What are you learning? How are you learning?

How are you taking advantage of your knowledge?

I have been a student of sales since November 11, 1971. I was listening (via the brand new voice technology called the “cassette tape”) to a guy named Jay Douglas Edwards, who uttered the sales tip, “If the customer says, ‘Do these come in green?’ you say, “Would you like them in green?” Cool.

That’s the day I realized that there was a science of selling. I wanted to learn more.

I will admit that most sales skills and sales tips taught in the 1970′s were somewhat manipulative. But at the time that’s all that existed. Over the last 40 or so years sales models have changed.

Probably the best example of change I can offer you comes from a column I wrote several years ago about the “Benjamin Franklin close.”

You can get that column in its entirety by going to http://www.gitomer.com/articles/ColumnSearchResults.html and entering the keyword: Franklin.

Basically what the column says is rather than use an old, time-worn manipulative sales close on the customer, try using it on yourself before you go into the sale as a means of preparation.

I have read all or portions of hundreds of sales books over the past 40 years, but most of what I have learned has come from the spark of an idea gleaned from a book, and then it was somewhat altered once I got out into the field and had to actually apply the strategy. Kind of like you.

All sales books offer some form of valuable information. All sales experts offer some form of valuable information. As a student, your job is to determine how that information fits into your skill set, your environment, your marketplace, and your customer interactions.

Learning sales skills is a matter of understanding, adoption, application, and a bit of tweaking. [READ MORE].

Attitude In. Attitude Out.

Attitude In. Attitude Out.

(That’s the Real 360.)

Attitude is at the core of success—yours first! If you’re a leader that’s looking to succeed and leave a legacy of achievement and accolade, then you may want to start higher than your goals and aspirations to uncover the way to make those aspirations a reality.

When you wake up in the morning, how do you feel?

When you get to your place of work, how do you feel?

When you greet members of your team, what is your tone?

When you conduct a meeting, what is your tone?

 

Here are the attitude questions to ask yourself:

  • How are my people affected by my feelings and tones?
  • How do my feelings and expressions affect my team’s attitude?
  • How does my attitude impact their responses to me, to each other, and to outside people?
  • And finally, how does my attitude, my mood, and my tone affect their performance?

The answer to all of those is TOTALLY!

If your mood is sour, and your words are harsh, what could you possibly expect from the people you work with?

If you’ve ever started a meeting with the expression, “Okay everybody, I want to see some better attitudes around here!” maybe you should look at the problem rather than the symptom. The remedy to the problem is a simple one. Start with your own attitude.

Whatver you give, you will get.

Starting your day with a YES! Attitude, and communicating those feelings to others is not an option; it’s an opportunity. I hope you’re taking advantage of your legacy opportunity.

 

KEY POINT OF UNDERSTANDING: You set the tone for your people to follow. If they’re not happy, first look at yourself.

KEY ACTION TO TAKE: Read my Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude. TWICE. (This is NOT a commercial; it’s my best recommendation for you to expose your attitude to yourself, which is a critical part of the 360 criteria. My book breaks down how to understand attitude, how to make a game plan for self-improvement, and how to achieve a YES! Attitude and keep it for a lifetime.)

Sign Up For My ‘To Serve Is To Rule’ Webinar: Wednesday, September 12

How much is one customer worth? What’s the dollar amount you would be willing to place on a repeat customer? A loyal customer? In today’s competitive marketplace, merely achieving customer satisfaction is not enough. Instead, you must aspire to create loyalty with each and every customer.

In this one-of-a-kind webinar, you will learn:

  • The difference of satisfaction and loyalty
  • 12.5 principles of customer service success
  • How to stop talking “stupid” to customers
  • Mistakes and angry customers are loyalty opportunities

Sign up now → → → http://bit.ly/GitomerWebinars.

 

20.5 Attitude Gems For You To Read And Study

Here are 20.5 attitude gems (mental snacks to chew on and digest) I’ve picked up along the way that I recommend you read, copy, share with others, post on your wall, and study in a way that you can implement then into your “thought and expression” process:

1. Change your input to change your attitude. If you seek a positive mind and a positive attitude, you MUST expose yourself to positive information and hang around positive people. If you want to achieve positive, you have to surround yourself with it and live with it.

2. You were born to win. But, “You must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win.” (A famous Zig Ziglar quote.)

3. “The will to win is nothing without the will to prepare to win.” (A [famous coach] Vince Lombardi quote.)

4. You will get whatever you want if you help enough people get whatever they want. A quote that many claim to have said. It doesn’t matter who said it – just live it.

5. Make every day as productive as the day before you go on vacation. That’s a day that EVERYTHING gets done.

6. Ignore people who tell you, “You can’t.” (Except your boss.) People will try to discourage you for feae that you will pass them. Don’t let it happen.

7. “If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing.” (A famous quote said by your mother.)

8. Don’t dwell on (whine about) the problem; concentrate on the solution. Resolve how you can; don’t lament why you can’t.

9. Forgive and go forward. Grudge blocks positive. Until you clear the past, you are destined to repeat it.

10. Self-talk equals self-performance. Look at any athlete. Self-talk is a crucial part of expected positive performance.

11. What is the picture you have of yourself? That is what you will become. Spend 15 minutes a day focusing on a positive picture.

12. You will hear the word “No” 116,000 times in your lifetime. (Maybe more.) Try converting to just 1,000 of them to “Yes!” and the world is your oyster.

13. What you do off the job determines what you are likely to do on the job. Uh oh.

14. Strengthen your weaknesses and strengthen your strengths at the same time. Combine positive with negative for better personal development results.

15. Failure is an event, not a person. Think of failure as “it,” not “me.”

16. It’s not what happens to you; it’s what you do with what happens to you. Sound familiar? Attitude manifests itself in your RESPONSE to events.

17. Every obstacle presents an opportunity, if you’re looking for it. “Revel” and “lament” are choices. Your choices.

18. Hard work makes luck. Nothing affects positive circumstance and results more than hard work.

19. How many of your problems are cured with ten grand? (A question a famous father [my dad] once asked me as I lamented my problems.) If money makes your problems go away, attitude can make them go away as well.

20. It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. The tone of your verbiage determines the atmosphere of your environment.

20.5 Resign your position as general manager of the universe. Don’t try to solve (butt into) other people’s problems until YOU are problem free.

Attitude gems lead to attitude AHA!s – those single moments in time where something happens, or someone says something, and suddenly you get it – suddenly you scream AHA!

23.5 Characteristics of Trusted and Trustworthy People

From my personal life experiences, here are 23.5 characteristics that I have discovered in other people that have led me to trust them:

1. To get trust, first give trust.

2. Surprise (genuine) helps leads to trust.

3. Trust grows slowly over time.

4. Giving value first leads to trust.

5. Questions that differentiate, especially in matters of money, lead to trust.

6. Competency and superior skill leads to trust.

7. Straight-forward truth leads to trust.

8. Creativity leads to trust.

9. WOW! leads to trust.

10. Giving trust leads to getting trust.

11. Superior knowledge and genuine help lead to trust.

12. Superior service leads to trust.

13. Understanding leads to trust.

14. Willingness to help leads to trust.

15. Truth and honest dealings lead to trust.

16. Respect and reliability lead to trust.

17. Desire to serve with a grateful heart leads to trust.

18. Dedication to serving and enlightening others based on heartfelt belief leads to trust.

19. Random acts of kindness and the desire to do the best job possible lead to trust.

20. Accurate advice over time and friendship without condition or expectation lead to trust.

21. Superior performance with passion over time leads to trust.

22. Dedication to personal excellence and mastery of a craft leads to trust.

23. Friendship based on respect, mutual admiration, truth, and fun leads to trust.

23.5 I trust myself first.

Study this list, and add to it. I hope it helps you become a more trustworthy person, and helps you find trustworthy people to connect with in life.

“What Should I Say When The Customer Calls And He’s Mad As Hell?”

Anything except, “I’m sorry!”

You can say, “I apologize,” but that’s not what the customer is looking for. You can begin to tell your story about what happened, but that’s not what the customer is looking for.

The customer is looking for two things: They want to know that you care about them personally, and they want to know what you are going to do about it now.

The best way to apologize is to let the customer vent first. Don’t interrupt, just take notes and make empathetic noises. You can even tell the customer that it makes you mad too. Second, ask the customer what their speed of need is. Do they need it by tomorrow? Do they need it today? Or did they need it yesterday?

Most customers will have needed it by yesterday. This is your big chance to be memorable, by getting it there the day before yesterday (just kidding). The reality is their need for speed will determine your action plan for recovery. Realize that you have hit a flash-point and are in jeopardy of losing the customer. Therefore, any action you take towards recovery is a positive one.

The interesting news is that most big companies have firm policies in place that preclude memorable recovery: needing an invoice, needing a customer number, needing a return shipment authorization, and other crapola that no angry customer wants to hear.

FINAL ANSWER: Tell them what they want to hear. That you apologize, that you understand how they feel, that you are meeting with the appropriate people to get a resolve, and that it will be done in 24-hours. No blame, no excuses, no drama.

EPILOG: Follow up with a personal call and a personal note of thanks. This makes the recovery complete, and paves the way for the next order, or a favorable referral.

To Become A Master Salesperson, Master NON Selling Skills

Everyone talks about “how to sell” Not me. I stress “why they buy,” or “how to get people to buy.” It’s a much more powerful success model.

I have a trademarked quote: “People don’t like to be sold, but they love to buy.”

“Sure, Jeffrey,” you say. “Easy for you, but I’m cold calling, I’m fighting competition, I’m in a tough market, you don’t understand.”

I understand very well. You are where 95% of all salespeople are. Struggling.

In order to struggle less, you must begin to make the transition from “making a sale” to “creating a buying atmosphere.”

Most salespeople are taught some “system” of selling. That’s where the hardship starts. They concentrate on the system and not the prospect. Salespeople are so busy trying to manipulate the selling process, that they disengage the buyer.

What is selling about? Let me give you the non-sales skills version. It is the version that leads to buying. These are the life skills that will help you rise to the top. None of them are about “how to close the sale.” All of them are about how to be a success at selling. Forever.

Self understanding is first — One of the keys is understanding what you need to do to establish yourself and your position. It also means understanding the customer’s desires combined with your excellence.

Helping others fill a need or dream — If you take joy in others success or fulfillment, you will be a success a hundred times over.

Being your best at all times — Second best in sales is first loser. Best is everything in sales success.

Loving what you do — The most successful people in the world love what they do. The easiest ones to notice are the ones earning the most money. Athletes, actors, entrepreneurs. But money is not what creates the “love.” Teachers, mothers, farmers who love what they do rise to the top of their capabilities. John Patterson said “put your heart into your work.” And he was correct.

Having the best attitude — If you love what you do, it will show through your attitude. Attitude is the energy from which successful people flourish.

Believing in your product, your company and yourself — If you don’t possess these three elements, stop reading. The rest of this information will do you no good. Without belief, you’ll have no desire to do the hard work necessary to convert selling to buying.

Asking engaging questions — Questions must be thought provoking (not irritating). Questions must demand that the prospect be encouraged to consider new information (not tell you information you could have looked up yourself). Questions must be innovative and intelligent. Questions must be different than those asked by your competition. Questions are the key element in creating an “I need to buy this” thought process on the part of your prospect.

Being idea-creative in advance and on the spot — Anyone will tell you that creativity is one of the few, true differentiators. Then the question is, how do you get more creative? The easy answer — and that’s what you really want, isn’t it? — the easy answer is: Read one creativity book each quarter, prepare for your sales calls the night before with internet research, and practice by forcing yourself to come up with five ideas. The practice is the most important element, once you get in the groove and have the knowledge, the ideas will flow.

Knowing how the customer and others produce and profit — When you are trying to make a mental impact on the decision-making process. Trying to persuade someone with facts about your features and benefits pales by comparison to proof that by taking ownership that the customer will increase productivity and profits.

Having great communication skills — Because your message must be compelling and transferable (understandable), you must master speaking and presentation skills. Join Toastmasters.

Serving with sincerity — Your actions are taken by the way they are perceived. Some people love to serve and go the mile. Some people serve with disdain and only go as far as they “need to.” Both philosophies are easily recognized.

Giving without expectation of getting — This is among the hardest things for a salesperson to do, but it’s an important key to getting high level acceptance and recognition. HINT: The more you give, the more you get.

Positioning yourself as a resource — When you give value to prospects and customers, when you provide information they can benefit from beyond your product or service, you are creating the law of attraction. With valuable information that people use to benefit, profit, and produce, you become sought after.

Combine these attributes with self education — and sales success is yours.

If you save this list, review it weekly for a year, select one of the elements each week and work on the skill, you will become a master. This is hard work. There’s an alternative. You can learn old world selling skills.

Which do you think is more powerful?

Are You Burned Out or Just Hating It?

I just read an article about someone’s totally bogus opinion of “job burnout.” It made me realize some people actually are (or think they are) “burned out.”

A quick search on Amazon revealed 580 books that contain the title, or address the subject of, “job burn out.” Yikes!

The article I read proposed a remedy of “do less and you’ll avoid burnout.” It also recommended to avoid excessive workload, don’t be overly accommodating, avoid people who drain your energy, do not overwork yourself, and they threw in job disillusionment. In other words: You’ll still hate it, but you’ll hate it less.

Why do people claim they’re burned out? It’s a self-inflicted thought wound based on taking inappropriate action, the false feeling of being overwhelmed and stressed-out, having a negative work atmosphere in general, not really loving your job, not believing in what you do, and having a boss who is somewhere between a jackass and an idiot.

While burnout and stress are real, often they’re self-imposed feelings that you can overcome. Burnout manifests itself in your daily talk until it’s embedded into your psyche. Not good.

START HERE: Begin your self-actualization by asking reality-based questions of yourself. Write down the answers.

QUESTION ONE: Ask yourself how much you love your job?
QUESTION TWO: Ask yourself what’s the BEST part of your job?
QUESTION THREE: Ask yourself what would you rather be doing?
QUESTION FOUR: Ask yourself where would you rather be working that could afford you the same or better opportunity (not just money)?
QUESTION FIVE: Ask yourself if the grass is really greener on the other side of employment?

Being or feeling “burned-out” or “stressed-out” is not a problem; it’s a symptom. “Why” you feel you’re burned out is the heart of the situation.

Once you ask yourself these questions, it’s time to DO SOMETHING POSITIVE ABOUT IT. Relief begins when you identify “cause,” and then continues when you create your own answers and your own truths. And change your thought pattern from burnt-out to ON FIRE!

ACTION ONE: Write down what you believe is causing the stressful feelings.
ACTION TWO: Write down what you believe the remedy could be.
ACTION THREE: Beside each remedy, write down what you or others could be doing.
ACTION FOUR: Write down the likelihood of these remedies occurring.
ACTION FIVE: Write down your ideal job or career, and then write down what you have to do or learn to get there.

DECIDE if you are in or out. If in, rededicate yourself to personal excellence. If out, get out quick.

REALITY: Based on your present situation (family, debt, obligations) you may just have to endure it for a while, but if you have identified causes and remedies, calm begins to occur. You have it under control. You’re making decisions.

Your present circumstance has to be measured against your present situation and future hopes and dreams.

Here are a few suggestions for what will take you from “burn out” mode into a more positive and hopeful frame of mind:

1. Start your day with the three most important things you want to accomplish.
2. Cancel all stupid and time-wasting meetings.
3. Stop talking about things that don’t matter, especially other people.
4. Focus on outcome, not just task.
5. Dedicate at least fifteen minutes a day to thinking by yourself.
6. Get rid of three major time wasters (attention diverters):

  • Facebook notifications at work (unless it’s business Facebook)
  • Personal emails and personal calls
  • Negative water fountain chit-chat

7. Go home from work and read instead of watch. Start with my Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude.

Re-start your personal fire. Give yourself a chance to become “BEST” at your job and your career. Never give in to self-defeat. Decide every day that you can only be your best by doing your best.

Become BEST not burnt.

10.5 Attitude Buster Remedies

Once you discover what your attitude is, or isn’t, you’ll have a starting point and an understanding of how to move forward.

Here is a list of attitude busters, with actions (remedies) you can take to overcome them:

1. Someone has done me wrong. Do your best to make it right, and then forgive them. No vengeance. Ever.

2. I need more money than I have. Make more sales.

3. Outside influences are affecting me. This requires concentration and a change of scenery. Get away from the influencers and the influences. If you don’t, you’ll go down.

4. Outside pressures are affecting me. Don’t give in, even if your ass falls off. Get to safe ground and stay there.

5. I have bad luck. Hard work makes luck.

6. I don’t like where I live. Move.

7. I don’t like my spouse. Make peace. Remember why you got married in the first place. Renew vows. Or if all else fails, get a new one.

8. I don’t like my boss. Get a new one.

9. I don’t like my co-workers. Get a new job. NOTE: If you don’t like all of them, the problem may be you.

10. I don’t like my job. Get a new one. Do something you LOVE. Life’s too short to do anything else.

10.5 I don’t like myself. List your best qualities. You’ll be surprised how much there is to love.

I have just given you the “tip-of-the-iceberg” answers (actions). There are many more. Why not take some personal time, get introspective, and discover what they really are for you?

An Answer To A Question on Losing Sales

I recently received a question about losing sales from a man named Roy. I wanted to take some time to share both the question and my answer with you here:

 

Want to receive more tips from me about hiring, sales, leadership, and other business topics? Click the image below to sign up for my weekly ezine:

roulette online|live blackjack

powered by One Social Media