I always feel if my competition wants to slack off during the summer, I am more than happy to pick up their customers.

While some salespeople do cut back during the summer, it also can be  the customers who start canceling appointments.

Here are a four ways to prevent sales call cancellations in the summer:

1. Always have a back-up plan for Friday sales calls.

Many times in the summer, people will find themselves sliding out of the office early or not coming in at all.  If you have an appointment scheduled for that day, you could suddenly find yourself coming up empty.

Always confirm Friday appointment no later than Thursday morning.  Reason is simple: Customers aren’t going to cancel on you after you’ve taken the time to confirm with them.  If they say they need to cancel when you do contact them Thursday morning, then hopefully you have enough left to schedule another appointment to fill the slot.

2.  Don’t hesitate to schedule appointments earlier than normal.

Summer schedules mean some places close a little earlier, but what it also can mean is that people tend to be available earlier in the morning for appointments.  Take advantage of 8 AM or even 7AM meetings.

3. When you schedule the appointment, let the customer know you’ll be bringing somebody else with you.

People are more likely to cancel a meeting if it is just you coming, but if you are bringing another person, the customer will feel more compelled to keep the meeting as planned.

4. Help the customer out by scheduling the afternoon meeting with them away from the office.  

A 3 PM meeting off-site could be the perfect excuse the customer needs to slip away from the office and not come back for the rest of the day.   Only do this with customers you know well.  They will appreciate it!

Don’t let your profits go down with the summer sun.  Instead, be proactive in using the above tips to make sure you meet or exceed your summer sales numbers.

Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.

Quit kidding yourself!

You’re not making any money off the low-price customer, regardless of what you think.  Let me give you 4 reasons.

Reason 1: The customer who demands a lower price from you is also going to be the customer who nags at you all the way through the sales process and long afterward.

Low-price customers are wired to think they can get everything cheap and they can get people to do for them whatever they ask.  These customers are only doing one thing — taking up your valuable time.

Reason 2: A customer who gets a low-price is one who will tell others.  Result is you will wind up having other customers expecting the same low-price or an even lower price than the first person.

Now that’s a great strategy for impressing all of your customers who paid full price.  How do you think they’re going to feel?

Reason 3:  Offering a price reduction is a drug you will find hard to resist.  Once you give one price discount to close a deal, you’ll be much more likely to offer another one and another one.

Soon, all pricing confidence you may have had is gone and you’re left thinking you’re only worth the lower price.

Reason 4: The final reason low-price customers are destroying your business is low-price customers never see the value of the relationship.  They will be far less likely to engage with you and work with you through the entire customer process.

Customers who pay full price understand value, and they value relationships.  Having customers like that are going to help you and the entire company improve.

Playing a low-price game is only going to  lower your profits and destroy your customer relationships.

It’s simple — If you want a short-term business, go ahead and lower your price.

If, on the other hand, you’re building a company that is going to last, then avoid the discount at all cost.

Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.

Remember as a child how excited you were in the days leading up to your birthday, Christmas or some other big event?

You couldn’t wait for that day to arrive, because you knew it was going to be amazing!

Why not approach this week the same way you approached those special days as a child?

Go ahead…do it!  Your sales motivation is depending on this kind of attitude.

As a child in the days leading up to Christmas, it seemed as if everything was a spectacle. I was constantly on the hunt for a clue and some sort of indication as to what Christmas morning might bring.

What a great approach to this week.

Approach it with the same open eyes and open ears, and be on the prowl for those new opportunities and the excitement that awaits.

Sometimes, I can’t help but think that maybe if we all had a little more child-like approach to our jobs, we would have more fun and get more out of those jobs.

With each call you make and each customer or prospect you meet, be looking for the unexpected clue and the new opportunity you may have been overlooking for months or even years.

One of the amazing things about a child and their new toys is the way they play with them.

I can remember on many occasions watching my own children completely disregarding the normal a way a toy should be used and using it in a completely different manner.  Yet, despite the fact they disregarded the instructions, they were gaining an incredible amount of fun out of it.

The same can be said with how we approach our customers. Sometimes we have to throw away the playbook and look at things differently to uncover the unexpected.

Let’s have fun this week. Be looking for the unexpected and making it the expected.

Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.

If so, you’re not alone!  All salespeople have things that chip away at their sales motivation. That’s why you need to know the best tricks to boost your sales motivation.

Check out the below video to hear what some of those tricks are:

Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. 

Should senior management play a role in the sales process?

Yes! And it should be an active role.

Regardless of how big or small the company, top management must understand what is happening in sales for one simple reason — Sales is the group that interfaces with the customer.

If you’re in a sales leadership position, you have to get your top management out with customers.  Problem is many times top management is actually afraid to do just that.   Yes, that is correct. They’re afraid.

I’ve had the privilege of working with numerous companies around the world and across many industries, and it is a fact that they are often afraid to go out on sales calls.

Here’s why:  Top management got to be where they are because they know how to control things. For them, walking in to meet a customer means in their mind they might not have control.  That being the case, many top managers will make up any and every excuse imaginable as to why they don’t have time to meet with customers.

It’s your job as a sales leader to help them overcome that problem. There are a few simple things you can do.

Easiest thing is you eliminate the excuse that they don’t have time by inviting the customer to your offices.  Arrange a special day for a good customer to tour your offices, see your operations and meet with people to discuss the business.  On the agenda, you allow for time to have the customer meet with senior management.  Suddenly, this becomes a lot easier for senior management, because the customer meeting is on their turf.

The next easiest thing to do is to arrange a day in the field for the senior management to meet with your salespeople.  Along with the meeting with salespeople, arrange a breakfast or lunch with a friendly customer you could introduce to top management.

Your goal is to make it easy for senior management.

Once they begin to see that customers don’t bite and they’re really excellent people to have discussions with, then you can begin to move up the food-chain get them out on a real sales call.

One thing to keep in mind.  Never let them them travel without you to a customer meeting.  For their comfort and to prevent things from being said that shouldn’t be said, it’s imperative for you to be with them for each customer meeting.

Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.

I want to share this list, as well as Top Sales World’s list of 50 Top Sales and Marketing Influencers of 2013.

While I’m humbly honored to be on both lists, I share the lists with you also to make sure you are aware of the many great sales speakers and trainers out there who are committed to helping you!!

That’s right!  All of the people on these lists offer resources, insights and tips aimed at helping you strengthen your skills.

I challenge you to scan BOTH lists and find at least one name that is new to you.  Visit their site and pick up some valuable information today.  Your career will thank you.

25 Top Sales Influencers for 2013 by OpenView Labs

50 Top Sales and Marketing Influencers for 2013 by Top Sales World

Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.

We’ve all said at one time or another under our breath while walking out of a customer’s office, “Stupid customer. They just don’t get it.”

I’d say there have been many a gathering of salespeople where the sole topic discussed is the stupidity of customers.

I hate to say it, but there are more than a few customers who are talking about salespeople and saying how stupid they are.  It kind of makes you wonder if maybe by some fate of bad luck that all of the bad customers wound up with all of the bad salespeople.

Now that begs the question, “Which came first? The stupid customer or the stupid salesperson?”

So which is it?

You probably think because I’m in sales that I’ll put the blame on the customer, and then add how it’s our responsibility to educate them.

Nope. I’m not going to say that.

There are some customers who are stupid and there are some salespeople who are right there with them. I would hope the stupid salespeople aren’t working for stupid bosses, because if they are, they won’t get what they deserve — terminated.

Customer can be stupid and my response is that some of them simply aren’t worth trying to educate.   Unless you are in an industry where there is zero chance of getting a new prospect, the best thing to do with a dumb customer is to walk away.  Let your competition knock themselves out trying to rehabilitate the stupid customer.

I’d prefer you pour your effort into finding and landing several new customers.

Before you go and get all excited about how you’re going to get rid of a bunch of customers, keep one thing in mind.  If you have more than one or two stupid customers, then you need to look at yourself as being the stupid salesperson.

Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.

If you’re like the typical salesperson, you get more marketing information than you could ever begin to use. In fact, little of it is actually worth using.

It’s time marketing departments wake up and quit shoveling garbage out to salespeople, all under the premise of helping them be more effective.

Customers don’t want marketing materials. They want solutions.    The last thing a customer wants to do is sit through another boring presentation.

I still remember a boss I had who believed every word that was written in a marketing brochure should be read to the customer.   I’m not kidding. Working for this guy was painful, and I’m glad I only had to do it for a year.

What your customers want is a discussion about their business and their needs, not your marketing materials.  You’re going to get quality discussions when you ask them questions, not show them pictures.

Most customers have seen every type of marketing material, whether it be in hard-copy, PowerPoint or from a website. They’ve seen it all.

Instead of using your time preparing marketing materials that won’t make a difference, spend your time developing the questions you want to ask. Spend your time doing research on what the customer is most likely looking for.  It’s about the customer, not you.

Not using materials is not excuse to not prepare. In fact, it’s just the opposite!  Without the use of materials, you must take more time to prepare, because now you’re being very focused on the individual customer you’re about to meet.

Over the years, I’ve found the top performing salespeople in every industry are those who are just as effective in developing and closing customers without sales materials as they are with them.  When the salesperson can make things happen without using marketing aids, it tells me they’re on top of their game and they know their business.

Trust me on this.  It’s time to throw away the marketing materials.

Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.

This is why customers simply won’t pay more for anything they view as a commodity or — in sales terms —  ”a feature.”

If that is the case, then why do so many salespeople spend their time doing nothing but selling product features to customers?   Doing so means they’re never going to get anything more than the lowest of prices and will always be subject to comparison to others.

On the other hand, customers will gladly pay more for the same item if they understand and believe how it will help them solve their needs or achieve their outcomes.  This is why asking questions is so important.

There is no way anyone can determine what another person’s needs are without asking them and getting them involved in the sale.

The customer may have one specific need or they might have several, but not until the customer sees how what you have will help them are they going to start thinking about paying more for something.

Key is it’s not that the customer wants to pay more, but they will because of the size of the need — or the benefit they’re looking to achieve is greater than the price.  We maximize our selling price and profit when we are able to successfully get the customer to realize the magnitude of the need they’re looking to solve.

Your key is to uncover from the customer at least 3 needs they have or benefits they desire. You have to help them see that at least one of them is significant in size and either poses so much risk to them or opportunity that they need to buy at your price.

If we try to close a sale before understanding what their needs are, the only thing we will be successful at is allowing the customer to buy a feature at a price less than we want to sell it at.   Selling at a profit is a much better way to excel as a salesperson.

Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.

We all want to start off the week on a high note, so one of the easiest ways to do that is by calling one of your favorite customers every Monday morning.

This is so much more productive than calling another salesperson and spending 20 minutes on the phone complaining about all of the paperwork or the huge quota or anything else that you find tedious about your job.

By calling a great customer on a Monday morning, you will hear from them why they like working with you. They will likely share something with you that shows what the relationship means to them.

Wow! What could be better?  With this approach, you’re using your customers to motivate you!

If you think about it, the concept should be illegal, because what you’re doing is not calling out of concern for the customer, but  out of concern about your own level of sales motivation.

Remember, it’s not a game of calling the same customer every Monday morning. I would hope you have at least several customers you could reach out to on a rotating basis.

Not only are you going to motivate yourself, but along the way you will learn new information and ideas from the customers you call.  You can use this information to better serve other customers during the week ahead.   Like I said, this idea should almost be illegal. It’s that good.

Keep a log of what customers tell you.  Having a log gives you something to refer to anytime during the week when you begin to feel down. It can be a huge way to help get yourself back on track

This approach is especially helpful for the salesperson who is working on their own out of their home.   Things can get a little lonely sometimes, so using your good customers to help motivate you can be a huge advantage.

Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.