Me : “Good morning, may I speak to Mike Wright please?”
Gatekeeper : “No, I am sorry, Mike doesn’t take calls”
Me : “OK, no problem. Perhaps you can help, I saw that Mike recently made an announcement about the Hertford project. I have been working on a similar project and wanted to make contact. Is Mike in the office at the moment?

The ending – well you just need to check out the post yourself here : http://www.salesitch.com/2009/07/sales-bloopers-no-2.html

Very often when making cold (or warm) calls, the other person will say one of the best sales objections in the world:

“No I’m not interested!”

This usually comes just after you have made your introduction. There are a couple of ways you can deal with this effectively and we will look at these in a minute after we look at what not to do:

Sales Objections Don’ts:

• Never argue back or try to be clever. Saying something like “How do you know your not interested, you don’t know what I’m selling” will end up getting a  response similar to “You are right and I never will – so pi** off!”
• Never just carry on the pitch as if you haven’t heard them. This will wind them up and close any potentail doors you ever had.

Sales Objections Do’s:

• Develop a better opening statement and Value staement that will significantly decrease resistance and the number of times you hear this. I covered this in a previous sales blog article – telesales opening lines

• Try understanding their position and keeping the conversation going “I’m sure you have a very good reason for saying that. Do you mind me asking what that is?” This is a tried and tested way of dealing with Im not interested and seeks to understand the real reason why they are not interested. They might be in a rush to get to a meeting, they might have an existing supplier, they might not be the right person or they might just be rude. If you don’t ask you will never know, will never continue the sales dialogue and could close that door for ever.

• If you are feeling confident and secure in yourself, why not diffusing the situation with the confident delivery of something like “Well, that was blunt. Where do we go from here?

Give these two a try next time you are faced with sales objections specifically “I’m not interested”. If you don’t like these, that’s OK. Just make sure you have a few that work because there is one thing for certain – you will hear sales objections especially that phrase!

I was recently tidying out some old paperwork and came across some notes I made when reading the Seth Godin Classic – “Purple Cow”. I think I made these notes back in 2006 or 2007 but they are just as relevant in todays business world.

Be Remarkable – old approaches just don’t work. The ways you have happily found, dealt with and kept customers for years are becoming increasingly ineffective. When was the last time you tried something new or revolutionary in your sales system?

You are Invisible – If your overworked, time poor audience doesn’t have the time or inclination to listen to you then you are just down right invisible. When was the last time you tried out a new way of communicating. Do you twitter? Do you post to Youtube? God forbid but do you write hand written letters? In the information age the old personal touch may just work you know?

Old Rule: - Create safe, ordinary products and combine them with great marketing.

New Rules -

Create remarkable products that the right people seek out. What can you do in your business that is remarkable? When was the last time you had a Being Remarkable brainstorm?

Happy consumers - The vast majority of people are happy with what they have got – they are stuck! It is a tough job to sell to the stuck so your only chance Is to a seek out those people that are actively seeking what you sell and want/like change.

Differentiate your customers: Find the group that loves what you do and is the most profitable and rewarding. Ignore the rest. Don’t cater to the masses. Cater to customers you would love to have.

Boring leads to failure! - Always.

Abandon Following The Leader - Does your company follow the leader in your Industry? What would happen if you abandoned that strategy and did something very different instead? When was the last time you made a strategy for being different?

Niche first Product later? – Can you identify the niche market first and then build or develop the product or service to be ‘remarkable’ in that niche.

Slogan - What is your slogan that people can use to spread the remarkable message about your company?

Are you looking for inspiration at the moment. At around £10 or less I would recommend Seth Godins – Purple Cow as a quick read to inspire you with ideas. Or read some more of this sales blog. It’s free!

If you are determined to set yourself up to fail I have drawn up the 7 key things you should say to yourself on a daily basis to ensure that you speed up your failure as soon as possible. Might as well get it over and done with right?

1. I can’t…………………….
2. I musn’t………………….
3. I haven’t got a chance.
4. It’s no use………………
5. The world is going to the dogs…..
6. There’s no point trying…….
7. You just can’t win…………..

Why not vote for the one that you think will help you fail the quickest?

Power Of Mind In Sales Training

The following article was first published in my Sales Newsletter. You should subscribe here — Sales Newsletter

Last year I was in the process of selling my House and had invited a number of Estate Agents around to show me why they should be get my business.The process was an eye opener and one that left me totally unimpressed with some of the Agents I met. They were there to sell me on the benefits of why I should place my house on the market with them yet they could not even sell themselves. One Agent even delighted in telling me:

“Oh no, I’m not a salesman. I try to show them the house and stay out of the way”

Considering he was asking for a significant chunk of my money to sell my house, this was not what I wanted to hear.

One Agent did a reasonable job of asking me some good sales questions as she walked around my house. She was at the top of the list of my choices even after she had told me her fee was 1.5%. The cheapest agent was asking 0.75%.

I asked the Agent a question I usually ask anyone that I am considering doing business with and there does not appear to be a clear choice:

“Why should I choose You as My Estate Agent?”

I was hoping she would substantiate her high fee with something like:

• We have a completely new marketing system which means that we have been proven to get 30% more viewings than other agents in the critical first 2 weeks.

• We understand choosing an Agent can be difficult and that there is a level of risk involved – usually with you. Therefore we guarantee that if we do not sell your house at the price we recommend within 60 days then we will charge no commission.

• Here is an independent report that shows the average time taken to sell a house in your area with other Agents, is 85 days and our companies average time is 42 days. The benefit to you is that we are proven to sell faster and at the full market value – guaranteed.

What happened next was the Agent taking a sharp intake of breath, pulling a few tortured facial expressions, hesitating for about a minute and then replying:

“Oh, OK then. I can do it at 1%”

That was not what I wanted either! I wanted her to impress me and instill confidence in me that she was the best choice available. I wasn’t looking for a discount – yet!. At that point she went from the top of the list to the bottom.
The whole point of that personal tale was to get you thinking. -

“How would I answer that Question?”

That question is the basis of success in any business and in any sales position.

I regularly teach Sales Training Courses where the delegates would be looking for me to give them the magic words to say on their cold calls, telephone conversations and sales meetings. I’m afraid that those magic words that will guarantee you the business every time do not exist. All too often it is not the individuals fault as they have never been shown what the benefits of doing business with their company are.

Sales Success is built off the back of hard work and preparation. My top Tips for success are:

• Draw up a features and benefits list of your business and of every product and service you offer. Yes, I know this is sales 101 but do you really do it in your business? Concentrate on the benefits to your prospective customer/client. Learn to live a ‘day in their shoes’. Talk about them – Not You. This is one of the single most important processes in any company because once this has been undertaken it can be used for the basis of all of your marketing materials and sales presentations.

• Use the following aids to assist you — Link every feature with the phrase “which means that” i.e. Sales DNA offer an unconditional guarantee on our sales training (feature) which means that if at any time you do not feel you are getting a significant return on your investment then we will refund all of your investment. This means (a variation) that there is absolutely no risk to you at all.

• Get one person in your organisation to play devils advocate. It is their job to play a potential customer and ask “So What?. What does it mean to me?” to every benefit offered. The tougher they are the better the results!

• Try starting every sentence with “You benefit from…………” rather than I / We.

• Document the results of this process and ensure that every new member of staff knows as well as they know your product and service details. The simple act of doing this has proven to make new starters more effective in up to half the time it has taken sales employees prior to this being introduced.

• Make sure that you make this a continuous process and that all members of your company are involved.

• Make it part of your company culture that everyone can answer “Why should I use You?”. Every member of staff should be able to articulate this and should be asked regularly to make sure that everyone knows.

• Once you get so good at this that they become second nature be careful not to over do it! When you get good at this the natural human tendency is to tell every prospective client or customer every fantastic benefit you have to offer. Don’t! Limit it to the main 2-4 benefits that are relevant to the person. People can’t process more than this and the benefits start to lose their impact.

• If you are having trouble developing some fantastic, client focused answers then why not do something radical. Ask your existing clients why they continue to do business with you. The answers may surprise you.

Many marketing consultants and marketing text books advocate the development of a USP. That is a unique feature of your product, service or company that no one else has to offer. I think these are fantastic when done well but are hard to develop in many businesses.

In my experience with my sales consulting and sales training the very fact that you and your staff can articulate what it is you do and why they should use you is probably the best USP you can ever develop. I guarantee your competitors aren’t that great at it!

The 60 second coaching tool that the video shows you is by far one of the most powerful sales coaching tools available to motivate and inspire sales staff.

60 Second Sales Coaching For Sales Managers, Sales Directors and Team Leaders

How To Motivate, Inspire and Propel Your Sales Staff To Maximum Efficiency

1) Opening Statement

I want to Talk to you about———-The Area Of Performance

2) Observation

I have noticed that ————–Describe The Performance or Behaviour

3) Impact

The Impact is ——-Describe The Impact on the Job being done.

4) Request

From Now On I would Like You To——–Describe How To Improve Performance Or Behaviour

Example:

1 . I have received your last weeks call statistics and would like to talk to you about your call numbers.

2. I have noticed that after 3 months with us most telesales staff are making 80 calls per day and You are currently making 50

3. The impact to the telesales teams sales targets is quite significant as 30 calls per day usually brings us 2 sales of around £500 each, so we are losing around £1,000 per day as a result.

4. What I would like you to do is work with me to develop a personal plan of training and coaching we can commit to that will get you to your 80 calls per day.