Posted on Thu, Mar 15, 2012
The first question people ask when they hear we’re presenting sales training seminars internationally is, “How is selling different there?” Interestingly enough, our experience whether it’s Israel, France, China or Thailand - sales is universal. There may be customs on handshakes and how to offer your business card, but when it comes down to the sales conversation the steps are universal worldwide.
3 Key Universal Sales Concepts
1. People have a preferred way of buying. Sell to them they way they want to buy. For example: Some people want and need lots of facts to evaluate, compare and analyze. Others want all the facts for the sake of having lots of information. Still others want only the most important facts and in a highlighted fashion, and there are some believe it or not that could care less about the facts but do care if others are using it and how happy are they. Listen to your prospect/client’s choice of words, pace, and body language to help identify the way they want to be sold in order to buy.
2. Prepare vs winging it. There’s quite a difference in the desired outcome when the seller has prepared what to say and ask based on the objective of the conversation. If they haven’t thought this through and find their customer or prospect on the other end of the phone or face-to-face with them – they tend to stumble over their words and struggle with gaining their intended goal. Invest at least 5 minutes in prep time and expect better results.
3. Focus the conversation on What’s in it for Them. No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” Drive the entire collaborative conversation with questions and benefits about them and where they want to be. People do not buy today – they already have today. They are buying tomorrow. What is their tomorrow along with the risks and rewards of getting there? When you can deliver them tomorrow, then it’s your turn to talk about your products and services and how you can do that for them.
Sales is sales is sales. No matter where you are selling principles are universal. We're looking forward to meeting and providing sales training to another 30 talented Asia Pak sellers - helping them to make every conversation matter.
Posted on Thu, Feb 02, 2012
Sales Software Sweepstakes! Guest Blog by Smart Sellng Tools
A well-defined sales process does more than just clarify requirements and create consistency across the sales organization. It’s a required first step before automating and systemizing the process.
When you define and then automate your processes, you can reduce the man-hours required to grow sales. That’s the very definition of productivity growth.
The market has been flooded with tools to improve sales productivity but many organizations are still slow to adopt them.
The up-front investment is often the biggest hurdle even if it’s thought to quickly pay for itself in greater process improvement and efficiency.
Smart Selling Tools to get the word out to discover which tools can help unlock your 2012 sales potential with a $100,000 Sales Software Sweepstakes.
The promotion is going on now and will last through the end of March - no purchase is necessary. Click here to register
Prizes are focused on helping companies maximize revenue opportunities, find more qualified prospects and close more deals. Each prize consists of a minimum of 10-person software licenses and some include enough licenses for your entire organization.
We know budgets are still tight, and that you’re working doubly hard these days to meet and exceed quota. We want to be sure you know about this unique opportunity.
Now is your chance to win tools to help you meet your revenue goals in 2012. Click here to register
Good luck!
Posted on Mon, Jan 23, 2012
It’s happened to all of us. We see a twinkle in the eye of a prospect and our thoughts get set on the goal of making a sale. In a nano second we stop listening or asking more questions and then lose sight of following the sales process or even think about the solution in regards to meeting and exceeding the prospects need. We get fixed on chasing the sale.
Well we all know what generally happens next. Nothing. We lose the sale and often the relationship. 
Here are 3 important tips to avoid ‘chasing the sale’:
1. Prepare. Treat every customer contact as if it was the first time meeting. Why? Because you’ll prepare! Go through the checklist each time: What is the purpose of this contact? What is the ultimate objective? What do I already know to meet the objective? What do I need to learn? What questions will I ask to learn the information? What possible obstacles will be encountered? How will I respond to them? What am I going to say to launch the conversation? What actions do I need to take to close the conversation?
2. Keep the Focus on Them. Your audience is continually asking themselves, “What’s in this for me?’ That’s all they care about. When you lose sight of this, they lose interest and there’s a tendency to talk more about your product and service. You can kiss that sale good-bye. How is your solution going to change their lives? Make them more money? Reduce costs? Grow their business? Remember, the easiest way to lose a sale these days is to ‘sell’ to people. Make it about helping them – not about your bottom-line or the sale. So stop selling to people and start helping them buy from you.
3. Ask for Feedback. Buyer feedback is essential. Without it, you won't know what you’re doing right and what barriers may keep them from buying. Know what questions to ask and don’t be afraid of the answers. Feedback questions generally elicit your prospect’s feelings and/or opinions. “What do you think? What is your overall impression? How does this compare to others you are considering?” If you don’t gain feedback you’ll miss out on real opportunities and wonder why they didn’t buy from you. Once you ask, remember to listen!
When you stop chasing the sale, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find you'll close more sales.
Posted on Tue, Jan 10, 2012
Maribel was anxious and nervous for her granddaughter, Sara. It was the morning of Sara’s first solo dance recital. Maribel was a ballerina as a young girl and knows about the knots in your stomach on recital days.
The loving grandmother that she is, she didn’t want Sara to have an embarrassing moment at her first solo dance recital. From experience, Maribel knows those embarrings moments can still haunt you. This particular morning, Maribel’s parting words to Sara were the words of her own mentor spoke to her before a recital, “When you are performing if you forget a part, don’t stop, improvise, keep on going.”
The entire family of aunts, uncles and cousins are in the audience. Several of them have been to Sara’s practices and know her dance routine. It’s Sara’s turn. Sara starts the first few steps and it’s exactly what they were expecting, then she began dancing to her hearts desire. Maribel turned to the teacher and asked, “What is she doing?” and the teacher shrugged her shoulders and said she didn’t know, except it was quite good! As it turns out, Sara is not only a dancer but also a coreogypher.
Sara was taking her granny’s advice, she had forgotten the dance routine and decided to just dance.
Top performers can take a lesson from Sara. When top sales professionals get stuck this is what they do:
1. Be proactive and not reactive. Anticipate problems, challenges, trends affecting your client’s business. Strategize with the clients and your company on how to stay ahead of possible set-backs.
2. Be accountable. Do not allow yourself to blame or become a victim. Things happen. Decide are you going to be part of the solution or part of the problem. Stop and acknowledge that something happened and then ask, “What can you do to make a difference to move this forward?”
3. Seek others for help and advice. Top performers watch and learn from other top performers in their company and others. They are watching what others are doing well and take those ideas and apply them to their sales situations.
The next time you think you may get stuck, think of Sara – embrace the moment and keep on going!
Posted on Mon, Jan 02, 2012
It was a great way to end 2011. It was a beautiful 78 degree day, not a cloud in the sky on the South Florida golf course, Saturday December 31, 2011. I was playing in the Saturday golf game with 3 of the best golfers in our group of 20. My first 9 was not satisfactory to my standards and it was time to have a little talk with myself. First I reflected on the golf lesson
from the day before and the one key concept the instructor pointed out and we practiced. Her parting words were that was the only thing I needed to concentrate on for all of my shots. Then I breathed and the next conversation with myself was on belief – belief in my abilities, my skills and myself. Well, the next 9 now goes in the history book with a hole-in-one on #3 and ending the round with a 40. Okay, I didn’t want to state my first 9, but I will – it was a pathetic 51.
Why does this story remind me of the importance of sales training for all businesses? Because to be good at golf, tennis, soccer, piano, guitar, singing, dancing people take private lessons or participate in group practices with a coach. All lawyers, doctors, accountants and other professions are required to take additional yearly training and report their CEU credits.
Yet sales people do not have a certification or a requirement to refresh or upgrade their sales skills. The US BLS.gov website, reports there are approximately 5 million non-retail salespeople in the US alone. Most sales people’s earnings include commissions. Something doesn’t quite make sense here. There’s no requirement for training for sales people, yet their income and the company’s success is paramount to a sales person’s end results!
My message to you no matter what month of the year you are reading this - sign up for some sales lessons! Businesses of all sizes can make plan easier, reduce turn over and out-sell, out-think and out-serve the competition with a better trained sales team. And if the company doesn’t offer sales training – register for courses on your own. It’s even easier today to find the right resource with the addition of virtual live training resources.
Every sales person wants their hole-in-one! While it is widely known that is really a luck shot, playing well is based on practice and regularly lessons do help! Good luck getting your equivalent of a hole-in-one!
Posted on Thu, Dec 01, 2011
If you polled sales managers nationwide and asked them have they ever heard a seller say: "November and December are very slow months. There's no point in calling." it would be a resounding 90%+ "Yes" answer.
I find that scary. On the other hand as a seller I want my competition to be in the "I can't sell doldrums"!
It's a proven fact that sales can be made in November and December. Heres what Top Sales Performers do in November and December:
1. Contact established customers. Call to wish them a happy holiday season without making any kind of sales presentation. Consider this conversation as a customer touch point to build customer loyalty. Customers appreciate the fact that you were thinking of them enough to thank them for their business and wish them a personal seasons greeting.
2. Schedule appointments for early first quarter as a review and planning session. Often sellers overlook the fact that things change and just because they buy x amount of widgets a year from you doesn't mean it will be the same this year. The first quarter meeting is used to revisit the previous year's goals and outcomes and review future goals. It's important for sellers to know what's on the customer's radar screen for the upcoming year.
3. Call new prospects and others in the pipeline to request a meeting for first quarter. They will appreciate it if November and December are not good times to meet and if they are, they'll ask for an earlier meeting date.
4. Many businesses have the 'use it or lose it dollars'. Budgets that if not spent in this calendar year does not roll over to the following year and the client risks their budget being reduced for the next fiscal year. Ask if this is their case and confirm if they'd like to pre order.
5. Sales Training experts recommend using this time to boost sales training efforts. Short sales training meetings on prospecting, keeping the pipeline full, sales stratgies, preparation and more can enegize sellers for the slow months as well as have better prepared sellers for the upcoming year.
Business that is worked on and created today - generally comes to fruition in 3-6 months. If you aren't making contacts because it's slow now.. you will have a less than stellar February and March.
Posted on Fri, Nov 25, 2011
Guest Blog By Kendra Lee, President, KLA Group
It’s November and the fourth quarter of business for many companies, bringing with it crunch time for achieving your sales goals. You may find yourself pushing to attain your revenue goal but uncertain what you can do to speed customer decision making.
Whether self-imposed or a number the company is counting on you to bring home, the pressure feels the same. The days are counting down too quickly and the gap in your sales goal feels too big.
With just weeks left in the year, you need to close sales fast, but don't want to appear desperate. Here are 12 strategies you can use to close sales without proposing discounts and special offers:
1. Review all the proposals you closed this year and make a list of things customers decided to “wait to do.” Close them now.
2. Spend two days closing lingering proposals, even the ones from last January.
3. Up-sell add-ons you thought would inflate the original solution you sold this year.
4. Sell one more. Look for opportunities to sell one more of something small or simple: one more PC, one small project, one more staff administrative position. Sell a bunch.
5. Conduct a 2011 review meeting with your top eight customers. Look back on the year’s successes and forward to what still needs to be accomplished before year end.
6. Look for clients with remaining 2011 budgets that they’d like to spend on 2012 priorities.
7. Call every client you haven’t talked to in 90 days to see how they’re positioned to start 2012. Do they need your services in December to get off to a fast start?
8. Call all prospects who have been pushing you off. Check in to see how they’re positioned to achieve their first quarter initiatives.
9. Review your forecast and identify the steps required to close everything – then execute.
10. Enlist your manager’s and / or team’s support in overcoming roadblocks holding any of your customers or prospects back from buying.
11. Remind customers you welcome referrals. Who do they know that needs help to get through year end?
12. Set appointments for January to give yourself a fast start to next year. You may find last minute opportunities while you’re at it!
Kendra Lee is a top IT Seller, Prospect Attraction Expert and author of the award winning book “Selling Against the Goal” and president of KLA Group. Specializing in the IT industry, KLA Group works with companies to break in and exceed revenue objectives in the Small and Midmarket Business (SMB) segment. Ms. Lee is a frequent speaker at national sales meetings and association events. To find out more about the author, read her latest articles, or to subscribe to her newsletter visit www.klagroup.com or call +1 303.741.6636.
Posted on Wed, Oct 19, 2011
Guest Blog by Jill Konrath
We didn't watch the sleeping rhinos for too long before we decided to move on. Little did we know what awaited us just around the bend.
Nothing can prepare you for being right in the midst of herd of giraffes. As these tall, gangly, beautiful animals nibbled the leaves off the top of the trees, we snapped photo after photo.
But the giraffes weren't alone. Over the course of our 3-day safari, we saw them with wildebeest, kudo, impala, tsessebe, zebra, springbok and more.
They stay together because, when you're hunted daily by the big cats, jackals and hyenas, there's security in numbers. Plus, each of the herd animals bring a special talent to the group. For example:
- Being tall, giraffes are usually first to spot any hunters who approach. All the other animals keep their eyes on them.
- With their widespread eyes, the wildebeest has a broad field of vision and can sense danger from the side.
- Kudus leap straight up in the air when they see a predator. This shocks the hunter, but gives them - and the herd - a chance to escape.
And here's something that you may not know. Predators don't have eyes like ours. They can't make out color. Instead, the predators only see outlines. When prowling for food, they're looking for the shape of the impala and the shape of the giraffe. When they spot it, they attack.
That's why giraffes have spots. They break up the shape. It's the same reason other herd animals have stripes and lines and blobs. When the predators can't see a shape, they can't attack. And, it's even harder when the animals are moving en masse.
So what can we learn about sales from the giraffes?
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Jill Konrath, author of SNAP Selling and Selling to Big Companies, helps sellers get more prospects in their pipeline, speed up sales cycles and land bigger contracts. She's a frequent speaker at sales conferences. For more fresh sales strategies that work with crazy-busy prospects, visit www.jillkonrath.com.
Posted on Mon, Sep 19, 2011
The phone termination of Carol Bartz, CEO of Yahoo, was the second within a month of poor firing methods that I’ve come across. A blind ad was placed on a job board for the Director of Fitness and Spa. An employee at this Fitness Center applied to the blind ad, only to receive the thank you for applying email with the HR Department’s email of her current employer. 
The Director with this surprise information from the employee who had applied (for her job!) asks her boss what’s up. Her boss, caught by surprise, proceeds to say this was premature, but her services were no longer needed in that area. How’s that for a surprise about your job? What else was a surprise, is this was a 25 year employee without ever a meeting informing her of a lack of performance or the need to bring in an outsider to take the department to the next level.
So where’s the etiquette in firing today? Is Carol Bartz’s telephone firing similar to my pet peeve of hiding behind email for those tough conversations? Or is it as bad as Carrie in Sex in the City thought when she was dumped by her boyfriend Berger via a Post-It note?
Firing an employee is though, if unfortunately you have to do it, here are a few tips:
1. Fire always, always FACE-TO-FACE.
2. Plan when, where and what to say before firing. You may even write what you are going to say. If you do provide an explanation, be certain it is behaviorally specific and not subjective – “We don’t like your attitude.” - even if you are in a right-to-fire state. It is always safe to say, “It’s not a fit at this time” and leave out the tit-for-tat.
3. Have necessary paper work and options prepared. Is there a buy-out clause, what does the contract specifically say about termination? Have two copies of the contract. The employee most likely has their copy in their safe, not in their desk drawer. Take care of as much closing out (moving on) business as possible in the moment.
4. What’s the office desk and building exit plan? Are you meeting them after hours? Are you asking them to clean out their desk immediately?
Firing is never easy. Remember how you fire can go around the world via social media as Carol Bartz’s story did effecting your brand and ability to attract top-notch talent. Do it right, as it’s the right thing to do.
Posted on Thu, Sep 08, 2011
Guest blog by Mel Kleiman, CSP
10. Failing to Create a Job Description: How can you hire the best person for the job if you haven’t defined what “the best” is? In addition to listing tasks and responsibilities, job descriptions should spell out the skills, attitudes, and personality traits that are key to success. (While a librarian and a waiter both need to have good customer service skills, only one of them needs an outgoing personality.)
9. Asking Illegal Questions: Write out your inter-view questions, review each one, and ask yourself: “What does this have to do with the person’s ability to do the job?” If it’s not job-related, don’t ask it. (If you need someone who will be on time every day, don’t ask: “Do you have a reliable daycare provider?” Ask: “Other than personal illness, how many days were you late for work in the last six months?”)
8. Relying on First Impressions: A study by the University of Chicago found 90% of interviewers make a hiring decision within the first 14 seconds of meeting the applicant. (No wonder so many bad hiring decisions are made.)
7. Forgetting Who Needs to Make an Impression: Applicants today are picky about where they’ll work. Interviewers need to sell applicants on the job and the company. (Applicants report major turnoffs are interviewers who are not prepared and being kept waiting.)
6. Hiring Based Only on the Interview: Another study concluded that hiring decisions based on interviews are only eight percent more reliable than flipping a coin! The best predictors of success on the job are testing (53%), a temporary job assignment (44%), and the reference check (26%). Experience is reliable only 14% of the time and age is the least reliable predictor of success (-1%).
5. Biases: A bias is the instant bond you feel when you find out someone is from your hometown even though its population is over 500,000 and you’ve never met before. Biases cause us to hire who we like best instead of the person who is best for the job.
4. Not Asking the Right Questions: Every unpre-pared interviewer in the world says: “Tell me about yourself,” and then asks: “Where do you see yourself in five years?” And every job applicant has rehearsed answers to these questions. The best questions to start with are: “Tell me about your first paying job. What three things did you learn from it?” Use the same questions to take the applicant through all of their subsequent jobs. The answers paint a vivid picture of the person’s work ethic, commitment, and drive.
3. Talking Too Much: Most interviewers forget that they can’t learn anything while talking. Rule of thumb: The applicant should do the talking at least 80% of the time.
2. Interviewing from the Application or Résumé: When you conduct interviews with either of these documents in hand, you tend to simply confirm the information the applicant has already provided (instead of learning what you need to know).
1. Emphasizing Experience & Education: Harvard Business School determined that the combination of information, intelligence, and skill account for only 7% of business success. Attitude alone accounts for the other 93%. Far too few interviewers ask attitude questions like: “I know you would work harder or longer hours if asked, but, just in the course of your normal workday, what have you done for an employer that is more than what was expected of you?”
Mel Kleiman: As the onetime owner of three different businesses (including the largest group of Hertz Rent-A-Car franchise locations in the U.S.), Mel’s expertise is based on his personal experience as a business owner as well as his extensive research and consulting work helping companies design successful employee recruiting, hiring, and retention programs. www.kleimanHR.com