Define your Terms to Create More Sales

Along my personal development journey I learned the value of defining terms. I use my personal story to illustrate the value of defining terms both personally and professionally.

I spent most of my life talking about how "hard" things were. And they were hard! I was a single mother at 22, survived a near fatal auto accident that left me with a handicap at 23, not to mention the other life stuff that goes on every day when you are working hard to make a living and raise a family.

An amazing thing happened when I redefined the word hard. It's curious...when I asked myself if my life was truly hard I had to admit, others had it much rougher than I did. What I discovered in truth is that I had some "challenges". There were some activities that were "difficult" for me. I did have to exert a littte more effort to get things done...but I could do them.

In that discovery I had an "Aha" moment...I could work with challenges and difficulty but hard things were just plain hard...and my speaking it made things even harder. So, I changed my vocabulary. When I would have habitually described a situation as "hard", I began replacing the word with a true statement. My attitude changed and, I swear, life got easier.

When it comes to doing business, I believe defining terms has been instrumental in building a profitable growing consulting practice, serving my clients, and creating business development curriculums.

For example, early on in my career I redefined selling.
Old definition: Selling is convincing someone to buy something they didn't need.
New definition: Selling is serving customers by discovering and matching a true need with a valuable solution.

When I quit trying to "sell" my customers and instead focused on serving, exchanging valuable information and connecting them to resources my sales increased immediately. Of course, I had to complete the sales process by creating an opportunity to purchase but that wasn't the end game...just part of serving.

Same thing with networking.
Old , old definition: Networking is schmoozing and positioning.
Old, new definition: Networking is relationship building, connecting people to people, and perfect elevator pitches.
New definition: Networking is a strategic marketing activity intended to increase exposure, build credibility, and create opportunities in addition to generating leads.

What I began to view my networking in light of the bigger picture, my sales increased exponentially. As a matter of fact I doubled my sales in one year using this new definition. Achieving this led me to clearly see and define another type of valuable networking activity; networking to build professional relationships or strategic partnerships.

Check this for yourself. How do you define these terms? Is it working for you?

Watch for an upcoming post on our definition of packaging, pricing, and target marketing.

Happy Networking!

Sales Secret from Mexico - Start the Conversation

Laying on the beach in sunny Puerto Vallarta for nearly 2 weeks, I was gently reminded of one of the simplest secrets to more sales. It boils down to getting a conversation started.

War stories have been told and many have experienced the vendors in Mexico whether on the beach or at the market. I had to listen to many a bragging story poolside about how one of our comrades negotiated a great deal. For those of us from America it can become sport for us.

As I had time to reflect, I realized these people make their living making it easy for you and me to take home mementos of our experience or local goods. There are so many of them. I wondered how they could compete. It made me curious.

They all use the same approach. Some with more finesse than others but their goal is simple; to engage you, the tourist, in conversation about their product.

With most of us sunbathing, book reading or napping, you might wonder how they could succeed without being a big nuisance. I have to admit, during the first few days, they were a little distracting but when you realize their culture and business model I found it is fairly easy to adapt.

Their techniques were varied. On the beach or by the pool they might whistle to get my attention. Others times they called gently, "hey lady!" and held up their wares. One guy came through our beach at the same time every day calling out in his ringing voice "Muffin man, muffin man! Line up 2 by 2 to get your fresh muffins!"

They were very gracious when my reply was, "no, gracias." However, if I did take an interest in their wares by taking a long look or asking a question, they were quick to start a conversation. Describing their product and asking me a question in return.

In contrast when we were in the market downtown, we were regularly invited into the shops to take a look around. "Looking is free" they would comment. Or my favorite, "You like this? Today for you, senora, is almost free."

While I giggled from time to time as I observed and participated in the sales process it drove home the point. The sale starts with a conversation. Do all sales conversations end successfully? No! But I was reminded, the more conversations you have, the more sales you will get. I know that sounds obvious but it made me ask myself the following question, which I will in turn ask you.

• How many techniques do you employ to start a conversation with your prospects, customers, and partners?
• Are you comfortable with the conversation starters you are using today? If not, what else might you do? Get creative.

The more conversations you have, the more your sales will grow!

Another AHA from the beach: Why some of the vendors do better than others. They remember their customers. We first visited PV last year. One of the vendors we purchased from remembered us. Amazing! Out of all the people strewn out along Banderas Bay. His friendly greeting and inquiry about the earrings I bought last year was just another confirmation that the business basics are the same everywhere.

Our new friend is Daniel. He works the beach every day during the tourist seasons. We learned a little about his family. Now that we know him and he knows us, we wouldn't dream of buying jewelry from anyone else.

Sounds familiar doesn't it. Start the conversation. Build rapport. It is about the relationship!

Happy Selling!

More Sales Made Easy! 5 Steps to Boost your Impact

Sales increase is the buzz in the air this year. Tactics, opportunities, belief, excitement! As a business strategist I find myself dissecting this activity, yet again, to find it is the little things that make a big difference.

The act of selling is comprised of so many components (not to mention the changing markets) it is an activity that requires continuous attention. Here are some tips to tune up and make the process your own.

1. Map the sales cycle. i.e. lead generation, first contact, second contact, proposal, review, close. Make sure you identify all the steps. (My technique is to get out a chart pad and make a flow chart.) After you have identified the steps, check yourself. Where do you lose prospects? What can you adjust to better connect with the client?
2. Review your sales conversation. Are you using a presentation style, discovery approach or combination of both? Identify the key conversation components and review your vocabulary. i.e. opening questions, developing questions, qualifying questions, closing questions, power statements, follow up questions, sales presentation. Ask a peer for feedback on your process.
3. Check your belief system. What is going on in your head as you work through the steps of the sales process? i.e. Do you find yourself thinking, "Sales is hard", "Nobody is buying", "I need sales", etc? This is an area that can kill your sales results! If you find you are suffering from "stinking thinking", call a coach, get some training, ask your peers...do something! Until you fix this all the others will not create lasting change.
4. Re-define your target market. Are you talking to the right prospects? If you have been selling, review your best customers. Create a profile of your ideal target market. Focus on their demographics, geographics, and psychographics*. *values, character qualities, and motivators Make sure you are working with the right people!
5. Assess your frequency. Are you performing your highest payoff sales tasks consistently? Why not? Implement systems, block time, and find a way to hold yourself accountable.

When you need more sales, whether your sales cycle is short or long, fine tuning any one of these areas will create impact.

Need more sales training? Check out Jeff Schneider at Sandler Sales System. Click on the calendar to find out more about his Cold Calling Clinics and Sales Boot Camps.

Another great sales resource is the book by Ron Willingham, "Integrity Based Selling for the 21st Century: How to Sell How People Want to Buy".

We are looking for more sales tips! Let us your favorite.

The Little Things Can Make a BIG Difference

Sometimes the processes or activities in our business that seem insignificant can leverage some big results.

One of the tactics we take when helping our clients find growth opportunities is to look at the way their customers want to do business with them. This usually brings to light some pretty simple ways to make the buying process easier for more customers.

A recent example comes to mind. When working with Hip Chicks do Wine last month we found some simple things that when implemented, immediately impacted their sales.

Hip Chicks is an urban winery located in the heart of Portland. In addition to making wine on-site, they offer seasonal events, tasting, in-house events and most of what you expect when you visit a winery out in the country. They have fun labels and some really good wine. Laurie Lewis and Renee Neely, the Hip Chicks, are the winemakers and the personalities that create the experience.

We discovered a couple of things pretty quickly that would invite and enable their customers to gain more of the Hip Chicks experience, such as:

1. Posting a sign that says "We ship wine". They do. Always have. But out of sight, out of mind. With many of their patrons being tourists, this reminder is an easy way to encourage taking the Hip Chicks experience home.
2. Offering and notifying patrons that they can waive the tasting fee with purchase of 6 bottles of wine. Typically, patrons in the tasting room purchase a bottle or two. With the purchase of six and the credit for the tasting fee, the patron saves 10-15%. This type of savings is typically reserved for purchases of 12 bottles or more.

This idea is so fun due to its simplicity. Finding growth opportunities in the little things are usually very easy to implement and typically low cost with high impact!

What about your business? Think about the buying process for your customer. What are some things you might do to make it easier for your customers to do business with you?

Happy Selling!

Cold Calling Secret

Cold calling is not my favorite thing. If you've heard me speak my stance on cold calling is, Why? Why cold call when you can network your way into warm leads.

I attended a workshop put on by the Institute of Management Consultants here in Portland and gained some insights from Cold Calling expert, Kathy Maixner of Selling Smart that changed my mind.

Now I know why I've always liked Kathy! Her fresh perspective on cold calling is very similar to my take on networking. I came away with 5 simple insights about cold calling.

1. Cold calling is just a contact. It is not the sale.
2. Be crystal clear on your target.
3. Be prepared. Do your homework on the company you are calling.
4. Have a script. Create a vocabulary that works for you. Make it meaningful.
5. Get over yourself.

I realized some people feel about networking the same as I do about cold calling. When I took the "sales" out of networking, contacts were easy. Kathy showed me, when it comes to initial contacts, whether cold calling or networking, it is just a point of discovery.

If cold calling is in your future, back up and rethink your objective. First to learn more, then to get an appointment to explore mutual benefit.

Happy Selling!

Sizzling Summer Strategies for Busy People

Summer’s here! As temperatures rise, so does the need to keep your business growing despite the challenge of juggling vacation-season schedules to call on prospects.

The good news: This is a great time to plan your fall strategy!

For many businesses, the bulk of business is done in the fourth quarter and has tremendous impact on their annual revenue. If you want to capitalize on the opportunities presented during this prime buying season here are some tips for making this your best fourth quarter ever:

1. Find your starting place: Assess your current revenue position and determine where you need to be to by December 31. Do you have the people, information and plans in place to get you there?
2. Check in against your business/marketing plan: Having a plan in place helps guide your marketing, sales and new product/service development efforts. Are you on target with your customer contact activities, new product development and lead-generation campaigns? Are you following up?
3. Measure your efforts: You can only improve when you know how you’re doing now. What benchmarks are in place to measure your successes (and failures)? Are you using the right tools and are they measuring the right activities to keep you clued in?

Best practices in sales productivity boil down to this bottom line: Do you know how many customers, products, or packages you need to reach your revenue goal? From there, who can help you reach more of that audience?

Tap into your network: Take stock of your relationship with the key players in your network. Knowing who shares your market and connecting with key players in your network can be the catalyst to not only meeting your revenue goals but launching you over the top.

Happy Networking!