Category: Friday’s Top 10’s

Being the best salesperson in your group or company requires dedication, focus, and hard work. But being the absolute worst is an accomplishment that anyone can achieve. You have been watching the top-dog like a hawk to learn what it takes to be the best, but have you ever looked at the folks on the bottom? There are many lessons to learn by taking a good & long look at the ones bringing up the rear. Every sales team has that one guy or gal who never gets their act together. But just as success requires habits and leaves clues, so does ineptitude. Here are 10 tips to become the caboose of your sales team:

10: Having a Bad Attitude

Rudeness and unprofessional behavior are unacceptable under any circumstances. Yet surprisingly, you will meet some salespeople who act plain rude with leads & clients, as well as their coworkers and leadership in the company. This type of behavior gives the prospect the wrong impression about your company. The potential buyer does not get a proper picture of the offer, as they will probably not even wait for the sales call to end. You will lose many sales like this. Plus being a shithead to the other salespeople on your team will get you no support in your organization.

Do this instead: There is power in being liked. Be yourself, but as the attractive character. The guy 0r gal everyone wants to be around.

9: Being Late to Everything

Being on time is not only important to a customer, but also important to EVERYONE! No one would be happy if their food delivery were late, or the cable guy says he is running 2 hours behind. That would make you angry! The salespeople represent the first contact customers have with your company. First impressions are not set-in stone, but they give a lasting view. Being on time for your appointment is the first chance to make a good impression on the client and increase their confidence in your company.

Do this instead: Use a digital calendar with reminders setup. Integrate this into your email calendar as well.

8: Not Listening to the Customer

In order to present the proper solution to a prospect, you need to listen & observe with great focus so that you pick up on what’s most important to your client. Let them tell their story. Within their narrative you will hear a pain-point, also called the “Hot Button.” Your solution should be geared toward eliminating that pain. If you do not give the potential customer time to explain the problem they are having, then you risk the sale by missing their “hot button.”

Do this instead: Listen with intent, and pickup on what their true pain points are. What solution will relieve the pain.

7: You Are Not Even Trying to Articulate Yourself

Have you ever heard a recording of your sales process? Would you be willing to put $5 on the line for every “Uh…” that was uttered in your sales call? Every salesperson must know how to articulate themselves clearly & confidently. That starts from the greeting, then in qualifying the clients with simple questions. When asked a question by the prospect, your answers should also be clear and concise. If you cannot do this, you come across uneducated on what you’re selling.

Do this instead: Communicate clearly with simple language. Clarity trumps complication every time.

6: Being Rigid & Inflexible

A poor salesperson will force all their clients into the same rigid process each time. Every client has their own style, pace, and tone. A great salesperson should be aware of different personalities and various situations. You must be flexible and able to adapt to different circumstances. It’s great to dial in your presentation to be the same content, but the buyers are rarely the same. Each buyer wants to feel special and expects the salesperson to understand his circumstances. Being unable to match your prospect will cost you many sales.

Do this instead: Adapt to each client’s pace and understanding.

5: Delivering a Poor Pitch

A great way to blow a deal on an interested buyer is to fumble through your presentation. Better yet, you can diminish nearly all your chances by trying to wing it! The presentation may be (or highly likely to be) the first time a prospect will get the full details about your product. If your product is not shown correctly to the customer, he is very unlikely to buy. Practice your presentation over & over until it becomes ingrained in your mind. Use product literature, if possible, to keep you on track.

Do this instead: Have your presentation down cold so you can deliver with confidence, and not get derailed.

4: Talking Only About Price

Poor salespeople will attempt to justify their price, but the most effective way to earn a client is to build value. It is less likely for a deal to close when the salesperson depends on price to close the sales. The prospective buyer will be quick to take advantage when he sees that the deal depends on the cost of the product. The prospect will drive the price as low as they can. The buyer may even hold off, and then not even buy, until they get a deep discount. Relying on price alone is just asking to take a heavy cut in profits in order to close sales.

Do this instead: Build value in your product or service by tying a benefit you offer to a pain-point it solves.

3: Not Asking for the Sale

You cannot get what you don’t ask for. This is a common fault of the salespeople that make up the bottom, but a lethal one. The part of the sale that separates the professional from the amateurs is the close. Getting them to make a buying decision is a result of all the other parts for your sales process falling in line. Many sales have been lost because the salesperson did not know when to close the sale. A good salesperson is in tune with the prospective buyer and knows instinctively when to move to close the sale. If you did all the other parts of your process correctly, you have earned the right to ask for the business. You cannot wait for the client to say, “I’ll take it!” Many times, a simple question is all it takes.

Do this instead: Forget learning 50+ ways to close the sale. Look for a signal that they are digging your product and move them to the next step.

2: Hard Selling and Pressuring the Prospect

A “hard sell” is when salespeople try to push the sale on the prospective customer. Badgering someone to buy your stuff will just give you a poor market reputation. Pressing a buyer will only make them aggressive, and they will try to get rid of that salesperson as soon as possible. It is a proven fact that people love to buy, but nobody likes to be sold. We are in a modern age with choices like we have never had before. The old tricks of sales are very seldom effective. A powerful presentation and asking for sales at the appropriate time is how business is done in the 2020’s.

Do this instead: Make your process as easy as possible, and that will make closing the sale smoother.

And the number 1 HABITS OF THE WORST SALESPEOPLE IS….

1: Never Following Up

You had a great sales call, but they did not buy. If they really wanted your stuff, they would call you back. So, I guess we should never try to talk to them again, right? No! Follow up with the prospect until they tell you not to anymore. I’m not talking about pressuring them. A great salesperson will contact the prospect on a regular basis until they buy or tell him or her to buzz off. Follow up is especially important, and in reality, it’s just good manners. If a salesperson does not know how to properly and professionally follow up, they will end up losing valuable customers and sales. 80% off all sales are closed after the first meeting.

Do this instead: Follow up via text and/or email can be built into your CLIENTVINE CRM. Regular follow ups by phone should be set up as reminders.

Remember to keep things simple and always FOLLOW UP!

Happy Selling,

David

“Work Hard and Stay Hungry.  Lazy People Get Nowhere in Life”

“You are your greatest asset. Put your time, effort and money into training, grooming, and encouraging your greatest asset”- Tom Hopkins

Good Friday morning. There are hundreds of thousands of books about sales, but only a few that stood the test of time.

If you plan on being a serious salesperson I highly recommend picking up a few of the classic books on selling in order to improve your skillset. Most are available as a Auditable or Kindle book.

Let‘s check out this Friday’s Top 10 Best Sales Books and how they can help you improve your skillset.

10. To Sell Is Human – Daniel H. Pink

In this book Daniel H. Pink explores the power, reality and impact of selling in our everyday lives. He makes the startling discovery that one out every nine Americans works in some sort of sales related occupation.

Through his novel, he convinces why that number is actually much higher. The book offers a new perspective on the science of selling and gives insight into the emerging changes of the old school ABC methods of selling. He also gives insightful explanation as to why extroverts actually don’t make the best salespeople and how giving people options for the actions is more persuasive than attempting to close them.  This book is for salespeople who want a fresh approach to their sales methodology and some mind bending data about the world of sales.

9. Spin Selling – Neil Rackham

Spin Selling is a great book for anyone who is involved in the sales or management process inside a business. The book takes a different approach to sales and argues that the most successful sales occurs with the least amount of sales techniques involved.

In his research, Neil found that traditional sales methods which were developed for small scale consumers just won’t work inside big time organizations. From his research he developed this SPIN method of selling:

• Situation
• Problem
• Implication
• Need Payoff

Although most people argued against his method, it was hard to refute his real world data which clearly supported his system.

Spin Selling is for anyone who is in the sales world and is in the process of transition from small scale sales organization and into a larger one. As Neil argues, not all sales are built the same. Therefore it’s important to adjust your sales approach as you move transition into different types of sales roles. ‍

Reading this book will help you discover different ways of selling that you may not have considered if you are in a transition period in your sales career. It can help you refine you sales process and understand what can separate you from simply a good salesperson to a great one.

8. The Ultimate Sales Machine: Chat Holmes

nside The Ultimate Sales Machine, Chet Holmes starts off the book with one very simple yet powerful concept: the power of focus! Instead of trying different strategies and techniques that are recommend by other sales gurus, Holmes argues that instead of trying different sales strategies, pick one and focus on perfecting it before moving on to others.

He strongly believes that a focused approach can help you improve every part of your business and by spending just a limited time per week on each of the areas for which you want to improve. This book is meant for business owners or aspiring business owners who want to take their business to the next level by focusing on improving key components inside their business one at a time.

Reading this book will not only help you improve processes inside your business, it will help you find a balanced approach to your everyday life. Don’t spend hours per week focused on tasks that don’t yield your positive results, focus on the things you know you can improve and take them to the next level.

7. The Psychology of Selling: Brain Tracy

A true classic here. The main premise of the Psychology of Selling focuses on giving you a series of different ideas and strategies that you can immediately use in order to quickly get more sales inside your business or practice.

It starts off by explaining the whole game of selling and how you can systematically set and achieve sales goals. It conti nues on with many different things such as why people buy in the first place, creative selling strategies, how to get more appointments, power of suggestion and how to properly make the sale. This book is for all levels of salespeople who want to make an improvement in their selling techniques and also find other techniques that they have not considered before. It focuses on psychological factors and the kind of processes that goes on inside someone’s head before they make a purchasing decisions. If you don’t have a proper structured guide to your sales process this book can help serve as a blueprint to your process. It gives you time tested fundamental sales strategies which you can follow step by step in order to improve your sales process. It can also help give you different ideas on how to approach your leads and optimize your selling technique in order to close more sales.

6. The Greatest Salesman in the World  – OG Mandino

While I haven’t read this one yet it comes highly recommended. The Greatest Salesman in the world is a book that is meant to serve as a philosophical guide to craft of salesmanship and revolves around the story of Hafid. Hafid, although just a poor camel boy goes on to achieve a life full of abundance.

The main points of the book are detailed in the ancient scrolls which are filled with many lessons on developing your craft as a salesman. This book is meant for all levels of salespeople who wish to take a philosophical approach to sales in order to help improve their crafts in their own light. Reading this book will help you see the journey of a struggling boy who through perseverance and effort brought himself out of poverty and into a life full of abundance. It presses on the importance of obstacles and how they help to take your success of selling to the next level. Not only in sales, but obstacles are important to overcome in all walks of life because they help to mold the character of an individual.

5. Secrets of Closing The Sale – Zig Ziglar

Yet another classic one here. Zig is the man and known for his great sales quotes as well. In Secrets of Closing The Sale, Zig Ziglar outlines the methods behind getting positive responses from people and how it can help you close. The book features over 100 successful closings types for any kind of persuasion, over 700 questions that will shed light on possibilities you may have overlooked and so much more.

He also breaks down how to use your imagination to drive results and gives professional tips from some of the world’s top salespeople. his books is intended for any salespeople who want to work on improving their closing style and exploring new ways to close the most difficult deals. Closing a sale is no easy task, but the techniques and principles outlined in Ziglar’s book provide clarity and simplicity in order to help improve your closing skills. His strategies will help you approach your prospects with confidence and improve your chances of closing a deal.

4. Pitch Anything – Oren Klaff

Pitch Anything is a great book to read when it comes to developing a strong delivery method to your sales pitches regardless of what you are selling. It focuses on teaching you the best delivery strategies to make your pitch irresistible.

In his book, Oren Klaff explains the process that the human brain goes through when it comes to making purchasing decisions and how it responds to pitches. He believes that creating and presenting a great sales pitch isn’t some god given talent, there’s a structured process that anyone can follow. With the information in this book you will be better equipped with the necessary knowledge you need in order to create and deliver an irresistible sales pitch. This books is for salespeople and leaders who want to take their persuasion and pitching skills to the next level. It’s meant to give you a structured approach to pitching and persuading people in a non-invasive strong way.  

Pitch Anything brings you the STRONG framework method of pitching which can be put in use right after you learn it. It’s extremely effective and can be learned quickly if you apply all the techniques. The STRONG framework includes:

Setting the Frame
Telling the Story
Revealing the Intrigue
Offering the Prize
Nailing the Hook Point
Getting a Decision

3. The Little Red Book of Selling – Jeffrey Gitomer

The Little Red Book of Selling is an awesome book on sales because it focuses on the other end of sales, why people buy. Gitomer believes that most sales-people focus too much on fancy selling techniques and high pressure tactics instead of asking why people buy in the first place.

The aim of this book for sales-people solves a very important question for sales people that takes them into the mind of the buyer and their purchasing decision. This book is full of principles and reason that people are looking for in order to help them make sales at the moment and for the future. Most sales people are all about action and selling. The great part about this book is that it’s full of that and so much more. It’s short and to the point with direct answers to objection handling, quotes, engaging cartoons and so much more. It will help you understand the psychology of the buyer and the most common reasons people buy.

2. How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie

This is perhaps one of the most popular books in sales and business of all time. Over 75 years of print and over 15 million copies sold worldwide it’s no question that this book has had major influence in the world of selling and business.

How to Win Friends and Influence People breaks down methods and strategies for you to persuade and win the attention of people with fundamental techniques that get people to like you. This book is for entrepreneurs, sales people and anyone in the business world who is interested in improving their interpersonal and communication skills. It’s essentially written for people from all walks of life who have an interest in improving themselves and their ability to relate to others. This book is a long time classic and there isn’t a person out there in the business world who hasn’t heard or read about it. It’s timeless and can serve as a great source of inspiration that one can always return to for lessons and methods that can help lead you to success.

And the #1 Best sales Book is….

1. Way of the Wolf: Straight Line Selling – Jordan Belfort

As one of the most popular modern day salespeople Jordan Belfort or also commonly known as the Wolf of Wall Street, has pioneered the straight line persuasion method. Weather you love him or hate him, there is no denying that he has a natural born ability to sell.

In his book, Jordan opens up people to his way of selling through a step by step system that any aspiring entrepreneur and salesperson can learn. Jordan reveals his tactics on how to persuade anyone to do anything regardless of their background. Any level of entrepreneur who is open and eager to learn sales techniques and practices which can transform their confidence and ability to connect with others. This book can help you learn the necessary skills you need to systematically improve your ability to sell.

The main premise behind Jordan Belfort’s Straight Line Persuasion System is that the fastest route to get from point A to point B in sales is through a straight line. Although every sale might look different to you depending on what it is that you are selling, the market, client and sales process is pretty much the same.

The Straight Line Persuasion System gives you the ability to close prospects who are indeed closeable and looking for something that you are offering.

1. Bonus – How to Master the Art of Selling – Tom Hopkins

Perhaps my favorite of them all. It’s hard to imagine not making a living without having read this book. The trick is to be selective about which bits you take on board and also to cut through the cheese. At the heart of this book is a philosophy that sales is not a matter of luck. It’s about planning, preparation and a lot of hard work. It’s also about building the defenses that let you handle the ups and downs of a job that relies on outside factors outside of your control for it’s success.

There are lots of moments in this book where you think – My God, I’d never say that to someone. or, My Goodness, I’m not doing that! And maybe you won’t. But the ideas behind the role plays and scripts are excellent, the trick is to to stop judging and think about how they might apply to your business and how these ideas can affect your income.

In order grow as a sales individual it’s important that you are constantly learning new strategies, techniques and methodologies that can improve your sales craft. These books all offer a unique approach to selling which can take your skills to the next level. Take the time to invest in yourself, your future self will thank you.

For more information about joining Payment Lynx and growing your portfolio please feel free to contact me at DMatney@PaymentLynx.com or 833-729-5969 ext. 5  to discuss partnering with Payment Lynx.

“You are your greatest asset. Put your time, effort and money into training, grooming, and encouraging your greatest asset.”
― Tom Hopkins