Painting by Words

Most of the time, we have to struggle just to cram into our presentations all those compelling facts, figures and supporting data that we assume will overwhelm all doubt and make the case for our side. However, you know the old saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words?” Well, that is often just as true for word pictures as it is for visual pictures. A word picture can be any sophisticated bit of imagery, including similes and metaphors. The best word picture, however, is a simple story. For instance, if you are trying to make the case for sending contributions to disaster victims, you could go on and on with reams of statistics about property damage and monetary losses and the number of homeless. Or, you could tell the story of one family, explain what they lost, and describe what they are facing now. That one family in turn represents all those other faceless families hidden behind your reams of numbers. Any time you can tell a story, you make a presentation more personal for your audience, which means you are much more likely to get a personal, and committed, response.

Tactful Tactics

Has this ever happened to you? You get down to the very end of the negotiation, the deal is all but done, the pen is poised, and WHAM! – something goes wrong. You had such a great plan. You did your homework; you put together a great proposal; you worked through the bargaining phase and thought you had put together a win-win agreement. There was a little bit of minor friction here and there, but you found great solutions that worked for both sides. Everybody was happy … you thought. But at the last moment, the other side suddenly wants to change something and it will most likely cost you money. What is going on?

Everything I Know about Sales I Learned by Watching “Dancing with the Stars”

Tonight is the premier of the new season of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, one of the most watched reality shows on TV right now.  On some blog searching I came accross an article that gleams some key sales lessons from this hit show (albeit from last year’s finale).  Among them:

1. Practice before prime time is essential
2. You can’t skip any steps
3. The best option doesn’t always win
4. Lack of confidence doesn’t sell.
5. All things being equal, relationships count.

To read the full article and read just how these connections are made, click here.

Net-Networking

One of the best ways to generate well-qualified leads is to work hard at building a network of relationships in the community. People prefer to buy from someone they know and trust. Participation in service organizations (Lions Club, Kiwanis) and the Chamber of Commerce, professional organizations, in addition to online networks (such as LinkedIn, Facebook, etc), will help you build a network of strong relationships that can develop into solid business opportunities. Volunteer to help with local civic and charitable events. Don’t hesitate to give, even when it is not immediately obvious that you will receive any benefit in return. The tone you set for the way you spend your time when you are off the clock will eventually pay a return in your business life. Plus, you will be contributing to the welfare of your community and making great friends while you are at it.

How NOT to Sell

I recently came accross this video from the folks over at the Sales Roundup.  A great example of how not to sell:

Getting Inside Their Head

A lot goes into an effective sales presentation. Most good presentation training programs focus a great deal of attention on effective presentation techniques like projection, body language, eye contact, gestures, etc. It is certainly important to look and sound professional, so this is all good. However, you can look professional and still end up giving a boring, lifeless, ineffective program. Even if your content is timely and important, you shouldn’t count on the facts just speaking for themselves. You must package your content for maximum effect. Here are a few simple ideas that will help your message to come alive for your audience so that they will remember it and apply it when the presentation is over.

 

Note: Thank You

Do you write thank-you notes?  If not, you should!

The bane of every child’s gift-giving experience is a necessity in today’s selling evironment.  What does it say about you as a salesperson if you send a customer a hand-written note thanking them for their business?  Or a hand-written note thanking them for a meeting?  It says that you value them as a person and they are not just another customer or commission source.

Read the Signs

There are so many things to think about during a sales call. Did you do a good job of establishing rapport? Did you ask good questions? Did you explain the features, advantages and benefits in a way that speaks to your customer’s needs? With so much taking place around you, it is easy to overlook one very important aspect of the sales process, the part where the customer begins to give off clear signals that he is ready to buy! That’s right; sometimes we get so focused on selling that we fail to notice when the customer is sold and ready to close the deal. If you continue to drone on and on much past this point, you can sometimes end up offending the customer and risk losing the deal. To avoid this embarrassing development, learn to look for these signs that your customer is ready to buy.

Game Bored?

Tired of those cheesy role plays or activities in your typical training class?  Apparently, you are not alone.  Enter now ”video games as training mediums.”

This really should not be a surprise at all.  One of the key trends when it comes to Selling in the Eye of the Storm is the fact that we have 4 generations of employees in the workforce.  The youngest half of these, the Gen-Xer’s (born between 1965 and 1980) and the Millennial’s (born between 1980 and 1999) have grown up with video games.

Take that into account along with the fact that the video gaming industry saw $18 Billion in earnings in 2007, according to the NPD.  Yes, that is “billion” with a “b”.  The first day sales of Microsoft’s highly-anticiapted Halo 3 totaled $170 Million, grossing more in one day than Spider-Man 2’s opening weekend at the box office ($151 Million domestic opening) and more money than the last Harry Potter book on it’s first day.

What does this mean?  It means that organizations will need to re-evaluate how they train if they want to keep up with their employees.  TWL Corporation announced yesterday that they are acquiring a simulation software company to deliver “highly realistic and accurate skills training.”  Cold Stone Creameries uses video games to teach employees portion control and customer service.  Canon copier repair men have started playing games to simulate repairs to copiers using drag and drop techniques.

So how are you using technology to enhance your training?  How are you staying relevant to the younger workers?

From the Field

I recently learned an enlightening lesson from one of my clients: even the most seasoned sales reps need “recalibration” when it comes to fundamental sales skills.  This lesson came via an experiment I conducted with a software industry client on using FAB statements – an important component of our sales workshops.  I was informed that his seasoned reps didn’t have a need to learn FAB statements as that it was a “basic” skill they already possessed.   

We put this statement to the test by creating a simple worksheet with two rows – each row had three columns for a Feature, Advantage and Benefit.  The instructions to the reps were simple… in each row, write a Feature (about your company, your products, your services), the Advantage of that Feature and the Benefit if provides to your client.  The sales reps were asked to write two statements.   

The results were fascinating.  Nearly half of the FAB statements written by a mostly seasoned sales group failed to pass muster.  Here’s an example from one rep: 

Feature – Product Matrix on supportline web site

Advantage – Customers can easily see our latest release vs. what they have

Benefit – Revenue generator.  Chance for (company) to generate more revenue.  Customer may update/upgrade or purchase additional product. 

Can you see where the FAB statement falls apart?  The rep, for the most part, was able to put together a Feature and Advantage but to whom does the Benefit apply to?  Not the customer!  The Benefit is to the sales rep – definitely not something that resonates with a client.   

Test your sales team to find out how much they really know about fundamental sales skills.  If you find they fall short, get in touch with us.  Our sales classes provide multiple opportunities to build company-specific FAB statements.  This will allows your team to practice applying the skills to their own products, ultimately enabling them to be more productive and effective in communicating product and service value to your clients.