Have you ever wondered why your deal is not closing? You know you have the perfect solution for the perfect customer, the stars all seem to be aligned and pointing in the right direction. But, no matter what you do, the sucker just won’t close?
Early on in my sales career, I had one of those deals.
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Continue reading I Need My Space! Give Some Room For the Deal to Close
This post dates back to May of 2014 and got a great response back then. I still love it! People are the most important part of your business. Find ways to Love ‘em UP!
If you believe that sales are founded on great relationships. (And, most of us still do.) Especially in this world of complex sales.
Ever thought of calling your decision-maker up – just to see how their life is going?
It will test your ability to GET OVER IN THEIR WORLD.
What if your customers viewed you as someone who called them because you were interested in what THEY were dealing with. Not just what you could sell them to help them. You won’t always have the answers.
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Can you see how much more FUN you would have calling on people?
You have fun. They have fun.
You will find out things about their children, their marriages, their pressing concerns.
You do it because you “getting the deal” isn’t the most important thing to them. But, their life IS important to them.
Do you know that salespeople don’t do this?
Stand out. Demonstrate that you are truly out for THEM.
Love ’em UP!
The Irreverent Sales Girl
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Dear Irreverent Sales Girl,
I enjoy your blog posts, and have a question I hope you can help with.
Forgive the long intro, but I want to put the question into context:
Two weeks ago, I was introduced to a prospective client by a mutual business friend. Let’s call him “Bob.” Bob wanted to meet face-to-face. I tried to schedule the meeting at a half-way point for us.
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His response? “I’m so busy I wouldn’t be able to vacate the office unless we have billable work to discuss.”
Again… this was a “meet and greet.”
So I hustle out to their office on a Thursday, which is 35 minutes away. I also discover that Bob’s ‘office’ is actually within another company’s office. The owner of that company (“Tom”) was also in the meeting and seemed to be the driver of the meeting, not Bob.
We had a good meeting. Tom tells me he was impressed with my communication. And when I left, he told me he’d be out of the office on Friday but he’d get back to me on Monday.
I followed up the following Friday. Then I followed up again the next week on Wednesday.
No response.
I followed up again today with a more pointed question:
Hot or Not?
Was the project they discussed with me still hot or was it put on the back burner? I clarified that I didn’t want to be a pest but I do follow up. I said I would respond accordingly to the status.
So, Irreverent Sales Girl, my question: do you have any suggestions on how to handle one-on-one meetings for the ‘solopreneur?’ I am seriously considering not meeting in person anymore unless a consulting fee is paid.
I’m looking for action-takers not time-wasters. Any input from you would be appreciated!
Thank you,
Signed,
What to Do in Columbus!
One of my favorite sit-coms is Modern Family. And one of my favorite things is when Phil Dunphy reminds his family the best way to deal with a crisis situation: “Slow is Smooth and Smooth is Fast”.
Love it! It’s true, too.
When you take this wise advice and apply it to your sales technique, it will SPEED UP YOUR SALES!
Here are some examples of good times to go SLOW to SPEED IT UP!
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Continue reading Slow is Smooth and Smooth is Fast! Sales Lessons from Modern Family
This post is a classic from September of 2013. Let them talk. They will sell YOU! Then, pick up the pen and make the sale. Hope you love this one as much as I do.
“Just because you are not the one talking, does not mean you are not guiding the sale!
In fact, it is USUALLY just the OPPOSITE!
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Today a magical and truly wonderful thing happened!
I was in a meeting with an SVP of a Fortune 100 company…and MAN was HE talking. He was so enthusiastic about his company… he was so proud of the work they were doing a new opportunities on the horizon. He loves the brand. He told me everything from the way the founders started out in the Depression…all the way up to the new (and – shall we say – controversial?) CEO they have.
He talked. And he talked. And he talked.
And I ATE IT UP!
I listened to every word as if it were gold — which it turns out — every word was.
When he finally got around to asking me details about what I do and what my company offers, I had everything I needed to know to tell him how we could help. And he had said everything he needed to say, so there wasn’t anything in the background distracting him.
I told (short) stories back about how our companies’ philosophies and directions were aligned.
And HE ATE IT UP!
Know what he said next?
“Send me the contract. We need to get this going right away.”
Guess what I did! I STOPPED SELLING!
I said, “GREAT! Will you be signing it?”
– yes –
Then, I thanked him for his business. Asked him if there was anything else he needed. Said our pleasantries and ske-daddled.
He did the talking. I drove the train. I won the business. FUN!
Love the talkers UP!
The Irreverent Sales Girl”
Allow me to introduce you to the amazing and fabulous Laura Posey – Founder and CEO of Simple Success Plans (www.simplesuccessplans.com). She wrote this post on Cold-Calling. And, frankly, I think it’s the best I’ve ever seen on this topic! So, I asked if I could steal it and she said “GO FOR IT!”
So, thanks to the wild generosity of Laura Posey, I give you: My Mom Is The Best Cold Caller I Know. Enjoy!
“She’s retired now but she was so good at cold calling she lost her job. That’s because she sold the entire inventory her company had available. (It was cemetery plots that time)
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Seriously, she has sold everything from burglar alarms to siding to charitable donations starting with cold calls. And she was the top performer in every company she worked for.
So what is her secret?
It is so simple you’re going to wonder why you didn’t think of it. Here it is:
She never tries to convince anyone to set an appointment when she calls.
What???
Isn’t that the point of the call?
Not according to Mom.
You see, she views calling as a survey. The purpose of the call is to sort people into three lists:
As she tells it, when you cold call someone who isn’t already curious about your product and you push to convince them to set an appointment, all you end up with is a crappy appointment.
Instead of wasting your time trying to hammer the wrong people into meeting with you, why not just call enough people and find the ones who are interested now.
Recognize that the ones who say “no” are really just saying “not now”. You can always call them back at a later time when they might be in the “yes” pile.
If you’re skeptical about how this would work, imagine this scenario.
I give you a list of 100 people to call. Your job is ask them 1) if they like chocolate ice cream and 2) if they would like a free sample if they do.
That’s it. I’ll pay you $100 to do the survey and give me the tally sheet of results.
Could you do it?
Of course you could! A survey is so simple to do because you don’t care about the outcome. You aren’t trying to convince people to like chocolate ice cream; you are just seeing who does and who doesn’t. And you only offer the free sample to people you know want it.
That is all that cold calling is – a survey.
Your job is to dial enough numbers to fill in your ‘’yes” column with quality appointments.
That’s it.
No more freaking out about…
You are just doing a survey – there is nothing to hate.
(And, while we are on the subject, even if they did hate you, they would forget about you the moment you hung up the phone.
Seriously, can you remember the name of the last person who cold called you?)
Your job now is to grab a sheet of paper and make four columns like this:
Write your list of prospect names in the first column. Then just start your survey calls, making tick marks in the appropriate column after each name.
That’s it.
I can tell you this technique saved my butt when I first got into sales.
And it has saved countless other entrepreneurs and salespeople over the years.
It requires no fancy software, no automatic dialers and no manipulative call sheets.
Give it a shot and let me know how it goes. I’m willing to bet you are making more appointments than ever by the end of next week.
For more ideas on how to generate consistent, profitable sales, check out our 144 other strategies for making more sales and growing your business.”
Did you love this advice? Check out Laura’s Simple Sales Magnetism Plan! http://bit.ly/29r10Xd
Love ‘em ALL UP!
The Irreverent Sales Girl
And go here to get the Truly Irreverent Tuesday Newsletter from me! http://bit.ly/IrreverentTuesday
What is one thing you know you would NEVER do? Like REALLY know you would never do it? It may be something like Embezzle… or try Crack Cocaine… or Poison Someone Else’s Dog. I’m talking about something that is completely out of the realm of possibility for you.
That is something that is truly JUST NOT LIKE YOU!
You are RELIABLE to not do it.
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Now, think of something that you sometimes do – that you know isn’t so fabulous for you. Something like… eat entire bags of kettle corn after 11 at night… or smoke cigarettes … or spend too much money on QVC. This is something that you would prefer that it isn’t like you, but you have to admit that, reluctantly…
It IS just like you!
How did that happen? How did you become somewhat enslaved to a behavior that you wish was JUST NOT LIKE YOU?
How it happened was that you did it ONCE.
At one time in your life – doing that one behavior JUST WASN’T LIKE YOU. Then, you did it once. Now it was JUST LIKE YOU!
OK – let’s not dwell in the bad stuff.
How can you apply this same principle to all the GOOD STUFF you want to have in your life?
First, think of something you WISH you were doing regularly or something that you wish were true about you, but it’s JUST NOT LIKE YOU!
It could be getting up at 5 am and exercising. It could be reading a book once a week. It could be making an hour of cold calls each Wednesday. It could be speaking at local business meetings regularly.
The good news is…to start a new GOOD habit is the exact same as starting a bad habit …
The first step is to do it one time. Just once.
Look what happened… doing that thing has become JUST LIKE YOU! Now it IS just like you to get up at 5 and go to the gym! How do you know? You did it just yesterday!
Now, it IS just like you to read a book in a week. How do you know? You did it just last week!
Now, it IS just like you to speak in front of the business meetings. How do you know? You did it just last Monday.
So, I invite you to look and see:
What is one good behavior that you would like to make a habit?
What is it going to take for you to go out and do it just once?
The first step is to do it just that once. A huge hurdle has been overcome: Now, it IS JUST LIKE YOU.
Of course, the second step is to do it again… but, let’s worry about that when we come to it.
Love it UP!
The Irreverent Sales Girl
Should YOU be a salesperson? Take the QUIZ: http://isalesgirl.com/http://isalesgirl.com/thequiz.aspx.aspx
Here’s my Throw Back Thursday Article from early 2015 – an article about tapping into how people REALLY make buying decisions!
Every real estate professional knows that a property is much more likely to sell if it is “staged” – all set up with sofas, pictures, flowers, accessories – like someone amazing already lives there. Somebody THEY want to be.
It makes their buyer RELATE emotionally to the house.
You can do the exact same thing! In every presentation, meeting, proposal, bring the magic of: “This is who you want to be!”
Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/
Continue reading #TBT – Fill the emotional gap and you are unstoppable!
Is anyone else out there tired of listening to business people use big words and phrases to make their topic sound more important than it really is? Or maybe make themselves look smarter and sexier than they really are?
Do you ever find yourself wishing that they would just say it like it really is?
I do!
So, I’ve put together my very own totally Irreverent, mostly accurate, and thankfully abridged glossary for your edification (and amusement) about what commonly used business and sales terms actually mean. Not in alphabetical order because, well, you’ll see…
Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/
CAUTION: This one is a teensy bit snarkier than my typical post. It may not be suitable for all audiences – especially those who use these terms regularly.
Enjoy!
Continue reading Would Someone Please Just Say It Like It Is?
It is officially conference season!
I don’t know how YOU feel about conferences, but they always put me a little on edge. I mean, going to the right conferences and meeting the right people is an incredible way to SPEED UP SALES. But all of those people you have to talk to? And get to know? And approach in an appropriate manner?
Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/
It’s exhausting!
Here is one simple thing that I like to keep in mind when I am attending conferences. It helps me a lot and I hope it will help you, too.
People Like To Be Included
They may not look like it. They may not act like it. But, fundamentally, they like to be included. Even if they turn an invitation down, they like to be asked!
Here’s how to use this to your advantage at your next conference.
Continue reading Are you a Networking Rock-Star at Conferences?