1. No is a bad sign

This is not just an issue with sales professionals; sales managers fail to understand that “No’s”, and a lot of them, are inevitable.  Maybe it is because of so many consultants claiming to have the answer, maybe it is because sales managers worked the phones in a different era, but it is hard out there now.  Some sales people prospect better than others.  These sales people receive less No’s, but they receive plenty of them.  We can coach for a better outcome, but we will not be able to avoid rejection.   However, now a sales professional knows where to place their energy.

If you are still having trouble getting interest at your company look at the following to analyze why:

• Are you using the appropriate sales process for your industry and product?
• Do you understand your potential customers well enough?
• Is your culture conducive to good sales performance?
• Are you even targeting the right prospects at the right times?

2. Price is the issue

Price is always AN issue.  But it is rarely THE issue.  Companies run marketing campaigns and specials trying to get in the door with customers.  Sales people offer discounts.  Sales professionals are uncomfortable with the costs of their products and services.  Sales professionals hear that their competitor has a better price.  What does that do on the street:

• Puts price into your customers head.
• Creates a lack of confidence in the sales representative’s head.

If you want to beat the price argument you must do 5 things:

• Sell the value and ROI of your products and services.
• Learn to deliver pricing more confidently.
• Connect your sales and marketing efforts
• Ask more questions about what the client wants to accomplish
• Demonstrate credibility and sincerity in the sales process

3. Manipulation is part of the sales process

Sales has a bad rap.  People view sales people as pushy, self centered, and egotistical.  Don’t get me wrong many sales people have earned these labels.  But the very best have risen above them.  Customers typically start relationships with sales people in a defensive mode until they feel comfortable with the sales professional.  Customers start from this place because of their experiences with previous sales people.  Unfortunately organizations sometimes support manipulative behaviors or insincerity or at the very least condone these behaviors.  I use to know a sales person that would say “Once you can fake sincerity you have got it made.”  He was successful for a period of time, but customers figured him out.  We need to create authentic relationships with our customers based on mutual respect for 2 reasons:

• Our word is really what we have to fall back on.
• The most successful sales professionals get out of their own way by focusing on the customer; the customer’s needs, and then responding to those needs.

Great sales people influence others, they do not manipulate them.

4. We are so different from our competition!

Vendors so often think they are different.  Sales teams get pumped up in meetings.  They are told about the superiority of their product or the value of their service.  These sales professionals bring that feeling of difference in with them to their face to face meetings and they believe they can out sell their competition.  They believe they can use their sales process to differentiate themselves.  The irony is…most of your customers don’t feel the same way.

In a recent study by the Management Development Corporation and the University of Michigan:

• 89% of vendors think they are able to distinguish themselves from their competition.
• 90% of the customers believe that each vendor’s sales approach is the identical.

It is clear organizations want to differentiate themselves, talk about differentiating themselves, but they rarely do in practice.

5. The most up to date sales training will change our numbers

What we need to do is train our people!  Yeah right.  (Written sarcastically)  The latest and greatest in sales training will do little to improve your performance.

People are creatures of habit.  They learn these habits along life’s way over the years.  2-3 days of intense training still won’t touch those habits especially if there is any fear, emotion, or ego wrapped up in the changing of a habit structure.  If you are serious.  If you truly want change.  Then think about:

• How to make performance more visible
• Increasing accountability for activity not just results
• Identifying the key strategies (maximum 3) that will drive the results you are looking for
• Putting a personal change process in place to help your sales reps shift their habits
• Measuring lead indicators in order provide regular feedback and coaching.
• Rewarding and recognizing reps for meeting activity requirements as well as results
• Coach, coach, coach.  And strategize on specific opportunities making it real.

To create real change in performance training is a small piece of a larger puzzle.  We must pay attention more to management and systems.

The Proven Way to Improve Your Sales teams Performance and Bottom Line Results.

We Have Simple to Implement systems That WILL MAKE your Sales TEAM Much More EFFECTIVE.

Contact Your Local MyProfile World Wide Licensee For the complete details of our Workshops and other TOOLS.

Master Licensee US & Canada
Bob Thomason
Phone: 870-234-8400
email: bob@myprofileworldwide.com

“Check With Your Local Agencies And See How You Can Best Tap Into This Great Recruitment Market For Your Business”

Don’t overlook the benefits of hiring disabled workers

Recruitment of disabled workers can boost an employer’s company brand, and provide an important source of talent when the employment market tightens, says Amy Cato, principal consultant at recruitment company Cato & Hall.

For recruitment companies, experience in recruiting workers with disability is increasingly becoming a requirement in preferred supplier tenders, Cato said, and can be a key factor in winning new business.

One in five people have a disability, she added, and a lot of them have very strong networks of family and friends.

“From a brand point of view it is well known who supports and discriminates in employing these candidates,” she said.

“Given that the economy will turn around and we could find ourselves in a candidate tight market again, leverage yourself and your clients to attract talent from this group in future,” Cato advised recruiters.

“People with disabilities are going to remember who looked after them in the bad times.”

Ask candidates what support they need, not what disability they have

Cato said people with disabilities are petrified of being discriminated against by recruitment agencies, and may not disclose a disability at the pre-screen stage.

“If a recruiter’s good, they will create an open environment that is supportive where the person wants to tell them that,” she said.

To avoid offence, she said recruiters should ask disabled workers questions around their behaviours rather than physicality.

“It is not for the recruiter to place judgement on whether they would be able to do a task, it our role to determine whether they are capable of meeting the client brief,” she said.

Cato said recruiters should ask candidates if there are any modifications or additional support they need at the worksite, rather than whether they have a disability.

Disabled workers provide many other benefits

Employees with disabilities often have better attendance and safety records, according to Disability Works Australia (DWA), a national body that provides free advice to employers considering recruiting disabled workers.

The retention rate of disabled workers is higher, says DWA, and their employment can have a positive effect on workplace morale.

Companies employing disabled workers also minimise their exposure to costly litigation, DWA argues. Since the introduction of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) penalties of up to $35 million have been issued to Australian Companies in disability discrimination cases.

Subsidies and advice available for employers

Recruiters are often reluctant to consider disabled workers because they believe their clients won’t pay full fee for them, Cato said.

But there are many different subsidies available for employers recruiting disabled workers, and employers should not feel like they have to do it alone, according to DWA chief executive Tina Zeleznik.

Here Are Some Ideas For You To Consider

1. Telemarketers
2. Data entry
3. Virtual Assistants
4. Licensees
5. Distributors
6. Online business owners
7. Recruiters for your business