Powerful Persuasion

Running with you the Sales Reps

Back in the day, early 1980's I was sent on my second ever sales course, held by Tom Hopkins,
great stuff, implemented many of the new tricks learnt, lets see if any of the sales stuff relates
to today's selling game, You be the Judge

There were, or are 5 persuasion techniques,

-impact
-repetition,
-utilisation,
-internalisation,
-reinforcement.

The qualities and characteristics that separate the average from the great,

-they invest in their mind, learning, knowledge,attitude, ongoing never stops,
-they love people and use money for good, they do not use people,
-they are daily students of technique.
(to name a few)

A major key to success is the ability to relate to all types of people.
More on this in my next post, Till next time go sell your way to Success.

The Fun side of being a Sales Rep

Running with you the sales Reps

I was going through my library recently, and found the following, I do not know the source
but enjoy, it is old back in the day stuff! lets have a laugh.

It is titled"what type of rep are you"

The wheelbarrow, no good unless pushed

Are you a canoe, you need to be paddled

Are you a kite, no strings on you, you just blow away

Are you a rugby ball, never know which way you will bounce

Are you a trailer, no good unless pulled along

Some are 100% pros, in their pitching all the time.

Good to be humble and review where we are at.

Till next time go sell your way to Success.

Your Clients are not playing Ball

Running with you the Sales Reps

So you have a few clients that do not see "things" as you do, in terms of, how valuable you are to them, how your product gives them satisfaction, the solutions you come up with, to name a few!

These are all objection in one form or the other, so how do you go about "reading them " better.

Firstly are they playing corporate games with you, politicise, you know, is psychology selling
a key for you, do you really, really, really understand how your client thinks.

Most clients do not give you all their business, all eggs in one basket as the saying goes, so
your client is always comparing you, your business etc to the other suppliers they deal with.

A big opportunity for you, to be a positive vibe every time you have contact, face to face, email,
sms, ping, text(depending which country you live) with your client, there is so much negative stuff around, stay away from all the Bull sh-one-t.

Your clients need positive affirmations at different levels, go do it, you can.

Till next time go sell your way to Success.

Thinking and Planning

Running with you the Sales Reps

So we are in September, you have planned what you are going to do for your December holidays,
good that is out of the planning way.

So you are now THINKING about "being in the now", that's a good space to be in, but it is only
half the picture, you need to be planning now for your first three months in 2013.

Yep forward planning, your pipeline in terms of sales(okay depends on your sales cycle)and any
other key areas you have to do planning on.

There are maverick reps who "will wing it", that's cool, depends how reps work within their company's system.

Find time to sit and look at ways you can be more effective for your clients, also which ones you would like to drop, it will give you a good feeling to fire the odd client,it will give you perspective.
You don't agree, no problem.

Till next time go sell your way to Success.

The Battle, "New"New Clients vs Exising Clients

Running with you the Sales Rep

Yep, we have all heard this before, the cost of getting new clients, the need to get new clients
because each year we lose some existing client,
The back in the day example(which is still used today) the can full of water but with a few holes
in the bottom.

So what is your plan to try in simple ways to achieve the right balance, in terms of-
    Your time allocation to find new clients,
    The plan to grow business from existing clients,
    The plan to keep existing clients, minimising the decline in your client base size,
    The critical mass,
    Yes must use the word,client retention.

I worked with a business, 3 reps, they needed 35 clients more or less every month to trade,
we worked out by a simple formula, that they needed at least a client base of 50 clients
to achieve/exceed their monthly sales targets with 35 clients buying every month.
 So from here the plan took better shape!
The business lost about 20 clients per year( an opportunity to address) quite a few due to Service issues, Relationship issues, and some on price.
A good refresher for you guys.
Till next time go sell your way to Success.

Spring and Summer Sales Months

Running with you the Sales Reps

1st September is here and month or two summer months will be with us, What am I getting at!

For the past ten years I have been studying here in South Africa, "Do Sme businesses and their
reps do more sales in the period September to November B2B".

The answer is yes, most of the reps and sme businesses exceed sales targets/budgets.
Why, mindsets are more positive, more energy, people feel better with the sun in their face!
       -Also December and January are usually below par months, with most businesses closing
for two to four weeks over this period.

September to November will "only" be good for you if you where ahead of the game in, June
building pipeline sales, relationships, selling solutions?

It's not to late for you to have a great November,
-Look at which clients bought from you in Nov2011, a good starting point,
-Have there been any shifts within your client base,which ones have grown,
-Which clients give you their buying forecasts( they trust you)

Till next time go sell your way to Success.