Three Common
Mistakes
the intro
The next sales sensation?
You'll be amazed when you read this...
Most sales people stop growing once they begin to feel comfortable in selling. They may have a few years of hitting their goals,
then complacency, laziness or a combination of both sets in. Is this you? I hope not.
Read how you can change three common mistakes in order to become the next sales
sensation!
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Black Box is a clickable link to my website on each page.
step one
How to change.
Do you feel all alone in this big world of selling?
Do you have moments of confusion wondering what you should do different to produce more sales? Are you looking for tips that can make a difference in selling? Read on! Just about every single day this week, I was asked the same question but in a different way, which is why I wrote this eBook….
• If there were three things you’d instill in my sales team, what would that be?
• What 2 tips can you give me that can make a difference in my sales now?
• If you managed my sales team what kind of action steps could you incorporate immediately?
All great questions. I gave each person the same answer for all three questions:
‘I’ll answer your question this way… Here are the three common mistakes sales people make…. consistently.’
Belief
Selling Actions Consistency
belief
You may get a little tired of me harping about belief.
Stay with me. Belief or lack of it can make or break a sales person or team. And it’s one of the hardest things to coach, because it’s such a personal subject.
In the first coaching session with a new client, I start with belief. It’s important to build a strong selling foundation first. Your personal beliefs about your self, success, money and selling will have a direct effect on building a weak or strong foundation. That’s how powerful of a foundation belief creates for the sales person.
Without the strong foundation of belief, you’ll suffer stress factures in your confidence when selling gets hard. And let’s be honest, selling does get hard many times in a sales person’s career, even for the seasoned sales professional.
Attitude and Beliefs are completely different. Your beliefs can alter your attitude in a positive or negative way. Beliefs are opinions, convictions, confidence, faith and trust while Attitudes are your feelings, emotions, and tendencies of the mind.
About every 3-5 years it’s a good practice to examine your beliefs and determine if they need to be replaced with a more
empowering one.
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belief
Example of old belief: It’s my belief that to be successful, I need
to give up too much in order to gain success. It’s not worth it.
Example of new empowering belief: It’s my belief that I can be
successful without sacrificing my personal life and family. All I need to do is schedule my day that produces a better use of my time.
Challenge: Ask yourself the tough questions. What do you really
believe about selling, money and success? Uncover your core beliefs and identify those that need a more empowering
replacement.
ACTION STEP: Keep a journal dedicated to your sales successes.
Every time you have a win, or you’ve master a selling skill, list it in your journal. Why? So you have evidence of your successes.
When the next sales slump hits or you start doubting yourself, your journal will be a wealth of information. It will serve as a reminder of all the things you do right. It’s a visual of your sales report card and your progress. Your journal will reinforce your belief in YOU!
belief
Breaking the belief barrier in sales
It doesn’t matter what business you’re in, everyone in sales struggles off and on with their own belief
barrier…especially when things are not going well. Right? And actually it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, if you’re not careful. Let’s look at the Belief Cycle.
AVERAGE SALES PERSON
The chart below is an average sales person with average results. He/She believes they’ve reached maximum potential because of the results they experience by their actions. They believe this is as good as it gets. Some may be frustrated. Some may believe it’s the
product or company but not them. Some may really not believe in what they are doing. Nevertheless, they come to “expect” average. Here’s how the Belief Barrier is formed. Ms. Sales Person believes she has average potential. Why? Because she has a belief barrier about her true potential based on an experience in her past. Maybe she has a lack of confidence because she’s never taken the time to really learn and study sales. So her competency level is low, thus affecting her confidence. Does she have potential to be a top sales person, absolutely. However, because of her low competency skills, she “believes” otherwise.
belief
SO her vicious cycle takes off with a mindset of average potential. This leads to little effort, or the wrong type of effort, which equals little results thus reinforcing her limited belief in her success as a sales person. Her limited belief reinforces her average potential. And around the circle she goes again wondering if she’ll ever make it.
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Average
Potential Effort Little
Limited
Belief ResultsLittle
Potential
Belief
Action
belief
Now let’s look at a top sales person. He has an entirely different type of mindset, because he has already blown away his belief barrier.
He is living, breathing and working at his greatest potential everyday. Why? Because he takes massive action in order to achieve his goals. The massive action creates great results. His great results reinforce his strong belief in his abilities. His strong belief reinforces he is living and working at his greatest potential. At this level, he is asking what’s next…I know I can get to the next level! And he can and will.
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Greatest Potential
Belief
Action
Results
Certainty MassiveAction
Reinforce strong belief
Great Results
belief
So how does the average sale person jump from average potential to massive action?
• Improve competency in sales, which will increase confidence. • Increased confidence leads to small successes.
• Small successes lead to bigger ones that start to crack the belief barrier.
BUT…you need to do one more important step….You need to get real. Ask yourself these belief questions:
• How bad do you really want it?
• Are you willing to put in the time, training, and hours it will take to turn your potential around to break your belief barrier.
• Are you willing to step out of your comfort zone and risk more rejection?
• WHY do you want it?
You cannot trick yourself into performing at your greatest potential until you have dug deep and asked yourself the most important question of WHY? Why do you want it?
Immerse your mind into learning. Is this right for you? Get Clear! Make it a MUST for you
belief
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It all starts in your head. It starts with visualizing your greatest potential. Feel it. See it in your mind. Experience the awesome confidence you’ll have as a result of getting what you want.
Take time everyday to visualize your success. Don’t discount this action step as silly or nonsensical. Great athletes set aside time to “practice” in their mind before the game. It should become your daily habit. Your mind is a powerful tool…use it, control it and utilize it to work for you at your greatest potential!
selling actions
What activities are filling up your day? Are they selling actions or busy work?
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Selling Actions
Sit down today, and seriously think about all the activities you do through out your day and week. So many times when reviewing client’s daily activities 80% of their day is spent on action items that will never produce sales. Think about that. Only 20% of the day is spent on action items that can lead to sales. Why? We have a natural tendency to do the things we like first and put off those tasks we avoid like the plague!
Example: You may hate doing research on a potential client.
You’d rather be talking to him face to face.
So your lack of research may weaken your outcome with the face-to-face meeting because you didn’t thoroughly prepare. You’ll tell yourself, ‘it won’t matter, or I have enough to go on.’ The truth is, you know you didn’t do enough research.
Example: Your pipeline is weak. Sales are declining. Your priority
should be doing all the action steps to fill up your pipeline again. Instead you’re chasing dead prospects that will never buy, which fuels the false evidence into a belief that you can’t sell.
selling actions
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Challenge: Take one day this week and keep a list of every
activity you do through out the day. If you’re surfing the web shopping, or watching movie trailers, instead of working, write it down. Be aware of how much time you spend on each activity whether it’s work related or mindless activities like computer Solitaire! Examine the activities and categorize them into selling activities or time wasters.
Here are a few examples of selling activities: -Research on a potential client
-Prospecting activities such as networking -Email campaigns
-Follow-up phone calls
-Meeting with clients and potential clients -Practicing your presentation
-Lunch and learns
And there are many, many more! You get the idea.
TRY THIS! Structure your day in 30-minute intervals with activities
that are centered on selling. This will keep you focused and on track. Put all your activities into your cell phone calendar. Set an alarm with each activity to keep you moving forward. You’ll be
surprised how much more you’ll accomplish. This will stop the time wasters too.
consistency
This is the single BIGGEST problem I find with sales people…. staying consistent.
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CONSISTENCY
Oh, you might start off great with that email campaign. You might even receive comments of appreciate from your clients on the articles you send. After about 3 months, though, it starts to become a hassle, and your enthusiasm to provide valuable content to your clients begin to wane. Before you know it, you stop. And you tell yourself it’s not working or it doesn’t bring any value …to you!
So many times, people stop waaayyyy too soon instead of being patient and allowing the seed you’ve planted to grow.
Be consistent. Be patient. Trust. Give freely without any expectations in return and ….
Be consistent about giving. Be consistent about follow-up. Be consistent with networking. Be consistent with selling activities
Be consistent in your branding message. Be consistent with your schedule each day.
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Consistency instills trust, confidence, being reliable, competent and professional. The consequence of being consistent is
establishing great selling habits.
Challenge: Take a hard look and determine what activities you
need to be consistent in that can produce sales and give value. I can’t stress enough the value of being consistent. If you find yourself overwhelmed, then drill down on the selling activities that will truly bring you and your clients/prospects the most value.
Make a plan to be consistent in those activities and then be 100% committed. If you do nothing else in this article….commit to being consistent. Few are consistent. So be different. Be consistent and you’ll stand out from the competition!
bonus
Do you find yourself scratching your head wondering why the prospect didn’t buy? Were you absolutely certain he would?
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8 Tips on the Psychology of How
People Buy
Here are 8 Tips on the psychology of how people buy.
1. Decisions to buy are made emotionally.
People buy based on a feeling, a need, or an emotion. Rarely do people buy based on logic. Discover while talking to the prospect “What is the Emotional hot button,” This helps you to know what he wants and to finds ways to help him get it. (See example below.)
2. Decisions are rationalized with facts.
People buy on emotions but they justify their decision with facts.
Example: A man walks into a Cadillac dealership to look at his dream car. He needs a car, but was planning on buying a Buick. A salesman shows him a year old Cadillac that is affordable. He purchases the car because it’s his dream car. He justifies his decision by saying it will give him credibility in his business. It was a great price. It came with a valuable warranty. He wants the car because of how it makes him feel. He purchases the Cadillac when he can rationalizes it.
bonus
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3. Decisions are egocentric
It’s all about me. What’s in it for me? How’s this going to help me? Is this a good price for me?
These are the thoughts floating through your prospects mind. People make buying decisions based on their needs not what you think they need.
4. Value first
People want to know their getting a good deal. They want to know if they pay a higher price, will it be worth it and does it give them the advantage. How different are you from what others have to offer? 5. People think in terms of people
Relate to people in terms of video testimonials, written
recommendations. Personalize the selling process to the buyer. 6. You can’t force people
Show what you offer can meet the prospect’s needs. Show that your product is different because of the value you bring with it as a
resource.
7. People love to buy
In other words, people want to be treated fairly, and not tricked or manipulated into buying. Instead of “selling” the prospect, “help” the prospect.
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8. People are looking for more
People are always on search for the next deal, the bigger house, the dream job, or the ultimate client. People spend their entire life
searching for the next big thing!
Your clients are also searching for the best company, the best product. So your customer service better be the best!
Personal Story: It’s been my experience when a sale is lost, rarely
does the sales person take responsibility. It could never be the sales person’s fault! I use to think that way. Oh, I remember all the ridiculous rationalizations I use to make for my pitiful sales.
My territory was too saturated.
The competition came in with a game changer product. Prices are too high.
I have a crappy territory.
It’s a slow season and no one wants to buy. There’s nothing new to offer our existing clients.
A sales coach I hired years ago said something to me that I’ve never forgotten. At the time, I was really struggling in sales. I had successes in the past, but I had really fallen into a slump. I gave every excuse possible to the sales coach, pointing out it wasn’t my fault.
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So she asked me one question that shook me to my core…
“If it’s not your fault, then who’s is it?”
It makes me laugh now just thinking how ridiculous I sounded! Selling doesn’t need to be complicated and you can make it simple. Here are the top two simple steps I live by:
Always align with the prospect to help. Be consistent with your plan of action.
close
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Stay Connected
Thank you for reading my eBook.
My hope is I can help you in some small way through my life's journey of selling. You CAN be a sales sensation. If I can help you in anyway just reach out through the different ways below.
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I WANT to hear from you! Stay connected and tell me your sales story!
EMAIL: [email protected] WEBSITE: www.christineharrington.org TWITTER: @salesharrington
YOUTUBE: Christine Harrington Channel NEWSLETTER: http://bit.ly/1zrLogO
REMEMBER: Sales is a Journey, not a Quick Trip Around the Block! If you're ready to start working with me for personal sales coaching, go to this link http://www.christineharrington.org/store.html
and complete the form. Indicate "I'M READY"! OR just click on the
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about
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Christine is a sales person just like you! She understands your highs and lows in selling, because she's been in the trenches with you for the last forty years.
It hasn't always been sunshine and lollipops for her. She struggled in sales, just like you. She changed it all and rose up from the ranks of an average sales gal to the top performer. How? By tossing out the selling "systems" and learning the new way to sell.
Christine was personally hand picked, trained and certified by the King of Selling, Jeffrey Gitomer! She offers all of Jeffrey's workshops to
train you and your sales team! PLUS her business has rapidly
expanded to personal one on one sales coaching, for those that want the personal touch!
BUT here's her goal...Christine's passionate about helping you. She told "Faith Positive Radio" in a recent interview, "I never had a mentor. I never had anyone to show me the ropes. That's why I'm passionate about helping sales people." You can hear Christine's interview
here. http://bit.ly/1jeF3PP
Follow Christine. Grab all the free articles, YouTube training video's and eBooks. She loves giving to YOU!
