Sales training ideas – Making positive changes stick.
Okay, this is a bit more than most sales training usually covers however, making positive change is required in order to have a successful sales career.
Recently I got more organized and more into time management. What a pain in the butt!
Like most things that are new, and good for us, whether it’s new sales skills, a better way to run our business, or changes in our personal life, there are usually some growing pains and to keep the change can be difficult.
To keep the change, focus on WHY you are doing it. Also, focus on the end result. Finally, use any leverage you can to get yourself to stick to the new plan for 21 to 30 days. If you can get yourself to stick to the change for that amount of time, it will become a habit and thus part of the NEW you, and you will feel new strength and empowerment.
John Chapin www.completeselling.com
Sales training ideas – A time not to tell the truth on a sales call?
Okay, all politically correct sales training will tell you to ALWAYS tell the truth. Also, if you know me, you know I’m very big on telling the truth to sales prospects and customers. At the same time, I recently had a salesperson tell me the truth about something and it seemed so ridiculous to me, I thought he had to be lying and frankly, it greatly damaged any trust he had established.
This happened when I was out buying a car. A salesperson at one of the dealerships showed me the list price on a car, the selling price, and then said, “We’re actually losing money on this car.” That simply sounded ludicous to me. I couldn’t believe he would actually think that I would buy that. The truth is: I didn’t, and I left and didn’t go back.
I later found out that if a dealership has a car for a really long time, say a year, they will sometimes sell a car at a loss to get rid of it as it costs them money each day they have it around. When it’s been with them for a year, they say the car had a “birthday” with them. I now know of one dealership that sold a Hummer at an $8,000 loss after they had it on their showroom floor over 300 days.
The bottom line: If something sounds like too much of a stretch, keep it to yourself unless you’re required by law to disclose it. If you have to disclose it, explain it well. All the dealer had to do was show me the original sales price and the deep discount, he didn’t have to throw in the part about “losing money.” To which my first thought was, “Why would a car dealership ever sell a car at a loss unless the thing was a complete piece of junk and really not worth the money anyway.” My second thought? “This guy’s lying to me. I’m outta here.”
John Chapin www.completeselling.com
Sales training ideas – When do you drop your price and by how much?
Most sales training already pounds us over the head that dropping your price should be a last resort when trying to get a prospect to buy. You always want to build value to justify the higher price. That being said, there are times when you may drop the price a bit to make the sale. So when do you drop and by how much?
Yesterday I called my local pizza establishment to order some pizza. When the person came back with a price of $37+, which seemed high, I said, “How much! Can you break that down for me?” She then said, “Let me see if I can do any better.” Slight pause, “How about $33?” Huh? Do you mean they can give a discount if someone balks at the price? That the initial price isn’t a standard, set price?
Okay, selling in our businesses maybe different than the local pizza shop but one of the same results occurred: I lost trust thinking they were overcharging me to begin with.
The bottom line: Don’t play price games with people. Don’t go in 25% high so you can budge on price. Instead, give people your best price up front and be honest about it. When you go in high under the premise that you can always drop your price, you’re coming from a position of weakness, not good. If you go in 25% high and then drop it, the prospect will most likely think that you were trying to take advantage of her, again, not good. Have a set pricing structure and build the value necessary to equal that price. As a last resort, if you need to budge a little, that’s fine, people expect there to be some sort of wiggle room. Just make sure it’s a nominal amount, not anything close to 25, 20, 15, or even 10%.
John Chapin www.completeselling.com
Sales training ideas – Phantom customer service.
On Friday I called the car dealership where I placed a deposit on a car, but did not buy it, to find out where my deposit is. They’ve had it for 3 weeks. I got voice mail so figured I’d call back this week.
Well today, Monday, my cell phone rang. It was Brad from the car dealership. He said that he saw I had called in last week and was just following up to make sure everything went well. So far, good sales follow-up. I told him that I called to see where my deposit was and that I got voice mail and decided to call back this week. I then asked if he could get me answer to which he responded, “Um, who was your salesperson?” I told him and he said, “Oh, okay, I’ll have him get back to you.”
Now I’m not a big betting man, but I am occasionally, and I’ll bet you on this one that I don’t hear back from him AT ALL. If you want to bet, I’ll put a deadline on it, say Wednesday at noon, but believe me, that call’s not coming in. I’ll end up having to call back.
The bottom line: On the surface, Brad’s call looks like great customer service. Let’s face it, there is probably only a problem 5-10% of the time, if that. If there’s no problem, the customer thinks, “Wow, wasn’t that nice that they called to follow up.” So they’re good 90-95% of the time, but how about the times that there IS a problem, like in my case? What Brad should have done is gotten an answer himself or, made sure the salesperson followed up. In other words, he should chase the issue PERSONALLY and make 100% sure I have an answer.
Right now some of you are thinking, “Well, maybe Brad is chasing the salesperson to make sure the issue is followed up on”, to which I say, “Believe me, my phone’s not ringing!” I’ll let you know if it does. Don’t hold your breath and don’t bet me on it. :I
Another quick note, car sales training tends to carry a lot of gimmicks: the person with the hand on top during a hand shake controls the conversation, take a credit card number and get them to commit to letting you buy a car at the auction, etc. If you’re in the car business, stay away from these. They give you a bad name. Focus on truly helping the other person and don’t try to gain control, or “win” at the other person’s expense, if you do, your sales career will be short lived.
John Chapin www.completeselling.com
Sales training ideas – Do you remember that big sale you made?
Remember that big, or critical sale that you made? It may have been a huge dollar amount or it may have been that account that you finally broke into. Either way, it was a highlight in your sales career and it made you feel great. Question: What are you doing to keep the sales experience fresh in your mind?
My sister (Jean Marie, one of the contributing authors to Sales Encyclopedia) was in a sales meeting yesterday. Once every two months they focus completely on sales training. The sales trainer asked her manager about a major sale he had made and if he had any mementos around to remember it by. He didn’t, and I have to admit, I don’t either.
The good news is, it doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be a magnet, a stuffed animal, anything, but it should have something on it specific to that sale, even if you have to stick something on, and it needs to be somewhere where you’ll see it, A LOT, like on your desk or somewhere in your car.
The bottom line: When you make a big sale, get a memento of some kind, personalize it, and have it in front of you in your work environment. To take it a step further, if you can put yourself back in that sales situation and remember what it felt like, it will help to keep you positively motivated. In the best case scenario, you will remember what you heard, saw, felt, smelled, etc. The more senses you can involve, the better.
John Chapin www.completeselling.com
Sales training ideas – Another great example of follow up.
Okay, I thought of another great example of sales follow up, so we’re on this theme for today too.
A few years back I signed up for a gym membership. The woman who signed me up asked me for referrals afterwards. I mentioned my sister to her and said that I would talk to my sister and get back to her. She asked my sister’s name and what town she was in and I told her.
Later that evening my sister called me and told me that the woman from the gym had called her and she had signed up. The woman had looked up my sister’s phone number and called her. In other words, she didn’t wait for me to talk to my sister and get back to her, she got proactive and made the call herself and got the sale. I later found out that this woman led the country in sales for a major health club chain. She was so successful they had her do sales training at the annual corporate events.
The bottom line: You need to chase business. Sales training can give you the how-to, but you need to develop the drive within yourself. You need to be proactive and go after sales. You don’t wait for other people, situations, or circumstances, you get after it and make things happen yourself.
John Chapin www.completeselling.com
Sales training ideas – An example of great follow up.
The other day I was having a tire on my car repaired and I had about 45 minutes to kill, so I went across the street to Vitamin Shoppe. I’m a sucker for that place. Anyway, a personal trainer (Andrea Mandella) was in there demonstrating some products. She called me over to sample a couple of products and we got into a discussion about my workout program. I told her I needed to tweak a few areas and asked for a business card. We spoke for a few more minutes, I signed up for a raffle (name and phone number) and was on my way.
The next day my phone rang, it was Andrea. She told me who she was, and then went right into a series of sales questions to get me to the close: What day are you working out next? What time? Do you know where Gold’s Gym is? Okay, come in tomorrow at 10 and we’ll get you a week pass. Oh, and what body part are you working? Okay, get ready for a great chest workout. I’ll see you tomorrow.
First, I had told her I’d call her, but she got proactive and called me. Second, she assumed the sale and went right into the closing questions with confidence.
When you have a sales lead, follow up. Now that may sound obvious but, do you have any idea how many salespeople in the above scenario either would have waited for the person to call them or, never would have followed up, even if they were supposed to? The number is high.
Sometimes it’s easy to follow up, as in the example above, sometimes it’s a little more involved. In any case, have a system for follow up and be proactive.
John Chapin www.completeselling.com
Sales training ideas – Body language training is overrated in sales and selling.
When it comes to sales training, most discussions about body language are WAY overrated. The truth is, unless it’s extreme, or several other indicators are present, body language usually means very little in the sales process. Crossed arms don’t necessarily mean someone’s closed off to your sales proposal. On the other hand, if they have a scowl on their face in addition to the crossed arms, it may mean they’re closed.
I’m sure you’ve heard of crossed legs, crossed ankles, and different arm positions meaning different things but again, most of these are not big indicators of how close you are, or aren’t, to the sale. If body language means something, it is usually obvious because you will also hear it in the person’s voice and see it on her face.
What is a big sales indicator? The eyes. You can tell a lot from someone’s eyes. If someone is looking you in the eye, he is usually being straight-forward with you. If he isn’t, then he isn’t, being straight forward that is. If people are with you, you will see it in their eyes, if not, you will see that too.
The bottom line: Don’t worry about body language on your sales calls, instead, focus on the eyes. The eyes are a much better indicator than body language when it comes to figuring out how things are going and where you’re at in the sales process.
John Chapin www.completeselling.com
Sales training ideas – Are you doing what you need to do to get to the top in sales and selling.
Sales training can give us all the ideas on WHAT to do, but it’s still up to us to follow through and execute. That’s the only way we’ll increase our sales and become a top salesperson. So how about you? Are you doing what needs to be done to become a top salesperson or is something stopping you?
Several years back I heard a story about New England Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe. After his rookie season, he drove back home to Washington and along the way he called Hall-of-Fame quarterback Troy Aikman to talk to him about what it really means to have tons of success in the NFL, the celebrity status, etc. Drew’s conclusion? I don’t want that. From that moment on, I knew that the New England Patriots football team was in trouble as long as Drew Bledsoe was calling signals. We all know the rest of the story, Drew had sporadic success, bounced around to a few different teams, then faded off into relative obscurity. Now some of you may be saying, “Well wait. Drew was just one part of a big team.” That’s true, and to that end I present you with none other than… Tom Brady.
Tom Brady showed what you can do when you’re not afraid of success. You see the team was there, the quarterback, which is a far more important position than any other on the team, was not. When Tom stepped in, unless you’ve been in a cave for 7 years, you know that the Patriots have gone on to become one of the most successful teams in NFL history. Some would argue the most successful.
Do you suffer from fear of success… or failure? If you find that you simply cannot get yourself to do what you need to do on a consistent basis, even though you seem to have plenty of time, this may be a root cause.
What can you do? First, recognize it. Many times this alone can turn the tables. Realize that the only way you’re going to live a successful life is to do what must be done and act in spite of this fear.
Second, act, which is just what we alluded to above. When you act and continue to act, that will become a habit and the fear will go away.
Third, face other fears and conquer them. Do you have a fear of heights? Go skydiving. A fear of snakes, go to the pet store and conquer it. Conquering these fears will increase self esteem and confidence and you’ll roll right over your other fears too.
Fourth, if nothing else seems to be working, seek the help of a psychologist to remove these blocks.
The bottom line: Decide what you want and go after it. If something prevents you from going after it, or is slowing you down, face that obstacle head on and conquer it.
John Chapin www.completeselling.com
Sales training ideas – 5 steps to getting your sales and selling tasks done quickly.
Sales training rarely focuses on time management and how to get things done quickly and efficiently yet, as salespeople that can sometimes be one of our biggest challenges. On that note, we’ll discuss a couple of quick and easy ideas to get the most done in the time you have.
1) Make of list of the items you have to get accomplished. Preferably, do this the night before.
2) Prioritize your list, most important to least important.
3) Use the 80/20 rule. Work on the 20 percent of tasks that will yield 80 percent of your results.
4) Start with your most important task and work on that task until it is 100 percent complete, or until you can no longer work on it.
5) Make sure you are only working on the critical tasks which you need to work on, delegate the others.
There it is in a nut shell. Probably the most important is to do the number one task and to stick with a task until it is done.
John Chapin www.completeselling.com
