Revisit Your Goals

As we go into the weekend, I thought this tip from sales trainer Kendra Lee was especially appropriate. Use some of your time this weekend to think about where you want to be, so when you go into the office on Tuesday (remember, Labor Day holiday on Monday!) you'll be ready to sit down and set out a plan of attack to meet those goals.

There are only 4 months left in the year. How are you doing against your 2010 goals? Revisit the account growth and lead generation objectives you had. How are you doing at bringing in new customers? Consider what lead generation actions you can take to impact the last 4 months of the year.

Kendra Lee is a Prospect Attraction Specialist and president of KLA Group. Specializing in the IT industry, KLA Group helps companies rapidly penetrate new markets, break into new accounts and shorten time to revenue with new products in the SMB segment.

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Three Steps to Getting High Quality Referrals from Your Clients

Referrals are essential to building a business that lasts. They not only build your sales, they build your reputation as well. Today sales trainer Paul McCord shares three secrets that will help you get those high-quality referrals you deserve!

Are you finding that you're just not getting the number of quality referrals you want from your clients? Chances are you said yes because that's the case with most sellers. Oh, sure, we all have some clients that will give us referrals all day long. Just ask and they'll give you name after name. Other clients, the majority, aren't nearly as generous with their referrals.

The biggest problem in both cases is so often the referral we get isn't much better than pointing at a name in the phonebook at random.

How can you guarantee that you get great referrals? Simple. Make sure the client gives you a great referral by finding the referral for them to give you, rather than relying on them coming up with a quality referral to give.

The reality is that clients really don't know who we're looking for and most of them just don't have a real incentive to invest the time and energy to come up with a great referral for us.

But we know who is a great referral for us. And certainly we're willing to invest the time and energy to find a great referral (if we're not, we have some real serious issues to deal with).

Since we're the one with the need; and we're the one with the desire; and we're the one who knows who makes a good referral for us, why would we rely on anyone else other than our self to come up with the referral?

So how can we come up with the referral for our client to give us?

Here are three steps to guaranteeing you get great referrals from your clients:

1.Get Your Client On-board to Give Referrals. Most sellers wait until after the sale has been completed before they bring up the idea of referrals. Bad idea.

Most clients need time to get comfortable with the idea of giving referrals, so bring up referrals early in the relationship. Don't ask for referrals; just let your client know that your business is built on referrals and then drop referral seeds as the sale progresses. Since your prospects and clients aren't stupid, if they hear you mention referrals often in a casual manner, they'll get the impression referrals are important to you and they will be expecting you to ask for them at some point.

2. Find Out Who Your Client Knows. We've already established that in order to get great referrals you have to do the work for your client, so do it by discovering during the course of the relationship who they know that you know you want to be referred to.

How do you find out? Through small-talk (who do they mention in conversation they know); paying attention to what's in their environment (pictures, association directories, membership plaques, and such); their background (where did they work previously); their work (what vendors and suppliers do they interact with). Your job is to be a detective and to uncover the relationships they have with people or companies that you know you want to be referred to. The more you uncover the more quality referrals you uncover.

3. Don't Ask for Referrals, Ask for THE Referral. Now when it comes time to ask for referrals, you're not going to be like every other seller and ask a weak question such as, "Donna, do you happen to know anyone else (or another company) that might be able to use my products or services (or that I can help--or any other such weak question)?"

Instead you're going to ask for a specific referral: "Donna, I've been trying to connect with David Jones for some time without success. You mentioned that you've worked with David for several years, would you be comfortable introducing me to him?" You know she knows David. You have reason to believe David is a good prospect for you. Don't waste Donna's time with that weak general referral question; ask to get connected to a person you know she knows that you know you want to connect with.

Referrals can be the foundation of your sales business if you just develop the skills necessary to be a referral-based salesperson. If Donna knows three people or companies you know you want to be referred to and you can get introductions to them from her, how much time and energy have you saved getting those three introductions through referrals instead of cold calling or sending out direct mail or hoping to bump into them at a networking event?

Forget what you've been taught about asking for referrals. Referral generation is a PROACTIVE process where you do the work, not your client. Your client doesn't have the motivation, you do. They don't have the understanding of who makes a good referral like you do. Your client doesn't have the time to invest in figuring out a good referral like you do. It's your business, not theirs. Make it easy to give quality referrals--you'll get a ton of them if you do.

Paul McCord, a leading Business Development Strategist and president of McCord Training, works with companies and sales leaders to help them increase sales and profits by finding and connecting with high quality prospects in ways prospects respect and respond to. An internationally recognized author, speaker, trainer and consultant, Paul's clients range from giants such as Chase, New York Life, Siemens, and GE, to small and mid-size firms, as well as individual sales leaders. He is the author of the popular Sales and Sales Management Blog.

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The Easy Way to Get Bigger Sales

Here's a story from sales expert Art Sobczak that will teach you to think big! Enjoy!

A newer sales rep came into a company, in an industry he had never sold to before. Within two months he was kicking major butt and became the Number One rep. By a lot.

One disgruntled and jealous rep, in another region, who had been there for a few years, asked the manager what the new rep was doing that got such great results.

"He's going to the top level of the companies we're selling to, and selling bigger deals." The rep responded, "How does he sell to those people? I always get stalled at the mid-management level?"

The manager replied, "He doesn't know that it is even possible to talk to mid-managers and sell our product. We told him that the only people he can talk to are those at the highest level, and that bigger deals are all that we sell."

Hmmm. Pretty simple point this week:

All that limits us is ourselves, and thinking and acting BIG gets BIG results

Here are some thoughts along those lines:

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It takes just as much energy to ask for a large order as it does a small one. As long as you're asking anyway, why not ask LARGE?

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When you EXPECT to sell large, that notion becomes part of you; your thoughts, your
actions, and your results.

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Even when you don't get the large sale or project you ask for, you will probably end with something more than you would have gotten otherwise if you had thought small.

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The pros with the highest average orders, and the most overall sales are typically the ones who shoot for--and ask for--the biggest sales. The math works on this.

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Where you target in the organization usually determines the size of the sale you're able to get. Where are you calling? Aim high.

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Percy Ross wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Thanks a Million," where he gave away millions of dollars to people who wrote in, and ASKED in the right way. In his now out-of-print book, "Ask for the Moon--and Get It!" he also suggested asking large: "Take a chance; ask for something big! Most of us have a tendency to shy away from the things we want the most. What is it your heart desires? What is it you want the most? Who could give it to you or make it come true? Go ahead, ASK THEM!"

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John F. Kennedy said that "Only those who dare to fail greatly will succeed greatly." He practiced what he preached; he asked for the moon, got it approved by Congress, and received commitment from the thousands of people who ultimately made it happen in 1969.

Art Sobczak helps sales pros use the phone to prospect, service and sell more effectively, while eliminating morale-killing rejection. To get FREE weekly emailed TelE-Sales Tips visit: www.BusinessByPhone.com

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Who Initiated This Project?

The Whetstone Group offers sales advice in their newsletter in a fun format: Problem, Diagnosis, Prescription. Today they discuss that age-old problem - finding the decision maker. This is one doctor's visit I don't mind going to!

Problem: Brian was frustrated with his inability to get to the decision-makers in the companies that he was calling on. Time and time again he seemed to be stuck with low and mid-level managers who were relentless in two areas: their quest for as much information as possible and their reluctance to give Brian access to the person who had the authority to authorize the purchase. This is a commonplace occurrence in the life of many salespeople. Brian’s frustration was mounting and his selling cycle was lengthening.

Diagnosis: Why do companies assign low-level people to deal with salespeople? There are a number of reasons, but two of the most prominent are: decision-makers sometimes feel they are too busy and need to delegate the task, and sometimes lower level people are simply on a hunt for information for a project that may not even have a purchase at the ultimate objective.

Prescription: If Brian is to avoid this problem, he must gain access to the authority behind the request. The following two-part tactic has proven successful in these types of situations. First, find out who initiated the request, and why, and then talk about the downside of a poorly informed solution provider. It might sound something like this.

Salesperson: "Can you help me understand who initiated this project and why the project is important to the company?"

Seymour: "That would be Jim, the VP of Finance. He needs it because his department wants to (mentions something about the problem)."

Salesperson: "And you’ve been charged with recommending a solution?"

Seymour: "Right."

Salesperson: "And I assume you’d like me to provide you with some options?"

Seymour: "Absolutely."

Salesperson: "Then I’m going to need your help. No offense, but typically I find that in situations like this there’s more to the situation than meets the eye. Usually the person who initiated the project has some very specific knowledge about the impact of the problem on the company, maybe other solutions that have been tried that did not work basically information that would help me tremendously in coming up with some good recommendations. Without that information, I may be missing something that is critical to recommending the right solution. Wouldn’t it make sense for us to include the person who started the project in our dialogue at the earliest opportunity so we don’t run into any problems?"

Initiating a dialogue like this may help you get to the right people, which is half the battle is getting the sale. Remember, selling successfully sometimes requires just a very slight edge. This one may come in handy.

Whetstone Group is a sales process improvement company that focuses on helping companies implement a proven sales process that will increase sales, shorten the selling cycle, increase closing rates, and improve margins. Learn more at www.whetstonegroup.com

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Quote of the Week

"Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself." -- St. Francis de Sales, French bishop and writer

As someone who can get anxious and discouraged quickly, I think this quote is one to tape to the computer where I can always see it!

We all work so hard, trying new things, perfecting our pitch, finding new prospects, that it's easy to be hard on ourselves. Instead, each day, take some time to think about all you do and be proud. Be patient, and good things will come from your good work.

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Educate Your Buyer

You all know I think sales trainer Mark Hunter's advice is great. I go back to it again and again, not only because it is extremely helpful, but also because it's concise and to the point. Sometimes all you need is a quick idea to get your brain going and working hard. Today's tip is one of those!

Although your buyer's first responsibility is in buying products or services, there is also a need for them to be knowledgeable of how the items/services you are selling contribute to their company.

Take time on every call to educate your buyer about one small piece of information that can help them better understand their business. When you do this, be sure to not do it in a tone that is condescending or arrogant. This will rile up their defenses and cause them to put up walls (which obviously defeats your goal of generating dialogue).

There are many benefits to helping your buyer gain knowledge. Not only will they learn more about the role your services and goods play, they also will see you as a person who is willing to help them personally raise their business skills.

Tips like these separate the average salespeople from the superior ones. Which camp do you want to be in?

Mark Hunter, "The Sales Hunter", is a sales expert who speaks to thousands each year on how to increase their sales profitability. For more information, to receive a free weekly email sales tip, or to read his Sales Motivation Blog, visit www.TheSalesHunter.com

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Use "Experience" as Your Edge in Influencing

Communication expert Dianna Booher knows how to turn your conversations into gold. Using different words or phrases in your speech can raise credibility, build rapport, and get you the sale! Today she shares her advice on using your experience to position yourself as an expert.

Others can argue about your facts, data, surveys, or research--and they often do! They can disagree that your product or services outshine the competition. They can doubt that your offering will resolve their problem. They can disagree that your ideas will correct a problem, meet a challenge, or take best advantage of a great opportunity.

But no one can dispute your experience. Your experience is yours alone. No one else has lived through it, observed its effects, and been shaped by it. When you state an opinion or respond to a question during a presentation “based on your experience,” state that experience with confidence.

For example, a buyer asks: “I think customizing the assessment is a waste of time. Why are you thinking we need a customized version added to our intranet before we roll this out to our own customers?” Your response: “That has to be your final decision, of course. It will delay the project by approximately two months. But in my experience in handling these projects for more than 70 clients during the last two years, I can recall only two clients who skipped that customization phase. And both regretted the decision because their own employees proved to be a great cross-section of the population to test user acceptance. I offer that experience for your consideration.”

Of course, others may try to discount your experience as “unrelated,” “irrelevant,” or “dated.” But as long as you show relevancy to the situation at hand, you’re the expert on your own experience.

Your experience can be accepted or rejected, but it’s still your experience--and irrefutable as such.

Author of 42 books, Dianna Booher, CSP, CPAE, delivers keynotes, breakout sessions, and training on communication and life-balance issues. Her latest books: Speak with Confidence, Your Signature Life, Your Signature Work, E-Writing, and Communicate with Confidence. www.Dianna-Booher.com

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