SuccessCo

Success Book ~ The mentor

Excerpt from The mentor 15 keys to success in sales, business and life written by Jack Carew

Never Waiver
See closing as the action step that unleashes the power of you and your organization to benefit your customer. A don’t-ask-for-it attitude is deadly in selling. And not closing is a serious failure that shuts down the possibility of moving ahead. View closing as your obligation or individual responsibility and a courageous move that makes everything possible for a customer.

Create a Sense of Urgency
Attach a time line to your close – today, now, Friday morning. A time line adds teeth to your close. For example, “When can I begin helping you increase productivity and profitability?” Or: “May I begin to support you in your efforts to reduce costs and increase efficiency today?”

The Mentor: 15 Ways to Success in Sales, Business, and Life

Success Quote

"Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold."

Helen Keller (1880-1968)
American humanitarian, writer,
and advocate for the deaf and blind

16 Rules to Live By

Bob Parsons, the founder of GoDaddy.com has put together his list of the 16 rules he tries to live by - I think it is a great list worthy of sharing. . . 

1. Get and stay out of your comfort zone. I believe that not much happens of any significance when we're in our comfort zone. I hear people say, "But I'm concerned about security." My response to that is simple: "Security is for cadavers."

2. Never give up. Almost nothing works the first time it's attempted. Just because what you're doing does not seem to be working, doesn't mean it won't work. It just means that it might not work the way you're doing it. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, and you wouldn't have an opportunity.

3. When you're ready to quit, you're closer than you think. There's an old Chinese saying that I just love, and I believe it is so true. It goes like this: "The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed."

4. With regard to whatever worries you, not only accept the worst thing that could happen, but make it a point to quantify what the worst thing could be. Very seldom will the worst consequence be anywhere near as bad as a cloud of "undefined consequences." My father would tell me early on, when I was struggling and losing my shirt trying to get Parsons Technology going, "Well, Robert, if it doesn't work, they can't eat you."

5. Focus on what you want to have happen. Remember that old saying, "As you think, so shall you be."

6. Take things a day at a time. No matter how difficult your situation is, you can get through it if you don't look too far into the future, and focus on the present moment. You can get through anything one day at a time.

7. Always be moving forward. Never stop investing. Never stop improving. Never stop doing something new. The moment you stop improving your organization, it starts to die. Make it your goal to be better each and every day, in some small way. Remember the Japanese concept of Kaizen. Small daily improvements eventually result in huge advantages.

8. Be quick to decide. Remember what General George S. Patton said: "A good plan violently executed today is far and away better than a perfect plan tomorrow."

9. Measure everything of significance. I swear this is true. Anything that is measured and watched, improves.

10. Anything that is not managed will deteriorate. If you want to uncover problems you don't know about, take a few moments and look closely at the areas you haven't examined for a while. I guarantee you problems will be there.

11. Pay attention to your competitors, but pay more attention to what you're doing. When you look at your competitors, remember that everything looks perfect at a distance. Even the planet Earth, if you get far enough into space, looks like a peaceful place.

12. Never let anybody push you around. In our society, with our laws and even playing field, you have just as much right to what you're doing as anyone else, provided that what you're doing is legal.

13. Never expect life to be fair. Life isn't fair. You make your own breaks. You'll be doing good if the only meaning fair has to you, is something that you pay when you get on a bus (i.e., fare).

14. Solve your own problems. You'll find that by coming up with your own solutions, you'll develop a competitive edge. Masura Ibuka, the co-founder of SONY, said it best: "You never succeed in technology, business, or anything by following the others." There's also an old Asian saying that I remind myself of frequently. It goes like this: "A wise man keeps his own counsel."

15. Don't take yourself too seriously. Lighten up. Often, at least half of what we accomplish is due to luck. None of us are in control as much as we like to think we are.

16. There's always a reason to smile. Find it. After all, you're really lucky just to be alive. Life is short. More and more, I agree with my little brother. He always reminds me: "We're not here for a long time; we're here for a good time."

Used by the permission of Bob Parsons bobparsons.com and is Copyright © 2004-2006 by Bob Parsons. All rights reserved.

Success Quote

There is never a traffic jam on the extra mile.

-Author unknown

Business Humor ~ Selling Pretzels

A little old lady sold pretzels on a street corner for 25 cents each. Every day a young man would leave his office building at lunch time and, as he passed her pretzel stand, he would leave her a quarter, but would never take a pretzel.

This went on for more than five years. The two of them never spoke.

One day as the man passed the old lady's pretzel stand and left his quarter as usual, the pretzel woman spoke to him, "Sir, I appreciate your business. You are a good customer, but I have to tell you that the pretzel price has increased to 35 cents."

Success Book ~ You can’t teach a kid to ride a bike at a seminar

Excerpt from You can’t teach a kid to ride a bike at a seminar  Written by David Sandler

Four things can happen to you in a selling situation. You can get a “yes” a “no”, a “no” with a lesson or an “I want to think it over”.

A “yes” always feels great. It pumps you up and motivates you to find another prospect.

A “no” doesn’t feel great but at least you know where you stand.

A “no” with a lesson isn’t so bad. You know where you stand, and when you get off the phone, or back in your car, you may be able to turn a negative into something learned.

You want to avoid the “I want to think it over” answer because there’s nothing worse in sales. What does it mean?  When you begin to critique yourself, what do you say? What happened in the sales call? Where do I stand? Could I have closed the sale with a little more persistence? Should I have done this, or that? The sad thing is that most salespeople are satisfied to hear an “I want to think it over.” It gives them a false sense of security. Always go for a “yes” or a “no”.

Sales Objection Techniques - the Mind of the Customer

In the mind of a prospect, it is often easier to make the decision not to act / buy / join, than the possibility of making the wrong decision. Therefore, our goal is to help the prospect justify why they are not making the wrong decision.

Some useful techniques to help accomplish this are:

Feel, felt, found technique
Stories of other members / customers
Being extremely confident and assumptive
Not becoming defensive when you hear (and you will) an objection

Anticipate their objections in advance – play (be) the devils advocate – here are some transitional phrases to help you bring up that inevitable objection:

“I bet your asking yourself . . .”

“You might be wondering . . .”

“If your concerned about . . .”

“A question I often hear at this point in a conversation is . . .”

By mentioning the objection before they bring it up, you’ll disarm the prospect and put them in a more receptive frame of mind.

-Jim

© 2007 SuccessCo.com

Increased income and credibility thru improved articulation

When was the last time you listened to your own voice through the ears of another person? I do mean really listen.

For most of you the answer is probably never.
If you are a “professional communicator” I would recommend that you take the opportunity to do so, because nothing speaks more clearly about your background, education and professional status than the way you articulate when you speak.

Merriam-Webster
1 a: divided into syllables or words meaningfully arranged: INTELLIGIBLE b: able to speak c: expressing oneself readily, clearly, or effectively; also: expressed in this manner

Here is an exercise you can do with a tape recorder or even your own voicemail.
Simply recite a few sentences, and place a comma between each word. For example . . .

“If, I, place, an, invisible, comma, after, each, word, and, an, invisible, semicolon; after, some; words, my, speech, has, presence.”

This exercise forces you to make each word stand on it’s own and that‘s the secret of many professional broadcasters and speakers.

-Jim

© 2007 SuccessCo.com

Increase returned calls by using your local phone number

I didn’t understand the true potential of this technique until I'd been in the sales business  for a couple years.  It’s was another “get in the mind of the prospect”  revelation for me. 

When I first started out in sales, I would give out my company 1-800 number to all my contacts, not realizing that I was lumping myself in with all of the national, even global companies that give out an 800 number.  In trying to save my prospects the cost of a call I was in return put in the same boat (literally) with  a whole world of sales people trying to gain their business too.  Now bear in mind, this tip is most effective if you are working a specific City/County/State market like I am.

What happens in your prospects mind, is by simply giving them your local phone number, they know that they are dealing with a local person and a local company. And as we all know, prospects are just people, and people like people that are like themselves, local.

Sean L. Heiner