What will happen to your business in 2012 if you don't get enough sales?

What will happen to your business in 2012 if you don'tget enough sales?

What comes up for you when you think about selling your services or products?

Do you feel upbeat, positive and ready to share the wonders of what you do? Or do you feel dread, doubt, fear or a combination of negative emotions?

You may have an armoury of selling skills but if you have negative emotions going on inside, this will get in the way of your sales success.

The signs that negativity is working against you are:
- You are busy doing stuff that has little or no impact on increasing sales
- You avoid activities that you know would have a positive impact on your sales success
- You experience negative emotions when you think about sales
- You use the doom and gloom news as an excuse for your lack of sales
- Your inner voice keeps reminding you of your weaknesses
- You're working really hard, putting in the hours...and still not getting the sales results you want

So what do you do?

The first thing you need to do is to become aware that the strategy you currently have IS NOT WORKING FOR YOU! If you continue doing what you're doing, you will not achieve the sales success you want. Once you acknowledge that things need to change, you'll find it much easier to incorporate changes. It's so easy to continue with the habits you've created...it takes conscious thought and effort to create new habits.
So how ready are you to let go off what you've been doing...or not doing...to increase your sales?
Here are some easy steps you can take to get you on the path to sales success:
1.Get rid of the negative language you use about you, the economy, the people you come into contact with and anything else that saps your positive energy. Instead of "Things are really hard at the moment" use "Things may not be easy but the more people I speak to the easier it will get".

2.Start noticing the positive reasons for the situations you find yourself in. When you lose a sales ask yourself "What can I learn from this that will give me a greater chance of getting future sales?"

3.You don't get what you want in life, you get what you expect. So start expecting great things to happen! Henry Ford said "If you believe you can or believe you can't...you're right" Go into every sales interaction knowing that if you can give this person exactly what they want or need you have a great chance of doing the deal.

4.Use more 'YOU' language when talking with your prospective customers. Focus on finding out about their issues, pains and desires by asking well crafted open questions. Only then can you weave your product or service into the conversation as an ideal solution.

5.Focus on IPA...Income Producing Activity. This is the stuff you do before closing a sale. Once you've done the deal it's not IPA - it's customer service. The more IPA you do...the more sales success you will achieve. Typical IPA activities are networking...in person and social media, following up enquiries, meetings with prospective customers, proposals and increasing your profile as the 'go to' person.

6.Prioritising the important stuff. When you have established all the IPA you could be doing, focus on the FBI...Fastest Business Impact. What IPA is going to have the fastest impact on increasing sales? That's what you do first. It's so easy to get that little job out of the way...then that other little task...and before you know it the day has gone and the most important activity remains undone!

7.Make sales FUN. How can you think about sales that would cause you to be more relaxed about the whole thing? It may be that you give activities different labels. I was delivering a workshop recently when one of the business owners said she felt like she was choking when she thought about closing a sale so I suggested that she think of that activity more about the other person realising that she could give them exactly what they needed. I could see a sense of relief as she nodded and said she was much more comfortable with that! How can you reframe the activity to suit you?

Incorporating these 7 easy steps will change your selling experience. You'll be more relaxed and less stressed. You'll be focusing on the activity that increases sales and wasting less time on the activities you used to avoid sales.

Not only will you be having more fun...you'll be having more sales success!

Leigh Ashton

www.sales-consultancy.com

020 7903 5426

results@sales-consultancy.com 

PS; Download my Free Report - The 9 Biggest Sales Mistakes You See Others Making

Decreasing Marketing; Increasing Sales

Most companies I help receive incoming enquiries - via the telephone line, emails, exhibitions, the list goes on.

None of these companies convert 100% of those enquiries into a sale. Of course, 100% conversion is pushing it a bit! However – there’s no doubt that all of these companies had potential to increase their conversion rate, in many cases by a considerable amount.

A company in particular comes to mind. They took enquiries mainly by phone and converted 25% of these enquiries into an individual average order value of £997 – we’ll round this up to £1000 for ease of telling the story.

Sales in volume were slightly over 10,000 a year so we’re talking about a £10m company here.

Having been called in to help, my first thoughts were what a crying shame that a massive 75% of sales enquiries were coming to nothing. Even sadder was that many of the 75% non-buyers were deemed ‘time wasters’ by the staff. I cringe at those words – in my book there’s no such thing as a time waster in sales and terming them as such reflects more on the seller than the potential buyer.

Within six weeks we’d got the conversion rate up to 27%. Now you might think that’s not much of an increase – and you’d be right. BUT – just this 2% increase in conversion rates equated to an annual increase in turnover of £800,000. Needless to say the training was deemed a big success.

The moral of the story? Don’t spend massive amounts of money on marketing when all you have to do is make better use of the leads that you’re already getting - sales success will follow.

How to increase conversion rates?

Here are a few pointers.

1.      Ban the use of the words ‘time wasters’! I’m serious. Using this word in a sales environment engenders an underlying unconscious disrespect for potential buyers. I firmly believe that no one has got time these days to be a time waster – there must have been SOME level of interest for them to pick up the phone – check out a website etc.

2.      Get technology in that can track enquiries and respond to them. This could be web analytics, a more sophisticated CRM, whatever it takes to know exactly who’s showing an interest – and which enables you to have a low cost follow up.

3.      Connect! Yes I know some of this is very basic but...! It works. We found out at the company in question that their company was on average one of three that the potential customer contacted before making a decision. There were about 5 major players in their market at the time – and not much to choose between them in terms of product and price. So who do you think was going to get the business? YES – the one to whom the prospect felt most connected.

4.      Connection is made through general rapport building and lots of curiosity – in sales terms known as good old fashioned open questions.

5.      Structure. I’ll never be an advocate of scripts on telephone calls – I hate them – but a little structure can help considerably. So make sure you give the staff the guidance they need to succeed on the call.

6.      Follow up when you’ve quoted. I can’t believe how many companies quote for business and then never follow up with at least a courtesy phone call. This is not hounding people – as a certain company’s ‘sales’ staff once suggested. This is called customer service, which, if we’re lucky, might catch on! If you don’t fancy following up quotes, you might want to consider an alternative career. Referring to suggestion 3, if you’re one of three companies that have quoted for a sale and you’re the only one that follows up, doesn’t that indicate a level of interest on your part that others haven’t matched?

There are of course another hundred+ tips on increasing sales and following up enquiries – but if you do these and do them well enough, your selling skills and your sales conversions will increase.

Converted yet?

Leigh Ashton
www.sales-consultancy.com
020 7903 5426
results@sales-consultancy.com

PS; Download my Free Report - The 9 Biggest Sales Mistakes You See Others Making

Sales Success?: Their Chunk Size Does Matter!

Sales Success?: Their Chunk Size Does Matter!

Have you ever been at a meeting when someone is talking about his or her vision for the organisation and somebody interrupts to announce that there are no loo rolls in the gents? Have you ever been bored at a presentation – you wanted an over view and got War and Peace?

Some people only want a brief outline of the situation. Others want to know all the details and more! That’s why some people emerge from meetings and presentations complaining they haven’t been told enough, whilst others, at the same meeting might argue they are weighed down with too much minutia. Some people like an over view, others seek detail.

How has this cost you in the past?
You will more than likely have been demonstrating your unconscious personal preference, whatever the needs of those you are communicating with. So if you’re an over view person, you’re likely be reluctant to go into detail, thus leaving those small chunkers frustrated that they haven’t anything like the information they need. On the other hand, if you’re a detail person, some of your presentations and communication might well have your audience bored to bits if they only ever wanted an over view.

So…
To attain the very best connection it’s essential you get to know the chunk size of anyone you’re communicating with – customers, prospects, colleagues, suppliers. People have different needs as far as the level of detail they thrive on is concerned. If you get it right, sales success will follow. Get it wrong and, quite simply you could be losing sales.

Which is best?
There is no best – but there is certainly a best for the situation and your key to increasing sales is knowing when to ‘chunk up’ or ‘chunk down’. This means leaving your own personal preferences aside. Go into the ‘map’ of the person you’re communicating with and go with their flow. Your flexibility is your key to better rapport, better connections and better conversion rates.
Remember, too many details will confuse a big chunker and too much vagueness will upset a small chunker. Give each the level they need.

How to find out
When you’re next communicating with anyone, pay special notice to the level of detail they display when they’re talking. If they’re vague, give short answers and obviously don’t do the small talk, it’s clear that the best way is to respond in kind. Likewise if they go into detail, you need to too. In my experience many sales people find it hard to leave their own map, so that’s the key. LISTEN – and respond.

Where else is this useful?
If you manage a team, take notice of how your team members differ. By responding accordingly you can look forward to better connections with your team with all the gains that can bring. Likewise your colleagues at meetings and in general conversation. Your general sales management skills can only improve.

I look forward to hearing your big chunk/small chunk feedback! In the level of detail you prefer of course.

Leigh Ashton
www.sales-consultancy.com
020 7903 5426
results@sales-consultancy.com

7 Autumn Sales Tips

There’s certainly never a dull moment as far as the economy is concerned.

The economists and statisticians pour over the latest data, trying to explain away the pro’s and con’s of the employment figures, growth trends, how the Italy/Greece/USA (delete as appropriate!) ‘crisis’ will affect the UK and so on.

What to do?

Rise above it! That doesn’t mean ignore it - you need to know what’s going on in the world. Your mantra needs to be ‘ok, so all that’s happening in the economy, how can I best respond to achieve sales success?’

To help - here’s 7 Sales Tips for Autumn


7 Autumn Sales Tips


1 Get the GOAL right

Yes that old chestnut. Powerful goal setting -and how to keep on track to achieve them - is one of the most talked about subjects in sales and personal development land.

Everyone has individual techniques to try to master the art of setting goals. You might like to try this one…jump ahead in time and Imagine it’s (‘insert date’).

Think to yourself ‘If Only I’d….’ Whatever big stuff comes to mind - that’s your focus for the period you chose. Useful - and particularly if you’re a little on the ‘glass half empty’ side of life.


2 Inject some FUN!

Seriously. Fun is a must for increasing sales. Some say that sales is not much fun these days. Well it’s up to you to re-install your fun formula! First - get more fun into YOUR life; watch a stand up comedian; watch your fave comedy TV show; read a joke book - anything to get you laughing more.

If you’re in sales management this is important to use with your team.
Then when your with a prospect you’ll feel better equipped to make them smile, putting them at ease and creating an atmosphere full of rapport.


3 Get in a TIP TOP STATE!

What’s your inner state today? If you’re feeling positive & motivated to get stuff done then celebrate & have a fantastic day.

If you’re feeling a bit flat or negative, go for a short break, look up & smile the biggest smile you can.

Changing your physiology is a brilliantly easy way to change your state. Changing your physiology will improve your selling skills 100%

Think about all the things you are grateful for & focus on what you want rather than what you don’t want!


4 Get MOTIVATED!

Ask yourself…Do I believe that what I’m selling is the best? Is my company the best? Are my work habits the best?

Am I letting outside pressures get in the way? Am I really taking care of mysefl?

Yes there’s an economic slowdown, but before you blame ‘it’, take a look at ‘you’. Make sure you’re fir for purpose!


5 Do it NOW!

Many people have ONE task to do that they continually avoid. Ring any bells? Yet when they eventually do it they find out it wasn’t that bad after all and they feel great for doing it.

So what’s that ONE TASK that you have been putting off that’s beginning to haunt you?

Go - Do it today - You’ll feel so much better by tonight. Go Go Go!


6 Do the RIGHT THING!

You can always find stuff to do to keep you busy but how useful is the stuff you do at generating sales? Focus on Income Producing Activity before all other tasks and you will increase your sales.

Remember also that if you focus on getting tasks done you may forget the purpose of the task…it’s not about getting through the calls/visits it’s about connecting with people and either starting or developing the relationship.


7 Happy Customers? - Get a REFERRAL!

When was the last time you asked for a referral? If you’re currently doing work for someone NOW is the time to ask.

Just finished working for someone? Ask quickly before it’s too late.
Ask your top customers. Referrals are free. Referrals are quick. I challenge you to ask for at least one before the end of today. Go Go Go!


Leigh Ashton

http://www.sales-consultancy.com/
020 7903 5426
leigh@sales-consultancy.com

Closing a Sale in 5 Minutes

How frustrating is it when you put in lots of hard work for little or no reward?

Perhaps you’ve been working on a tender for a big contract only to see it cancelled, or awarded to a competitor? Or you’ve given a fabulous sales presentation, only for the meeting to grind towards its end with no sign of closing a sale?

Maybe you’ve quoted and you just can’t get an answer no matter how often you contact them? What about when you think you’ve been fobbed off - they probably don’t want your products but they won’t tell you outright so you keep contacting them ‘just in case’?

We’ve all been there - it’s frustrating and time consuming. The dilemma - do you chase old ‘maybe’ business or spend more time generating new enquiries?

Closing a Sale in 5 Minutes…

The Issue
The meeting’s gone well. You’ve got a fabulous connection with your prospect. Rapport levels are high. They seem attentive. They seem interested. You’ve impressively answered some minor objections that came your way. Yet there’s something that’s holding you back from asking outright for the business.

What to do next?

The Solution
Three Killer Questions. Before you embark on the first question, make sure you have good levels of rapport with your prospect. If there is any ‘edge’ present, these questions won’t work. With fabulous rapport, they always deliver.

So, back to your meeting. It’s coming to an end and you need to close the sale.

Question Number 1
At the end of your conversation, ask:

On a scale from 1 to 10 – 1 meaning “it’s over…don’t darken our door again” and 10 meaning “we want you to start straight away”…where would you say we are?

THEN…SHUT UP! This is critical to ensure you give the silence that allows your contact to think.
Give them time. Allow your prospect to respond. They will give you a number. Don’t be too attached to the number. The golden nugget is their response to the next question.

Question Number 2
 Ask…

What would need to happen to get us to a 10?

SHUT UP! Again…this is critical. Give them more time to think.

Allow your prospect to respond.

You have now identified the gap between what you’re offering and what your client needs from you before they can say ‘yes’. You now know how close you are to securing the deal.

If you are able to resolve the gap immediately you’ll be able to close the deal there and then.
Some answers will alert you that these prospects are unlikely to ever buy. Disappointing yes but good to know there and then not several weeks and many follow ups later.

Question Number 3
Open question.

What would you like me to do next?

Their answer is usually like all the jigsaw pieces falling into place. They are explaining exactly what the next course of action is - talking as if you’re already on board.

Agree on the next course of action and be sure to maintain your control by agreeing when you will get back to them.

Asking these questions will change your sales results! They identify how close you are to a sale, they identify how big the gap is - and exactly what you need to do to bridge the gap. And you both decide whether or not you have the means to bridge the gap. All usually in a few minutes.

By slightly tweaking these questions you can use the ‘out of ten’ technique in other situations - for example staff appraisals and job satisfaction surveys come to mind.

Hope this technique brings you lots of success.

Leigh Ashton
www.sales-consultancy.com
020 7903 5426
leigh@sales-consultancy.com

Stop Your Procrastination NOW (not later!)

Years ago, we were (and still are being) introduced to all these labour saving devices. All this meant we'd have lots more time on our hands to enjoy life, enjoy our friends and families and live a life of ongoing leisure.

So what happened then? Everyone I meet is as busy as ever trying to make a living and it's taking more time than ever!

Which means we cannot afford to procrastinate, yet it's a very common admission of attendees on every training and mentoring programme I deliver. We know it holds us back but...

So - high time to take a look at procrastination - and not put it off any more!!

Procrastination is one of the biggest enemies you have when it comes to sales and marketing. Thinking about what you need to do to get that business in is all very well - taking the first step towards your objective is critical.

Putting off the least productive items in your day is a useful talent. Putting off the crucial stuff is a bad move. Your productivity goes right down, your achievements are zilch and before you know where you are you're stressed.

What to do about it?...

Here are six pointers to help you overcome procrastination.

1. Plan your day before your day!
It's an old cliche but people don't plan to fail - they do sometimes fail to plan. Without a plan of action in place before you arrive for work it’s too easy to get caught up in ‘stuff’. The phone rings, someone pops into the office and you spend your time responding to the loudest voices rather than to the most important priorities. A plan of action, prepared the night before is like a roadmap for the next day. You know what your next step needs to be to get you into productive action and away from procrastination. With a prioritised plan, you hit the ground running and get early momentum to your day.

2. Work with a clean desk.
Get organised. When I mentor business owners, managers and sales people, the desks they operate from are often filled with files stacked so high they're a health and safety hazard. Often accompanied by empty drinks cups, sandwich crumbs, half the world's supply of sticky notes, it goes on.

No No No. If you're serious about working to your utmost potential and actually achieving results on an efficient, consistent basis, you've got to be organised and look organised. A cluttered desk sends a signal - to your own mind and to others around you.

Cut the chances of distraction, get a decent filing system, get rid of old stuff, so that you can concentrate on one IMPORTANT thing at a time on your desk.

3. Reduce large projects to bite-sized pieces.
Can't face that big project? Then break it down into smaller chunks so you chip away over time. Work out when your deadline is. Impose your own if you need to - and work out how much time you need to spend on this project each week, day and so on.

Be sure to plan for interruptions. Most people get them, so expect them and assess your required time accordingly. For example, tomorrow you plan to work on a three-hour project. Build in four hours to your timetable as, unless you are very lucky, you'll have to deal with interruptions, meetings, etc.

Leading personal development guru Brian Tracy suggests you 'Eat That Frog' first thing in the morning, meaning get the most challenging or unappetising tasks out of the way first thing. If you have two frogs staring at you, eat the ugliest one first! You'll have a much better day rather than letting those frogs stare at you all day until you 'get round to them'.

4. Plan around interruptions.
Interruptions tend to occur in identifiable patterns. You may get most of your interruptions early in the day rather than later in the day. You may get most of your interruptions early in the week rather than later in the week. So, if you plan a big project make sure it works with your normal schedule of activity – don’t create stress for yourself before you begin. As soon as your interruptions arrive they will re-focus your attention, causing you to procrastinate what you really want to do. It’s so much easier swimming downstream with the current rather than bucking the tide. Therefore, plan those larger projects for quieter times of your day and week when you tend to get fewer interruptions. And if you can and really need to - ask for no interruptions. Trade this for a period when you commit to being available for others later in the day

5. Assign deadlines.
Have you ever failed to achieve a New Year's resolution? If so, that probably happened because you didn’t set a deadline. Deadlines will move you to action. Without a deadline, things end up in our ‘soon as possible’ pile, a Never Never Land where items might get attended to someday, when you get the time. Create a deadline and you will be moved to action.

6. FBI
When prioritising your work, ask yourself, what's the FBI here - The Fastest Business Impact? This will help concentrate the mind on what you really should be doing. Keep checking in with the FBI test and you'll notice an impact on your sales.

Leigh Ashton

http://www.sales-consultancy.com/

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7 Steps to Action

Frequently during my sales workshops I get asked “what’s the biggest contribution to success?” Now that's a tough question to answer. There are so many things that determine whether you are destined for success. If I had to pick one, it would probably be taking ACTION. Without it, you will never get the results you want.

I'm reminded of the quote 'All know the way; few actually walk it' (Bodhidharma). We're all guilty of not doing the stuff we know we should be doing.

So if you’re procrastinating on ACTIONS that you know will better your results, this exercise could really get you moving.

7 Steps to ACTION

Get yourself a writing pad and a pen you like writing with! Take your time in answering the following questions as fully as you can.

1. Write down one thing that you are procrastinating with

2. Come up with 10 reasons why you must change this now

3. What will it cost you if you don’t make this change?

4. What will you gain from this change?

5. How do you know you can absolutely make this change?

6. Create a new association with this change

For example - If you’re not making enough calls you may have an association that not making calls equals less rejection…a new association might be that making more calls equals more chances to make sales and all the kudos and money that comes with that.

7. What is your first action that you can do immediately?

This exercise will really get you in touch with the motivation to take ACTION towards what you want.

It’s great to hear how you make these strategies work for you, so please do let us know how you get on.

Leigh Ashton
The Sales Consultancy

There's No Such Thing as Failure - ask Sepp Blatter

Has Sepp Blatter failed at FIFA - or just received some timely feedback? I'd love to ask him!

There’s no such thing as Failure...
Just results! Some results you'll like. Some results you don't like. The key thing is to learn from each of your experiences.

The world is full of people who endured several setbacks before ultimately achieving success on a massive scale. Walt Disney was fired by his local newspaper because 'he lacked imagination and had no good ideas', before suffering severe setbacks in several businesses. Eventually he found a recipe that worked.

Even Henry Ford's early business career floundered as he went broke five times trying to get a business model that worked.

What did Walt Disney, Henry Ford and thousands of others have in common?

They learned from their setbacks. They ultimately succeeded because they learned from each and every time things went wrong.

So 'There's no such thing as failure' stands the test of time because it’s true. We can learn from all our experiences...good and bad. So - no failure, just a result you didn’t want, a mere stepping stone to success!

Action?
If something goes fantastically well – bottle it! Learn what it was that contributed the most to that success. You need to identify the winning formulas and then replicate them.

What if something did not go well at all? Celebrate! You'll learn more here than when you succeed. Think about the steps you took, the use of resources, the timing and every other detail that made up the result. What could you have done differently that could have made a difference?

Get feedback
Where do you get your feedback from? Who tells you how you are doing? Do you plough a lone furrow, never really thinking about it? Or are you inundated with 'feedback' from well meaning but ultimately unhelpful would be business mentors?

Welcome feedback. Get it from wherever you can. Ask for it. Ask yourself and others ‘what could I have done better?’ When people give you feedback, take it graciously. Don’t try to justify your actions, just learn from these lovely people that are kind enough and care enough to be helping you this way.

It comes down to you though - what mechanisms have you got in place to take the learns from your successes? And how are you going to dig down and find out how to avoid replicating that poor meeting, that lost sale, that unsuccessful pitch?

Example
Think about a meeting or interaction that didn’t go well.

Ask yourself the following questions:

* Was I clear on my direction and focus throughout?
* How successful was I in opening the discussion?
* Was the client at ease and able to talk freely?
* Did I collect all the information needed?
* Did I impart all relevant information?
* Did I collect information in sufficient detail?
* Did I provide clear understandable information to the client?
* Did the discussion flow smoothly from one topic to another, without awkward pauses?
* Was I courteous, tactful, etc?
* How did I show I was listening?
* Did I ask open-ended questions and expand where necessary?
* Did I ask leading questions or answer my own questions?
* Did I talk too much?
* Did I listen?
* How successful was I in closing the discussion?
* Does the client know what is to happen next?
* Did I achieve my outcome?

This check list can be used equally as effectively for up and coming meetings. For each question above ask 'How can I...' before using the same points above. Prior thinking along these lines will definitely set your unconscious mind in action to make sure you meet your imagined objectives.

So - build up your personal feedback and monitoring skills and make sure that in years to come the feedback you learn now is the springboard to massive future success.

You deserve it!

Leigh Ashton

http://www.sales-consultancy.com/

Get Mental: Are You Fit To Sell?

Companies are storing record cash amounts. They're hoarding their revenues for more rainy days ahead. They're spending little at the moment. They're making do.

One day though - one day they'll will be ready to spend big. Their cash reserves are colossal - after all, profits have held up well and companies have cut out lots of costs.

But when they do decide to spend, YOU have to be right up there in their consciousness, right in the forefront of their thinking, if you are going to maximise the inevitable opportunities that are going to arise.

Well then - are you ready? Have you got what it takes? How motivated are you? What state are you in?

Where will you be when the gold rush starts?

Your answers to these and other similar questions will determine your success as we come out of the economic downturn.

So for our latest Tricks of The Trade we look at 'The Inner You'. Remember - you cannot succeed and make it happen on the outside before you've already made it happen on the inside.


Have the Right Mind State

Your mind and body are part of the same interactive system. What you're thinking will determine your behavior so you need to be thinking positive, motivating thoughts. If you find your thinking or internal dialogue is not helpful to your state you need to change it - and FAST.

Think about times when you were in the flow, sales were easy, conversations flowed and you felt great. It feels great doesn't it?

What about when things didn't go that well, you weren't moving forward, something stopped you from taking action. How did you feel during those times?
The objective is to stay in that first, happy productive state, and if you find yourself less resourceful, to change back into that productive state quickly and easily. Put simply you will achieve more sales and success generally from being in a positive state.


Anchoring

So how can you capture and draw on the best bits? Anchoring is the technique which enables you to recall those moments when you were totally motivated, lock them in, and recall them when required. It sounds simple and it is and by following the exercise below you can have an effective anchor available to you in minutes.

Limiting beliefs

A big subject, very important too. For now take notice of those things you say to yourself that are not helping you. That little voice inside, that makes you doubt your ability and stops you from taking action, or the right action. Some people call it their inner critic.

You need to take on that inner critic. After all - how many of the messages it gives you are based on fact? Not many usually. Yet these negative thoughts promote your limiting beliefs, in turn stopping you performing at your peak. So notice those messages from within, and where they came from.

Remember - sales come when you are in a really great state. Oh and smile too. It's really difficult to do 'depressed' when you're smiling! Sales isn't a process, or about what you say. It starts in your head and how you're feeling. Get that right and you will succeed in sales.


1 Anchoring Exercise

Think of a time when the conversation flowed, when you were in deep rapport and felt unstoppable. Get right into that moment, turn it up - and bottle it. Then think of another great selling moment and do the same. And again, three times in all. Design yourself an anchor to lock in the fabulous state you are now in - maybe a piece of music, maybe a clap of your hand, something that, later by playing the music, or clapping in the same way, you can reproduce that motivated and unstoppable feeling.


2 Countering limiting beliefs exercise

During the course of a day, notice those negative statements you think and say. Write them down. For each limiting belief write down three counter examples to each. Three examples which demonstrate the limiting belief not to be true. This will shake the roots of those limiting beliefs and ultimately eradicate them.


Summary

- Your thoughts will determine your behaviour and your results
- To maximise your potential you need to stay in, or get in, a happy productive state
- Anchoring is a powerful tool to capture and retain and reproduce those moments when you are most motivated and resourceful
- Limiting Beliefs are those inner voices that tell you what you cannot do or struggle to do
- Limiting beliefs should be countered and destroyed to achieve maximum sales success

Please get in touch with any questions or comments you may have.

Until next time

Leigh Ashton

Increasing Your Sales

The Sales Consultancy

Sales Unlocked: Know Your Sales Direction Filters

Do You Know Your Customers’ and Prospects’ 'Sales Direction' Filters?

Knowing the Sales Direction Filters of your customers and prospects is crucial to increasing your conversions and generating all round improvements in customer relationships. At The Sales Consultancy we think they're vital in business and could not imagine our customer relationships without this knowledge.

So what is a Sales Direction Filter?

Some of you will be motivated towards goals and challenges. If that’s you it’s unlikely that you notice the things that might get in your way…and if you do you just deal with them! You focus on what you want (Towards Filter).

Others amongst you are more acutely aware of the obstacles and problems that get in your way and will develop strategies to avoid or eliminate them! You focus on what you don’t want (Away From Filter).

You will be either motivated towards the carrot or away from the stick. What is it for you?

Whatever it is, the likelihood is that when you are talking to prospects or clients you will be naturally inclined to focus on your preference. Depending on your own ‘towards’ or ‘away from’ inclination you will either talk about solutions and what a relationship with you will do for them…or the problems you will eliminate for them.

What happens when your prospect has the opposite preference to you? There you are, talking about solutions and your prospect is thinking about his problems…or you’re talking about the problems you will resolve for them and your prospect is thinking about what he wants to gain from you.

You may as well be talking a foreign language! You need to focus on their preference in order to gain rapport and identify what it is they really want to buy – gains? or pain relief?.

Ask and Listen. Your clients and prospects will give you clues to their preference in their language.

Ask your clients why they buy from you. Whatever their first answer is ask them why that’s important to them. Do the same for the second and third answers they give. Weigh up the answers. Was every answer about the gains they get (towards)? Or were all the answers all about the pain you relieve for them (away from)? Or a mix?

You will soon start to notice trends in their language as they talk about what they get, or need in a business relationship with you?

Once you have identified their preference be sure that you focus on either the pleasures you will deliver or the pains you will remove. For those that are ‘towards’, you should emphasise their goals and outcomes, promoting the benefits, letting them know you will help them to get what they want. When selling to ‘away from’ people, emphasise what they don’t want and that you can help them avoid what they don’t want. Reassure them that their problems can be decreased or eliminated.

Be sure to use this approach in your written communication too. If you are communicating with more than one person at once be sure to focus on both.

Getting this right is crucial. You will definitely increase your sales by incorporating both approaches.

Leigh Ashton
020 7903 5426
The Sales Consultancy

Have You Set Your 2011 Goals Yet?

Happy New Year!

If all has gone to plan you will have had a wonderful break and have started 2011 fully recharged and ready to make this year a glittering success.

If December was all about looking back and evaluating your 2010 successes, challenges and learnings, January is very much about looking forward to 2011.

January is a great month for setting GOALS.

In 1979 Harvard MBA students were asked 'Have you set clear, written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?'

Only 3% had written goals and plans; 13% had goals but not in writing; 84% had no goals at all.

Ten years later these students were interviewed again. The 13% who had set goals (but not in writing) in 1979 were earning on average twice as much as the 84% who had not set goals. The 3% who had set clear, written goals were earning, on average, ten times as much as the other 97%!

So whether your aims are financial, personal, social, whatever, be sure to set clear goals, write them down and most important of all - TAKE ACTION!

Creating Dynamic Goals
Well-defined goals are vital in all elements of business. The following process is one I use in business and personally. Work through the questions and remember that your initial response is normally the most useful.

Stated in the positive
What do I want?

The evidence
What would be my evidence that I have achieved my goal?
How would I know if I were getting my goal?
What would I be doing to get it?
What would I be seeing/hearing/feeling?
What would be a demonstration of it?

The specifics
Where do I want this goal?
Where do I not want this goal?
When do I want this goal?
When do I not want this goal?
With whom do I want this goal?
With whom do I not want this goal?

The actions
What resources can I activate to get this goal?
What resources can I acquire to get this goal?
What can I do?
What can I continue doing?

The future
What will happen if I get this goal?
How will getting this goal affect other aspects of my life?
How does getting this goal benefit me?
What might I lose if it happens?

These questions will really help you define your goals and give you the motivation and a framework to achieve them.

Good luck with your 2011 goal setting. Bear in mind further research on goal setting which concludes that your goal setting will be more effective if you;

- Take action immediately and often to achieve them (obvious but...)
- Tell a supportive friend/colleague/mentor what those goals are
- Regularly update this person on the progress to achieving your goals

Wishing you a happy, healthy and very successful 2011.

Leigh Ashton
The Sales Consultancy
020 7903 5426

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