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How Story-telling Enhances The Sales Process

Once upon a time........ From a very early age on I was fascinated by fairy tales and stories. Story telling is essential in a consultative sales environment. It helps you connect with your prospects and it is a great way to add value rather than pushing a feature. Remember 1001 Nights? When I was a kid I loved the idea of people gathering in a tent or square and listening to stories. Still to this day I remember the dinner parties best where people were telling stories, sharing, laughing, showing compassion or just simply cracking a joke. When we are children growing up, its fairy tales and stories that shape our thinking, they trigger our imagination and fuel our creativity. As adults its not that different, we are always drawn to stories that we can relate to. When I started out in sales, I had come from a public relations/marketing background with no credentials in sales so I decided to do what I liked best - listening to stories. I researched case studies and told my pros

Listen! Even If You Cant Understand?

Sales as a discipline that is not often taught in depth at business schools and maybe it should. Recently, one of our graduates, a regional sales manager who participated in one of our In-House Corporate CSC Training Programs and gained Consultative Sales Certification, sent us the e-mail below, sharing an extraordinary experience with a prospect. Hi Tom all Monika, I had a very interesting meeting last week that I wanted to share with you. I spoke to a gentleman on the phone last week who wanted help with his tradeshow shipments. He put a call into our office and the call was directed to me. He started giving me some details over the phone and as we spoke more I was having a very difficult time understanding him. At first I honestly thought it was a prank call and didnt know what to think since he was so difficult to understand. I also thought maybe he just has a pretty serious speech impediment. I figured it may be much easier to understand him in person so I suggested we

Do You Really Believe That?

The self help gurus are the best at teaching, "You are what you believe. Your thoughts determine your outcomes and actions. And what you think about most will manifest in your life." These gurus are right and many salespeople and sale managers still subscribing to old beliefs and ways of selling do not serve them well in the information age. Prospects are smarter, well armed with information and detect sales techniques quickly. They dont enjoy sales meetings that seem like a role play. Prospects want salespeople that are the real deal and real smart. Here are three beliefs to check and change if youd like to enjoy better results from sales in 2012. #1: You can only expect people to stay with your company for a short amount of time. Business owners and sales managers are told by the experts that the alphabet generation, X, Y, and M (millennials), are different than the boomers. They are motivated to stay in a position for only two years. Then the

How To Earn Trust

If you want to forge a long-term relationship with a client, what is the most important skill you can have? If you say something like "deep expertise in my field," I respectfully disagree. The way to build the trust that leads to lasting sales relationships is to truly understand the clients needs. That means the most important skills have to do with asking and listening, not showing off how much you know. Lets look at why thats so. Want Trust? Then Listen. The key to winning and keeping clients for the long haul is a simple but profound secret. Its not about how well you talk. Its about how well you listen. Action Selling, an effective sales training program, teaches that before a customer will buy your product, your service, or your company, the customer first must decide to buy you. This truth shows up dramatically in the professional-services sector. When customers choose among financial advisors, consultants, accountants, or attorneys, what are they really

Top Three Mistakes Made In Selecting Referral Partners

There are thousands of dollars invested every year in creating a compelling brand. Once created, well designed pieces of collateral hit the streets through different venues; email newsletters, direct mail, blogs and videos. All important strategies and tactics for generating qualified opportunities. There is another strategy for generating opportunities that requires little money. Its called a referral strategy and the upfront investment is the willingness to invest time in people and relationships. In a world gone flat, everyone is bombarded and overloaded with information. Its more important than ever to develop referral partners and strategic alliances in order to push past the clutter and be considered for the next opportunity. Unfortunately, most salespeople and companies dont execute a referral strategy very well. The intentions are good, however, methodology is poor. Lets take a look at the top three mistakes made in building referral partners. #1: No alignment. When