Networking not working?

Despite the onslaught of social media and on line networking, 'real life' networking is still a crucial element of many companies' sales and marketing strategies.

Rightly so. There are massive benefits to be had from attending networking events.

Providing you do it well.

Many people I speak to don't enjoy networking. Is it the fear of approaching total strangers? Is it the boredom of being cornered by someone who is determined to tell you everything you don't need to know about their new range of widgets?

Relax!

Think of a networking event as an opportunity to explore.

•   Wear your name badge on your right. Most people are right handed so when you extend your right hand out it's a short and easy journey for their eyes to make up to your name badge. It helps them remember you and your name.

•   When introducing yourself, look at their name badge and say something like"hello xxxxx, pleased to meet you, what do you do?" (Appearing suitably curious!) This will open up the conversation and crucially, you get to do the listening and not the talking. This will get you the information you need for you to be exploring, via their answers, how useful a relationship this could prove to be.

•   If they get in first and ask you what you do, be very pleasant and brief and say "I'm in xxxxx" - and then immediately go back with "and what do you do?" as in point 2 above.

•   If you're in a circle chatting and listening and you see someone on their own, beckon them to join you. They could be the golden nugget of a contact that makes the whole event worthwhile!

•   If you're looking to join a circle of potential contacts just ask "do you mind if I join in here" or similar words you're most comfortable with. In 29 years nobody has said no to this question!

•   Don't pitch! Many people throw a business card at you then launch into a sales pitch. They probably know nothing about you and all they talk about is I can do and we, we we - and "weeing" all over everybody is never good sales practice anywhere!

The art of networking can't be fully covered in 400 words but there's some tips here that will definitely help you generate more success at your future networking events leading to more sales success in your business!

Let me know how you get on.

Until next time.

Leigh

PS: Download my complimentary report "The 9 Biggest Sales Mistakes" here

results@sales-consultancy.com

www.sales-consultancy.com

020 7903 5426

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

How Was Your 2010?

December is a great month for reflection. 2010 has been a challenging year for some and a great year for others! At The Sales Consultancy we're glad to say we've had our busiest December for years.

Whatever kind of year you’ve had - now is the time to reflect and learn.

The following questions will help you identify the good stuff - so you can do more of it and learn from the things that didn’t go quite so well.

Remember - if you have friends or colleagues that would benefit from these tips, feel free to pass them on. They can also register direct here.

So - What did you learn from 2010?

You can learn positive things from everything that happens. If something goes really well, what was it that made it a success? When something goes badly, what could you have done differently to get a better result?

Take a notebook, find a quiet space and ask yourself the following questions. The answers will help you create your strategy for 2011.

Great Stuff
List all the great stuff you did this year. For each one ask:

-What was your focus?
-What actions did you take?
-What personal qualities did you use to achieve success?
-What strengths did you draw upon?
-Who else was involved in this success?
-What qualities did they bring?
-In what other areas or situations could you use this strategy?


Not so Great Stuff
List all the not so great stuff you did this year. For each one ask:

-What was your focus?
-What actions did you take?
-What did you fail to notice at the time?
-What could you have done differently?
-What got in the way of success?
-What, in your heart of hearts, really stopped you?

What will you do next time in view of these learnings?

What you learn from these questions will give you more in control in the future and a greater ability to overcome challenges when they happen. Remember, the more you learn, the more you earn.　

The next step is to write down all the things you want to achieve in 2011. At The Sales Consultancy we have a great goal setting tool for you in our January Tricks of the Trade. To guarantee recieving 'Tricks' in January, register here.

Wishing you all a great Xmas - together let's make 2011 a fantastic year!

Until next time

Leigh

Visit www.sales-consultancy.com for details of Sales Training, NLP Training, Coaching and Mentoring, Keynote Speaking and free reseources.

Leigh Ashton
Managing Director
The Sales Consultancy

10 Reasons Why Sales Managers Lose their Jobs

Watching The Apprentice last night I really didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Cry because if that’s typical of the standard of selling across the country then UK PLC has got a problem of no small proportions.

Why laugh then? Because if those sales skills demonstrated last night are typical, then I know my company will be expanding at a vast rate of knots as we turn sales frogs into princes.

Of course it probably (hopefully) isn’t typical of the nations selling skills. It’s TV, It’s Big Brother in suits, it’s not real life.

But you know I do worry about poor selling standards I see and am subjected to – and cringe at the lost conversions, lost revenues, lost profits that result.

After 14 years of The Sales Consultancy getting called into improve companies’ sales, experience suggests there’s a good chance your team could be off the standard required. That’s why I list below my 10 Reasons Why Sales Managers Lose Their Jobs. Check you and your team against these common mistakes in sales.

Nobody does it on purpose, everybody’s busy. Of course. But if you’re losing sales, you’re losing revenue, you’re losing profits. And you need to do something about it.

After all – it’s not the best time to be looking for work is it?

Check yourself and/or your team against these common mistakes...

Mistake No 1
Not having clear sales goals in the first place
Whether it’s a campaign, implementing an annual strategy, a given month, a week, a day a meeting , a cold call – there’s a distinct lack of goals and outcome focus. This means a lack of direction right from the start. Sorry – but if you don’t know what the ultimate aim is of all sales activity you carry out, how will you ever know if you’re on the right track?

Mistake No 2
Procrastination
People are reluctant to start taking the action they need to achieve their objective, whatever the scale of the goal they have set. You need to take ACTION right now. Not ‘I’ll just finish this other job’ or I’ll just tidy my desk first’ or ‘Oh there’s not enough time to ring that person tonight’. Things drift, get delayed and all the time the competitors are making progress on their goals! The key? – finding out why people procrastinate!

Mistake No 3
Poor presentations to potential customers and clients
A one way pitch from you is likely to work less and less these days. You might hit the target sometimes but often your words will not be engaging for them and in any case it’s too much of a one way communication from you. That’s not a connection, that’s a speech! There’s a way you can connect with EVERYONE you want to do business with. It’s easy to learn, massively effective and you need to know it.


Mistake No 4
Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result
There’s often a distinct lack of new ideas at companies whose sales are stagnating or falling. Upon examination people are usually doing the same as before, but miraculously expecting a better result this time round. It’s not going to happen. The truth is the world of Sales and Marketing is changing faster than ever – leaving many companies behind. It’s your job to make sure your company keeps up.

Mistake No 5
Too much talking – not enough listening
Very common generally in business, extremely common in sales. Modern selling is not about pitching and overcoming objections, it’s about rapport and building connections in a whole new way. Watch your team during client and customer meetings – the chances are they’re doing most of the talking. Ouch! All that lost revenue! They should try listening more.

Mistake No 6
Not putting yourself in the customers/prospects shoes
It’s really easy to think about you, your company or how good your product or services are. That’s the issue, alongside making assumptions about the client and customer before the relationship begins. So no one bothers to find out what a customer or prospects REALLY wants next. Only when you truly understand what’s going on in their head, can you truly match it with your offering.

Mistake No 7
The wrong mindset
Many sales people dread cold calling, prospecting, power hours, whatever you want to call it. Result? Very ineffective calls of course. You need people who relish these calls. If you haven’t got them, you either need to change the people, or change the mindset. Change the mindset, it’s cheaper! And it’s achievable. How good would it be to have a team who looked forward to cold calling!

Mistake No 8
Not getting feedback from your customers
Hardly anyone gets proper feedback from customers. Sure the odd form gets filled in, but what are they really thinking?. LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN, then LISTEN some more. Your customers like you. That’s why they use you. Find out the reasons they use you then go find others that have the same buying criteria. Your customers will also tell you what you can do to make you even better to deal with. When was the last time you asked them?

Mistake No 9
The team lacks motivation
Or as sometimes happens some of them are motivated and some aren’t. Well they’re all different of course. What is one person’s fabulous incentive means nothing to their colleague. There’s a reason why that is, do you know it? Companies often have the wrong incentives, the wrong appraisals and the wrong reward systems and then are baffled why half the team are flat. This can be solved quickly and easily.

Mistake No 10
Not talking to the customers that stopped using you
When was the last time you talked with a lapsed customer? You absolutely must know the reason they went elsewhere or you’ll start losing other clients in exactly the same way. Many companies have no idea why particular clients stop using them.

Which of the above reasons are holding your sales back?.


Leigh Ashton has been successfully selling for 30 years and, having prospered through a recession or two, can help you get things moving at times like these. Leigh is not just a trainer, she still sells, networks and pitches for business. She makes it her business to keep businesses like yours up to date with the latest developments in sales and customer service.






Leigh Ashton

Why are Selling Techniques so bad?

Why are Selling Techniques so bad UK?

You will know by now I’m on a mission to improve the nation’s selling techniques. It seems every day I get collect more evidence of just how big a challenge that is going to be! On the other hand a bottom less pit of potential work it seems.

Take my colleague Jonathan’s example from last week. Accompanying his friend to a car showroom he was well and truly underwhelmed by the sales techniques demonstrated – or not demonstrated as it turned out. Within a minute of approaching Jonathan and his friend the sales guy was explaining how effective this £68K Landrover was at going up 45 degree hills off road – and that they should check out the YouTube video to see for themselves. He went on to list all the features of this vehicle that HE would have been impressed by. Now I’m not sure what they teach showroom sales people at landrover but it sure isn’t modern sales skills on this evidence. Maybe they should get inside one of those Delorien cars from ‘Back to The Future’ and got themselves back to 1960’s America where they would have more success!

The problem? Where to begin! Firstly he didn’t even know who was up for buying a vehicle, or what stage we might have been in our buying process. He didn’t know ANYTHING about us at all and more crucially did not have any inclination to find out. That meant he remained forever in his map of the world, which was all about off roading and boy’s stuff. He was doing all the talking and NO listening at all. If he had made the effort to find out our ‘maps’ then the knowledge gained would have led to a far more fruitful chat for all of us, more enjoyable too and more likely to produce a win win.

This contrasts with a much more encouraging – sadly rarer story of a friend who after 25 years working in a factory found himself out of work as textile manufacturing moved abroad. His friend was a car dealer and to his credit gave John a chance at his used car showroom. With no real training and no experience John made a fabulous impact at selling cars. How? He knew about and had studied NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and applied it in the car showroom. Despite being given second rate leads as returning customers went back to the longer serving salesmen, John soon rose up the sales league table. He did this by leaving his map of the world and making efforts to find out about the maps of those he spoke to. His genuine interest in their buying circumstances and needs led to natural open questions and great answers. He soon found out that it was often the quirky stuff that sold cars, the little things that you can only find out about when you have built genuine rapport with your prospect.

In one particular example John approached a whole family looking around the showroom. Through careful questioning and brilliant rapport building with ALL the family, John elicited that due to a family history of prangs when reversing their previous vehicles, the deciding factor was the bleeper that comes on when reversing this particular car, not that common at the time. Only by building a great relationship – and caring – did John find out this information. Result? A Sale, of course – and a fantastic letter two days later from the family stating this was the best buying experience they had ever had. His boss and friend said he hadn’t seen a customer letter like that in fourteen years in the business.

So – please please please leave out your needs and wants and make sure you find out their needs and wants. Genuinely care about the relationships you have with your customers and prospects, be curious, ask open questions, listen instead of preaching and you’ll be surprised what it will do for your sales results.

Do let me know your good and bad experiences of sales techniques. Let’s crack this together!

In the meantime – I think I might ring the Land Rover Training Manager!

Are Your Fees High Enough?

Hi everyone

Midweek - Are you half way through your goals for the week? A challenge isn't it?

I try to catch up on business, sales and personal development reading whenever I can - and I sped through several 'Business' sections of The Sunday Times last weekend. There's always some great snippets of tips amongst the news, stories and profiles. One particular feature always catches my eye, called 'How I made It' which features business owners' success stories.

The thing that stands out the most in those profiled is their ability to bounce back, to be patient for success, to learn from the knocks, to learn from anything in fact!

The guy featured in one particualr week was Ed Reeves, founder of Moneypenny, a telephone answering service that has annual turnover of £7m.

I going to quote a passage from the article now... 'He returned to Britain at 23 and settled in London. TIS offered to pay him commission if he was able to sell outdated land line phones for £5 each. After finding no takers, he raised the price to £25 - and promptly sold a thousand. He made £20,000'

I hear this type of thing so many times. So - are the prices you are charging down to your 'stuff' rather than what the market thinks you're worth?. Now there's a thought.

Until next time.

Leigh

Have you got your Red Dot?

Good morning sales team

Well well well. All morning I keep hearing on the radio about the golfer Louis Oosthuizen and his wonderful winning weekend at the British Open Golf Championship. This morning he, and others, have been talking non stop about the little red dot on his glove. He presses the dot at the precise moment he needs to garner maximum resources and get maximum concentration.

This of course is the classic NLP technique called 'Anchoring' - where one can lock in a required state and instantly recall that state by 'setting off' their anchor.

Anchoring can be an extremely powerful technique in sales. Whether you're doing a presentation, sales pitch, cold calling, the list is endless, setting up an anchor and recalling it on cue could be the missing link in your tool kit.

If you want to know more about NLP and Anchoring, click the link or get in touch and I'll be happy to talk about this more.