Sales 101: Learn How to Collect Your Money

Getting paid. Isn't that the ultimate goal from each and every sale? It had better be, or you are in the wrong business! Why are you in the selling profession? It certainly isn't the easiest job. It certainly is not a career for everybody, and everyone is not qualified or capable to be in sales. At the core, we are professionals drawn to the potentially high level of earnings available. There are the scheduling freedoms, the new experiences every day, the self-discipline, the interaction with a variety of people, the networking, the fun and so much more that entices us to be in the selling profession. Typically however, we do not get paid until the customer pays for the goods and services rendered. It is extremely important to make certain that this happens, and in a timely manner.

Every salesperson has experienced the agony of having performed her duties flawlessly up to the point of the customer paying their bill, only to find that there has been no payment made, hence, no commissions earned. During the last few years, more and more companies have downsized or shut their doors for good, often with outstanding bills to pay. Lawyers, collection agents and sometimes the salesperson herself are employed in the effort to collect funds from delinquent accounts. It is not a role that we find comfortable at all.

How do we insure that our efforts are rewarded? How can we be certain that we will indeed see our commissions paid in a timely manner, or at all? Although there is no absolute guarantee, there is one technique that will certainly reduce or eliminate the incidence of non-payment and no commissions. They key to receiving commissions in exchange for our selling efforts is in the qualification process.

Do you really want to sell to just anybody? Do you really want to go out blindly and spend your precious resources attempting to develop an account that will never blossom into a paying customer? Aren't you really interested only in those prospects who have demonstrated a need for your product or service, who are ready to buy now and who have a proven track record for paying their bills promptly? Sure you are. These are the only type of prospect we should be interested in. When I investigate a new prospect, I have learned that it is critically important to pre-qualify them from a payment standpoint at the same time that I qualify them as a solid prospect, worthy of my additional sales time. It is not sales arrogance being demonstrated, but sales intelligence.

Spend your time wisely. Learn everything possible about each prospect, especially their current financial condition and payment history. In this manner, your selling time is rewarded by earned commissions, not endless headaches because of deadbeat accounts. It is somewhat akin to getting paid in advance!

Daniel Sitter is the author of the popular, award-winning book, Learning For Profit. Designed for busy people, his new e-book teaches simple, step-by-step accelerated learning skills, demonstrating exactly how to learn anything faster than ever before. Learning For Profit is available from the author’s web site http://www.learningforprofit.com/ and from a variety of online book merchants. Mr. Sitter, having extensive experience in sales, marketing and personal development, is a frequent contributor to several publications..

Leverage Avoidance Values for Irresistible Selling

The most gifted influencers know that to be highly persuasive they must appeal to the values of the person they are speaking to. What are values? Values are filters that everyone uses to help make sense of all the information we must process before we make a decision. When you appeal to a person's values you speak directly to their decision-making criteria. Values: In simple terms, values are what is most important to us. If you ask yourself: what is most important to me about having a new car? You will discover the key issues that you consider when buying a car. Your prospects will also pay attention to their values when you present your offering. Ask your prospects what is most important to them and they will tell you their values, it is then up to you to structure your conversation around what matters to them. So if they value ease of use and simplicity - don't waste their time talking about advanced functions. Instead spend extra time and go into great detail explaining all there is to know about how easy it is to use the product. By talking about what your prospect considers most important you will grab their attention and quickly find out if your offering is for them. And this is as far as most people get with their persuasion skills. There is a further step however. Avoidance Values: When you also discover and appeal to what your client wants to avoid, you become an especially valuable advisor. Everyone has avoidance values i.e. what is important to avoid. In the example of buying a car, it could be wanting to avoid costly maintenance, high insurance premiums and the disapproval of the neighbors. Your only challenge is that people often won't tell you what their avoidance values are because they don't always know themselves. Only when you ask the right questions will you be able to help them discover what these values are. Give them an example of what you mean by avoidance values and then ask them: What must you absolutely not have when driving a car? What do you not want in a car? What do you want to avoid at all costs by using this product? Which factors are the most important to avoid? Typical answers might include - poor visibility, limited leg room, a noisy engine. Let's say you were selling software, the answers might be data loss, system crashes, limited upgrades. Show your prospect how your product satisfies her values and protects her from her avoidance values and your powers of persuasion will be irresistible. Give yourself time to get used to asking probing questions that elicit avoidance values. Although it seems unusual at first it does get easier with practice.

10 Ways to Build a Cult-Like Following

Recently I was contacted by a very successful Internet marketer who asked me what I would suggest to someone who wanted to create a cult-like following. This is right down my ally so I gave him some very good advice that he couldn't wait to put into action but the question got me thinking. What steps are there for anyone who wants people to want his/her attention and wisdom? The result are 10 ways to build a cult-like following. Of course each one of them could be a book in itself but here goes. 1. Initiation vs. Instruction There is a marked difference between learning by instruction and learning by initiation. Most people give instruction. This is nothing more than stating facts and teach processes. Any good teacher does that as well as most bad ones. Learning by initiation is about creating an experience that makes the learning personal and visceral to the student. A good example of that is the 1984 movie "The Karate Kid" . On the one hand you have the macho western karate instructor who taught his students by instruction in a skill 'n' drill process. On the other hand you have the character played by Pat Marito who says that he will teach Ralph Macchios' character karate in exchange for doing chores. But the chores must be done in a certain way "This way wax on. This way wax off." Only later does the young hero find out that there was a method to his instructors madness and when he figured it out it made complete sense to him as if struck by a lightening bolt. There are many things that you could simply tell someone and they would intellectually understand but they wouldn't "get it" as an insight. They would only see it as information. The result is that they may use it or they may not. Teaching by initiation means holding back on simply telling what the student wants to know and instead provide an experience where the student "gets it" on their own. The subjective experience of the student is that the lesson is much more valuable because 1) they had to work for it and 2) it is felt more personally. 2. Being Accessible Someone once told me that "There are no long lines for the guru at the bottom of the hill." Making yourself scarce adds perceived value but it also distances you from the masses. If you want a cult-like following you need access to the masses otherwise you're just an ivory tower wannabe. There is an ingenious compromise. Be accessible as a person but present your knowledge and wisdom as being rare, expensive, mysterious, and only for those who are truly ready for it. This compromise allows you to build deep personal bonds with people yet have them want more or your presence... as well as be willing to pay for it. Keep in mind that one cult leader, 2000 years ago, would speak to anyone who would listen but he granted his most sacred attention to his 12 closest disciples. You can add to this compromise by having "special times" when you are not accessible to anyone. You can tell people that you are meditating, or doing your "spiritual practice" but you don't have to say anything. It's the mystery of why you are absent that you want to cultivate. 3. Imply Secret Knowledge The role of simply remaining calm and silent will recur again in this essay so I can't understate it. Here is where silence is worth a 1000 words. Saying things like "Hmmm... There are 100 possible solutions to that within your own mind." and nothing else implies things that you know and that they should know. 4. Remaining calm as if all-knowing Any sharp change in your emotional state, with the exception of joy and laughter, should be minimized. Any leader/teacher who goes on an angry rant is demonstrating their own lack of control. If you truly have control it should be demonstrated by an unshakable calm as if everything is happening just as you knew it would. I've always remembered that the scariest martial artist are the ones that don't talk or threaten... they calmly do what they have to do and walk away. 5. Create a detached involvement as if "you" are in a "higher place" In doing this people will look to you as if there is something more to you than your mere physical presence. 6. Connect deeply with the individual Here rapport is vital. When you are with people you need to put aside all of your distractions, obligations and problems to focus completely on the person or people you to whom you are speaking. 7. "Chunk Up" whenever possible This may be a bit abstract to grasp but it's important to creating an appeal because it forces people to think in bigger terms. When you do consistently if gives the impression that you are always thinking bigger than them. "Chunking Up" is an NLP term that means referring to something that contains what is spoken about as a subset . It can also refer to something that controls or has a larger reach than the topic at hand. As an example when a person asks "Do you enjoy adult beverages?" a chunked up response would be "There are many adult pleasures I enjoy." Here, "beverages" is a subset of "pleasures". Another example : Statement: "I'll go with you if you promise to control yourself." Response "I have no intention of controlling how much I enjoy myself." Here "control" is a subset of "Enjoyment". 8. Always allude to the mysterious This can be done by doing the opposite of name dropping. Refer to a very skilled person you learned from who doesn't normally take students. Mention an arcane text that describes a mysterious process you went through. Mention it took you ten years of study to read between the lines and find the real meaning to the work. 9. God-Like Confidence Here is where the work of Blair Warren in "The Worlds Greatest Cult" (http://www.MindControl101.com/WGC.html ) really comes in handy. He describes what's called "The God Complex" which encompasses many of the concepts discussed here. The God Complex is a great example of "chunking up" because it's about seeing EVERYTHING that can possibly happen as if it's all part of the plan and being okay with it. The God Complex is about having such a larger view of the world and your place in it so that what you are doing, this very moment , regardless of what transpires will be as if it was meant to you be. The bottom line is that people are going to judge and criticize you; you'll have deal with money and security issues; relationships will change... no matter what. The God Complex includes all of that in a philosophy that allows you to deal with it in a healthy perspective. 10. Appeal to peoples needs and wants A deep understanding about what people truly respond to is vital if you want to influence anyone. Each individual has their own wants and needs that you have keep in the forefront of your mind. Good NLP training will help you with that. People will also respond to the same basic needs being fulfilled; the need to be needed, the need for hope in a tough time, the need to feel in control, the need blame something else for their troubles, the need to learn about something they don't know or not supposed to know. Here again I give reference to Blair Warren again in "The Worlds Greatest Cult". (http://www.MindControl101.com/WGC.html ) Conclusion The desire for a cult-like following has many benefits and many responsibilities. The hardest of the responsibilities is simply living up to what you are presenting to people. For that reason I always recommend that you live what you teach.

Freelancers, SubContractors & Creative Folks: Stop Going to Networking Events and Get More Business

A few days ago I returned from my annual National Speaker's Association (NSA) conference in Atlanta. The educational sessions were OK, the hotel was so-so, and the town was lacking in exciting things to do, but my experience was stellar. How is that possible?

Though I am often accused of being an extrovert, I consider myself quite introverted, as I truly dislike social events and networking gatherings where I am forced to meet new people and mingle with individuals whom I don't know. You know the feeling - that insecure child inside of you automatically assumes that you won't like anyone new and that they probably won't like you, either. It's simply safer to stick with people with whom you already have a relationship.

Of course, the adult inside knows that to grow as a person (and as a business), you must meet new people, network effectively, and experience new challenges. So, what do you do?

As an introverted defense mechanism, I learned that becoming involved with committees, task forces, and boards, I could meet a lot of people without the painfulness of cold networking. Joining committees provides the unique opportunity to hide behind the tasks of the group to meet others until you feel more comfortable and less socially awkward. It allows you to get to know someone well, while working together on a joint effort. What a concept!

My NSA convention was a huge personal and professional success because I am actively involved with one of the charitable events surrounding the organization. My involvement with this group gives me the avenue to meet people whom I would have never even met under normal convention circumstances.

Some of my closest friends, mentors, buddies, and clients have come into my life as a result of being an involved member of an organization. Though, of course, being involved often means giving up a significant portion of time working towards the greater good of the organization, but it provides a unique opportunity to meet people who can make a difference in your life.

So, if you are like me, and don't enjoy business card exchanges, networking events, baby showers, or standard social gatherings, then by-pass them all and join a committee or get on a board. It will be your quickest and most effective path to meeting people with whom you can connect personally and professionally.

It will impact your business and your life all while working on a worthwhile project. How fantastic is that?

Kirstin Carey is the author of "Starving Artist No More: Hearty Business Strategies for Creative Folks." Kirstin knows how much most creative people hate sales, contracts, and discussing money and she consults creative people on the business side of creativity so they make more money, get better clients, and still love what they do. She put together a resource full of proven strategies and insider secrets guaranteed to help creative types get the business help they need so they don't have to starve anymore! Go to http://www.MyCreativeBiz.com

Objections: Are Your Customers Playing Hard to Get?

You have heard customers using the same objections over and over again, yet for some reason you still find yourself ill prepared when one is thrown your way. To be a successful salesperson you need to understand your customer’s perspective of whether or not to buy your product, and be ready to respond to any questions or objections they may have regarding that product.

Many salespeople feel uncomfortable with objections because they fear they have done something wrong or that they will lose a possible sale. However, this is usually not the case. A customer’s objection may actually be an indicator of their true interest in purchasing your product. Your reaction may determine whether or not they choose to act on that interest.

The key to overcoming objections is not in memorizing some magic saying or following some phony sales process; it is in genuinely relating with your customer to understand how your product will uniquely benefit them and fulfill their needs. When you have that information, you can overcome objections your own way by adapting it to your style and unique situation.

When you view the situation from the customer’s vantage point, you will come to the realization that what YOU consider most important about your product is not always what is most important to YOUR CUSTOMER. It is likely that your customer does not want to hear your speech about all of the intricate features your product has to offer. They simply want to know if and how your product will solve their problem.

The best way to overcome an objection is to structure your presentation in a way that focuses on customer challenges and solutions. Show your customer how they will benefit from using your product and do it in a way that diffuses the objections that you are anticipating.

For example, the objection that comes up most often is that of price. When you find yourself up against this objection, the best thing to do is to respond with what makes your product and your company truly valuable. Remember, the things that make your product and your company truly valuable are likely NOT the things that you have been trained to regurgitate to the customer.

The true value of the product lies in how well it solves the needs of the customer or makes the customer more profitable or productive at work. Because most customers only take a few hours to make a decision on a product they want to use for years, focus on the longevity of your product and the value that the customer will receive over the course of many years.

One of the best ways to reassure your customers of the value of your products is to use real examples. You may want to explain that some customers have felt as they feel, and have pointed out that your initial price is not the lowest. However, these customers realized after purchasing the product that the ‘overall cost’ of the product was much lower than any of the other options available to them. Hearing these stories will illustrate the benefits of your product and help them visualize their own success through your product in a context they can easily understandâ€"real life.

These testimonials can also be used to provide evidence and to build trust with the customer. They will know that you understand their dilemma because other customers have come to you with the same problem. When your customer knows that you have helped others in a similar situation, they will trust that you will be able to help their individual needs as well. That hope is what made them come to you in the first place, so it should be the focus of your interaction with them.

So the next time a prospect throws an objection your way, understand that you may be in the perfect position to close a sale, but that their decision may depend heavily on your response. Focus on the lasting benefits and continued success they will have from purchasing your product. Most of all, stress the value of your product and company. They may claim that your price is too high, but they are also giving you the opportunity to convince them that your product and your company are worth it.

Tom Richard is the author of Smart Sales People Don't Advertise: 10 Ways To Outsmart Your Competition With Guerilla Marketing and the author of a weekly ezine. To subscribe to the ezine or to preview the book visit http://www.tomrichard.com

Sales for Service Businesses considered

A service business is much different than other businesses. When designing a sales program and strategy for a service business or an on-site service business it makes sense to know your target market and which types of customers will provide your company with the most profits. As a salesperson it behooves you to study the customers and the competition's offerings.

Cold calling is important in service businesses and so is direct mail brochure advertising. Once you have a list in a geographical area of the customers you wish to call upon to see if there are potential prospects for your service then it is a matter of contacting them and finding out if they are interested in purchasing what you have to offer.

A service business makes money by saving other people money. Even an efficiently run business is not as efficient with the services you can provide them. Chances are they specialize in what they do and indeed do it very well and then again so do you with selling a service business to another business, which may need to understand this.

You need to educate the customer so they can appreciate the efficiency at which you can work and save them time and money. A service business that sells to consumers or homeowners needs to educate the consumer to the fact that you are efficient and experienced at what you do and you can do it better than the customer with better results and much faster. Please consider this in 2006 when doing sales for a service business.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/ Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow

Creating More Effective Proposals

The need for good proposals - the business kind, not the marriage kind - struck me again a couple of days ago, when I received a poor proposal. I had talked on the phone with a sales rep, and then she followed up with a proposal.

You know what? Her proposal was even worse than her live sales pitch. It was a completely canned message, which wasted her time and mine. With that, some thoughts on creating effective proposals.

Let's start by dividing them into two categories: commodities proposals and differentiated (or value-added) proposals.

If you sell commodities, your proposals will be relatively straightforward, as you compete on issues like price, delivery, and product characteristics. The buyer makes a relatively objective decision, and all other things being equal, he takes the best offer.

That likely makes clarity your best proposal writing strategy. For example, if you have a significant advantage in one area, you might create a matrix showing the information in a table format for easy comparison.

Turning our attention to proposals for differentiated or value-added products, we immediately notice an important distinction. There are no easy comparisons among vendors, as there are with commodity sellers.

The buyer has to compare intangibles, which means subjective judgments. He can't compare one marketing consultant with another, for example, unless he hires both, which he's unlikely to do.

Since we're dealing with subjective judgments, it's good to ask, "What goes on in the minds of buyers?" Solving a problem or exploiting an opportunity probably tops the list for most buyers. While the solution may not be immediately obvious, the need likely is plain to the buyer.

And, that's why many experts suggest that proposals address at least three specific areas: the problem, the solution, and the process (by which the solution takes care of the problem).

It's important to note, too, that proposals for differentiated products or services should not focus on you or your organization. Leave the kudos about yourself until you've covered the problem, solution, and process. And, make the part about you shorter than the first part of the proposal.

Sophisticated proposal writers also know they can increase their chances of winning by carefully studying the buyer's problem. By showing the buyer they understand the problem better than competitors, they give themselves an advantage.

There's another important distinction between proposals for commodities and differentiated products. In the case of commodity purchases, the buyer may not be the user of the product or service, likely reinforcing the objectivity effect. On the other hand, buyers who purchase differentiated or value-added products may be the users as well.

In summary, be strategic when you write a proposal, thinking through what type of proposal you're creating, and by addressing issues in the prospect's mind.

Robert F. Abbott writes and publishes Abbott's Communication Letter. Learn how you can use communication to help achieve your goals, by reading articles or subscribing to this ad-supported newsletter. An excellent resource for leaders and managers, at: http://www.communication-newsletter.com