Start Selling More by Jim Meisenheimer

You can start selling more today and everyday. That's the good news!

The bad news is you can't do what you've been doing and expect better results. Even Einstein thought this insane.

There are three fundamental things you can do to improve your selling results immediately.

First - you can start doing something. You can start doing something that you've been meaning to do and have been reluctant to do it.

For example you can set a goal to call four new sales prospects everyday. Do you have any idea the impact this would have on your selling results? I'll bet considerable!

Underneath your written goal prepare three action steps to help you achieve it. Do this everyday until you achieve it.

This isn't complicated stuff, but it is fundamental and essential to your selling success. Establish a goal and create action steps to achieve it. You will become unstoppable! You will become more focused, more determined, and eventually more successful because you'll start selling more.

Second - you can stop doing something. You probably, if you're like me, have a list that's a mile-long with all the things you should stop doing everyday.

Do you really need to text message while you're driving? Do you really need to check e-mails hourly? Do you really need to make sales calls without having prepared written sales call objectives? Do you really need to be late for appointments and meetings?

I think you get the picture here. Forget the laundry list approach. What's the one thing, if you stopped doing it, that would have a positive and significant impact on your selling results? Think about this and then think about not doing it anymore. It’s really a no-brainer!

Third - you can change something. You know of course that in sales little things mean everything. Having an attitude of gratitude will differentiate you from your competition.

Think about this for 17 seconds. Imagine that you sent either a hand written note or a greeting card every day to one of your sales prospects and or customers.

If you did this for 20 years it adds up to 5000 cards to your sales prospects and customers. If you sent two cards everyday it would add up to 10,000 cards. It would be 10,000 touches of goodwill.

It would spread your goodwill like a bonfire.

Sure, you're not doing this now and neither is your competition. Doing something like this would solidify your personal branding.

Do things nobody else is doing. Last weekend Bernadette, my wife, and I stayed at the Marriott Hotel in Tampa so we could see a show on Sunday afternoon. After we checked into the hotel with our luggage we decided to do a little shopping. Actually Bernadette decided we should do a little shopping.

Over the years I've stayed at hundreds of hotels. When we returned to our room we found a hand written note along with two good-sized chocolate chip cookies.

Since the reservation was in my name this is what the personal note said. "Dear Mr. Meisenheimer, You have been selected as my "Guest of the day" and I hope you enjoy your stay. Sincerely, Sandra Augustus - at your service."

You have to admit different, unexpected, and a very nice touch.

What are you doing that's a very nice touch for your sales prospects and customers?

Give it some thought if you want to Start Selling More!



I’d love to hear from you. Let me know what you’re doing that’s different!

Send an email to: jim@meisenheimer.com 

About
The Author:

Make sure you check out Jim's Sales Trailblazer program: http://salestrailblazer.com

Jim is a
Sales Strategist and is the creator of No-Brainer Selling Skills.
He shows salespeople and entrepreneurs how to increase sales,
earn more money, have more fun, and how to do it all in less
time. His focus is on practical ideas that get immediate results.
He offers Advanced Sales Management Workshops, Sales Coaching,
Consulting, In-house Sales Training Programs, and a wide variety
of Learning Tools i.e. books, special reports, sales manuals,
and CDs.Jim Meisenheimer
is a member of The National Speakers Association, where he earned
the C.S.P. designation, Certified Speaking Professional. He
has authored five books including, "The 12 Best Questions
To Ask Customers," and the recently published “57
Ways To Take Control Of Your Time And Your Life”.

Websites: http://www.startsellingmore.com/

http://www.meisenheimer.com/

A Mishandled $8000 Pizza Order Call by Art Sobczak

Greetings!



I'm a self-taught cook, and probably own as many
cookbooks as sales books. I watch the Food
Network every chance I get. For a few years my
barbeque cooking team traveled all over to competitions,
and we even won a few championships. It's tough
to order at many restaurants, since I sometimes
struggle to find something I couldn't make better
myself.



However, there's still nothing better for my palate
than a great slice of pizza. I particularly like
thin crust, New York style. Could eat it every
day. Normally I don't go more than a few days
without a pizza-fix.



When I'm in Omaha I'm a bit limited in my choices
of places to get exceptional pizza. Last Sunday I
was lusting for a slice and wanted to try something
different, so I went online and was reminded of a
place just a few blocks from my suburban neighborhood.
I had tried it a couple of years ago, was not
impressed, so they fell off my radar.



However, I read some of the recent favorable reviews
and thought I'd give them another shot. After all, right
down the street...if they've improved, this could
become a spot I'd be dropping lots of cash in the
future.



So I called, intending to order a pie. After about
eight rings, the out-of-breath voice answered --
with chaos in the background--and greeted me with, "Can you hold?"



(I'm intentionally leaving out the name of the
place--she did say it when she answered.)



Reluctantly, I agreed.



She did NOT put me on hold.
She just put the phone down.

So now I'm hearing the banter of the kitchen
staff, and occasionally her voice. One minute
passes.



I'm getting restless.



Two minutes, I'm annoyed.



Watching the clock on the computer screen tick
away, three minutes. Now I'm pissed. The kitchen
staff continues whooping it up.



Trying to put it all in perspective and remind
myself that in the whole scheme of things this
is not worth getting upset about, I decide to
give them one more minute. Sure, I could have
hung up and called back, but the devilish side
of me wanted to see just how long this customer
service train wreck would continue. Plus, I thought
I had the makings of a weekly tip.



And I really didn't feel like driving any
further than a few blocks to get pizza.



At the five-minute mark, I FINALLY hear someone
pick up the phone, and...hang it up. "Call Ended"
flashes on my cell phone.



At that moment I decide to provide the owner
with some unsolicited phone sales training.



While I was simmering, waiting, I was online,
reading about the history of the joint, and
about the owner who had come here from
Chicago a few years ago. I remembered seeing
him the last time I was there, working the counter
and the kitchen. Chances are he was there and
I was going to tell him about my experience.



Certainly as an astute business owner he would
welcome feedback and offer to make things right.



I called back.



Busy signal. Hit redial. Busy signal again. Undoubtedly someone else was told to
hold, but then forgotten about.

THREE more times I tried back, hearing the busy
signal each time.



Finally I heard a ringing sound. A male answered,
and said "This is____," giving his name. It was
the owner.



I said, "Yes, I called there about 10 minutes ago.
I was going to get a pizza from you. I was asked
to hold, was forgotten about for exactly FIVE minutes,
and then was hung up on. I wanted you to know this
personally since you might be losing customers
because of how calls are handled."



"Sorry about that," he said in a tone that
contradicted his words.



That was it. No attempt to recover. Nothing like,"Wow, that certainly is not the way we do things,
let me make it up to you..."



"Sorry?", I repeated, after he was silent for a few
seconds, giving him a chance to say more.



"Yeah, sorry, he repeated with an attitude that I
read as, "Look, I'm busy here."



I remained silent--and a bit stunned--for a few seconds,
thinking he might come to his senses as a business
owner and do the right thing.



Silence.



I was not an a-hole about this by any means, but I
finally matter-of-factly said, "Well, you just lost a sale
and more importantly, a customer."



That, I thought, might cause him to realize he could
still fix this. Instead, I heard, "Sorry to hear that."



He was one of the sorriest guys I've ever heard.



So I found another place, a few miles from my house,
that answered on the first ring, did not put me on
hold, repeated back my order, made an upsell suggestion
for a salad, which I took advantage of, and told me
precisely when my order would be ready. THEY will
be getting a lot more of my money in the future.



Now, you might be thinking that from the first pizza
joint's perspective, so what, big deal, they lost a
sale, under $20 in revenue.



Wrong.



A number of years ago a marketing exec with Dominos
spoke right before me at a national sales meeting. He
talked about the value of a customer, something
many people do not keep at the forefront of their
mind. He said their research indicated that a
customer would spend--I don't remember the exact
number, but this is close--in the neighborhood of
$8000 with Dominos in their lifetime.



They would emphasize that to their employees who
answered the phone, and anyone who had contact with
customers. It wasn't a one-pizza transaction, you
were talking to an $8,000 customer.



One of my business mentors, Dan Kennedy, stresses
the importance of "future bank" vs. "present bank."
Future bank is what your customer means to you over

their lifetime, and yours. That's why smart
marketers often take a loss in acquiring a customer,
knowing that the real profit is in keeping them
over time.

Let's try to stitch this back together to some
relevance for you: What do YOU do to ensure that
you make it easy for people to become customers?



Are there any deterrents that make it difficult
for people to become customers...like saying,"Can you hold?", when someone WANTS to buy
from you, now?



Do you know your own "future bank" number?
If not, figure it out, and be sure EVERYONE
who has customer contact knows it.



What are you doing so that when your competition
calls your customers--and you know they will--
your customers say, "I'm happy with who I'm
buying from."



By the way, I didn't reveal this pizza place's
name, since perhaps it was an isolated incident,
and I don't want to trash them. And I might just
give them another shot at some point. I guess I
like pizza too much and almost kind of expect
bad, or even rude service from pizza places.

About the author:

Art Sobczak, President of
Business By Phone Inc., specializes in one area only: working
with business-to-business salespeople--both inside and outside--designing
and delivering content-rich programs that participants begin
showing results from the very next time they get on the phone.
Audiences love his "down-to-earth,"entertaining style,
and low-pressure, easy-to-use, customer oriented ideas and techniques.
He works with thousands of sales reps each year helping them
get more businesses by phone. Art provides real world, how-to
ideas and techniques that help salespeople use the phone more
effectively to prospect, sell, and service, without morale-killing
"rejection." Using the phone in sales is only difficult for people who use
outdated, salesy, manipulative tactics, or for those who aren't
quite sure what to do, or aren't confident in their abilities.
Art's audiences always comment how he simplifies the telesales
process, making it easily adaptable for anyone with the right
attitude.

Contact Info

Art Sobczak

Business By Phone Inc.

13254 Stevens St.

Omaha, NE, 68137

402-895-9399

ArtS@BusinessByPhone.com

www.businessbyphone.com

Should Sales Managers Sell? by Brian Jeffrey

Recently, a colleague and friend of mine in South Africa, Suzanne Burgess of SalesBytes, posed this provocative question to several of her business colleagues. She pointed out that if there's one raging debate in the sales world, it's whether or not a sales manager — i.e. someone who has a team reporting directly to him or her — should also be responsible for having to meet a personal sales target.

I thought you might find some of the responses enlightening and informative. Of course, I'll start with my own response.

My Take on the Situation

Should sales managers sell? It depends!

In general, part-time sales managers, like part-time salespeople don't usually work out well in the end. You either manage or you sell.

Sales managing is a full-time job. When you split the job into two parts, sales and sales management, the incumbent is likely to favour one function over the other. This results in one of three things happening:

1. Good sales manager and poor salesperson


2. Poor sales manager and good salesperson


3. Mediocre sales manager and mediocre salesperson

There is an exception to the rule and this depends upon the size of the sales team:

• If the sales team has 10 or more salespeople, a dedicated sales manager is in order.


• If the sales team has 5-9 salespeople, a part-time sales manager should be considered, keeping in mind that one of the three conditions outlined above will apply.


• If the sales team has less than 5 salespeople, there is no need for a designated, formal sales manager. This does not mean that they don't need to be sales managed; it means that there is no dedicated sales manager. In small sales teams, the best sales management is self-management.

Other Perspectives

Here's the take on the question, "Should sales managers sell?" from the other side of the Atlantic.

Stephen Gladwin, General Manager of Mandilas Toyota in Lagos, Nigeria, responded with the following:

My experience since joining my present company in Lagos was that my National Marketing Manager (19 years with the company) had been allowed to sell cars and keep the commission. I recently persuaded my Managing Director to allow me to change the commission structures to even the playing fields and the National Marketing Manager resigned.

What was happening, she had built up a substantial client base over 19 years and would not allow any of the sales people to get near her customers and as a result she would outsell them 20 to 1. Not only was this demoralizing for the sales staff but also dangerous for the company from the following aspects:

She had control of a large percentage of the company's customer base.


Her time had been taken up selling and not managing.


The sales staff were looking for other illegal means of earning more money due to lack of proper supervision.

The structure that I now have in place is that my Manager does not actively sell and any sales that do come in as a result of him/her is a "dealer sale." The manager earns a percentage of the overall sales departments controllable net profit. The sales people were on a fixed amount per vehicle. They are now on a two-tier sliding scale, volume and net profit.

Stephen Varty, Managing Director of Life and Analytical Sciences (PTY) Ltd, Johannesburg, South Africa, points out that:

This is probably a hot potato only in our own minds. Usually the sales manager gets to this position because he is a great sales person. He is usually your best sales person bringing in the most revenue. He is usually put in the position because we hope that he will transfer his skills in a practical way to his sales team."

We need the sales manager to lead by example and the only lasting way is "do as I do." It all depends on the size of the business, the small and medium-size businesses cannot afford for the most effective sales person (usually the sales manager) not to be generating their own revenue. I firmly believe that the sales manager should have their own personal sales target.

However, Andy Miller, a Sales Consultant and Strategist located on this side of the pond in Alexandria, Virginia, has a different perspective. Andy said:

A sales manager is someone who increases sales by making their people stronger. In essence the sales manager is coach, trainer and mentor. They may still sell but it should be in a modeling/coaching role.

When the sales manager is also salesperson, reps question the manager's motives and it totally undermines the manager. You can't name one sport where the coach is also player.

In my opinion the only time for the sales manager to also be sales person is as a transition strategy while building the sales team. That means one year max in a dual function!

The Final Word

And the final word for this round goes to Cobus van Graan, Managing Director of Tracer CQM and Software International (Pty) Ltd, Johanneburg, South Africa, who points out:

For me, the most important responsibility of a sales manager is to develop his/her team members. If a sales manager does not focus on developing the team, he can be replaced by an admin clerk.

As a general rule, I would suggest that a sales manager should not sell. Their focus and time should be to develop the team. If the sales manager can develop the team and get them to be great sales people, the effect can be 10 times more than the effect of one sales manager selling.

The Bottom Line

What we have are differing views with no conclusion. But then, I'm not sure we've really heard the final word yet.

Why don't you jump into the fray and let me know what you think. After all, that's what's important isn't it?

About the Author

Brian Jeffrey is President of Salesforce Assessments Ltd. His company works with sales managers who want to make the right hiring decisions and build a strong sales team using his sales assessment test. For more articles like this and your free copy of "The 8 Biggest Hiring Mistakes Sales Managers Make" go to => www.SalesforceAssessments.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

©2010 Brian Jeffrey. All rights reserved.

You are welcome to publish this article in your newsletter, publication, blog, or share it
with your own list providing you do not change the content in any way, you include the
attribution at the end of the article, and you leave all links intact.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Disengage Strategy by Dan Adams

Thank you for entertaining the last few newsletters highlighting major account sales strategies. Since selecting strategies is one of my favorite thing about sales, I appreciate that you have indulged me as we have explored my topic of choice. I wonder if you agree that selecting the right strategy under the circumstances is very challenging and rewarding at the same time. It requires to you think, analyze, plan, and go forward with a purpose!



In previous newsletters we have studied the eleven strategies below. Now it is time for the final strategy--Disengage.

1. Frontal Attack


2. Sole Source


3. Change the Game - Expand The Pie


4. Change the Game - Reduce The Pie (Fractionalize)


5. Change The Game - New Game - New Process


6. Change The Game - New Game - Re-Prioritize Criteria


7. Change The Game - New Game - New Criteria


8. Change The Game - New Game - Redefine Criterion


9. Change The Game - New Game - New Players


10. Accelerate


11. Delay


12. Disengage

Of all the strategies, "Disengage" is a very risky strategy to deploy. Deployed incorrectly and without senior executive involvement it can have far reaching and major long term implications for your business with the account. Because of this, in my workshop I always emphasize that You Must Have Management Approval Prior To Deploying This Strategy!

What is the Disengage Strategy?

Removing your company and solution from consideration.

WHY/WHEN TO DEPLOY:

1. When the client commits an "Integrity Violation" (requests kickback or other illegal violation).


2. When you believe that your cost of sale outweighs the benefits of a potential win.


3. After repeated attempts, the client will not permit you to properly qualify the opportunity and uncover her current and future needs (BMPCC of Trust Triangle Selling). You run the HUGE risk that you may potentially be offering an incorrect solution that over the long term will cause great pain for them.

HOW TO DEPLOY/EXAMPLES:

Disengage - Public: The client is informed of your disengage strategy. Phone your client first to inform them that they will be receiving a note which will indicate that out of respect for their time and long term satisfaction, you are withdrawing from consideration. Then send a "Disengage Letter". This is used to solicit one last attempt to improve communication and properly qualify the opportunity.  If used properly it will help you to gain credibility and may result in an invitation for you to re-engage (under your terms).

Disengage - Private: The client is not informed of your disengage strategy. Use this strategy when you hope to win the deal by loosely staying in the game. Call the client once per month to check in with him.  Note: This Disengage - Private Strategy is not usually recommended.  If you decide to disengage, a Public Disengage Strategy is usually best.



Good Luck, and Close 'Em!

About
the Author:

Daniel Adams, author of Building Trust, Growing Sales,
and creator of Trust Triangle Selling™ helps corporations
improve their profits by optimizing the performance of their sales
teams. He is a frequent and popular speaker at national sales
meetings, workshops and association events. You can visit his
web site and read his other articles at www.trusttriangleselling.com.

How One Failing Salesperson Became iNvaluable - Fast! by Jill Konrath

Have you ever felt that what you're selling is just like what your competitors offer? Well, if you think that, imagine how your prospects feel. They get multiple calls every day from sellers who are all saying the same thing.

Crazy busy buyers don't want to waste one iota of their precious time with these sales clones.

nstead, they want to work with people who:

• Have a deep understanding of their business challenges.


• Continually bring them suggestions and insights.


• Provoke their thinking.

In today's business environment, YOU are the primary differentiator - not your products or services. When you focus on developing and leveraging your own expertise, you'll start seeing immediate results.

Just ask Bill. When he moved into sales at a printing firm where he'd worked for years, he thought the transition would be easy. But after leaving over 2,500 voice mail messages, he was getting nowhere.

His prospects rarely answered the phone. And, when he left messages, they never called him back. Bill was getting desperate - until the day he decided to embrace the approaches detailed in SNAP Selling.

What did he do first? He decided to quit selling "printing." It just wasn't working anymore.

Decision makers were simply not interested in talking to another printer who offered one-stop shopping for all their needs combined with great customer service. Their current provider was fine and their pricing acceptable.

Bill's next step was to narrow his focus. But in what area? After reviewing a variety of projects that his company had done over the years, he decided to become a menu expert.

This is an incredibly hard decision for sellers to make - especially when business is bad. But it is necessary in order to increase your effectiveness.

With this new identity, Bill immersed himself in the restaurant industry. He learned the lingo, studied the history, analyzed how big restaurant chains worked, examined their challenges, and read everything he could on the topic of menus.

Then he targeted the companies he wanted to land as clients. As he studied their menus, he discovered ways that he could help the restaurants improve them, possibly in ways they'd not yet perceived.

He followed the trade press to identify potential opportunities for new menu sales. He looked for chains that were lowering their prices, expansions into new markets, announcements of new menu offerings, and more. When he noticed these trigger events, he'd get in touch.

Finally, he unleashed a carefully crafted campaign directly on the chief marketing officers (CMOs) of these big firms. All his communications included:

• Strong value propositions with statistics;


• Up-to-date commentary about the restaurant's current direction; and


• Fresh new ideas about how he could help.

Things started changing almost immediately. Bill was soon engaged in interesting conversations with the marketing people. They talked about how to energize offers and drive revenue growth with newly designed menus. The "how much" question was barely a consideration.

Meanwhile, his competitors were fighting pricing battles with the supply chain people. Because they were viewed as a commodity, they were discounting like crazy.

The results? In just two years, Bill's company has printed over two million menus for the country's best-known restaurants. He's in active discussions with his top one hundred targeted restaurants. He's blowing out his sales numbers and having more fun than ever before.

And he's expanding his expertise into his next target market right now - but I'm sworn to secrecy and can't reveal it.

That's why one of the four SNAP Rules is to Be iNvaluable. In today's marketplace, it's imperative for sales success.

Even if your company offers a wide product line or a variety of services, you can still chose to become a specialist - just as Bill did. While it requires an upfront time investment, the payback can be huge.

About The Author Jill Konrath:

Ready to learn more about what it takes to capture & keep the attention of today's crazy-busy prospects? Want to learn more about the new rules of selling to crazy-busy buyers? To get four FREE sales-accelerating tools and download two chapters of SNAP Selling, visit www.SnapSelling.com or email jill@snapselling.com

Jill Konrath, author of SNAP SELLINGand Selling to Big Companies, helps sellers crack into new accounts, speed up sales cycles and win big contracts. She is a frequent speaker at annual sales meetings and professional conferences.



For more articles like this, visit www.SellingtoBigCompanies.com . To get a FREE Sales Call Planning Guide ($19.95 value) and sign up for the newsletter, send an email to jill@sellingtobigcompanies.com

Sales Ignorance Is Oblivion by Jim Meisenheimer

Sales ignorance is nothing to laugh about. In fact salespeople who are ignorant seldom realize it. Ain't that amazing?

Ten quick ways to becoming a sales ignoramus - really:

1. Keep everything in your head. Never write it down. Do you think it's possible to remember everything you don't write down? If you can't remember what you had for lunch on June 15th, how can you expect to remember what 2 sales prospects and 3 customers told you on that same day?

If it's important write it down.



2. Treat every sales call like an adventure. The best way to do this is to not have any written sales call objectives. Look - we both know it's more fun to play it by ear. Your sales prospects and customers can tell when you're winging it.

They can also tell when you have a game plan. Having a game plan is also a game changer for you and your customers.



3. Talking too much because you don't know how to ask intelligent questions. Most salespeople are excellent communicators. Just be careful that your mouth doesn't become the center of your universe.

Use this if you need help creating intelligent questions:

http://www.meisenheimer.com/products/salesquestions.htm



4. Selling features instead of solving problems. Problems agitate people a lot more than your solutions excite them.

Ask intelligent sales questions to uncover specific problems. Find out how much the problems cost. And don't forget to quantify the value of your solutions in dollars.

If you don't know how to do this you'd better learn FAST!



5. Knowing the answers before you ask any questions. Making all the wrong assumptions. The worst part about being an experienced sales person is you've heard it all before. So there's no need to ask good sales questions when you already know the answers - balderdash!

Think about finger prints for a minute. No two sets are exactly a like. If you believe this, you gotta believe that no two customers and sales prospects have minds exactly alike.

Pay attention to what makes people different and they'll line up to do business with you!



6. Improvising everything and preparing nothing. This one is a no-brainer.



Nothing displays your sales ignorance more than this.

In sales preparation beats improvisation every day of the week.

It stands to reason that you can't prepare everything. It also stands to reason you shouldn't improvise everything.

Just think about it.



7. Talking about price because you don't know how to explain your value. Most salespeople are so rattled by the price objection - they unconsciously bring up the subject of price first.

Rule number 1 - know your products/services inside and out.

Rule number 2 - dollarize the value of everything related to your products and services. Don't expect your customers to see the true value of your products if you can't dollarize it for them.

Rule number 3 - never forget rule number 1 and rule number 2.



8. Thinking you're a master of selling. How long you've been in sales doesn't determine how smart you. In fact if you don't read books, listen to CDs, read articles, go to sales training seminars, watch videos, participate in forums, read blogs - you'll never master the art of selling.

I encourage you to become a student of selling. It's the process of self-improvement.

It's a journey - and it ends with your last breath.



9. How long have you been in sales - 5 years? Could be 1 year repeated 5 times. If you aren't learning you can't be changing. If you're not changing, you're not growing.

Can you quickly answer this question? During the last 12 months what have you started doing, stopped doing, and changed what you're doing as a professional sales representative?

If you can't answer this question, what makes you think this year is any different from last year - hello?



10. Not knowing, word-for-word, how to close the sale. Okay you got the appointment. You had multiple sales calls. You asked good sales questions. Your sales presentation was excellent. You handled the price objection easily. Your sales proposal exudes value.

But uh, huh, um . . . you're waiting for your sales prospect to give you the order because you don't know to ask for the business - pure sales ignorance.

If you want to ace the test - prepare and practice your close until you know it like your national anthem.

Remember sales ignorance is nothing to laugh about!

About
The Author:

Make sure you check out Jim's Sales Trailblazer program: http://salestrailblazer.com

Jim is a
Sales Strategist and is the creator of No-Brainer Selling Skills.
He shows salespeople and entrepreneurs how to increase sales,
earn more money, have more fun, and how to do it all in less
time. His focus is on practical ideas that get immediate results.
He offers Advanced Sales Management Workshops, Sales Coaching,
Consulting, In-house Sales Training Programs, and a wide variety
of Learning Tools i.e. books, special reports, sales manuals,
and CDs.Jim Meisenheimer
is a member of The National Speakers Association, where he earned
the C.S.P. designation, Certified Speaking Professional. He
has authored five books including, "The 12 Best Questions
To Ask Customers," and the recently published “57
Ways To Take Control Of Your Time And Your Life”.

Websites: http://www.startsellingmore.com/

http://www.meisenheimer.com/

How Is Your Vision For The Future? by Tim Connor, CSP

Words of wisdom for this week.   

“I will prepare and some day my chance will come.”

Abraham Lincoln

Everything is changing at the speed of light. New products are introduced while their replacements are on the drawing board.  New services are being replaced with more creative and sophisticated solutions before the previous or existing service can be tested for their value, results and consumer interest. 



Competitors are appearing in every corner of the world. Employees are jumping from ship to ship before you can even earn back your investment from their initial training and development.  Federal, state and local governments who want your business to succeed only so they can support their spending whims and fantasies and administrative overhead. Sound like a difficult set of circumstances to have to face every day as a manager?  Well this is my version of reality TV. 

Although I must admit I have yet to watch one of these reality shows, I can guarantee you that corporate America is facing a lot bigger and more dramatic challenges than any television survivor.

What is a manager or executive to do to stay ahead of the competition and the wants and needs as well as the expectations and often fickle nature of today’s customers and tomorrow’s buyers?  It is called vision and it is the ability to blend this vision for the future with the basics and fundamental human needs and wants that never change.

Yes, the world is changing and yes it is getting more complicated and moving faster, but people – customers and employees still want the same things they have for years:

- Respect

- Kindness

- Courtesy

- Caring

- Attention

- Appreciation

- Recognition

If your vision for the future doesn’t include all of the above you could be one of the fastest growing organizations in your industry, but with fewer and fewer employees.  Sound like a paradox?  Well, what isn’t today?

Is it possible to integrate the rapid pace of change in the world with new products, new services, faster and more intelligent equipment and computers with the human needs that each of your employees want and need satisfied?  The answer is yes.  However, it takes:

- A willingness to always put the customer first. (Both internal as well as external customers.)



- Patience and perseverance.



- The ability to blend innovation and change with the fundamentals and basics of human behavior.



- Creativity when dealing with the many challenges you face daily.



- The willingness to keep your ego in check.



- A business philosophy that is driven by making the pie bigger not just getting a bigger piece of the current pie.



- The courage to take calculated risks without all of the knowledge and experience behind your decisions.



- The ability to admit to failure, poor judgment and mistakes and then moving on, taking the lessons from these and not the fears or frustrations from their outcomes into the 

future with you.

To be a visionary is one thing. To act on your vision is something entirely different.  Tomorrow’s winners will have the vision, the courage to act on their vision and the willingness to learn from their mistakes as they move toward their vision in a rapidly changing world.

Business leaders meet to chart the future of their organization when they don't know what do with what is happening today. Government leaders stay mired down in philosophies and approaches that were held years ago when the rules were predicable. The rules are changing. The rules that are determining the rules are changing.

We are living in a crazy, frenzied time in history. The roller coaster left the starting point several years ago and it is poised for yet another rapid decent or ascent, challenging what we know, believe, feel and have forecasted.

How then can today's executive forecast any vision of what tomorrow will look like with any degree of accuracy? It's anybody's guess what the next 6 months let alone the next 2-3 years will bring.



What you can do is stay loose, flexible, positive and optimistic. What you want to avoid is remaining stuck in yesterday's paradigms, attitudes, philosophies, strategies and conventional wisdom.

What are some of the specific things to avoid as we move like a bullet into the future?

1.Believing that what worked last year or yesterday will work today or tomorrow.



2.Thinking that what you thought about the future yesterday will come to pass.



3.Status-quo thinking.



4.Conventional wisdom or thinking.



5.Using yesterday's results as a benchmark for tomorrow.



6.People who refuse to think out of the box or throw the box away.

Just a few to get you started. Never before in the history of the human race has so much happened in such a short time. And you ain't seen nothin yet…

My final thought for the week:  Visionaries in business do whatever it takes to stay a head of the curve.  They read the books, attend the seminars, they listen to their vendors, employees even observe closely whet their competitors are up to.  It is impossible to accurately predict what will happen, but you can choose to be prepared for whatever occurs. 

If you are not spending time learning, observing, and keeping the vigil on where your industry, your customers, your employees and your suppliers are going or listening to what they are saying as well as what they are not saying, I guarantee you are going to find yourself left behind at the station waving goodbye to your future business and career success.

About The Author:

Copyright: 9/2009 Tim Connor, CSP - Connor Resource Group

Tim Connor, CSP World renowned Speaker, Trainer and best selling author of 75 titles, Box 397,  Davidson, N.C. 28036 USA,  704-895-1230 (voice) - 704-895-1231 (fax) - tim@timconnor.com (email) - www.timconnor.com (Website)

Creativity Is A Must Today by Tim Connor, CSP

               Words of wisdom for this week.   

“The Wright brothers flew right through the smokescreen of impossibility.”  Charles Kettering

There are a number of positive benefits to a consistently creative strategic sales execution process.  Unfortunately too many salespeople are stuck in conventional ways of thinking, acting, believing when it comes to prospecting, presenting, closing etc.  Challenging times call for a “Throw Away The Box” mindset if you want to beat the competition, prosper or even survive.  So consider the following list and come up with one creative idea on how to use this topic to generate more sales or better customer loyalty.

Repeat business.

Positive references.

More referrals.

Higher sales averages.

Increased client respect.

Competitor-proofing your customer relationships.

Saving time.

Better sales relationships.

Increased margins.

Frustrating your competitors.

Better prospecting.

More free time.

Increased overall income.

Job security.

Here are some of the traditional ones so now get creative, I mean really “out there”.



1) Birthday cards, anniversary cards or special occasion remembrances.

2) A thank you gift for the business.

3) A gift subscription to a newsletter.

4) A photo of your customer purchasing your product sent on the anniversary of purchase.

5) An after sales survey after a few months to determine continued satisfaction and changing needs.

6) A follow-up evaluation of your professionalism and sales performance and effectiveness.

7) Start a client book of the month club.

Customers and prospects have a great deal on their plates today.  They have the demands of their customers, bosses, fellow staff members, suppliers and a variety of organizational, department and industry issues that take a great deal of their time and energy.

When salespeople call on these busy prospects or clients they must realize that what they are selling is not the most important thing in that prospect’s life.  Although what they are selling might be of interest and value to them they often just do not have the time to do the salesperson’s work, the follow-up.

More often than I can tell you, over the years, when I have followed up with a prospect that has been considering my services, I have heard, “thanks for getting back to me.  I had every intention of calling you but have just been too busy.  Lets get this program rolling.” 

Why don’t salespeople follow-up?  And, what are the benefits of an effective follow-up strategy?  Two critical issues that will determine the success of salespeople today.  Why don’t salespeople follow up?

1) They fear a no or a rejection. 

2) They believe if the prospect is really interested they will call  and help the  salesperson do their job.

3) They are too disorganized and are not even aware that they should follow up. 

4) They lack a positive attitude about their product, service or offer. 

5) They believe the prospect is not going to buy. 

6) They believe the prospect is too busy to talk with them or to see them. 

7) They are too scattered. 

8) They lack confidence in themselves or their organization and its services or products. 

9) They believe their competitors are going to get the business anyway, so why bother? 

10) They don’t have an effective follow up strategy. 

11) They have nothing new to say. 

12) They knew they had a poor prospect anyway, so why bother.

Are you guilty of any of these?  I have, and I have been selling for over forty years.  It is easy to fall into the – no follow up trap. 

So, the benefits – what do you think?

About The Author:

Copyright: 9/2009 Tim Connor, CSP - Connor Resource Group

Tim Connor, CSP World renowned Speaker, Trainer and best selling author of 75 titles, Box 397,  Davidson, N.C. 28036 USA,  704-895-1230 (voice) - 704-895-1231 (fax) - tim@timconnor.com (email) - www.timconnor.com (Website)