What would Indiana Jones do?

This weekend's box office supports the idea that Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones may be the adventure hero of this (or any) century. Seriously, who can compare? Sylvester Stallone? Steven Seagal? Maybe Mel Gibson? I have to cast my vote for Indiana. He stands up to every challenge -- even the fact that his movies were not considered for DVD sale until 20 years later! As times change, however, I wonder how Indy would do in a job outside the confines of archeology? Say, sales for instance. How would our hero fair with the sometimes lonely, always changing, often challenging world of sales. I think not so well. In this case, my vote would have to change. We would need a new hero, and I vote for Matt Damon as Jason Bourne. Bourne combines all the elements needed in a tough selling environment: He's an excellent fighter -- good for those buyers who won't sign the deal! He's in great physical shape -- able to run from office to office. He's resourceful -- whether making bombs out of toasters or selling value in the face of price concerns. And the big one -- Bourne was smarter than Indy under fire, and in today's market smart wins!

 comments (0)

Always Be Interviewing

The number one mistake in building and maintaining an effective sales team is a flawed hiring process. While there are many elements to consider, my first concern has always been to interview constantly. Always look for exceptional people in and out of your industry. Here are some of my other suggestions for hiring: - Pass on experience and look for people who show some element of emotional intelligence and personal magnetism. - Interview each person at least three times before you send them to another team member. - Prepare questions that take the applicant past normal responses. Get them to solve a sample problem, ask about the last book they read, or ask how their performance has been measured in the past. Finally, interview before one of your positions is open. Nothing hurts hiring like the rush to fill the position.

 comments (0)

How to Build Confidence

January 29, 2008 How to Build Confidence Posted at 11:23 AM As long as I've worked with, trained, and improved sales people, the number one focus for success has been their confidence. More important than any sales tactic is how each sales person feels about themselves. Simply put, people sell to their level of esteem. Here, then, are key areas to improve your team's confidence and esteem: Knowing you: Sales people who want to improve their mediocre performance must begin by understanding themselves. What takes them up, what takes them down, and more importantly, what do they want most in life? Knowing the company: And by knowing the company, they must know the people. One of the key areas of team building is knowing and embracing the people around them everyday. When you have people you know and depend on, you sell better. In part because they know they can depend on you so they work harder for you. All of this equals more sales. Knowing the customer: Author and businessman, Harvey McKay, wrote a list of 64 things you should know about your client to really be effective. Many sales reps only know very basic things about the client. The more you know, the more confident you are, and the more you sell. Knowing the product: Become an expert on your product. If you are lacking in this area, here is the key. Learn one product at a time. When you become "expert" at one product, you condition yourself to learn other products at the same level of effectiveness. Set your vision: Set a vision of where you want to go. When anyone has a burning vision of what they want out of life, small set backs remain small. The end result is that very few things get in your way. You don't see the small stuff and your eyes stay attached to where you want to be. Confidence, in the eyes of your clients, suggests that they can depend on you. It gives them the feeling that you can bring with you the solution to their problem. Years ago, I discovered that people buy from you in direct proportion to how your product or service helps them. You cannot convey, "help" without confidence.

 comments (0)

No More Cold Calls

January 25, 2008 No More Cold Calls! Posted at 1:42 PM We are now selling in difficult times. I believe that down markets mean sales life is shorter: shorter lines of customers, shorter time to get their attention, and shorter amounts of patience for your service. Here's the good news: someone, somewhere is buying something even as you read this. The truth we search for is not whether the market is down but whether we can become more efficient in our sales effort. Face it, as a company, you can handle most problems, but if sales stop, everything stops. In short, your entire company should be a selling organization. The goal shouldn't be predicting the market but targeting strategies that will help your company sell better in shorter time frames. There are several strategies we will talk about in the future but today let's focus on developing business. First, no more cold calls! They don’t give enough of a return, and we typically have the wrong people doing them (the new hires). Instead, let's try Six Degrees of Separation for business. If the world is truly "connected," -- and it is -- why make cold calls when we can find connections to people who can deliver business to us? Instead of calling strangers, let’s spend that time targeting two areas: One, who do we know who we've done a good job for? Chances are they are connected to people who would also buy from us. Two, who do we want to do business with? We know someone right now (within six degrees) who can introduce us to potential customers. By using this strategy, we can shorten the sales cycle. The benefits are many but two stand out: One, your sales team sells with a higher level of esteem. Two, you become much more efficient in your sales effort and increase new business regardless of market conditions.

 comments (0)

Apple Rebate

You may have heard by now, Apple reduced the price of its highly marketed, long-awaited iPhone by a third. And they did it only a little over 2 months after the phone first came to market. This is the phone Apple spent a year doing an excellent job hyping. The campaign was so successful that people camped out overnight for a chance to be one of the first to own one - myself included (although I had a "hook-up"). So those of us who had purchased the luxury of "first on my block to own one" iPhone for $599 were correct to feel a sense of betrayal when Apple announced unexpectedly that, the phone would cost $399. Apples attempt at calming iPhone owners was a Gem ... a $100 store credit. The store credit is nice, but it would have been better and seemed more sincere if a rebate check was sent because, lets face it, a $100 store credit means it only costs Apple about $50, maybe less. When you sell a luxury item such as a phone that frankly only does a couple of things you can't get on other phones. Perhaps the strategy should be to make the early adopters happy to sing your praises.

 comments (0)

 comments (0)

Who Really Sells ...

I sell, you sell, the minister, the barber, the dentist, even small children sell. We have to look at selling as a part of life and a vital part of a better life. You have to sell yourself in an interview, to your future spouse and in-laws and in other every day situations. How are you selling yourself? How are you portraying yourself to others? Take the time to become aware of how and when you sell yourself to others. You will find that thinking in this manner will help you both personally and professionally. Now if you are a true professional, isn't time to harness your craft and be a leader in your chosen field? As I researched where selling began, I found a quote from President Woodrow Wilson. He was the keynote speaker on the morning of July 10, 1916 at - and get this ... a sales convention. Speaking to insure that America's economy kept growing he said, "Lift your eyes to the horizon of business, do not look too close at the little processes with which you are concerned, but let your thoughts and your imaginations run abroad throughout the whole world. So team, if you are selling today - "lift your eyes to the horizon."

 comments (0)

Inc Magazine:

A recent call from Inc Magazine for an upcoming article started me to thinking on this subject. What is the latest thing in the area of sales? While I could argue many points - the most influential action has to be research. Never before have we explored and used research companies to explain events that affect the sales process. The two man factors are the Internet and 9/11. The Internet allows us to process more information reach more consumers and 9/11 represents the largest shift in how customers decided to look at buying vs. being sold. Where do you stand? What have you noticed that has the most impact on your industry?

 comments (0)

50 Ways to Succeed in Sales #1:

Decide to be successful. DO NOT enter the selling arena in a reserved fashion. Go into this great industry determined to be the best. It will be easier than you can imagine. Here is the secret. You can be wildly successful because so few people try to be the best. It is IMPOSSIBLE to fail if you make up your mind to succeed in selling. Here some items that develop greatness in sales. OBSERVE, look for the people who are succeeding in your industry and related industries and do what they do. OBSERVE, continually look for books and tapes to motivate and stimulate your thinking. OBSERVE, what industries use concepts that would help your business or help you personally. Examine them constantly. You can create an original idea from a current idea. OBSERVE, find the area where you think best and devote an hour per week to thinking and planning your week. Never start your week before you have planned out entirely. You see where I am going here. Selling is constant updating and constant success comes from there. Keep your eye on the current trends without losing one single strategy that works for you.

 comments (0)

Xerox Days:

Some of you know that my business career started with Xerox. I have been asked many times about my experience there. How Xerox trained, how we competed and how the company sustained the -selling organization mentality. Well, the idea of summarizing Xerox history is daunting but here are some of the standards I experienced: * Each team member was continually trained, sometimes Professional Selling Skills (PSS), sometimes Effective Listening, Telephonics, Competition but always on going training. * Stacked Ranking. Each sales person sales results were rank by percentage of success, creating a friendly competition among peers. * Weekly Planning Do not start your week before you have finished was the idea and each sales team member was expected to come in on Monday with a client specific plan for the week. * Contest In addition to the annual Presidents Club awards there were always contest for particular copiers, supplies or new products. I am trying to explain something that if you were there would need no explanation. At Xerox, you could feel the superior sales thinking, the need to be successful and the fun associated with being a winner. To any manager reading this let me quickly add that what stood out at Xerox was Culture a winning Culture.

 comments (0)