December 2004
The Selling Newsletter A free monthly newsletter of ideas to help make your selling easier. |
These are this month’s newsletters sections.
1. Selling Quote 3.Upcoming Tele-Seminar
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The Selling Quote for the Month “It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare. It is because we do not dare that they are difficult.” Seneca The year is almost over. As you look both backward and forward, you can incorporate what Seneca, the ancient Roman, speaks about. If this year was a challenge, perhaps next year you can make the commitment to try new things. Were there some aspects of your work that you were afraid to try this year? Maybe a new presentation? Was it calling on a different type of customer? Selling higher end products? Whatever it was, next year challenge yourself. Accept that you might fail– and then again, you just might make things easier. |
2. Selling Action Item
Back from the Brink You would have unique insight into what prevents a company from being successful if you turned failing companies into successful ones. With 30 plus years of experience, Charles Bahr, founder of Bahr International (www.Bahrintl.com), has expertise in business that will not only prevent sales professionals from failure, but will help ensure their success. Find out what’s important. Mr. Bahr is a believer in the Pareto distribution, more commonly known as the 80-20 rule. The 80-20 rule says that some things are more important than others. You must find out what the most important things are in your business and focus on them. Mr. Bahr suggests you find those 20% by understanding a variety of sales responsibilities. Mr. Bahr asks, “Who is a sales professional responsible to? Only to the guy that pays them? To the customer? To greater society? To themselves? Truly successful salespeople don’t even think of responsibility because it’s automatic. A salesperson should be able to reach a balance where everyone benefits and the transaction gets done.” What’s also important to selling is in the Bahr Sales Quadrant. The quadrants include what a customer thinks he wants; what he really wants; what he thinks he needs and what he really needs. The effective salesperson can answer and address the most important issues in each quadrant. Mr. Bahr points out that what customers need can be different from what they want. In his business, his customers want some ‘magic’ to make the tough stuff go away. What they need is very different. Sales professionals must help their customers recognize what they need. The salesperson’s job is to help reconcile what customers need with what they want. It’s hard to say no. What gets some businesses into trouble is that they are unable to say no. SEC investigations are evidence of this. Mr. Bahr says that healthy organizations are very comfortable saying no when it’s appropriate. What makes it hard is knowing when to say no, why to say no and how to say no. His advice is when you have to say no make the decision early without deferring or delaying it. He suggests being graceful, clear and leaving a door open. You can do this by attaching an option to the no. He says, “That’s where a good salesperson comes in. You can say ‘No we can’t, however…” Honesty is the best policy. Mr. Bahr has found in his work turning around failing businesses that a little non-truth can only grow into a bigger non-truth. He has seen how inaccurate sales forecasts cause businesses to fail because so many other critical management decisions are made from those forecasts. Mr. Bahr says, “The entire existence of a company depends on accurately forecasting the sales.” This is something to remember as you work on your annual sales forecasts. He advises not to be too optimistic or pessimistic as you are doing your forecasting, but to be a realist. Decisions… decisions… Bahr has found that not making decisions gets businesses into trouble. The first thing to do is recognize your discomfort with decision making. While not making a decision is a decision, Mr. Bahr says, “You always make a decision with imperfect data.” Avoid intellectual laziness in the process of making a decision and try to get enough information so that the probability of success goes in your favor. To make a decision, Mr. Bahr says to ask yourself if you are so inexperienced that the decision would be better left to fate. That’s usually not the case. Mr. Bahr is a person who when called early when things aren’t right in a business can help get it back on track. He says, “We’re here to have some fun, make some money and do some good all at the same time.” Applying what he knows to your selling will have the same results in your business, too. |
3. Upcoming Teleseminar
Start your year off with a push in the right direction. On Thursday, January 6 at 1PM EST, 12 PM CST, and 10 AM PST I’ll be leading a NO COST teleseminar on Speed-Reading People. You will learn:
Email: info@bestatselling.com for the telephone information. |
4. Selling Tips
1. Do you find yourself talking “at” customers who think they want something other than what you think they need? Is it difficult for you to determine what your customer really needs? If you experience either situation, your questioning strategy needs improvement. You need to be uncovering customer issues and you’re not.
2. Practice how you are going to say ‘no.’ Only with practice can you convince yourself that you can do it and convince your customer that you mean it. Provide a however in your explanation so the door is open if the customer can make changes and you can then say ‘yes.’ On Tuesday January 11, (2 PM EST) Exacttarget is hosting a Best practices webinar where you can learn more about effective e-mail marketing. To register: https://website.exacttarget.com/exacttarget_ Do you want to be notified of Maura’s upcoming public seminars? Send an email to info@bestatselling.com with the subject: Upcoming Seminars and your email address. You’ll get the information about Maura’s public seminars. Programs are held quarterly. |
5. Something to Report I’m always looking for success stories and other tips from sales professionals. Please feel free to email me atinfo@bestatselling.com with ideas that have worked for you. To thank you, you’ll receive a free subscription to The Selling E-Letter™, a bi-monthly selling newsletter. ($50 value) |
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7. 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, president of[email protected], 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. |
8. About Maura Schreier-FlemingMaura Schreier-Fleming works with business and sales professionals to make it easier to sell more and be more productive at work. Her https://cl.extm.us/?fe781d767d6c0d7473-fe2610707066037a721174clients 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. You can contact her for seminars at company or trade association meetings at 972 380 0200 ormailto:info@BestatSelling.com
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9. Contact Information Have Maura speak at your next conference or sales meeting.1. Our Web site: https://cl.extm.us/?fe761d767d6c0d747d-fe2610707066037a721174 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 ——————————————————— (c) Copyright 2004 Maura Schreier-Fleming. All rights reserved |