The Selling
Newsletter
As a sales catalyst,
Maura has designed and developed many highly
January
07
This issue
contains:
The Selling Quote for the
Month
Upcoming Programs
The Selling Ideas for the
Month
Action Items
Selling Tips
NOT this month What do you
think?
To Subscribe to the Selling
Newsletter
Need an article for your
newsletter?
About Maura Schreier-Fleming
Contact Information
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The Selling
Quote for the Month
“There are two mistakes one can make along the
road to truth...not going all the way, and not
starting.”
Buddhist
quote
Well, it’s a new selling year. The slate’s
been wiped clean and you’re supposed to be off and running to make new
sales goals this year. What’s stopping you from reaching your goals? Maybe
it’s making a fresh start. The beginning is always the toughest part of
the process. Are you trying to change too many things at once? That will
immobilize you very quickly. Simplify things. Work on changing one thing
at a time. If you want to change something in your sales process, pick
just one thing now. When you’re done you can start something new. And
remember, selling success comes from focusing on the process of selling,
not the results from selling. I know you’ve got sales goals. But, focusing
on how much you make is less productive than focusing on a goal of making
a certain number of calls or appointments each week. What’s the
difference? You can control some things and you cannot control others. You
can’t control the outcome (how much you make.) You can control the process
(number of calls.) The number of calls you choose to make is up to you.
What happens as a result is really out of your hands. So pick one thing to
focus on. Do it and you’ll be off to a good start this
year.
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I’m now a guest columnist for the Dallas
Business Journal. My column is called “Customer Connections.” I’ll be
answering readers’ questions about selling. Do you have any selling
questions? Send them to info@bestatselling.com
What’s sales tip has helped you be even more
successful in sales?
Send your helpful tip to tip@bestatselling.com
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Winter Public
Programs
2007 Winter
Programs:
When : January 19, January 26, February
2,
February 9
11.30 AM- 1:30 PM
Where: Small Business Development
Center
4800 West Park Blvd.
Plano, TX
What: Master Selling Series for Sales and
Business Professionals
For more information: 972-985-3749
or
972-985-3758
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When : Tuesday, January 30
6.30 AM- 9:30 PM
Where: SMU Main Campus
What: Secrets of Persuasion: The Art of
Influence
Have you noticed that some people are easy to
work with and others are much more difficult? Learn the keys to
successfully influencing colleagues and customers, increase job
satisfaction, predict who will be most difficult to work with-and learn
the tools to disarm them and get what you need to succeed in this powerful
seminar on the "clues" of persuasion! In this practical workshop discover
the art of persuasion-and become more effective in your work
environment.
For more information:
smuthink@smu.edu
Phone: 214-768-9035
Fax: 214-768-1071
continuingstudies.smu.edu
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When : February 16
11.30 AM- 1:30 PM
Where: Small Business Development
Center
4800 West Park Blvd.
Plano, TX
What: Secrets of Persuasion
For more information: 972-985-3749
or
972-985-3758
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When : March 23
11.30 AM- 1:30 PM
Where: Small Business Development
Center
4800 West Park Blvd.
Plano, TX
What: Serious Creativity: New Ideas that Work
for Business
For more information: 972-985-3749
or
972-985-3758
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The Selling Ideas for this
Month
Sales
Surprises
I’m not a fan of surprises. I like them even
less in sales. What is worse is when the unexpected can be prevented.
Competition is tough enough. You don’t need to cause your own frustration.
Here’s what you can do if you want to sell without getting any unnecessary
surprises.
What happened? A marketing consultant met
with a department head of an international telecommunications company. He
learned that her department had employees with different levels of
experience in marketing. As a result, the less experienced staff was
missing project deadlines and results were sub par. As a result of the
meeting, the consultant had a solution that he wanted to propose. He could
provide just in time project management expertise that would be within
budget and produce the results the company needed. He suggested another
meeting to present his ideas to the department
manager.
Surprise! At the meeting the consultant
was surprised by the people in attendance. The department manager brought
in other consultants with whom she was working to gauge their interest in
his proposal. Since their work involved coaching and training they
perceived him as an immediate threat to their contracts. They were very
comfortable about voicing their concern about his services. The other
consultants said they thought his work would not fit the company culture.
This was not the case. They were being critical only to protect their own
interests of keeping more of the company’s business for themselves! As the
marketing consultant looked back on his selling at that meeting, he
realized he made many false assumptions before the meeting. He also didn’t
ask questions to confirm or refute them.
Do over! As the salesman looked back at
his work, he realized what he had forgotten to do. Before the meeting he
should have told the department head that he had a solution he wanted to
propose. That would require decision makers to be present. He then could
have asked about the decision making process and made certain that the
right people would be at the meeting. He then could have asked the
department manager who she thought should attend the meeting. By asking
why each person should attend he would have learned their expected role in
the decision making process. Had he asked that question, he could have
suggested that there was no purpose in having his competitors present at
the meeting.
Any time you’re meeting to propose a solution,
your primary objective should be to get decision makers in the room.
That’s the only way to shorten your sales cycle. Only when decision makers
are present can you do your own selling. When decision makers miss your
presentations, you’ll have other people do your selling for you. That’s
not good. Even worse is when the people who are present can sabotage your
selling.
Clean up your mess. The sale didn’t
happen— at least not then. When the consultant realized the wrong people
were in the room he also realized that he had nothing to lose. He knew his
services were needed at the company. That’s when he asked more questions
about the company culture to find out how consultants were hired. He found
out that business unit heads were the ones with the budgets and the most
concerned about missed deadlines. In fact, the consultants in the room
were hired by business unit heads, not the department head. His revised
strategy includes calling on another internal contact to introduce him to
the key business unit head who would most see the need for his work. It’s
too bad that he never got the sale after his presentation. It’s good he
realized his mistake.
Surprises will happen in sales when you make
assumptions and forget to clarify. When you sell more thoughtfully and ask
the right questions, don’t be surprised when you get the
sale.
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Action Items
1. What was the last time something unexpected
occurred during a sales call? What did you do to ensure it won’t happen
again?
2. Make a checklist so that you are prepared for
your next important sales meeting. You can include your questions, your
materials to bring, objectives set or other points you want to remember to
do.
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Selling
Tips
Get more selling tips from Maura’s ebook: 97
Ways to Sell More Now E-Book
http://www.bestatselling.com/selling_tools.htm#5
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Looking for new strategies to improve your
persuasion skills? This easy to apply Audio CD will give you many new
ideas to easily improve your persuasion skills so you can sell more and
close business faster.
http://www.bestatselling.com/Audio_CD.htm
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I'm always looking for success stories and other
tips from sales professionals. Please feel free to email me at
info@bestatselling.com with ideas that have worked for
you.
If you want to build customer relationships for
long-term business, you can easily do it using Exacttarget
(www.exacttarget.com) and their CANSPAM compliant broadcast
services.
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To Subscribe to the Selling
Newsletter
Help us spread the word. Please forward this
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Need an Article for Your
Newsletter?
Articles from this newsletter may be used in
your free publications or posted on your web when given the following
credit:
Written by Maura Schreier-Fleming, Best@Selling
(www.BestatSelling.com). Maura works with business and sales professionals
who want to sell more and be more productive at work. She is the author of
Real-World Selling for Out-of-this-World Results.
For free articles, selling ideas and morale
boosters
visit
http://www.BestatSelling.com
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About Maura
Schreier-Fleming
Invite Maura to speak at your next
conference or sales meeting! Contact: info@bestatselling.com
Maura Schreier-Fleming works with business and
sales professionals to make it easier to sell more and be more productive
at work. Her Best@Selling clients want to create long-term client
relationships. They include Fujitsu, Fannie Mae and Dr Pepper/7UP. She has
an M.S. in Textile Engineering from Georgia Tech and was Mobil Oil's first
female lubrication engineer in the U.S. With over 20 years of sales
experience, she teaches the art and science of selling with a unique
hands-on perspective and a great deal of real-life insight. She is the
author of Real-World Selling for Out-of-this-World Results (a book filled
with ideas to make selling easier and more productive. Her business column
'Selling Strategies' appears in the Insurance Record magazine and her
column 'Street Talk' appears in Jobbers World. You can contact her for
seminars at company or trade association meetings at 972 380 0200 or
info@BestatSelling.com
Privacy: At Best@Selling we take privacy issues
very seriously. Your information remains with us and will never be sold,
shared, or distributed in any manner, for any reason.
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Contact
Information
1. Our Web site:
http://www.BestatSelling.com
2. E-mail:
info@bestatselling.com
3. Call: In Dallas 972 380
0200
4. Write us:
6757 Arapaho Rd., Suite
711-183
Dallas, TX 752448
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(c) Copyright 2007 Maura Schreier-Fleming. All
rights reserved
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