Here’s a question that one of my contacts asked recently that I thought I would share with you, “So I have got past the gatekeeper – after the introduction, what are the first 15 words (or so) I say to a prospect that’s going to get them hooked into a conversation?”

And here’s my answer…

One of the questions I always ask delegates in sales training seminars is, “How long do you have to make a first impression?” The answer they give me varies but is always no more than a handful of seconds. In today’s world, people make decisions very quickly and, upon receiving a cold call, even quicker still!

From a receiver’s perspective, they want to decide as fast as possible whether this call is a legitimate, business interruption or a nuisance, spam call. There are three things you need to consider to maximize your chances of achieving the former and minimize your chances of suffering the latter…

1. Plan and prepare effectively. Understand why you are calling that individual, why now and how you can make a difference for them. Also, get yourself into the right mindset. Mindset is critical for cold calling (and indeed for selling) and I will be posting some sales training videos on this soon…
2. Know how you answer their key question, “What’s in this for me?” If you can’t and don’t answer that, and quickly, you’re toast!
3. Avoid coming across as a salesperson and using “crash and burn” sales phrases. I teach people how not to use these on my programmes but the easiest way of thinking about them for yourself is to think about the cold calls you get and think about what really puts your back up at the start of the call… and don’t do it!

For more on cold calling, have a look at this short video I did on 10 tips for cold calling.

Related posts:

1. “How Do I Avoid My Cold Call Being Viewed As An Interruption By My Prospect?”
2. Does Cold Calling Work?
3. Should Cold Callers Ask, “How Are You Today?”

Few people would argue that motivated salespeople and business people sell more. Wandering around looking like the world is out to get you and with your chin dragging along the floor never helped anyone to be a sales superstar and it never will.

Your attitude, your mindset and your approach will always play a huge part in helping you to smash your targets and build the business and the life that you desire. When I am invited to companies as a motivational speaker or sales development consultant one of the most common questions asked by sales managers, sales directors and business owners alike is, “How do I get and keep my sales teams motivated?”

Indeed, one of the most common questions asked of me by salespeople themselves is, “How do I get and keep myself motivated?”

Most people do not understand how and why they get motivated and therefore their motivation levels tend to ebb and flow like the daily tides. Few people have total control of their own motivation levels. Salespeople know that they need to be motivated to sell, they want to be motivated to sell, but often they just cannot maintain that all important motivation to sell.

Motivational speaker motivation tip 1:

Motivation begins and ends with you. You determine your own motivation. Motivation is internal, it’s something that you control; even though you may not realise that this is the case. Most people think that motivation is something external to themselves, something  that happens to them. For this reason they and their sales results get buffeted severely throughout life.

Sales superstars do not believe or act this way. Sales superstars know that their personal motivation is down to them. No matter what anyone else does or says they get to choose their own motivation levels. No matter whether they get the deal or they lose the deal, they get to choose their own motivation levels. No matter whether life’s going the way they want or it’s not, they get to choose their own motivation levels.
And it’s that choice that sets them apart and defines them as the rock stars of sales.

If you want to join the ranks of the sales rock star elite now then you need to take responsibility for your motivation on a day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute and moment to moment basis…

Step 1 is to decide to do just that. To decide to hold yourself to a higher standard, to decide that nothing short of operating at the optimum level is acceptable for you anymore, to decide that you are a sales rock star.

Step 2 is to employ effective strategies for boosting your motivation and staying on top of your game. As part of my Real World Sales Tips book project I thought that it would be fun to share your favourite motivational techniques for giving yourself a motivational boost in the arm. One powerful way to get that jolt is by sharing proven techniques so this post is a double whammy – you gain by reading & you gain by sharing.

Make sure that you get involved, the replies for the “What are your favourite sales questions?” post were fantastic, a brilliant resource and you can still add to them now. To see the whole project and every post click here. And remember, the posts are always open so please share your thoughts and expertise in the previous posts as well as sharing your ideas on this latest post how to get and stay motivated. Start by sharing yours in the comments box below now.

Related posts:

1. How To Sell More In Competitive Markets
2. Why I Bought Private Medical Care And Why You Should Sell On Value And Never On Price
3. How Not To Sell A Watch

All sales training experts and sales gurus alike, myself included, extol the virtues of asking good questions. Asking the right question can develop rapport, increase credibility and turn a sale around.

As part of my Real World Sales Tips project I thought that it would be fun to find out what your favourite questions are to ask your clients and prospects.

To get you started here are a few from Real World Sales Skills…

• How do you currently go about…?
• How long have you been operating that way?
• When you considered the options why did you choose that solution?
• How has that solution performed against those criteria?
• What issues have you had with…?
• How often? Who was involved?
• What effect did that have on…?
• Who / what else was effected?
• What options have you considered to resolve this?

Scroll down the page to see other people’s questions and to post your thoughts and ideas.

Related posts:

1. My Favourite Personal Development Books
2. How To Listen For Hidden Client Objections
3. What One Thing Do You Wish That You’d Known When You Started Out In Sales?

Should we ask, "How are you?" at the start of a cold call? It’s a great question and one which salespeople and sales trainers alike are split on!

Do you want to sound disingenuous?

Whilst accepting that there are always exceptions to every rule, I’m on the not side. My main reason is that most salespeople do not sound like they mean it and most potential clients think it’s disingenuous! Here’s a real conversation that took place from one of my delegates on a course who would not stop asking this question…

Sales: "Hello X, it’s Y here from ABC company. How are you today?"Client: "I’ve been off sick for two weeks and have just got back today."Sales: "Oh. The reason for the call today is…"

Oh, come on! How rude is that?! Right at the start of the call our "hero" has totally ignored the client. Disaster. But the problem is that the alternative conversation where we delved into his private life was unlikely to go much better…

“How convenient is it to speak?”

Far better to realise that clients are not hanging around hoping for cold calls and to ask the more polite question, "How convenient is it to speak?" This questions is rarely asked because salespeople have the mistaken belief that by not asking it clients are more likely to stay on the phone… righto!

Related posts:

1. What The Mile High Agony Aunt Can’t Teach You About Cold Calling