Sales Training

Persuasive Salespeople Are PEPPY

One of my speech teachers in college was former Navy Captain, Sheldon Hayden, who taught me a lot about communicating. He was well suited to the task, having been
trained as one of Dale Carnegie’s first instructors.
He shared with me a winning, three-part formula for persuading anybody to buy anything. And it has helped me to close innumerable sales.
This simple outline, he asserted, could be used to inform, to persuade or sell, and even to entertain.
(1) First, you make a POINT.
(2) Second, support that point with EVIDENCE.
(3) Third, repeat the main POINT.
He called it his PEP Formula, and I can tell you from long and wondrous experience in using it, that it certainly lives up to its name. I’ve personally used it to inform, to persuade and to sell, and to entertain.
Moreover, it’s PEPPY, lending energy, coherence, and dynamism to your talks, to your reports, to anything.
If you take a quick moment to review the sequence of this article, I promise you’ll find at least one major PEP talk in it.
Many of us use a variant of this unconsciously. If you listen to the most credible and sincere sounding salespeople, you’ll be able to trace this outline.
Try using PEP in your everyday chats with family, friends, and co-workers.
How’s this one?
Sorry, you can’t go out and play, because:
1. You haven’t eaten your lunch;
2. You haven’t done your homework; and
3. You haven’t cleaned your room.
So, I’m sorry, but you can’t go out and play!
In future articles, I’ll show you some of the more exciting dimensions of PEP, but in the meantime, try using it at least once a day, especially in selling, to prove its value to yourself!
Dr. Gary S. Goodman © 2005

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 Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, Reach Out & Sell Someone, and How To Sell Like A Natural Born Salesperson. He is 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. When he isn’t consulting, Gary can usually be found in Glendale, California, where he makes his home. He can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at gary@customersatisfaction.com

Guinea Bisseau Calling Cards

Six Things You Didn?t Know You Didn?t Know About Cold Calls

Aren’t you sick and tired of being sick and tired of the same lame excuses from sales professionals?
You know those excuses that put all of the power and responsibility for the sale into the hands of the unknown gatekeeper on the other end of the line. Pathetic, whiny excuses like, “I can’t get past the gatekeeper.” “My product really is not sold at the top levels of an organization” and “I hate cold calling.”
A whole, new, untapped world of profit awaits …
The sales professional who believes and behaves as though the responsibility for a sale rests with him, believes in the system and watches as the world becomes his oyster, full of precious pearls he only dreamed of, now ripe for the plucking.
A couple of weeks ago I heard a story about the difference between saying you believe something and actually believing. It went something like this …
Kevin, a gregarious, fun loving student drew a seemingly boring topic out of the hat for his creative writing class. The topic, “The Law of the Pendulum.” His fellow students yawned and mimed b-o-r-i-n-g … while our guy’s creative juices began to flow.
The day came. The teacher asked him to present his writings verbally in front of the class. Being a bit of a ham, he was delighted by the challenge and smiled at the prospect of making a boring topic quite the opposite.
Kevin demonstrated the Law of the Pendulum with a small model of a pendulum that fit on the desk top. He went on to explain as he lifted the Pendulum out to the right that when he let go of it, the Pendulum would swing back and forth, each swing becoming shorter and shorter until it came to rest perpendicular to the ground.
As he demonstrated, sure enough, true to the Law when Kevin let go of the pendulum it never did reach his hand again, each swing of the Pendulum became shorter and shorter until it came to rest perpendicular to the table top.
Kevin said, “How many of you believe this Law of the Pendulum?” All raised their hands and applauded as the instructor made his way to the front of the classroom.
To the surprise of all, Kevin said, “Hold on, I’m just getting started.”
He invited the teacher to sit in a chair, back against the wall. He then released a 250 pound pendulum from in front of the teacher’s face. And whoosh the pendulum swung to one side of the room and half-way upon its return, Kevin, reports, the teacher did a nose dive to the center of the room.
And in keeping with the Law of the Pendulum, as all could see, with each swing of the Pendulum’s return fell shorter and shorter of the Teacher’s seat.
“How many of you think the Teacher believes the Law of the Pendulum?”
Not one hand was raised.
Now, for the point of this writing … whether you believe these facts or not is up to you. But here are six things you didn’t know, you didn’t know about cold calling.
1. You get the appointment because of the words you say … that’s also why you don’t get appointments.
2. The gatekeeper’s willingness to schedule you for an appointment has to do with how you present yourself on the telephone … so does her determination to send you to a lower level decision maker
3. Presented with the same prospecting call information and two sales professionals from the same company … one will believe he can present products/services to executives; one will believes he can not. Both are right.
4. Cold calls are only cold until you learn how to warm them up
5. There are three desirable outcomes that you can get with every prospecting call you make: an appointment; a time to call back for an appointment; precisely why you are not interested in doing business with the prospect
6. Executive assistants are actively looking for the right people to admit to the executive suites, if you don’t get in 97.9% of the time the reason is you did not use “executive level” language when talking with the assistant.
The majority of sales pros want to blame gatekeepers for closed doors. Successful sales professionals, on the other hand, look to what they can control, themselves, and tweak for success.
Forward this article to friends—they’ll thank you for it!

For your FREE mini-course “Jealously Guarded Secrets to Cold Calling Company Presidents” visit http://www.ColdCallingExecutives.com! Or call Your Sales Coach for Extreme Profitability, author/speaker Leslie Buterin (like butterin’ bread) at (816) 554-3674 9-3 CST (that’s Kansas City/Chicago Time).

Ukraine – Odessa Calling Cards

You Won?t Believe the Power of This Word!

From border to border and coast-to-coast, sales pros line up to confess, “After I hear enough objections, I feel like a whipped puppy and want to limp off into the sunset with my tail between my legs.” Then with a hint of hopeful expectation in their eyes, they ask, “What can I do to keep my attitude up?”
Staying upbeat in the face of rejection is not as hard as you may think. In fact, it isn’t difficult at all, however, it does require that you be in control of you.
You must make a choice to turn your thoughts and words from the negative to the positive. You must decide you will not allow anyone’s negativity to suck the life out of you. If you’re willing to give it a go, you’ll be glad to know that, yes, there are ways to stay pumped up, yes, even in the face of rejection.
Not long ago, a group of executives and sales professionals attending a strategic planning workshop in Las Vegas wrestled with this very issue. The question on the table was this, “What tips, tools, and techniques could they pass on to their sales force that would help them stay up in the face of objections that seemingly always lead to defeat?”
Toward finding an answer to that question, I asked them, “What is the first word that should come out of the mouths of you and your sales pros when greeted with an objection?” … “Great!”
As I looked into their deer-caught-in-headlights stares, I yelled out, “GREAT!”
Those folks looked at me as if thinking, “Is she serious?”
I responded to their disbelief with examples.
“If your busy prospect says, ‘We have contracts with all of your competitors and have no room left for you.’ What do you imagine will happen if sales pros retort with a big smile and an exclamation, ‘Great!’”
“If your prospect is pressed for time and says, ‘I don’t have time to talk; call me in a year.’ How will they react when sales people look ‘em in the eye, smile and say, “Great!’”
“If your prospect says, ‘How was your week?’ Say, “I’m not sure I recall, but you can bet it was ‘Great!’”
Do you know what happened? The whole audience of top-notch sales professionals and sales executives laughed—loudly.
Here’s why … they immediately recognized these simple truths … we’re each responsible for our own attitudes and when you greet every objection with a totally unexpected, positive exclamation, you maintain control of the tone of the conversation.
A positive response in the face of a potentially negative objection pleasantly surprises prospects and serves to keep the attitude of the sales person upbeat. A light heart and an upbeat attitude increase the odds of your ability to get mentally unstuck and overturn any and all objections to scheduling a sales appointment.
The camera man who was filming one of my workshops in Kansas City returned from a break saying he had tried immediate application of greeting each objection with “Great!”
Of course I was tickled to hear he was paying attention and glad to hear he took the matter seriously and had such quick results to report.
The camera man went on to tell his story, “During the break I approached a woman in the lounge and our conversation went something like, …
“Do you want to go out with me?”
“You’re not interested? Great!’”
That was not exactly the application I anticipated hearing, but it brought a smile and reinforcement for the learning.
Here’s the bottom line for you. There is no need for you suffer from the pain of rejection. There is no need for you to give up your cheerful countenance to a prospect who tries to take your sales presentation into a downward spiral. You can turn that downward spiral into a tightly wound spring and bounce back with enthusiasm.
Your words determine the direction of a sales presentation. Follow the prospect’s lead and the call will spiral downward. Inject your own upbeat response into the conversation and watch that downward spiral turn into a tightly wound spring that’ll bounce the tone of the call upward toward your goal.
Expect “Great!” things when you plan your positive responses and be creative in where you apply them. They will come in handy when you need to slay a giant.
Forward this article to a friend—they’ll thank you for it!

For your FREE mini-course “Jealously Guarded Secrets to Cold Calling Company Presidents” visit http://www.ColdCallingExecutives.com! Or call Your Sales Coach for Extreme Profitability, author/speaker Leslie Buterin (like butterin’ bread) at (816) 554-3674 9-3 CST (that’s Kansas City/Chicago Time).

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20% of Sales Persons Tell This Lame Lie

Yeah, yeah, smatterings of sales trainers see fit to advise audiences to tell incorporate one of these lame lies into their sales presentations. A very few high dollar sales professionals will tell one occasionally. Even you may be tempted to respond like this every once in a great while.
What are the seemingly harmless white lies they tell?
How about this one left on Voice Mail: “I’m in a meeting or helping another client.”
Or how about the one that comes to mind when a gatekeeper asks, “Is he expecting your call?”
Then, of course there are those who have heard “No” and decide to call back with a disguised voice including the female sales person who calls with a low, sultry, voice, asking for the prospect by his first name.
Stories about colleagues who practice these white lies bring raucous laughter, tears of amusement and a shaking of heads at sales meetings. Even a few company presidents chuckle and say “Sales are sales …if it works, what’s the harm!”
And I look ‘em straight in the eye, tell ‘em what harm is done, and what they need to look out for from the few sales professionals who use these tactics.
“White lies” give the appearance of being a harmless means to a profitable end, but …
Let’s look a bit closer as we count the costs.
This email message, “I’m away from my desk or on the line with another client right now” is a bad habit and an especially ineffective bad habit if your goal is to do business with high-level decision-makers.
Take it out of context for a minute so you can see and feel the impact of that kind of message.
If you called the office of President George W. Bush after hours, what would you think if you received a voice mail message saying, “I’m either in a meeting or on the line with another citizen right now, please leave a message and I’ll call you back”?
Sounds goofy, fake, and wimpy—doesn’t it? So does yours.
This kind of message reflects your need to explain yourself, which in turn is the habit of a person who belongs at the lower levels of an organization. Lower level employees, by virtue of their job description, must always explain themselves to their superiors.
You don’t need to explain yourself. They called you and can leave a message. PERIOD.
When the executive assistant asks, “Is he expecting your call,” some sales persons experience momentary brain freeze.
In a split second they are faced with a dilemma of character that demands a decision be made. The sales pro wonders, “Should I say, ‘Yes’ because that’s what it might take to get me through… or tell the truth and risk losing contact with the decision maker?”
And then there is the disguised, sultry voice thing. What’s up with that? Do they really think the executive assistant won’t catch on to that? Yeah, right!
Here’s the common thread that runs throughout these lame lies.
The conduct we choose is a clear reflection of our character.
During my study of the impact of character, a company president, Bill, shared this story:
I decided to do random drug testing throughout my company. I wanted to be fair and knew to do so I needed to randomly test all levels of employees, myself and the other executives included.
I decided ahead of time that if the tests results came back positive for drug use, I’d discuss this with the employee and give the person one of two options. He/she could chose to resign or to stay employed with us at no reduction in pay if he/she chooses to go through a drug detoxification-rehabilitation program at the company’s expense.
I was surprised and saddened that several of my executive-level colleagues tested positive for narcotics. And every person who tested “positive” insisted “The tests are wrong” and opted to resign from the company—rather than admit to the truth and take advantage of free help.
This business leader learned how a person presents himself is an issue of character. Character determines behavior. A person who has the character of a liar is devoted to lying—even to the point of refusing free help and losing a good job.
What traits do your behaviors reveal about your character? Regular use of words that reflect integrity are a good choice with which to start your prospect-client relationships or for that matter any relationships!
Forward this article to friends—they’ll thank you for it!

For your FREE mini-course “Jealously Guarded Secrets to Cold Calling Company Presidents” visit http://www.ColdCallingExecutives.com! Or call Your Sales Coach for Extreme Profitability, author/speaker Leslie Buterin (like butterin’ bread) at (816) 554-3674 9-3 CST (that’s Kansas City/Chicago Time).

Iran – CELL Calling Cards

1 in 25 Sales Professionals Will Be Shocked to Hear This!

There are a few sales professionals that really “get” the power behind this priceless insight. Others completely miss the significance or undervalue the power behind it.
Hopefully, you are the one who “gets” it and your competitors are the ones to remain ignorant of this gem of thought.
Those who know this shocking truth close lucrative contracts by regularly conducting meetings with THE decision makers. Those who don’t know this regularly conduct meetings with low-level decision-makers.
What’s the difference between the two? Mindset. There are those who believe they can and those who believe they can. Both are right.
That thought, as valuable as gold, can be unearthed in the telling of this story.
During coaching call sessions, I make the “mindset” point by sharing this slice of life vignette with clients …
A while back my favorite FAX machine of all time broke. I wanted another one just like it and went through quite a bit of effort to contact the manufacturer to order another.
After 45 minutes of stumbling around, asking questions, and failing to fulfill my order, the company’s customer service representative (there’s an oxymoron) said it couldn’t be done.
I thanked her for her time and asked for my call to be elevated to her supervisor or manager.
To which her response was, “I’m it. I’m the highest person you’re going to get to in this company!”
My response was to thank her again and to get off of the phone. The next stop, Tokyo.
After taking a few minutes to surf the Internet, capturing the contact information of the President of the company, and realizing he was based several time zones away, in Tokyo, I opted to send a brief email to his attention. The email read:
“After dialing 800-xxx-xxxx and spending 45-minutes with the customer service representative trying to order a fax machine from your company, I was unable to do so. If this were my company I’d want to know about this scenario. Knew you would want to know too.”
Within 48 hours of hitting the “send button” two new FAX machines were sitting in front of the office door. The Regional Director of said company called me personally to advise that all customer service reps were being retrained, and to quickly ask what were the top three areas of mistreatment that I had received—so those areas could be addressed.
What does this have to do with a huge insight that, when embraced, will absolutely, positively, no-doubt-about-it, leverage your selling time into exponential increases in sales and income?
Pay close attention.
Your attitude and your beliefs make all the difference in the world. You belong at the top. Your time is valuable. Your concerns are most efficiently and effectively leveraged by the top decision-makers.
Most of the sales professionals who hear this story laughingly say, “I would have told that customer services rep ‘what for’, and would have demanded to talk to her boss.”
And shake their heads in disbelief, “No president is interested in that kind of little issue.”
The most successful sales pros, shake their heads and add …. “Company Presidents worth their sales are most definitely interested in identifying and finding solutions to problems. In fact those two things make up almost their entire job descriptions!”
Besides that, the successful sales pros continue, “The other meaningful information you’re missing is … how much of your valuable selling time is spent with low level decision makers such as the customer service representative. Why on earth would you continue to waste your time with someone who has no interest or ability to resolve the problem? That’s a waste of time that you could be selling.”
Could anyone have contacted the President with valuable information? Absolutely.
How many people actually do?
Was there a payoff for cutting the call with the representative short and going straight to the top decsion-makers? You bet. The problem was quickly resolved, I got more than I expected, and my time was free to spend elsewhere.
That’s the way it is when you meet with THE decision makers. Incredibly fast, over and above what you would have expected, handled quickly.
How much more interested are company Presidents going to be in your products and services, solutions you bring to their other business problems?
Very few sales professionals take advantage of these nuggets of business wisdom because it is not within their realm of possibilities that such a meeting could actually occur. They never recognize when the “No” begins in their own minds.
Take care so that your thoughts don’t paralyze your actions. Know you belong at the top and be one of the few who successfully sell throughout the executive suites!

For your FREE mini-course “Jealously Guarded Secrets to Cold Calling Company Presidents” visit http://www.ColdCallingExecutives.com! Or call Your Sales Coach for Extreme Profitability, author/speaker Leslie Buterin (like butterin’ bread) at (816) 554-3674 9-3 CST (that’s Kansas City/Chicago Time).

Colombia Calling Cards

The Power of Positioning

The time-honored story around the Midwest is “The Wizard of Oz.” Can you imagine what a shock it would be to go to sleep in the Midwestern United States and wake up in the Land of Oz!
The splendor and excitement of arriving in a new land, full of new possibilities you never even dreamed possible …seems to be a kindred reaction of sales professionals who, after years of rejection from the executive suites, seemingly overnight find themselves regularly conducting business in the executive suites.
Now, if you’re at all like your colleagues, you believe the Wicked Witch is personified in gatekeepers. Those executive assistants who seem determined to keep you from going through the castle gates and into the presence of the great and powerful Wizard.
Just in case you’re not used to calling on top decision makers, you’ll be glad to know executives don’t resemble the Terrible Wizard anymore than the mild mannered showman professor did in the land of Oz.
An executive is just a man or woman in charge of a company, looking for the safest way to navigate the business and its people through the storms of commerce. And contrary to popular misconception, the executive assistant is really more closely aligned with the Good Witch Glenda who can tell you how to get to the great, powerful, mighty Oz.
When you ask them, executive assistants will tell you they like to be treated with respect (who doesn’t). They’ll also let you know that one of her primary directives is to protect the executive’s time from very draining people who suck up a lot of their precious time and provide nothing in return.
It is a little known fact that she is also on the look out for people who can help the executive. The key to having the executive assistant to recognize you as a caller whom she should admit into the executive suites is to use the words executives use when talking with the assistant.
As businesses grow, the executives’ skill set grows to accommodate the needs of the business. While incubating the business many need for the executive to “do it all”, book keeping; sales; marketing; and so forth. And the executive is challenged with figuring out “how to do everything that needs doing.”
Then, as the business grows, the business hires professionals to do all of the “how to stuff”. The executive finds it necessary to transforms himself from being the “how to guy” into becoming the “what guy.” The guy who decides “what” the company will be doing as the years progress, and leaves the figuring out of the “how” to those at lower levels of the organization.
So when a sales professional calls the office of the executive and the assistant hears the caller spew out “how his company can serve the executive “ the assistant immediately transfers the call down the organizational ladder.
This frustrates many a sales pro as they conclude the call was transferred because of the gatekeeper. When, in fact, the call would not have been transferred had the caller used the right language.
Most sales professionals have the subconscious thinking of a “how” person and, to successfully sell to executives, want to learn the best way to approach the “what” person.
Without a change of language, you’ll sound like a “how” person who is a better fit with low level decision makers than executives. Executives know this. Executive assistants know this.
The overwhelming majority of your colleagues do not grasp the importance of this kind of positioning. And most of those who do know, don’t know how to make a change of thinking that positions them as belonging at the top.
Even better to have the executive assistant on your side … did you know she is actually looking for people to invite into the executive suites and present solutions to the executives business issues?
So next time you hang up the phone thinking, “That ‘Witch’ referred me down.”, know that most likely the reason for her decision had to do with the words you spoke.
OK, Dorothy, now is the time to own your own power. Examine the words you speak. Learn the verbiage that positions you as the “what guy/gal” for your industry and then marvel as the Wizard says “he’d like to talk with you”.
Your rock solid positioning is to have the executive assistant as your “right hand person” and strongest ally.
Forward this article to friends … they’ll thank you for it!

For your FREE mini-course “Jealously Guarded Secrets to Cold Calling Company Presidents” visit http://www.ColdCallingExecutives.com! Or call Your Sales Coach for Extreme Profitability, author/speaker Leslie Buterin (like butterin’ bread) at (816) 554-3674 9-3 CST (that’s Kansas City/Chicago Time).

South Africa – Capetown Calling Cards

How To Put An End To Voice Mail Jail

As you prospect, do you long for a real live person to answer your phone calls?
Are the phrases, “I’m not able to answer your call in person right now …” “I’m in a meeting right now or talking with another client …” and “If you want help with this, please press #2, #1, …” starting to wear on your last nerve … like nails on a chalkboard?
Are you feeling trapped by the very technology that was supposed to serve you?
Well, you’re in good company.
Our informal survey shows the overwhelming majority of sales professionals share your frustration. One of the most frequently asked questions asked by our clients is, “I leave a lot of voice mail messages without getting any personal contact–ever. Do you have any tips for me?”
Yes, I do!
There are simple, yet effective steps to take that will get you around voice mail so you can make contact with a human!
Whether the recording indicates it or not, many systems will reroute your calls to a human being if you press the “0” Operator button on your phone.
Then when your prospect’s operator/receptionist answers, you can honestly say, “I was connected to the executive’s voice mail and I’m looking for a real, live, breathing, speaking human to talk to directly. Is the executive or the executive assistant in today?”
Chances are that you’ll get an empathetic chuckle from the receptionist. Those folks understand how annoying pre-recorded messages can be.
If your prospect isn’t readily available in person, the operator often knows that and will be glad to offer to reroute your call to another human being within the company, such as the executive’s assistant, who can tell you the whereabouts of your prospect.
Equally as import as circumventing voice mail jail is knowing what to say when you succeed and make contact with your prospects operator/receptionist!
In many companies, the operator is authorized to page the prospect for you or to connect you to direct line—if you do one thing in particular …
What’s the key to “authorizing” the operator to search for your prospect on your behalf?
You must ask for your prospect by first and last name and pronounce both correctly.
Here’s an Insider’s secret peek into the mechanics of the executive suites that will equip you to understand what’s going on in their world. Really good executive assistants, with the approval of their executives, talk with receptionists and give them specific guidelines for handling inbound callers who ask for the President’s office.
There are so many calls each day that they must come up with a system of handling them. Or never get any work done! Executive assistants direct receptionists to divert inbound callers who say, “I’d like to be connected to the President’s office please.” The preferred method of handling such callers is to politely reroute them to voice mail jail.
With your new knowledge of this Insider’s secret you’ll want to call and say, “I’m calling to speak to Jack Doe or his assistant, Mary.” You’ll find you receive a different kind of treatment when you use these words. Because of their “in-house” system for handling inbound calls, the operator/receptionist will be more likely to give you the inside scoop as to their whereabouts.
Then, because your words indicate that you “know the rules” the receptionist is far more likely to be forthcoming with information that will help you, information such as whether or not the executive is in the office and the best time to call back to reach them in person.
Those executives and their assistants are early risers!
They frequently slip into the office between 7:00 and 7:30 AM. Executives take advantage of the still of the morning to work through the ever-present to-do list without interruption.
Knowing this about the habits of executives, many a successful sales professional will make prospecting calls during those times and connect with their high-level prospects on the first ring.
Use these tips to circumvent voice mail, be relentless in your pursuit for a human, and get ready to smile as you make personal contact with a real, live, person who wants to do business with you!
Forward this article to friends—they’ll thank you for it!

For your FREE mini-course “Jealously Guarded Secrets to Cold Calling Company Presidents” visit http://www.ColdCallingExecutives.com! Or call Your Sales Coach for Extreme Profitability, author/speaker Leslie Buterin (like butterin’ bread) at (816) 554-3674 9-3 CST (that’s Kansas City/Chicago Time).

Cape Verde – CELL Calling Cards

The One Big Mistake You Don?t Want To Make When The CEO Calls You Back

If you’re not yet a top-down sales strategist, give it a go.
When doing business at the top you’ll be amazed how glad executives are to see you. How quickly they treat you as an equal, value your services, and want to do business with you and only you!
You’ll Be Relieved To Stop Wasting Daylight In Endless …
Low-level, committee meetings with people who don’t have the authority to say, “Yes” in the first place! And glad to spend time with THE decision makers who can sign off on unlimited checks, “Made Payable” to you.
Prospecting company presidents is a great way to do business that you’ll commit to as soon as you’ve had your fill of endless callbacks, referrals down the ladder, and words like, “Don’t call us. We’ll call you.”
When you know in your heart of hearts your products/services are valuable, you’re ready to do big business now AND earn a good return on the very products and services you’re so passionate about!
You’re thinking will be … “I’ve got the goods … now, how can I get in to see the Top Dogs?” And you, too, will make your move and actually call a company president.
Never in a million years will I forget the first time I made my first high-level call. Oh, I’d like to forget, but the memory seems to be chiseled in my brain like a name in black granite. So, grasshopper, learn from the mistake made by me and by others. Learn this one important skill.
Spare Yourself The Humiliation.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
I was confident that I’d figured out all the subtleties of securing executive-level appointments. So, I picked up that phone, called an executive officer and learned that the administrative assistant was out of the office.
“What a relief,” I thought, “I can talk directly with the decision maker and avoid the game of phone-tag follow-up.”
The executive picked up the phone, listened to me, and in less than two minutes said, “I’d be glad to schedule with you; what’s a good date for you?”
The first words out of my mouth—after “tee hee” were, “Oh, you would?”
I frantically searched through a pile of papers on my desk to find the calendar, dropped the phone that was scrunched between my shoulder and ear; hunted for a pen that worked. My reaction could be a comedy routine. I was incredibly thankful the executive couldn’t see my lack of preparation and my red face. Well, at least I learned to be prepared the next time.
Flash forward to a recent telephone consultation with a big, burly, manly man, sales pro.
In The Kind Of Hushed Voice A Priest Hears In Confession He Confided In Me.
“I did every thing you told me to do. I stood with pen in hand and an open calendar as though I were speaking to the prospect face-to-face. My diaphragm was positioned to supply air to my voice, making it stronger and clearer than if I were sitting down and speaking. My desk was uncluttered, my calendar accessible, and my focus clearly on scheduling a sales call with the President of a humongous defense contractor. I got his voice mail and left a compelling message.”
“So, what’s the problem?” I asked.
“I did the one thing you told me absolutely, positively not to do. When he called me back, I said, “Hello?” He told me who he was and I ….”
At that point my client could hear solemn understanding in my voice, “I’ve been down that road myself. I’m sorry you had to go down it, too, but life will go on.”
After years of learning, achieving expertise, coaching others to do the same … here it is, the one thing we all do, that you really don’t wanna do. The seemingly involuntary act that’ll shoot your credibility all to heck and fell even the biggest, baaaadest of sales pros who unwittingly let it surface. When you finally figure out how to do all the right stuff and the CEO calls you back, please … don’t giggle.
Forward this article to friends—they’ll thank you for it!

For your FREE mini-course “Jealously Guarded Secrets to Cold Calling Company Presidents” visit http://www.ColdCallingExecutives.com! Or call Your Sales Coach for Extreme Profitability, author/speaker Leslie Buterin (like butterin’ bread) at (816) 554-3674 9-3 CST (that’s Kansas City/Chicago Time).

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How To Prospect Top Dogs And Put Your Sales Through The Woof!

What if you could earn lots more, in considerably less time, and feel mightily successful when your competitors are so scared they’re spazzing out (haven’t used that phrase since high school) chasing their tails in circles, whimpering, “If buyers aren’t buying we aren’t going to have a business.”
Top Dogs Want Your Calls. Believe It!
Wouldn’t your ears perk up and your tail wag with anticipation at the thought of spending your selling time in front of nothing but qualified prospects, with unlimited check writing privileges, and the ability to say, “Yes” to your solutions and services?
Could you sit up and shake hands with prospects that remove obstacles for your implementation, significantly reduce frustrations, and sign off on multi-million dollar contracts with you. Yes, even in a slow economy!
These things can and do happen with Top Dog Selling Strategists. These top-dollar sales professionals thrive, regardless of economic conditions. They understand that a down economy gives them the Lead Dog’s edge, a hunger for bigger contracts, better contracts, and faster contracts. With laser-like focus, they mercilessly scrutinize, prioritize and chew to shreds their least profitable sales practices and identify ways to leverage their time for more dollars.
What do they do to keep business strong? Make the change to Top Dog selling. They faithfully call on the presidents’ offices of their existing clients and of prospect companies. Understanding there is no other single business decision like this change in selling strategy that will increase sales revenues geometrically.
A recent publication reported that firms are hiring additional sales staff to generate revenues. Most likely those companies justify their investment in salaries for more sales people by thinking these positions pay for themselves in terms of revenues generated. That’s one approach.
How ‘bout trying this, support your existing sales force with increasingly productive sales strategies. Leverage their profitability by transitioning to a top-down sales strategy. Make sure that a call below the office of the president no longer counts as a sales-call. Reward them as they schedule appointments with Top Dogs.
Sadly, sales professionals continue to use the bottom-up sales methods they were taught in the beginning of their careers, even though these habits bring in less than top dollar results. They steadfastly hold onto the familiar, in spite of reason. At this point, the commitment to a less profitable strategy is for some a desperate retreat to the safe and comfortable. For others, pure ignorance.
If you are currently doing business with levels below the office of the president of your client companies, make a profitable change. Get in front of the president.
Top Dog Is Better Than “C” Level
Many an inexperienced pup will protest this idea and insist on being more inclusive … saying with their nose up in the air, “My prospects are the people in charge of hiring, the CIO or some other ‘C’ level person.”
Listen up pups, Big Sales Dogs don’t even bother to sniff at that kind of reasoning. Here’s why. When you call Top Dogs first, you have everything to gain, nothing to lose.
First of all, you may get in to see the Top Dog and where else would you rather be than in front of the-buck-stops-here person with more decision-making authority (ability to say “Yes” to you) than any other person in the company?
Secondly, if a call to the president results in a referral to a “C-level” person, such as the CIO, your positioning is stronger than it would have been without that call. What started out as a cold call has quickly turned to a warm introduction from the President of the CIO’s very own company. As you call the CIO you can honestly say, “Your president’s office said you were the one to handle this call.”. A far more powerful opening line than, “Hello, my name is J. Doe with ABC Company.” Don’t you agree?
Change Your Prospecting “Hit” Ratio
Business to business numbers since the early 1950’s have been 2 out of 10-meaning a sales pro who calls 10 prospects will get 2 appointments. It’s a numbers game. When you add Top Dog selling strategies to the mix you see a staggering change. Top Dog Selling Strategists get as many as 8 out of 10, that’s 8 appointments out of calls to 10 Top Dogs. That’s a skills game.
These skilled sales pros consistently prospect Top Dogs, presidents of companies; they learn how to control and direct the 90-seconds of telephone time they have with the Top Dog or his assistant. And they use benefit statements, open-ended, close-ended, and alternative of choice questions to their strategic advantage.
“‘What?’ A handful of you say as you recoil in horror. You want me to go over the heads of the people I’m working with now to meet with the president?” I understand the Naysayers are fearful of offending the lower-level people with whom they are currently doing business by going over their heads.
No one is suggesting for you to sabotage your current low-level relationship. However, I am telling you straight up that the path to a level of selling that you never dared dream of is available to those who leave the comfort of the familiar for the potential of Top Dog selling.
Top Dog sales professionals learn to rule fear so it doesn’t have a chance to rule them to a less productive end. Fear serves you well when it tells you that more information is needed before moving forward. And most sales pros, when given the words to say, will calm their fears enough to go over the heads of their existing low-level relationships and meet with Top Dogs, on their turf, where the big bucks are.
Just tell your lower-level contacts that your new business directive calls for meeting with Top Dogs. And that you’ll tell their president how pleasurable and profitable your working relationship has been.
From The Top Dog’s Viewpoint
- What’s specifically and strategically not said is as important as what is said. Take note, there is nothing in this scenario that asks permission from the lower-level person to speak to the Top Dog.
- Your job is to control the conversation. Politely, but firmly, convey the decision of your new selling strategy.
- Tell the president about your successful relationship with the lower-levels.
- Your praise of a former contact identifies you as a partnership player as opposed to an outsider who will climb over anyone to get to the top.
- The Top Dog will understand the business implications of your words, that is, your services have already proven to be profitable to his/her company.
- Less time is required for implementation of your services, as the people are familiar with your systems.
- Past success on a small scale suggests your services are a risk worth taking for success on a larger scale.
Look at your time and talents through the experienced eyes of the Big Sales Dogs who have gone before you. Apply their wisdom to your business, move to the head of the pack and enjoy frolicking with the Top Dogs as your sales go through the woof!
Forward this article to friends—they’ll thank you for it!

For your FREE mini-course “Jealously Guarded Secrets to Cold Calling Company Presidents” visit http://www.ColdCallingExecutives.com! Or call Your Sales Coach for Extreme Profitability, author/speaker Leslie Buterin (like butterin’ bread) at (816) 554-3674 9-3 CST (that’s Kansas City/Chicago Time).

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How You Can Think Like A Girl And Reach The Top Dog

Frustrated with rejection at the top? Wondering who’s greasing whose palm to get access to the million-dollar decision-makers? Working at convincing yourself that the CEO/President isn’t really THE Top Dog for your particular product/service?
All you’ve gotta do to change this frustration and rejection to outrageous success is this: “Learn to think like a girl”.
You’ll be relieved to know that “sell like a girl” isn’t going to require you he-men to sound “fem” on the phone or you she-women to sound “sultry or whiny”. It does mean that you’ve got to think differently than you’ve been thinking about approaching the upper echelon.
Surf the net, read the articles about sales and they reek of testosterone—power, speed, obscene sums of money begging to get into your pockets, get to the decision-maker at all costs. Overall there’s not one thing wrong with testosterone—after all it’s half of what makes the world go round.
However, testosterone will get in the way when you’re dealing with the number one person you need to know to get to the Top Dog decision makers. Yep, I’m talkin’ about the gatekeeper.
Oh, I know there are lots of connections made on the golf courses but no one comes near the success rates of those who know how to treat the gatekeeper on the other end of the line. Listen up now, I’m givin’ you an insider’s secret from the Ladies Powder Room … Sales Professionals of America, you be nice to the Executive Assistant and she’ll be nice to you.
Don’t you dare write this off as “too simple”, resist the temptation to think, “kick it up a notch, this isn’t how the big deals are made.” Because the results of heeding this counsel will make your head spin. Like appointments with $1.3 Billion dollar decision makers, meetings with executives who prior to using this method had been unreachable for more than 20 years, sales cycles shortened from 6 months to 2 weeks … and the accolades go on and on.
So what do the folks who’ve learned to Sell Like A Girl know that you don’t know? This is it—the single most important person you need to know to get scheduled on the Executive’s calendar for a sales call is more likely than not, a girl—actually a professional executive assistant who is female.
What does she want? To introduce her executive to the sales professionals that are savvy to the ways business is done at the top.
Why is she interested in that kind of relationship? Because her boss, the executive, has included her in his or her directive to seek out new ideas to help the boss take the company where no man has gone before! The Top Dog is eager to hear about new ideas that’ll reduce expenses, increase revenues and keep his company ahead of the other guy. Her boss wants to meet a sales pro like you—because you have a lot to offer.
Now that you know the secret key, beware of getting your tail caught in the closed gate because of your approach.
When testosterone meets estrogen, it’s a different experience than when testosterone meets testosterone. Or when testosterone wannabees (how a lot of women have learned to behave in business) meet the gatekeeper.
The executive assistant uses the language of business, she’s bottom line, brief in use of words, deliberate in her focus—and she appreciates being treated by you as the second most powerful person in the organization.
Give her the information she needs and is looking for to communicate to the executive. That is simply your name, your phone number, and what’s in it for the exec if he does business with you.
And be polite. Tell her you appreciate her and thank her.
True, she isn’t the decision maker—but she is the single most important key to getting to the decision maker. Learn how to think like a girl and your calendar will be packed with executive level sales calls. Your other option? Continue to bang your head against a solidly locked door. Come on, give it a try, you don’t have to tell a soul … just sell like a girl.
Forward this article to friends—they’ll thank you for it!

For your FREE mini-course “Jealously Guarded Secrets to Cold Calling Company Presidents” visit http://www.ColdCallingExecutives.com! Or call Your Sales Coach for Extreme Profitability, author/speaker Leslie Buterin (like butterin’ bread) at (816) 554-3674 9-3 CST (that’s Kansas City/Chicago Time).

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