Training Tips

Be A Star: Speaking lessons from the movies

Presenting oneself with confidence and finesse can go a long way in life, as well as sales. No one knows how to put their best feet forward better than Hollywood movie stars, so in her salesopedia.com article “What Hollywood Taught Me,” Patricia Fripp gives the following presentation tips learned from films:

1. “Flavor” scenes. Good movie scripts open with a scene that sets the audience up for what is to come. The first thirty seconds of a good presentation should do the same thing.

2. Scene changes. “The biggest enemy of a speaker, now matter how good, is sameness or lack of variety,” says Fripp. Energy levels must change to keep the audience listening.

3. Great stories. Sales presentations should be captivating and intriguing. Sales professionals must keep customers on the edge of their seats, and then give them a great resolution with the closing offer.

4. Strong characters. Including flesh-and-blood personalities in illustrations and anecdotes gives power to any presentation.

5. Dialogue.

6. Morals. “The funniest or most exhilarating story will be pointless if you don’t tie into your theme and provide a lesson learned,” Fripp writes.

7. Collaboration. Brainstorming with other sales professionals produces more mature, well-rounded presentations.

“Identify the story you want to tell, populate it with flesh and blood characters, add stimulating dialogue and provide a dramatic lesson learned,” Fripp concludes.

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Inspiring Employees: Seven principles that work

One of the most valuable skills a manager can have is the ability to inspire his or her employees. In her businessknowhow.com article “The Seven Principles for Inspiring Employees,” Terry Barber says the following behaviors can help managers do just that:

1. Being sincere. Managers should appeal to sales professionals with the truth: they truly need them in order to make the company successful.

2. Sharing their goals. “Be creative in aligning their tasks for today with their dreams for tomorrow,” Barber writes.

3. Seeing their potential. Managers who are observant will soon notice unique, inherent talents in their employees. Help them capitalize on their abilities.

4. Being credible. Leading with moral authority and integrity makes it easier for employees to look up to managers.

5. Telling them great stories. Stories that come with a lesson can enrich a manager’s ability to connect with and inspire employees.

6. Reminding them that there’s more to life than work. It sounds unrelated, but by reminding employees that their work is only a piece of a larger puzzle, it can relieve stress and help them aim for their goals. Often goals at work are related to goals in life.

7. Creating a culture of inspiration. The office should be overflowing with inspiration. Instead of focusing on numbers, focus on dreams.

“Raising the inspiration factor one principle at a time will change the culture of your organization,” adds Barber. What kinds of things help inspire your employees? Please leave a comment and share with your peers.

Training Tips

Closing Basics

Tips for bringing it home

 

Most sales professionals have heard of ABC (Always Be Closing). In the changingminds.org article “Sales closing tips,” the author gives the following tips for closing techniques:

• ABC. Most sales professionals have heard of the acronym for “Always Be Closing,” but do they know that it’s only applicable to the overall strategy of sales? It should be a reminder of the goal of the conversation, not a literal driving force. Constantly battering customers for a close is not a good technique.

• Silence. After making a closing offer, reps must be quiet and listen to the response. It may be surprising how much is missed by a sales professional who just keeps on talking.

• Emotion. Customers will often say one thing but feel another. Sales professionals must pay close attention to the emotions behind words.

• Moderation. “It is not unknown for sales people to talk their customers into closure then carry right on and talk them out again,” the author says. This is called over-closing.

• Immediacy. “When a customer says ‘I’ll be back,’ sales people in different situations know that this is just an excuse to leave,” the author adds.

• Patience. Closing may not mean a sale instantly. There might be factors that require more attention or deliberation on the part of the customer.

“In all of these methods, remember that all closing techniques are appropriate only in particular circumstances,” the author writes.

What are some of your closing techniques? Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment.

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Do As I Do: Three ways to lead by example with meetings

Leadership is most effective when paired with integrity. Too many sales managers expect more of their employees than they do of themselves. In her bestmanagementarticles.com article “Lead by Example,” Colleen Stanley says weekly or monthly sales meetings must be run with the same standards and disciplines as sales calls. They must be:

1. On time. Managers must make it clear that all employees — including themselves — are expected to be in their seats and ready before the start time of the meeting.

2. Organized. “A well-planned meeting with an agenda ensures the sales call is beneficial for both the sales person and the prospect. The same theory applies to running effective sales meetings,” Stanley writes.

3. Conclusive. Just as sales calls should end with setting mutually agreed upon next steps of action, meetings should end with clear expectations of action items.

“An effective sales leader knows their sales team is watching,” says Stanley.

Do you make it a point to lead by example every day? In what way? What are some of your past struggles and triumphs? Please leave a comment!

Training Tips

Consistent Success: The path to good habits

Success comes naturally for some people, but it does not mean it comes effortlessly. Those people who always seem to come out on top have discovered how to implement successful habits in their lives. In his sideroad.com article “The Habit of Success,” Edward Aldama offers the following ways to cultivate good habits:

• Make it involuntary. “When we want to get off the couch to pick up a book or answer the door we don’t stop to think about how to perform this balancing act, we simply stand up and walk where we want to go,” Aldama says. Just as the actions to perform the simple task of walking are important to ingrain in oneself, so are the steps to success. Sales professionals should be so intoned with what it takes to succeed that it becomes second nature.

• Motivate yourself. Just as children begin to walk in order to receive praise from their parents, sales reps should focus on the payoff when trying to reach their goals. Beyond monetary rewards, praise from coworkers, recognition from the company, personal achievement and the pride of their family can help motivate sales professionals to complete their goals.

• Practice. After discovering behaviors that lead to success consistently, sales professionals should repeat them until they become habits.

“To achieve any goal you must simply learn what steps and skills are required to reach it, then apply those steps and practice the skills over and over,” Aldama writes. 

What are some of the habits you've learned that bring you consistent success?

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Team Players: How to help your employees win, together

Just like any team sport, winning in sales is a group effort. In her salesgravy.com article “Winning in Sales is a Team Sport,” Jill Myrick offers the following ways managers can bring their teams together and make them stronger:

• Have group discussions. Once a week, managers should lead a meeting. This should be more than a pep talk; this should be the time to share customer feedback, personal experiences, successes and disappointments.

• Encourage peer analysis. Sales professionals can greatly benefit from analyzing one another’s wins and losses.

• Ask team members to share their best practices with everyone else.

• Identify experts. Each member of a team has a special talent, and it is important for managers to help them identify and develop it. The whole team will benefit from their expertise.

• Host guest speakers. Having special visitors at meetings — such as executives from the company or leaders in the community — can bring fresh energy and insight to the team.

• Share referrals. “Review each other’s target account lists and determine where referrals sources may exist across your team,” Myrick says.

• Use leadership abilities to enable employees. Managers have the power to help their team succeed, but they must consciously use it to eliminate barriers and create opportunities.

• Engage everyone in the company in the effort toward success.

• Be loyal to the customer’s needs first and foremost.

“Winning is a team sport. Get the entire team in position and enjoy a winning season,” Myrick writes.

What ways has your team found to work together? Did you find any of these tips helpful or insightful? Comment and share your thoughts.

Training Tips

Get Noticed: Easy ways to stand apart

It can be difficult to know how to compete in tough markets. In her eyesonsales.com article “Staying Competitive and Staying in Touch,” Andrea Nierenberg discusses a few ways for sales professionals to set themselves apart from the masses, including:

• Using Google Alerts. This is a great tool for staying in touch and sharing news. It keeps sales professionals at the forefront of their clients’ minds.

• Investing in gadgets. “Buy a digital pen! They are a great conversation piece and a time saver,” says Nierenberg.

• Asking clients about their preferred medium of communication. Although e-mail is usually most convenient, some clients prefer to communicate with phone calls or text messaging. This information can be written down in the client database along with personal information. It will show that sales professionals really care about customers’ needs.

• Sending handwritten notes. Because notes sent on paper are so unusual these days, they get noticed more.

“These suggestions are all ‘going back to basics’ — simple and easy to implement into your daily schedule,” says Nierenberg.

What do you do to stand apart to your clients? Have any of the strategies on this list worked for you? Why or why not? Please comment and join the conversation.

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Understanding Methods for Pricing

Pricing is one of the most significant determining factors for buyers. It can set a company apart from its competitors. In his marketing.about.com article, Jay B. Lipe discusses the importance of, the methods for and the risks of pricing.

“Each time a buyer chooses a product, they match up a price with its promises. So, it is your job to understand what are the price and promises for your services,” Lipe writes.

Factors that should be considered when setting price include packaging, quality of materials, product performance, delivery, deadlines and experience level of the provider. If promises are made and then broken, a company’s prices will be challenged through customer complaints, delayed payments and reputation risks.

When calculating prices, companies should be using more than one criterion. That way, if calculations are wrong or skewed, there are more ways to determine the correct prices. The three methods for pricing include:

1. Using cost. By taking into account the cost of the product and the desired profit, the total makes for a good starting point for a desired price.

2. Using competition. After creating a cost-based price, companies usually compare it to other market prices.

3. Using position. After making calculations, it’s time to really consider where the company stands in the market and make a final decision based on observations.

Even companies that are fully aware and well versed in the best methods for setting price can make mistakes. One major mistake is to set prices very low when business is slow and plan to raise them again when it picks up. This causes problems because it establishes the company as having lower quality compared to competitors. Also, it is difficult to cover basic costs with a very low price. Employees who suffer under price cuts also have a hard time working for such little payoff. Instead, Lipe says it’s better to err on the side of higher pricing.

“This will position you as higher quality and will ensure adequate profitability from the get-go,” he explains.

Another mistake is discounting. By offering discounts, reps may unknowingly communicate that their prices are over-inflated. This causes buyers to feel compelled to continue negotiating to the lowest possible price. A better alternative is to couple discounts with compromises in services or product. For example, when a rep lowers a price on an ad, it’s best to compromise by reducing the size or period of time it will run by a few days.

“Sure pricing is a financial matter, but just as important, it’s a marketing matter that impacts your position, your selling abilities and your brand,” concludes Lipe.

How has your understanding of your company's pricing made selling easier or more effective? What kind of information do you have to offer to your peers? Please comment and share.