Category: Sales & Marketing

Article Contributed by Jeremy Ulmer

“Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose–a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.” -Mary Shelley

1. Get Inspired Everyday. Inspiration is one of the best motivators, and it can be found everywhere. Sources of inspiration can include, but are certainly not limited to:sales blogs, sales articles, sales online success stories, sales forums, peers, friends, sales books, and motivational quotes.

2. Hire A Sales Coach. Working one on one with a sales coach has proven to be one of the most effective methods to truly achieve breakthrough sales results. However, be sure to ask these questions of any sales coach you interview before hiring a sales coach.

3. Have Compelling Reasons For Your Actions. Write them down and know your reasons for wanting to achieve your goals and stay motivated. When you clarify why you want to accomplish certain goals, and what it will mean to you to accomplish them, it will help increase your motivation and keep you on track.

4. Be Ready For Negative Self Talk. Become very aware of that inner voice that says you should just quit and give up. One of the most powerful things you can do is to simply raise your awareness and recognize when it is happening. Just by naming the negative self talk alone, it will help you consciously decide what you need to do.

5. Get Back On The Horse If You Fall Off. Don’t beat yourself up if you slip up one day, but make it a rule to get back into your routine the next day. Don’t wait any longer. You don’t need to be perfect all the time, you just need to brush yourself off, and get back on the horse.

6. Visualize Your Sales Goals. Visualize the successful outcome of staying motivated in great detail a few times for 2 minutes each day. Close your eyes, and think about exactly how your successful outcome in sales will feel. Form as clear of a mental picture as you can.

7. Create A Daily Journal For Your Sales Goals. If you can become consistent about writing notes in your journal, it can be a tremendous motivator. You should focus on writing about what you got done that day and how you felt about the things you did or did not do.

8. Get Competitive. Many sales people are driven by competition. Take advantage of this natural drive by using it to fuel your sales goals. Take a look at your peers around you and see where you are ranking on new clients per month, revenue, or appointments set. Aim to be #1, or stay on top, if you are already #1.

9. Make A Public Statement About Your Commitments. Make a statement on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or announce to your friends and family that you are going to achieve a certain sales goal by a certain date. You will get support and accountability automatically with this method.

10. Think Positive. Monitor your thoughts and become more aware of your self-talk. If you hear negative thoughts, notice them, and then choose to replace them with a positive mind-set.

About the Author:

Jeremy Ulmer is one of the most dynamic and requested sales experts in the country. His company specializes in working with sales management, individual sales performers, and sales organizations to transform their sales results. They deliver customized sales coaching programs and corporate sales training. Sign up for free sales tips and free sales webinars at: http://www.SalesCoachingHabits.com

Article Contributed by Mark Hunter

Have you ever really considered how price affects your customer with regard to their perceived benefit?  Too often, we use a simplistic approach to determining a price – figure the cost to produce a product or service, tack on some arbitrary percentage, and call it good, right?

Price, though, is consequential in ways we may not initially consider.  The price a person pays for something goes a long way in determining the perceived benefit they expect to get from it.  The perceived benefit cuts two ways. First, the expectation of service goes up the more a person pays for something. Second, the perception of what they’re gaining also goes up with the amount they pay.   The two are not opposites; they work in tandem, and in nearly all businesses, this tandem relationship can and does work to your advantage.

Many companies, hopefully including yours, are known for delivering incredible service.  This quality service may be what your customers comment upon and why they are willing to refer you to other customers.  This level of service comes at a price. One of the things you always should be doing is explaining to and showing your customers how your level of service helps them.

The more you share this type of information with your customers, the more comfortable you become in seeing the value of what you offer.  Having confidence in your service allows you to increase your “Price Investment Ratio” (PIR). This all has to do with what you expect customers to pay.

For the customer, the PIR is revealed when you help frame their expectations.  To help explain this best, let me refer to what I call the “IBM paradox.” This is the belief people have that although you will pay more for anything you buy from IBM, you will never be fired for using IBM.  What this means is there are plenty of companies that sell the exact same items and services as IBM, but at a less expensive price.  Although other vendors will be less money, there is a level of safety and confidence in using IBM – so much so that it translates to a premium price that customers will pay.

The “Price Investment Ratio” (PIR) is the amount over the minimum amount a person would have to pay for something. They are willing to pay it to feel confident in what they are buying.   You might say the PIR should really be the CP – the “Confidence Premium.”

There are no two ways about it – when you have great service but do not reflect it in your PIR, then you are underselling.   If you are underselling, you are not making the profits you could be making.

I can hear some of you at this point thinking, “What if we don’t have a solid sense of how good our customer service really is?”   In other words, maybe your company receives very few complaints, but at the same time, you are not sure if your service is at a higher caliber than what your competitors bring to the table.

In order to find out your “Price Investment Ratio” (PIR), you must do a deep dive with your existing customers to get them to tell you what your service means to them.  Once you do this, you can then match up what existing customers are telling you with what prospective customers are asking you to do.   When you grasp this, you begin to understand what the PIR really should be.  How much “investment” is the customer willing to make in going with you instead of your competitor?

As I have often said, in the B2B arena, companies don’t buy anything, they only invest.   If your customer can’t see the return on investment, they won’t invest – they won’t pay the price you want to get.   When they do see the value, though, then you can feel very confident in charging a price above what your competitors charge.  Don’t settle for a lower price when doing so is detrimental to your bottom line.

About the Author:

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. You can also follow him on www.Twitter.com/TheSalesHunter, on www.LinkedIn.com/in/MarkHunter, and on www.Facebook.com/TheSalesHunter.

Article Contributed by Mark Hunter

I’ll never forget the first time it happened to me.  The presentation with the customer was going well. I had prepared extensively. In fact, I had not just spent more time than normal, I had stayed up nearly all night to make sure I had every element covered perfectly in my presentation.  For me, this sales call was going to be a huge success. My boss had told me this was going to be a difficult quarter, and that’s all I needed to hear to motivate me to close this particular sale.

The customer I was meeting with was tough. In fact, using the word “customer” was simply too nice. This customer was the ultimate professional buyer who would routinely drive salespeople crazy with questions, bold accusations and flat out rejection.

For this sales call, I was prepared. The program I was presenting to him that day included a new item that I knew in the back of my mind he didn’t need and would most likely flat out reject with some very colorful language.  Shortly into my presentation, I noticed him giving me a high level of attention and agreeing with what I was saying.  Before I was even half way through my presentation, he said he wanted what I was selling.

To say I was shocked would be an understatement. I couldn’t believe it!  I began to wonder if he knew what he had just agreed to.  Yes, he did know and yes he said again he would take it.  At this point, we all know as a salesperson that it is wise to take the sale and leave.  Yet, I was a bit hurt.  Remember, I had spent nearly the entire night preparing an incredible presentation, and suddenly more than half of it was never going to see the light of day.  My ego took control and I felt that if I had spent hours preparing it, he was going to hear it, so I continued on.

Go ahead and say it – BIG mistake!  You’re right – it was a big mistake. The more I continued on with the presentation, the more the buyer was becoming upset; however, he was not upset enough to throw me out without the order.  He listened, and honestly, I’m still not sure why. That’s when I made the final mistake. I shared with him some information that I never should have had in my presentation, and suddenly he began asking me questions. It’s not hard to imagine what happened next, as he decided not only to NOT buy what I was selling, he also went into a tirade about how I and the company I worked for didn’t know what we were doing.

My mistake was very basic. I kept talking after the buying signal was given and in so doing, I lost the order and I lost credibility. The reason I’m sharing this is not to say this has happened to me only once in my more than 25 years of selling. I’m sharing it because it’s one of many situations where I’ve unsold something. It’s just that on this particular occasion I saw it coming like a slow-moving train and still didn’t do anything to get out of the way.

When the buyer gives a buying signal, close the sale and leave. It’s simple, yet we as salespeople allow our egos and our pride to get in the way. Let me share two rules I have regarding sales presentations. They’re not complicated rules, but many times are overlooked.

Rule 1: Close the sale as early in the call as you possibly can. The only exception is if the price or quantity the customer wants is not within the range of your objectives.  If the buyer’s requests are in your range of expectations, then get the order.

Rule 2:  Close the sale before you run out of presentation. I tell salespeople with whom I am working that the measure of success is to not have to go through your entire presentation to close a sale.  This rule is extremely important. You always want to have information and questions you can share with the customer. I like to view it as always having a “back pocket” presentation – information I can share with a customer, but only if it is necessary. This gives me more flexibility and helps me close the sale earlier. My ego is saved and the buyer is not subjected to information they don’t necessarily want to hear.  Final benefit of keeping some of your presentation in your back pocket is it subconsciously gives you confidence and determination.  You will have confidence in knowing you have more information if you need it, and you will have determination to close the sale with the initial round of information and questions.

It seems crazy that a salesperson could unsell what they have already sold, but it can happen.  Do whatever you can to make sure it doesn’t happen to you.

If you’re wondering what happened to me and my relationship with the customer, here’s the epilogue: He never did take the new item, and although he did continue to work with me on other activities, I never did get our relationship back to the level it was before my mistake.

About the Author:

Mark Hunter, “The Sales Hunter,” helps individuals and companies identify better prospects, close more sales and profitably build more long-term customer relationships. Since 1998, he has consulted nationally and internationally with thousands of salespeople and global companies. You can follow his Sales Motivation Blog at www.TheSalesHunter.com. You can also connect with him on Facebook www.facebook.com/TheSalesHunter, Twitter www.twitter.com/thesaleshunter, and Linkedin www.linkedin.com/in/markhunter.

Article Contributed by Mark Hunter

Salespeople love to complain about buyers. One of the complaints salespeople share the most is that buyers never seem to make up their mind. Just about the time it looks like they’re going to make a buying decision, they suddenly hold off.

Yes, there are times when a buyer legitimately can’t make a decision. Many times, though, the delay is nothing more than a tactic on the part of the buyer to get a better deal.  This is especially true of professional buyers, who see numerous salespeople on a regular basis.  Why should anyone make a decision quickly if they don’t have to? More often than not, the buyers believe that by waiting, they will get a better deal. The salesperson will get scared and will think the only way to secure the sale is to offer a discount.  Buyers believe this because experience has shown them that it works!

Salespeople by nature are scared.  Don’t take offense to my observation, because I include myself in this profession as well.  We, unfortunately, can view things too quickly in a negative manner. For most salespeople, the way out of a situation like this is to immediately offer the buyer a price reduction.  This is exactly what the buyer wants!  They are looking for the salesperson to show some fear and some sense that the sale may not happen at all. Once the buyer smells fear, they know a better deal is about to appear.

This is also a key reason why many professional buyers love to ignore phone calls, emails and all other forms of communication from salespeople. Nothing can make a salesperson more scared than a buyer who doesn’t communicate with them.  If you’re a buyer, it’s hard to find any activities that can result in a higher return on investment than ignoring a salesperson or holding off on making a decision. These tactics usually result in saving money.

Now let’s look at this challenge from a salesperson’s perspective.  Salespeople love to close sales and they also love to close sales quickly, preferably with as little effort as possible.  But effort – particularly mental effort – can make the difference.  This is the ability to understand and rationalize objectively what is happening and what is not happening.  This means understanding why the buyer does need to buy from you and how what you’re selling will allow them to achieve their needs and objectives.  The more you can build this kind of objective thinking into your attitude, the better equipped you are to keep negativity at bay.  Negative thinking is the culprit that takes the biggest toll on a salesperson’s level of success.

As soon as the salesperson begins viewing the situation negatively and how the sale may not occur, it’s only natural for them to think the solution is to lower the price or offer something extra in the form of service.   When the salesperson does this, two things happen. First, it confirms in the buyer’s mind why the smart thing to do is to slow down the decision-making process. Second, it destroys profit margin for the salesperson.
While there are several techniques to counter these outcomes, there really is only one that is foundationally most important – the confidence of the salesperson.   If the salesperson is not confident, then every other tactic or strategy is useless and will have little effect. Everything starts with the salesperson.

Confidence begins with the total belief in your own skill set as a salesperson and total belief in your ability to help the buyer fill the needs they have.  If you don’t believe in both of these, then there is nothing else you can do to prevent the buyer from taking advantage of you by delaying their decision.  Buyers, especially professional buyers, can discern very quickly how confident a salesperson is. If they sense the salesperson is not confident, then they’ll delay their decision. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain by doing so.

On the other hand, if you as the salesperson are determined to regularly and intentionally strengthen your own resolve and your own confidence, your natural reaction to stalling buyers will not be to cave under the pressure.  Your reflex will be to wholeheartedly believe in your product, your price and your potential to help the customer achieve their goals.

Are you going to let fear or confidence determine your future? The choice is yours, so choose wisely.  And profitably.

About the Author:

Mark Hunter, “The Sales Hunter,” helps individuals and companies identify better prospects, close more sales and profitably build more long-term customer relationships. Since 1998, he has consulted nationally and internationally with thousands of salespeople and global companies. You can follow his Sales Motivation Blog at www.TheSalesHunter.com. You can also connect with him on Facebook www.facebook.com/TheSalesHunter, Twitter www.twitter.com/thesaleshunter, and Linkedin www.linkedin.com/in/markhunter.

Article Contributed by Lisa Cherney

If you were trying to find your soul mate through a dating site, a description such as, “Looking for someone 35-45 in Seattle who drives a red car” isn’t going to find you your Prince or Princess Charming.

The same is true with your marketing materials. Generic marketing will only attract generic clients.

To find those people who get you excited about your business and what you’re doing, you have to laser in on what I call your “ideal client.” You have to be very conscious about what you are saying so you can attract the clients who get the best from you and get the best results from your unique services.

“Well, Lisa, I do that by marketing to my target audience,” you might say. That’s great, but it’s not enough. And it’s not enough to market to your niche – you have to go further!

Picture a pyramid. The bottom or widest part is your target audience – let’s say women, age 35-45, living in Seattle. The niche is the next part of the pyramid, such as women going through divorce. Many people stop right there in defining their clients, but not everyone fitting that niche is ready to invest in your services. You need to reach the ones who are ready – your ideal clients who are at the sharpest point of the pyramid.

A great way to start pinpointing your ideal client is to ask yourself the following questions: Which clients are my favorites (you’d want to clone them, that’s how much you love them) and why?

Once you start creating this profile, you’ll start thinking of the words your ideal clients need to hear. If your favorite client is super ready for change, then which do you think will resonate more with them?
1.    “Are you going through a divorce?”
2.    “Are you going through a divorce and ready for that life transition to catapult you on a new journey?”
I’m guessing you’ll agree with me that it’s number two.

The next step is to channel your ideal client into your marketing. You should know them so well that it should be as easy as writing to your best friend. You’ll be amazed how your marketing will be transformed when you connect with your ideal clients.

About the Author:

Lisa Cherney is a Marketing Intuitive and President & Founder of Conscious Marketing™.  Lisa has helped thousands of business owners tap into their intuition and market their businesses from the ‘Inside Out’. For 15 years she worked at Fortune 500 companies and top advertising agencies.

Lisa tells her story in her co-authored book “Inspiration to Realization,” available at www.ConsciousMarketing.com. Conscious Marketing also offers workshops and coaching. Visit her website for more details or call 887-771-0156.