Category: Articles

Blog posts that are articles.

Human Behavior has Changed; Most Sales Methods Have Not

Human behavior has changed considerably in the past fifty years.  One of the primary drivers has been Information Overload.  In 1975 it was estimated that the average US citizen was exposed to an average of 200 informational messages a day.  By 1984, after the advent of the personal computer, a joint study by a few universities said it had jumped to 1450 informational messages per day; and more recent estimates are much higher.  The odds are that anything anyone is interested in will have been exposed to them within any given year. 

The average educated person is far more sophisticated now.  Most people have developed automatic sales resistance reactions.  That is why typical cold-calling techniques have become inefficient and warm-calling is becoming effective. 

What has not changed in human nature is that almost everyone makes decisions emotionally and then justifies their decisions with logic.  Yet, almost all selling systems are still based on logical ways of “moving” people’s minds through the Five Step Buying Decision Model (AIDCA = Attention-Interest-Desire-Conviction-Action).  Pretty soon someone will add a P (for Pain) to “modernize” that scheme.  Nevertheless, Needs Selling systems create negative emotional reactions, which then must be overcome before a sale can be made. 

Most of the best salespeople have discovered major sales process improvements that adjust to the new behaviors as follows:

  • They find and make appointments only with prospects who are ready, willing, and able to buy their products and services.
  • They develop deep personal relationships of mutual trust and respect with their prospects during the first meeting.
  • They determine the prospect’s buying intentions and capacity, and their conditions of satisfaction.
  • They arrive at mutual agreements and mutual commitments that culminates in a sale.
  • They temporarily disqualify the prospect at any time during the sales process if they are not committed to getting to a closed sale. 

Cold Calling Fear: Facing the Elephant in the Room

All salespeople feel it, but no one wants to talk about it:  the fear of cold calling.  As  a sales and business coach, I’ve often heard the following comments from salespeople I have coached:

  • “I feel like I’m bothering people by calling them.”
  • “I think I need another sales course to get up to speed.”
  • “I need a better list.”

“I feel like I’m bothering
people by calling them.”

These comments are ways of not thinking about the elephant in the room:  the fear of cold calling.  We don’t like admitting we are afraid.  It’s embarrassing, so we unconsciously invent creative ways to avoid thinking and talking about it.  And that’s OK; we’re all human.  But if we want to be truly successful in sales, we’ll have to find ways to surmount the fear barrier.

Traditional sales methods gloss over the fear of cold calling with useless admonitions of, “You need to develop a thicker skin”, and “You just need to make more calls.”  Additionally, most salespeople have been trained to use manipulative language which automatically causes resistance in the prospect.  As consumers, we have been trained from birth to be suspicious of and resistant towards sales people.  No wonder it doesn’t work.

But top salespeople have found ways to drill into and dismantle their own fears so they can actually pick up the phone without getting paralyzed.  In my experience as a coach, the two best ways to get beyond the fear are, 1) use a sales method which minimizes fear and, 2) use an accountability partner who holds the salesperson to his commitments.

The best sales method I have found is High Probability Selling, which reduces fear of rejection dramatically and almost completely eliminates sales resistance.  The process itself was developed by Jacques Werth, of Media, Pennsylvania.  As well as being a master salesman in his own right, Werth also studied the top 1% of salespeople in many industries and distilled the methods they were using into a teachable process that dramatically reduces fear and resistance and increases closing rates.  Werth has been successfully passing on his knowledge in a variety of books, teleseminars and on-site trainings for many years.

The other element to conquering cold-calling fear is using an Accountability Partner.  These can come in different forms.  One might be a partnership with an office friend with whom you make agreements as to your calling commitments, checking in with one another regularly to compare and log results.  These are usually informal arrangements between friends or co-workers.  The partners decide what their arrangement will be.  Because of the informal nature of the partnership, the success of these arrangements is highly variable and depends on the commitment level of each partner.

Another more formal type of Accountability Partner is a Sales Accountability Coach, who is a trained professional who follows a systematic process which usually includes these elements:

  • Understanding the best selling mindset.  Good selling methodologies come from a mindset of abundance which prevents the neediness and groveling that demeans salespeople and turns off prospects.
  • Crafting and practicing a number of good phone offers.
  • Managing the fear.  Beyond good selling methodology, some coaches are also well-versed in psycho-physiological techniques that can further reduce the residual fear of the phone.
  • Getting a weekly commitment to phone prospecting, and then reporting and analyzing the results with the coach.  Knowing that his coach is depending on him and will be checking in with him on a weekly basis makes this the most powerful element of using an Accountability Partner.
  • Tracking the numbers.  According to Werth, the top sales people know their numbers: calls, appointments, sales.  Having a system for tracking your numbers and using it consistently is absolutely essential.

Accountability Coaching is accomplished through weekly meetings, usually over the phone.  Because the salesperson is paying a fee to the Accountability Coach, there is a strong incentive for the salesperson to actually accomplish the commitments he has made with the coach.

Tired of cold-calling fear?  As a coach, I have a few recommendations for you:

  • Pick up a copy of Jacques Werth’s book, High Probability Selling.  It is available at their website, www.HighProbSell.com or at amazon.com.
  • Consider using some type of accountability partner to break through the fear.

Fear:  we all feel it, even if we sometimes don’t want to acknowledge it and we don’t know what to do about it.  It most likely will continue to attempt derailing our efforts.  The most accomplished salespeople find ways to stare it down and step over it into the success they are seeking.

Elizabeth Blane is a Sales Accountability Coach and lives in San Diego, California.  Phone 858-240-7730

Highly Successful Salespeople Do What Unsuccessful People Are Not Willing to Do

Do you really know what the most successful ones actually do?

by Jacques Werth and Carl Ingalls

Most salespeople say they will do “whatever it takes” to make a sale.  They think this means they should work longer, harder, and be more persuasive.  The vast majority of average performers believe in and practice some form of persuasive selling.  They do it the best way they know how and they work very hard at it.

However, that is not what the most successful salespeople do.  They sell very differently from the rest, and they do it with much less effort. 

We have observed and documented the practices and attitudes of hundreds of the most highly successful salespeople – the top one percent by sales volume – in twenty-three industries.  We watched and listened while they interacted with nearly two thousand prospects and customers, and we took careful notes.  We discovered that very few of them can articulate their sales processes and attitudes because they sell intuitively and “do their own thing”. 

We analyzed our notes to determine what the most highly successful salespeople actually do that the rest of the salespeople do not do.  We compiled their methods and attitudes into a process that can be taught to other salespeople.  We call this High Probability Selling. 

We have found that many of the less successful salespeople truly are not willing to do what the most successful salespeople do.  They are not willing to abandon their beliefs in persuasive selling, and adopt the practices and attitudes of the most successful salespeople. 

But some are ready for a big change.

Favorable Front of the Mind Awareness

An earlier version of this article was posted on Business Insurance Agents on 12 March 2009.

Suppose you are watching a James Bond movie and Agent 007 says to another character, “Tomorrow I am going to pick up my dream car.”  If you know much about Agent 007, you will immediately have a mental picture of a gleaming white Aston-Martin hardtop.  If you are not familiar with the James Bond character you will probably picture your own “dream car” whatever it is;  perhaps it’s a Porsche, Corvette, Ferrari, or Lexis.

That describes a powerful marketing concept called “Front of the Mind Awareness.”  A refinement of that concept, which is applicable to excellent telephone prospecting, is “Favorable Front of the Mind Awareness.” 

Get a list of six hundred prospects that meet the demographic criteria of companies or individuals that buy the type of products and services that you sell.  You can call those people every three to four weeks, providing that you change your prospecting offer every time you call.  The first time you call the list, about seven percent of them will ask you not to call them anymore;  so don’t.  That leaves you with about 560 prospects on your list.  It is easy to contact that many every three to four weeks.

If the way you do your prospecting leaves those people feeling good about each call they receive from you, you will be developing Favorable Front of the Mind Awareness in most of their minds.  That means that anytime they are exposed to marketing, advertising, or cold calls about your type of products and services, most of them will immediately have favorable thoughts of you.

If you call them more frequently, a higher percentage will become your customers.  However, if you push them for an appointment or try to engage them in a sales conversation, that will create the opposite effect. 

People buy in their own time, for their own reasons. They do not buy because you need to make a sale this week. It is important that you are in frequent contact with your whole list so that you are there when they want to buy what you have to offer. The more often they hear from you, provided that your calls are very brief, informative, and free of any pressure, the greater positive affect it will have on your prospect’s minds.  That will continuously increase Favorable Front of the Mind Awareness. 

The end result is that almost all of your appointments will be with people who want to buy what you have been offering them.  After they become your customers, provided that you continue to call them at the same intervals, they will be loyal clients for years to come.

You can learn more about this kind of prospecting by going to www.HighProbSell.com.

10 Tips for Prospecting Success

by Jacques Werth

The ability to prospect efficiently, effectively and enjoyably will enable you to meet with prospects that need, want and can afford your products and services – now. Your confidence will soar and empower you to develop a consistently superior income stream.

1. Start with a highly targeted telephone prospecting list, consisting of people or companies that are most likely to buy your type of products and services. Use a highly reputable list broker to find such a list. Start with a list of no more than 600 names. You cannot afford to develop your own list; It is much too time consuming. If you already have a book of business, follow this prospecting process with your existing clients as if they are new prospects.

2. Call every name on your list every 3-4 weeks. Understand that only a small percentage of your list will be ready to buy the first time that you call. Many more will be ready each successive time that you call. People buy in their own time for their own reasons; not because you have to make a sale this week. Calling them frequently is vital to prospecting success.

3. Present a “prospecting offer” of no more than 45 words that clearly states who you are, what you are selling, and two features of your product or service. Finish up with “Is that what you want?” Each time you call, change the two features. That will prevent most prospects from getting annoyed. It will also eliminate most of the rejection that is caused by traditional cold calling.

4. If the prospect says “No” or “I am not interested,” you say “Okay, good bye.” Do not press for an appointment. Do not try to engage the prospect in a conversation or ask any questions. This will be the most pleasant sales call they ever get. It will assure that very few prospects will ask you not to call again.

5. Schedule your prospecting sessions for 3½ hours. Take a fifteen-minute break between each hour. This is more productive than five prospecting sessions of one hour each.

6. Tape yourself. Use a tape recorder with an open microphone to tape your side of each call. Start the tape when the prospect answers. Listen to how you sound. The goal is to hear yourself using your usual conversational tones. Do not try to sound like a professional salesperson. Do not come across as overly enthusiastic, unusually friendly, or enticing. Just relax and present your offer without persuasion.

7. Always be in a “Disqualification” mode. Be determined to spend your selling time only with High Probability Prospects. Disqualify Low Probability Prospects quickly and courteously. Don’t allow desperation or anxiousness to deter you from your mission. If the prospect says “Yes,” you ask “Why?” Let the prospect convince you that he/she is a High Probability Prospect.

8. Accept the fact that prospecting really is a “numbers game.” The most important numbers are your Dials per Hour and the ratio of prospecting Offers to Dials. Most agents dial at least fifty numbers per hour.

9. Keep accurate records of your prospecting sessions. We have trained thousands of agents to be successful prospectors. The most successful keep accurate records. The least successful don’t. The act of keeping records will enable your subconscious mind to constantly improve your results.

10. Most top producers make fewer appointments, but close most of the prospects they meet.

You can learn more about efficient, effective, and enjoyable prospecting by going to www.HighProbSell.com.

Prospecting and the Gatekeeper

By Miles Sonkin, High Probability® Selling

If you’re calling business to business, and you’re reaching the administrative assistant, chances are that they know all about what the decision maker wants and doesn’t want.

The concept of getting past the gatekeeper usually ends badly. This article provides a different approach.

Q. When making prospecting calls, the prospect often ‘isn’t in’. When should I call next? Won’t the gatekeeper get irritated if I keep calling?

A. Here’s how we handle this common, and frustrating, situation in High Probability Selling:

Joe Prospect, please.

“Who’s calling?”

This is Miles Sonkin with High Probability Selling.

“Is Mr. Prospect expecting your call?”

No he isn’t. Are you Mr. Prospect’s gatekeeper?

“Well … yes.”

I am calling Mr. Prospect to make a twenty second offer. Is it okay if I make the offer to you right now and you can determine if you are willing to put me through, or not?

“Sure.”

[Give Offer] … Is this something Mr. Prospect would want?

At large companies, the gatekeeper typically knows Mr. Prospect’s business as well as he does, and can answer the question with a “Yes,” “Probably” or “No” answer. When you get a “Yes” or “Probably,” they’ll do one of the following:

  • Put you through to Mr. Prospect, if he’s available
  • Specifically ask you to leave the message on Mr. Prospect’s voicemail. (When this happens, leave the message, but start it with: “This is Miles Sonkin with High Probability Selling. I just spoke with Gatekeeper Name, your assistant, and after I told her why I was calling, she specifically asked me to leave you a voicemail message, because she thought it was something you might want.” Then give your offer and leave your phone number.
    Take as much time as needed to write your message down and commit to reading it to Mr. Prospect.
  • If the gatekeeper is not willing to put you through, say, “OK…Goodbye.”

This type of conversation rarely happens because other aspects of the HPS prospecting method make this type of conversation rarely necessary. There are a number of factors, one of which is calling with a new offer every 3-4 weeks. This makes gatekeeper blocks an increasing rarity for the HPS prospector.

Recession: A Good Time to Sell

We published this article early last year (2008) but it seemed worth revisiting given current events.

What Good is a Recession?

Whether a recession is generally spread across all industries, or localized to just your industry, it is a great time to be selling. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters (3 month periods) when economic activity, i.e. total sales, is lower than the two preceding quarters. In severe recessions ales have been as much as 15 percent lower than the two preceding quarters. That means that (only) 85 percent of your market is still buying. However, most of your competitors will have substantially cut back on their sales efforts. They often cut back by 50 percent or more.

A Time to Sell More, Not Less

In the 1980s, at the start of the personal computer era, there were 151 computer manufacturers in the USA. Due to over-production, the industry went into a tailspin. Fifty-two of those computer manufacturers went bankrupt in the first year of that industry recession. At that time, I was the Executive VP of a company that provided manufacturing equipment and tools to the computer industry.

Most of our competitors, the suppliers to the computer industry, feared the recession. So, they cut back on their sales and marketing efforts. However, our company hired and trained more salespeople, and we increased our marketing efforts. And, that was a period of maximum growth for our company.

Think about it! During that recession, 99 of the original 151 computer manufacturers were still building and selling computers. And, their average sales went up because their failed competitors could no longer supply computers to the market. There were 33 percent fewer computer suppliers in a market that was buying 15 percent fewer computers. Therefore, the computer companies that survived did an average of 18 percent more business. However, our company’s sales to the computer industry increased by almost 100 percent because most of our competitors made themselves weaker due to their fear of the recession. While we were expanding, many of our competitors failed.

A Good Time to Gain Market Share

Even companies that have a very large market share should continue their levels of sales and marketing during a recession. That has been proven in the auto industry where American manufacturers are managed for profitability per quarter and Japanese manufacturers are managed for long-term growth. While the American car companies have cut back on marketing and sales during recessions, Japanese car companies have continued at pre-recession levels. Thus, the Japanese gained market share during the recessions and they held onto their market share gains when the recessions ended.

Adjust Your Sales Process

Whether you are running a company or your own book of business, you should be able to considerably increase your success during a recession. However, it is not “business as usual.” Having a highly effective sales process is more important than ever. You must be able to efficiently find and identify the high probability prospects. You must be able to work with them on the basis of mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual commitments.

This recession can be a good time for you.

He’s Got the Magic

I went into five automobile showrooms, all with the same make cars, in order to choose the one where I bought my last car.

My experience at the first four dealerships, after their big toothed smile greetings, each salesperson assured me that I would get the best deal and the best service if I bought a car from them; especially if I bought it on that day.

At the fifth dealership, a very large one, a salesperson named Walt asked me, “Do you want to buy a car, or would you like me to leave you alone while you look at the models on the floor?”

I said, “I want to buy a car” and I told him which model I wanted.

He said, “Who will be driving your new car?”

I said, “Mostly me, but sometimes my wife. She is going to drive our luxury gas guzzler, and I’m going to drive the new one to and from work.”

He said, “Does she need to be in on the decision to buy?”

I said, “Yes, but only to select the exterior and interior colors.”

He said, “What kind of work do you do?”

“I’m a sales consultant and trainer,” I said.

“I wish I had some good sales training before I got into this business,” he said. “I had to learn the hard way.”

“Most good salespeople learn the hard way,” I said. “What’s the most important thing you learned about sales?”

Walt replied, “I came to realize that the prospects are always in control and they want to be treated with respect.”

Later on, when I returned to pick up the car, I asked who the top salesperson in the agency was and they said, “Definitely that would be Walt, even though he’s kind of quiet and reserved…but he’s got something…he’s got the magic.”

Persuasion is a Great Way to Sell If…

Another story from my observations of top producer selling methods…

Bill Silvers was the top producer for the largest textile manufacturer in North America. He was the second of hundreds of top salespeople that I observed working with prospects and customers. During the first sales visit that I went on with him, he was showing his company’s new seasonal textile samples to the owner of a dress manufacturing company. The owner said, “Bill, none of these samples are what we want for this spring’s line. We’re going in a different direction.”

Bill said, “Okay Manny. How about telling me about any changes you plan for your summer line?” They discussed that for the next fifteen minutes and then we left.

Walking to his car, I asked Bill why he didn’t try to persuade the customer that his samples would sell. He said, “Manny knows his business far better than I do. If I tried to persuade him, he would feel disrespected, resist my persuasion and he would resent me for trying. This way, I kept his respect and enhanced the probability of doing business with him in another few months.”

Persuasion is a great way to sell if you can find people who want to be persuaded to buy. But, think about how you would react when someone tried to persuade you to buy something you did not want. You would probably resist and resent them, too. That is why prospects who want to be persuaded are so rare that finding them is a real long shot.

If you really think you are a good persuader then you probably make appointments with people who are interested in your products and services. Interested people may seem to be in need of persuasion, though they seldom want to be persuaded and most of them resist. Salespeople who prospect and sell that way make loads of appointments. However, most of them don’t do much business.

Salespeople who think they are not great persuaders often sell a lot more. They gain a big advantage by focusing on finding and making appointments only with people who already want to buy what they are selling.

Good Selling,
Jacques
______________________________________

If you want to read more about the advantages of not persuading, the first 4 chapters of our book is available online.

If you want to experience what it feels like to talk with a High Probability salesperson, give us a call at 800-394-7762 (disconnected in 2015 – see updated contact page).

The Reality of Selling

Fifty-one years ago I began to study selling — not just because I’m a curious, analytical type, but because I’ve always had a burning desire to succeed. When I was young I learned that big money can be made in sales and I wanted “my share.” Later, I realized that only a tiny percentage of the people who entered the sales profession ever make it big.

Disappointment

Getting my first college degree, majoring in Sales, I aced all my sales courses. In my first sales job, I quickly came to realize that what I learned in college about selling didn’t work for me. After taking many other sales courses, I learned most corporate and commercial sales trainers don’t teach effective selling, either.

So, I set out to find the best salespeople, in a wide range of industries, to see what they did that other salespeople didn’t do. Over the years, I’ve gone out on sales calls with hundreds of the best salespeople and learned that the top 1% of all salespeople don’t sell the way the other 99% sell. Nearly everything they do is different than how most experts believe selling is done.

Discovery – Honesty is the “Magic Bullet”

The most surprising thing I discovered is that most of the best salespeople are totally honest in their work. They’re honest with their prospects and customers, and they’re honest with themselves. Through intuition and experience, they’ve learned that deception, including self-deception, is the enemy of sales success.

Real Measurement – Real Results

You’ve often heard that “sales is a numbers game.” One of the big differences between the top producers and the other 99% is they know their numbers; their real numbers. Top salespeople keep records of their sales activities every day, and they analyze their statistics every day. They know exactly how and where to focus their efforts for the best results.

An Uncomfortable Reality

Most salespeople don’t know how to sell very well, but they often believe they do. One of their biggest barriers to success is that they don’t know their numbers, and they don’t want to know. That makes it easy to lie to themselves about what is working and what isn’t.

When asked, many salespeople report and really believe that their closing rates are at least twice as high as they actually are. If they really knew their numbers, they would have to face the truth about their skills and beliefs. Then, they would have to change what they’re doing and how they think.

Change can be very uncomfortable. Reality can also be uncomfortable. For many, it’s more comfortable to lie to themselves than to change what they do every day. That’s why most salespeople fail, and many of those who survive continue to struggle to make a good living.

False But Promising Prospects

Most salespeople spend most of their time on appointments with prospects that “have great potential,” but seldom buy from them. The average salesperson goes through all of the motions that look like selling, but fails to bring in much business. They often believe that more appointments are the solution, but are too busy to make that possible. Top producers know that just getting more appointments is not the answer.

Average salespeople seldom truly qualify their prospects. They rarely disqualify their prospects, either. If they did, they would need to find new prospects — but they don’t know how to prospect effectively, efficiently and enjoyably.

Real Relationships. Real Selling.

We’ve seen what top producers actually do when they’re selling. We know what works and what doesn’t.

“Building Rapport” does not work. It actually creates much of the resistance and rejection most salespeople have to live with, and suffer with, every day. Developing relationships of Mutual Trust and Mutual Respect works.

“Overcoming Objections” does not work. Preventing the resistance that makes objections necessary does work. Most top producers work in an objection-free zone. They practice total disclosure and are real with their clients about what they are offering. They respect the decisions that their prospects make.

We know how top salespeople get commitments dozens of times during each sales visit without any pressure on their prospects or themselves. They don’t use trial closes or other closing techniques. They don’t focus on the right words for getting people to move forward. In reality, it’s so much easier than that.

Read a Story About It

The essence of our book, “High Probability Selling,” is a story about how a salesperson learns how top producers actually sell. It’s about learning a selling process that makes it highly probable that you’ll close the majority of your prospects, by doing the opposite of what many salespeople believe about selling.

The first four chapters are available to read online here.