When Your Prospect Or Customer Says, ‘No!’, What Do You Hear?
Here’s another question that came up recently. “When your prospect or customer says, “No!”, what do you hear? How do you react? Rejected or challenged? What advice would you give to somebody just starting out?”
As a sales motivational speaker I see the negative consequences of sales and business people dealing with this badly every day so here is my advice…
It’s not what is said, it is your interpretation that does the damage. How many people every year die of snake bites? The answer is none. People die of the poison, not the bites. Salespeople are not undone by “No” but by how they interpret that “No.”
If someone says to you, “We have an existing supplier”… what do you hear and what do you think?
Do you hear, like most salespeople, “We have an existing supplier so we’re not interested. Go away!”? And then think, “This job is rubbish, no-one ever has a need for our services.”
Or do you hear, like sales superstars, “We have an existing supplier which means that we’re in the market place and already see value in what you do”? And then think, “All I have to do now is find a way to demonstrate how we can provide a better service.”
One of the keys to being a top salesperson is getting, keeping and cultivating a positive, sales mindset. This can be done by reading good sales books, listening to sales audios, attending sales seminars, mixing with sales winners, employing a sales coach, learning from sales experts, focusing on what’s good about any event….
To someone starting out, avoid negative mood-hoovers,whingers and whiners, associate with sales winners, make sure you get plenty of the good stuff. Protect your positive mindset like it is a pot of gold…
Because it is!
Sales Psychology & Performance, LinkedIn Group
Check out my Sales Psychology & Performance, LinkedIn Group. As an author and sales speaker I get asked questions every day. Many of these are face to face, up close and personal but, increasingly, many of them are “virtual”. After an inspirational sales seminar many people email me to say that they enjoyed it and then ask questions…
I welcome and enjoy these questions. After all, helping people to improve their sales results and build the businesses and the lives that they desire is one of the primary reasons that I became a speaker in the first place. Interestingly, most of these questions come via email and are never posted on the blog. Despite my best efforts this has remained the case for several years now. After conversations with my clients about this I have concluded that clients are “used” to asking questions via email and are comfortable with this medium. Whilst I do my best to answer all of them, it can get quite time consuming and also a little repetitive with me constantly “reinventing” the wheel.
Most of my clients however do use and are members of LinkedIn. LinkedIn, on the off chance that it has somehow passed you by, or on the off chance that you are still trying to ignore it and pretend that it could not add value for you is, in my opinion, the business social network of the moment. The reason for this is that anyone can join LinkedIn and you can get as involved as you like or you can be as passive as you like but you will not get spammed by idiots or have goats or pies thrown at you like you might on Facebook (*more on my plans for Facebook another day!).
So to let everyone have their say, communicate amongst themselves, get access to my blogs and videos and ask questions I have started a LinkedIn group, Sales Psychology & Performance. If you are wondering if the group is for you, then here is my description of the group…
For sales professionals, sales leaders & professionals who want to maximize sales. This group is dedicated to people who want to share sales superstar strategies & approaches that win more sales. Join the discussions, read the blogs or share your favourite strategies.
So in short, YES, if you are reading this blog or are a member of my GavinIngham.com newsletter this group is for you.
To join, you need a LinkedIn account and you may as well link up with me whilst you are there. I see this group as a good way of keeping your sales edge sharp, sharing best practice and keeping up with the Sales Joneses! The group has grown to 450+ members in under two weeks and that is just from mentioning it on LinkedIn. This is the first time I have mentioned it to my readership. If you are wavering here is an idea of the kind of conversations going on currently…
Question from me…
What’s your most effective strategy for getting motivated?
Every sales professional has faced challenges and, at some point, every sales person has found themselves in a less than perfect state of mind. What separates sales superstars from more mediocre performers is their ability to bounce back and get straight back into the game.
What is your most effective strategy for getting yourself motivated, in the right state of mind and at the top of your game?
This currently has 24 fabulous answers. Here is one of them from Angela…
Something that resonated with me was a session by Hunphrey Walters (amazing man – look him up). He talks about a winning team mentality, but it works for the individual too. Here are a few points…
i) Set and celebrate mini victories. This took me back to taking exams and having a sweet whenever I finished a section. I still do it now, it’s just that the ’sweets’ have gotten a little bigger! So don’t wait for the end goal, make sure there are many along the way.
ii) Never leave the game early. There are a few premiership football teams that could have learnt from this one this year! It’s the same as motivating yourself to pick up the phone again when selling. Apparently it’ll take 6 contacts with a new client to gain business, on average. Most people give up on the 3rd or 4th. This knowledge helps in the sense that you can tell yourself that each call it a step closer to the 6th one.
iii) Pride in the badge. Paul Burton was right in that it really helps if you love what you do, but also if you love the company you’re doing it for. Wanting to do a good job for others is a motivator in itself.
There are 5 others, so look him up. His book is a great read too. ‘Global Challenge’ by Humphrey Walters.
Enjoy, Angela
Angela Cripps, Lander Associates
And another from Sean…
Great question!
I am not sure my method will work for everyone, but it seems to work for me.
I use the same method in the gym in the morning and the same method during the day. Quite simply I break down my day into easily achievable targets, whether it be run for the next 5 minutes at x speed, or call 10 prospective clients. Whilst carrying out this challenge, I am already thinking about what my next target will be and so my work or work out moves smoothly from one challenge to the next.
I will often summarise milestones or tasks that I need to reach or carry out during the day. This gives me a rough idea of the path my day will take.
Hopefully, not always the case, by the end of the day I have reached all of my targets and had a solid productive day.
Sean Burling, V-HR
Pretty good answers I am sure you will agree… so check out Sales Psychology & Performance and link with me on LinkedIn whilst you’re at it. Take the opportunity to sharpen your sales skills, boost your sales attitudes and get the sales edge…
Get The Sales Superstar Mindset, Video 3 Of 3
Part 3 of Getting the Sales Superstar mindset. Sales success is about both skills and attitudes. In this the third video in this three part series we unlock the keys to the sales mindset for achieving sales success. Sales training tips and strategies for developing the mindset of a sales winner.
Why People Think Salespeople Are Stupid…
Last week I was on the train travelling back from London having run two of my sales seminars – No Fear Cold Calling and Professional Selling Skills – and I was reading the Evening Standard.
On page 12 (Comment – Thursday 1st May 2008) there were a few pieces written by Charlotte Ross and a picture of Kevin and Sara from The Apprentice. Underneath it was written the following…
A bunch of true believers
Salespeople have always mystified me. This year, most of the Apprentice contestants are drawn from that world, so every Wednesday we witness team hugs, air-punching and yells of, “We’re going to smash them!”
But what they lack in intellect they make up for in self-belief that borders on the delusional. As Kevin, the comically thick leader of the losing pack, said, “There’s nothing I can’t sell. I had my first Porsche by 23. By the time I’m 40, I’ll be the most successful businessman in Britain.”
Needless to say, Sir Alan fired him.
As those of you who know me must have guessed already… I have plenty to say about this…
First off, these people are not salespeople…
We have seen little sign of any of them being salespeople as yet. Between them they have shown precious little sales aptitude or application. To those (including Charlotte) not in the know – selling is not about fast talking, closing and "whooping", it is about questioning, understanding and expertise…
Secondly, good sales teams as all good teams have energy and commitment…
But they do not whoop and holler like a pack of hyenas. This lot are pathetic. What’s worse, their boastful gloats are very quickly found out. Top salespeople under-promise and over-deliver not the other way around…
Thirdly, good salespeople are not stupid nor are they necessarily intelligent Charlotte.
Agreed, salespeople do not need degrees (by enlarge). Agreed, salespeople do not need MBAs. Agreed, salespeople do not need MENSA level IQs.
But salespeople do need common sense, something that is desperately missing in today’s society. Salespeople do need to be able to get along with others, they do need to be able to build rapport with a wide variety of people, they do need to be able to understand the problems and issues that a multitude of different people face and, most importantly, they do need to be able to help their clients to make the right decisions to solve those issues in the right way.
If they’re smart too then all the better! But it’s not what you have that matters in sales, it’s what you do with it that counts!
Smart in this situation is not labelling all salespeople based on a narrow minded and stereotypical view. Particularly one where the writer, by their own admittance, starts, "Salespeople have always mystified me."
Fourthly, Kevin was not a salesperson, he was a bank manager.
People talked about being a bank manager at school (albeit several years ago now) in the same breath as law, accountancy, journalism (touché) etc. Certainly not in the same breath as sales.
And Kevin certainly wasn’t sales anyway.
Had he have been a better salesperson he would still be in the show. Had he have been a better salesperson he would probably never have been on the show. Had he have been a better salesperson he would no doubt have come across far better. Had he have been a salesperson he would have been far more aware of the real persona that he projected rather than the imaginary one that he thought that he did.
Finally, because I’m bored and could go on all night, salespeople are not boastful.
They know the value that they add for their clients and they don’t have to brag about it. There are great “salespeople” in every profession and every industry. They are at all at the top of their fields. If you want to get along in life you need to be able to sell. Whether you’re selling a product, an idea, a concept or yourself – sales is one of the most important skills that you need if you want to get on.
Whether you’re a business person, a solicitor, an accountant or a journalist… your ability to sell will help you to maximise your success. Far too many people never deliver on their true potential because of their inability to "sell" what they do.
Enough!
5 Strategies For Building A High Performance Sales Team
Tips for sales managers, sales directors & business owners.
Creating high performance sales teams is essential for any business wanting to achieve sales growth. Proactive, positive, consistent new business winning teams and salespeople are the holy grail of any sales organisation.
All of my clients have their own unique ways of motivating, managing and leading their sales teams yet they all have problems from time to time in keeping those teams on target, focused and “up for it!”
I’ve recently finished a tour with my Motivate People sales training seminar for sales managers, sales directors and business owners and I thought now would be a good time to review some top tips for building a proactive, results oriented, high performance sales team that achieves top sales results.
In this article I am going to outline 5 of the most effective motivational strategies and techniques that I have used to help many of my clients to overachieve on their personal, their team and their business goals.
1) Focus on the individual
You need to concentrate on helping your salespeople to understand and motivate themselves better. Help them to understand why they are in a sales role and what they want to get out of it. Ask them what’s important to them about their work.
What do they want to achieve? Why do they want to achieve this? What will happen if they achieve it? What will happen if they don’t? What importance does winning new business play in the achievement of those goals?
Begin to identify areas where they can gain quick wins. Helping your team members to secure small successes paves the way to larger successes, increased motivation and more activity. Make sure that they fully understand the links between increased activity, increased results and increased rewards.
Working mostly on their own and with your support you are looking to open their minds to a new way of thinking. Why not create a questionnaire or an audit of where they are at right now? What about creating a coaching form or process? This need only take a few minutes per team member per day but can produce phenomenal sales results.
2) Train on key sales attitudes, skills and techniques
Decide what the key attitudes and skills are that your team need to be successful in winning new business consistently. Create a simple, repeatable training programme and bring your team up to speed in these techniques and skills as fast as possible.
It always amazes me how so many sales teams have no formal process for new business generation with different team members working substantially different strategies to try and generate new business.
Putting together a programme of proven skills, techniques and activities will become associated with professionalism in the minds of your salespeople and when you are looking to change beliefs, attitudes and skills this is paramount.
Start your training right now. You don’t need to be a great trainer or an expert to do this. You can always call an expert in sales training (like me or one of my team) later on! For the moment, what you’re trying to do is help your sales team to feel valued, focus on what’s important to them, and improve fundamental areas of the sales process.
Training Tip 1: Before you even start training you need to get your staff to view sales skills training in the most productive light. There will be some on your sales team who think that they don’t need sales training at all, or who think that they’re above it or that it’s a waste of their important time! If you don’t change this limiting mindset before you start then the results you get will be unpredictable at best.
Try telling a story about peak performers and how training is important to their success. Get your staff to do a brainstorming exercise on why it’s essential for them to really take on board this sales training. Make sure that you ask them what their outcomes are prior to every training session.
Training Tip 2: When doing sales training you will find that there may be many conflicting sources of information with one sales trainer saying one thing and another saying another. Try to stick to simple repeatable sales structures and processes and one or two sales methodologies that work together.
3) Teach personal responsibility
It is impossible to force individuals to change and even if you could, doing so would only create resistance. That said, once you have the "buy-in" of your sales team you need to empower them to take control of their sales development programme for themselves.
Creating a personal action plan for each salesperson helps to consolidate their thoughts, hones their personal sales skills and enforces the key attitudes and behaviours necessary for sales success.
Your company may well have suitable action plans already that you can use and I’m sure that they will be well thought out and structured. It’s worth noting however that in my experience it’s usually more effective for the sales coach to develop their own sales coaching and action plans because they will be totally focused on your sales teams and your style of sales coaching.
4) Reinforce key behaviours
One of the questions that gets asked by business owners and sales training buyers for companies is, “What return on investment will I get from this sales training programme?” I’ve seen many convoluted answers from training and development companies however the most honest answer is probably, “It depends what you do when I leave!”
Even as an sales speaker and sales training expert I aim to engage your sales staff, create mindset change and inspire them to take massive action. Unless I am paid to stay around however I cannot guarantee success! Success is down to action and many members of your sales team will need support from you to ensure that these new behaviours and skills become part of their habitual behaviours.
You need to create ongoing, measurable and simple support tools to ensure that the new behaviours happen. I follow the management-coaching-autonomy model. Initially I manage people in their actions, then I step back into a more reflective coaching model and finally I release them to take autonomy for their own actions. When I work with teams I take time to help managers to ensure that they know how to reinforce key behaviours.
I went to one company where the HR Department was briefing the sales teams by asking them to “assess the training and see what they thought of it!” This was a team who weren’t making hardly any proactive calls at all! What were they likely to take from this training? With a focus like that, not a lot! How easy would it have been for them to walk out saying, “Not for me that!” or “I don’t think it’s that relevant!”
The focus should have been, “We’re getting an expert in to help us. After this training we want you to come up with your own action plan on how you are going to use this to increase your daily activity and sales!” That way they know they are expected to act differently and that their ability to change and adopt the key sales training messages will be measured and managed.
It always amazes me when staff that are seriously under-performing are sent on training and come back and say they know it all. If they do then why aren’t they top performers?
Don’t let the wool be pulled over your eyes in your business or your sales team! Make sure that you create simple, repeatable tools that ensure new behaviours and that help to create a fun and energised environment, which is supportive of the new sales behaviours that you want in your business.
5) Celebrate success
It’s important that any achievement is recognised and that as your team put the work in you create ways to recognise their success. In my experience many directors are internally orientated when it comes to motivation that is they know when they’ve done a good job and don’t necessarily need telling.
Many of your sales staff, on the other hand, will need that recognition from you because they are externally motivated. When I’m consulting with businesses the number of staff who say things like, “I don’t feel appreciated” or “I just wish that someone would say well done” is phenomenal. Directors and managers often “forget” to tell them because they don’t need it themselves or tell them but not in a way that is explicit enough for their salespeople to hear it…
I worked with one director who thought that he always gave praise saying, “Well done” to his staff yet they thought that he never said anything to them an did not appreciate the work that they did on a daily basis.
What the director usually said was actually, “So what’s next then?” In his head that meant, “Job well done. Now we can feel good and move on!” Unfortunately, what his staff heard was, “I’m never happy with anything you do, I always want more out of you!” As you might imagine this was an easy problem to solve once I heard it happening.
Exercise: Get a sheet of paper and write down as many ways of celebrating success that you can. Try a simple “thank you”, competitions, games, wall-charts and email reminders for starters.
Most of all remember that taking action in developing a proactive, new-business sales team is not only essential it’s fun!
Why Repetition Is The Key To Improving Your Sales Performance And Your Sales Results
A few things have happened recently that got me thinking about something very serious, something that could make a huge difference to your sales results and your sales performance…
Last week I went out for a meal with some friends and one of them had brought along someone whom I had not met before. This person was in IT sales. They were in their mid to late twenties and had been doing it for about 3 years. Judging by their conversation, description of their job and a few other factors I guessed they were doing ok… comfortable in their job but no sales superstar.
He had no idea that I was into sales training or was a sales motivational speaker and during the meal we talked about various things but towards the end of the meal this chap (let’s call him Pete) mentioned that he was a bit bored of his job. He is finding it “so so”. He explained that he has to keep doing the same things over and over.
Every day he goes in at about the same time. Every day he leaves at about the same time! Every day he makes the same kind of sales calls to new and existing prospects and clients. Every day he structures his calls the same way and handles challenges with the same lines. Every day he sends out similar marketing and sales emails and information. Every day he updates his prospect database. Every day he researches the internet. Every day he has the same sales conversations about the same products, the same services and the same solutions.
Every week he attends sales meetings which apparently are always run by his sales manager and are all nearly the same. Every week he sets the same kinds of sales targets with the same kinds of clients. Every week his manager runs similar mini sales training sessions. Every week he goes to see similar customers, with similar challenges, similar needs and wants and similar objections.
He is getting bored.
- Pete has a job – field sales.
- He has a car – a small BMW.
- He’s getting a salary and commission – I’d guess £30k + £20k + car (tops).
- His sales performance and results are ok.
- He is not getting sacked or made redundant any time soon – not that I know of anyway!
But there’s something not right here. Something not right here, at all. Pete’s sales performance and results should be sky rocketing. He should be on his way to £100k+ and promotion but he’s not…
The problem is that Pete has Sales Repetetits! That is – Peter gets bored by any task that he has to do over and over.
In my experience many salespeople have Repetitis. Salespeople with Repetitis get bored and moan about having to repeat the same tasks over and over. This in turn leads to lack of motivation and causes them to lose focus and to start to go through the motions. This in turn will impact their sales performance and results. Salespeople going through the motions do not make successful salespeople. Salespeople going through the motions will gradually lose their edge and become less effective. Salespeople going through the motions will not make great cold calls, nor will they run strong sales meetings nor make powerful presentations.
Sales training tip: Salespeople who are going through the motions usually think they’re ok but they’re usually wrong. Salespeople going through the motions often have a nasty shock coming.
Let’s look at why solving this inability to deal with repetition is essential not only for your sales perfornance and sales results but also for your long-term personal and financial success…
Firstly, as Anthony Robbins says, “repetition is the mother of skill”. The more you do of something, the better you get at it. Period. As a sales superstar in training you want to sweat the basic stuff.
How well you plan and prepare matters. How you conduct yourself matters. How you formulate your conversations matters. How you present your solutions matters. In today’s YouTube generation many people want to be titillated and amused on a minute-to-minute basis and do not have the stickability, the perseverance or the focus to really get good at anything, particularly not the basic stuff.
If you want to make real money out of sales you need to learn to focus so that you can repeat things over and over, constantly improving and sharpening your winner’s edge. You’re own mini-sales training programme if you like. Only by doing this will you become a truly world class salesperson. Only by doing this will you increase your sales performance and your sales results. World-class cold callers obliterate also-rans. World-class salespeople outsell and outmanoeuvre also-rans. World-class negotiators squash also-rans. World-class presenters destroy also-rans.
What’s more, whatever your job, repetition is unavoidable. Doctors see person after person after person with minor ailment after minor ailment after minor ailment. Police officers deal with drunks, drivers and burglaries time after time after time. Firemen and women fight routine small fire after routine small fire after routine small fire.
By doing this they become expert at what they do. But what if, instead of this, they all started going through the motions? What could they miss? What disasters could befall them and others? How culpable would they be?
What would you have to say if the fire crew attending your house didn’t get to your house as fast as you would have liked because they thought it was going to be another simple call?
I rest my case. Repetition is essential in any role. Repetition is essential for skills development and improvement. Repetition is essential to keep you sharp and on the edge. Repetition is essential to increase your sales performance and your sales results.
What does Tiger Woods do when things aren’t going as well as he would like? He goes back to practicing his basic shots… over and over. What do top snooker players spend hours and hours practicing? Basic pots and cue control, that’s what. What do pianists spend hours practicing? Basic scales and more scales.
As a salesperson, like in any other role, if you want to be world-class you need repetition. You need to sweat the basic stuff. If you have a case of Repetititis, mild or severe, then the only cure is to deal with it now…
Next time you find yourself repeating daily tasks keep your focus on how you can improve. Ask yourself some good old sales training questions like, “How could I be more effective?”, “How can I improve my sales performance?”, "How can I increase my sales results?" and “What can I learn here?”
Once you get over Repetitis you will be amazed by how much you can increase your sales performance and sales results with simple stuff that you might until now have thought of as “boring”.
One way of improving rapidly is to create your own sales training and development programme focusing on core sales skills, techniques and practises that until now you might have thought too boring…
If Selling Is So Simple Why Can’t Everyone Do it?
How many people do you know who have tried selling at some point in their lives? Out of all of those people, how many failed?
The answer to the first question is easy, probably quite a few. At some point or other in their lives many people have had a go at selling even if only as a student or in their first job. You may not know the answer to the second one… it’s probably most of them!
Probably most of them.
Oh, for sure, they’ll tell you that they did well. They’ll tell you that they sold bucket loads! They’ll tell you that they were a top sales performer. They’ll even talk knowledgeably about how to sell. It’s amazing what a good game people who only sold for a few weeks and never had any sales training can talk! They’ll talk about open questions and wants and needs like they know what they’re talking about but… seriously… most of them failed!
Not all, but most!
Top salespeople lead an enviable life. They earn great money. They win promotions. They have job security. They have respect, opportunity and friends. They have freedom, career choices and financial independance. They have fun, challenge and variety.
So if you had all of that, why would you leave? Mostly only if you weren’t getting those things at all! I met a friend of a friend in the pub the other night and he looked scathingly at me when I said that I was a sales training expert and told me that he left sales for “more security” and opportunity. He earns in a month what I earn in a day. I recently heard that his company are looking to “cut back” in his department. Nuff said!
But why this tirade? And why today?
Simple. This week I worked with a really great team of salespeople. They were enthusiastic, interested, open and up for it. They embraced the fact that selling is simple and they wanted to master those simple skills. Sales is so simple infact that nearly anyone could be very successful in sales. So simple that everyone in the room could achieve sales success if they chose to go for it…
So if selling is so simple why can’t everyone do it?
Because selling is about attitude. Selling is an attitude. Selling is an attitude that leaves behind a trail of techniques. Now don’t get me wrong here… sales skills are very important, very important indeed. Anyone who has been through a sales training programme with me or who has attended one of my sales seminars will know just how important I believe sales skills are…
But they’re not the key factor in this equation. They’re only a part of the equation. And on the other side of that equation is attitude. Without the right attitude you won’t be able to access your skills. Frankly, without the right attitude, you’re in trouble. If you can get and maintain the right attitude then you will make a success of yourself in sales and selling. Period. If you can’t, you won’t. It’s goodnight sweetheart!
I would far rather hire someone with all of the right attitudes and potential and train them on the skills side than I would wrestle with someone with all of the skills and experiences who cannot be bothered any more! The former salesperson I can train because they want to learn, the latter I have to remotivate and reeducate. Possible but much harder…
You’ve probably worked with or recruited a salesperson who had all of the right attitudes but was light on skills. They probably did pretty well. It usually gets put down to “beginner’s luck” but it’s not “beginner’s luck”, its “beginner’s attitude”.
And it’s at this point that many people not in sales might be tempted to conclude that sales and selling is easy. Something for thickos, something that anyone can do.
Just so wrong!
The hardest thing in the world is getting, keeping, maintaining and improving the right attitude. In sales you never know when you might run into someone who is going to be your best ever client. You never know if the next sales call is going to win you a multi-million account. You never know which meetings are going to convert and which aren’t…
And this makes it hard becuase you have to be on top sales form for every call. Top sales form for every presentation. Top sales form for every meeting. Top sales form for every negotiation. Top sales form for every conversation. Top sales form for every communication. Top sales form. Top sales form. Top sales form.
Not for you the mindless “going through the motions” that some non-salespeople can get away with for periods of time. You have to be switched on, tuned in, fully focused, up for it, raring to go, playing from a 10, on the ball…
Salespeoople often say to me that cold calling (for example) is repetitive and boring…
Wrong attitude! You have to be on top sales form for every call. It might be your 47th call of the week or the day but it is your client or prospect’s first experience of you. You have to be on top form, you have no safety net!
To make matters worse, salespeople get faced with problems and challenges every day. Difficulties, challenges, issues, rejection and objection are a part and parcel of our daily lives and we need to smile through them and stay on top sales form.
So if selling is so simple, why can’t everyone do it?
Because selling is about taking personal responsibility for your own attitude, your own behaviours and your own results. Selling is about smiling when you don’t feel like smiling. Listening when you don’t feel like listening, Caring when you don’t want to care. Standing up when you feel like lying down. Pushing on when you feel like giving up. Firing on all cylinders when you feel like throttling down. Taking responsibility when you want to pass the buck.
Selling provides virtually unrivalled opportunitites for anyone who is prepared to commit themselves. Your degree won’t help you. Your qualifications and exams won’t help you. Your CV won’t help you. The only person who can help you is you. And that’s too much of a leveller for most people.
Handbrake off, safety net removed, crash helmet discarded.
Most people want to blame someone else. It’s all about what they didn’t get, who didn’t help them, who let them down, whose fault it is, why they weren’t on top form, why they deserve another chance, why they should have done better…
If you want to maximise your sales performance and be a top sales performer you need to let all of this go now and focus on delivering the right attitude at the right time, no excuses.
Why not take a look at my Sales Success sales training audio programme – it’s what sales motivation is all about.
How To Upsell And Cross-Sell To Achieve Rapid Sales Growth
January has been a busy month of sales seminars, sales training and motivational speeches so I hadn’t had any time to think what I was going to write about this week until about half an hour ago…
I was sat at my PC in my home office, tidying up some emails when one of my good friends called. It’s been a while since I have spoken to him so I was delighted to hear from him. After a quick catch up we quickly focused our attentions onto setting the world to rights! He said that he has something he thought I would be interested in hearing…
This story starts with my friend’s 18 year old son who is currently enjoying a gap year, getting his head down and working. He has a job in major UK supermarket and he is really enjoying it.
Based in South West London the store he is working in is busy, affluent and diverse. It’s not huge but it’s a decent size. They have around about 150 staff and shifts would mean that at any one time there might be 40 or more people working in the store.
Like most retailers the store chain in question are keen on their customers owning and using store cards. This creates loyalty, allows the store to compile details on personal shopping habits and group trends and, perhaps most importantly, allows them to extend credit to their customers.
And as any business who has cards like these knows, customers on credit are worth far more than those paying cash!
So back to our little store…
Like most stores they have targets and goals and their most recent “push” is on encouraging customers to sign up for more store cards. Each member of staff, whether individually or as a group, is trained to “upsell” these cards and are then let loose on the customers. Not particularly ambitious, their target number of take ups is 4 cards per week… for the whole store.
So for the next week our young hero, despite not being on the till much of the time, asked every customer he could if they would sign up. Despite his lack of experience or formal sales training and techniques our hero signed up… 18, in one week. Now I have to admit that I have no idea how this rates or how many you or I would have signed up but it is obviously well over the target of 4 that was set for the whole store.
At the end of the week our young salesperson goes on his holidays, returning two weeks later to find out that in his absence the whole store, 150 people remember, have upsold exactly … zero.
Zero in 2 weeks. So what do we learn from this?
1. Upselling and cross-selling to existing clients is critical if you want to sell more and make more money.
Clients who have already bought off you, who are in a buying mood and who believe in and see value in what you do are great prospects for upselling and cross-selling. There is every possibility that they will buy something else if you make it known to them.
I remember as a young salesman one of my best clients buying something off someone else. I rang him to ask why he had not bought from me and he told me that he would have but that he was unaware that I could help in this area! Ouch! I never made that mistake again!
2. Know what you can upsell and cross-sell.
Up to date knowledge of what you can upsell is critical. Upselling the wrong or irrelevant products or services will just alienate your clients. Upselling and cross-selling the right stuff at the right time is your duty. How many times have you bought something only to get it home and realise that you wish you had bought the more expensive option because it has features or benefits that you would have preferred. If only the salesperson had told you about it!
A reader rang me yesterday to tell me that he was running a short training session on upselling. The first thing that he had done was outline for his team all of the options they had for upselling and how these would benefit the client. This knowledge is critical if you want to maximise your sales.
3. Make sure that you ask.
Perhaps the biggest block to upselling is that salespeople do not ask. Maybe they feel scared. Perhaps they feel cheeky. Maybe they think that they don’t have the right. Perhaps they “already know” that the client will say, “No”.
Whatever! The biggest problem with upselling, as with asking for referrals, is that most salespeople quite simply just do not ask.
Call it the McDonalds affect if you like… you have to ask! They upsell on everything and they get a lot of “Nos” but they also get a lot of “Yeses”! You need to make just asking part of your sales process too. You could significantly increase your sales results over night.
Yesterday morning I met my sister and her kids in the afternoon. I only wanted a cup of tea. As I ordered the woman said, “I’ve just baked some home-made scones. They’re still warm. Can you smell them? Would you like one whilst they’re still warm?”
“Yes please”. An easy sale!
4. Learn how to "ask" properly.
Once you know the benefits of upselling and cross-selling, know what to upsell and commit to asking you need to improve your upselling techniques. McDonalds ask if you want a bigger drink or fries but they have no idea whether you are thirsty or hungry or neither. That’s fine in Mcdonalds, they don’t have the time but you do. And you have the relationships to do this too.
As you are selling ask questions that uncover the need for an upsale. They needn’t be complex but they do make a huge difference to the relevancy of your upsell and the final result.
When booking keynotes I don’t just suggest that people buy the books or audios as well, I ask a few questions first to identify what exactly is needed and how it would add benefit for my client.
5. Keep it simple.
I’ve said it before and I will say it again but 80% of selling is about turning up, maintaining the right attitude and playing the game.
Many salespeople walk in to my seminars and demand the advanced stuff because they are so experienced yet, when you follow them around, they have forgotten or are not doing many sales basics.
Without the basics you are screwed!
My friend’s son may not know the intricacies of selling yet. He may not have the skills or the experience. He may not be as subtle, as sophisticated nor as cunning as his more experienced friends yet. But subtlety, experience and cunning are no substitute for action and if he keeps on taking action he will outsell his more established but less proactive peers.
To sharpen your sales skills and maximise your sales check out my powerful sales training books, audios and DVDs online now.
What’s Your Si (Sales Intensity) Rating?
The last couple of weeks seem to have been a blur of activity…
I’ve been finalising the text for my next sales training book, "No Fear Cold Calling", writing the outlines for my new open seminar "Close the Sale, Get that Deal" (or "Shut That Door!" as it has become known around here) and continuing planning for my new sales project Talking Sales Success. And I know that many of you are just as focused…
And many of you aren’t!
In the last year I have run open seminars for c. 10,000 delegates in the UK alone, delivered 100+ days of seminars / training, given motivational speeches for annual conferences, AGMs and away days and done sales coaching / training for a handful of select clients. And that’s before I started working on books, audios, DVDs or even blog articles! Meeting, working with and helping all of those people has been a delight but it can also be a frustration, particularly when individuals are not working at the right Si (Sales Intensity) rating.
As a rough guesstimate I would say that individuals fit into one of four camps:
Sales camp 1: Sales Superstars! Si rating of 9-10 (out of a possible 10)
Salespeople in this camp are focused and up for it. They know what they want. They usually have personal goals as well as their manager’s targets. These salespeople are a delight to work with. If you are one of them, I’m talking about you! If you’re not, you know what I mean!
Words that would describe these salespeople are words like … motivated, up for it, focused, tenacious, persistent, charasmatic…
These salespeople are successful. Not sometimes immediately because success takes time but always in the medium to long term. Salespeople in this camp are confident and self-assured because they know that they are doing what it takes to succeed. They do not fear market changes, company melt downs or economic crisis because they know that there will always be a market for sales superstars who can make sales and grow businesses.
Superstars can often be found in the office early in the morning and late into the evening. They are not clock-watchers, coffee breakers, long-lunchers or excuse makers. That said, when they do need to go home early or take an extended lunch break they do it secure in the knowledge that they have done what they needed to do … and more!
Conventional wisdom would point to Pareto’s Law here and suggest that this group represent about 20% of salespeople. I disagree, it’s much more like 10%!
The main danger for this group is losing focus and intensity due to excessive work load, distractions or complacency. The best solution to this is to know what you want, know why you want it and to keep focusing on core activities that would get the results that you want. And keep on striving for that magical Si rating of 11!
Sales camp 2: Maybe Baby! Si rating of 6-8
Salespeople in this group do OK. They know what they want and they get it… some of the time. When they’re on an 8 they’re pretty good people to be around. They usually get reasonable results and they can be very focused at times.
Unfortunately, they can also be a bit half-hearted. They have a tendency to "go through the motions". They can be quite demotivational and spend more time than necessary drifting, talking and generally doing non-essential activities.
"Going through the motions" is one of the 5 cardinal sins of sales. Going through the motions will bore you. Going through the motions will dampen your sales atmosphere and, most critically, going through the motions will switch your clients off… instantly!
Sales is a contest. Selling is an activity which you have to win at! Sales is not some politically correct, everyone is equal, don’t tell them they were wrong, don’t upset anyone activity.
- You either impress your prospect or you don’t!
- You either make the sale or you don’t!
- You either negotiate the deal you wanted or you don’t!
- The money’s either in your bank account or it’s not!
There are no prizes for second place. Commission does not come to the sales professional who "nearly" won the deal. The winner will not be someone who was "going through the motions".
Maybe Babyites need personal goals. They need fire. They need desire. They need to dig deep and work out why this really is important to them. They need to plan their days and focus on activities that get them the results that they crave. They need to avoid distractions and to start hanging around with the Sales Superstars.
Sales camp 3: Mediocre Journeyman Wannabees! Si rating 3-5
Salespeople in this group are painfully unfocused. They lack commitment, direction and discipline and they rarely hit target. They can often be "nice " people and will often fit in around the office (they have the time – they’re not that focused!). They are often popular unless they’re Whinging Journeyman, in which case, they’re not!
Mediocre Journeyman can often do the job. Sometimes they have done it before. They can often "talk a good game". They can show amazing moments of clarity and brilliance. I have one client who employs a classic Journeyman! He always talks a good game. What he says makes sense. He has all of the answers and all of the experience. Tantalisingly, he sometimes "turns it on" and outshines the Superstars but the rest of the time, sadly, it’s all what might have been, what could have been, what he will do NOT what he is doing.
Mediocre Journeyman are often "bored". They often find their roles "too easy", "not stimulating enough", "repetitive"… They say this and then they push papers around their desk, chat to their mates, surf the t’internet and stare into space oblivious of the fact that motivation comes from within…
MJ’s need to do some soul-searching. They need to spend time and work out what is really important to them. They need to revisit their life plan, their goals and their behaviours.
Ironically, it is MJ’s half-hearted approach to work which bores them! I went to a show last night. To be fair to the players it was only a local church troup singing opera and on that scale it wasn’t bad! But I’ve been to some of the best opera houses and heard some of the best singers in the world. I have a lot going in my head (books, audios etc..) at the moment and I switched off and tried to "cruise through". I was a Mediocre Journeyman listener and boy oh boy did I make it hard work for myself. I was literally watching the seconds tick by on my watch… at one point I thought they were going backwards, I made an hour and twenty minutes feel like a lifetime…
And MJ’s do that every day. Ouch!
You spend a lot of time at work so make it quality time. Get focused on what you need to do and crank up that Si rating. You’ll have much more fun and the results will be worth it. Hey, you might even start to have some fun.
Sales camp 4: Sales Losers! Si rating 1-4
I once wrote an article talking about Sales Losers and someone told me that they thought it was unfair for me to be subjective and call people "losers". They said that it was disrespectful and that they might be "winners", just not in the way I judged it!
So here’s my thoughts:
- No-one is born in a camp and everyone can move camps!
- The camp does not represent you, it’s just where you are at this point in time!
- The camp is for Sales Losers therefore if you’re not selling, you’re not winning and you are (at the moment) a loser
- Being told you have lost is not a bad thing, it’s a call to action!
I guess many of you reading this may have met or spoken to me. I’m not a bad guy! And I try to be "nice"! But I am not your friend, I’m your coach. And sometimes coaches need to give you some hard love! For sure, I could blow hot air on you and say you’re doing fine but frankly if you’re not, what good does that do you?
So Sales Losers…
Are rarely focused. They are usually negative and they are not good for the office. They don’t hit target and they don’t do the activity necessary to hit target. When they do take action it’s not done in the right way, in the right attitude or with any belief that it will have the desired results.
I see far more Sales Losers on my travels than I should. I have worked with companies from one-man-bands to multi-national corporations and c. 95% were employing salespeople in all 4 camps and that includes Sales Losers. In coaching / consulting sessions with directors I often hear that they have staff who are not on target, who are costing the business money, who have never broken even, who don’t operate at the right level of intensity and who have been with the company for a significant period of time… often measured in years rather than months!!!
Sales Losers will destroy your business. They are a negative influence and dampen the energy levels in your business. They are akin to sailing a ship with the anchor weighed or trying to sprint with a parachute pulling you back. Laughably, when Sales Losers are disciplined they often say, "I was wondering why you never spoke to me before!" or "It’s ok I have another job!"
Sales Losers need help. Help to leave or help to switch camps. Either way, they’ll more than likely thank you for it!
Improving your Si rating will not only make your days more fulfilling, it will also improve your sales results so it’s down to you now…
What’s your habitual Si rating? What is it right now? What is it when things are going well? What is it when things are going badly? What affects it? What are you going to do about it?
One good way of cranking up your Si level is to spend more time with focused, motivated people. Want to spend some time with me? Invest in my Sales Success audio programme or my latest sales seminar schedule now.
Audio Interview Of Sales Motivational Speaker Gavin Ingham On ExpertsOnline.tv
And now for something a little different…
I thought it was about time we did a bit of podcasting so here is an mp3 for your enjoyment! Sales motivational speaker and sales training expert, Gavin Ingham (that’s me by the way), interviewed on ExpertsOnline.tv.
In this interview we talk about sales strategies, sales techniques and sales atitiudes and a lot more besides so grab a cup of tea, a biscuit and a pen and enjoy.
Interview length 22 minutes 30 seconds.
This is the first of several interviews and audios that I will be posting at GavinIngham.com so make sure that you join my newsletter now and you will be the first to hear about them.
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