The Selling Newsletter
The Selling Newsletter
from Best@Selling
A free monthly newsletter of ideas to help make your selling easier.
Selling is the easiest job in the world…Just ask anyone who is NOT in sales! Best wishes for YOUR successful selling—Maura
These are this month’s newsletters sections.
1. Selling Quote
2. Selling Action Items
3. Selling Tips
4. Something to Report
5. To Subscribe
6. Need Articles for Your Newsletter?
7. About Maura Schreier-Fleming
8.Contact Info
The Selling Quote for the Month
“It is good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it’s good, too, to check up once in a while to make sure you haven’t lost the things money can’t buy.”
–George Lorimer
Here’s a quote from an email I got from a friend. “I’ve been working 10-14 hours a day , 7 days a week for the last 4 months. Needless to say, I feel like I’m going to drop dead on my feet. However, the good news is after next week I am going to take a week off and sleep. No work, no kids, no husband, no phone and certainlyno computer!” My advice to her was to start saying “no” more and redefiningthe work she is accepting. I didn’t think her good news was good, either. How can escaping from her family be good news? If you are selling to the point of exhaustion, you need some skills or strategy improvement. Selling effectively is having the energy to do more selling! Long days arepart of working today.But, it’s unacceptable to do it for months at a stretch.When you think about how much you’re making, figure out how much it’s costing you, too. Both are things you can control.
2. Selling Action Item
Fit into Sales Success
I love my job. This is what you’re likely to hear if you speak with one of the thousands of employees who work for Southwest Airlines. They don’t advertise for employees. They find employees who will fit their culture of fun, hard work and customer focus. If you’re in sales and want to say “I love my job,” here’s what it takes to “fit” into the sales culture.
Find work that fits. Marlys Hanson, M.S., author of Passion and Purpose: How to Identify and Leverage the Powerful Patterns that Shape Your Work/Life says, “Successful people in every walk of life have one thing in common. They follow their passion.” What happens in business is that too many intelligent people get into careers where they miss doing what they love to do. Passions appear in childhood. These passions can be identified by examining activities you have enjoyed doing and felt you did well, beginning with childhood recollections. Hanson’s work involves identifying these behaviors and passions so that people find careers that fit their strengths and leverage what they enjoy doing.
What does it take for sales? Different jobs require specific skills for workers to perform well and to succeed. Hanson studied what it took for salespeople to be successful. A multinational pharmaceutical firm had been experiencing over 50% termination rate in its medical sales representative force. This job involved selling products directly to doctors and clinics. The qualifications for this job were (1) a B.S. degree in some scientific field, (2) a high GPA and, (3) good interpersonal skills. The company believed they could train people with these qualifications to perform the work needed to succeed in sales. This was not the case. All too often, the people they were selecting were not succeeding.
When Hanson analyzed the behaviors of the individuals who were succeeding she found several patterns. Successful sales reps were “natural relationship builders.” Their achievements had strong evidence of initiating, building and sustaining personal relationships with others. They were proactive. They did not wait to be told what to do. They were not dependent on structure or requirements to perform. They were “informed influencers.” They knew their products well. The sales reps would explain and describe their products. These explanations would influence their customers. They were effective organizers. They organized their time, schedule, materials and interactions with the home office. They were enthusiastic about their subject matter.
Can I fit in? Consider if these pattern descriptions sound like a mismatch for you-even if you’re doing well in sales. Another career would probably be a better fit for you
Hanson says, “”To be both successful and fulfilled, you must be doing work that engages your passions. If your daily efforts do not provide the opportunity to use your innate motivations to accomplish a purpose that is meaningful to you, you will find yourself increasingly frustrated and stressed by the situation. And take heed – because work satisfaction has been found to be a powerful predictor of how long we live as well as how likely we are to remain healthy.”
Think about what you love to do. If you love to work with lots of positive, fun people then consider being lucky enough to find a career at Southwest. If you’re an enthusiastic, organized worker who enjoys working autonomously to build relationships, you’re probably doing well in sales and you love what you do. Sounds like selling is the perfect fit for you.
3. Selling Tips
TIP-Not every part of selling is going to bring you joy. Maybe some of the “detail” parts drive you crazy. Can you “outsource” it to a secretary working remotely or someone local who can help?Business today has created a lot of professionals you can oursource to. They can help run your business. Selling is the skill that’s least transferable and the most valuable in business. Use your time for the most valuable part of selling. Figure out what you find tedious and delegate the drudgery.
TIP-You may have noticed that the format of the Selling Newsletter is different this month. I’m using a new selling tool. Email is a very effective selling tool to keep in touch with prospects and customers. ExactTarget ( www.Exacttarget.com ) makes it easy to use email to sell.
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.
4. Something to Report
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. To thank you, you’ll receive a free subscription to The Selling E-Letter™, a bi-monthly selling newsletter. ($50 value)
5. To Subscribe to the Selling Newsletter
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To unsubscribe, scroll down to the bottom of the newsletter and you can click on the “Go here to leave this list–(and why would you want to do that!!! š )
6. 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 Best@Selling . ( www.BestatSelling.com ). Maura works with business and sales professionals so they can 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
7. About Maura Schreier-Fleming
Maura 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 or mailto:info@BestatSelling.com
Privacy: AtBest@Sellingwe take privacy issues very seriously. Your information remains with us and will never be sold, shared, or distributed in any manner, for any reason.
8. Contact Information
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
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(c) Copyright 2004 Maura Schreier-Fleming. All rights reserved
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