Category: Sales

The Most Important Sales Question You Need To Ask

On By Joe DeRosaIn SalesLeave a comment

important

Selling is a combination of both art and science.  It requires intelligence, curiosity, study, and practice.  Unfortunately too many books have been written by self-proclaimed gurus who are running around promoting persuasion, influence and manipulation.  As a life-long sales professional I cringe when I hear these tactics being promoted as the Holy Grail of selling.  Learn how to persuade a buyer and you’ll be golden.  Wrong.  Persuasion is only temporary if it’s not grounded in something more significant or substantive to the buyer.  While beating the buyer into submission is one way to approach sales I’d suggest a much different path.  Something that requires a fair amount of mental horsepower, patience and agility.  This approach can be summed up in one question…So What?

Sales people have been trained…brainwashed…into force feeding a prospect through a rigid selling process.  The problem is that most sales processes are inward focused and aligned to what their organization does and is capable of delivering.  They rarely take the customers viewpoint into consideration.  This results in the sales person trying to find a way to wiggle into the prospective buyers wallet, often times not knowing or caring whether there is a real or tangible need for their product.

So how can you avoid falling into the stereotypical sales rep persona?  Ask this one questions before and after your customer interactions – So what?  This product has  a 98% satisfaction rating!  So what?  My company has been around for 100 years.  So what?  We pay the highest commission rates in the industry.  So what?  I’ve helped many business owners like you improve their profits.  So what?

I’m sure many of those statements sound familiar.  You may have even used one or two of them before.  But so what?  What does your satisfaction rating mean to me the buyer?  Why should I care?  Too many times sales reps lob a one-liner out there and let it hang.  They believe that it’s such a powerful statement that the buyer must believe it too, yet we know this isn’t the case.

Once you begin to challenge yourself with the “So What?” question you’ll find yourself having different conversations with your customer and asking different questions.  You’ll begin to interact with your customer on a different level.  Your genuine new-found interest in what’s important to your customer will be seen and felt.  And while this may not guarantee a sale it will guarantee that you’ll be better prepared to separate the true prospects versus those who simply clog our pipelines who are not fits, matches, or beneficiaries of the value we provide.  Having this power will help you close more business that is a true fit while quickly sorting through the business that isn’t, saving you time, money, and energy that you can then direct toward those prospects who can truly benefit from the value you offer.

Happy selling!

Tunnel Vision – A Salespersons Secret Weapon

On By Joe DeRosaIn SalesLeave a comment

TunnelVision

As the internet-of-everything continues to grow, and social media becomes more robust with each passing day, professionals in every industry are forced to embrace the art of multitasking. In fact, so much so that our society places the skill of multitasking on a pedestal – a Holy Grail if you will of those who are super-efficient. Look at a handful of resumes today and you’ll find candidates advertising their ability to perform a dozen tasks with accuracy and proficiency. But can they really? Can any of us be really good at anything when we’re focused on everything?

Successful salespeople do many things well but one common area of frustration that plagues many is the never ending struggle to focus. To have a singular focus – perhaps tunnel vision – on only one or two things at a time. Tunnel vision leads to a laser focus on what really matters. Would a golfer think of his/her next drive while still on the green putting for birdie? Would a heart surgeon be thinking of office payroll with a patient on the table and chest open? Let’s hope not. Tunnel vision, laser focus, or concentration can all be attributed to those who excel in their particular craft.

Try these 3 Tunnel Vision ideas to improve your performance:

  1. Shut off email while making prospecting calls. Email is one of the biggest distractions a salesperson deals with. What if my customer needs me? What about my referral sources calling me with a prospect? The human mind often tends to work in extremes. A “this or that” mentality. The reality is that things are rarely this or that. Start out by shutting off your email for an hour while making calls and then check it after an hour to see what items require your immediate attention or response.  You’re ability to stay focused on your calls in the absence of the “You-Got-Mail ding” will yield better results.
  2. The early bird does get the worm. Start your day early setting aside 20 – 30 minutes to read. Glance at the news, read some blogs, or finish a chapter or two of a sales focused book. Starting the day early allows you to tunnel your vision on tasks that will enhance your conversations and activities throughout the day.  If your calls begin at 8 am, start your work day at 7:30 am.  Notice I didn’t say start your day at 7:30 am as my assumption is that your day is starting somewhere around the 6 am hour if not earlier anyway.
  3. Prepare your call list the night before. Being able to start your day focused on making calls rather than preparing for them is another way to focus your attention on action-based tactics. Preparing a call list requires a different energy than making the calls themselves. Be sure when you’re making calls you’re focused on nothing but the calls themselves. Multitasking will be heard and felt by the receiver of the call and will most likely lead to poor outcomes.

Be confident in knowing that acting with tunnel vision will produce better results while multitasking only produces diluted results.  The power of focus will help you prioritize your tasks for the day by applying the most amount of energy and skill possible during those activities.

5 Things Every Salesperson Should Focus On

On By Joe DeRosaIn SalesLeave a comment

focus

Sales people are an interesting breed.  They’re high-strung, often funny, and witty, sensitive and many times high maintenance.  I know this because I am one.  I’ve sold, managed, led, and built sales teams for the better part of the past 2o years.  I’ve had months when I hit my numbers and months when I’ve missed.  I’ve had sales teams that have blown the number out of the water and those who have drowned while trying to hit the number.  Yet over the years I have heard one question that continues to be asked over and over again…”what is the secret to success in sales?”.  Here’s the answer…there is no secret.

The difference between successful sales people and those who fail in this profession is simple.  Over the years I have identified 5 traits that separate those who succeed from those who fail.

  1. Clarity of goals – knowing exactly what you want to achieve and when.
  2. Discipline – being committed to perfecting your skills.  Starting your day before others and ending it after they’ve long given up.  Putting in that extra time when others are out having fun.
  3. Curiosity/Inquisitiveness – an insatiable thirst for knowledge.  Betterment.  Desire to outsmart, or out-understand others.  Constantly absorbing, learning, refining.
  4. Time Management – successful people know that time is their biggest asset.  They don’t waste it.  In Sales this means selling when people are available to be sold to.  Don’t do paperwork at 10 am.  That’s a waste of time.  Sell at 10 am and do your paperwork at 10 pm.
  5. Self-Reflect – 15 minutes a day to reflect on what you did, what results you generated, what you learned, what you’ll do different tomorrow.

Make these 5 things part of your life and success will find its way to your doorstep, not because it simply wandered over but because you attracted it through these strong and powerful habits.

 

5 Ways to Improve Your Teleprospecting Results

On By Joe DeRosaIn SalesLeave a comment

 

telesales

Sure it’s 2014 but the phone is still a big part of making sales.  In light of the internet, social media, and digital content, many products and services still require human interaction with the sales process.  If you have a product or service that requires lead generation through the use of teleprospecting here are 5 ways to improve your teleprospecting results:

  1. Write out your script.  I didn’t say read from a script, I said write it out.  Knowing what you need to say is important.  Making sure you have the salient points identified prior to a prospect answering the call is critical to your success.  Select your words carefully.  Forget the “$7 dollar Scrabble words”.  Focus on delivering a simple, clear message without the typical sales jargon.
  2. Practice the script.  Record your voice as you walk through your script.  Do it over, and over, and over again until it begins to sound natural as opposed to a forced message.  Get a mirror and watch yourself as you speak your pitch.  Try it sitting down and then standing up.  Often times you’ll be surprised as how much more relaxed you sound when your standing up.  Your diaphragm is elongated and your breathing and oxygen flow is much more streamlined than when sitting.
  3. Use tone and inflection strategically.  End your very first sentence on a high.  Be conscious not to end sentences on down tones.  When your voice drifts it comes across as boredom, lacking energy, or worse just plain unhappy.  Remember, when you’re on the phone your voice is your suit.  Since you’re not in front of someone you can’t wow them with your $2,000 Armani suit.  Instead you must have a $2,000 Armani voice.
  4. Have a list of client testimonials handy.  Referencing key clients or partners within the territory you are calling adds credibility to you, your product and your company.  You can be as general or specific as you’d like but be sure you have names to back you up.  “I work with more than X number of businesses (brokers, accountants, bankers, etc) in Philadelphia.”  If the prospect decides to challenge or question who you work with be ready with names.
  5. Set goals for calling.  A rule of thumb is 100 dials a day for teleprospecting, or 15 dials per hour.  This requires having a list ready that has this number of prospects on it.  Close your email, shut off your cell phone and start dialing.  Eliminate all possible distractions…just call.

Focus on these steps and watch how your productivity increases by 25% a month.  It really works.

 

How Your Sales Team Really Feels About Social Media

On By Joe DeRosaIn SalesLeave a comment

socialmedia

Sales people are some of the brightest, most adaptive, and persistent personalities on the planet.  They thrive on ego and strive to be recognized from the highest levels of their organizations.  The best sales people focus on establishing strong relationships and broad networks of contacts.  But what most sales people dislike more than anything else is change, and social media represents one of the most sweeping changes to sales people since the invention of the fax machine.

To get your sales team on board and using social media to improve their results requires you to have a thorough understanding of what’s preventing them from getting involved to begin with.  Here are 3 things your sales team believes about social media but isn’t telling you.

  1. Social media isn’t up to me, it’s the company’s responsibility.   Reps believe that social media is an extension of advertising and thus is the sole responsibility of the company.  Communication, narratives, or messaging whether via social or traditional media outlets are the responsibility of the corporate marketing team.
  2. I don’t have time.  Reps see things as either-ors.  If I must do Thing A, than Thing B must be sidelined.  Something must come off the plate before something new is added.  Given most sales people feel they already work to their fullest capability and capacity, few see a way to add more to their daily routine.
  3. I’m afraid.  Ever hear the story of the sales rep over-promising what their product or service can do?  What about the rep who exaggerates, manipulates or misleads a prospect?  Reps fear putting things in writing which provides them little to no wiggle room if they need to dial-back a previously issued statement or comment.  Putting something on LinkedIn or Twitter creates a feeling of unease and discomfort for a sales rep.

How to overcome these 3 false-beliefs?

  1. Here’s just one reason social media is a joint endeavor between a company and its sales people:  branding.  There are 2 parts to every sale – the company’s brand reputation and the sales person’s brand reputation.  A buyer will not buy if they don’t believe in the company’s brand.  If its product is perceived to be irrelevant, or low quality the buyer will know and look for an alternative.  Likewise if the sales person’s reputation is in question no matter how good the company’s product is the sale will not be made…at least by that sales person.  Social media is a great way for sales people to build and expand their personal brand reputation and thought leadership.
  2. Social media can help a sales person become more productive by improving their efficiency.  Utilizing free apps like Zite, Hootsuite, USAToday, and Google Alerts can help keep a sales pro up-to-date and add value to their sales conversations with prospects and current customers.
  3. Show them.  As their leader you must be able and willing to demonstrate your involvement with social media.  How do you embrace social media?  How does it play into your day?  Is it a passing thing, or do you participate daily with social media?  How do you use it?  Can you provide examples?  Being able to walk the talk is critical to implementing any new initiative or change.  The sales team must see you doing it before they even consider it for themselves.

Try these approaches and let me know how it works.

 

3 Ways Selling Has Changed In The Last 10 Years

On By Joe DeRosaIn Sales1 Comment

RotaryPhone

Most of us in Sales began our career with the Yellow Pages in hand.  Sales training consisted of two words – start dialing.  Call your family, then friends, and work your way down to those you didn’t know at all..  COLD!  You started with the “A”‘s and worked down to “Z” dialing the phone 150 – 175 times a day.  If you were lucky you spoke with a handful of potential buyers and perhaps made 1 sale.  Your success depending solely on a rapid fire approach.  Dialing as fast as you could, ending the calls that didn’t present an immediate opportunity and on to the next call.  No strategy.  No connection.  No value.

Today things have changed but many Sales organizations are still operating with a pre-80’s selling style.  They refuse to accept the reality that there is in fact a softer side of selling.  This side of selling acknowledges a great deal of strategy and includes the elements of education, communication, and value.  Here are 3 areas that have changed dramatically in the past decade with the flow of available information on the web:

  1. Gamesmanship versus Education.  Not more than 10 years ago a sales persons goal was to outplay or outmaneuver the prospect.  This is not to say that salespeople were bad people.  They did their jobs with the tools at their disposal and the direction given to them by their managers all of whom were trained the same way and advanced in their careers accordingly.   Given the scarcity of information buyers were completely reliant upon the salesperson.  While best case scenarios involved a sales person simply being viewed as pushy, worst case extremes included those sales people who mislead, misinformed, and misguided their prospects into making a poor purchasing decision.   Thankfully today there is an abundance of information available starting with the Web and including education content made available directly from companies selling their goods and services.
  2. Push versus Pull communication.  Remember direct mail with all those post cards that companies sent out through the U.S. Postal Service?  Or the letters that were sent out offering 3, 6, or 12 months free.  Urgency words and phrases like “For the first 100 callers”, or “in the next 90 days”, or how about “while supplies last”?  Sellers created a sense of urgency for the buyer that if they didn’t act quickly they would lose out on this incredible deal.  By stating the offer was only available to the first 100 callers, sellers attempted to manipulate prospective buyers into believing that there were swarms of ready-buyers who were crashing the gates to gobble up all product being offered for sale and soon there would be no more.  After all, we all need at least one if not two “gophers“.
  3. Discounts versus Value. Imagine Mercedes-Benz, ExxonMobil, Apple, or Goldman Sachs giving their work away at a heavy discount or even for free.  Premium brands only become premium by protecting their brand value.  Any offers that include give-a-ways do nothing more than diminish the value of your brand.  Think for a moment about your sales experience with a premium brand company.  You’re almost shaking with excitement to hand over your money just to say you own what they sell.  Remember your first iPod, iPad or Macbook?  You never complained that there were no discounts.  And what about the UGGs you bought?  Premium companies stand by the value of their brand, selling it for the price they believe is justified to not only make a profit but to also protect their brand’s value.

Respecting your prospect, your buyer, and your current customer is paramount to your continued growth and success in selling.  Taking the time to educate your prospective buyer through high-value communication will help position you as more than just a sales person.  The sales professional able to do this most effectively will be the one that the buyer can’t live without.  They will become an indispensable resource to the buyer and will become the go-to person for all their needs.  Said simply, the one who delivers the most value wins today, tomorrow, and the next.

The Secret to Leading a National Sales Team to Success? Communication.

On By Joe DeRosaIn Leadership, Sales1 Comment

Win

Vince Lombardi said, “Coaches who can outline a play on a blackboard are a dime a dozen.  The ones who win get inside their player and motivate.”  This insight from Coach Lombardi speaks to the necessity for all leaders to understand their players and instill confidence while inspiring a desire for to achieve greatness.

Running a national sales organization is difficult. There are numerous challenges that come into play that every leader must deal with on a regular basis.  Cultural differences, time zones, and competition are just a few of the most pressing items that every sales leader encounters.

While there are many critical characteristics that make up a great national sales leader one stands above the rest…communication.  Communication is both art and science.  At its most effective level communication is a two-way street.  A give and take.  A back and forth.  It requires research, listening, understanding and patience.  Good communicators know what to say.  Great communicators know how to say it and when.  The right message delivered at the wrong time, in the wrong venue, or with the wrong tone can be just as disastrous as delivering the wrong message.  Great leaders know their people.  They understand what drives them.  What makes them tick.  Because of their deep insight into their people they are able to communicate at a higher level than those leaders who don’t take the time to get to know their people.

To be a great communicator you must do these 6 things:

  1. Educate yourself in your area of expertise.  It always amazes me how some folks believe that because they’ve been “in the business” for 10, 15, or 20 plus years they just know it all.  Their arrogance has misled them providing a false sense of security.
  2. Get to know your team.  Really get to know them.  Spend one-on-one time with them to understand who they are, what’s important to them, where they want to go, and when they’d like to get there.  Listen to them and be sure to focus all your attention on them.  We’ve all had those meetings where the person we’re talking to has “wandering eyes” and you just know they’re not hearing you.
  3. Practice.  Use a mirror.  Even after more than 25 years of building and leading large teams I still practice my message in front of a mirror.  Facial expressions are just as important as your message.  If the two appear disconnected your credibility goes out the window.
  4. Show empathy.  As the saying goes, “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Empathy can only be developed when you take a genuine interest in helping others.
  5. Do it often.  The more you communicate with the right message the more transparent you become.  After all that’s what people want…transparency.  The ability to know what to expect without surprises is what builds credibility.
  6. Be clear.  Say what you mean.  Minimize the buzz words, big words, and impressive phrases.  No one cares how smart you sound.  They’re only interested in whether what you do can help them meet their needs.

Give it a shot and let me know how it works!

Top 10 Things All Sales People Must STOP Doing!

On By Joe DeRosaIn Leadership, SalesLeave a comment

Stop

I love Sales.  I love positioning a valuable solution in a way that meets a prospects needs and improves their way of life.  Whether the solution saves time, money, mistakes, legal action, or helps to improve employee morale, or puts more time back in the owners schedule to spend with their families or friends, I love the art of the sale.  Over the years I have gone on hundreds if not thousands of sales calls with sales representatives, managers, and even other sales executives and have observed some pretty wild situations.  I’ve seen sales representatives doing double duty as they attempted to sell a product from their personal business while on a sales call for the company they were employed by to a phone call I received alerting me of a situation where a sales representative ran into some trouble with The Law!

I have to believe that these crazy situations I’ve seen over the last 20 years are not exclusive to the Sales profession however it does make me think.  Perhaps it’s no wonder that people in general see most sales folks as sketchy or even a little shady.  Why is that?  Well, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite things – I say this tongue in cheek – that I have seen sales people do over the years in selling situations.  This type of behavior only perpetuates some of the attitudes and perceptions folks have of sales people.  If only ALL Sales people STOP doing these things immediately.  Check them out:

My Top 10 List of Things Sales People Should STOP Doing During a Sales Call: 

10. Flipping your hair during a sales call – this isn’t a photo shoot…or is it?

9. Putting sun glasses on your head during a sales call – you’re not a movie star – if you’re not going to wear them put them away!

8. Saying “trust me” – if you earned it you wouldn’t have to say it!

7. Wearing crooked or snagged neckwear (ties). Rough night? I’m a mess! 

6. Wearing clothing that doesn’t fit properly – this isn’t a site seeing expedition – too loose, too tight, too open, goodness gracious have some pride!

5.Immediately pulling out your favorite brochure – Hurray it’s show-and-tell time!  Everyone sit on the floor and pay attention, I’m about to WOW you!

4. Degrading your competition. You know, I don’t like to say anything bad but they suck, not to mention all their employees have priors!

3. Not turning your phone off when in a meeting. Hang on, this is probably the Pres! You have no idea of how important I am.

2. Not knowing how much business the customer you’re visiting has given you already. So what products do you have with us?  Um, I forgot…

1. Showing up late or just in the nick of time.  The traffic was horrible, the sun was too bright, the clouds impaired my vision, I lost power last night, my electric toothbrush wasn’t charged, I just didn’t feel like going out.

An Awe-inspiring Sales Encounter

On By Joe DeRosaIn SalesLeave a comment

persevere

I’ve been in Sales my entire career. When you add up the years I spent as a kid going door-to-door to cut lawns I’ve in effect sold for more than 30 years. In that time there have been only a handful of occasions when I have been truly astounded, in a positive way, by a sales professional doing their job. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been on thousands of sales calls in that time and have seen some incredible selling skills, influencing, and relationship development happen before my eyes. But this week I experienced not just an awe-inspiring sales encounter but one that carried with it an incredible lesson of the human spirit and will to succeed.

Like most of the country this week, Philadelphia, where I live, was trapped in a deep freeze. We were well below zero for 2 days this past week and for the rest of the time we were single digits to teens. Simply said, it was cold. The kind of cold that inhibits motor skills if outside for more than a few minutes. The kind of cold that rattles your brain and activates the fight or flight emotion within humans to find warmth…shelter. The kind of cold that many sales professionals would use as an excuse for not going on calls. Many but not all.

My doorbell range at 7:30 pm Thursday evening. I walked to the front door thinking it was one of my kid’s friends. I turned on the front porch light, looked out the window and to my surprise saw a lady standing on my front doorsteps with a bright red Comcast coat and employee ID hanging around her neck. She had an armful of materials which she held with her gloved hands and wore an incredibly huge smile. I opened the door…a bit leery if not completely skeptical truth be told…to a warm and heartfelt greeting from this lady. Within the first 20 seconds she told me who she was, her company, and managed to get in names of two of my neighbors she just “signed up” for Comcast’s new Triple Play program. And while it was below 20 degrees outside she exuded a warmth and passion for what she was doing which in her words was all about “putting money back in my pocket”.

I’m not blogging about this to share details on her sales skills which by the way were excellent. No. Instead I am blogging about this to prove the power of the human spirit to overcome most any obstacle we can face and persevere. She had goals and she loved people, and most of all she enjoyed “putting money back into her customers pockets.” She had a level of authenticity that I find doesn’t always exist in today’s sales professional. She was real, she was knowledgeable and most of all she was honest. How do I know that? Because one of the products she was selling wasn’t the right fit for us and she told us so. She didn’t try to force a sale by masking the problems or shortfalls of that specific service relative to the service I currently use.

Her ability to build trust and rapport rivaled some of the best pros I’ve worked with over 30 years including those selling into the C-Suites of Fortune 100 companies. Pure determination coupled with an intense focus on her specific goals and a mastery of listening and customer assessment skills makes Marie one of the most impressive human beings, and yes sales person, I have ever encountered.

So when it’s too cold out, or too hot. Whether you’re too tired or just not in the mood, think of Marie. Push yourself, drive yourself and get moving. Get out the door and engage your human interaction skills.

Stop Closing and Start Opening

On By Joe DeRosaIn SalesLeave a comment

open door

Searching Amazon I found nearly 6,000 books written on “closing the sale”.  Hundreds of tips, techniques and in some cases – shhhh – secrets, about how to be a better closer.  The fact is that sales professionals should spend less time perfecting their closing skills and more time on their opening skills.

Most sales fall into 3 buckets:  sold, not sold, and pending sale.  That means about a third of the deals you’re working on will close regardless of what you do, a third will say no regardless of what you do or say, and the final third is really the only bucket you can influence.  How you influence, and how effective your ability is to influence others, rests solely on how well you build trust and rapport.  And when does that happen?  In the first stages of a sales encounter with a prospect, and over multiple encounters with your existing customers.

If you shift the time you spend on trying to become a better closer, and focus that time and energy on learning more about your customer, and prospect, your sales results will improve.  Not only do people still buy from other people but they buy from those they trust and respect.  Have you ever bought something from a sales rep you didn’t trust?  What was the last thing you bought from someone you didn’t respect?  My guess is you answered both of these questions with a resounding “never” response.  Let’s face it, the act of buying is an emotional process regardless if it’s B2B or B2C.  There is just as much personal risk in a B2B buying decision as there is in B2C and perhaps even more so since the buyers job could be on the line if they make a poor purchasing decision.

Invest your time getting to know your prospect and your customers.  What drives them?  How do they define success?  What risks keep them up at night?  Which aspects of their business are they keening focused on changing?  What areas are they worried about that they don’t fully understand?  How will their decision to buy or not buy from you affect them personally?  If your solution saves their business money they could be viewed a hero, but if the solution doesn’t deliver as advertised it could cost them dearly.

Tune in.  Listen to what your customer is telling you.  Be both observant and open-minded.  And forget looking for that magic pill that guarantees better close rates.  Really…if that were possible would we need 6,000 different books and authors offering to tell us how?  Remember, Sales is all about people.  And people buy from people.  Invest genuinely in developing relationships with people and watch as your results improve.