she launched…(mentions the decision maker in the article)
The asterisk also has another handy function, check out this next example…
Finding Email Patterns
If you want to do a quick search to uncover the nomenclature (or email pattern), I’ve found a handy Google query for it. Let’s take our earlier example where you uncovered the name of the Director of Marketing at Verizon. Now, you want to reach out by email. How can you find out quickly what the person’s probable email address is? You can start by finding out Verizon’s email pattern. Here’s the Google query you would use: Email *@verizon.com
This query is instructing Google to find the word “email” in the search results. The asterisk is telling Google to bold anything coming before “@verizon.com” in the search results. It’s clear from the search results that the most common pattern for Verizon’s email is: FirstName.LastName@verizon.com.
Prepping for your Call
Let’s say that your email worked and you’ve set an appointment with Verizon’s Director of Marketing. You want to make sure you’re current on the company, show you did your homework, and ask intelligent questions. A great way to catch up on recent company articles for a specific company is to use the “inurl:” function. Here’s what you would type in Google: Verizon Marketing inurl:article
This query will look for the word “article” in the actual URL (which happens often when a publication is tagging a piece as an article). The words “Verizon” and “Marketing” are instructing Google to make sure those two words are included in each of the search results. When I execute this query, I see current articles relating to Verizon’s marketing from PC World, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal, as well as smaller online magazines! Be sure to go through more than just the first page search results so you don’t miss out on any great articles.
By the way, you can substitute the world “article” for “news” to gain wider coverage. The query would then look like: Verizon Marketing inurl:news
It’s helpful to remember that each of the above Google “operators” can be used in many different ways. The only limit is your imagination!
I hope these Google tips can help you shorten your sales cycle and get to decision makers faster!
What cool ways are you using Google to shorten the sales cycle?
Results-Driven Words (Part 6 of 10)
Written by Hal Alpiar
[Contributing Author]
“B-b-b-bird, bird, bird,
b-bird‘s the word!”
– From 1963 hit song by The Trashmen
What’s YOUR word?
Ask people you work with. Ask your friends and family. Everyone has a pet word (or phrase) of habit that is probably not results-driven, and that may be costing you sales. I heard a salesman say “Trust me” to a prospect the other day seven times in four minutes.
Do you think he might have a problem with being honest?
Expressions like “All things being equal” and “Sorry” and “Um” and “Shoot!” and “Yikes!” can add a little color to your play-by-play presentation, but – overused – are best left for cartoon characters. Not only do they get old fast, they distract from what you have to say that’s important.
Some of these words that put a death-grip on your drive to gain results are simply a form of nervous ticks. All of us use some of them in varying degrees. The hard part of giving them the boot is figuring out which ones to kick in the first place. And taking self-inventory is not necessarily a strong suit for many.
One way I’ve found that works to identify the culprit words you’re using routinely and that you probably have little or no awareness of, is to set up a little game with friends, family and associates. One-on-one, tell each that you’re involved in a mini-training program that requires you to find out how others view you.
Explain that you will genuinely appreciate it if she/he would tell you — honestly – what musical instrument and what kind of animal that individual most closely associates with you, and why. Write down the responses.
Do NOT refute, rebuttal, challenge or argue about any answer you get. Simply write it down. Thank the person. If something’s not clear, ask for an example. Period.
Now you have succeeded at warming the person up, and (s)he realizes you will not jump down her/his throat if something is said that that individual might normally think you would not like to hear. Congratulations!
Now, ask each of these people what word or phrase or expression they hear you use most often.
Do NOT refute, rebuttal, challenge, or argue about any response you get. Write it down. Thank them. If you need to ask for an example to clarify what you hear, ask. But guess what? Right! Do not refute, rebuttal, challenge or argue about what you hear. Write it down. Thank them.
In fact, you can be very grateful for the answers you get, because the people you have asked are taking what amounts to a personal risk to give you honest answers.
The only way to underscore the value of all this is to next, USE the information.
If you like the instrument and animal associations, and think they help you make sales, stay with them. If you don’t like what they represent, figure out how to move in some new directions to generate a more productive image.
NOW Comes The Challenge . . .
Take the words people associate with hearing regularly from you and study them. Decide if it’s really helpful to your cause as a professional salesperson to be making statements like “Honestly!” or “Y’know what I mean?” or “What it is, is…” or “Holy Moley!” or “You got that right!” or whatever your inventoried friends, family and associates tell you they hear most.
You can change what you don’t like by choosing to change it, and by choosing to make that an easy choice, and by asking someone close to you to raise a finger or pull an earlobe or scratch a nose (or whatever) every time they hear the habit. Maybe pay ‘em a nickle for each signal?
It won’t take long to get rid of “B-b-b bird, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word” and watch prospects and customers pay closer attention . . .watch your sales climb.
Sales as a Science Generates Predictable Results!
Written by Tibor Shanto, Renbor Sales Solutions
[Contributing Author]
The inevitable happened yesterday. I saw the first “back to school” TV ad… only weeks now before we see the first Christmas ad. The ad got me thinking about an ongoing debate in sales, “Is sales art or science?” Like most I used take the stance that it was a blend of both, but the ad got me to see that sales, in the end, is a science. Here is why…
If you rephrase the question and asked, “Is persuasion (the essence of selling) art or science?” Based on the ad and advertising in general, the answer would without a doubt be… it is all science. There is very little left to random chance. Things are researched, fine tuned, and researched some more. Across different markets and different demographic groups… followed by focus groups and other means and tools to ensure success. As in science, success is not always assured, but the process is clear and repeatable.
The reason the debate rages in sales is that most sales people think 80/20 rule. They lack the will and discipline to practice the science, and find it much easier to fall back on the “art.” Science is not easy. It requires work, mundane work, reparative work. It requires following rules, reviewing your work, having a hypothesis, proving it, accepting when you cannot prove it, and reworking it again in an effort to prove it. I love sales people, but some of them spend more time and effort creating excuses rather than putting their hard work into core selling.
There is an upside to sales as a science. You are in control! You can master the steps and skills needed to consistently succeed. You just have to be willing to put in the time and effort. You are in a position to test, review, and refine your methodology and technique to the point where it serves your needs.
The wonderful thing is that the market continues to evolve and change. It forces you to continuously reinvent your methods. If you approach sales as an art rather than science you will produce random outcomes. Sales as a science generates predictable results!
