Sales Training

Sell More By Sticking To The Script!

Please ask yourself this very basic question: why are you in sales as a career?
Is it to earn a fine, substantially above average living? Are you in it for the money, or for some other reason?
Perhaps you like the lifestyle, an expense account, travel, a car allowance, not having a boss peering into your cubicle every five minutes. I don’t put these motivations down.
They’re perks, but really, the number one reason you should sell is to produce a great income, agreed?
If so, you should devise a set presentation, a script, and stick to it. Scripts will more consistently outperform “winging it,” day in and day out, and they’ll deliver a bigger, better living to you.
I’ve seen this happen across an extensive career, as a seller, a sales manager, and as a consultant and coach. A script is a tool that works for you, as much as a shovel that you might use to plant flowers in your garden.
You wouldn’t use your hands to break up hard soil, would you? You need something that has been fashioned for that purpose.
You wouldn’t change tools every day, if the task stays the same. You’d use the shovel, because it has proven its value.
Why try a rake?
But sellers will change their language from prospect to prospect, even though some word combinations are consistent winners for them. They justify this by saying that they don’t want to sound canned, that they have to appear spontaneous to be effective.
I agree, stilted pitches tend to fail. But just as a Broadway actor brings a script to life each and every night, making it fresh, so can we, with our presentations.
You were probably given the equivalent of a script, long ago, when you first started selling. Dust it off, and try using it, as closely as you can.
You’ll be amazed at how smart such a dumb little device can be!
Dr. Gary S. Goodman © 2006

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service. A frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide, Gary’s programs are offered by UCLA Extension and by numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. Gary is headquartered in Glendale, California. He can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com

Tanzania Calling Cards

Don?t Be Shy About Asking For The Sale – At Least Once!

I was doing a sales training project at a company in Los Angeles when I had an opportunity to hear the business owner address his sales crew.
I usually enjoy watching other trainers, but this was a special treat. Frank is self-made. He built his company on grit and guts, and I admire him.
Sure enough, within a minute of entering the training room, I was rewarded with one of his key teachings:
“No matter how much you think you screwed-up your presentation, no matter how embarrassed you feel, no matter how shy you are, never leave someone’s office without asking for the order, at least once,” he urged.
His logic is that we tend to be overly critical with our performances, and just because we think we erred, the prospect may have overlooked our miscue, altogether. Add to this the fact that most buyers won’t say yes without some guidance, and you can see how asking for the order becomes a necessity.
Instantly, I scanned my memory bank, and sure enough, I remembered a time when I failed to follow his advice. I was pitching a security alarm company and I assumed we had a deal—everything in my meeting with the two principals had gone so smoothly.
But after leaving, and then following up, I discovered that I blew it. I needed to make our tacit understanding completely explicit. And this is done by openly and clearly asking for the sale, by closing the deal.
You may have heard that the ABC’s of selling can be translated into a single phrase: “Always Be Closing.” I think you can pull the trigger prematurely, without having yet earned the deal, but it is definitely better to make this mistake than to not close, altogether, or at least once!
Dr. Gary S. Goodman © 2006

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service. A frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide, Gary’s programs are offered by UCLA Extension and by numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. Gary is headquartered in Glendale, California. He can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.

Korea South Calling Cards

Step-Up To Better Sales Training!

How good are you at selling?
Have you ever wondered?
You might make a handsome living, right now, selling whatever it is that you sell.
But what would happen if suddenly, your profit margins shrank, competition boiled over or you were forced to sell something else. Would you still be on top?
A few years ago, graphic designers were in great demand, especially those who could build customized web sites. I spent many thousands of dollars to have my site designed, www.customersatisfaction.com, and I’m pleased with the result.
But, just a few years later, I realize that the same design, or something very similar would cost me half or even a quarter as much. Selling me, a while back, was a piece of cake.
Now, graphic designers are lucky to earn $12 per hour in a metropolis such as Los Angeles.
I could hold a contest for the best web design, offer a $1,000.00 prize to the winner, and have a hundred people vying for the opportunity to impress me. It’s just a matter of supply and demand.
There is a saying in the investment world: Everyone is a genius in a bull market. Because nearly all securities are rising in valuation, you could throw a dart at the S & P 500, and probably pick a winning stock.
It doesn’t take brains or skill.
Right now, you could be promoting something that sells itself.
Don’t let it go to your head. Take some of your extra earnings and invest in some first class sales training.
It will help you when the going gets tougher.
Dr. Gary S. Goodman © 2006

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of http://www.Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service. A frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide, Gary’s programs are offered by UCLA Extension and by numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. Gary is headquartered in Glendale, California. He can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.

Indonesia – CELL Calling Cards

I Have A Little Problem On My Hands & I Was Hoping You Could Help Me Out

There are some lines in selling that are simply golden.
They open doors and minds.
They make people feel good.
They refute the myth that being completely unscripted is a virtue in selling.
I’m going to share one with you, right now, but before I do, I want you to promise that you’ll email me, and tell me how well it works for you.
Would you? I’d really appreciate it, and let me thank you in advance for doing it, okay?
Great, now let me tell you where you insert it. Imagine you’re opening a telephone conversation with a secretary or a prospect.
First, mention your name and your company, and then append this line:
“Hello, this is Gary Goodman with Customersatiafaction.com and the reason I’m calling is I have a little problem on my hands and I was hoping you could help me out.”
Then, say nothing—not a peep.
You’re likely to hear, “Well I don’t know if I can, but I’ll try!”
Isn’t that a thing of beauty?
So, humble, so cooperative, and so suddenly!
Anyway, I’m going to leave you with this gem, which has made a ton of money for me.
Let me know how you do!
Dr. Gary S. Goodman © 2005

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of www.Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service. A frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide, Gary’s programs are offered by UCLA Extension and by numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. Gary is headquartered in Glendale, California. He can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.

Latvia – CELL Calling Cards

John Cleese Training Videos: Laugh Out-Loud Learning

When most people hear or see the name John Cleese they think of silliness, mayhem, and tons of laughter, but what many people don’t realize is that he has been a major part of business training for well over thirty years.
John Cleese brought his comic viewpoint to business training over three decades ago with the company Video Arts. Over the years John Cleese has continued to illustrate many business concepts with humor AND seriousness. One of my favorite training video moments from John Cleese is in ALL CHANGE, PART 2: THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME. John plays H. G. Wells who travels in his time machine. He pops in on some people on his way to the Kabul Olympics where he announces he’s going to see the Chicken Juggling Event. I don’t think this video is even available any more, but I still chuckle each time I think of time travel and the Olympics.
In the early days, John Cleese performed in many training classics, but now often takes a producer’s role, while he brings in others to act. Often these “new actors” read like a Who’s Who of British television. Hugh Laurie and Dawn French are two excellent examples. Hugh Laurie starred in the mini-series “Jeeves and Wooster” and the series “Black Adder”. He has also appeared in feature films like “101 Dalmatians.” Currently, most Americans know Hugh Laurie as a serious actor from the popular “House” medical examiner mystery show. Laurie is anything but serious in most of his TV appearances and the same goes for his starring roles in business training. He usually plays the inept person who must learn the “better” way of doing things.
Dawn French (“French and Saunders,” “Vicar of Dibley,” and “Murder Most Horrid”) plays characters similar to Hugh Laurie in business training videos. Like Laurie she plays “bad” well.
In the world of business training products, John Cleese training videos are not in-expensive. Generally, they run about $870.00 for purchase in VHS or DVD. They rent for $250.00 (seven day rentals). What’s great about the videos, however is they usually produce results . . . almost instantly. One of my favorite programs is called Customers From Hell (which sells for about a third of the standard Cleese products). It’s less expensive because it’s merely a compilation of early John Cleese training videos centered around Customers. I recommend it for sales meetings, and customer service training sessions. Although there are usually training “bullets” involved in this and other titles in the From Hell videos, I find them best suited as a discussion starter. When sales staff and customer service professionals see the over-the-top behavior customers in Customers From Hell, they instantly have their own stories to tell, “I had that guy last week!” When people laugh and recognize examples from their own experiences, they are anxious to share. This gives a facilitator an opportunity to ask questions and explore situations and outcomes.
The Video Arts products featuring John Cleese and/or his cronies usually come with a facilitator’s guide to help you get the most out of each session and many of his productions are available in self-directed DVD (lowering the price even further than the compilation tapes). It’s possible to access John Cleese training products via the internet and intranet from your own business.
John Cleese training videos are classy with high production values, actors, and scripting. What’s even better is that they can improve your workforce . . . and you can use them time and time, again . . . and laugh out-loud each time.

Author Don Doman: Don is a published author of books for small business, corporate video producer, and owner of Ideas and Training (http://www.ideasandtraining.com), which provides business training products. Don also owns and Human Resources Radio (http://www.humanresourcesradio.com), which provides business training programs and previews 24-hours a day.

Philippines – CELL Calling Cards

Sales Questions Designed To Work

The best sales questions to ask customers are the ones that get your customers talking. Yup – it’s pretty basic.
Once you ask your questions you can employee your ears before you engage your mouth. Your questions put you in to an automatic listening mode. Not asking questions gets you, the wrong person, talking too much.
Being a good listener is the fastest way to increase your sales – it also happens to be the best way.
Preparing good questions is a No-Brainer when you follow these five guidelines:
1. Be sure your questions are open-ended. You’re not a lawyer. You’re an explorer. You won’t learn much when you ask yes/no type questions. Remember your goal is to get your prospects and customers talking.
2. Be sure your questions are personalized and tailored to the person you’re talking to. A good question shows interest and reveals your concern for the buyer’s current situation.
3. Prepare your questions in writing. A really good question starts in your mind and ends up on paper. If it’s not on paper you can’t make it better.
4. You can make every word count by eliminating all unnecessary words from the question you are crafting. Make sure every word in your question adds value to the question.
5. Focus on brevity. If you want to be clear, you must be concise. Less is always more when it comes to a carefully worded question. Short and sweet is better than long and sour.
In sales, having a good personality is important.
Unfortunately, what most salespeople don’t get is, your choice of words during a sales call is even more important.
I just finished Robert Ludlum’s newest novel titled, “Ambler Warning” and came across this line. “It’s no use having the right answer if you aren’t asking the right questions.”
A really good question is like a burning ember, it has the potential to linger on.
The right oyster knife makes shucking oysters an easy chore. Asking the right questions makes getting your customers to open up an easy chore too. Don’t dilly-dally around with your questions.
If you want some help designing intelligent questions this link is made for you.

http://www.meisenheimer.com/products/12paper.htm

Let’s go sell something . . .

Jim Meisenheimer publishes The No-Brainer Selling Tips
Newsletter, a fresh and high content newsletter dedicated
to helping you grow your business and multiply your income.
Use this link to sign-up for Jim’s F-R-E-E No-Brainer Selling Tips
Newsletter and to get your copy of his Special Report titled,
“The 12 Dumbest Things Salespeople Do.”

http://www.meisenheimer.com

UAE Calling Cards

8 Tips To Increase Your Bottom Line And Grow Your Business

Landing a large contract can be a milestone for a growing company but if your team is ill motivated to fulfill the demands of the contract loss may be eminent. There is a need to help the team see where your raising the bar for performance and productivity with out creating a more tense environment.
Increased demands to improve productivity while cutting costs have made it more necessary than ever for employers to examine methods that get the best results possible from their workers. Providing incentives based programs is believed to be the best path to performance improvement.
Some argue that incentives only cause companies to pay more for the result they would have achieved if no incentive program were in place. Yet according to the Stolovitch study well designed and implemented incentive systems increase performance dramatically, the researchers found. Only 8% of surveyed employees said they would have achieved the results without incentives. The key here, Stolovitch noted, is to base the incentives on improved performance.
Still some believe that incentive programs create competitiveness. While others believe a little competition keeps everyone on their toes. That said, many companies claim that incentive programs, administered effectively, encourage mutual support and improved teamwork.
According to the Stolovitch study incentives were found to increase the value people assign to important work goals. Rewarding people for exceeding goals causes them to value their work more, leading to increased self-confidence and loyalty to the organization.
That said, managers and executives are most frequently rewarded for reaching long-term goals. Rewards most often include incentive compensation, year-end bonuses, and profit sharing. Non-manager employees are more likely to receive spot bonuses, usually associated with reaching short-term goals. It is especially important to reward staff for exceeding performance goals.
Among the common incentive programs that work most effectively are the following:
1. Issue a weekly challenge to motivate staff to enhance productivity.
2. Hold on-the-spot contests to reach daily and weekly goals.
3. Announce impromptu $100 bonuses when teams exceed goals
4. Enhancing a job title to reward performance
5. Keep a “goody box” for significant daily contributions toward enhancing performance.
6. Use e-mail to motivate staff via one-on-one communication.
According to a recent survey by SHRM of HR professionals, nearly half say money is the best reward to their top employees. There are numerous types of rewards for good teamwork and individual performance. According to the following personalized rewards work best.
1. Issue Gift certificates for valuable ideas
2. Offer profit shares for top performers
3. Offer Free night classes to advancing team players
4. Let staff choose their own incentives.
5. Free Lunch for a week or restaurant issued gift cards
6. Personalize monetary and non-monetary rewards to the individual preference and potential.
7. Offer company shares
8. Offering prepaid debit gift cards from credit card issuers like American Express or MasterCard. The card provides the recipient a designated spending value that can be used anywhere anyplace and anytime. Prepaid Debit cards or stored value cards seem to work most effectively in the work place as a less complicated incentive program to achieve improved performance and raise the bar of your standard of productivity. Managers and execs don’t have to worry about handling cash or sifting thru stacks of bulky gift certificates. Prepaid debit cards are easily tracked online, replaced when lost or stolen and additional funds can be added to the card on the fly.
Reynolds American’s board gave six top executives about $10 million in benefits as part of a long-term incentive plan. The so-called “performance shares” are cash payments based on the company’s stock price.
One successful businessman said, “Entrepreneurs should continue rewarding employees, because if they don’t raise the bar someone else will.”

Mark Askew is founder of Fimark’s Rewards Gifts and Incentive Programs at http://prepaid-gift-card.fimark.net, a resource for corporate business owners, execs and managers seeking to raise the bar in staff performance, enhance team work and increase the bottomline.

Moldova – CELL Calling Cards

?Got A Minute???One Of The Wimpiest Sales Questions Ever Devised

There’s always one very nice person in my seminars who shares his favorite opening line in telephone calls: “Do you have a minute?” or its cringing cousin, “Have I called at a bad time?”
I have to restrain myself from bellowing, “Never, ever ask that question, again!!!”
Why am I so adamant?
It’s a loser’s line, designed to avoid rejection. It puts trying to sound gentle ahead of the true goal: to make a sale or an appointment, now.
Let’s examine the dynamics of this limp overture. In context, it is usually uttered this way:
“Hello, I’m Gary Goodman with Customersatisfaction.com. Do you have a minute?”
What kind of reply can I expect to get?
“Sure, I have a minute. In fact, I have all day, because I have nothing better to do than to talk to an insecure bozo like you!”
This line is a showstopper. If the listener says yes, he’s going to kick himself for green-lighting what could turn out to be a talk-a-thon.
If he gives you a qualified yes, “Well, I guess so, but just a minute,” then you’re racing against the clock, to catch his interest. Why put yourself at such a disadvantage?
In seminars, I offer this example. If I walk up to 100 strangers and ask, “Would you like a twenty-dollar bill?” I’ll bet at least half will reflexively say no. That’s human nature. Given a chance to resist something new, most people will find resisting, well, irresistible.
What’s the alternative?
Simply leave this line out, or if you must get a signal that it’s okay to continue, ask the person, “How are you?”
Better yet, after announcing your name, the name of your company, use a credibility statement. It says, here’s what we do, our claim to fame, why I’ve earned the right to talk with you, today.
That should make the person want to listen, while signaling that there’s even more valuable information to come as the conversation progresses.
I know, a lot of attention has been paid lately to so-called permission marketing, opt-in lists, and other devices that supposedly help us to sell only to the already qualified and interested.
Let me tell you that “permission selling” is a contradiction in terms. Selling is always an interruption. The best we can hope to do is to make it a successful one.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service. A frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide, Gary’s programs are offered by UCLA Extension and by numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. Gary is headquartered in Glendale, California. He can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.

Falkland Isl. Calling Cards

The Seven Commandments in Direct Sales

Here are some guidelines that will improve your gross sales, and quite naturally, your gross income. I like to call them the Seven Commandments. Look them over; give some thought to them and adapt them to your own selling efforts.
1. If the product you’re selling is something your customer can hold in his hands, get it into his hands as quickly as possible. In other words, get the customer “into the act.” Let him feel it, weigh it, admire it.
2. Don’t stand or sit beside your customer. Instead, face him while you’re pointing out the important advantages of your product. This will enable you to watch his facial expressions and determine whether and when you should go for the close.
3. In handling sales literature, hold it by the top of the page, at the proper angle, so that your prospect can read it as you’re highlighting the important points. Don’t release your hold on it, because you want to control the specific parts you want the prospect to read. In other words, you want the prospect to read or see only the parts of the sales material you’re telling him about the time.
4. When you can get no feedback to your sales presentation, you must dramatize your presentation to get him involved. Stop and ask questions such as, “Now, don’t you agree that this product can help you or would be of benefit to you?” After you’ve asked a question such as this, stop talking and wait for the customer to answer. It’s a proven fact that following such a question, the one who talks first will lose, so don’t say anything until after the customer has given you some kind of answer. Wait him out!
5. Customers who are sales people themselves, and customers who imagine they know a lot about selling sometimes present difficult selling obstacles, especially for the novice. Believe me, these customers can be the easiest of all to sell to. Simply give your sales presentation, and instead of trying for a close, toss out a challenge such as, “I don’t know, Mr. Customer – after watching your reactions to what I’ve been showing and telling you about my product, I’m very doubtful as to how this product can truthfully be of benefit to you.”
Then wait a few seconds, just looking at him and waiting for him to say something. Then, start packing up your sales materials as if you are about to leave. In almost every instance, your “tough nut” will quickly ask you why. These people are generally so filled with their own importance, that they just have to prove you wrong. When they start on this tangent, they will sell themselves. The more skeptical you are relative to their ability to make your product work to their benefit, the more they’ll demand that you sell it to them.
If you find that this customer will not rise to your challenge, then go ahead with the packing of your sales materials and leave quickly. Some people are so convinced of their own importance that it is a poor use of your valuable time to try to convince them.
6. Remember that in selling, time is money! Therefore, you must allocate only so much time to each customer. The customer who asks you to call back next week, or wants to ramble on about similar products, prices or previous experiences, is costing you money. Learn to quickly get your customer interested in, and wanting your product, and then systematically present your sales pitch through to the close, when he signs on the dotted line, and reaches for his checkbook.
After the introductory call on your customer, you should be selling products and collecting money. Any call backs should be only for reorders, or to sell him related products from your line. In other words, you can waste an introductory call on a customer to qualify him, but you’re going to be wasting money if you continue calling him to sell him the first unit of your product.
When faced with a reply such as, “Your product looks pretty good, but I’ll have to give it some thought,” you should quickly jump in and ask him what it is that he doesn’t understand, or what specifically about your product does he feel he needs to give more thought. Let him explain, and that’s when you go back into your sales presentation and make everything crystal clear for him.
You must spend as much time as possible calling on new customers. Therefore, your first call should be a selling call with follow-up calls by mail or telephone (once every month or so in person) to sign him for reorders and other items from your product line.
7. Review your sales presentation, your sales materials, and your efforts. Make sure you have a “door-opener” that arouses interest and “forces” a purchase the first time around. This can be a $2 interest stimulator so that you can show him your full line, or a special marked-down price on an item that everybody wants; but the important thing is to get the customer on your “buying” list, and then follow up by mail or telephone with related, but more profitable products you have to offer.
If you believe there are no born salesmen, you can easily absorb these “commandments.” Study them. When you realize your first successes, you will truly know that “salesman are made – not born.”

Kim Haas is a WAHM and Founder of Womans-Net.com, a popular online networking community focusing on working from home and women in business and owner of Article-Host.com. To learn more about Kim, visit http://kimberlyhaas.comCopyright 2005 Kim Haas

Niue Isl. Calling Cards

Sales: Selling Success is All About You Not Telling

With close to 30 years in sales, one common mistake that I continually observe is that many sales people consistently make is to talk way too much. In trying to differentiate themselves from the competition, these sales people share a common sales belief that talking to the prospect is a way to convince him or her of their product or service expertise. Unfortunately, this places the focus on the sales person and not the needs of the prospect. Big Mistake!!
One of the quickest ways to change this belief is to center on the customer’s needs. When the focus is on the customer, then the sales person can begin to facilitate a dialogue. Through a series of open-ended questions, the future customer can share what the real needs are and more importantly what obstacles have prevented success.
These obstacles or what some may call pain is where selling success begins. By identifying all the pain, the effective salesperson can begin to build a results based message by asking a question like: “If I could help you overcome that obstacle, how would it make you feel?” A common response is “Great!” A follow-up question might focus on the value such as “What would overcoming that obstacle be worth to you?”
Fill in questions may include one to two words such as: “So….?”; And…?; “But…?”; What’s Important?” Again, these types of responses continue the focus on the client and not on you, the salesperson.
As a small business coach, I suggest the following book: The S.P.I.N. Selling Fieldbook: Practical Tools, Methods, Exercises and Resources by Neil Rackham to learn how to develop or improve the sales skill of asking open ended questions. Good sales people know how to provide the right answers when prospects begin to ask their own questions to ease their now abvious pain.
Another strategy that I learned from one of my coaches to help you stop telling and start selling is to take a sheet of paper and divide it into 4 columns. In the first column list what you sell; in the second column list the benefits of your product or service; in the third column list what makes you, your product or service unique; and in the last column write down the results from using your products or services. So when you must talk, you will now be specific and focus on meeting the prospect’s needs.
Remember, if you are telling, you are ain’t selling and are missing many additional opportunities for sales success.

Leanne helps individuals, small businesses and large organizations to double performance in real time. Click here to learn the Secret of Success and sign up for a free monthly newsletter. Please feel free to contact Leanne at 219.759.5601. If you truly don’t believe doubling your results is possible, read some case studies where individuals and businesses took the risk and experienced unheard of results.
One quick question, if you could secure one new client or breakthrough that one roadbloack, what would that mean to you?
Then, take a risk and give a call at 219.759.5601 to experience incredible results.
P.S. The initial call is free.

Payphone surcharge A payphone surcharge compensates private service providers of
public payphones and operator-assisted calls. This is not considered a hidden charge,
and is regulated by law.

calling card