Origins of Wind and Selling…

May 14th, 2010

It’s early morning and daughter, Abbie jumps into bed with my Princess Bride and I.

“Mom & Dad, do you know where the wind goes when it blows by? And, where does it come from in the first place?”

My wife is silent. I get the science questions, so my two ladies look at me and I reply.

“Where does the wind come from? We’ve been told not to talk about that.

The laughter dies down. I catch an elbow from the wife and I reach for the notepad next to our bed to write this thought down. A thought that piggybacks on my joke.

“What are they not talking about in selling during your sales training?”

Language.

Language is the answer and it’s a big deal. See, the use of persuasive language strategies is the most neglected area of any sales training (and leadership and management and customer service and on and on).

GOT INFLUENCE? If not, send me an email and I’ll respond with a little paper on some big language tips. Dan@SalesAutopsy.com.

The focus of all these forms the future of selling. It’ll be found in my next book, The Secret Language of Influence. Stay in touch for more tips to come.

One more thing, I’ll be covering this as part of my sales training presentation at The American Society for Training & Development’s International Conference next week. Have a peek at the details (Wed, May 19th).
Sales Training What’s Missing?

Selling (your soul)

April 16th, 2010

7,500 Online Shoppers Unknowingly Sold Their Souls
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/04/15/online-shoppers-unknowingly-sold-souls/

A computer game retailer revealed that it legally owns the souls of thousands of online shoppers, thanks to a clause in the terms and conditions agreed to by online shoppers.

Hilarious! People don’t read their contract when they purchase online and sell their souls to Game Station in the UK http://www.gamestation.co.uk/. The outstanding wording reads…

“By placing an order via this Web site on the first day of the fourth month of the year 2010 Anno Domini, you agree to grant Us a non transferable option to claim, for now and for ever more, your immortal soul. Should We wish to exercise this option, you agree to surrender your immortal soul, and any claim you may have on it, within 5 (five) working days of receiving written notification from gamesation.co.uk or one of its duly authorised minions.”

GameStation’s form also points out that “we reserve the right to serve such notice in 6 (six) foot high letters of fire, however we can accept no liability for any loss or damage caused by such an act. If you a) do not believe you have an immortal soul, b) have already given it to another party, or c) do not wish to grant Us such a license, please click the link below to nullify this sub-clause and proceed with your transaction.”

Bummer for all those people who had other plans for eternity. Though most people probably have no plans for their souls at all.

Selling pros – how long do you hang onto your clients? Do you have a deep enough relationship that you can count on their money for at least a mortal eternity?

After the sale you want to keep engaged, send your buyer unique and funny content like this. Let them know you’re thinking about them.

Does that absolutely delight you when a personal relationship does that? Then do it with these people who feed your family as well.

Keep close to your clients and nobody else will come along and steal their time, money, or souls. Do that well and you’ll spend eternity in selling heaven.

(Hilarious) Good at getting your meaning across?

April 13th, 2010

Every year, English teachers from across the country can submit their collections of actual analogies and metaphors found in high school essays. These excerpts are published each year to the amusement of teachers across the country.

Here are some recent “winners…”

His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like socks in a dryer without Cling Free.

She grew on him like she was a colony of E. Coli, and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.

She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.

Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.

The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.

John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.

The ballerina rose gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.

He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.

Whoa! Great entertainment, graphic images, but a painful expose’ on how poorly people communicate today.

How well do you get your meaning across? Linguists would identify your language as either “well-formed” or “poorly-formed.”

Be on the lookout for my new book, The Secret Language of Influence, later this year. Gain GREAT communication skills and improve your ability to lead, manage, sell, and most importantly, work with your personal relationships.

Anyone signed up for my ezine at www.SalesAutopsy.com will get first notification of the book launch.

Best Objection Response, Ever!

April 2nd, 2010

I designed the sales training program for a national financial services company (you would recognize their name). Their targeted buyers are seniors.

Working off over 3 dozen objections, I crafted multiple responses to each. This reply is legitimate, it’s funny, so it gets a resistant prospect to laugh.

Objection: I’m too old to buy an annuity.

Answer: We have sea turtles older than you as clients.

Two things here (well three, if you include everybody loves sea turtles):

Do you have multiple responses to every one of your top 6 objections? I do this exercise with each of my consulting clients. It’s also now being built into a best-practices sales training experience for www.ASTD.org. So know the top ways you get pushback and be prepared to react.

Do you have ability, the words, to make prospects laugh? Okay, I’m biased because I use humor to write, speak and train all day, all month, all year. But there’s nothing as potent to disarm a buyer than something that says, “okay, that’s enough arguing, let’s be friends, have some fun and figure out how to work together.”

Work on those two things and you’ll have a successful selling career that lasts longer than, you guessed it, a sea turtle.

APRIL FOOL’S JOKE ON MY KIDS’ SCHOOL!

April 1st, 2010

APRIL FOOL’S JOKE ON MY KIDS’ SCHOOL! Ballots for each student were put in all the classrooms to vote on a new school mascot.

The Marion Jordan “Blue jays” are no longer viable since the blue jay is considered the “bully” of the bird world. The ballot (you can see the pdf New Mascot Ballot here) had this written on it…

Recent research shows that Blue Jays, our school bird, are the bullies of the bird world. They chase other birds, even squirrels, away from birdfeeders. They are always picking fights because they don’t want to share.

Since Marion Jordan has policies against bullying we will be removing the Blue Jay from our school and asking our students to…

CHOOSE A NEW OFFICIAL MASCOT!

You can select from this list or suggest your own animal.

□ Marion Jordan Magicians!

□ Marion Jordan Moray Eels

□ Marion Jordan Mighty Millipedes

□ Marion Jordan _____________________________________
(write in your suggestion)

Teachers, please bring all the ballots to the office so we can announce the results by the end of today.

I’ll post the results, no the “responses,” as soon as I have them!
New Mascot Ballot

Favorite SPAM of the week

February 10th, 2010

“Staff Development” read the invitation I received from Penny. I was being asked to attend Effective Strategies for Classroom Behavior Management.

The presenter/trainer/speaker/expert was a gentleman with lots of letters after his name (this included BS which is funny, ha ha BS, but also strange since nobody brags about their Bachelor’s degree, since if you have a Masters – he did, you already have a BA or BS, and to top it off the guy was also an MD).

He was from the esteemed state of Mississippi.

Now, I have many readers from MS, most likely in the thousands and probably all quite successful. But it’s sad to report that the kids from this state are a bit behind the curve in academic performance. So I replied to my SPAM of the week sender…

Penny, I’m curious. I don’t know why you sent this to me, or where you got my name.

But you offer an event I won’t attend featuring an expert from Mississippi, a state that’s ranked 46th in the country.

Overall State Grade: D+
Chance of Student Success: D+
School Finance: D+
K-12 Achievement: F

Why would someone attend this?

Business pros, this begs the question, WHO ARE YOU GETTING YOUR ADVICE, YOUR EDUCATION FROM?

Is it your unemployed brother-in-law (“Hey, we should take a month off and compete in The Amazing Race)?

The guy at the dog track in Tucson (“greyhounds with brown splotches are fastest”)?

Someone who’s reputation and pedigree are questionable at best?

This lesson is similar to the advice of buying the best car, computer, clothes and more.

Great products and great education last longer and others will notice the difference in your appearance and brainpower.

So that’s your mini-course for the day, Effective Strategies for Career Behavior Management.

And that’s all from my favorite SPAM of the week. See, optimistic people can find value in almost everything.

More brief, humorous, insightful articles at http://salesautopsy.com/articles_media.html

Wrong Way Driver…

January 18th, 2010

As a senior citizen was driving down the freeway, his car phone rang.

Answering, he heard his wife’s voice urgently warning him, “Herman, I just heard on the news that there’s a car going the wrong way on 280 Interstate. Please be careful!”

“It’s not just one car, honey” said Herman. “It’s hundreds of them!”

Hey selling pros… how well have you mapped out the direction of each key piece of your sales life?

Lead generation sources, combined with your ability to qualify quickly?

Persuasion skills?

Your ability to fluidly and confidently deal with any objection?

These three elements of selling form a sales pro like nothing else. They define you to your peers, your marketplace and yourself.

Focus on fixing qualifying, influencing and responding to resistance and you are heading in the right direction.

Ignore them and you’re headed for a collision with better competitors and savvy buyers.

Don’t be a wrong way driver as you cruise through your career.

Leading the Troops!

January 6th, 2010

My great friend Tony Jeary, personal coach to some of the world’s top CEOs, has an article you will find both fascinating and useful.

http://www.privateclubs.com/article.php?name=leadingthetroops/

I highly recommend anything he creates including his Strategic Acceleration book and previous mega-bestselling Life is a Series of Presentations.

The Concept of Selective Selfishness, Marriage & How to Start 2010

January 4th, 2010

My nephew David Guthrie the 3rd (and grandson of David Maximus Guthrie) just married Katie this past holiday weekend.

Wedding Ring

Wedding Ring


During the reception I gave the bride a tip about the perfect time to be selfish in a new marriage.

I pulled my wedding band off my finger and showed it to her – a ring of triangles, alternatively facing up and down as you see in the image.

The bottom points of the triangle represent me and my Princess Bride Wendy. The highest point represents God. ∆

My job, our job, is to WORK ON OURSELVES FIRST, to do what we need to do in order to get closer to God. In doing so, we end up closer to each other. We have then brought to our partner the best possible person we have to offer. That’s a great alliance of love and smarts.

This concept of Selective Selfishness works anywhere you are determined to improve your performance.

It applies to your business life: How are the influence skills you bring to the table?

It applies to your personal life: How well do you offer a better person to your friends and family?

Selective Selfishness – what do you need to work on? You alone are responsible for you success, your growth, your wisdom and knowledge.

Let’s get Selectively Selfish in 2010!

Christmas Collision – Flying Football Ends Sale

December 14th, 2009

GOING LONG FOR THE WIN
Edwin’s Incomplete Pass Ends a Sale

We’re calling on a major retailer during the holiday season.

We includes my trainee (whom I’m supposed to coach to be a super sales rep like me) and me, a super sales rep.

The headquarters store is huge, the company’s pride and joy. It’s decorated from top to bottom. Christmas trees sit on every floor, as do displays of Chanukah candles. Running on invisible fishing line down the length of each aisle are hundreds of spectacular glass ornaments.

In contrast to the anxious shoppers, my buddy and I are lighthearted. There’s a good chance we’ll be landing this company as a client. And if we don’t, holiday bonuses are coming our way anyway.

So it was with the joy of a school kid on Christmas break that I picked up a football and waved my trainee down the main aisle of the store. He jogged past shoppers, around some small displays and raised his hand signaling the fact that he was as open for business as the mega store.

I launched the ball toward my receiver.

Its arc took it toward an unseen wire and struck the slender obstacle, falling to the floor.

I watched in horror as the wire swung upward. It reached its peak and fell, 100 beautiful, delicate ornaments unhooking themselves, hovering momentarily in mid-air, then dropping to the ground.

Popping, shattering, tinkling – glass scattered down that aisle, showering shoppers and merchandise.

There was nowhere to hide. And nowhere to sell. The President of the company was on the floor, having come down to meet us. His only comment was (sternly), “Gentleman, call us after the season.” Of course they never returned another call.

POSTMORTEM: Edwin – Happy Holidays! Great visuals and sounds to the story. Question for Edwin & salespeople reading this; if you could play any sport in the world, then pick a teammate, who would you pick? I’ll bet nobody’s answer includes some 3rd grader who trips over shoelaces he or she could barely tie. What do you think your prospects would answer? Right, regardless of the sport, they’d pick the top pro out there. They want the same quality in vendors, the best pros out there. So act like a pro start to finish. And your sales call could end with the gift of a sale.