Coffee’s For Closers!

Anyone, and I do mean anyone can sell something.  You put the right product at the right price in the right idiots hand at the right time and they can sell it.  You put the right idiot on a corner with the wrong product at the wrong time with the wrong price and when they make a sale, then you are looking at talent.

You put the right idiot in the middle of the tundra somewhere north of Siberia with the wrong product at the wrong price at the wrong time and if they make the sale and up-sell the perspective client some frozen scrub land then you are looking at skill.

This general concept is something that every salesperson knows.  It doesn’t take much to sell something.  If a buyer wants to buy, they will do what it takes to buy something no matter how much you slow them down or screw up.

Getting a person to buy something they need before they know they need it is a whole other level of doing business.  Selling them a complete solution of products or services before they need it is half way to transcendant.  The rubber really hits the road though when you sell someone a solution that they need, when they only wanted a band aid fix and subsequent to your upselling effort they go out and actually use that solution to generate success. 

Then you end up with both a repeat customers, but also a customer evangelist and if they are smart a business contact for life.

__________________________________________

Closing note, I was going to include an image to try and bring a resonant theme to this article.  I was thinking of something like a Siberian twist about selling Ice to Eskimos. 

Don’t get me started about the selling capabilities of Eskimos.  The best sales man I ever met was an Eskimo and he could sell ice with the best of them!

Anyway, I came across this excerpt from a book titled, "Ice to the Eskimos"

This is from Chapter 13 and it is hilarious but definitely makes the point.

"I told the woman that the Blazer Music wasn’t available in stores," Sue said, "But she was persistent, almost panicking." The woman told Sue why she desperately needed the Blazer Music that day. Her husband had died and his final request was that when he was lowered into the ground he wanted the Blazer Music to be played. "I called the studio," Sue said, "and their chief engineer is on vacation. Our original music is locked up someplace there and nobody can get to it. The only thing I have is a tape of one of our broadcasts, which has all the billboards on it." Billboards are the short sponsor identifications at the beginning of sports broadcasts. "Is that okay with the woman?" I asked. "Yes," Sue said, "she’s that desperate." "Fine, give her a copy." Sue delivered the tape. And we sent flowers. The next day, this dead Blazer fan was lowered into the ground. At graveside, the woman pushed the start button on the tape machine. There was a drum roll. Then there was exciting audio highlights from one of our games, "Thompson with the rebound, the outlet pass to Valentine, he’s going lickety brindle down the middle, pass to Kenny Carr on the wing and he jammed it. Rip city!" Then the music lowered and the announcer gave the billboards. The mourners at graveside heard¾and maybe even our dead fan heard "This is Portland Trail Blazer Basketball… Blazer Basketball is brought to you by Budweiser—know when to say no, and by Chevrolet—the heartbeat of America, and by Safeway…" So, even at the end, we were pitching the benefits of our sponsors…

Anyone that has ever taken a speech class, a communications 101 class or has made it through the sales training sessions of more than one retail establishment has probably heard the old communications dictate that says you should

1. Tell them what you will tell them
2. Tell Them
3. and Tell them what you told them

Well this month, I am living the paradigm with a slight shift in verbage that dictates that you should

1. Sell them on what you will sell them
2. Sell them
3. and Sell them on what you sold them

Looking at the two groups of phrases put together on a single page, it looks pretty obvious, but it strikes me that I have never heard anyone ever say it before.

If you haven’t heard anyone say that before either, drop me a comment. Its rare these days when anyone ever comes across an original thought or even a small innovation in the sales process.

I have been working on selling sales leads. 

Rather fitting for a site that has a tag line of Coffee’s for Closers don’t you think!

The thing is that to sell someone sales leads, you do have to instill in them the confidence that the leads you will generate and ultimately sell them are worth anything. 

1.  Sell them on what you will sell them

Then you have to actually gather up the leads and sell the things over, exchanging ownership and exacting just compensation.  No small accomplishment these days, almost as difficult as the actual sale even.

2.  Sell them

Then after you deliver, you have to confirm with the client and insure that they recognize the value and the timeliness of the sales leads that you have just sold.  You have to go in for that good strong close, re-establishing the personal connection that brought you the business and the sale in the first place.  The last thing you want is a cancellation, reversal, refund, rebate, discount request or a bad referral.  You have to go back and sell them all over again to insure that there is no buyers remorse and no buyers blame that the leads were crap to begin with.

3.  Sell them on what you sold them

I received a lead from the company that I work for to a lot of see two sisters,

each sister lives in a different house.  Both sisters are married, and all four people are retired.  On my lead slip it said that if I was to give a good price to one sister that I would be able to do work for the other sister at her house.  When I arrived at the house to see the two sisters both sisters were very leery of me and what I was going to do, I am a salesman don’t  you know.  I explained my products and services answered all their questions, and did not put too much buying pressure on them.  When asked about my competitors, I answered honestly, however I said nothing demeaning or negative about any of them.

 

Today I had a follow-up meeting with each sister at their individual homes.  The first sister that I met with Eleanor has a small project that she would like to do to her house.  There is also another project at her sister’s house that she would like to have done and pay for.  When I arrive to see Eleanor and her husband she immediately confronted me with the information she found out from the Better Business Bureau.  She found that in the last 36 months the company I work for has had three complaints.  One of the complaints that she mentioned was about a salesperson, she inquired if that salesperson was me, honestly I answered no.  The other complaint that concern her was about quality of material.  I told her that I was unaware of the complaint and did not have all of the information about it.  I could not tell her why the complaint was made or what was done to resolve it but I knew it had been resolved.

 

As I sat and spoke with Eleanor and her husband about their project I found out much information from them about the research they had already done.  They had numerous other companies out to their home to talk to them about this project.  She had one other price that was lower than mine, however when asked the same question as she asked me in regards to the salesperson’s competitors he responded with many negative comments and lies.  Today as I sat filling out the contract and receiving a down payment for half of the contract amount for Eleanor’s project she told me the story.  Eleanor informed me that no matter what the other guy’s price would have been because of the way he handled the question about his competitors there would be no way that she would ever do business with him or the company he worked for. Eleanor felt comfortable with me and the things that I had said not only about my company but about other companies.

 

I take that experience with me and know that I have not learned the lesson but I have only reinforced an old lesson.  Most of us have heard the saying if you don’t have anything nice to say say nothing at all.  I believe that when people run out of nice things to say about themselves or have no nice things to say about themselves they start to say bad things, negative things, or lies about other people.  In a sales presentation most of us would like to keep a positive atmosphere, saying negative, demeaning, or lies only kills that positive atmosphere.  Once that is gone is near impossible to get it to come back.

 

By saying nothing at all or focusing on myself rather than my competitor I was able to close the deal today and write three contracts.  These three contracts in the big scheme of things are puddles.  However they are puddles I am grateful to jump in because although these three puddles will not soak me from head to toe they will keep my feet wet in my mind sharp.

 

I expected to a good job on both Eleanor and her sisters home.  Once done with the quality of work that we offer I believe that I should be able to write at least two maybe three more contracts for more work on Eleanor sisters home and Eleanor owns three rental properties that also need work.  My little puddles when it’s all said and done will add up to a pond.

 

I hope this story helps to reinforce something that I believe most of us know.  Keep in mind as someone asked you about a competitor or about yourself keep a positive atmosphere and if you have nothing nice to say say nothing at all.

 

T. K.

Remeber as a child when it would rain and you would go outside after and run through the puddles. It didn’t matter if we were allowed to do it or not we did. By the time you were done you would be soaked from head to toe.

If you wanted to there would have been another way to get completely soaked. You could go jump in a lake. It wouldn’t take as long to soak yourself, however it may take longer to get to the lake, while the puddles are right out front of your home.

Keep this in mind as you are out and you are gathering leads and you are working them. Although we want to get to the “lake” and make that big sale, the “puddles” will do the same thing for us we just need a few more of them. So take your time don’t rush to the “lake” enjoy the trip and jump in all the “puddles” that you can on your way.

TK

The new year is a great time for a fresh start. It gives us the opportunity to say to ourselves no more of this, not doing that any more, or I am going to do that again.

The resolutions that we make at the beginning of the year, for most of us seem to be very hard to follow through with. Resolutions are nothing but a fancy way of saying goals. I am sure that every one of us sets goals and follows through with everyone.

In a perfect world maybe.

When you set your goals keep them simple and achievable. Don’t set yourself up to fail. None of us likes to fail and it will discourage the setting of the next goal. Once your goal has been set, make a plan to meet or exceed that goal. Then just stick to it.

One other thing to keep in mind, don’t set too many goals at once. You will find yourself overwhelmed and not meeting any of your goals.

Good Luck and Happy New Year!!!

In just a few days, I officially put my sales hat back on after a 3 year hiatus.  I started this website for some friends that work in sales several months ago.  I thought the site was a great idea back then and still do.  They got caught up in the day to day sales chase of things and haven’t really found the time to write.

I am heading to Las Vegas in pursuit of the infamous leads.  The Consumer Electronics Show is not an easy place to go to close a sale.  That doesn’t mean that its impossible or that you shouldn’t try to close a sale there.  But there are literally a million people, lights and whiz bangs and noises everywhere, scantily clad women, alcohol and more foot traffic congestion than St Patrick’s Day in Savannah.  (Similar number of people, except they get to fill up a town instead of a convention center). 

Then there is the rest of Las Vegas.  More drinks, gambling, shows, scantily clad women, tourists etc.  Its just plain difficult to get someone’s attention there and keep it!

I’ve tried lots of tactics there over the years.  Closing before the show, planning to close at the show, wining and dining till the wee hours in the morning, just to get up after an hour of sleep and hit the show to start all over again.

This time, however, I have the amplified power of social networks behind me.  I know how to reinforce a sale with social networks, keep in touch before during and after the show, and prevent those leads from getting cold.  So this year, I am going to the show to simply gather leads.

Gather as many Leads as I can gather in about 3 and a half days.  I’m heading out there packing my laptop, an air card, a camera, a video camera, a voice recorder and the ever important business card scanner.  The goal is to gather the leads and then organize, disperse, (even sell), those leads to close them over the next several weeks to come.  One thing that is a truism about the movie Glengarry Ross, there is power in leads.  Power not only in the use of the leads, but in controlling the leads themselves.  I’m going to work those leads from every angle imaginable!

Have you ever put on a pair of blue socks thinking they were black, or vice versa?

I drive about 35,000 business miles per year. Over the years that I have been driving this many miles I have gotten used to several things that used to upset me on the road. I have learned to be able to see what kind of vehicle is on the road who is driving it and I can usually tell you how they will drive and what they will do. Most of us that have put this many miles on each year can. However there are a few things that still really tick me off.

When I am traveling down a two lane road and someone is waiting to pull out and go the same direction as me. I will politely move over to the left hand lane so that they may pull soon than waiting for me to pass. In this situation there are many different ways it can turn out. The person waiting sees that I have used my turn signal and moved into the other lane and pulls out in the righthand lane and all is well.

There may be someone behind me that sees me pull over and knows what I am doing but this doesn’t prompt them to do the same and the waiting traveler is unable to pull out. Now maybe there is no one else on the road and the waiting driver doesn’t pull out till I have passed. Now this is a bit annoying but can be tolerated.

The thing that really sets puts me in orbit is when I move over so that someone can pull out and then they pull out but they still find it necessary to pull out in front of me. I really don’t understand how they can think this is a good idea or the right move.

T.K.

Get Emotional…

Years ago I was told many great and useful things by my first sales manager (Jeff). He is part of the reason I was able to start Coffee’s For Closers. I would like to discuss a couple things that he told me that I have used everyday in my career.

Jeff told me that we as sales people need to be persistent. Something that I am sure we all know. He told me to model myself after my children and their sales abilities. Now with the cd’s and tapes I have listened to and the books I have read many trainers will tell you that children are the best sales people cause they are very persistent and don’t give up till they get what they want. Jeff put a bit of a different twist on it for me. Jeff pointed out that not only are they persistent but they also put a whole bunch of emotion into their presentation.

When a child asks for something and we tell them no they continue to ask in different ways all the while turning on the emotions. They will start to beg and plead they will cry and they will really get genuinely upset if we continue to tell them no. Now we all know that we don’t need to and shouldn’t cry or stomp our feet in a sales call but why not give it the emotion it deserves. When we get emotional about what we are doing and what we have to offer so will our prospect. Our prospect won’t know why they are so excited about whatever it is that we are showing them but they will be excited about it.

The next time you are out at a public place take a few minutes to sit down somewhere and watch the kids and how they are. Go to the mall and sit next to the ice cream or the toy store. Watch as these parents and children battle it out. Now the children will not always be victorious, but I bet you will see them win a great percentage of the time.

When a child asks for something they ask get rejected, ask again a different way, get rejected again, and this will continue on and on. Do the same thing, ask for what you want if you are rejected ask again for the same thing but in a different way.

So stay persistent, ask the same thing in different ways and remember to use your emotions.

 

T.K.

One of the hardest things for us as salespeople to do is to stay on track and do our job everyday. After repeated attempts and countless number of “NO’s” we can sometime stray from our job. The weather gets nice and we golf, fish, play tennis, or just sit out in the sun. Although doing these things is why we work as hard as we do, we have to be able to do these things “off the clock”.

A friend of mine once told me a great statistic. Less than 2% of the population can work without direct supervision. As salespeople that puts us in a pretty elite category. We work each day, or each night, or maybe for some of us both. We put in a lot more hours than most of working America, and everything after 40 hours is still the same as all those before 40.

Alaskan crab fishing may be the deadliest job in the world, but sales has to be the most stressful. So when you combine the hours, the stress, and the NO’s sometimes it is hard to stay on track with what we are doing.

We as sales people need to do something everyday to keep ourselves on track. Something that will remind us of what we are doing and where we are going. It is different for each person, and what works for me may not work for the next person. Find something that works for you and get in the habit of doing it everyday.  It does not have to be a hard task or one that creates income. Just doing it and keeping your mind on focused will then in turn create that income that you desire.

Here are some examples of things that help some people, now remember you need to find yours and yours may not work for you best friend and vice versa.

1. Reading is one of the biggest that most of the sales trainers will encourage you to do. But not just their sales books will help. Other reading will do you a world of good too. Such things as trade magazines, newspapers, and self help books. See what other companies are advertising and selling.
2. Listening to books on tape/cd. This is another great way to spend sometime and clear your mind. Plus there is such a wide variety of audio books out there. 
3. Helping other sales people. This is a great way of getting good feedback. Find and help another sales person in your organization succeed. You may find that when you promote an attitude and helpful skills with someone else they become your attitude and skills also. Lead by example and you will do things the right way so that the person you are teaching will learn to do it correctly.

 These are just a couple of things that may help you keep your mind on what you are doing and staying focused on your sales career.

« Previous entries