The Power and Flaw of Checking In

What once was old is new again…

I’ve always despised when salespeople call clients or prospects to “check in”. These calls offer no value, are a waste of the prospect’s time, and come across as needy. It’s flawed selling.

For years I held this notion. Later, still years ago, I went through a professional sales training program called CSS through an employer. The program was licensed through Richardson. There I learned the power of checking — but an entirely different type of checking.

With Richardson-grade checking, you:

…ask for feedback throughout the call, for example, after you have positioned your message, responded to an objection, answered a question, etc.”

Doing this allows you to know — not guess — where you stand with your contact and whether the prospect or client is taking this seriously. Read the full post

QBQ: Salesteamtools Book Review

The Big Idea: The key message you will takeaway from the first 25 pages of QBQ is that your success is determined by the questions you pose to yourself in your moments of choice.

QBQ was specifically chosen to lead off the Salesteamtools Book Review program for this one reason: without a mindset of personal accountability, you’re already operating at less than 50% capacity.

What I like about this notion is that it goes further than the guidance most commonly offered: master your thoughts. QBQ gets more practical. Read the full post

Free Tools for Sales Professionals

There’s so much great stuff out there…here’s a quick roundup of blog posts, articles, how-tos, and other resources for sales professionals — and they’re not your typical “ask a lot of questions” resources.

• Robert Cialdini’s Influence Quotient questionnaire. He’s the author of the important book, Influence: Science & Practice.
• Garr Reynolds has posted his Top 10 presentation preparation tips. He’s also got a great list of Top 10 delivery tips.
• Shane Murphy at the AccountHunter blog found a nice device for setting up a wifi network anywhere, for sales professionals who travel extensively.
• Mike Sigers at Simplenomics has an older post on what customers want in a salesperson.
• Jerry Hocutt addresses the paradox of cold calling at his blog. Just posted this week.
• At the Polyesterfree blog, Derek has a great reminder on not glossing over the single most important benefit, as you strive to highlight every benefit and feature.
• Rich Brooks shares a sad story of a salesperson giving way too much information…and blowing a sale.
• Dan Tudor at LandingTheDeal.com has re-published A Message to Garcia (a must-read for any businessperson).
• If you haven’t checked out Pipelinedeals.com yet, you’re missing out. It’s started to get good publicity and new, powerful features are emerging.
• Wonderful, new comment on the knowing-doing gap at the Six Disciplines blog.
• TJ Walker, who mentors speakers, has a great message that applies to some salespeople as well — overcoming perfectionism.
• Finally…Gary Goodman is solid. Here’s a link to his article archive, but there’s one gem at his site that’s directed at customer service reps, but absolutely applies to us in the sales profession.

Great reading here. Turn it into action and you’ve invested in yourself far more than many sales professionals out there.

Salesteamtools book reviews

Next week we start a new feature: Salesteamtools Book Reviews.

Each week we’ll start a conversation on books we think every sales professional should read. **Update: A little rumor floating around out there is that an audio companion will debut as well…

Some are get-yourself-going books, some are specific strategy or technique books, and some are well known, while others less so. They’re all hand-picked and previously read by site contributors. Read the full post

People Skills First, Sales Skills Later

On the heels of a similar previous post, let me take a minute here, amidst all of the go-go-go of our selling careers to remind us all how important our basic, fundamental people skills are over our sales techniques.

I’ve been around a host of good people lately whose careers are far removed from face-to-face selling. They laugh when I tell them this, but they’d be terrific in sales if they found the right culture to work in. Why? They all shared these traits:
They truly care about people and it shows in their outward behavior. They leave people better off than they found them. They ask question after question of those they meet for the first time. They make people feel welcome and important. They smile.

In short, they know how to approach people they’ve never met, without trepidation, without guile. They flat-out never talk over people or dominate conversations.
I’ve said it in many different ways on this blog, but I can’t emphasize enough: Your people skills matter. Who you are, really, is so much more vital than the techniques you master or strive to master.

Now, check out this short, fun ebook by justsell.com on sales manners.

The One Thing You Need to Overcome

There’s of course the one thing you need to know about selling. So many people have their opinions on this. Listen better. Build trust. Be authentic. The list of “one things” is long.

What about the one thing you need to overcome?

I think I can speak for salespeople, marketing managers, office workers, and a whole host of other other occupations when I say the one thing, in this day and age, that we’ve got to personally conquer in order to be more successful is…

distraction

Distraction is the great destroyer of careers. It’s the neutralizer of otherwise talented, intelligent people. Read the full post

A Stronger Sense of Confidence

“Keeping it simple” isn’t always the best way to go.

I’ve dealt with two salespeople in recent weeks whom I think walked away feeling they’ve got my trust and confidence by “keeping it simple”. It was just the opposite. When I expressed my concerns about whether they would get something done through their company, their overly simplistic comment was, “Don’t worry about. I’ll get you taken care of.”

They both shook their heads yes and sort of waved me off like they knew what I was going to say and have already put things in motion.

In reality, I wanted a bit more. I wanted a little insight into why it was going to be so easy for them to get things done. Is it one phone call? Is it a quick email? Does he do this daily for other clients? Read the full post

You Said, They Said

Jerry Hocutt reminds us of the value of testimonials.

Here’s the thing: When you tell your prospects — even your customers — how great you are, it’s bragging. It’s exaggeration. People don’t like making buying decisions working from a platform of extreme product exaggeration.

When your customers tell your prospects how great you are, it’s a different story. It’s the truth. These are stories from experience. Now, we all know this as sales professionals, but we continually violate the principle.

Explain your product or service in a compelling manner, then let your current customers validate what you say.

Key Principles for Building Relationships

Tune in, starting this Monday, to this week’s free broadcast of SalesRepRadio, where Brandon Hull shares key principles with host Dan Walker — not techniques — for utilizing people skills — not sales skills — in building relationships with buyers in your first appointment.

Salesrepradio is a great start to your week each week. Look into subscribing to their SalesRepRadio To-Go package as well.

So…What Is Your One Thing?

My last post highlighted a great 34-page resource from my friends at Raintoday.com. It prompts me to ask these two questions:

1. What is the one thing that you cling to as a sales professional? What is the most powerful lesson you’ve learned?
2. What’s in your set of “sales rules”? In other words, what are the fundamental principles that you will simply NOT violate, no matter the situation?

It’s important to know yourself as a human being and as a businessperson, particularly in terms of what you will and won’t do to make a buck. Where are your lines in the sand?

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