How BAD are the questions you're asking?‏

Firstly – and I can’t stress this strongly enough, be in no doubt that your sales results will be directly influenced by the quality of questions you ask.

So how good are YOUR questions? 

The subject of "open questions" figures in just about every sales manual ever written and every sales course ever delivered. That's not a coincidence. 

To sell effectively you need information. Your prospects hold it. You need to acquire it. If you can conjure up a bank of well crafted open questions, you're in business! 

If you’re new to this game let me quickly define an open question as a question that cannot be answered yes or no. And when you’re looking to open up a conversation with a potential customer, just about the least useful answer you can get is yes, or no.   

Open Questions  

Asking open questions will get your prospect talking, which relaxes them and helps to build genuine rapport in no time. They'll get a sense that you're really interested in them and their needs.

 

What you get in return is the vital information you need - initially to make an internal judgement on how (or indeed if) you can help your prospect. Secondly you'll be able to match your offering specifically to their needs, the very needs which you beautifully elicited earlier with your fabulous open questions!   

Listen to their answers  

By the way, listen to their answers! I find that good listening skills are lacking amongst many sales people. Your sales conversations will flow much more freely if you relax and focus on their answers, not what your next question will be. Listen properly and with good intent - and your next question will just appear naturally.   

Here are some ideas for open questions - tailor them accordingly to your specific needs whether you're selling to other businesses or direct to consumers.  

Examples of Open questions... 

What's going on for you in your business right now?

Currently, what are your biggest challenges?

What's going well for you?

What's not going well for you at the moment?

Which areas are you most concerned about?

Where does your business/team need to be in x months/years time?

How do you see your business developing?

What action have you taken so far to...?

Where are you in terms of....

What's the next stage?  

And if in your business the potential customer arrives/phones up and asks about the availability of the ‘XYZ’ product, you’ll need to know the reason they chose that product from your vast range. For example you may be out of stock and want to offer an alternative, or have an even better version more suited to their needs. Or just want to build rapport as you process the sale. 

The question to really open up any conversation in these circumstances is... “What attracts you to this xxxx”. When answering this question the customer will give you their full buying criteria (“it’s got this, it hasn’t got that”) – golden nuggets of information to help you complete the sale.  

Avoid questions starting with 'Why'...

...as they can be confrontational - no matter how fluffy and soft you make them sound. When you ask a 'Why' question you are asking for justification of their response. Your client will probably become defensive and give you an emotive response.   

It takes practice  

Think of your next selling or networking scenario. Think of crucial information you need to successfully promote your product or service and construct five open questions which will help you get that information and help you increase your sales success.

Until next time.

 

Leigh

PS; Remember to grab your copy of "The 9 Biggest Sales Mistakes"

The 9 Biggest Sales Mistakes identifies those key mistakes that are stopping sales teams, companies and business owners fulfilling their sales potential. The report establishes how to identify these errors, indicates how they can be eliminated - and sets out how to avoid them.  

results@sales-consultancy.com

020 7903 5426

www.sales-consultancy.com

For previous 'Tricks of the Trade' go here

Steve Peters, the England World Cup Squad - and You‏

The World Cup is looming. That thought will fill you with massive anticipation...or complete dread!  

 

This time round there’s a new member of the England Team...who won’t kick a ball for the whole of the tournament. His name is Steve Peters and he will be going to Brazil as the England team psychologist – you can read more in this recent article.  

 

The England management team have identified just how important it is for the players to have the right mindset if they are to achieve their potential in the tournament.  

What about your mindset?  

How often do you focus on YOU? You too should be ensuring you’ve got the mindset you need to get success in your role.  

Imagine you or your team being able to quickly and easily conjure up the necessary elements for success - confidence, determination, calmness, or anything else that's needed, at will...whenever it's needed. 

 

You can! 

It's with a technique called 'anchoring'. Anchoring allows you to take those success traits you feel and experience when you're at your best - and resurrect them when you're not!  

My preferred anchoring technique is the 'Circle of Excellence'. It's easy, fun and works with everyone. Try it out, go with it - and let me know how you get on.  

Here we go...  

The Circle of Excellence   

First, find a quiet area where you won't be disturbed.  

Think of a resource you would like to have immediate access to in the future. This could be confidence, calmness, determination...anything.  

 

Think back to a time when you demonstrated this very resource in the past. Relive that experience in detail. Then associate a colour with that state.  

Now imagine an invisible circle on the floor in front of you. Paint it the colour you just chose. Make it about 3 feet in diameter and 2 feet in front of you. Now add whatever you'd like into the circle that represents or supports that wonderful state you want to replicate. Do whatever you need to do, add whatever you need to add, so that your circle is as perfect as it can be.

 

Think of situations...
...in the past where you have possessed, and used, huge amounts of the very resource you now want to access. Think of at least 3 past events where you displayed the very traits that you want to bring into your circle of excellence. Really associate into the experiences. What were you doing? What were you saying? How were you feeling? What were you seeing? See yourself in the circle being magnificent and exhibiting these qualities.  

 

When you have built up your circle, step into it and experience the multiple effect of having those resources again here and now. Feel your power! Really enjoy yourself.   

 

Step out of the circle.

 

Check with yourself...  

...do you need to add anything to your circle? Add whatever you want to further build up those resources that you need.    

 

Step back into the circle and notice how you feel again. Really ramp up the feeling. Imagine you have a dial that increases the intensity and turn it up as much as you can stand!  

 

Then...pick up your circle and put it somewhere that you can access...maybe an imaginary pocket. You can call it your resource pocket...and know that you have access to it whenever you need it. When you do need it, roll out the circle in front of you, step into it, and feel your power and resources increase straight away as you conjure up the necessary elements for your sales success! 

 

You don’t need to be a member of the England World Cup Squad to experience the magic of the mindset.

 

It's all about the psychology of selling.

 

Until next time.  

Leigh

PS: Check out my recent article for O2's "The Business" - Click Here to access "Losing Sales? Here's Why"

 

results@sales-consultancy.com

020 7903 5426

www.sales-consultancy.com 

For previous 'Tricks of the Trade' go here

Mentors: Worth it?

Cards on the table – I’m a massive fan of mentoring!  So it’s a big yes for mentoring from me.
We all need help now and again. Help in the form of unbiased support, a friendly prod to move things along, maybe just an understanding ear. I’ve found that those who say they don't need help often need it the most!

Whatever your role, whatever your level, I’d strongly recommend you consider working with a mentor. I have a fabulous mentor myself and as a result feel like my business is getting the support it needs, when it needs it, to realise the goals we've set.

Mentoring

Who have you got to bounce ideas off that doesn’t bring their own baggage into the equation? Do you seriously believe that someone, somewhere hasn't had the same challenges you're experiencing right now? If you listed your top three current challenges, I would bet that these are issues that many other business owners, business leaders, sales professionals have experienced in the past.

Whether you're running a small business, managing within a larger organisation or working for others within these types of organisations, seriously consider getting yourself a MENTOR.

Everybody's at it - top sportsmen, business leaders, entrepreneurs.

What's a Mentor?

• Someone who you feel can help you in your pursuit of your career objectives, whatever those objectives are - more sales, a promotion, improved leadership skills, more self control, better networking techniques and so on.

• Someone who can give you a neutral take on your latest challenges - they should have no axe to grind.

• Someone with a vast bank of knowledge that you can tap into - who's been there, done that...and collected a few T shirts along the way.

• Someone you check in with now and again to bounce your latest ideas off.

• Someone you trust to challenge you, to prod you, to ask you searching questions.

A good mentor...

...will use a variety of different approaches and move seamlessly between them - coaching, counselling, mentoring, advising, training, guiding, whatever you need. Critically, you can learn from the mistakes they have made earlier in their career!

Getting yourself a mentor isn't a sign of weakness. On the contrary it's a sign of strength, a sign that you are willing to garner all the resources you can in your pursuit of your goals. It's not about copying them, it's about using their experience and advice and adopting it in a way that works for you.

How does mentoring work?

Any way you want it to! You can go the formal route. Have regular scheduled sessions with a paid professional coach or mentor who can offer you the level and breadth of experience you need to tap into.

More informally you might find someone in your organisation that can help (bear in mind it can't be someone you report to). Ask them if they would be available as a mentor and offer to take them for lunch now and again in return for picking their brains.

You'd be surprised...

...how experienced achievers like to be asked about how they have achieved success -they will be impressed by your drive and initiative! You and your mentor need to get on well. Choose someone you have good rapport with. Get away from your normal place of work. No phones, no interruptions, it all helps. Look upon it as an investment of time and money in YOU.

How long should you and your mentor spend together? Anything from an hour a month upwards – it really does depend on your needs. You may need more time at first and top up mentoring sessions further down the line.

So - don't plough that lone furrow. Tap into an external source of support - and watch your increasing sales!

Until next time...

Leigh

PS - Here's the early heads up on a fabulous event taking place later this year. There are some juicy discounts for early bookers so I would suggest you have a look NOW and grab a ticket.

Click for details and to secure your place.

results@sales-consultancy.com

020 7903 5426 

www.sales-consultancy.com

For previous ‘Tricks of the Trade’ go here 

What language are you speaking?‏

The language you use has a massive impact on your results. That goes for the language you speak, and the language that meanders around internally in your head. 

If you keep saying things are hard...guess what, it will be hard! You're instructing your brain to expect hard, expect tough...and so that’s what it will deliver for you.  

You get what you expect

 

Tone your language down when you have a challenge coming up. Because your thoughts and outlook on the job in hand will definitely determine how tough, or straightforward, the job will be. Remember, you don’t get what you hope for, you get what you expect! 

Quick example...many people I know get concerned when they get a sore throat. "I do hope I'm not getting a cold" they say. Dangerous talk, I think! Our brains don't actually process negatives. So all the brain hears in this example is “getting a cold, getting a cold, getting a cold”. You know where this is heading!  

 

If I say "don't think of a blue tree"...what do you think of?   A blue tree of course. That's because you can't not think about something that you don't want to think about, without thinking about it first!  

 

And in sales?

 

So when you say "I do hope I'm not getting a cold", you are focusing your mind on the words "getting a cold" and manifesting the very climate for a cold to take hold. Deepak Chopra (M.D. and founder of the Chopra Centre for Wellbeing) says "your immune system is constantly eavesdropping on your internal dialogue"...and it's not just your immune system!  

 

So - in sales, every time you don't want something to happen, your focus of attention is fixed right on it. “I hope this isn't going to be a tough sales meeting”; “I hope they don't say no”; “I hope the client isn't challenging” - these are all versions of "don't think of a blue tree!"  

Now let's get real here...I don't deny that the world sets us certain obstacles to overcome but I do believe that the obstacles are easier to overcome when we use positive language! Rather than saying "This is really hard" you could say, "this may not be easy yet but it will get easier each time I practice". A simple reframe which, if you replicated for all of your challenges, would create a significantly different world for you. 

 

You'd be more empowered, more resourceful, more successful.

 

Even the most positive people...  

 

...can fall into the trap of negative language - so start to notice when you do this for yourself. Every time you hear negative language, reframe the comment using positive language that's framed on what you want rather than what you don't want. Over time you'll start to notice yourself becoming much more positive, goal – focussed, and happier person! With much more, sales success.

Let me know how you get on.

 

Until next time.

 

Leigh

PS - Here's the early heads up on afabulous event taking place later this year. There are some juicy discounts forearly bookers so I would suggest you have a look NOW and grab a ticket. Clickfor details and to secure your place. 

 results@sales-consultancy.com

020 7903 5426

www.sales-consultancy.com

For previous 'Tricks of the Trade' go here

Customer Service: your most important sales tool?‏

You can have the greatest sales people on the planet, but if you’re leaking customers through poor customer service, your balance sheet will suffer.
 

And the cost of acquiring new customers usually far outweighs that of keeping existing customers. Surely it's much more preferable to keep more of those customers you have? For me, every company should realise that their ultimate sustainability depends on their ability to generate consistent excellent service that keeps customers coming back and singing their praises. 

Yet 77% of customers say that if they experience poor service, they would avoid using that company again where there is another option available.  
 

But, is it me...or are customer service standards still sadly lacking?  
 

How good is your customer service? Are you aware some people could have stopped buying from you because they became unhappy with some aspect of your product or service – and don’t feel as though anyone has taken responsibility for fixing the problem? And didn’t tell you?  
 

Don’t rely on technology. There’s so much technology around nowadays that many customer transactions could be done automatically. I say COULD because, even though we have the power to automate so much nowadays, I would think very carefully about whether automation could help, or actually hinder, your customer service. For me the key aspect is accessibility. The customer should be able to speak to a real person, easily, if they want to.  
 

What could you do ?  
 

Remember many products and prices are the same these days, so the differentiators are going to be the buying experience and customer service throughout. How’s yours?  
 

My take on what you could do?

• Firstly, your team. Make sure you’re practising the very best internal customer service with your own team – are you treating your team how you’d like them to treat your customers? There’s plenty of research that, summing up in one sentence, confirms that if you take care of your employees, they will take care of the customers – and this in turn will take care of your profits. Read more here 

• Where do you want to be? Take time out to think... What, in a perfect world do you want your customers to be saying about you, your team, your brand, your company? Come up with some potential statements you’d want them to come up with if you asked them.

• What needs to happen? Looking closely at the statements you came up with, think about what sort of changes you’d need to make to ensure these statements come true. If you can’t get there in one go, prioritise.

• Where are we now? Asses. Where are your team now compared with where you’ve just established they need to be? Have they the skills to fill the gap? Have they the mindset? Are they capable of taking on board the changes you require?

• How can you get there?  What do you need to do first? What do you need to do next?  

• Measure and manage. Work out a way to measure your customer service. This could be simple, or sophisticated, but do something. You’ll need to be able to compare customer service scores this month v last month v last year etc  

As usual, not enough space here to elaborate but one thing is clear...if you sell and you’re not already pulling out the stops to guarantee high levels of customer service, I’d start now.
  

Protect those hard earned sales and get that sales success!  
 

Until next time  

Leigh

PS:7things not to do in 2014... 

results@sales-consultancy.com

020 7903 5426  

www.sales-consultancy.com

Forprevious 'Tricks of the Trade' go here