Results are a directly tied to the sales manager’s ability to communicate and reinforce clear performance expectations and follow-through. Unless there is follow-up and reinforcement after any sales training, sales reps left to their own devices will be more likely to fall back into their old daily selling habits.

Want proof? We just did a beta test on our new IMPACT Virtual Sales Training™ program (which is an amazing new technology for geographically dispersed sales teams). In one test, we conducted an “Open” enrollment program. We had six sales reps sign up — all of whom wanted to learn a sales process to help them improve their sales skills. The second beta group was drawn from a healthcare company whose regional manager wanted to do a pilot program for six reps. This group had the same objective — improving their sales skills — but were dispersed across several selling territories from New Jersey to California.

After only 3 weeks in the Open program, five participants had dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. None of them completed the required homework or projects to help them reinforce what they were learning. There was no performance expectation or management support from their within respective organizations. In the end, many of them simply decided that learning new skills wasn’t as important as their other daily activities.

By contrast, there were two sales management observers of the program in the healthcare group. Each week, a manager would send an email to the group praising their progress and follow- through. I just received a comment from this manager that read “For the first time ever, I was speechless on most calls. It was fantastic, and I think [our sales rep] made some great progress with these new offices (because of what she learned in the training.)” She went on to say she is seeing measurable results as a result of what they were learning and applying.

The obvious difference: the expectations, reinforcement and follow-through of the sales managers. The bottom line is, if you want to make a measurable difference in your sales, begin at your sales management level.

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There were 84 players trying out for Team USA and 19 other referees vying to be the U.S. representative for this prestigious event. Well, I worked hard and when the tryout was over I was not selected.

As much as I wanted to be a part of this and be recognized, I will say I was disappointed in not being selected. But you know what — that disappointment went away very quickly because I immediately shifted my focus to working towards tryouts for the next event. I took feedback from my peers and assessors, and am implementing steps that will leave me better prepared to qualify when tryouts come around again in 2013.

What does this have to do with sales? Everything! As professional salespeople we must continue getting better. Never be satisfied; never be complacent. As a salesperson myself, I know when I gain a new client I always take time to celebrate in some way. But that may also be the best time to uncover how I could have done something better — maybe asking a different question or sending a client an article relevant to them might have garnered me a greater margin or a significant referral.

I encourage you to do something every day that will improve you as a person, salesperson or sales manager. Whether it is reading a book, an article or something as simple as asking a prospect or customer how they feel about how you interact with them.

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With most news reports stressing the negative effects of everything, staying positively focused in the midst of the depressing onslaught becomes even more challenging! I am always amazed at how some salespeople remain undaunted in the face of negativity. I often thought it couldn’t be! I was wrong! I was a victim of my own mind — I bought into thinking everyone has negative thoughts, and reacted accordingly.

Yes, we all have negative thoughts. The difference is top salespeople don’t dwell on those thoughts. They:

• Recognize them as negative thoughts, put them aside, and move on
• Choose to focus on the positive
• Stick to the task at hand – what they can control
• Believe in themselves
• Say nice, positive things to themselves; self talk is positive
• Learn from experiences and think constructively
• Are realistic
• Don’t “set themselves up” with artificial limits in their thinking

Top performers maintain a healthy positive attitude. They welcome every experience as a new, unique opportunity to learn and grow and improve.

I’m still learning about the salesperson in me. How about you?

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At first, I was skeptical and didn’t really see how this concept made any sense; however, as I read the post, it started to come together for me. The basis of the post was that salespeople – much like good trial lawyers – must take the complex facts (in the case of salespeople, features and benefits) and make them simple for their audience.

One of the most compelling quotes from the post that ties into this assertion says, “Despite all the high-level sales training being jammed into our heads, we’d still have to learn to translate complex features and benefits into a simple language that everyone could understand.”

This hits home and rings perfectly with our philosophy: street-smart, simple and usable sales training doesn’t need to be high-level theory and complex models. It needs to be easily implementable! There are many out there that believe that the more complex a sales process methodology, the better. My position is that if it’s too complex, it’s not going to be used!

Don’t get me wrong…this post isn’t meant to “plug” our IMPACT Selling methodology. Instead, it’s designed to get you thinking about where you stand regarding complex vs. simple sales processes. You make the call based on your beliefs. However, before you do, check out the blog post:

http://www.simplenomics.com/sales-presentations-like-trial-lawyer/

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Some of your customers’ demands could appear unreasonable – or unprofitable – for you, so you may have to say “No,” and that’s okay. If there’s mutual trust between you and your regular customers, they will understand there’s a limit to your generosity. However, instead of responding to your customers with what you can’t do, try to offer some solutions about what you can do. I call it, “Throwing them a bone.”

For example, you may have some options that are low-cost to you but have a high perceived value for the customer. Adding those in to a proposal in place of a price cut demonstrates your sincere desire to help and could produce the win-win scenario that helps both sides.

Every salesperson and business faces hard times; however, history tells us those hard times will pass. Your customers may not remember everything you said or did for them in the past, but they will remember how you made them feel about doing business with you.

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At any rate, the cool thing about the email he sent me is that it had text content touching on some of the information he felt was important to share, as well as a link at the bottom which he referenced as his “jing” on the topic. At that point I had no idea what a “jing” was! The link took me to a screen capture program which allowed my colleague to “talk” me through some of the slides and graphs from the program he attended. In other words, Jing is a free open-source screen capture program that allows you to share information with someone via email. The recipient can then review your email, as well as your comments, at his or her convenience.

While the uses of this tool are many, here are a couple of ideas that come to mind:

• Sharing visual and audio information with a client via email without having to schedule a conference call.
• Sending information to a prospect with embedded audio which he or she may find useful and which will position you as a valuable resource
• For use as an information delivery tool, especially if you’re in the information or consulting business

While I know that screen capture software is nothing new, I thought I’d share this particular program with you because this version is free up to a certain data amount.

To learn more about Jing, you should check it out at http://www.jingproject.com/.

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Perhaps the real term shouldn’t be Sales 2.0; it should be called ‘Sales Maturing’. Social media is everywhere and if you’re not using Blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook, Jigsaw, Twitter or some of the other new social media platforms, you are missing out on critical avenues for networking, positioning and communicating with the new age of customers.

While The Brooks Group has been using blogs, forums and communities for some time, we are now focusing on using some of the popular promoting and networking options. So here I am announcing The Brooks Group on three major sites — follow us today…

Twitter -

Facebook -

LinkedIn -

Thanks and Stay Positive!

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The challenge of selling in this economy is that companies are more reluctant to commit to the big deal right now. We can all theorize why that is, but it is not helping us make sales and drive revenue now.

So what key skill set or strategy do salespeople need to utilize right now in order to drive sales? It is not a skill set but more of a philosophy. The answer is simple but effective:

Help buyers make small decisions and link them to making bigger ones.

The perceived emotional costs (PEC) that potential prospects will pay you for your products or services encompass more than just money. The PECs are things like time, energy, risk, reputation or admitting to prior mistakes, and can be deal breakers to a potential buyer. Making the ‘small sale’ that leads to ‘bigger sales’ relieves that fear of buying.

Salespeople need to understand just how significant the PEC is and make adjustments accordingly. Your ability as a salesperson and organization to deliver on your promises is the best way to leverage small business into bigger business.

Think small sales first!

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1. Because: This is probably the most powerful word you can use. From an early age, we have been programmed to accept this triggering word “because”. Remember when you asked your parents why you couldn’t do a certain thing and they responded “because I said so.” Not the best answer, but we learn to accept it. The same is true as adults.
   There has been direct research demonstrating this word alone is powerful enough to cause people to allow you an appointment, maintain your price and successfully negotiate. One study showed that people were willing to allow others to cut in line in front of them to make copies with the statement “I need to cut in line because I need to make some copies.”
2. Recommend: This word is great for presenting your solution, but it can be used in many different areas depending on the situation. In my own sales consultations I often say, “based on what you told me, I recommend…” or “I recommend we set up a time next week to review our solution.” Whatever the situation, the word recommend positions you properly and allows you to be viewed as an expert endorsing valuable solutions, as opposed to just a product-pushing salesperson.
3. Instantly: When applied conservatively and accurately, the word instantly is excellent to use in your sales letters, marketing collateral, during a presentation or any other area that is appropriate. The reason it works is because we live in a society which, to some extent, has conditioned many people to expect immediate results. We have microwaves, fast food, video-on-demand, drive thru oil change facilities, and up until recently, easy credit. We all expect instant gratification instead of waiting for long-term results or gain. Prospects and customers want to solve their problems instantly.

I think we must always pay attention to the words we use and seek to understand why certain words work or do not work in the context of our day-to-day selling. I sincerely believe these words will help any salesperson sell more and secure more appointments.

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Our IMPACT Virtual Training™ is one way to use technology to help fill in the resource gaps left by tighter budgets. With IMPACT Virtual Training™, you and your team can reap the rewards of thorough, effective sales training and coaching - all without the headaches of travel or valuable time missed from the field.

Check out our new digital brochure packed with videos and a behind-the-scenes look at our unique program and virtual facilities.

No need to squint — to see it in a larger window, simply click here.