Start Selling More

1. Thinking you’ve got the right stuff from the get go! Once you think you’ve got it, you’ve had it!

Don't be too quick to be full of yourself. And remember - you probably don't know what you don't know. That's a scary proposition!

It's been said, "Once you're done changing, you're done!"

So become a student of selling. Don't let a day go by without learning something new about your new profession - sales.

Create file folders with these labels:

>>> Goal setting
>>> Time management
>>> Account management
>>> Territory management
>>> Telephone skills
>>> Prospecting
>>> Asking questions
>>> Sales proposals
>>> Negotiating
>>> Value added selling
>>> Communicating skills
>>> Sales force automation

You will become what you read!

The more you learn - the more you'll earn! There's a direct connection between them.

Make it a point to visit www.ezinearticles.com every week. You'll find thousands of free articles you can download.

Next, you can download, print, read and add articles to your file folders. It's a great way to stay ahead of your competition.

Here are five books you should have in your personal library.

You can find these books using this link. http://meisenheimer.com/aboutjim_salestraining/sales_read.shtml

1. Made To Stick – Heath brothers
2. Irresistible Offer – Mark Joyner
3. How To Win Friends And Influence People – Dale Carnegie
4. The 12 Best Questions To As Customers – Jim Meisenheimer
5. The Greatest Salesman In The World - Og Mandino

Here on five magazines you should consider subscribing to if you want to be well informed about business:

1. Business 2.0
2. Fast Company
3. Inc.
4. Entrepreneur Magazine
5. Fortune

If you’re well read, you'll be well informed!

And - well informed people make good conversationalists.

And good conversationalists make great salespeople.

2. The second biggest mistake salespeople make is believing the more you talk the more impressive you’ll be . . . actually the less you say, the smarter you’ll sound.

Most salespeople just don't get this. Most of you are hired because of your ability to communicate - your ability to talk. So when you're seated across a desk with a live customer is it no wonder you begin chattering away?

Please don't think I'm picking on you. I used to do the same things myself. I could talk fast, I could complete other peoples sentences for them, I could get mugged by my own mouth, which sad to think about happened more than I care to remember.

Selling really isn't about talking. Selling is more about listening. You don't start with what you have - your product/service. You start with your customer’s need to solve a particular problem.

If this isn't bad enough - talking too much - most salespeople are lousy listeners. It's no wonder why so many salespeople are just plain mediocre. They’re all making the same mistakes.

If you want to increase your sales and make a ton of money you should learn how to employ your ears before you engage your mouth. Another way of saying this is you should make asking open-ended questions a very high priority every day.

Wisdom has never been associated with excessive talking and babble. Wisdom comes from learning and listening. Wisdom is seldom loud but rather quiet. Some of the best salespeople I've ever interviewed have been quiet and soft-spoken as they go about their business of solving customer problems.

Here’s a choice many salespeople fail to consider. The choice is, you can chase customers or you can attract them. What makes people attracted to you? Is it your nonstop talking? Is it knowing the answers even before you ask the questions? Not really!

If you’re new to sales or even an experienced sales rep, you should recognize that you don't know a lot about anything until you ask questions. You should also know, given the situation, the more you talk the dumber you'll sound.

As you might imagine, when you meet people for the first time you’re being judged on your first impression. Two things influence first impressions - how you look and how you sound.

You can look really good and blow it by sounding really bad. You can remedy this by paying attention to your appearance and paying equal attention to what you say during the sales call.

This gives new meaning to the old saying "Less is more."

To sum it all up - if you’re in sales the less you say, the more you'll sell!

Well, that's a wrap. Now you have the 2 biggest mistakes most salespeople make. If you've been selling for less than 18 months you might be interested in learning what the other 8 biggest mistakes are so you can avoid making the top 10 biggest mistakes.

I've written a Special Report titled, "The 10 Biggest Mistakes New Salespeople Make And How To Avoid Making Them."

There's a good chance you're making some of these mistakes and it's probably costing you some business and personal income.

"The 10 Biggest Mistakes New Salespeople Make And How To Avoid Making Them" is available as an eBook or in print version.

You can get it for less than ten bucks - see the details here:


Sales Management Tip

If your fiscal year is a calendar year, you should give some thought to having your Kickoff sales meeting in December or very early in January. I've heard all the reasons why some companies can't do this.

But to have your Kickoff meeting late January, February, or even in March is not using good judgment, in my opinion.

Imagine you're a sales representative and you get your 12 month sales plan 1.5 months into the New Year. It sends the wrong message - and you come out of the gate slower than an overweight tortoise.

Just because you've always done it this way, is no reason to continue to do it this way.

I'm available for in-house (Your location) Sales Training programs in December and January. Please call (800) 266-1268 to discuss the possibilities.

On another note . . .

Early Bird Registration Special for my next Sales Training Boot Camp is $997, which means you save $400 smackaroos. This special price is limited to 20 (15 still available) people and expires 12/31/07 whichever comes first.
You can get more information here.

Time Saver Tip

During a presentation, usually when you’re speaking, have you ever caught a potential customer trying to sneak a peak at his watch? Of course, you have, and so have I, up until I made a discovery. What I learned was that potential customers looked at their watches when I was talking, not when they were talking. They always become more interested in any subject when they are the ones doing the talking.

And the more they talk, the less likely they’ll be to look at their watches. And as a matter of fact, I’ve never seen a potential or actual customer look at their watches when they were talking.

Another reason to get your customers talking is that if they’re spending less time looking at their watches, you’ll get more quality time with them.

If you want more quality time with your prospects and customers always ask really good open-ended questions. The better the question, the more you’ll learn about the person you’re talking to.
Watches tell time. They don’t determine how much of it a customer will give you. Getting more time depends less on what you say and more about the questions you ask.

What's the value of a good question - priceless!

Source: An excerpt from Jim Meisenheimer's book, "57 Ways To Take Control Of Your Time And Your Life." You can get your copy here.

Sales Tip

Here is a fabulous definition of marketing - "Marketing is all the activities you do, big and small, to attract and retain customers."

Here's the sales tip for you. Don't leave marketing, in your territory, exclusively to your corporate marketing department.

I believe a sales person should be the chief marketing officer for his sales territory. Keep a file of ideas that are working for other businesses. You don't have to invent anything. There are marketing ideas you can use all over the place.

If you really have an open mind you can find ideas every day in the Sports and Business section of almost every daily newspaper. But your mind has to be open.
Try it!

Words of Wisdom

I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts. John LockeWell done is better than well said. Benjamin Franklin

Between saying and doing many a pair of shoes is worn out. Italian Proverb

After all is said and done, a lot more will have been said than done. Author Unknown

Rants, Raves, and Other Loose Ends

I wanted to thank you for your eCourse, “The Art of Closing the Sale” and also for your newsletters! I used some part from each lesson during the course of my sales meetings.

One of my sales reps was having a problem handling the "How much does it cost" question during his presentation. I gave him your response “It depends.”

He put this little lesson to use the very next day and had success immediately! A client interrupted him mid-sentence 3 minutes into his presentation and he quickly replied, “It depends.”

Then, he waited. Well, the client began answering his own question and our rep regained control and closed the deal!

Your courses are short, sweet and to the point! Looking forward to more words of wisdom from the “Sales Meister.”

Deb Eaton

The Art Of Closing The Sale


Start selling more . . .

Jim Meisenheimer

Publisher - Start Selling More Newsletter

19.5 years . . .

505 corporate customers . . .

83.3% repeat business . . .

(800) 266-1268

PS - Life is too short, so you may as well enjoy it! Here's the link for the Special Report

# posted by Jim Meisenheimer @ 11:31 AM