Women's Success Coaching » sales

Stop Talking Already!

Bonnie Marcus — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 19:26:35 +0000

This is a guest post by Laura Caton from The Cornerstone Group Inc. www.thecornerstonegroupinc.com

To listen well is as powerful a means of influence as to talk well, and is as essential to all true conversation. ~Chinese proverb.

On May 21, more than 200 people attended the Sales 2.0 Conference hosted by Selling Power Magazine in Boston; unfortunately I was not one of them. However, a good friend of mine did attend and she came back from this meeting, brimming with enthusiasm. As we sat enjoying a delicious glass of chardonnay Saturday night, she explained her renewed gusto for selling–she was reborn. We talked about social networking and how this was the new way to generate leads. We both bemoaned the lead time for closing a sale and how businesses appear to be paralyzed by spending, any spending!

One of the more interesting observations that apparently came out of this conference for her was from Gerhard Gschwandtner, Founder and CEO of Personal Selling Power Inc. In his opening speech, “7 Key Trends in Selling,” he talks about ditching the pitch. (btw, Bonnie offers a program called Ditch the Pitch). She said, “You know, it’s more about having a conversation. It’s more important than ever before to talk with prospects, as opposed to at them.” Wow, I didn’t know this was a news flash. I was even more surprised to hear my friend, who I also saw at the hunter/sales person personified, say this straight faced—as if this was news to her! Quite frankly, I was more interested in drinking my wine and talking recipes from this month’s Food and Wine.

Curious as to what else happened at this conference, I went on the Sales 2.0′s web site for more information. I stumbled upon this, Barry Trailer, a Partner at CSO Insights, was quoted as saying, “The number one mistake I see in the area of “customer engagement” is that the Sales Reps think they should be doing all the talking”. Okay, maybe doing the stop, listen and listen is a news flash!

As a wholesaler for a large mutual fund company in the early 80′s, the sales approach was the same; product, product, product. Every quarter was devoted to hawking a particular sector. Jam it down their throats whether it fit our audience’s business model or not. It was a matter of shelf space for prospectuses at the Merrill Lynch office and points earned for fantastic due diligence trips. Just pitch the fund du jour and move to the next office. It was an unfulfilling sales position to say the least and I felt, dare I say, whorish at times.

Taking a more customer focused/consultative sales approach to selling is all about listening, and then asking strategic and investigative questions (so you do get to talk!). It applies to every sales appointment, phone conversation, and meeting you have with a potential buyer. Nancy Martini, CEO of PI Worldwide, states, “In a selling situation, the real world is divided into two “worlds” – yours and the prospects/clients. Often, sales professionals only focus on the “world” they are familiar with, their own.” The key is you can’t ask strategic questions if you don’t start by listening to the client or prospects’ needs.

Listening provides you with the information you want to work effectively in the prospect’s world. Good listening means you can link your value proposition to the client’s specific needs. It also means you can have a meaningful, shared conversation, as Mr. Gschwandtner suggests.

Most of us love to talk and listening is pretty hard. Many of us in sales love to share and socially connect with a person; which means talking.

So here’s a question, how well do you listen? Listening does not mean nodding your head in agreement and waiting to say what you want (this is my big listening challenge). It truly means putting your agenda aside. Make a point to practice good listening skills. Good listening is a commanding skill, which can set you apart from other out there. Ditch the pitch, sit back and never stop listening.

With extensive expertise in organizational & leadership development, the Cornerstone Group helps clients to build more productive organizations by better leveraging their most important asset, people.

Their unique approach to assessing people, finding their core strengths, and leveraging those strengths in current and future roles helps their clients to hire smarter, manage more effectively, and develop stronger leaders. Their unique process of assessment, training, consulting and ongoing support allows them to partner with their clients and create a road map for organizational success. www.thecornerstonegroupinc.com

The Secret of New Marketing

Bonnie Marcus — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 15:30:51 +0000

I have always maintained that the best way to market is by word of mouth. Communicating with your network is the most powerful and important marketing vehicle you’ve got. I was so pleased to read Seth Godin’s blog this week,http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/04/first-ten-.html because he validated this marketing approach and labeled it, the secret of new marketing.

In his blog, Seth states:

Find ten people. Ten people who trust you/respect you/need you/listen to you.

Those ten people need what you have to sell, or want it. And if they love it, you win. If they love it, they’ll each find you ten more people (or a hundred or a thousand or, perhaps, just three). Repeat.

If they don’t love it, you need a new product. Start over.

Your idea spreads. Your business grows. Not as fast as you want, but faster than you could ever imagine.

This approach is so effective because you are communicating your message to people who know you and respect you. It is common knowledge that we buy products and services with brands that we trust. Your network contacts already trust you and believe in you and are more than willing to spread the word about your business and your brand.

Initially, it is not necessary to get your message out to the anonymous masses. There is a common belief that to jump start your business it is important to reach as many people as possible with expensive press releases and formal product launches. Seth calls this approach backwards. You spend a lot of money in the beginning and then it falls off when you should be doing the exact opposite. Save your marketing dollars until your business starts to grow and thrive.

Consciously nurture your network and be clear on your promotional message. What your network contacts say about you contributes to the value and reputational power of your brand.

April Teleclass on Self Promotion starts April 7th!

There is still time to register. 3 one hour sessions run consecutive Tuesday evenings 7-8pm EDT

Learn how to overcome your limiting beliefs around selling yourself and your business.

Create your own authentic and effective message to promote yourself.

Workbook included. $99 for 3 sessions!

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Narrow Your Niche to Attract More Clients

Bonnie Marcus — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 15:45:28 +0000

We are all taught in Marketing 101 the importance of defining a niche and clarifying who we consider to be our target audience. I think we all understand this concept intellectually. It makes sense. When people have a clear understanding of what services and products you offer and who will benefit from those products and services, they can easily refer business. Yes, the concept completely makes sense.

Now, we are starting our own business. We have these wonderful products and/or services to bring to market. We don’t want to miss out on any opportunity to make a sale. So what do we do? Do we go back to Marketing 101 and choose a well-defined niche? Very often, we don’t. We ignore the marketing pundits and cast a really wide net in hopes of being wildly successful right out of the starting gate. We don’t want to turn down any opportunity that may come our way. The problem is that promoting ourselves without a specific target audience and niche can often backfire. We try to attract everyone, but we end up not attracting the clients we want and we limit our success because we haven’t defined our message so that others can refer business.

The hesitancy to narrow our niche is often fear based. We are fearful that if we limit ourselves we won’t be successful and that when we first start a business we need to take any clients/customers that we can. This approach can also be true, however, of more experienced entrepreneurs who are still holding on and patiently waiting for their businesses to grow.

The first step to attracting clients is to define your target audience. Who is your ideal client? Gender, age, income, educational background, occupation, geography, hobbies and interests, special needs are all important factors.

Once you clarify the target audience, you need to create a message to promote yourself and your business that will attract this type of customer/client. Your message should be very specific about what you provide for that target audience and how they will benefit. There should be an emotional component for them to latch on to. Make your message personal and tell your story and your own connection to this product or service.

I have assisted many clients through this process and the results are usually quite remarkable. Once you get over the fear of narrowing your niche and you send a clear message to your network, your business will literally take off. All of a sudden, the light bulb goes on and people get it. They will know someone who needs your services or product and they will refer business.

Your promotional message can be used in any form of media. Now you have the content for any successful promotion whether it’s face to face meetings, radio, print ads, web site, or brochures.

Narrow your niche and you WILL attract more clients.

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How to Stay Marketable in a Down Economy

Bonnie Marcus — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:24:05 +0000

How do you stay marketable in a down economy? Promote your personal brand.

When it comes to selling yourself, you should follow the same guidelines that you use when selling any product or service. Take an objective point of view, do an assessment of the product (you), create an effective pitch, and develop a sales plan.

1. Know Your Product.

Do an assessment of yourself and get to know yourself as the “product”.

What are your strengths?

List 3-5 personality pluses and how these traits have helped you in your current and past positions.

List 3-5 recent accomplishments. What do these accomplishments say about you?

2. What is your sales pitch for your product?

Create your own personal pitch.

Answer these questions:

What is my story? my history?

What differentiates me? What special qualities do I have and why are they marketable?

How have these qualities helped me be successful in the past?

What are my features and benefits?

i.e. I am tenacious and what that means to my employer is that they can count on me to stay focused and complete my assigned projects.

3. Create Your Sales Plan

What is your career goal for the next 6-12 months?

Create action items to help you reach your goal.

Identify people you need to be in front of consistently. How will you accomplish that? Set timeframes and identify resources needed if any.

What organizations should you join/attend? What committee should you volunteer for?

What special projects should you take on?

4. Go out there and sell yourself.

Always be prepared 24/7 to talk about your accomplishments.

Consistently work your sales plan and stay in front of your “web of influence”, your important contacts.

Stay visible. Stay positive. Stay focused.

Approach selling yourself and your own personal brand with the enthusiasm and confidence your “product” deserves. You are the best possible “product”. Go out there and let everyone know what you’ve got!

Want to practice your positive self-talk?

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Why is to “sell” a four letter word?

Bonnie Marcus — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:07:14 +0000

I am always amazed at how many people are traumatized when it comes to selling. When I looked up “to sell” in the dictionary, I found these definitions.

to transfer services to another in exchange for money. (OK. I can live with this one.)
to persuade or induce someone to buy something. (Used car salesman approach?)
to convince (hmmm. Still a bit negative.)
informal definition: to cheat, betray,or hoax. (OMG!)

Yikes! No wonder those of us in sales often fight the negative public perception of sales people and NO WONDER no one likes to sell. It’s because they don’t like being SOLD TO.

There are many negative beliefs about sales. For those of you who think that you need to be born as a salesperson or need to be a certain personality type, I challenge you. You are hiding behind this limiting belief and assuming that only certain people can sell well. It’s too easy to take on this belief and the consequences are far reaching if you have your own business. After all, who can sell your business with more passion than you?

Sales does not have to be a daunting task. It’s about having basic conversations and dialogues with people. I emphasize dialogue because good selling is more about asking good open ended questions and listening. Don’t be intimidated into believing that you need to make spectacular slick presentations. Sales is more about building rapport and relationships, gaining trust, and educating others about your product or service. Even sales professionals know that these are the basic skills they need to be successful.

You can have the best business concept in the world, but if you don’t get out there and acquaint people with your product/services, you will not be successful. Talk with people about what you do. Connect with the passion you had when you first started your business. Make your message personal and interesting and just get out and sell!

Women’s Success Coaching is offering a teleclass on Self-Promotion in February. Four one hour sessions for $199. Check out Group Coaching to access more information or to register. First class is Tuesday evening, February 3rd from 7-8pm EST.

Good Selling is Good Service. Good Service is Good Selling

Bonnie Marcus — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 22:56:28 +0000

What does good selling have in common with good customer service? EVERYTHING.

Exceptional selling and exceptional customer service require a focus on the customer. Focusing on the customer makes the customer feel important and valued and when they feel important and valued, they are more likely to become a customer and remain a customer.

How do you stay focused on the customer’s needs rather than your own agenda?

In both customer service and sales, using basic sales techniques helps you to build relationships which will help you win customers and keep them.

Active listening. Active listening means to be present to the conversation and to listen carefully to what your prospect or customer is saying. What they are REALLY saying? Look them in the eye and watch their body language and stay engaged with your body language. Nod your head. Be responsive. Demonstrate that you hear what they are saying and don’t wander off into your own head about what YOU want to say next. When you think about what you are going to say next, you are not really listening.
Use Open-Ended Questions. Open ended questions are meant to “open up” the discussion because these questions cannot be answered with a simple “yes” or “no”. These questions start with “how”, “when”, “where”, “why”, “what”. You will find out more information from your client or potential client by asking them questions, listening, and gathering information.
Don’t make assumptions. Don’t script out your conversation in your head ahead of time and assume you know what the customer needs and wants. You need to ask the right questions to get accurate information. A lost sales opportunity can happen when you assume that someone needs something and you gear your whole conversation in that direction only to find out later that they were interested in another product or service you have. They might have bought from you, but you didn’t present the product due to your false assumptions. Or in customer service, you assume that the complaining customer is wrong and don’t really listen to them and, therefore, lose a customer and miss the opportunity to improve your business.
Clarify. Make sure that you truly understand what the customer is saying. “So what I hear you saying is..” That way there is no misunderstanding.
Acknowledge and Validate. You show respect and understanding when you acknowledge the customer and validate their position. You show appreciation for their point of view. You are building a relationship.
Focus on the Client’s Agenda. When you listen to your customer instead of what’s in your own head, you have a much better chance to resolve customer issues or find an opportunity to sell your product or services.
Detachment. This is really crucial in order to maintain your cool in a customer service situation especially if it is your own business. When we become defensive, we build a wall between ourselves and our customers making it more difficult to resolve issues because we cannot hear the customer’s point of view. In a sales situation, when we are too attached to the outcome, we are no longer focused on the customer and we are not listening to what the customer wants and needs.

How would you like to be treated as a customer?

How would you like someone to respond to you when you have an issue?

Are you more likely to purchase from someone who talks AT you and doesn’t listen to YOU or someone who engages you in a conversation and asks you questions about what you need?

Remember, the way you like to be treated is the best way to treat your customers.

Ditch the Elevator Pitch

Bonnie Marcus — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 19:01:00 +0000

How often have you been at a networking event or business gathering and someone asks you, “What do you do?”. Panic sets in as you try to remember your Elevator Pitch and it’s specific formula to answer the question about what you do. You break out in a sweat as you stumble through the arbitrary pitch. Frustrated, you leave that conversation thinking, “Oh my goodness. I just sounded like a fool”.

Why is it so awkward to articulate what we do? Why do we have so
much difficulty talking about ourselves and promoting ourselves? That
loud inner voice tells us time and time again that promoting ourselves
is wrong. It just doesn’t feel right.

But here’s point: You are talented and successful. You are excited
about what you do. There is nothing wrong in letting people know what
you’re doing, how well you’re doing it, and how fulfilling it is for
you. Believe it or not, people will be genuinely interested in hearing
what you have to say if you are GENUINE.

So if the Elevator Pitch works for you, that’s great. If you get
tongue tied and do not feel comfortable with it, ditch it. Then you
ask, “Well, how do I promote myself and my business?

Take some time to think about your accomplishments. Think about why
you love what you do and how that effects others. Connect with your
Passion and Purpose and create your own message to answer the question
about what you do. Make it personal. Make it authentic and believe me,
people will respond. Practice it with your mirror. Practice it in your
shower or on your morning run. Practice it with your pets, with your
friends, until you really connect with the true Passion and Purpose of
what you do.

Try it at your next meeting and let me know how it works!