MAGNIFIED TRANSPARENCY

Your credibility with your customers is your number one sales credential. While your credibility has always been important to your customers, today it is not only foremost on a customer’s checklist for doing business with you, it is easy to measure.

The web has made it possible for customers, with a few clicks, to find out how accurate your every word is, whether about yourself, your products, or your organization.

Whether customers check blogs, social networks, etc. … they are checking. Faulty information won’t remain a secret for very long today thanks to the web. For example, flogs (fake blogs made to look as if they are generated by consumers) are easy to detect because facts are easy to check and expose in a matter of minutes. One salesperson lost a sale by making a less than truthful claim. He explained to his customer his mark-up was 5%. When the customer checked the web, he discovered a 7.5% mark-up. Armed with this, he not only had more negotiating power to get the deal he wanted, he chose another provider!

One candidate for a sales job was too casual about the pictures he showed on Facebook, giving his would-be employer insights better left for close friends. Magnified transparency is the new factor in the buyer-seller relationship.

So double-check your facts to guard your credibility and build on and keep the trust you’ve earned.


To learn more about Richardson's global sales training solutions, please visit our website at http://www.richardson.com

Not Business as Usual

Many salespeople are reporting that it is taking them twice as long to close a sale as compared to 2007. They also agree that there are fewer deals and, therefore, the need for them to close the deals that are in the pipeline is more acute. Certainly customers will not buy without clear value justification and trust in you. But what else can you do to increase your chances that you, not your competitor, get the business that is out there?

You likely have your closing checklist with questions such as, “Have you gotten to the economic decision maker?” “What is the budget?” and so on. Here’s another question to ask yourself to help you win the business and accelerate closing:

“What ADDITIONAL effort and resources can I put into this opportunity?”

You may be thinking that you are already doing everything possible and taking every extra step the opportunity warrants. And surely the resources you expend must be proportionate to the opportunity, but today, being creative in taking an extra step will pay off.

For example, can you involve a specialist or, to contain costs, arrange a conference call with him or her and your customer? Is there a senior from your team you can involve face-to-face or by phone? Can you add extra value without lowering your price? Can you do the project in stages? Can you demonstrate you go the extra step, for example, visit one of the company’s stores before your presentation to show your commitment to really knowing the customer? And how are you tactfully but clearly leveraging these extra steps and getting credit for your actions?

What is something you ordinarily don’t do that will dramatically show your customer you are there to meet his/her needs and add value? One retail salesperson whose day off was Thursday gave a customer and a prospect who wanted “to think about it” her cell number to be in touch with her if they had any questions. The prospect called her and she closed the sale on her day off.

Closing is taking longer and is more challenging. And one big reason is customers and being more careful so they don’t make a mistake. Therefore, your energy, effort, and creativity must be greater.

Following your normal process will lead to your normal results. Times are not all that normal. To bump up results, bump up what you are doing — more calls, more creativity, more ideas, greater responsiveness, more contact. It’s pretty clear that it takes more time and energy to get deals done. Do something your competitors aren’t doing. Help your customer feel safe and take the step to buy from you.

Please e-mail me at lrichardson@richardson.com and let us know what “extra” effort looks like for you and how it has paid off.

To learn more about Richardson's sales training solutions, please visit Richardon on the web at http://www.richardson.com

Bond Among Salespeople?

I watched Pioneers of Prime Time on PBS, a documentary on the early days of TV, with comic luminaries such as Red Skelton, Milton Berle, Gracie Allen, and George Burns. Each of the stars talked about the bond that existed among them because they were in “entertainment.”

It got me thinking about the “bond” among salespeople — Is there one? And, if so, what does it mean?

I think there is a bond — of the road warrior away from home, the pressure of the quarter, the relationship-building with clients. Whenever I meet salespeople, whether on a train or in a social setting, I feel a connection to them — their life, career choice, and life experience.

How do you feel? Is there a bond?

Lego Lessons for Salespeople

Over a sunny August weekend at the beach, I watched my 7-year old nephew, Dylan, assemble his birthday present, a Lego Aqua Raiders set. This Lego is way beyond what the simple Lego design I recall. It was aimed at 8 to 14 year olds and consisted of multiple plastic bags filled with complex small shapes, sizes, and colors and two instruction books, totaling 115 pages of small type and diagrams.

In the past, I’ve seen his dad help him with these difficult tasks but he wanted to do this one himself. Intermittently over the course of 3 days he sat whistling and working away at it.

I was astounded to see the concentration and methodology and I realized there was a lesson there for all of us in sales.

Just as he drew from his resources of among the dozens of the little plastic bags filled with tiny parts, salespeople draw from their resources, research, and experience. He used the instruction book to guide him piece by piece and looked ahead to see where each small design would take him. Salespeople’s set of instructions are their knowledge of the sales process, how to lead a call and follow a call plan. And they must think ahead to their goal.

Dylan would test each piece along the way. Salespeople must seek feedback from customers. Whether Legos or sales, tasks and sequence matters.

Dylan was motivated as he completed each piece by his sense of accomplishment and praise from all of us. When he ran into a snag, he backtracked and made adjustments. Salespeople too must get reinforcement and persist.

So some questions for you — When you are working to close a deal, how does your focus and commitment compare? If you run into trouble, can you regroup? Do you keep going to move forward to win the deal and build the relationship?

A note for sales managers: Aqua Raiders could be a good team building exercise. And if the team gets stuck, find a 7-year old.

-------------------------------------

To learn more about Richardson's comprehensive, customize sales training solutions, please visit us on the web at http://www.richardson.com

Sales Advice from Mad Men

Dan Draper, the “hero” of Mad Men, AMC’s hot Sunday night TV series, is full of sales advice.

Sunday night when he said, “You are the product. You feeling something. That’s what sells,” his idea of selling resonated with me

This has always been true for me. I remember once making a presentation for a colleague whose area of specialization I knew but not deep down as I know sales and sales management. We had no options and I had to make the presentation for him. As I made the presentation and answered questions, I remember thinking my words felt hollow. There was no passion behind them. The presentation was OK, just that OK.

I realized how lucky I am to be selling a product that I really “feel something” for.

How about you? How do you feel about your product? How much does how you feel about your product make a difference in your sales results?

Learn more about Richardson's comprehensive sales training .

Feedback - Ouch

I recently got negative feedback. I am usually open to feedback and actually appreciate it. But this time, it felt crushing. Why? I actually agreed with what was said. So why did I feel so upset?

I think I know why:
1)I got it in an e-mail and had no chance to ask questions and get deeper understanding
2)I got it third-hand
3)It wasn’t specific

I think feedback is truly the breakfast of sales champions. I got over feeling hurt once I got to talk to someone. In fact, I learned a lot and am grateful for the feedback because it pushed me to work to get to another level.

What have been your experiences with feedback? When has it helped? Hurt?

------------------------------


Linda Richardson is founder of Richardson, a global sales training and consulting company offering the most comprehensive total solutions in the industry. Richardson provides custom solutions by diagnosing needs, providing the best mode of training, assessing results, and embedding a reinforcement system and coaching to impact performance improvement.

Contact Richardson today to learn more.

New Book - Perfect Selling

Linda Richardson, Founder of Richardson, a leading sales training company, is pleased to announce the launch of her new book, Perfect Selling. Perfect Selling reveals the secrets to connecting with your clients, positioning your product, and walking away with a sale. Click here to learn more and pre-order your copy today.

Sales Managers — Spanning out of “Control?”

Many organizations are getting flatter and cutting costs. If this has resulted in you having more salespeople on your team, what tactics are you using to ensure you are giving them the support they need?

Drop Your Pricing?

A change in the economy demands a response.

Many industries are feeling a slow down. In this kind of economy, should you/are you lowering your price? If not, what strategies are you using to adjust to help your customers buy?

Let us know what you think —


Linda

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Linda Richardson is founder of Richardson (http://www.richardson.com/), a leading sales training and consulting firm. Ms. Richardson has written 9 books on selling including her most recent, The Sales Success Handbook. She has been published extensively in industry and training journals and has been featured in numerous publications.

An $8.00 cup of coffee?

As I walked past two construction workers on my way to work on a Monday morning, I overheard one of the workers saying to the other with an unmistakable tone of sarcasm, “I think I’ll walk and get an $8.00 cup of coffee.”

Not being a coffee drinker, on my way home from work I stopped at the "Local Coffee Shop" to check out the prices. For the record they did not have an $8.00 cup of coffee. The highest price cup of Starbucks coffee I could discern was $5.00 and that was with the works.

This snippet of street dialogue got me thinking about your industries and your clients.

Are you finding that your clients are more careful about their spending and making buying decisions?

What are you finding? How much discussion versus impact?

- Linda


------------------------

Linda Richardson is founder of Richardson (http://www.richardson.com/), a leading sales training and consulting firm. Ms. Richardson has written 9 books on selling including her most recent, The Sales Success Handbook. She has been published extensively in industry and training journals and has been featured in numerous publications.

The Economy???

With headlines warning of a possible slip into recession, it is important to re-look at each of our books of business.

A question for all of you to consider is — What new steps are you taking in your sales efforts to build a stronger pipeline to make sure you have a shot at every possible piece of good business in your market?

Share some ideas and possibly get some!

Linda

--------------------------------------

Linda Richardson is founder of Richardson (http://www.richardson.com), a leading global sales training and consulting firm. Linda is a recognized leader in the sales training industry and is credited with the movement to consultative selling. Ms. Richardson has written 9 books on sales including her most recent, The Sales Success Handbook. She has been published extensively in industry and training journals and has been featured in numerous publications.