By Richard F. Libin, President, Automotive Profit Builders and author of just released book “Who Knew?”

I’ve known Dennis Tilko for more than 30 years. What’s remarkable about him is that through all these years, the only thing that’s changed is his attitude. It just keeps getting more and more positive. For Dennis, attitude is everything, and good or bad, to him everything is an opportunity.

Dennis has worked in the automotive business for as long as he can remember. He started out cleaning and detailing cars during high school to help pay for college. After graduating he started full-time as a sales associate in a Cadillac dealership.

“I was really frustrated one day. I lost a sale to the Oldsmobile dealership next door even though I offered the customer more on her trade and a better price on the car. I didn’t get it,” he said.

Dennis could not figure out why she would leave and pay more at another dealership. He was perplexed, so he decided to call her and find out, what could he have done better?

“She told me that the people at the other dealership were nicer. They offered her coffee, gave her a tour, introduced her to people in every department, and essentially, treated her like she was a VIP from the second she walked in the door,” he said.

When he told me this story, he described it as an “ah-ha” moment. It was in this experience that he realized that there was much more to closing a sale than offering the best price. He realized that salespeople are great at turning buyers into shoppers. Even so, he wasn’t really quite sure what the difference was. After all, he had followed his training. He greeted the customer, delivered a hood to trunk presentation, took the customer on a demo drive, negotiated and thought he was close to closing the sale. The difference was that no one had taught Dennis about how to deal with the person, about how his attitude could influence a customer relationship.

“As salespeople, we learn the mechanics of selling, but not how to work with people. No one shows us how to build and maintain relationships,” he observed.

Curious, he continued sleuthing and discovered that the dealership that had won his customer over used a sales process called APB, which focused on giving every customer the Red Carpet Treatment. After learning more, he persuaded his management to adopt the system. He learned its principles and still uses them today at the Mercedes dealership where he works now.

Dennis believes that a positive attitude is the biggest factor in turning shoppers (people who come in, look, and leave) into buyers, and ultimately into loyal clientele.

As Dennis likes to share, “A dealer may spend $50,000 or more on advertising to bring people in, but they don’t forget to put value on the customers’ experience once they walk in the dealership’s front door,” Dennis told me. “It is like giving salespeople a broom and asking them to sweep potential customers out the door! If salespeople lose a sale to a competitor then they failed in creating a better customer experience and embracing the opportunity with a positive attitude.”

Dennis is passionate about treating each customer individually based on their unique needs, wants, and desires. He follows the APB process to build, cultivate, and nurture long-term relationships. To Dennis, it’s not just closing a deal; it’s about building a relationship and friendship that goes beyond the sale.

“I realized years ago that my job is not selling cars. My job is to give customers every possible detail and every reason to make the decision to work with me, my dealership, and our products. I can only do this if I am passionate and enthusiastic about the product I sell. My customers’ job is to give me the order.  I just help them buy,” Dennis says.

Most salespeople are taught to “get to the numbers.” Dennis educates customers on why spending $50,000 to $60,000 on his brand is a good investment. He gets to know them and what they are seeking. He asks questions like, ‘What are you driving now? Do you like it? Do you like the service you get? Is it powerful enough?’ He customizes his presentations to get customers excited about the value of his brand. He’ll show a crash test video, talk about how the company invented the first race car, about the patented safety features the company invented, and more. He proactively shares that while the company is not largest manufacturer, buying a car from them is like buying a fine suit. He goes the extra mile to show he cares.

“If a customer has dogs, I give them a bag of doggie treats. I send flowers as a thank-you for coming in. I buy customers lunch and share new information about our brand. Basically, I do whatever it takes to create an honest, positive impression,” he says. “Yet none of this makes a difference without a positive attitude, without wanting to “Wow” customers. I want my customers to say that there is no one they’d rather work with but me.”

Dennis never rushes to judgment based on how a customer looks, what they say or what they need. One time he told me about a customer who came in simply wanting to learn how to drive a manual transmission so she could take a cross country trip in an old truck. So, he taught her how to drive a stick shift in the back of the dealership. He took the opportunity to talk with her and to get to know her needs. In the end, she bought a new truck. Now, how many salespeople would have stopped that sale before it ever got started? Not Dennis, he saw it as an opportunity.    

“I want to be sure that when a customer buys one car from me, they will want to buy their next 10 cars from me as well,” he said.

I asked Dennis what he does to make this happen and he told me that he takes the Red Carpet Treatment to heart and gives service above and beyond — way beyond — what’s expected. The bottom line is that he sincerely cares about each of his customers. In fact, he makes sure that every customer has his business card and cell phone number.

Dennis tells his clients, “I am available to help with every service concern my you have, whether making an appointment or helping in a crisis. One woman called me at home at 11:00 p.m. upset about a problem with her car. I took the call, solved the problem and sent her a gift card for lunch at her favorite restaurant. She sent me two referrals.” He also tells them, “If you drink, that’s your business. But, call me anytime if you need a ride, 24/7. I will pick you up wherever you are and drive you home. I don’t ever want to lose a client.”

And, he’s done it, many, many times.

Over the years, I’ve asked Dennis what he would tell new salespeople. He’s always told me he follows 10 core rules.

1. Stop looking at this job as a stepping stone; view it as a career. Otherwise, you’ll never have the right attitude.
2. Be passionate about the products and brand you are selling.
3. Take every opportunity you can to learn about the product, the company, and the processes. Learn from others, in classes, and on your own.
4. Learn how to work with people. Follow the APB process.
5. Understand that the majority of Americans today are pulled in a million directions, managing homes, kids, work, and other challenges. Be willing to actively listen to customers regardless of what they want to talk about.
6. Read each customer and change your approach to suit their personality, temperament, learning style, and interests, and do business their way.
7. Never say NO to a customer. If someone simply wants their trade appraised, do it. In the process, try to learn more about them so you can find a friendly way to show them cars.
8. Accept that you will lose one out of three sales. Don’t accept that you couldn’t have done something differently to change the outcome. Learn from each so next time you will win.
9. Always tell the truth.

And, he says the most important rule is to always…

1. Bring a positive attitude. It’s your attitude that will make or break a sale.

At APB we hear people say all the time that always having a positive attitude is easier said than done. No one could ever know this better than Dennis. He lost his son at five years of age, and supported his wife through a four-year battle with cancer, which she eventually lost. Even during the darkest time in his life, while working part-time, he sold 15 vehicles a month. His attitude saw him through then, and it still does today.

“I always tell myself, there is someone out there that has it worse than me. I get out of bed every day and take a deep breath and think it is time for me to get in shape for the day. I can’t change what has happened in my life. I did the best I could and that’s all I can do. But, I can decide how I want to approach every day that’s left and choose to make it the best I can for me and everyone else I come in contact with,” he says.

Attitude is everything. You know, they say attitudes can be contagious. If that’s true, then I hope we all catch it from Dennis.

Richard F. Libin has written two acclaimed books that help people of all walks of life improve their sales skills, because as he says, “Everyone is a selling something.” His most recent book, Who Knew?, and his first book, “Who Stopped the Sale?” (www.whostoppedthesale.com), is now in its second edition. As president of APB-Automotive Profit Builders, Inc., a firm with more than 49 years experience working with both sales and service professionals, he helps his clientele, through personnel development and technology, to build customer satisfaction and maximize gross profits in their businesses. Mr. Libin can be reached at rlibin@apb.cc or 508-626-9200 or www.apb.cc.

As a sales manager, you have a million plates spinning. That chaos provides the adrenaline rush you need to be productive, but it can prevent you from investing in the most important aspect of your job: the long-term growth of your team.

Harvard Business Review says the sales industry sees a pretty consistent turnover rate — up to 30 percent of sales employees annually — and it's due, in part, to subpar talent.

Without a strong team, you'll struggle to meet and exceed revenue goals. That means more uncomfortable meetings about missed sales numbers, both with your team and your leaders.

The key to building a high-performing team while still hitting regular numbers is to focus on the three Ts: talent, training, and tactics. Alone, each of these areas can boost sales; together, they form the core of a team that consistently hits targets and drives revenue.

Here, we’ll examine each of the three Ts and outline why they’re important, what they’re made of, and how to make the most of them:

1. Talent

Not all salespeople are created equally — their talent, that is. Not everyone is born a sales superstar, and part of that has to do with the tasks you're hiring him or her for. Does the task fit what he or she does best?

Think of the situation in terms of athletes: A football player can be just as talented as a baseball player, but if you’re building a baseball team, it's a baseball player that you need. Make sure when choosing talent that you're attracting the type that's right for what your brand is uniquely trying to pull off.

And according to Harvard Business Review, "The first step in smart hiring and productivity is understanding the relevant sales tasks in your market and strategy and then reflecting those tasks in hiring criteria and a disciplined hiring process."

Revisit your interview strategy to identify which decisions lead to better hires. Don’t stick to descriptive talent interview processes; insist on a valid talent interview built on predictive models. What space in your company lacks strong salespeople? What do you look for in a high performer, relative to your needs?

Tailor your interview questions appropriately, but don’t be afraid to dig a little deeper for specific examples when candidates offer up suggested talents.

2. Training

According to a recent study, the caliber of a sales team in the business-to-business space is considered the No. 1 factor for encouraging a prospect's decision to buy. And the only way to reach such a star status is — must it be said? — to train your staff accordingly.

Sales training should not end at the sign-in sheet during orientation. Use the metrics you collect throughout the year to provide individualized feedback, and design training around that.

Getting to know associates (in essence, learning what makes them tick) can aid in your training and personalized managerial style. All new hires are equipped with their own set of skills and personality, which means they'll require different types of coaching.

Another successful training measure is pairing a new employee with a mentor. This person would ideally show your new associate the ropes and provide sage advice only a veteran at your company would have.

Beyond that, set expectations of your new sales employees — make sure they're solely focused on one prime activity for their first quarter at the company. Highlight a set number of prospects, appointments, and analyses needed, too.

Also, analyze your reports to identify the biggest hurdles for individuals and your team at large. Where are sales stalling? What sales tactics could be more successful? Investing in a sales diagnostic program to identify these pain points is necessary to truly drive sales performance. Analyze your data by using programs like ToutApp or Groove to make it a little easier.

Other training methods to consider are investing in an e-training program (one that will get the whole sales team on the same page if everyone completes it); install a buddy system so newbies can shadow the sales veterans; and brush up on helpful content pertaining to your pain points.

And remember: Motivational "in the trenches" speeches only go so far. Don’t leave your team members amped to improve with no path to follow; be quick to give specific feedback so they can learn in the moment. Keep the feedback positive — not even the best salespeople can keep a positive attitude in the face of constant criticism.

3. Tactics

Your salespeople operate within the confines of your tactics. If you have talented, well-trained people but don’t position them to succeed, your numbers will not reflect their abilities.

Don’t train for one thing while measuring something else. For example, if you spend a week coaching your salespeople to uncover client needs and grade them based on deals closed that month, you won’t know whether your training affected their results. Instead, in this scenario, grade them based on how many discovery meetings they held with clients, and discuss the results of those meetings together.

Also, consider your strategy: This is all you do prior to engaging a client — your “durable methods of winning.” This includes values as well as selection (and retention) of your staff, activities, lead generation, planning, and more. The bottom line: An agile sales team remains disciplined, which means its tactics support its strategy.

Be sure to keep your tactics consistent so your team members can build upon their existing work. You want all tactics to reflect your overall sales strategy; make sure your team is aware of this.

Empower your team by implementing and reviewing tactical decisions at regular intervals. Every year, schedule time to meet with the team off-site for a few days of analysis and planning. Every quarter, spend a day off-site — or at least in a private room together — to compare goals to execution. When your team fails to meet goals, adjust and revisit them next quarter.

Your team has the potential; it’s up to you to unlock it. Use the three Ts to guide your management strategy and increase performance across the board.

Matt Sunshine is a managing partner for The Center for Sales Strategy and LeadG2, a company that specializes in improving sales performance and lead generation. Previously, Matt also worked as the center’s executive vice president and a senior consultant. Matt has more than 20 years of experience in sales and media relations.

The old saying “Time is money” is never truer than for a salesperson. Any time you spend out of contact with your prospects — or being inefficient with your contact — is money lost from your goals. For a sales team to continuously grow its goals, every member of the team must become better, smarter, and faster each and every month.

This is no easy feat. HubSpot found in its 2017 State of Inbound report that 38 percent of salespeople find it increasingly difficult to get responses from their prospects. The only way to continuously evolve communication techniques at scale? Leveraging technology that can keep up with your prospects’ changing habits. 

Prepping Your Plan of Attack 

It’s 2018, so there’s a technology solution for everything: coaching your sales call, sending your favorite book to a prospect, or even having a hologram of Tupac give your elevator pitch. Given how quickly tech is evolving, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for every sales team. Before you do anything else, you need to figure out your cost of acquisition across all your sources. 

Once you’ve determined your customer acquisition cost (CAC), you can start deciding what you really need. Think about your channels of communicating with prospects: Do you rely mostly on cold calling? Are targeted social ads a major source of leads? 

As our company, Sapper Consulting, grew, we relied almost exclusively on our own process for generating leads. But after a few years of relying on the same methods, we decided to test some alternative tactics. For example, we found that by layering cold emails with targeted ads, we could generate a better lead that closed in less time, therefore lowering our CAC. The key is to track your CAC across your sources, then test small changes to maximize your results. 

If your company is barely 6 months old, your focus is on acquiring clients. You don’t need a top-tier tech setup that requires a full marketing and sales department to stay on top of it. But what if your company is 10 years old and you’re trying to outrun a new competitor? You need to invest in a software solution or a tech partner that can find the right way to keep your leads close and your qualified leads even closer. 

With your needs identified and your CAC determined, your sales team is ready to find the technology that’s right for you — and soon, you’ll be nearly unstoppable. Still feeling stuck? Here are three tips for finding tech solutions to ensure your prospects always take your calls. 

1. Leave a trail of breadcrumbs. 

Create a repository for all of your campaigns, lead sources, and CAC tests. This might be in the form of a customer relationship management system, but it doesn’t have to be. The market is filled with specialized sales and marketing tools that act as more than a prospect warehouse. Don’t settle for a CRM because it’s the safe option, and don’t waste time searching for the “perfect” CRM — you need that time for prospecting.

Software that focuses more on project management, such as ConnectWise, often still have CRM-style suites built in that keep track of contacts in connection with specific projects, which might be more useful than a basic Salesforce-style CRM. Find something that works for your current team and goals. 

2. Invest wisely. 

Spend money only on tools that automate your outreach efforts. Eliminate copying and pasting from your email process; use a tool that automates your sends. Spreadsheets shouldn’t help facilitate your cold calls; use a tool that keys up prospect information and times your approach. The perfect tool depends on your predetermined needs, but whatever those needs are, invest in tools that automate tasks and save you time. 

More than 40 percent of salespeople surveyed report that prospecting is the hardest part of their process, outpacing closing at 36 percent and qualifying at 22 percent. But with the right tool, email prospecting can become less stressful, as tech can help you make the right amount of contact with the ideal time between outreach attempts. It can also help you prepare different outreach templates for various steps of your sales cycle.

3. Research time-saving tactics. 

The right technology will cut down the time your team spends on basic tasks, giving you more time to spend actually connecting with prospects. Start by using a mini-tool that automatically creates contacts and sends follow-ups. Use calendar-sharing tools that eliminate time wasted scheduling meetings. Find prospect biography tools that can inform your team about each of your prospects without having to stalk each one on LinkedIn. 

Finding this type of small, inexpensive tool that saves you time adds up; gradually, your toolbox will be built up and your sales team will become faster and faster. But be wary of tools that are time wasters in disguise: No tool you rely on should be increasing your CAC. Tiers of outsourcing are available, so find the tier that suits your needs.

As the sales world changes, salespeople need to keep up. Staying in touch with prospects is the key to closing a sale, and finding the right technology can ensure that you’re maintaining contact. Follow these tips to find the tech your team needs.

TJ Macke is the VP of Client Services at Sapper Consulting, which replaces cold calling for its clients. It’s cooler than it sounds. You can also follow him on Twitter @tj_macke.

By Mike Brooks, http://mrinsidesales.com/

Being in sales is kind of like being a professional football player…

In football, each result can either be celebrated (or not) for a very short time. If you win the game, you get about a day to enjoy the victory, and then it’s on to the next game where you need to win and prove yourself all over again.

Same in sales. Each month you shoot for a victory (making your numbers), and, if you hit them – great….for about a day. Because suddenly it’s a new month, and you have a new quota. What you did last month (or last game, if it’s football), doesn’t matter this month (or this week).

You may have been the top producer last month, a hero, but now you’re at zero again.

Years ago when I was struggling, this used to wear me out. Each month I’d barely do enough to keep my job – like a team going 8-8 – and then I’d be at zero again and have to climb back up the hill.

What happened for me – and what I wish for everyone that I work with – is that I made a commitment one day to get out of this constant struggle and learn how to perform like the top producers in my company.

Each month, the same three reps would win all the awards for being the top producers, and each time the new month would begin, they would already have deals on the board. Everyone in the company expected them to win, and win they did.

Kind of like the New England Patriots…

So if you are sick and tired of acting like Sisyphus (look it up if you don’t remember your Greek mythology), then make a commitment this year to do the things that other top producers do.

And that is really what it starts with: A commitment. The question you have to ask yourself this January is: Are you ready to do what it takes to finally change your career and your life?

I love what Bear Bryant (football coach) once said: “It’s not the will to win that matters – everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.”

If you are willing to do the prep work it takes to succeed, then you can change your career.

If you’re not sure what (“prep work”) means, then pick up a copy of my book: Power Phone Scripts. In it, I list the “Ten Characteristics of Top Sales Performers.” Read that first section and commit to doing that work.

If you do, then soon you’ll find the fastest way to go from Zero back to Hero again – month after month!

And wouldn’t that make your 2018 better?

Mike has been voted one of the most Influential Inside Sales Professionals for the past seven years by The American Association of Inside Sales Professionals, and won the 2017 Service Provider Award for training and development from the AA-ISP. Mike is hired by business owners to implement proven sales processes that help them immediately scale and grow Multi-Million Dollar Inside Sales Teams.  For more information, you can visit his website: www.MrInsideSales.com

January 18^th, 2018 |2:00pm EST

Register now

Wondering what 2018 has in store for your email marketing program?

 Would you like to grow your list and learn innovating new techniques to help boost ROI with email?

This webinar is for you!

Email marketing is one of the most powerful promotional tools available to marketers. It’s time to take advantage and ramp up your email marketing efforts in 2018. 

Join us on Thursday, January 18th at 2 p.m. EST.  We will share trends, tips and best practices to help you kick off 2018. 

Email marketing is constantly progressing. To achieve your best results in 2018, register today for this live webinar presentation. 

-The Campaigner Team

By Richard F. Libin, President, Automotive Profit Builders and author of just released book “Who Knew?”APB.cc, rlibin@apb.cc

We live and breathe technology, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We are always on. In fact, there is a diagram circulating on social media showing a dinner table place setting with a designated space for a mobile device. While meant to be humorous, it is reality more often than not. With billions of bytes of data at our fingertips, do customers really need salespeople or are they obsolete? 

The answer is yes, but the role of the salesperson has changed. Traditionally, salespeople have always done two things for their customers: communicate information and sell. They believed (and some still do) that if you didn’t get the immediate sale, you would never get it. Today, these two basic functions no longer provide adequate value.

If you are a salesperson who focuses on selling as hard and fast as possible, with a goal of doing business now, then yes, you may be obsolete. As a salesperson, if you believe these two functions make up your job description, then it is time to ask yourself if you have the ability to change.

Today, a salesperson’s job profile can be defined by three simple functions:

1. Salespeople are responsible for helping customers find and select the right product or service. To do so, they must...
   1. Be 100% present and work with a single-minded focus for each customer. The formula for success is simple. When you give 100% attitude, effort and performance in a positive manner, you will get the desired results. If you put your best foot forward you have a better chance of getting what may have been one or two missed opportunities.
   2. Ask probing questions to develop an understanding of each customer’s unique wants, needs, and desires. It’s not about what you think; it’s about what the customer thinks.
   3. Listen, learn, and empathize with the customers. Understand problems from their point-of-view and discover small details in order to successfully guide the selection process and find an exact fit.
   4. Help the customers “try it on.”  Throughout the introduction and including a demonstration of the product, if applicable, the salesperson should guide customers as they experience the features that will satisfy their needs, wants, and desires. The salesperson should help customers build an emotional bond and fall in love with their product or service.
   5. Introduce customers to the rest of the “family,” giving them a tour of the business or store, introducing them to everyone, not just the managers, and explaining that they are there to provide for their total needs. Begin to convert customers to long-term clients.
2. Help the customer “fall in love with his choice.” When this happens, price becomes a secondary concern. Financial discussions and negotiations should be the last thing brought up and take the least amount of time in the entire transaction.

For example, in the past, if the customer spends an hour with the salesperson, 10 minutes is spent on selection and 50 minutes on negotiating price. Today, this is a sure-fire formula for disaster. Instead, the salesperson should spend 50 minutes of the hour helping the customer select the right product or service and 10 minutes on price. This approach brings the customer greater satisfaction at the time of the purchase. It delights the customer who will rave about his experience, refer his friends and colleagues, and ultimately become a loyal client. We are not saying that price is not important; however, if a salesperson succeeds in helping a customer find the right selection, then price won’t be a barrier to the sale.

1. Convert customers to clients. The salesperson’s job does not stop at the close of the sale, yet most customers never get a call once they leave a store.  That call is actually the beginning of a long-term relationship. Why don’t salespeople call? For most, it is fear of rejection or not knowing what to say or how to say it. Follow up calls are essential and can be successful if the following steps are used.
   1. Have a purpose. Understand the outcome you want from the call. Do you want a referral or additional sales, or to cement a relationship with the client?
   2. Know what you want say and plan the gist of the conversation. Write it out.
   3. Be prepared for the customer to lead you down another path. Know how to bridge back to your original plan.

Make the follow-up a continuation of the positive purchasing experience. Start a conversation that gets customers excited about their purchase all over again. This may lead to a referral for a friend who might be looking to do business with you.

So how do you start learning to sell all over again in our information-rich world? Start with this essential first step. Every day when you get out of bed, and several times during the day, say to yourself, “My job is not to sell, but to help my customers find the exact product or service that meets their needs, and in doing so, to make sure their experience is positive.” Adopt the right attitude every single day. Make this your mantra; say it, repeat it, and believe it. Only when you embrace this idea, can you continue your journey of continuous learning that is required to face a world of continuous change in the new world of sales. 

Richard F. Libin has written two acclaimed books that help people of all walks of life improve their sales skills, because as he says, “Everyone is a selling something.” His most recent book, Who Knew?, and his first book, “Who Stopped the Sale?” (www.whostoppedthesale.com), is now in its second edition. As president of APB-Automotive Profit Builders, Inc., a firm with more than 49 years experience working with both sales and service professionals, he helps his clientele, through personnel development and technology, to build customer satisfaction and maximize gross profits in their businesses. Mr. Libin can be reached at rlibin@apb.cc or 508-626-9200 or www.apb.cc.

I get it: You’re sick of reading articles about Millennials. How to retain them, engage them, hire them ... the list goes on. Aren’t we all? And the answer to all those questions is so obvious. Three words: Peruvian pour-over coffees. 

Boom! Problem solved. Now you can change the subject of your next LinkedIn Pulse piece to something that really matters, like what Netflix’s “Ozark” can teach us about business. 

Speaking of business, let’s get back to it. Admittedly, this is an article dedicated to helping you do something related to Millennials — in this case, how to sell to Millennial CEOs. Is this a gross oversimplification? Possibly. Am I making generalizations about a group of incredibly diverse people? Yes. Isn’t this just like all the other horrible Millennial advice articles out there? Probably not. 

This article is about sales and sales tactics. Therefore, if you and your team adopt the recommendations I’ve listed below, you’ll likely be able to measure the impact pretty quickly. And given the new technology available to coach sales teams and tie certain words and themes to results — such as Chorus.ai — it’ll be easy to tell early on whether I’m just talking to hear myself talk or actually offering decent advice. 

Now, on to the strategies. Here are three things to keep in mind when selling to Millennial CEOs: 

1. They are constantly thinking about things “at scale.” 

Millennial CEOs, by and large, are looking for a very specific quantitative objective — think revenue, monthly average users, or monthly unique visitors — to be achieved over a very specific period. These goals are often defined by management teams to attract investors or by investors themselves. The metrics foreshadow a company that has grown to a size significantly larger than its current state. 

As a result, you need to sell to the CEO of the company today as well as of the company in the future. This requires thoughtful discovery questions focused on the company as it is now, the company’s growth objectives, and its overall vision. You probably already know that a big part of the growth and metrics discussion involves acronyms like MAU, CAC, and LTV — but do you know what they are? If not, learn them now. You have to be able to talk the talk, because Millennial CEOs will be instantly skeptical if you prove ignorant about metrics important to them. 

2. They are hack-obsessed. 

Millennial CEOs — and, more broadly, innovative companies — are always looking for hacks. They want to find simple, inexpensive, or free ways to achieve their goals. Look no further than this site’s traffic for proof that I’m telling the truth. Being able to “hack” something that costs others a lot of money or time can be seen as a badge of honor. It’s fun to talk about while drinking monk fruit extract and eating chia pudding.

Take advantage of this trend. Know the hacks available to your prospects, and acknowledge them upfront — not when a CEO asks about it, but before he has the opportunity to bring it up. Asymmetry of information doesn’t exist anymore, so there’s no chance your Millennial CEO prospect won’t find a cheaper alternative when he kicks around with his team the idea of buying your products or services. It’s your responsibility to bring up a possible hack, acknowledge that it’s a real solution, even compliment it if it’s effective, and show CEOs how you’re different. 

3. They might not ask the tough questions.

Kimberly Fries wrote in a June article in Forbes, “Millennials in general are non-confrontational, which can translate to even more problems when they’re leaders.” Now, do I necessarily agree with this? No. But it does raise an interesting point worth keeping in mind. If Fries is right, it stands to reason that sales calls might end more positively with your Millennial CEO prospects, leading you to have a false sense of hope about a deal closing. In fact, Gong.io’s data shows that “tire kickers use more positive language than buyers.” 

So if a buyer seems a little too positive, that might be the right time to ask some tougher questions. Unsure where to start? Try something like, “What reservations do you have about moving to the next phase with our company?” Make sure you’re drawing out a CEO’s real objections, not just a few thoughts meant to end the conversation quickly. Don’t let a Millennial CEO averse to confrontation stop you from crossing the finish line.

Before heading into your next meeting with a Millennial buyer, remember these strategies that will help you nail your presentation and begin a new partnership.

Jeff Winters is founder and CEO of Sapper Consulting, which replaces cold calling for its clients. It’s cooler than it sounds.

By Mike Brooks, http://mrinsidesales.com/

The only worse than getting the competitor stall at the end of your presentation (something like, “Well, we’re looking at other quotes…” etc.) is not knowing how to handle it.

In my new book: Power Phone Scripts: 500 Word-For-Word Questions, Phrases, and Conversations to Open and Close More Sales, I teach you exactly what to say in the hundreds of selling situations you get into, including this competitor situation. 

If you’re looking for a great holiday present to give yourself (or your team or company!), then grab your copy (or copies) here. The below questions have been taken right from this value book: 

If after you’ve presented your product or service your prospect says they want or need to check on other offers/estimates/quotes, etc., then use or adapt any of the questions below to get your prospect to open up and possibly reveal what it might take for you to win the business: 

Option #1:

“I understand, which way are you leaning right now?”

Option #2:

“What would it take for someone else to win your business?”

Option #3:

“What would it honestly take for you to choose us for this?”

Option #4:

“What don’t you see with our proposal that you see in others?”

Option #5:

“Are we in the running with what else you’ve seen out there?”

[If yes]

“What about us would take us out of the running?”

OR

“What would you need to see to choose us?”

AND

“What can I do right now to insure that we win your business?”

Option #6:

“Obviously you’re going to show this quote to your current vendor – if they match the price, will you just stick with them?”

[If yes]

“What can I do to prevent that?”

Option #7:

“How many times have you taken other quotes to your current vendor?”

[If they tell you]:

“And what do they usually do?”

[If they say they lower their price to keep the business]:

“How can we break that cycle and get you the right pricing from the start?”

Option #8:

“_________, let’s take your lowest bid you have right now and compare it – services to services – to what we’re offing you. If I find you’re getting a better deal, I’ll tell you so. If I can beat it, then I’ll let you know that as well. Either way – You’ll Win! Do you have that other quote nearby or should I wait while you grab it?”

Remember, competition will always exist, but you can beat it and win business if you’re prepared with proven and effective scripts like those above.  Pick your favorite ones and tailor them to your particular sale.

Mike has been voted one of the most Influential Inside Sales Professionals for the past seven years by The American Association of Inside Sales Professionals, and won the 2017 Service Provider Award for training and development from the AA-ISP. Mike is hired by business owners to implement proven sales processes that help them immediately scale and grow Multi-Million Dollar Inside Sales Teams.  For more information, you can visit his website: www.MrInsideSales.com

Much like an experienced pilot, a salesperson should focus on reducing a customer's risk of getting trapped in a tailspin or thrown off track from the turbulence of an overinformed buying environment. Customers have more resources, opinions, and people to manage than ever. This can suck buyers into a "decision vortex," where confusion, indecision, and the fear of making the wrong choice causes them to doubt their own judgment. 

Buyers make decisions based on current information, which means that decision could be proven wrong tomorrow. This fact drives them toward a "minimize risk" approach to buying, and it makes it harder for salespeople to convince clients, especially when confronting them with change. As a result, salespeople have to start by instilling safety and confidence and accelerate buying by stripping away as much noise as possible.

In doing so, salespeople help buyers get out of their own way. While buyers who make the wrong decision in the short term may experience some painful consequences, making no decisions by lingering in the decision vortex is far more detrimental to their company and the corporate world in general.

Eliminate the Turbulence of the Buying Process 

As the pilot in command of the customer experience, you can avoid sudden changes in buying altitude by incorporating the following strategies into your sales approach: 

1. Treat the Buyer Like Your Co-Pilot

Every potential buyer is a less experienced pilot looking for advice on how to navigate the marketplace effectively and efficiently. A great salesperson helps buyers clearly identify the end destination, chart the best path to reach it, and track progress toward success. 

Start by asking great questions that help you understand the customer's needs and overall strategic goal. Add any expert information you have that can help clarify. This process requires you to know your products in depth and be able to recommend different options and paths to success while helping customers avoid pitfalls. There are three tangible ways you can achieve this: offering examples or anecdotes from past clients; outlining several paths to success, the steps to each, and any benefits or drawbacks; and providing metrics, such as industry data, benchmarking tools, or tactful and anonymous comparisons to other clients. 

2. Watch for Signs of Changing Buying Conditions, and Stay Connected 

Always be looking for signs of hesitation or indecision that you can address. Salespeople often feel the pressure to make a sale, which makes it easier to focus on their goals rather than customers' goals. Instead, reframe your attention on customers' problems to foreground their particular experiences and help them find the clarity they need to say, "Yes." 

Because the most common event that drives unexpected decision tailspins is a missed or bad meeting with a customer, you should know when meetings are and keep in touch with your contacts both before and after. Position yourself as a good listener and problem solver, and be prepared to discuss a range of concerns with clients, such as how to manage costs, grow and measure revenue, maximize asset use, and keep employees engaged. By providing objective talking points during these discussions with tools, insights, and information, you can become a trusted resource in case of a stall. 

3. Make Emergency Diversion Plans 

The worst that can happen to a sale is a mid-flight change of plans. While most people will contact you because of one initiative they're trying to accomplish, you should always look for ways to connect your product to more strategic goals. Plan for these spontaneous diversions by asking questions about other initiatives, systems, and goals at every opportunity, and look for ways to offer benefits your customer hasn't considered.

Some of the bestsellers are the ones that say, "Based on everything you're telling me right now, retooling that plant is so much smarter than investing in my software." That's how you get their business for a really long time versus closing the wrong deal today: by understanding the competing priorities of your customers and minimizing their risk while maximizing your offer's value. And potentially attaching that offer to multiple initiatives instead of just one is a big plus. 

Your product or service is being evaluated against all the other initiatives the company and budget can pursue. The best salespeople are willing to investigate the landscape along with the customer and provide an honest assessment. They also help clients reduce individual risk by understanding that buying today isn't done in a vacuum by a single individual. There's no such thing as flying solo, so focus on winning long-term business by embracing the complex skies of the customer experience. 

If your initiative comes out at the top, you just made a sale. If it comes in lower, find other ways you can help. But most importantly, stay useful to stay relevant.

Rick Cheatham leads the U.S. sales practice for BTS. He works with clients such as Google, JPMorgan, and General Electric to drive their sales efforts into the future. Rick leads a team of more than 20 consultants and conceptualizes many of the BTS solutions deployed in the U.S. He’s passionate about making work a place salespeople come to be successful, is totally pragmatic and experienced in getting results through being a purpose-driven leader, and has an uncommon balance between vision and how things really get done.

By Richard F. Libin, President, Automotive Profit Builders and author of just released book “Who Knew?” APB.cc, rlibin@apb.cc

I don’t understand.

Why does a business spend enormous sums of money to stay on the cutting edge of technology, marketing, and systems like CRMs etc., but then make it virtually impossible to do business with them?

There is a local car dealership that has a reputation for continuously spending money to keep their facilities updated with state-of-the-art equipment, from computers and software to the solar panels on the roof. Yet it is well known that it is very difficult buy anything from them. A friend of mine who was looking for a new truck told me that he was planning to buy to from this dealership. Knowing their reputation from others who tried to work with them and having had personal experience, I told my friend what he should expect.

My friend went anyway. He arrived, parked, looked at some of the trucks on the lot, and found one he wanted to look at, but no one was around to help him. While standing next to the truck, he used his cell phone to call the dealership. Before talking to anyone, a recording informed him that, “This call may be monitored for quality and training purposes.” When he reached the receptionist he asked her to send out a salesperson to help him. The receptionist told him, “We don’t do that here. You have to come into the showroom.” And then, she hung up. He called back and again asked the receptionist politely, to please send someone out so he didn’t have to walk all the way to the building and back. She hung up. He called back again, but this time, he told her what he thought about their service and the dealership, got in his truck and drove off to a different dealership where he bought a brand new truck.  Who stopped the sale? This dealership has excellent products, facilities, location, technology, and marketing. Yet it’s difficult to buy a vehicle from them even when you fully intend to. Are they training their people or putting money into technology?

I don’t understand. This business has the technology to monitor calls for training purposes but it doesn’t listen or correct the problems. They consistently mistreat customers. Why would any business employ someone as the customers’ first point of contact who won’t do their job and find someone to help the customer?

Why do businesses invest thousands of dollars to get ahead in every aspect of technology – their infrastructure and business systems, their websites, marketing CRM, email and social media – to drive business,  but fail to invest in educating their people on how to take care of customers? If a professional can’t provide the red carpet treatment what is the point of spending money on technology and marketing? Technology doesn’t sell cars; people do.

Part of the problem is that customer satisfaction is measured only on sales. Most businesses have no idea how many customers are actually lost and why. Too often it’s assumed that price was the issue, ye most customers are lost long before price is discussed. Without an accurate traffic count – a count of every lead or opportunity he business has – management will never know how many potential customers were lost because no one would help them.

Opportunities for sales present themselves every single day. Customers seek out businesses hoping to find expert guidance and help to first find the right product and second, to buy it at the right price. Unfortunately, most salespeople don’t care about the customer’s needs, wants, and desires in a product. Their approach communicates to customers that, “This is how we sell things. These are the items we want to push today. Do it our way or leave.” Salespeople – and management – need to adopt an attitude that tells customers “we do business your way.” No opportunity will ever come to fruition if a business doesn’t have people who are interested in and trained to work with and help customers buy cars.

Isn’t its time businesses start focusing on customers, first, and the bells and whistle second? After all, customers don’t just wander in randomly. They do their research and make a concerted effort to approach your business; they stand in front of a salesperson ready to buy.  While technology may help bring customers in, it’s the people that keep them, and turn them into customers.

Richard F. Libin has written two acclaimed books that help people of all walks of life improve their sales skills, because as he says, “Everyone is a selling something.” His most recent book, Who Knew?, and his first book, “Who Stopped the Sale?” (www.whostoppedthesale.com), is now in its second edition. As president of APB-Automotive Profit Builders, Inc., a firm with more than 49 years experience working with both sales and service professionals, he helps his clientele, through personnel development and technology, to build customer satisfaction and maximize gross profits in their businesses. Mr. Libin can be reached at rlibin@apb.cc or 508-626-9200 or www.apb.cc.

By Richard F. Libin, President, Automotive Profit Builders and author of just released book “Who Knew?”

APB.cc, rlibin@apb.cc

Times are tough – but as an old adage reminds us, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.”  In business, a good salesperson knows how to ride economic waves.  They know exactly how to take a group of leads and build them into a loyal base of customers and clientele who return time and again for products and services; that bring in referrals; and who increase the potential to close a sale by as much as 500%. 

A Positive Mindset Generates Positive Actions

Most salespeople are driven by commissions.  So imagine if they viewed every person they encountered as a prospective client?  Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines client as “a person who pays a professional person or organization for products and services, a person who engages the professional advice or services of another, and one that is under the protection of another.”  If salespeople viewed every person they met as a client – someone under their care who seeks professional advice and products or services – the potential for sales would increase dramatically.  This seemingly simple change in mindset and attitudes makes a world of difference in sales, commissions, and profits. 

Creating a mindset that perceives every individual who comes into the showroom as a client is one of the first steps in driving sales and increasing commissions and profits. However, it is a proven fact that when a client comes into a business and specifically asks for a particular salesperson, the closing percentage skyrockets. To achieve this, salespeople must know how to prospect.

Prospecting – Reviving A Lost Art

Prospecting has three primary results:  an appointment for an immediate sale; referrals to new prospects actively looking to buy, and creating future prospects.  Successful prospectors know that while there are many approaches, the best methods are in-person (personal), telephone, and written communication.  Yet today, most salespeople don’t have the first idea about how to prospect successfully. 

This is where managers, as the coaches and leaders come in.  The first step is to focus the team on the overall goal – changing the variables they control, beginning with driving traffic – and then to change their mindset.  Develop a game plan and create opportunities for the team to practice, play, and win. It’s like Vince Lombardi says, “Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.”

• The importance of team.  Think of a professional football team.  They practice for hours at least five days a week to play a single, one-hour game.  The team who wins is not always the biggest, fastest, or best, but the one who goes in with a well-rehearsed game plan and then executes it. Practice, Play, and Win.
• Change the mindset.  Teach the team to prospect – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and yes even in your sleep.  Take them out onto the field and train them.  Then be sure the team views each individual who enters the showroom as a customer with the ability and intent to purchase.
• Assign a dollar value to each customer. Every potential customer who comes to the business has the power to increase your paycheck along with the company’s gross. 

Salespeople cultivate customers through prospecting and referrals; they convert customers into clients by establishing and maintaining a relationship that allows them to build a sense of trust.  It’s this trust that allows clients to rely on the salesperson for advice, and allows the salesperson to secure more referrals and sales. We have seen over and over again, that when sales managers make the commitment to let APB helps them train their teams, the pay back is tangible and exponential. 

The bottom line is, prospect, prospect, prospect – every single day, not just when the business is bad or down. Prospecting needs to become an automatic reflex, like breathing, an act that happens successfully and continuously. With a positive mindset, a view toward the future, and the right training, salespeople will understand the need and will continue to prospect for opportunities and loyal clientele, regardless of how business is doing.

Richard F. Libin has written two acclaimed books that help people of all walks of life improve their sales skills, because as he says, “Everyone is a selling something.” His most recent book, Who Knew?, and his first book, “Who Stopped the Sale?” (www.whostoppedthesale.com), is now in its second edition. As president of APB-Automotive Profit Builders, Inc., a firm with more than 49 years experience working with both sales and service professionals, he helps his clientele, through personnel development and technology, to build customer satisfaction and maximize gross profits in their businesses. Mr. Libin can be reached at rlibin@apb.cc or 508-626-9200 or www.apb.cc.

By Mike Brooks, http://mrinsidesales.com/

What’s the number one blow off prospects use these days? “Can you email that to me?” If you think about it, that’s the perfect stall. They aren’t saying no, and it implies that you will need to talk to them later… Unfortunately, later becomes never as chasing down busy professionals – especially people who now don’t want to be followed up with – becomes nearly impossible.

The solution? Be prepared with a good script and a good strategy. The one I like most is to prepare an initial email in advance (it can be generic or it can include an initial quote of services) and have it ready to send at a moment’s notice. 

And then when a prospect blows you off with, “Can you email that to me?” use the following script from my new book: Power Phone Scripts: 

“I’d be more than happy to do that – where would you like me to email that?” 

[Take their email down and then email them your information right now.]

“O.K., it’s on the way to you. What I’d like to do right now is take just two minutes to get an idea of what’s important to you, and then I can direct you to that part of the information when you get around to it.  Let me ask you:

“How do you get involved in ordering/handling/working with the XYZ?”

OR

“From a needs standpoint, how motivated is (your company/department/are you) to change/fix/replace/buy XYZ right now?”

OR

“What would you need to see in the information I just sent you for you to become seriously interested in making a change in how you’re handling XYZ now?”  

If you follow this strategy, then you’ll be ready to side step the email stall and get right back into qualifying! How great will that be? Try this technique yourself and watch as you begin qualifying real buyers, or disqualifying those who just want to get you off the phone… 

And if you’d like more scripted rebuttals to this and many other objections and selling situations, then pick up a copy of my new, best-selling book on phone scripts. You’ll get over 500 word-for-word scripts, questions, and phrases to help you open and close more sales starting today!

Mike has been voted one of the most Influential Inside Sales Professionals for the past seven years by The American Association of Inside Sales Professionals, and just won the 2017 Service Provider Award for training and development from the AA-ISP. Mike is hired by business owners to implement proven sales processes that help them immediately scale and grow Multi-Million Dollar Inside Sales Teams.  For more information, you can visit his website: www.MrInsideSales.com

The advent of digital platforms and applications has revolutionised the way businesses are run. As a result, efficiency has sky-rocketed in many business sectors and in none has the digital mobile revolution been more welcome than in the most mobile sector of business, sales. Apps for everything from pitching presentations to sales report management have popped up all over the net.

The challenge that does arise from such an endless supply of apps, is for the discerning sales professional to keep their device's wallpaper uncluttered and internal memory unclogged. Believe it or not, you may already have most of those you need, and adding only a few more will reinvent the way your company does sales.

These are the 7 most basic needs of every sales professional and examples of apps to help fill those needs:

Document Sharing and Storing

The most obvious solutions for document sharing and storing are Dropbox and Google Drive. They make it possible to store important documents and retrieve them from any digital device with internet connectivity, as well as making them accessible to clients or sales teams in remote areas. Now your hard-drive can crash or your battery give out, and you will still be able to access that all-important contract.

Organising Sales Teams

Keeping track of sales teams need not be confusing. Wunderlist, the business world's answer to Cozi, everyone's favourite family organiser, gives you an overview of where each member of your sales team is and what they are up to. It includes in-app communication which adds to the streamlining of daily operations. Big Brother just got sales-friendly.

Pitching Presentations On The Go

Setting up a clumsy laptop to pitch a presentation to a prospective client has become a thing of the past. An app like Keynote will give you the power to design and store presentations on your mobile device which you can whip out with the flick of a finger. Imagine, an impressed client before they have even seen the presentation, never mind the product.

 Knowing Who You Are Pitching To

Part of presenting a successful pitch is knowing who you are pitching to as this determines what they will be looking for and what you will focus on in your presentation. Researching the business activities of your client on an app such as LinkedIn can supply you with such strategic information. Don't work hard, work smart.

 Managing and Executing Daily Sales

Whether your focus is B2B, B2C or ERP, keeping track of sales, quotations, orders, inventory control, conversion figures and analysis can present quite a challenge. But not if you make use of one of many excellent e-commerce platforms and their attending mobile apps. Contalog, Handshake and Pepperi are all more than happy to assist on any operating system, while others, like Repzio, cater for Apple users exclusively. Most boast offline connectivity which is a necessity for the travelling sales professional.

 Getting Yourself Out There

It is no more "word of mouth" we depend on, but word of Facebook and Twitter. Tweeting your latest successful pitch or posting your most recent breakthrough collaboration on Facebook makes you more attractive to other prospective clients. After all, everybody likes doing business with successful people. This can be even further exploited by using Facebook for branding by association to boost your public image.

 Staying Personally Connected With Clients and Sales Teams

Despite the great advances in group communication and public profiles, we remain human beings with a desire to be individually recognised and valued. Staying personally connected with clients and sales team members alike can be invaluable in cementing long term, fruitful relationships that can only do your business good. WhatsApp provides such a platform, where you can personally answer your client's questions or concerns.

A little planning and strategic use of mobile apps can simplify your working life as a modern sales professional. It can even leave you with time to spend on Skype, getting precious face-time with your children and other loved ones. A vital part of success in today's business world is to make technology work for you.

Jen Starr is part of the community team at Next Day PC. Jen enjoys staying on top of the latest tech trends and sharing how new tech can positively impact people’s lives.

Did you know that 86% of consumers will be more interested in products and services that deliver personalized messaging? Campaigner has teamed up with FullContact to help enrich your customer data and generate more highly personalized campaigns.

Join us on Thursday, November 9^th at 1 p.m. EST. We will be accompanied by Jon Tallman, Director Solutions Engineering at FullContact, who will share his expertise on the power of personalization.

We will also discuss:

• Why personalize?
• The top three challenges marketers are faced with
• Solutions to help you
• Open question & answer session
• And much more!

Space is limited for this exclusive webinar. Click here to reserve your spot today!

By Richard F. Libin, President, Automotive Profit Builders and author of just released book “Who Knew?”

APB.cc, rlibin@apb.cc

If you work in sales and believe your only job is to sell the product your company makes, think again. Before you can ever sell a product, you must sell the customer on why they should buy from your business.

Today, there are more competitors in more forms than ever before - brick and mortar stores, online stores, pop-up stores, and more. This gives consumers the power and the ability to decide how and where they wish to do business.

So, why would they pick your business?

Unless a customer has done business with you before, the only thing they’ve decided when they arrive at your business is what kind of product they are considering. Coming to your location has nothing to do with their decision to work with your business. And, at this point, they don’t have a reason to do so.

Customers come to a business for a variety reasons. They may have seen an ad or found the business on the Internet. They may have heard about you from a friend. You may be convenient because you are on the route of their daily commute. They may know that you have a product they are interested in. None of this has anything to do with their decision to work with your business.

It should be clear that salespeople must answer the question, “Why should I buy here?” They must sell the business before they can sell a product. In a way, it is like a job interview.

In a job interview, you do everything you can to make a good impression, from the way you dress, to how you listen, and answer questions honestly, thoroughly, and correctly. You work to sell the interviewer and prove that you are the right choice, that you have the skills, commitment, and passion that will benefit the employer now and in the future.

The same applies when customers interview you. They need to know why they should buy at your business. They look for a professional who is committed to listening and understanding their needs. The key word here is listening. This is the only way to completely understand their needs. It is imperative that you listen before you try to answer questions. They want to feel confident that the business is a solid member of the community that will be here in the long run to meet their future needs.

This is what sells customers on the business. Salespeople must show customers every possible reason to purchase here, from the business and its people to its commitment to the community.

What’s at stake?

Giving customers a reason to buy from your business has immediate and long-time benefits. In the short-term, customers will be delighted with their experience and tell their friends. This has the potential to broaden awareness and generate referrals. In the long-run, it means that customers will be back.

On the other hand, if you don’t develop a relationship built on trust and confidence, you will always end up selling on price, just like everyone else. Even if a customer purchases a product, they may never be back, and, they will warn others to steer clear of your business.

What’s involved?

Businesses must cultivate, train, and educate their people into the best professionals they can be, who embrace work as a profession, not as just another job. These professionals choose to work at the business because of its values, its commitment to leading-edge technology and processes, and to their customers and employees. In these cultures, everyone knows their job is important, regardless of their job. If they don’t, then they are misemployed. Developing relationships is most important.

In this type of culture, management has confidence in the people they hire and trusts them to do their jobs. Simultaneously, they continually provide ongoing training, coaching, education, and mentoring.

Here is what happens in this type of culture:

• Professionals answer questions truthfully and completely. If they don’t know the answer, they find out. They know that nothing can replace honesty and integrity in business.
• Every customer is treated equally and without judgement.
• Everyone in the business is thoroughly trained on every aspect of the business. Salespeople understand how the service department works and the benefits it offers. Service professionals understand financing and sales. Greeters and administrative personnel can clearly communicate the value offered by their business.
• The business is clean, inviting, and professional. Every opportunity is taken to showcase technology and equipment and communicate the investment being made in the business and the community.
• Customers feel that working with you helps them support their community. The business proudly features its involvement and commitment to local schools, youth leagues, and charities. By showcasing its employees, the business demonstrates its contribution to the economic well-being of the community through job creation.

Customer loyalty isn’t what it used to be. People don’t return to a business simply because it’s where they went previously. They return because salespeople took the time to build a relationship. They gave the customer a reason to buy from their business. When you have a relationship with a customer, everything is easier. But remember, even one mistake can cause a loyal customer to leave. It is up to you to sell them on your business and then, to keep them sold through simple, consistent communication.

Richard F. Libin has written two acclaimed books that help people of all walks of life improve their sales skills, because as he says, “Everyone is a selling something.” His most recent book, Who Knew?, and his first book, “Who Stopped the Sale?” (www.whostoppedthesale.com), is now in its second edition. As president of APB-Automotive Profit Builders, Inc., a firm with more than 49 years experience working with both sales and service professionals, he helps his clientele, through personnel development and technology, to build customer satisfaction and maximize gross profits in their businesses. Mr. Libin can be reached at rlibin@apb.cc or 508-626-9200 or www.apb.cc.

A classic sales principle teaches us to give prospects a choice between one thing and something else rather than between something and nothing. That approach made perfect sense in decades past, but it becomes exponentially more complex considering the multiple “somethings” consumers can choose from in the modern business world.

There are too many options available today. Offering consumers a choice between only two or three options might seem restrictive, but most of us have so many options that we feel overwhelmed. Psychologist Barry Schwartz explored this concept extensively in his bestselling book "The Paradox of Choice." At a certain point, the flood of potential options becomes white noise. 

A confused customer buys nothing. Plus, a team of Swedish researchers found that customer confusion also kills brand loyalty. To close sales in the age of endless distractions, you must upset the status quo of customers and cut through the noise of our frenzied culture. 

How to Connect With Your Target Customer 

Considering how much information inundates the average consumer every day, it might seem impossible to break through the chaos by offering fewer choices. It is actually much easier than you might think. Modern companies must make true emotional connections with their target audiences to stand out, but many businesses still overdo it. Keep your sales process simple by focusing on four principles: 

1. Tell a Story

Everyone loves a good yarn. Find ways to use your product to tell the story of your brand. Above all else, make it conversational. Part of the problem is everyone hollering, “Look at me!” at potential customers. That approach leads to speaking at them instead of with them. 

When you make it conversational, you can paint a picture of how consumers overlap and interact with your product or service. You can create a narrative that shows them how your product or service might change their lives. Craft a story that offers a solution to a problem rather than one that tries to sell a product.

Apple is a great example of a company that tells a story instead of solely listing the benefits and features of its products. The strategy helps customers see themselves as owners of Apple products and enjoying life more because of the company's innovative technology. Its marketing delivers a layered, consistent, and compelling message that Apple products will make you happier. 

2. Be Consistent With Your Target Audience

Once you have started to tell your story, make sure you are delivering a consistent message across your touchpoints: your website, your social media, your customer service reps, your mission statement, and your sales team. Every element should say the same thing, with all sectors of your business embracing a consistent narrative. 

When your brand tells a consistent and compelling story, your sales team gains an edge when making calls. Many companies are so large that their brand message gets out of alignment, with their website saying one thing and their social media delivering a completely different message. The conversation ends up disjointed, broken, and misfiring with potential customers. 

Think of Walmart or Starbucks. Is each location different, or do they all look and feel similar? Customers are more satisfied and less stressed when they have a consistent experience. Starbucks delivers a consistent atmosphere and familiar layout when customers walk in the front doors, regardless of location. 

Think of your salesperson as the top of a marketing pyramid. Everything should back up whatever he or she is saying to potential clients. Consistency makes it easier for customers to understand your product or service, fosters trust, and removes the stress of trying to sort conflicting messages. 

3. Talk Less, Ask More

A sales conversation is like a date: Nobody wants to go out with someone who talks only about himself. Connect with your customers personally and professionally, learning everything you can about their goals and obstacles. What are they feeling? 

Upset the status quo by asking them directly about their concerns and obstacles. People will listen to you if they like you, but they will buy from you if they trust you. Asking good questions that demonstrate interest will help foster trust. You also might uncover information that will help you in the sales process, such as the true motivations of your customers or other people involved in purchasing decisions.

4. Establish Trust with Customers

Once you establish trust with customers, you form a personal connection that focuses on their individual needs. When a salesperson does more listening than talking, consumers open up and share their true desires. This opens the door to connect your product to the problem the consumer hopes to solve. 

Head to the nearest Chick-fil-A for a real-world demonstration of a client-centered experience built on a foundation of kindness. Customers enjoy the pleasant experiences when they dine in a Chick-fil-A, but the sales team also appreciates the consistent, friendly atmosphere. I have had the pleasure of training Chick-fil-A store operators and managers, and I can confirm that trust permeates every facet of the brand. 

Trust is the foundation of any healthy relationship and the key to great sales. A client-centered company makes work easier for your sales team, with fantastic client experiences serving as a driving force behind the culture of your brand. 

A Mutually Beneficial Relationship

The best thing you can do for your sales team is to shift from a transactional approach to a relational mindset. The modern sales process is not about offering consumers millions of options and trying to get as much money as possible; sales is about helping consumers solve a problem, fill a need, or live a fuller life. 

A sales process focused on creating an emotional connection and building trust reduces the pressure many sales professionals feel on a routine basis. Customers and salespeople can work together, trying to find a solution that works for everyone. When collaboration becomes to the goal of every sales interaction — regardless of whether it leads to a sale — your brand will be on the right track.

Michael Ray Newman is the president and CEO of ZZI. ZZI transforms businesses, changes lives, and trains people to be leaders. Michael has committed his life to helping others and inspiring employees with high energy and higher expectations. Follow ZZI on Facebook and Michael on Twitter.

A company that relies on only a few customers for most of its revenue entertains a risky proposition. By not diversifying much beyond those first few accounts, chances are good that if an account were to leave or file for bankruptcy, that company would be taken out, too.

Sales organizations often find themselves in a similar predicament, relying on a handful of their salespeople to drive revenue. If a top performer leaves, then business suffers — not just because of that individual's absence, but also because the company has failed to develop other sellers on the team. Quite simply, a reliance on a few — regardless of what that few is — limits a company's ability to expand and evolve.

While it might seem counterproductive, a company's best option is to encourage its top performers to excel but also allow those top sellers to pursue alternate opportunities by creating a support system that nurtures a steady stream of talent. This process inevitably leads to a company with greater depth and viability in the increasingly dynamic marketplace.

Great Sellers Can Be Born — and Made 

Traditional wisdom suggests that great salespeople are born, not made. And top performers generally share common qualities: They're ambitious, hardworking, and on an upward trajectory. Thus, these individuals tend to draw focus away from other employees. But this tendency can lead the “chosen ones” to feel overworked and unfairly burdened with the task of keeping up their team’s numbers, as well as cause others to feel undervalued. 

Essentially, the point of arrival for any company should be every seller being the best seller. And while this may seem idealistic, the whole discipline of sales enablement focuses on achieving this objective. In fact, salespeople are often most successful when allowed to play to their own strengths, which means providing the right mix of tools and training that helps an individual understand those strengths and cultivate them. 

Because this training isn't a one-size-fits-all undertaking, and even though some individuals may be predisposed to selling, identifying the attributes that render successful quotas and then working with each salesperson to build those attributes can create more consistent and evenly distributed success.

3 Strategies for Implementing Sales Education

Ultimately, creating great salespeople isn't a cosmic undertaking. It's simply a matter of striking the right balance between training and individual development. How leaders go about empowering their sales teams will vary by person and organization, but these three strategies can set them on the right path to installing the most effective curriculum:

1. Look to and lean on your top performers. Your top performers excel within your organization, so studying what makes them tick and diving deeper into the systems, processes, and people they leverage to succeed helps you understand how to structure your current and future training techniques and elevate the rest of your sales force. 

Most importantly, don't go at this training alone. While your top performers always have a lot on their plates and you may hesitate to ask them to take on additional duties, the institutional and industry knowledge they possess can only be understood and effectively relayed by them. Have them help you develop best practices in your training modules and make that available to the rest of your organization. You can even incentivize their input by offering them monetary or other rewards.

2. Nurture customer and sales intelligence. Though companies are hard-pressed to develop business strategies without data, salespeople need insights into their client base that go beyond data to provide actual account solutions. Getting your team in the same room together can help them develop strategies, challenge preconceived notions, and review past results. You’ll end up with a sales force that is not only collaborative, but one that can also more effectively solve customer problems. 

Moreover, because the B2B sales cycle is arduous and it can take 18 months or longer to convert, salespeople need to wholly understand prospects and customers to keep them engaged. That's why leaders who foster strategic collaboration to nurture customer intelligence not only enhance the teams' knowledge about the industry, the market, and the competition, but also help them better understand the influencers, stakeholders, and decision makers within the company.

3. Play the long game with training. Onboarding new talent is never a quick fix. It takes years of training and experience to get salespeople to perform at their highest potential, so leaders must go beyond the basics and invest in their sales teams by continually developing and evolving their skill sets.

Take the technology corporation Oracle as an example: It uses a “Class Of” sales program in which new trainees are paired with experienced salespeople after nine months of training and lead generation. By having its salespeople work with “mentors” over a period of time to sharpen skills and learn the organization’s best practices, Oracle is able to render a more consistent and deeper sales process companywide. 

It’s easy to get comfortable when a sales team is reaching its goals. But resting on laurels is never a good idea. Instead, companies that devote the time and effort into enhanced sales training and a work to construct more uniform system can continue to weather the variability of the marketplace and don't have to worry so much the next time a star seller departs.

Sona Jepsen is the global head of sales enablement at Fidelity National Information Services (FIS). Her team empowers FIS’s global sales teams with sales content, strategic insights, and world-class learning and development opportunities.

Join us on Thursday,October 19th at 1 p.m. EST. We will provide your with an introduction to the Campaigner landing page feature and demonstrate how to effectively tie email marketing with your landing pages.

In this session we will also teach you:

• Why each email campaign should have a corresponding landing page
• How to drive the right customers to the right landing pages
• Live in product demonstration
• Open question & answer session
• And much more!

Space is limited for this exclusive webinar. Click here to reserve your spot today!
Can’t attend the live presentation? You should still register! We will send out slides and the recording to all registrants.

Mike Brooks, http://mrinsidesales.com/

The debate of whether to open your calls asking, “Did I catch you at a good time?” or “Is this time still good for you?” (for presentation call backs), is alive and well – unfortunately.

Just last week, I received this email question from a reader:

“Hi Mike, question - after I send out information to these guys and I come back to them with an idea do I ask them if they have a minute before going into my pitch?”

Have you ever wondered the same thing? If so, you’re not alone. I’ve heard this question for the last 30+ years, and I’ve also heard arguments for both sides. Some people think it’s respectful to ask if the prospect has time, and others feel they are setting themselves up for a stall.

So what should you do?

I’ve been making calls – both prospecting calls and closing calls – for a long, long time. In fact, I still make them today. And in my experience (note I said experience, not “theory”), the answer is clear. What you should do is this:

Never ask if it’s a good time to pitch or qualify or have a conversation with a prospect or client. Instead, follow this approach to the letter:

Always greet your prospect: “Hi {first name}, hope your day is going well….” (or other opening you like).

And then listen carefully not only to what they say, but, more importantly, to how they say it. Ask yourself:

“Is this person happy to hear from me?”

“Does this person sound rushed?”

“Do they sound upset that I’ve interrupted them?”

“Are they unhappy they picked up the phone now have to talk to me?”

Or,

“Do they sound relaxed?”

“Are they willing to engage – did they ask me how I’m doing?”

“Is there a smile in their voice?” (Or a frown?)

In other words, rather than ask if you caught them at a good time, listen to their voice and to how they answer the phone to see what their mood is. If you actually listen, you can always tell…

Then, regardless of what they say, acknowledge what you know to be true: they are busy! So let them know you respect their time and open your call this way:

“I’m sure you’re busy, so I’ll be brief….”

And then engage quickly and, if you’re prospecting or qualifying, ask them a question as soon as possible so you can give them an opportunity to tell you whether they have the time to speak to you or not.

And that’s how you handle prospecting calls.

For pitches where you have an appointment, don’t ask if this is still a good time for them! You’ve made an appointment in advance, and if you’ve truly qualified them they are expecting your call and should be ready for it.

For these calls, you open this way:

“Hi {first name}, how’s your (Tuesday, etc.) going?”

[Listen here and respond accordingly.]

“Good to hear. Well, {first name}, I’m excited to speak with you today and I know you’re going to love…”

And then get into your pitch…

And, as always, don’t take my 30+ years of experience for it, try it yourself! Your own experience will verify what I’m telling you. Happy selling!

And if you’d like over 500 more phrases, questions, and word for word proven scripts (all current and effective), then invest $28 in your career and get my new bestselling book: Power Phone Scripts.

Mike has been voted one of the most Influential Inside Sales Professionals for the past seven years by The American Association of Inside Sales Professionals, and just won the 2017 Service Provider Award for training and development from the AA-ISP. Mike is hired by business owners to implement proven sales processes that help them immediately scale and grow Multi-Million Dollar Inside Sales Teams.  For more information, you can visit his website: www.MrInsideSales.com

Space is limited for this exclusive webinar. Click here to reserve your spot today! 

Can’t attend the live presentation? You should still register! We will send out slides and the recording to all registrants. 

By Richard F. Libin, President, Automotive Profit Builders and author of just released book “Who Knew?” APB.cc, rlibin@apb.cc

One thing is certain: the economy is always changing. For business, this typically means highs and lows. A good leader, however, knows how to adjust their management style to motivate your team and increase performance. At APB, we identified 13 rules that will help managers guide their teams so that their business not only survives, but thrives, in any economy

Every year we see businesses that fail. In many cases, the owners blame the economy. In many of these cases, however, the owners are embracing a trend called “cop-out closures.” This happens when they decide to close down for any number of reasons because they know they can blame the economy rather than look at their own business practices and management. Every one of these closures, however, is an opportunity for competing businesses that intend to continue growing. These 13 rules of business will help you be ready to take advantage of every opportunity and to succeed in any economy.

1. Control your own destiny. Don’t give in to what is happening around you. Be a leader. Stand up and make things happen. Only real leaders can stay strong and steer their companies in the face of adversity.

2. Embrace the 30-Day-Fix. Change takes time. If you look for the quick fix, you’ll be disappointed. Yet, in a month, true change can start to take place. Start by creating what we call and Elephant List - a list that taken in all at once is overwhelmging. Then, work on it, “one bite at a time.” For the next 30 days, write down one problem that comes up and what was done to correct it. At the end of 30 days, look at the very first problem you recorded. If it’s still there, come up with a better, more permanent solution, not just a “quick fix.” Keep working each problem until the list dwindles, – one bite at a time.

3. Use the “Red Carpet Treatment” consistently.  Create loyal clients who buy because of their relationship with your business because of the exceptional experiences they have, not because of the price. Most often red carpets are rolled out for VIPs. Who in your business is more of a VIP that your customer? Instill a desire in your team to go the extra mile to “wow” your VIPs, from their first greeting to the delivery of their product or service.

4. Don’t stop the sale. Work every opportunity fully. Ask the right questions and listen to the customer’s needs, wants and desires. Adopt a positive attitude. Don’t turn buyers into shoppers by pushing them to “buy now!” When you understand that your job is to help buyers select the right product o service, now is irrelevant. Whether a customer buys today or next week doesn’t matter. What matters is that they buy from you.

5. Practice continuous improvement. Educate and train every person in your business constantly. Teach salespeople and managers how to follow-up and pursue sales through delivery and beyond. Train them to use a customer-focused approach – not high-pressure sales tactics. Demonstrate how the process works and show them your willingness to work with them. Monitor, assess, pinpoint, and correct selling challenges.

6. Communicate. Develop an effective game plan and share it with you team. Set expectations and be sure that everyone knows what they need to do given time to meet them. Use customer data to track, analyze monitor progress, and performance through every step of the selling process, every day. Use the results to identify where to focus your education and training programs for each individual.

7. Promote managers within. Set a career path for every employee and provide the training and opportunities for them to follow it. When you make an investment in your team you develop a pool of exceptional candidates who know your processes and customers.

8. Count traffic. Base performance on an accurate traffic count to create a level playing field. Look at how each salesperson improves their closing ratios, the number of items vs. customers the salesperson worked. Counting only units sold provides an inaccurate picture of who is improving most.

9. Motivate your team. Host daily motivation meetings. Focus on how they can deliver their best performance. Emphasize teamwork and demonstrate how each individual’s performance contributes to the team’s success. Structure incentives so every team member has a fair shot, and so that the person delivering an “assist” is rewarded as well, not just individual who “scores.”

10. Practice 10. Give every salesperson 10 things to do each day that will help them achieve their goals and improve performance. For example:

• Listen! Find out what customers want in the first five minutes.    

• Call five previous customers; look for the referral.

• Send 10 follow-up letters or cards.

• Visit two local businesses and secure two prospects from each.

• Give every customer a tour of the facility – even if they haven’t decided to buy.

• Give one assist to a colleague.

• Make a game plan for the next day.

11. Check each other for accountability. At the end of the day check in to see how well the goals have been met and make an action plan for the next work day.

12. Think like “The Little Engine That Could.” – Yes I can! Keep a positive attitude at all times. Remember, your attitude is contagious.

13. Get our of your office. Be hands-on and work directly with your team. Lead by example and pitch in when needed.

While there is no magic formula or silver bullet that brings success, following these 13 rules will certainly make a difference and ensure you are on the path to success.

Richard F. Libin has written two acclaimed books that help people of all walks of life improve their sales skills, because as he says, “Everyone is a selling something.” His most recent book, Who Knew?, and his first book, “Who Stopped the Sale?” (www.whostoppedthesale.com), is now in its second edition. As president of APB-Automotive Profit Builders, Inc., a firm with more than 49 years experience working with both sales and service professionals, he helps his clientele, through personnel development and technology, to build customer satisfaction and maximize gross profits in their businesses. Mr. Libin can be reached at rlibin@apb.cc or 508-626-9200 or www.apb.cc.

by Mike Brooks, Mr. Inside Sales

Most sales reps hate getting objections. Their hearts sink into their stomachs, their palms start to sweat, and they start wondering how they're going to pay the rent. Sound familiar? 

When sales reps ask me how they should handle objections, they are often surprised by my answer. I tell them they shouldn’t answer them, they should isolate them. When they look confused, I explain: 

"Let's face it,” I tell them, “most of the time objections are just smokescreens hiding real objections that your prospect doesn't want to disclose. As soon as you begin answering objections, have you ever found that they have another and yet another?" 

"Oh, yeah," they say. 

“So here's the secret to handling objections: instead of answering an objection, you must first isolate and question it,” I tell them. 

To show you all what I mean, let's take two of the most common ones - "Your price is too high," and "I need to speak with, talk to my wife/partner/etc..." 

If your client says, "Your price is too high,” before you try to overcome it, isolate it first. Try either: 

“Okay, and besides price, what else would prevent you from going with me today?” 

This is great in that it gets a prospect to reveal what is hiding behind the price objection. This also works: 

"I can understand that, and let me ask you a question -- if this price was exactly what you were willing to pay, is this (your product/service, etc.) the solution you would go with today?" 

Now that you've isolated the objection you will see if price really is the only objection. Any answer other than 'yes' means price isn't what is stopping your prospect form moving forward (which means you have more work to do to find out what is!) 

Same thing with the "I've got to speak to, talk this over with...." objection. You should say: 

"I can totally understand that. And _________ let me ask you -- if you did speak with ________ and they said whatever you thought was fine with them, what would you tend to do next?" 

Again, any answer other than “yes” means this objection is just a stall. Answering it will get you nowhere. 

Do you understand now why I say, “Don’t answer an objection, isolate it?” Doing so will enable you to uncover what is really holding your prospect back. 

And until you find that out, there will be no deal.

So stop answering objections and start isolating them. You will become a much stronger closer, and you'll begin making more sales. Oh, and if they do say no, then you’ll find over 500 other scripts and ways of dealing with objections in my new book, Power Phone Scripts. 

Get it today and start closing more sales tomorrow!

Mike has been voted one of the most Influential Inside Sales Professionals for the past seven years by The American Association of Inside Sales Professionals, and just won the 2017 Service Provider Award for training and development from the AA-ISP. Mike is hired by business owners to implement proven sales processes that help them immediately scale and grow Multi-Million Dollar Inside Sales Teams.  For more information, you can visit his website: www.MrInsideSales.com

By Richard F. Libin, President, APB

Trust is one of the most important and fragile of human emotions. And, it is essential to almost every aspect of our lives that require relationships. In business, it is critical that customers trust that the person, the product, and the business they are dealing with will be honest, reliable and authentic. Lack of trust or trust that has been broken, always leads to one place: lost relationships and sales.

Before customers purchase, they must trust three things:

1. The product
2. The dealership
3. The salesperson

At APB, we refer to this as a Trust Triad, where the customer is firmly in the center of the relationship. The question is, how do you earn this level of trust? It requires thoughtful, planned, and sincere interaction with customers by every employee, regardless of their job, and a management team that is committed to training and educating its team on the process, communication, and other success factors.

First impressions matter. You must look and present yourself professionally, even on casual days. Your image reflects on the business and product you’re selling. Greeting a customer with a positive attitude sets the tone for the entire interaction. If you bring optimism and professionalism to every customer exchange, why wouldn’t every customer feel comfortable working with you? Why wouldn’t they trust you?

First impressions must be supported with exceptional service. Remember, a salesperson’s job is to help customers find the product or service that meets their unique needs, wants, and desires. By listening and focusing on customers’ needs not on selling, you will deliver a superior experience and product or service.

Deliver exceptional treatment consistently through clear communication, active listening, and an honest understanding of customers’ unique reasons for buying. Give every customer the exact class of service you’d expect if you were the customer, whether they buy now, today, next week, or next year. Customers shouldn’t have to transact business to receive exceptional service.

Delivering consistently high service requires a clearly defined process, a positive attitude, and continuous improvement and training. A companywide process ensures that salespeople ask specific questions, collect information that can guide the sales process, and find the right product or service, exactly the same way every time. This consistency can exceed customer expectations and strengthen customer trust in the salesperson.

Monitoring performance and providing additional, ongoing training is essential in determining how well the process is followed, its effectiveness, and how it can be improved. This must happen daily. Even so, it is up to each individual to decide how much training they want. The question is, “Do you want to be adequate or exceptional?” To be exceptional you must take the initiative to learn every day through informal and formal means. 

Building trust - while a never-ending process, is achievable. It demands your commitment to a professional image, consistent, exceptional service, and ongoing education. The rewards from building this level of trust with customers can be profitable now, and in the future.

About the Author:

Richard F. Libin has written two acclaimed books that help people of all walks of life improve their sales skills, because as he says, “Everyone is a selling something.” His most recent book, Who Knew?, and his first book, “Who Stopped the Sale?” (www.whostoppedthesale.com), is now in its second edition. As president of APB-Automotive Profit Builders, Inc., a firm with more than 49 years experience working with both sales and service professionals, he helps his clientele, through personnel development and technology, to build customer satisfaction and maximize gross profits in their businesses. Mr. Libin can be reached at rlibin@apb.cc or 508-626-9200 or www.apb.cc.

Space is limited for this exclusive webinar. Click here to reserve your spot today! 

Can’t attend the live presentation? You should still register! We will send out slides and the recording to all registrants. 

by Mike Brooks, http://mrinsidesales.com/

Having trouble motivating your team? You’re not alone. 

Every member of your team has different skill levels, interest levels, and different ways of learning. Because of this, not everyone will respond the same way to your methods of managing and motivating, and that means you need different ways of motivating, mentoring, counseling, or even some babysitting.  Sound familiar? 

Let’s face it: true motivation comes from within. In some way, each member of your team is already motivated. The secret (or five secrets) is to build on each team member’s internal motivation and learn to maximize it. 

Here are five things you can do today to get the most out of your team -- 

#1) Make your monthly revenue goal, and each rep’s part of that goal, crystal clear. I'm sure you have a monthly revenue goal, but does each member of your sales team know what their specific part of that goal is? (Hint -- it's not all equal). Recognize that some reps will produce much more of the overall goal than others, but also make sure each person is clear on what their part of that overall goal is. And then coach to that. 

#2) Make bonuses or prizes specific to each team member. The problem with most bonus programs is that as soon as they are released, over half of the sales team knows they can't win so they are more discouraged than encouraged to produce. Instead, spend some time learning what each person would really want, and then customize each rep’s bonus and tie it to their individual production goal. 

If a rep hits their goal, then they win something that is meaningful to them. This also makes each rep responsible for hitting their own goal.

#3) Get out of your own comfort zone and close some deals. Most managers are way too busy in meetings, or reporting, or just plain hiding out to be really effective. Remember one thing -- as the manager, you are the leader. And leaders lead by example. 

Want to motivate your team, make your numbers, and create real value for yourself? Go onto the floor and close business for some of your sales reps and help them make their revenue goals. This is the most important thing you can do not only for your bottom line, but for your team’s motivation as well. 

#4) Invest $100 in a couple of trophies. This will be the best money you'll ever spend -- make one a “Week’s most improved," or “Best effort," and hand it out each Monday morning. 

Each winner gets to keep it on their desk that week. The other trophy can be either “Most deals," or “Most new clients." or whatever other category everyone has a chance to win (as long as it is revenue related). Again, hand it out in your Monday morning sales meeting and each week the winner gets to keep it on their desk. 

Remember rule #1 in motivating: recognition among peers is almost always more important than money. 

#5) Have some fun! Go to a toy store and buy one of those beanbag tosses, and after lunch on Friday make some teams and have some fun playing as a team. Tack on $50 for good measure and watch the competition and fun build your team and dissolve stress.  This works – try it! 

So there you have it. Inexpensive, proven techniques to build morale, motivate and make more money. 

Want a bonus? Invest in and give each member of your team a copy of my new book: Power Phone Scripts.” See it here. In it, they’ll find scripts, techniques, email templates, voice mail scripts, and so much more that they can use to help motivate themselves. 

Invest in them to help them invest in themselves. Now there’s a proven way to motivate your sales team!

Mike has been voted one of the most Influential Inside Sales Professionals for the past seven years by The American Association of Inside Sales Professionals, and just won the 2017 Service Provider Award for training and development from the AA-ISP. Mike is hired by business owners to implement proven sales processes that help them immediately scale and grow Multi-Million Dollar Inside Sales Teams.  For more information, you can visit his website: www.MrInsideSales.com

by Mike Brooks, Mr. Inside Sales

Let me ask you a question: Do all of your leads end up buying?

Of course not.

Next question: Out of ten leads that you set up to pitch a demo to, how many of those ten end up buying?

If you said “two” then you are at the industry average. Now consider what that really means: It means that out of ten closes you attempt, eight are not going to buy!

Now think about all the time and energy you spend trying to close a lead that is never going to buy anyway. Think about all the time and effort you spend following up, chasing, sending emails and leaving voice mails. It’s no wonder most sales people go home exhausted at the end of the week and are discouraged when they come into work on Monday and look at their list of prospects to call back…

I used to be one of those discouraged sales reps until I learned about disqualifying prospects rather than qualifying them.

This was a crucial attitude shift that changed my career. Think about it: 80% of sales reps are desperate to “fill their pipelines," and will send out just about anybody with the pulse just so they have someone to pitch later on. Companies and sales managers train them in this way (“It’s a numbers game,” they claim.), and then sales reps spend their time chasing unqualified leads, getting rejected, practicing poor sales skills, and becoming discouraged. 

It's sad, but that's how 80% of your competition spend their sales careers. This leads to poor morale, upset managers, and a lot of turn over.

Top sales reps, however, would never think of sending out unqualified leads, and instead eliminate prospects who don't fit their strict criteria of a buyer.  Top sales reps would rather disqualify a lead than put barely qualified leads into their pipeline just so they have someone to pitch. 

And because of this, top sales reps send out (or set up) the fewest leads (appointments, demos, presentations, etc.) in the office. But the important thing is they have the highest closing rates and their paychecks tend to be higher.

So what does “disqualifying” prospects really mean? It means pausing and questioning the “red flags" they get, rather than ignoring them and hoping they go away. It means having and following a “qualifying checklist,” and asking the tough questions about budget, buying motives, competition, timelines, decision makers and decision processes. 

When a top rep is done generating a lead, they can tell you why the prospect will buy, what potential objections may come up, and in many cases they've already asked trial closes and can tell you when the prospect will buy and what the process will entail.

If you're sitting at your desk right now, staring at a list of prospects you have to call back, then you know the difference between just setting appointments to pitch and disqualifying out the non-buyers and setting up truly qualified leads and demos.

And now you have a choice to make. You can either keep creating and chasing unqualified leads, or you can step up to the plate and start asking the tough questions and truly disqualify out leads that are just going to waste your time and not buy at the end of your demo.

The sooner you do that, the sooner your closing percentage will go up, your energy level and attitude will go up, and your income will go up. And that pretty much describes top sales producers.

Mike Brooks, is founder and principle of Mr. Inside Sales, a North Carolina based inside sales consulting and training firm. Mike is considered THE authority on inside sales, and is author of award winning books on inside sales, including his new book: Power Phone Scripts: 500 Questions, Phrases, and Word-for-Word Scripts to Open and Close More Sales. (Published by Wiley & Sons and available at all booksellers, online and in stores)

Mike has been voted one of the most Influential Inside Sales Professionals for the past seven years by The American Association of Inside Sales Professionals, and just won the 2017 Service Provider Award for training and development from the AA-ISP. Mike is hired by business owners to implement proven sales processes that help them immediately scale and grow Multi-Million Dollar Inside Sales Teams.  For more information, you can visit his website: www.MrInsideSales.com

“We follow up on new leads that register for a free trial of our SaaS and I’m having a hard time getting them to call or email me back. I would expect that if the leads were cold but these are warm leads (hand raisers). Are we just getting bad leads?”

This is a common problem. A lot of sales people think that just because it’s a “warm lead” that its OK to handle the call a little differently (read: SKIP SALES STEPS)

No matter if you are making cold calls or contacting warm or even hot prospects, you must always lead with a WHAT’S IN IT FOR THEM statement.

You must first PIQUE their interest.

Most sales people will call a warm lead and say / leave a voicemail message or email something to the effect of:

“You recently set up a trial of our (_________) service, so I was calling to get a little more insight into your requirements and learn what you are looking to accomplish”

Now here’s the problem… the prospect most likely is already on to a new fire. Taking the time to educate you on what they need is most likely not high on their to-do list. Even with a warm lead who is interested in solving a problem they have.

However, most prospects are willing to talk to someone that can help them get what they want. There’s a big difference.

LET’S SEE IF THIS ALTERNATIVE EXAMPLE WILL HELP GET THE POINT OF TODAY’S LESSON ACROSS:

Salesperson:

“I understand you’re curious about what type of LEAD RESPONSE you might be able to get by using our drip marketing campaign software as well as what pricing incentives may be available”

Do you see how one discusses “insight” and “requirements” (BORING) and the other discusses a hot button (in this case, LEAD RESPONSE) and “pricing incentives”?

Which call / voicemail / email would increase your chances of responding to? The one that wants to know insight / requirements or one that has promise of helping you get what it is that you are really after?

“SHOULD I COLD EMAIL MY PROSPECTS BEFORE CALLING?”

I get this question a lot. I understand it. Most sales reps are tired of getting rejected when selling over the phone. It’s natural to look for a solution that minimizes our own pain.

Unfortunately, cold emailing a prospect before calling them only lessens the pain of rejection but it does nothing to lessen the pain of missing quota.

So here’s my take:

If you make the same mistakes in a cold email that you do on a cold call, the results are going to be the same.

COLD SALES EMAIL FAILURE: CASE IN POINT

Below is an unsolicited cold email I received. After a few seconds of reading it, I was about to hit the delete button when I realized that I myself have sent emails like this in the past (and probably much worse) before I learned the error of my ways and so I thought I’d break this down for you, and show you why these types of cold emails get low results and what changes could be made in order to improve results.

FAILED COLD EMAIL EXAMPLE:

Paragraph 1: Hi Michael… Are you looking to target a specific market for your products or services?

This is a dumb question. Why? Because the answer is obviously: “yes”. Every business owner / marketing director etc wants to target their message to the appropriate audience. Asking this type of question marks you as a “typical” salesperson using old tactics that prospects see right through; and that creates distrust from the word “go”.

Paragraph 2: If yes, our (company name hidden) can provide the best (what they were offering) which will definitely yield positive leads for you.

Really? You’re the best? And it will definitely yield positive leads for me? You know this without asking me any questions about my business, or what I’m using now or how I’m using it and why?

Making guaranteed statements like this to your prospect before having a conversation (diagnosing a problem / qualifying) with them tends to invoke skepticism.

You’re creating doubt on their part before ever speaking with them. It’s hard to make a living selling that way.

Paragraph 3: We provide ___________ (and they gave a laundry list of things they provided and in what verticals etc – and I mean a laundry list!)

In the sales world, this is called “spraying and praying”. It rarely works.

Besides, each business will have their own decision making and purchasing process… you don’t even know yet if the person you are sending this to is involved in the decision-making process or to what degree.

Some CEO’s are heavily involved with the decision making and others pay someone else to handle certain type of decisions… so which one are you emailing? The fact is, you won’t know until you speak with them. And if you try calling them after they’ve read this email, they most likely will avoid you at all costs. Why? Because you gave them enough information to make an ill-informed decision and it’s usually; “No, thanks!”.

Most prospects won’t know they have a problem until you engage with them and ask the right questions!

Paragraph 4: Our Key Variables are ______________ (and they went on and on again about their offerings)

By now I had already reached for the delete button because they failed to do what they needed to do in the first 5 seconds: Pique my interest and spark a positive reaction.

Paragraph 5: Maximize your direct mail and telemarketing efforts by using our quality email lists. All emails addresses are ______________ (and one more time, a laundry list about them and why they are the best)

It was a long email. One most prospects wouldn’t take the time to read.

So, what could have been done instead that would produce a more positive response?

Here are a couple key factors to remember when creating your email message:

1. It’s too early to present / pitch your solutions… you haven’t even confirmed a problem yet.
2. Just because their title says they are the CEO (or whomever you normally speak with) doesn’t mean that they all have the same decision-making and purchasing process. You’ll want to discover that before offering a solution… and we can’t do that through email.
3. Create an email that will do two things very quickly: Pique Interest and Spark a Reaction (either a call back, or an email reply)

BETTER COLD SALES EMAIL EXAMPLE:

What could have been sent with a more positive outcome?

How about something like this:

“Hi (Prospects Name):

This is (Your Name) with (Your Company) and I just left you a voicemail regarding how we help (name the vertical of your prospect) generate pre-qualified prospect lists that typically produce about a 20% increase in sales for our clients.

One of our last clients gave us a testimonial saying how we help them generate an additional 22% in revenue in less than 90-days and I wanted to see if it would make sense for us to have a quick conversation in order to determine if what we have to offer may make some sense for you to consider as well.

If interested, you can schedule a call with me here (hyperlink). We should only need about 15 minutes to determine if this is something we should discuss further.”

Now, you don’t have to use this word for word and I’m not saying this is the only way to go. But my experience shows that this last example gets far better results.

So in short, I would call first, and if I got voicemail, I’d leave a message and then follow it up with the cold email that reinforces the voicemail message I left.

Hope this was helpful.

By Mike Brooks, http://mrinsidesales.com/

Practice doesn’t make perfect,

only practice of perfection makes perfect. 

--Anonymous

This is one of my favorite sayings, and I love to use it during training or during a speaking event. I ask the audience how many people think that practice makes perfect, and you should see the hands shoot up! Everyone has heard this saying since they were kids, and most people believe it is true. And you should see the look on their faces when I tell them it’s not. 

As they slowly put their hands down, I tell them that practice only makes permanent. If you practice something wrong – a golf swing, a sales rebuttal, etc. – you’re going to get really good at doing it wrong. In fact, it will be easy for you to be bad at something automatically, you won’t even have to think about it!

Unfortunately, whenever I go into a company and listen to their pitch, or the way they handle objections, or open their calls, I hear it. Many sales teams, and sales reps, are practicing poor selling techniques over and over again. And because they get into the same situations over and over again, they just keep saying and practicing the poor techniques. 

And this is why they don’t see the consistent results they want. Think about it: If your prospect tells you at the end of your demo that they need to talk to their partner or spouse before they can make a decision, the right response isn’t, “Okay, when do you think I can call you back?” That is practicing a poor selling skill, and the result is a lot of calls backs and chasing unqualified leads. 

The proper response – and the way to practice perfection in this instance – is to isolate this stall by saying, “I understand and you should speak with them. And if, after you do, they tell you to do what you think is best, then based on what we’ve just gone over, what would you tend to do?” 

By isolating this stall – rather than buying into it – you’ll soon learn that any answer other than, “I’d do it,” means that asking their so-called partner or spouse isn’t the real objection. There is something else holding them back, and until you uncover and deal with that first, then you are just going to get stalled by this objection over and over again. 

Practicing poor selling skills has another danger as well. It also ingrains poor techniques and turns them into habits. And habits are very hard to break. In fact, when teaching a team new and better selling techniques, one of the biggest challenges is getting them to first “un-learn” their old, ineffective habits. While they may do well in the first week or two with the new approach I teach, soon, if they’re not diligent, they can drift back to their old habits and poor skills. 

That’s why constant, ongoing work and commitment is required in the first 90 days to make sure they learn and adopt the new habit of a best practice technique. 

The good news is that by concentrating on practicing perfection, you’ll not only get better results – and what better reinforcement is there? – but you’ll also develop better habits. Soon, if you really stay focused and keep practicing your new techniques, it will be easy for you to succeed in the selling situations and objections you get into over and over again. And then soon, it will be like you to do things well and become a top producer. 

And that’s when selling become easy, and your career becomes much more rewarding.

Mike Brooks, is founder and principle of Mr. Inside Sales, a North Carolina based inside sales consulting and training firm. Mike is considered THE authority on inside sales, and is author of award winning books on inside sales, including his new book: Power Phone Scripts: 500 Questions, Phrases, and Word-for-Word Scripts to Open and Close More Sales. (Published by Wiley & Sons and available at all booksellers, online and in stores)

Mike has been voted one of the most Influential Inside Sales Professionals for the past seven years by The American Association of Inside Sales Professionals, and just won the 2017 Service Provider Award for training and development from the AA-ISP. Mike is hired by business owners to implement proven sales processes that help them immediately scale and grow Multi-Million Dollar Inside Sales Teams.  For more information, you can visit his website: www.MrInsideSales.com

By Richard F. Libin, President, APB, Inc., www.apb.cc

Nike had it right when they coined the slogan, “Just Do It.” And if people today simply focused on just doing the best job possible, client loyalty would never be in question. Like New England Patriots’ coach Bill Belichick said, “Just do your job - well.” Yet every day, people don’t deliver. Why? Often it comes down to attitude.

Every day, in every situation, every individual has a choice when it comes to embracing a positive or negative attitude. And in every instance, the attitude a person chooses becomes reality. In sales, a positive attitude drives the ability to do the best job possible. It drives willingness to make empowered choices. It drives the ability to help clients find the right product or service that specifically meets or exceeds their unique situation.

Consider this story. Years ago, there was a man who sold hot dogs. He didn’t listen to the radio, or watch TV, or read the paper. He simply sold hot dogs. He put up signs telling how good they were. He stood on the side of the road and cried, “Buy a hot dog, mister?” And people bought because he was so enthusiastic. And his business grew. One day, his son came to help him out. His son said, "Haven’t you heard? The economy is in terrible shape!” The father thought, my son’s been to college, he reads the newspaper, he listens to the radio, and he ought to know. So, he cut down on his meat and bun orders, took down his advertising signs, and no longer bothered to call out to sell his hot dogs. And his sales fell – virtually overnight. His conclusion – my son was right, and we are in a depression.

In reality, the man’s attitude changed. As long as he kept a positive attitude, the world around him didn’t matter, he prospered.

The ability to be positive at all times is the one thing that will ensure you're a winner in the end. When you are positive, people will find you irresistible. People will remember you not for how you handled life, but for how you made others feel. A positive attitude fosters creative thinking, which is a critical attribute in embracing an empowerment. In every situation, people should THINK – Transform, Help, Improve, Notice, and Know.

• Look for ways to Transform the client experience, so it is memorable and positive.
• Do everything possible to Help resolve issues and meet the client’s needs, wants, and desires.
• Find ways to Improve your own skills by listening, learning, and acting.
• Notice the little things you can do to make a difference, from wiping the restroom counter before you leave, to providing water to clients as they shop.
• Get to Know your clients. Build relationships. Call them by name. Anticipate their needs.

Your attitude and your ability to have a positive influence on the attitudes of others will affect not only your sales, but every area of your life. Nothing in your life will pay more rewards than your ability to have and maintain a great attitude.

There is a song by the group the American Authors called “Best Day of My Life.” A colleague of mine told me that one day recently, she woke up and the lyric, “This is gonna be the best day of my life…” was going through her head. It was the only part of the song she knew, but it made her feel so positive as she woke, that it became her mantra for the day. Turned out, it was a pretty great day. Like my colleague, when you get up each morning you have a choice – be positive or negative. Find your mantra – a song, a phrase, a poem, a verse – then say it, repeat it, and come to believe it.

So how do you start to “Just Do It”?

1. Get up every day, and make a decision to embrace a positive attitude, to focus on what you want, and what your customers want. Think about it, visualize it, and say it over and over. More important than the words you say to others are the words you say to yourself. It can mean the difference between a bad day and a good day – at work.
2. Be conscious or aware of your words and thoughts. Focus on what you can control, not on what you can’t control. Practice catching yourself when your thoughts, actions, and words are negative; stop and make an immediate change. Catch yourself succeeding, and celebrate these successes, no matter how small.
3. Write down what you want specifically. Make a contract with yourself. Picture it in your mind. Once you see it clearly, you can move toward it. Practice. Practice. Practice.

Small successes and large achievements start the same way. Focusing on what you want, helps you make it happen, for yourself and for your customers. You may not win every sale, but if you can honestly say you did everything possible to satisfy the customer, then you won in the long term.

Every day, tell to yourself, “My job is to help my customers buy.” Every day, embrace an empowered work style. Every day and in every situation – from lousy traffic and slow service, to unexpected problems and disappointing news – everyone can choose whether or not it’s a good or bad day.

By making the right choices every day, doing your job becomes easy and more rewarding.

Richard F. Libin has written two acclaimed books that help people of all walks of life improve their sales skills, because as he says, “everyone is a selling something.” His most recent book, Who Knew? (Who-Knew.com), was published in early 2017. His first book, “Who Stopped the Sale?” (WhoStoppedTheSale.com), is now in its second edition. As president of APB-Automotive Profit Builders, Inc., a firm with more than 49 years experience working with both sales and service professionals, he helps his clientele, through personnel development and technology, to build customer satisfaction and maximize gross profits in their businesses. Mr. Libin can be reached at rlibin@apb.cc or 508-626-9200 or www.apb.cc.

By Mike Brooks, http://mrinsidesales.com/

“First we form habits,

then they form us.”

--Bob Moawad, Edge Learning Institute

I just worked with a great inside sales team in Louisville, KY (hi Kathy, Darryl and the team!), and this week they begin working with a new, best practice approach that is going to make them much more successful. I’m excited for them! At the close of each day of training, I told them that the biggest challenge isn’t going to be learning the new scripted approach (although that will definitely take some effort), but rather it will be in unlearning their old habits.

Now don’t get me wrong, habits are a good thing and without them we couldn’t get much done. In fact, the great thing about forming a habit is that once you do, you can rely on it almost unconsciously and so devote your time and energy to other things. Just think about driving your car. Once you learn how, you no longer have to take the time to learn how to pull out into traffic, change lanes, or learn how to parallel park. You just get in and your habit of driving takes over! 

When you come to think about it, our lives are made up of a series of habits: habits of eating and exercise, of communicating with other people, family members, etc., and hundreds of other routines of living (think about brushing your teeth – do you floss?). Just imagine how much more difficult life would be if you had to learn all these things over every day! 

So habits are a wonderful thing – if they are good ones. Unfortunately, we also can develop bad habits. Once, when I was working onsite for a few months many years ago, I got in the habit of visiting the food truck at the 10:00 A.M. break. They had the most delicious French Fries with a tangy salt, and I developed the habit of having them every day. Well, after three months I had put on almost five pounds. 

That’s when I remembered today’s quote. What I found was that the French Fries habit I had formed was suddenly forming me! And when you think about it, all habits work the same way. And this is especially true in sales. If we develop poor prospecting habits, then we create unqualified prospects and appointments. This leads to a low closing percentage. If we develop an aversion to asking for the order, then we tend to create a lot of call backs. 

Because many sales teams have developed bad selling habits, the first thing they need to do is unlearn the bad habits before they can learn newer, better ones. Here are three tips for doing just that:

1) The first thing you want to do is make sure it is easy for you to adopt the new habit of a better approach. In the case of learning a new scripted sales approach, I always like to use the Adele example. How many of you know the words to the song, “Hello”? Lots of you, right? That’s because you’ve heard it a hundred times! 

The best way to learn a new script is to record yourself practicing it into a recording device (all smart phones have one), and then commit to listening to your recording 30 to 40 times. If you do that, then using them will become an easier habit for you. 

2) Record yourself. Because habits are mostly unconscious, we often don’t even know when we’re using them! By recording yourself, and then listening to your recordings daily, you will become aware of what you’re saying, and you’ll have the ability to change that. 

3) Reward yourself when you use the new scripted approach. When you catch yourself using the new scripts, give yourself some positive reinforcement. Hit a “That was easy” Staples button (get one for your desk), or use positive affirmations to support yourself. I used to say to myself, “See, I knew I could do it. And watch this, I’m going to do it again!”

Just know that the good news is that once you displace an old habit with a more effective one, the new one will take on a life of its own as well. That’s why top sales producers remain top sales producers regardless of what company they work for or what product or service they are selling.

So commit to learning a better practice approach in your sales environment, and then commit to developing it into a habit. When you do, you’ll find that your new habit will soon be forming a more successful and productive you! 

Mike Brooks, is founder and principle of Mr. Inside Sales, a North Carolina based inside sales consulting and training firm. Mike is considered THE authority on inside sales, and is author of award winning books on inside sales, including his new book: Power Phone Scripts: 500 Questions, Phrases, and Word-for-Word Scripts to Open and Close More Sales. (Published by Wiley & Sons and available at all booksellers, online and in stores)

Mike has been voted one of the most Influential Inside Sales Professionals for the past seven years by The American Association of Inside Sales Professionals, and just won the 2017 Service Provider Award for training and development from the AA-ISP. Mike is hired by business owners to implement proven sales processes that help them immediately scale and grow Multi-Million Dollar Inside Sales Teams.  For more information, you can visit his website: www.MrInsideSales.com

By Richard Libin, President, Automotive Profit Builders

APB.cc, rlibin@apb.cc

Time is one of the biggest complaints that customers have about purchasing a new vehicle. Spending too much time purchasing a vehicle has been one of the loudest and more persistent complaints within the industry. And, in some cases, time becomes more important than virtually any other process of the purchasing decision. 

When it comes to time, the first question dealerships should ask is, “How much time does it take to lose a customer?” 

Consider these two real-life examples.

A woman and her husband had visited a several dealerships looking for a new car for her to drive. After making a decision, she returned to the dealership and told them that she’d like to complete all the paperwork so that she and her husband could come back that evening, so he could sign the papers and pick up the car. She spent three hours going through every detail, providing copies of insurance, license and other items required to complete the transaction. When she and her husband returned, they were informed that since the car was going to be in his name, a point she had told them earlier day, he would need to start completely over and redo all the paperwork. It took the customers more time, in fact it wasted their time, all because the salespeople did not listen. If he had, they would have spent much less time, had a more pleasant experience and most likely would have come back in the future. Instead, the first thing this woman told her friends about the experience was about how the dealership wasted their time, and that even though she loved her car, they would never do business there again. 

How long did it take to lose this customer? The time it would have taken the salesperson to listen so that the paperwork could have been done right the first time. 

If time is so important, why did this take so long? 

A young couple was looking for a family car that would accommodate their new baby safely. They found the perfect car and sat down to discuss pricing and options. This is where the process stalled. The salesperson kept getting up and leaving them alone to “talk to the manager.” After a bit of going back and forth, which felt like hours, the couple finally told the salesperson that they were DONE… They had a babysitter who needed to get home and that they were leaving. They asked, “We should have talked to the manager, not you.” 

How long did it take to lose these customers? No time at all especially when the salesperson didn’t listen to them. Once the salesperson started going back and forth the sales opportunity was lost. The couple felt abandoned. They had no idea what was going on. Even a few minutes waiting could seem like an eternity to a customer, especially when they are left in the dark and have other important things to do with their time.

It’s evident that time is a critical factor in completing sales, building and keeping the relationship. Given that, what strategy does your dealership have in place to shorten the time it takes to close a deal?

There are three basic things that every salesperson is selling: the product, the dealership and themselves. There is really nothing else. If salespeople don’t understand this, no approach to selling will make a difference. After that, salespeople are responsible for helping customers select the right vehicle.  To do so, they must focus their time on: 

• Being 100% present and work with a single-minded focus for each customer. 
• Asking probing questions to develop an understanding of the customers’ unique wants, needs, and desires.  It’s always about what the customer thinks.
• Listening, learning and having empathy with the customers, understand problems from their point-of-view and discover minor details in order to successfully guide the selection process and find an exact fit.
• Helping the customers “try it on.”  Throughout the introduction and demo drive the salesperson should guide customers as they experience the features that will satisfy the wants, needs, and desires communicated earlier.  The salesperson should help customers build an emotional bond and fall in love with the product or service. 

Once customers fall in love with their choice, price becomes a secondary concern, which is why it should always be the last point of discussion.

Time creates an obligation and is the foundation of all relationships. Think about it. Who would you ask again in these scenarios?

The more time you spend, the stronger the relationship — if the time is perceived as quality, adding value, enjoyable or important.  When you spend the right kind of time not only will you win customers, but you will build loyal clientele who will feel an obligation to return and to recommend your product, your business and you to others.

Richard F. Libin has written two acclaimed books that help people of all walks of life improve their sales skills, because as he says, “everyone is a selling something.” His most recent book, Who Knew? (Who-Knew.com), was published in early 2017. His first book, “Who Stopped the Sale?” (WhoStoppedTheSale.com), is now in its second edition. As president of APB-Automotive Profit Builders, Inc., a firm with more than 49 years experience working with both sales and service professionals, he helps his clientele, through personnel development and technology, to build customer satisfaction and maximize gross profits in their businesses. Mr. Libin can be reached at rlibin@apb.cc or 508-626-9200 or www.apb.cc.

At first glance, your company’s product and solution may seem like fraternal — if not identical — twins, but a closer examination will show you otherwise. Clients aren’t really looking for a product. Rather, they just want to solve their most pressing issues by any means necessary.

Coming to terms with this fact is only the first step in becoming a truly customer-centric sales team, but it’s nonetheless critical. After that, you’ll begin to help customers bring to light and understand their most difficult problems — and how your company is the most obvious solution.

Looking Through a New Lens

Solution-oriented selling relies on getting to know your customers on a deeper level. You’ll do less product promotion and spend more time looking for ways to help. Reframing your offering from a one-size-fits-all product to a just-for-you solution fosters lasting relationships with clients, who will view you as a trusted partner they can’t live without.

It’s more than a sales tactic; it’s creating an unparalleled customer experience. You can show clients that you get their problems and you’re going to help them remedy those problems. This customer-centric approach gives you an advantage over competitors and tells a compelling story about your company.

I have a sales rep on my team who models this method to great success. Not only does he work to show clients that he understands their problems, but he also helps them identify additional issues they may not have noticed. Going a step further, he works with them to anticipate future issues and to minimize the challenges of implementing a new solution. His approach helps to position our company, FIS Global, as a provider of lasting solutions, not simply a short-term Band-Aid.

That’s not to say that client-focused selling is the sole responsibility of one salesperson — or even just the sales team. It requires companywide buy-in. Making this shift can be tricky, especially if your company has traditionally focused heavily on the product. But every department benefits from seeing through the customer’s eyes. Here are three steps you can implement to rally everyone around this method.

1. Encourage Education

Traditionally, sales teams have been reluctant to overeducate prospective clients for fear that they’ll use that newly acquired knowledge to shop around. However, the results may be just the opposite. Research shows that educating your prospects can actually give you a leg up. The more educated customers are, the more likely they are to trust your product.

You need to take on an active teaching role, positioning yourself as a trusted comrade in a potential client’s quest for a solution. Use channels such as blogs, social media, video, etc., to establish and showcase your extensive knowledge on your targets’ pain points. This solidifies your relationship with potential customers and positions you to introduce your product into the conversation.

2. Huddle the Troops to Share Customer Intelligence

Companies will have a much easier time selling solutions if internal silos and communication barriers are eliminated. Selling is a companywide effort, after all. Every teammate’s work rolls up into sales as each strives to create value for customers. Even those who don’t work with clients are still contributing to the mission.

Salespeople have valuable client insights that the rest of your colleagues can use. Alternately, there’s data about your clients in accounting, customer service, legal, and more. When departments are free to share, you can cull that data and reveal the story behind it. That helps sales anticipate future trends and connect with prospective customers. If a company promotes an open dynamic and provides sales the resources it needs, salespeople will be better-equipped to give customers the solutions they need.

3. Embrace Smarketing

To truly become a solutions-oriented company, sales and marketing need to work in perfect harmony. Salespeople can and should bring customers’ views directly to marketing, which will allow marketing to better tell the story of your company’s solution.

This, in turn, makes selling easier for the sales team. Appointing a liaison between the departments creates a better flow of information. Facilitate an exchange of ideas and manage feedback so the rising tide can lift all boats.

When your entire company sees the world from the client’s perspective, every aspect of the business falls in line with customers’ needs — and that’s just the solution they’re looking for.

Sona Jepsen is the global head of sales enablement at Fidelity National Information Services (FIS). Her team empowers FIS’s global sales teams with sales content, strategic insights, and world-class learning and development opportunities.

Writing appealing copy for your email campaigns can be tricky with so many emails flooding your subscribers’ inboxes on a daily basis. In addition, there will always be the constant war with competitor’s campaigns for you to stand out with your readers.

The copy you write for your email campaign is one of the top elements of whether an email campaign is a success or fail.

Please join us on Thursday, July 27th 2017 at 1 p.m. EST for a live webinar presentation. We will share email copywriting tips and tricks to help you craft the perfect email message that converts your next email campaign.

Space is limited for this exclusive webinar. Reserve your spot today!

Can’t attend the live presentation? You should still register! We will send out slides, a free infographic and the recording to all registrants.

By Jennifer Libin, jlibin@apb.cc

It’s common knowledge: automotive salespeople don’t provide the same caliber of service to every client. But why? After all these years, nothing has changed. While other industries improve consistently, the automotive industry seems to be stuck in time.

If you don’t believe it, try this. If these three customers walked into your dealership on the same day, how would you treat each one? Be honest, no one will know except you. 

1. a young woman in yoga pants and a T-shirt
2. an elderly gentleman who walks with a cane
3. a woman about 40, casually dressed

These are real customers. Here are their stories.

• The woman in yoga pants was left on her own to wander around looking at cars. After some time, she was told by a salesperson to come back when she was serious. No salesperson ever provided details on the various models, or ask what she wanted in a vehicle. She left without a new vehicle.
• The elderly gentleman was shown to a chair in the waiting area and asked to wait for a salesperson. Several people who arrived after him were greeted and introduced to a salesperson immediately. After 30 minutes, he left.
• The 40ish woman was greeted by a salesperson, asked a few questions, shown a couple of model in the showroom and told to check the website for more information. The salesperson asked her to come back when she’d decided on what brand of vehicle she wanted. She left without a buying a vehicle.

Each of stories has two things in common. First, they all purchased a vehicle the same day, but from a different dealership. Second, each of the salespeople they encountered made a conscious decision based on the way that the customers looked. They decided that these individuals were not serious about buying a car.

The salespeople’s attitudes and unwillingness to help each customer was determined by their first impressions. These salespeople dismissed the customers before they ever talked about their needs or wants in a vehicle. Remember, though, first impressions work both ways. Customers can decide if they want to work with you based on how you look and act in the first few minutes of an exchange.

What the salespeople didn’t know may surprise you, too. The lady in yoga pants was an independently wealthy woman of leisure, the elderly gentleman was planning to purchase cars for his two grandchildren, and the 40ish woman was a soccer mom who desperately needed a new van.

These salespeople stopped the sale before it ever started.

These examples underscore how critically important it is for dealerships to have a well-structured and clearly defined sales process in place. It is equally important to support the process with an educational and training program that is delivered to each and every employee, from management to receptionist. When this happens, all customers will be treated in the same manner. 

It is time to break this cycle in the automotive industry. Every employee at a dealership must begin to treat every guest as a buyer. Otherwise, your people will continue to stop sales and your customers will go elsewhere. So when the next person walks into your dealership, don’t assume you know who they are, take time to get to know them.

About the Author

Jennifer Libin, Sales Director, has worked full-time for APB for four years. Her career with APB began when she joined the company as an intern in 2008. Ms. Libin has a keen understanding of the automotive industry and excels as a leader who builds teamwork and cultivates relationships. In addition to APB, Ms. Libin works as a gymnastics coach for a private club and as Varsity Head Gymnastics Coach at MADS-Medfield, Ashland and Dover-Sherborn high schools. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a minor in Sociology from Assumption College in Worcester, Mass. She can be reached at jlibin@apb.cc or (508-626-9200).

“I followed your advice on how to leave voicemail messages that get more callbacks and since using it, my call backs have increased. But my question is, what do I do with the prospects that haven’t called back?”

I like to use a “three strikes and you’re out” rule. Meaning, after the 3rd attempt, if I haven’t heard back from them, I take them out of my current call list (I move them back into my drip marketing campaign and let that do its job)

But the key to success here is knowing what to say on the second and third voicemail / email attempts BEFORE picking up the phone.

The 2nd Attempt Call

You don’t have to have fancy words or a whole new voicemail message for the 2nd attempt.

Assuming you have a strong 1st attempt voicemail message, when on your 2nd attempt should you get voicemail again, simply lead with:

“Hi (Prospects Name). I left you a voicemail the other day regarding…” (now repeat your first time voicemail message, including your name and number twice at the end)

It’s that simple.

And when you send your email (I always recommend sending an email right after you leave a voicemail message) you can simply say:

“Hi (PROSPECTS NAME) Just left you a 2nd voicemail message regarding…”

And now schedule your 3rd attempt in your CRM in case you still don’t hear back from them.

The 3rd (and sometimes final) Attempt

As I said, I use a 3 strikes, you’re out rule. You may find that 4, 5, 10 or 20 works best for you, but for me, it’s 3.

If after 2 solid voicemail / email combo attempts (which would be 4 touches, not including any drip emails or LinkedIn messages/connection requests that they may have gotten in between calls 1 and 2) I’ll leave a 3rd voicemail message (followed by an email, of course) that simply says something along the lines of:

“Hi (PROSPECTS NAME) this is (YOUR NAME) with (YOUR COMPANY) and I see we’ve left you a few messages / emails regarding (HOT BUTTON / WHATS IN IT FOR THEM VALUE STATEMENT) but haven’t heard back from you.

I assume it’s safe to say you’ve gotten really busy or this isn’t a top priority for you at the moment so I’ll take you off of my call list as to no longer interrupt your day.

If something changes and you would like to discus how we (HOT BUTTON / WHATS IN IT FOR THEM) please give me a call at 888-888-8888. Again it’s (YOUR NAME) with (YOUR COMPANY) at 888-888-8888. Have a great day.”

Follow that with an email that says the same thing, log the call / update your notes in your CRM and MOVE ON!

– Michael Pedone

Buyers are looking less for experts (this is not an excuse to NOT be an expert, by the way) and they’re increasingly looking for peers.

They want someone is equal to them and at the same level as them, even if they hold different titles from the person they’re buying from.

Here are two important steps you need to consider if you want to be perceived as a peer and build trust with your customers:

1) It All Starts With Mindset 

That’s right. If you walk into a meeting feeling like a subordinate or feeling superior, your rapport with the client will erode. You must first believe and feel like you have value to provide and that you are on the same level as your buyer. If you’re not believing it yourself, don’t expect other people to either! Start in your own head!

2) Make Sure You’re Armed With Questions

The best relationships aren’t one-way streets. That is, if you’re entering discussions with buyers with the intent of spewing as much information as possible within a certain time frame, you need to reconsider your approach. Peers collaborate on ideas, ask questions to each other and have real conversations.

Apply these two steps and create a peer-to-peer relationship.

In a world that’s quick to adopt the latest and greatest in technology, why has email marketing prevailed as long as the old gods, despite the rise of countless new marketing channels? In short, because it continues to be the strongest ROI of any marketing medium after paid search. In fact, a study by the Direct Marketing Association found that email has an average ROI of about $49 for each dollar spent, and Convince and Convert revealed that people who buy products marketed through email spend 138 percent more than people who do not receive email offers.

Here are a few of the reasons why email marketing endures as a trusted way to reach customers.

First of His Name, King of the Andals and Protector of the Realm — Email Allows for Personalization, Whatever the Title May Be

Email (not ravens) is still the primary opt-in medium that allows organizations to re-market to existing clients or prospects who they know are interested in their product. Whether the initial interaction occurs through online purchases, blog subscriptions, downloading content from the website, or even simply giving a sales clerk contact information during an in-store purchase, consumers can opt in to receive these emails, making them a more engaged and receptive audience.

From there, organizations are able to segment their lists into audiences based on key demographics, like gender, age and geographical location, and carefully curate messaging targeted toward them. For example, if a retailer is promoting its summer inventory, marketers can send Lady’s offers for gowns and jewels while also sending Lords deals on Armour and the latest Valyrian steel weapons. This way, one campaign can go a long way.

Marketers can collect valuable information about customers through email campaigns — like which queen controls dragons and which prefers wildfire — which allows them to gain a deeper understanding of what people are purchasing and personalize their emails even further. No matter what new marketing channels are born from the flames, the convenience of being able to collect this data will be hard to vanquish.

The Lannisters Can Now Send Their Regards — Again and Again

One of the most effective ways to re-engage consumers — or reconnect with the houses of Westeros after living across the Narrow Sea — is through their inboxes, and that seems to be trending upward with newer generations despite the perception that email is dying. Seventy-three percent of millennials prefer communications from businesses to come via email because it’s part of their everyday life, and more than 80 percent said they check email “at random, all day long,” according to an Adestra survey.

A classic example of email re-engagement is shopping cart abandonment. While other marketing tools like social media can run banner ads with the items consumers abandon in their carts, there’s no guarantee that those ads actually capture their attention and drive them back to the website. Email marketers, on the other hand, can track open rates for their re-engagement messages, ensuring they’ve been seen by customers.

Mixing the Brains and the Bronn

Aside from the standalone benefits that email marketing provides, it also serves as a highly integrative and complementary tool for other channels. One of the most effective new mediums on the rise is social media, which has proven its prowess as a modern marketing tool that rivals Varys’ little birds. Social channels are great for communicating with customers quickly, while email allows for organizations to strengthen that connection into a long-term relationship. Luckily, it’s much easier to integrate these approaches to maximize the effectiveness of every marketing campaign than it was for Jon Snow to integrate the Wildling and Northern armies.

Organizations can get the most out of their content by cross-promoting across all channels, including email and social media, to increase followers and subscribers while also growing their brand. The simplest and most effective way to do this is by linking to social profiles within email in order to bridge the gap between the two channels. The ability to share content on social with one click can help a brand’s messaging and promotions spread like Cersei’s wildfire and reach broader audiences. Once marketers determine how to strike the balance between email and social media, they can create an approach that allows the two platforms to complement, not compete with, each other.

So what’s beyond the wall for email marketing? The future of email will be similar to what it has always been, because it’s a conducive channel for the basic, successful marketing principles that are proven. It’s sure to continue to adapt in order to integrate with emerging technologies and platforms, but it ultimately must remain at the heart of any organization’s marketing strategy.

Visit Campaigner to learn more tips and tricks.

Writing appealing copy for your email campaigns can be tricky with so many emails flooding your subscribers’ inboxes on a daily basis. In addition, there will always be the constant war with competitor’s campaigns for you to stand out with your readers.

The copy you write for your email campaign is one of the top elements of whether an email campaign is a success or fail.

Please join us on Thursday, July 27^th 2017 at 1 p.m. EST for a live webinar presentation. We will share email copywriting tips and tricks to help you craft the perfect email message that converts your next email campaign.

Space is limited for this exclusive webinar. Reserve your spot today!

Can’t attend the live presentation? You should still register! We will send out slides, a free infographic and the recording to all registrants.

Mike Brooks, www.MrInsideSales.com

I know, it’s a catchy and kind of a trick title, isn’t it?

And when I ask audiences what they think it is, they guess things like: 

“Asking for the sale!”

“When would the customer like delivery?”

“How many units do they want?”

Things like that.  All these are good guesses – they are all closing questions and these are arguably the most important things to say, but the number one most important thing to say is…

Nothing. 

That’s right, remaining silent after asking a qualifying question or using a tie down or a trial close, or – and this is especially difficult for most sales reps – when the prospect gives an objection (because a prospect will often explain his or her reasoning), and so remaining silent at these moments actually is your most powerful tool. 

The reason for this is that your prospect or customer has all the answers as to why they’ll buy or not buy, as to what you need to say to steer them towards the close, and to what objections or obstacles you need to overcome – and how to overcome them.

The problem for 90%+ of sales people is that they want to talk instead of suffer through what they interpret as an uncomfortable silence.  But it is just this silence that will always encourage your prospect to reveal more, and the more they reveal the more insight and leverage you’ll have to close the sale.

So how can you get good at not saying anything?  Simple: use your mute button.  For most reps, the mute button is something they seldom use (do you even know where yours is?), and if they do occasionally use it, it’s to put a prospect on hold to get some information or look something up.

But for top sales producers, the mute button is the most powerful button on the phone. Here’s how to use it:

#1: First of all, locate it, start practicing using it – you know, get comfortable with the time delay (if any) between when you turn it on and turn it off.  Reassure yourself that there is no ‘clicking’ noise and that it is absolutely seamless. 

#2: Know when to use it.  This is simple, actually.  Whenever you ask a question of a prospect, hit your mute button.  DO NOT unmute yourself until your prospect is done with his/her thought and done speaking. 

In fact, put a two to three second delay between when you think they are done and when you unmute.  This is crucial…

Special Tip Here: Contrary to what you think, your prospect does not need to hear your ‘um’s’ and ‘uh’s’ to evidence you’re listening.  The more absolute quiet there is, the more comfortable they’ll feel – and the more they will talk.

#3: Get in the habit of encouraging them to talk even more by unmuting yourself (after they are done) and asking, “Oh?” or “What else?” or “What do you mean exactly?”  Then mute yourself again and let them answer.

#4: Take notes while they talk.  Write down any words or phrases they say and make it a point to feed these back to them later in the conversation.  This will show them you are actively listening, and they will be more receptive to common words and phrases they use often.

#5: The mute button is good for prospecting calls as well!  Don’t just use it during the close.  In fact, your tip is that whenever your prospect is talking, you need to be on mute. 

The treasure of information you’ll get by listening and not interrupting is beyond valuable.  Not only will you get the exact reasons and motives needed to close the sale (or objections to avoid or overcome), but you’ll get something else just as valuable: You’ll gain trust and confidence.

Everyone loves to be heard; loves to be listened to.  Most sales people are distrusted and disliked because they are pushy and make it seem as if it’s all about them.  You can immediately reverse this by becoming a great listener. 

Quick last story: Just the other day I was speaking with a new prospect and, employing the mute button, the call went for an hour and forty minutes.  The prospect probably talked for an hour and fifteen minutes of that time.

When the call finally ended, he told me how much he enjoyed the conversation and how much he was looking forward to the next call.  And all I did was ask pointed questions and then listened while on mute…

So there you have it: the most important thing to say in sales is…..nothing!

If you found this article helpful, then you'll love Mike's Completely Updated and Revised eBook, “The Complete Book of Phone Scripts.” Now over 130 pages of powerful and effective scripts to help you easily get past the gatekeeper, set appointments, overcome objections and close more money!

Visit: http://mrinsidesales.com/completescripts.htm and find out why Jeffrey Gitomer, Brian Tracy, Tom Hopkins and many others recommend Mike’s ebook of Phone Scripts!

Do you have an underperforming inside sales team?  Talk to Mike to see how he can help you and your team reach your revenue goals.  To learn more about Mike, visit his website: http://www.MrInsideSales.com