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You are here: Home / Newsletters / The Selling Newsletter January 2008

The Selling Newsletter January 2008

January 1, 2008 By maurasf

The Selling Newsletter

January 2008

The Selling Quote for the Month

“To me, selling begins with investing time in preparation and planning.”

Donald Trump

Love him or hate him, the Donald has a point. If you look at what Donald does you can see the planning. His Trump Tower, the 68-story skyscraper with six floors of shopping, 263 residential apartments and thousands of square feet of office space was completed on budget and on time. That took extraordinary planning. In 1986, Donald Trump proposed to take over the rebuilding of the Wollman Skating Rink in Central Park. It took New York City officials 6 years and millions of dollars and the project wasn’t complete. Trump took it on and in six months came in under budget. That’s planning. Selling is the same. If you want great things to happen, you have to plan them and then execute. What can you plan? Plan how you will open your sales call. Plan the questions to ask. Plan for the minimum and maximum objectives for each sales call. Just to be sure, plan for what can go wrong. And last, plan for a great sales call. Why not? If you’ve done the work, you are more likely to succeed than fail.

I’m now a guest columnist for the Dallas, Austin and Houston Business Journals. 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

Start the New Year Off With a Bang

Did your New Year resolutions include learning something new for selling? I’m trying something new and would like to invite my Selling Newsletter readers to a complimentary (that means no charge!) teleseminar on the Secrets of Persuasion. There is a long distance phone call charge unless you are in Iowa, but I’m thinking that since the seminar is no charge, that should be something you would want. Space is limited so if you’re interested, and unable to attend, email me and I’ll schedule a second program.

Here are the details:

What: Teleconference “Secrets of Persuasion”

When: Friday, January 18, 2008-01-14

9.30 Central Standard Time

(that’s 10.30 Eastern, 7.30 Pacific)

for 1 hour program

Where: wherever you are by a phone

What to do: call: Dial-in Number: 1-712-580-1100 (Spencer, IA)

Participant Access Code 84072

Program Description:

There are clues you can use when you’re selling that will show you how your customers buy. The clues are things you see every day. Yet most people are unaware of the clues so they are unable to use them. In this interactive program, you will learn what the clues are, what they mean and how to use them in business so you can close business faster and sell more.

Attendees will be able to:

Shorten their sales cycle by using the clues which show how your customer wants to buy Quickly create rapport with others so you avoid creating resistance and objections Negotiate more effectively using the clues other people give you Reduce the stress of selling by knowing how to prepare for each customer

Any questions: email: Info@Bestatselling.com

Hope you can attend.

THE BLOG S AND OTHER COLUMNS

I’m now writing The Real Deal, a column on women in business for Allbusiness.com https://www.allbusiness.com/3472033-1.html and for salesmecca.com

https://salesmecca.com/SalesCommunity/SalesBlogs
/tabid/60/Default.aspx

Leave your comments and I would love to respond to you.

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

The Selling Ideas for this Month

Say It Isn’t So

I recently attended a customer’s sales meeting before my presentation began. During the meeting one salesman angrily complained about a customer he was going to lose. The customer was part of a national chain and hadn’t paid an outstanding invoice. The credit department representative called this important customer and abruptly cut off the customer’s credit. What the sales rep later discovered was that the invoice went to the wrong address and the customer never saw it. Now the salesperson was faced with a customer who vowed never to buy from his company again.

Faster than the speed of light. When customers threaten to quit buying, suppliers are in a very perilous situation. The odds are against you keeping the business and you must act fast. When customers make a threat, they unconsciously feel obligated to keep it. There’s only one thing in your favor. The process of switching is usually a cumbersome process and most customers don’t want to change. This means there may be a brief window for a supplier to plead his case. Timing is critical. Any delay can cause a customer to get further entrenched into his decision to quit buying and more resistant to changing his mind about quitting.

Face-to-face. Forget about making a phone call to apologize. This is the only time when a face-to-face sales call is your only option. Your customer has to see you squirm. You have to show the remorse you feel. You must profusely apologize and have your customer see your anguish. When you apologize be sure to include the words, “I’m so sorry that this happened to you.” Remember that an apology expresses regret, not blame. Then demonstrate that you understand the feelings your customer experienced as a result of what happened. Was your customer angry? Was your customer inconvenienced? Was your customer embarrassed? You should talk about those feelings. One example is, “I’m sure this made you very angry.” Feelings are facts to people. You must demonstrate that you have heard your customer’s feelings. When you demonstrate that you have heard your customers’ feelings, there is hope that they’ll choose to continue working with you.

Don’t go it alone. When you go into a meeting like this, expect that your customer may continue to vent. He may yell or even restate what happened and complain about your company or products. Whatever you do, make sure that you remain calm, you listen and you never interrupt. For emotional meetings like these it’s better if you have some additional support. Why not take your manager with you? Having a manager present would show additional deference to your customer while providing you with additional support.

Make amends. You can’t take the problem you caused away. What you can do is attempt to make your customer feel better. Hurt and angry customers must be made to feel much, much better. Before the meeting, think about what you can offer to make your customer more than “whole.” Could you offer him a discount on an invoice? Could you offer product at no charge? Could you offer him something special? Be prepared with multiple offerings just in case you have to add to your initial offer. Your offer must appear to be generous and your customer must value it. It’s not about balancing the deficit you caused. You have to tip the scales in your customer’s favor. Then discuss with your customer what you are going to do to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

Hopefully, you’ll never hear a customer say “I don’t ever want to buy from you again.” If you’re creating good customer relationships, perhaps you never will hear those terrible words again.
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Action Items

1. Talk to the order and supply departments who work with your customers. Are they finding any of your customers difficult to work with? Now might be the time to smooth things out so they don’t create any future problems for your customers—and you!

2. Talk to some of the support staff in other departments like credit or accounting who do speak with your customers. Ask if there are any customers you are in jeopardy of losing business. What can you do to help your support staff so you don’t lose business?

Upcoming Programs

When: Friday January 25, 2008

8.30 -10AM

What: Power Persuasion For Marketers

Where: La Cima Club, Las Colinas, TX

For More Information: info@Bestatselling.com

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

When: February 8 11.30 AM- 1:30 PM

What: Power Persuasion

Where: Small Business Development Center
4800 West Park Blvd.
Plano, TX
For more information: 972-985-3749 or
972-985-3758
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
When : February 27
11.30 AM- 1:00 PM
Where
: Blue Mesa Grill
Beltline Road,
Dallas, TX
What
: Power Persuasion

For more information: 214-691-1948

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

When
: March 7
11.30 AM- 1:30 PM
Where
: Small Business Development Center
4800 West Park Blvd.
Plano, TX
What
: Effective Meetings

For more information: 972-985-3749 or
972-985-3758


Selling Tips

Get more selling tips from Maura’s ebook: 97 Ways to Sell More Now E-Book

https://www.bestatselling.com/e-books.html

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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.

https://www.bestatselling.com

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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 free newsletter to co-workers, friends and associates.

Subscriptions are free. To subscribe to the Selling Newsletter, go to https://www.bestatselling.com

To unsubscribe, scroll down to the bottom of the newsletter for unsubscribe information. (and why would you want to do that!!! 🙂 )

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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, [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.

For free articles, selling ideas and morale boosters

visit https://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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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: 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 75248

——————————————————————

(c) Copyright 2007 Maura Schreier-Fleming. All rights reserved

All information is the sole property of [email protected] and the right to distribute this content is based upon prior terms of service and agreements. To remove your address from this list, please unsubscribe. Please visit our website BestatSelling.com for more details. Mailing Address: 6757 Arapaho Rd., 711-183, Dallas, TX 75248.

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*What was your last “mistake?” Did you make it before? There’s nothing wrong with making mistakes in sales provided you are making different mistakes. (You are learning from them!)

About the principal

Would you take auto mechanics classes when you buy a car? Maura did because she wanted to be able to work on her car. She takes that same approach to selling. She can show you how to get below the surface of selling to learn why and how different strategies work. She will show you which skills to implement that will shorten your sales cycle and increase your sales. She was Mobil Oil's first female Lubrication Engineer in the United States and one of Chevron's top 5 salespeople in the country. She knows what works for sales.

"I would recommend your work to other sales organizations who want to get better results from improved selling strategies."
Jamey Rootes
President
Houston Texans

Sales Expert at Allbusiness.com

Selling is the easiest job in the world. Just ask anyone who is not in sales. Read Maura’s ideas on “more brain…less mouth” selling to make your selling easier and more successful.

Maura’s Allbusiness blog posts

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