Sales Tip Of The Week - SalesTrainingCamp.com

You're in the elevator and your friend John introduces you to Barbara who is the CEO of one of the companies you'd like to do business with. Barbara asks, "What do you do?"

Here is your chance to make a connection with a prime member of your target market. You want to get her attention, make a positive impression and get her interested enough to continue the conversation. You've got about fifteen seconds to do this.

What do you say?

Whether you are in the elevator, or on the phone, using direct mail or an ad the way you start the conversation will determine whether or not it will continue. You could tell anyone what you do or why they should buy your products if you had half an hour, but with fifteen seconds you're likely to end up with a label, as most people do.

Labels don't tell us much. Imagine you told Barbara, in the elevator, that you are a consultant, sales person or sell computers. Are you talking about working with high school kids, senior managers, or actors? Few job labels tell your audience who you work with much less why they should be interested in doing business with you. Most labels are not only vague but don't help to prompt the conversation to continue.

How can you start more conversations that result in sales? Use this link to get the answer >> http://www.mfsstore.com/eric-15

You could be more specific and tell your prospect you are a tax accountant or an automation specialist. That gives people some idea of what you do, but still doesn't explain why your prospect should care.

Instead of using a label, you could tell your prospect how you do your work, the processes you use. You might say, "We analyze light manufacturing companies to identify areas where the addition of a programmable logic controller could boost throughput." If she understands what you are talking about, you still haven't given her a reason to contact you.

Whether you are a lawyer, accountant, or automation specialist, when you start talking about the processes you use eyes glaze over and minds shut down. While you may have developed processes that no one else uses, prospects don't car about the process, at least not initially. The same is true if you start talking about product specifications.

You could keep using the same message in your ad copy, your emails, our direct mailings and your elevator conversations and get the same results you have been getting. Or you could discover the one technique that could help you get more leads and sales in a month than you usually get in three months.

Want more leads and sales? Use this link to find out what to do >> http://www.mfsstore.com/eric-15

One of the most common mistakes people make is assuming their marketing or sales message should be about themselves or their products. If you are in business to provide services and products to clients and customers, your marketing message should be about their needs and wants.

Here's the difference:

• "I'm a marketing coach." (It's about me, and who really cares?)

• "I help independent professionals attract more clients and make more money." (It's about what I do for others and should prompt the question, "How do you do that?")

Your prospects' primary concern isn't you. They want to know what you can do for them and how you can help them profit, financially, physically or emotionally. They want to know if you can solve a problem for them.

To get attention with a short sentence about the problems you solve, you might tell Barbara you "help reduce manufacturing operating costs and increase profits". Cost containment is a continual problem for any CEO and should pique her interest and prompt follow up.

Stop shutting the door to new business with your marketing message. When people ask you what you do, avoid using a label or a discussion of process. Instead, quickly clarify who you help and what type of problems you solve. One sentence should do the job.

Talking about what you do in a new way takes a little getting used to. The first couple of times you stop yourself from saying, "I'm an executive coach or ball bearing salesperson" and replace it with a marketing message or elevator speech that describes how you actually help clients, it will feel awkward. Keep using and fine tuning your marketing message and soon it will not only give prospects a clear idea of what you do but you'll be comfortable using it.

Once you have a 15 second marketing message that works you can use it in your ads, your emails, your direct mailings, the elevator, on the phone, and watch your sales grow.

Use this link to discover the fastest way to increase your leads and sales >> http://www.mfsstore.com/eric-15

The author, Marketing Coach, Charlie Cook, helps small business owners and marketing professionals attract more clients and be more successful. Sign up for the Free Marketing Ideas eBook, '7 Steps to get more clients and grow your business', full of practical marketing strategies you can use at: Small Business Marketing Ideas

Fifty-one years ago I began to study selling -- not just because I'm a curious, analytical type, but because I had a burning desire to succeed. When I was young, I learned that big money can be made in sales and I wanted "my share." Later, I realized that only a tiny percentage of the people who enter the sales profession are highly successful.

Getting my first college degree, majoring in Industrial Sales, I aced all my sales courses. Then, in my first sales job, I came to realize that what I learned in college didn't work for me. After taking many other sales courses, I learned most corporate and commercial sales trainers couldn't teach effective selling, either.

So, I set out to find the best salespeople, regardless of industry, to see what they did that other salespeople didn't do. Over the years, I've gone out on over 1,000 sales visits with hundreds of the best salespeople. I learned that the top 1% of all salespeople don't sell the way the other 99% sell.

The most surprising thing I discovered is that most of the top salespeople are totally honest in their work. They're honest with their prospects and customers, and they're honest with themselves. I learned the "technology of honesty" from them and eventually I became one of them.

You have often heard that "sales is a numbers game." One of the big differences between the top salespeople and the
other 99% is they know their numbers. Top salespeople keep records of their sales activities every day, and they analyze their statistics every day.

The biggest barrier to success for most salespeople is that they don't know their numbers, and they don't want to know.
That makes it easy to lie to themselves.

In nearly every company we work with, almost all of the salespeople think and really believe that their closing rates are at least twice as high as they actually are, except for the few top salespeople. The top salespeople know exactly what their closing rates are.

Most salespeople don't know how to sell very well, but they think they do. If they knew their numbers, they would have
to face the truth about their skills. They would have to change what they're doing.

Change can be very uncomfortable. It may be more comfortable to lie to yourself than to change what you do every day. That's why many salespeople fail, and those that survive continue to struggle to make a good living.

Many salespeople spend most of their time with prospects that "have great potential," but seldom buy from them. These salespeople go through all of the motions that look like selling, but fail to bring in much business. Those "great potential" prospects use up too much time and effort.

We've observed and studied top salespeople for over 40 years. They prospect and sell differently than most salespeople. They use a well thought out sales process based upon real experience, measured activities and ever improving results.

About the Author:
High Probability Prospecting® is the first phase of the High Probability Selling® system. High Probability Selling is a leading sales training and sales consulting company founded in 1989. While High Probability Selling principles may seem quite radical, they have been proven to be highly successful on hundreds of thousands of sales calls by salespeople in over seventy industries.

Contact Information:
High Probability® Selling
103 Chesley Drive, Suite 200
Media, PA 19063
Foreign: (610) 566-1535, Toll Free: (800) 394-7762
Email: contactus@highprobsell.com
www.highprobsell.com