Top Sales Techniques by PBR

Glassdoor Provides Clear View Into Company Workings

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:45:39 -0600

The James J. Hill Reference Library has chosen Glassdoor as its Business Web Site of the Week. Glassdoor was created in 2007 as a career and workplace community that anyone can use to find or anonymously share salary details about specific jobs for specific employers. Glassdoor can also be used to post or find detailed company and interview reviews describing life inside specific companies. If you're interested in gaining insight into companies via real-time compensation data, company reviews, and ratings, Glassdoor provides access to anonymous salaries, company reviews, and interview questions and reviews for over 23,000 companies. Glassdoor's information comes from people who know these companies well: either employees who work there, or candidates who have interviewed there. In order to access Glassdoor's data, you must post an anonymous salary, company review or interview review of your own. In this manner, Glassdoor can continue to bring greater transparency to our world of work.

How to build rapport with questioning skills

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:30:56 -0600

Rick Farrell's article Pain Locator Questions is on target in his fine examples of how to build rapport with questioning skills. I think you'll like it as much as I did. Pain Locator Questions Since for all intents and purposes prospects could care less about you and your company, the pain locator questions are a great way to put all the emphasis and focus on prospects. These questions are an excellent tool to use to build rapport; create a long-term relationship built on trust and confidence; build a business case instead of just a product justification; and save time, energy and resources by quickly identifying your prospect's problems, consequences, commitments, priorities and motivations to change. The depth of these questions underscores the tenet that there are many ways to skin a cat. I have listed, obviously more than necessary, the questions you may use to gain insight and understanding of your prospects' problems and pains. Generally 5-10 questions will suffice. When I have my clients in my training sessions list out all their own diagnostic questions, they can usually go no deeper than 2 questions, if that! The process of asking these in-depth questions is essential...

Captain Denny Flanagan And His Birthday Wish

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:51:46 -0600

When United Airlines pilot Captain Denny Flanagan, the subject of my Wow Factor Sends Customer Satisfaction Sky High post, read it and responded, he also revealed that it was his birthday, and that he had the following wish to share with all of our readers. I hope you'll spread Captain Flanagan's good word among your colleagues, friends, and loved ones, too. Happy Birthday, Captain Flanagan. Dear Family, Friends, Workmates and Customers who I have flown through the Friendly Skies, I'm approaching 58 years on Earth, and I ask myself what have I done to make this planet a better place to live. On birthdays, you generally receive material gifts, which you can't take with you, so this year I am reaching out to you for a special favor. A few years ago I had the honor and privilege of spending some quality one-on-one time with Astronaut Jim Lovell. (Tom Hanks played him in the film, Apollo 13.) During our conversation I asked Jim what was his most memorable flight. Without skipping a beat, Jim looked at me and said, "Denny, when I die, the last thing I will see before I close my eyes is the view of our planet I witnessed from Apollo 8 in 1968." At this time, Jim made a fist, half...

ExecuCross: Developing Tough Leadership Skills During Tough Times

Thu, 21 May 2009 08:24:51 -0600

From May 3rd through May 6th, Patrick Connor and I led a select group of highly seasoned senior executives on our first ExecuCross Bike Trip. Our group journeyed along the Great Allegheny Passage Trail, a 150-mile system of biking and hiking trails connectng to the C&O Canal Towpath in Cumberland, MD. We started our adventure outside Pittsburgh, PA, eventually ending our odyssey in Paw Paw, WV, covering a distance of over 122 miles. (The Great Allegheny Passage Trail is still a work in progress, but it will connect Cumberland to Pittsburgh, PA when it's completed.) Our outfit forged on, undaunted, through four days of grueling yet exhilarating physical activity, torrential rains, and mud flooding the creeks and rivers. Not only was a rip-roaring good time had by all, but each of us came away from our first ExecuCross tour with plenty of progressive ideas on leadership in a challenging environment. It was a great opportunity for braving the elements and breaking away from the office, instead of the usual safe, comfortable, unchallenging office or classroom setting with a PowerPoint presentation, or hitting the golf course and the bar at the country club afterwards. Instead, we put ...

The Winnie The Pooh Guide To Blogging

Tue, 12 May 2009 09:56:36 -0600

I recently came across this excellent piece by James Chartrand of Men With Pens. It struck me that Chartrand's suggestions for bloggers would work equally well for communicating effectively with clients. I hope you'll find it as enjoyable and useful as I did. The Winnie the Pooh Guide to Blogging Sometimes, expert advice comes from where you least expect it. Winnie the Pooh himself will tell you he is a "bear of little brain," but he also has an uncommon, clear-eyed wisdom. You may have heard of The Tao of Pooh. But what about The Blog of Pooh? Given that the happiness and feelings of his friends are Pooh's chief concern (other than "hunny," that is), he'd likely build a strong community as a blogger. Here are six social media lessons we can all learn from the lovable bear who's stuffed with fluff. Lesson 1: "You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes." Pooh rarely sat around. In most stories, he was heading out to visit his Good Friend Piglet or perhaps have a little spot of Something with Rabbit. He went to Owl to get advice and to Christopher Robin to get help. Likewise, you need to get out of y...

Tip for any prospective facilitators who are interested in working with UNI Strategic

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:15:13 -0600

Don't -- A division of the Singapore-based UNI Strategic Pte Ltd. has hosted corporate and training conferences and workshops for organizations all over the world, including many Fortune 500 companies. They attract top speakers for their well-attended events. For a company that teaches proper business practices and tactics, you'd expect them to follow their own advice and pay speakers promptly and fairly for their time and travel, wouldn't you? Think again! Numerous trainers and lecturers have reported massive problems with receiving payment from UNI Strategic. A while back, PBR went to Singapore to do a training program with them, titled Strategic Sales Leadership. This exciting international opportunity turned into a horrendous situation where it took us several months and endless contacts to Roger Tie, President and Pan Tei Boon, Conference Manager to get the payments we'd been promised. We soon discovered we weren't the only ones who'd had a hard time collecting appearance fees from UNI Strategic. Several other instructors and facilitators shared their own horror stories with us about the snail-slow payment and shabby treatment they'd endured from www.unistrategic.com. How's ...

Better Questions Mean Better Sales In A Recession Economy

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:36:21 -0700

A lot of salespeople tell me that customers are cutting back or putting off decisions. Such news is causing some salespeople to start acting like their customers -- where they too are developing a "bear-like" mind-set by going into hibernation or waiting it out until the economy starts turning around. Whoa, now is not a good time to follow your customer's lead. If they choose to be complacent, that's their choice. Don't let it be yours! So, what can you do now to create a sense of urgency with customers who want to wait it out? Ask them plenty of thought-provoking questions. Get them to think about the consequences of putting off a decision to doing business with you. How might their lack of action impact the bottom line? What's it going to cost them in terms of time, resources, missed opportunities, growth, or profitability? Your customers have plenty of competitors who are hungry and willing to steal market share from them. And that's why they need you now more than ever. Find ways to position your products and solutions that will give your customers the competitive edge, peace of mind, security, and/or control they're desperately seeking in this turbulent economy. Because many...

Z Corp Employs Asking Effective Questions To Beat Economic Downturn

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:55:04 -0700

Z Corporation, a global leader in the 3-D printing industry, recently enlisted Performance Based Results to re-energize their sales team methodologies to combat the current global economic downturn. We initiated a series of highly charged sessions entitled, Selling-in-a-Tough-Economy which focused on effective questioning techniques to help maintain Z Corp's competitive edge. Poor questioning methods used by Z Corp in the past were compared to our new and more effective questioning techniques that needed to be implemented immediately. Z Corp representatives made a point that our ability to customize our methodologies to their specific industry challenges was the key to the sessions' success. Some examples of what Z Corp salespeople were doing wrong included: Selling products not the solution. Asking superficial questions--not listening to what the customer is saying. Being simply, an "order-taker". Not knowing how to ask, when to ask, or what specific questions to ask. Prematurely pitching a solution when they should be asking additional questions. Selling-in-a-Tough-Economy stressed incorporating "out of the box" sales questioning practices that give Z Corp sales teams....

Top 10 Sales Tips To Stay In Control When The Market Feels Out Of Control

Mon, 5 Jan 2009 13:31:43 -0600

Well, it is only a few weeks before we have a new president. And I must tell you, I have never been more excited about America's futures. I know, everyday we hear bad news on the TV and read dire headlines in the newspaper. But I feel there is a resurgence of basic values that will extend into the business world. Companies will need to reassess how they deal with customers and how they can get the best "value" from their people. That has always been a major priority for me and Performance Based Results. Investing in your people is probably the most advantageous thing you can do to make lean times work to your advantage. That's why I wrote Top 10 Tips to Stay in Control When Your Market Feels Out of Control. Take a look... When the economy seems unstable, businesspeople can feel shaky. Hysteria sets in, sending sales people, managers and CEOs running for cover, making panic moves that cause more problems than they solve. Avoid making costly mistakes by learning how to implement the top 10 tips to stay in control when your market feels out of control: 1. Stay focused on your most profitable business. Is there something you're leaving on the table with your customers that you sho...

5 Ways to Become An Extraordinary Manager and Leader

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:47:41 -0700

In the December 2008 edition of Vitality Magazine, Leonard Sandler, managerial consultant and president of Sandler Associates and author of Becoming an Extraordinary Manager: The 5 Essentials for Success (AMACOM, 2007), shared with Polly Turner his advice on how to become a truly exceptional manager and leader. Most employees are ordinary people; however, Sandler insists, "Some managers are able to perform miracles with these folks, others aren't. The difference is usually not in the people but in the manager...It's a myth that you have to be charismatic, or give great speeches. There's absolutely no question that anybody can be an extraordinary manager." To start honing your own managerial skills, Sandler suggests that you: 1. Treat employees like customers. Even before your first meeting with a new group of employees, research them like you'd research customers: Who are they? What are their traits? What's important to them? The more interest you show in your employees, the better they'll respond. If you're a new manager, don't come in the first day of work and brag about yourself and your expectations. Take an interest in your new team members, for example: "Sally, I heard you'r...

Creating a Career-Advancing Relationship with Your Boss

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:02:50 -0700

In a January 2009 Vitality Magazine article, Polly Turner interviewed Deborah Singer Dobson, co-author of Managing Up: 59 Ways to Build a Career-Advancing Relationship With Your Boss (AMACOM, 2000). Dobson says you're more likely to be perceived as being of value to your organization if: You're competent. Sounds like a no-brainer, but whether you're high or low on the organizational chart, you won't be considered important or taken seriously unless you show that you're competent at what you do. Dobson recommends setting high personal standards for your performance, and continually striving to exceed those standards. You're likable. Make it a point to work well and flexibly with others. Make friends, too, especially with people in your organization's lowest levels, since that's often where a lot of the work gets done. You anticipate needs. Be the first to notice your department or work group's needs and act to address them, such as offering to take over some of your overworked boss's tasks. Dobson suggests that you make it a point to recommend solutions whenever you point out problems. When you support the overall strategic direction of your boss and work group, it adds to your p...

Questions That Lead Seminar At Iacocca Institute Gets High Marks From Participants

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 14:50:17 -0700

The Director of Professional Education at Iacocca Institute at Lehigh University reported she has received a great deal of praise from participants of last Thursday's live leadership conference: Questions That Lead: How to Engage Your Team and Create a High Performance Culture. The program featured proven techniques to discover what makes people tick, fostering an environment of collaboration, confronting the tough issues before they fester, and developing a customer focused mindset. I was one of the presenters along side managing partner Paul Cherry. Leadership strategies focused on the principle of asking the right questions in order to achieve these goals with the emphasis on team motivation. Paul Cherry has long been an industry leader in sales questioning techniques and I am one of the region's top experts on team leadership. Together, we have developed a Questions That Lead methodology that promises to help companies and organizations achieve new performance heights, even in this slow economy. My book, Questions That Lead (co-authored with Paul) is due to be released this year.

Leading U.S. Electrical Distributor Reports Phenomenal Results For Sales-Management Training

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:18:20 -0700

Performance Based Results recently completed a three-month sales-management training process with one of the largest and fastest growing electrical distributors in the Pacific Northwest and the nation. Training was initially targeted to the company's sales force, then extended to include sales managers and leaders. On-site sales-management training workshops were presented at numerous company locations which enabled PBR managing partner Patrick Connor and me to customize each session for individual sales and leadership teams. Follow-Up sales-management training seminars were conducted additionally to ensure selling and leadership skills learned were reinforced in real-life corporate situations and scenarios. Phenomenal Results ROI for pennies on the dollar From a "results" standpoint, the company documented well over $6 million in sales revenue as a direct result of the sales-management training process. And these results were limited to the September 5 through December 5 timeframe. The company president stated, "The timing couldn't have been better to launch this program - to make sure my people are at the top of their game in this jittery economy." Patrick and I are looking fo...

Billion Dollar Agricultural Biotechnology Company Learns PBR Value Selling Skills

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:54:58 -0700

In today's highly competitive agricultural biotechnology sales industry, value selling is one of the more important selling skills needed by top level sales professionals. For this reason, my article, Value Selling: Getting Customers to Buy at a Higher Price is being featured in this month's eConnect Magazine published by Dow AgroSciences. Because growers and other industry leaders and influencers often use price as the dominant factor in a sales negotiation, biotechnology sales pros need to demonstrate that sometimes the higher price is actually a better solution -- a higher value. Asking the right questions and utilizing value-added selling techniques can help biotechnology sales pros satisfy their customers without getting themselves cornered on price issues. Dow AgroSciences is a top-tier agricultural company providing innovative crop protection, seeds and biotechnology solutions to serve the world's growing population. Global sales are $3.8 billion.

How Good Managers Can Hold Employees Accountable

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:55:01 -0600

Our client Jeff was happy with the seminars we ran with his managers last year. This time, he wanted us to work with his employees again, explaining, "My team's lost their motivation, and I think a jump-start from your presentation is just what they need." I was taken aback by the surprised look Jeff gave me when I said, "Great, but first, have you talked with your team members face-to-face?" "I've hit a roadblock, Paul." Jeff's frustration poured out. "Even when I have the time to talk with them, I feel like I must be speaking in a foreign language. All I get is lip service or blank looks. Too many people have that attitude around here. That's why I was hoping you could help me stir the pot. I could use some ideas to jump-start my team, so we can finish the year with a bang." No wonder Jeff was frustrated. He was a good manager trapped in a labyrinth of accountability. He wasn't getting the results from his people. Like so many people, they took the path of least resistance, and Jeff was looking for a quick fix. Let's face it, there are an awful lot of people who'd rather put up with mediocrity than make waves with employees. They're terrified that if they push their people too...