Are You In Sales - Which One Are You?

Consulting Versus Selling by Brian Tracy

View Yourself as a Consultant
One particular self-image possessed by high-achieving salespeople is that they see themselves as consultants rather than as salespersons. They see themselves as problem solvers with their products or services rather than as vendors looking for someone who will trade them money for what they have to offer.

Approach Them as Clients
They do not approach their customers with hat in hand, hoping for a sale. They approach  their “clients” with the attitude that they are consultants calling on the prospect  to help him or her solve a problem or achieve a goal.

Ask Questions and Listen Carefully
Seeing themselves as consultants, they ask questions carefully and listen intently.  They focus all of their energies on understanding the customer’s situation so that they can make intelligent recommendations based on what the customer really wants  and needs.

Become an Expert in Your Field
As consultants, they recognize that they must be experts, authorities in their field.  They know their products and services from one end to the other. They invest many hours familiarizing themselves with every single detail of what they sell, and of  what their competitors sell as well. They know the strengths and weaknesses, the  advantages and shortcomings, the features and benefits of what they are offering.  They have excellent product knowledge, which their customers can sense and which  gives both themselves and their customers greater confidence throughout the sales  conversation.

Differentiate Yourself from Your Competitors
Top salespeople, positioning themselves as consultants, see themselves as resources for their clients. They see themselves and carry themselves as advisors, mentors and friends. They become emotionally involved in their transactions and they are generally concerned that their product or service be the ideal solution to the real  needs of the prospects they are dealing with. They differentiate themselves from  their competitors by being more concerned with helping their prospects than with selling their products or services. Their customers often feel that they care more  about them than they care about making a sale. And it’s true.

So set yourself apart/differentiate and build that relationship by showing them you care (check out the video); we use it, we love it and the system works!!!

 

Personal Development - Take Some Time & Just Do It

Dedicate Yourself to Educate Yourself by the GREAT Tom Hopkins

To become and remain a professional in the business of selling, you must recognize that you are in charge of your own training and act on that fact. Build on your strengths and correct your weaknesses. If you aren’t sure of what to work on first, there is certainly someone in your life who will gladly assist you—your manager, your spouse, your children, a trusted friend.

Here are six skill areas that I strongly recommend you consider developing or strengthening:

Negotiation
Do you consider yourself a trained negotiator? Trained negotiators can quickly and effectively analyze the details of situations and determine the best route to resolution. If that brief description doesn’t fit you, make an effort to find a book, tape or seminar on the subject, and then schedule the time to learn from it.

A Second Language
Consider the part of the country in which you live and those people you do business with. As our country continually redefines itself by its people, be aware of the advantages of being able to communicate with others in their native tongues. Today’s projections show that both Hispanic and Asian portions of the population are on the increase. To be able to offer your fine services to more people, you must learn more about them, their language and their cultures.

Voice
Since your clients choose to “own” your products or services based on what you say and how you represent them, doesn’t it make sense that you train your voice to give the highest level of professional presentation? If you’ve never considered voice training before, tape yourself giving a portion of your presentation and then listen to it. Most of us hate the sound of our voice on tape. Just imagine how our clients must feel when listening to us. To project your message with clarity and power, consider at least one session with a voice coach. They can be found in your local Yellow Pages or through a quick search online.

Public Speaking
Many sales professionals find that giving short speeches in their communities helps build their name recognition and their business. Public speaking is also a great way to build your confidence. Try your skills out by speaking to your child’s class about what you do or a hobby you have. Teachers love it when the students can learn first-hand about careers. Join Toastmasters International. There are local chapters in just about every city. They provide excellent opportunities to hone your skills and meet other business professionals with whom you might do business or share referrals.

Memory
Having a good memory is critical to anyone in today’s world, but especially so to those of us who meet many new people every week. I have learned to make a game of it in my career. I challenge myself to remember as many people and their stories as I can. There are some great courses and books written on this subject. Even if you learn and use only one small strategy, I guarantee you’ll see the benefit of having done so.

Math
Don’t cringe on me here. I know there is a large percentage of people who hate math. However, in business, you need to know some basic math skills really well. How does it look when you take a client to lunch and you have to think really hard to calculate the tip? Do you think that will raise any doubts about your competency in the client’s mind? Of course it will. Also, when clients toss out figures in their projections, you have to be quick on the uptake in understanding what that means in your business—quantities of supplies they’ll need, projecting delivery dates and times, etc. Practice your math skills. Every time you hear or see a number in a conversation, or even in a bit of advertising, take a moment to work with the number and see what it means. Compute unit costs for grocery items—$1.29 for 12 ounces. How much is that per ounce? I know the favorite computation of every salesperson who works on a fee basis is to determine their percentage of every sale. Don’t stop there. Play the numbers game often, and you’ll get better at winning.

Choose just one of these six areas and dedicate yourself to improving in it this month. Then, next month, choose another. Once you get started on this journey of self-education, you’ll be amazed at what you learn and how simple things can have a powerful impact on your overall success in life.

Albert Einstein's - 10 Life's Lessons; It's Worth A Read

The 10 Amazing Life Lessons You Can Learn From Albert Einstein

1. Follow Your Curiosity. "I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious."
2. Perseverance is Priceless. "It's not that I'm so smart; it's just that I stay with problems longer."
3. Focus on the Present. "Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves."
4. The Imagination is Powerful. "Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions. Imagination is more important than knowledge."
5. Make Mistakes. "A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new."
6. Live in the Moment. "I never think of the future - it comes soon enough."
7. Create Value. "Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value."
8. Don't Expect Different Results. "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
9. Knowledge Comes From Experience. "Information is not knowledge. The only source of knowledge is experience."
10. Learn the Rules and Then Play Better. "You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else."

Heck, if Einstein found these lessons useful and applied them in his life…probably a great idea that I/You/We do as well!

Persistence by Les Brown

I believe there are three kinds of people. There are winners, who know what they want and understand their potential and the possibilities. They take life on and SEE THE BIG PICTURE; Do you see the big picture?

Next are losers, who don’t have a clue as to who they are. They allow circumstances to shape their lives and their self-image.

I believe there is a third group as well. This consists of potential winners whose lives are just slightly out of alignment. I call them “wayward winners.” It may be that they just need to learn how to be real winners. Perhaps they’ve hit a bump or two that has knocked them off course and they are temporarily befuddled. A failed relationship, a lost job, financial problems, unformed goals, a lack of parental support, illness—many things can send us off course temporarily.

Wayward winners are not lost souls; they just need some tweaking and coaching and nudging to get them back on course. A map might be nice. Many of these wayward winners are easily identifiable because they are always searching.

Right now, there are many wayward winners out there braving rain, sleet and snow because they, too, still believe that they have untapped talents. They attend motivational seminars and listen to inspirational tapes, and they plunge onward, believing that, sooner or later, they will find their way again.

Other wayward winners have temporarily given up. They are damaged and disoriented, their confidence badly eroded. They tend to drift through life numbly. The friends and relatives and loved ones of wayward winners see that they are out of sync and wonder why they can’t be satisfied, why they won’t settle down. They wonder how people who have such obvious abilities and great potential can be so disoriented and unsure.

It is difficult for others to understand the rawness of a broken heart or the aching emptiness of an unguided spirit. You and I know — we have been there. Wayward winners know that there are possibilities out there, but too often, they feel locked out from them. Some are afraid to risk any more because of what they have risked and lost already.

I know now that as difficult as it may be for you wayward winners to do, it is necessary to continue to test yourselves. Even though you have been hurt before, it is the only way to grow. We all have the capacity to change, to lead meaningful and productive lives by awakening our consciousness.

You know there will be tough times as you go change your life, so brace yourself, and you will be able to handle them. When you get into your seat on an airplane, what is the first thing they tell you to do? Fasten your seat belt. Brace yourself for the turbulence.

When you decide to move your life to the next level of accomplishment, you must fasten your mental and spiritual seat belts because it is going to be a while before you reach that comfortable level again. You will reach it, but you must endure the turbulence of change in order to grow.

Try this technique to help you through the difficult times of change and growth. Find four reasons why you cannot succumb to your fears and your troubles. Find those deep sources of motivation that can lift you out of the turbulence and above the clouds. You must change your life because:

*You have not yet tapped the talents given to you.
*You want to leave something more for your children.
*You want to live life rather than let life live you.
*You want to do what makes YOU happy.

It is in these rocky early moments of bringing change to your life that you discover who you are. In the prosperous times, you build what is in your pocket. In the tough times, you strengthen what is in your heart. And that is when you gain insight into yourself, insight that leads to self-mastery and an expansion of your consciousness as a life force in both your personal and professional lives.

Achieving Success by Expecting Success by Zig Ziglar

When you plan and prepare carefully, you can legitimately expect to have success in your efforts. When you recognize and develop the winning qualities that you were born with, the winner you were born to be emerges. When you plan and prepare to make a sale, for example, you can legitimately expect to make a sale. Although not all your expectations are going to come to pass, you give yourself an infinitely better chance of succeeding by taking the proper steps. Regardless of your goal—losing weight, making more sales, furthering your education, earning a promotion, saving money for a new home or an exotic vacation—you can expect to achieve your goal if you plan and prepare for it.

Also understand that the path from where you are to where you want to be is not always smooth and straight. The reason for the twists and bumps is simple, and it has nothing to do with you. It has more to do with the fact that not everyone is as interested in your success as you are. Some people may accidentally hinder your efforts; others who are in competition with you and have little or no integrity may try to sabotage your efforts.

Keep in mind, though, that when you hit those roadblocks, your character, commitment and attitude are the determining factors in your success. Carefully review your plan of action, seek wise counsel, and be particularly careful to feed your mind good information. An optimistic, positive mind is far more likely to come up with creative solutions than a mind that dwells on setbacks and difficulties.

Bottom line: expect success and you can achieve it!