Sales Blog with Sales Tips

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The following is a bad habit I’ve observed in hundreds of sales professionals. They get tired of hearing themselves “sell” and think their prospects feel the same way.

All of us bring a unique chemistry to each individual prospect we speak with. Everything about us is new to them. They’ve never heard our message or experienced us before. We’ve never experienced them either.

An Analogy
Remember the schoolteachers who made you feel like you were the only person in the world? Even though they might have taught 10,000 students in their careers, they knew their relationship with you was unlike any other, and treated it as such.

I don’t care if you’re 20 or 100 years old; you still remember the magical quality of those teachers. Sales professionals who master this same ability will create customers who see them as standouts from the hoard of  salespeople they see every day.

Why Tired Sales Professionals Do Poorly
When we approach a sales opportunity feeling as if we’re tired of hearing ourselves talk, we create circular reinforcement.

1) The more downtrodden we become with our own message, the less receptive a prospect will be. 2) When we observe the resultant fatigued look on the prospect’s face, we conclude our sales approach must be unappealing. 3) Our motivation is lessened. 4) Go back to step 1 and repeat. This process creates a death spiral of enthusiasm for both the salesperson and the prospect.

Snap Out Of It!
I’m no physics expert (just ask Mrs. Crook, my high school physics teacher, who never liked me). However, I do know that once something is set in motion – e.g. a bored and self-defeating sales attitude – the only way to change its direction is to apply another force.

Shrinks call this an intervention. But you don’t need to go to a shrink to help yourself. Read on for some sales tips that will do the trick.

Sales Tips Rx
Consciously practicing the following habits over an extended period (e.g. 3 months) will freshen how you feel about yourself and how your prospects see you. Most importantly, you’ll sell more too.

1. Slow down. I know you’ve heard your own sales presentation a million times, but the prospects haven’t. Give them the opportunity to absorb and process the valuable information you are sharing.

2. There is no such thing as a generic prospect. After you’ve called on a few hundred prospects they can all look the same. When you see them in this light, they can tell. Just remember how important your favorite teachers made you feel when they treated you as an individual. People you make feel important frequently do one thing – buy from you.

3. It’s in the eyes. If you’re in front of a prospect, you must make constant eye contact. It will greatly enhance communication quality and will let you know what he or she is thinking. Let his or her eyes guide your presentation.

4. Listen. The questions prospects ask are everything. These questions will tell us everything we need to know in order to sell them. Giving prospects all the room they need to speak will move mountains when it comes to revitalizing how your prospects and you perceive your presentation.

Internalizing these habits will energize you and your prospects. Most importantly, you’ll re-learn how important it is to connect with people in the selling process.

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>©2010 Scott R. Sheaffer

Scott Sheaffer’s New Book, “Comatose Management”
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Six Short Stories of Destructive Management Practices, Volume I
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Available in printed and Kindle edition on amazon.com
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—

I had the privilege of speaking with a very successful older sales professional recently. He told me that being a top producer is easier for him today than in years past.

His comment piqued my curiosity. Always looking for sales tips material I asked him, “What have your years of experience taught you that makes you more capable today?”

The Sales Professional’s Most Important Tool
In a perfect example of life imitating art he said, “Just one thing.” I felt like I was listening to Jack Palance, who said a similar line in the movie, City Slickers.

He had my attention. I almost begged, “And that one thing is?”

He replied, “Our tongue.”

The Power Of Spoken Language
He went on to tell me that our tongue is like a rudder on a large ship. Even though the surface area of a ship’s rudder is miniscule compared to the size of the vessel, it has a profound impact on the direction the ship takes.

I asked him to provide more details and he told me the following:

What we say to customers has more impact than anything else we do. Our words are, by far, the most powerful tool we have in our arsenal.

A customer can always detect a lack of sincerity in our voice. It’s better to be quiet than disingenuous.

We have complete control over our tongue muscle. We must never react to a customer’s accusations and rage; we must respond.

It always takes two to tango. Don’t verbally engage with irate customers. Let them vent their anger and then deal with the situation.

Don’t ever try to deceive customers with your words. When we do, there can only be two outcomes; neither is good: 1) They can immediately tell we’re lying, or 2) They’ll find out later they were given bad information.

Look customers in the eyes when speaking to them. Have you ever heard anyone complain about too much eye contact?

Listen. Customers won’t listen to your words if you don’t listen to theirs.

Sales Tips Wrap Up
Are these simple truths? Absolutely. Are they hard to put into practice? Yes. Knowing these realities is the first step in making them part of our daily relationships with our customers.

>You can automatically receive Sales Tips Blog by Scott R. Sheaffer >by email< or >by RSS<.
>Follow >Scott R. Sheaffer< on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.
>©2010 Scott R. Sheaffer

Scott Sheaffer’s New Book, “Comatose Management”
—
Six Short Stories of Destructive Management Practices, Volume I
—
Available in printed and Kindle edition on amazon.com
—
—

By using relevant stories that anchor the point you’re trying to make when selling, you are using the most ancient, timeless and effective way of transmitting information.

Storytelling is having a major revival in sales. Why? It works. I feel somewhat foolish writing about sales tips that are 20,000 years old. The first cave dweller who tried to barter a fur probably told a story of how warm it kept him or her at night.

But Telling Stories Isn’t Professional
Really? Ever heard of Zig Ziglar or Tony Robbins? They litter their presentations with one story after another. They interweave their stories so seamlessly that we aren’t even aware they’re using them.

Go back 2,000 years. We can find a multitude of stories in the Bible that Jesus used to help his audiences understand his teachings. These ancient stories are still being used in 2009 to teach basic sales principles and sales skills.

Guidelines For Using Stories In Sales
Before I give you a real-world example of using storytelling in sales, let me provide a few key points on how to do it.

• Make them personal. Don’t tell someone else’s story; use something that happened to you. This is very critical.

• Make them relevant. We all like a good story, but ensure that you use one to reinforce your selling goal.

• Make them short. Ever heard a joke that was too long for the punch line? If we’re not careful, we can do the same when using stories in sales.

• Dive in. Never start out by saying, “Let me tell you a story.” Just jump into the story.

Our DNA is hard wired to hear and understand a story. That’s why this works so well. The customer will instinctively understand and be interested in your story.

Real-World Example – A Sales Professional Makes A Sale To Dr. Defpotec By Telling A Story
Zack (not his real name) was an experienced sales professional who knew the power of a story. He sold ophthalmic (eye stuff) instruments to ophthalmologists (eye doctors). One of his big sellers was an electronic eye test chart that is used to check a patient’s vision (e.g. 20/20, 20/30, etc.).

Zack’s eye test instrument would change the letters for each test which dramatically improved the validity and accuracy of the testing (i.e. no one could cheat). Zack had been calling on Dr. Patterson (not his real name) who insisted on continuing to use his old cardboard eye chart. One that never changed. He wasn’t interested in Zack’s instrument.

To be honest, Dr. Patterson wasn’t particularly concerned about the precision of his patients’ eye tests either. However, Zack was about to open Dr. Patterson’s eyes. He was going to do so by simply telling him the following short story about another ophthalmologist in town.

“Dr. Zine (not his real name) primarily performs flight physicals for airline pilots. Airline pilots must have 20/20 vision (corrected) in order to keep their jobs. Clearly, it is in their best interest to pass the eye test.

“Since Dr. Zine never changed his eye chart, it didn’t take long for his pilot patients to figure out that the 20/20 line was always the letters D E F P O T E C. By memorizing the word ‘defpotec,’ they had a guarantee of forever testing positive for 20/20 vision. Over time, Dr. Zine became known in the pilot community as simply ‘Dr. Defpotec.’

“‘Sorry, can’t have lunch with you today Ted, got my semi-annual flight physical with Doc Defpotec at noon.’”

Zack Connects The Dots
Zack then proceeded to challenge Dr. Patterson, “If Dr. Zine has patients doing this to him, you can be assured it’s happening to you. In Dr. Zine’s case, he is potentially allowing airline pilots to fly who don’t meet the vision requirements as set forth by the FAA.

“Who can know all the consequences and liabilities when people are able to cheat on an eye test? My product can keep that from happening in your practice.”

Not only did Zack’s story demonstrate why Dr. Patterson should buy his product from the perspective of validity and accuracy of testing (i.e. need), but it also provided an opportunity for Dr. Patterson to avoid any questions about his professional credibility (i.e. pain avoidance). This is a powerful story. This is a compelling technique.

Zack sold his type of eye testing equipment to Dr. Patterson that day.

Sales Blog Epilogue
The next time you see an airline pilot squinting in the cockpit, blame “Dr. Defpotec.”

Further sales blog reading:
The Power of Stories

>You can automatically receive Sales Tips Blog by Scott R. Sheaffer >by email< or >by RSS<.
>Follow >Scott R. Sheaffer< on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.
>©2009 Scott R. Sheaffer

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I’ve given a million formal sales presentations and I think I’ve observed even more. The most important thing I’ve learned is that everyone is nervous when they present. Everyone.

Mark Twain said it best, “There are two types of speakers: those who are nervous and those who are liars.”

I have a few sales tips below that have worked for me and for others to control the jitters when speaking to customers.

The Underwear Visual
Sadly, the only training most sales professionals ever get about controlling nervousness when giving formal sales presentations is to pretend everyone in the audience is only wearing their underwear.

Have you read the statistics on obesity in America? Personally, I find the thought of visualizing most audiences in their underwear far more frightening than merely making a presentation.

8 Techniques For Controlling Nervousness When Giving Formal Sales Presentations
1. Where does fear of speaking come from? Us. We quite literally scare ourselves with the negative thoughts we have before we make an important sales presentation. Just as professional athletes can envision a successful outcome of a game, we can do the same when presenting.

2. Your nervous body symptoms, like a shaky voice or sweating, are hardly – if at all – noticed by your audience. Quit adding to your worries by obsessing about butterflies in your stomach that no one can see.  Butterflies don’t bite.

3. Everyone’s biggest fear is not public speaking. That’s a myth. Every person has a different hierarchy of fears. For some, public speaking is very displeasureable; for others, it’s enjoyable. You probably fall somewhere in-between.

4. It’s perfectly okay to speak from a lectern with notes or to carry your notes in your hands when presenting. You don’t have to memorize your speech. Scripts are bad, but notes are okay and can bump up your confidence considerably.

5. Accepting, even welcoming, nervousness when speaking can go a long way in actually reducing your dread of speaking. The fancy psychological term is paradoxical intention. When light shines on the anxiety bogeyman and he is welcomed into your thoughts, he cowers.

6. Preparing and practicing your speech can move mountains when it comes to reducing speaking anxiety.  I attended an event where George H. W. Bush spoke while he was President.  He mentioned that he had rehearsed his speech earlier in the day.  Excuse me here, but if the President of the United States feels it necessary to practice his speech, it confirms to me there is real value in doing this.  There are many executives in corporate America who think they are above practicing speeches.  Their speeches show it.

7. Nervousness can help you during a sales presentation because it brings energy to your presentation and causes you to think faster on your feet. It also causes you to hyper-focus on the matter at hand.  The nervousness monster doesn’t want you to know this; see number five above to see why.

8. Executives are frequently very poor speakers and get nervous too, just like the rest of us mere mortals. They get nervous because they know each word they use is weighed and measured. Please remember many -  if not most -  executives struggle with speaking; they understand your nervousness when you present to them.

Sales Blog Epilogue
Becoming a better presenter doesn’t happen overnight. You can’t take a one-day or one-week school and magically become Zig Ziglar. However, I can recommend that you give Toastmasters International a try. This is a non-profit international organization that takes people at all levels and, over a period of time, develops them into better speakers.

Further reading:

• Wrestling With Fear in Sales

>You can automatically receive Sales Tips Blog by Scott R. Sheaffer >by email< or >by RSS<.
>Follow >Scott R. Sheaffer< on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.
>©2009 Scott R. Sheaffer

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Are you satisfied with your sales results?
Kay Ray can show you and your team how to reach
your objectives and unlock the door to success.
thekayray.com