Craig McConnell, President, PrintGrowPro/SalesGrowPro
“Great selling is a process artfully done.”
Follow me on Twitter – http://twitter.com/printgrowpro
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Sales Tips 136, 137, 138, etc. etc.
*Don’t let the urgent outweigh what is really important in life.
*Lack of action implies acceptance.
*Your personal image is your ‘calling card’ to success. You are ‘on’ and in view of potential clients 24/7.
*Honest feedback is a gift. It can reveal a need for improvement that you might not have recognized.
*Know your competition and what makes you unique.
*No matter how high tech you get, nothing will replace your people skills.
And to close, a Havey Mackay’s networking tip of the week: “I don’t know what I’ll be doing a year from now, but what ever it is undoubtedly will be based on the contacts I make (and maintain) today.
Thanks for being here; have a super week and always remember: it’s up to you to build your own self esteem.
Craig McConnell, President, PrintGrowPro/SalesGrowPro
“Great selling is a process artfully done.”
Follow me on Twitter – http://twitter.com/printgrowpro
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I talked last week about Stuart Smalley (aka Senator Al Franken, Minnesota) and how he immortalized his version of ‘self talk’ on Saturday Night Live (see Sales 101: How Good Is Your Self Talk?)
I want continue this discussion today and talk about a natural end result of positive self talk - self confidence. Self confidence is extremely important in all aspects of our lives, but if you’re in sales, it’s a must.
Self confident people inspire confidence in others: their clients, their prospects, their peers, their friends, their family.
Your self confidence (or lack of same) can manifest itself in many ways: how you act, how you speak, your body language, your posture, etc.
We’ll talk about things you can do to learn how to improve your self confidence in some post Thanksgiving posts, but for today, I just want you to answer the following questions just to get an early guage on where your self confidence meter falls.
1) Do you wait for others to congratulate you on your accomplishments? Or are you constantly ‘blowing your own horn’ to as many people as possible as often as you can?
2) Do you admit your mistakes? Or do you prioritize finding ways to cover up and fix a problem before anyone notices?
3) Are you willing to take risks, to push yourself a little harder to achieve better things? Or, do you always stay in your comfort zone and avoid risks at all cost?
4) Do you always try to do what’s right? Or, is your behavior dictated by what others may say or think?
5) Do you accept compliments graciously (“Thanks; I worked hard on that; appreciate you noticing.”)? Or, do you just dismiss any compliment you may receive (“No big deal; anyone could have done it.”)?
Your answers to these questions will say a lot about you and your self confidence. Remember: Low self confidence can be frighteningly destructive, and since we are responsible for building our own self esteem, remind yourself daily: “I”m good enough. I”m smart enough. And gosh darn it, people like me.”
Thanks for being here; have a super weekend!
Craig McConnell, President, PrintGrowPro/SalesGrowPro
“Great selling is a process artfully done.”
Follow me on Twitter – http://twitter.com/printgrowpro
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I am not a scientist, but like every other author, self-help guru, motivational speaker, and life coach out there, I too believe that it’s all about attitude and in almost all cases, how we think determines how we act and how we feel.
Unless we learn how to change the way we think, we will never be able to change the way we live (and sell).
Unfortuately, for most of us, once we make up our minds on something, we become blind to other options; we are unable to see other possibilities. Your mind just blocks ‘stuff’ out. We become locked in our ‘comfort zones’ and end up making decisions based upon old ‘tapes’ and past personal histories.
Developing the habit of changing the way you think and learning to function outside of your comfort zones can be critical to your sales success.
How do you even start?
Well, you start by recognizing that it is not somebody else’s job to make us feel good about ourselves; we are responsible for our own self concept.
Take a quick look at this classic clip from SNL.
In the world of psycholinguistics, what Stuart was doing as he stared at himself in the mirror is called self talk.
Self talk is simply “you” evaluating or assessing “you”. It’s how you react to somebody else’s evaluation of your performance. It’s how you react to your own evaluation of your own performance.
Self talk is you building your own self concept; it’s you making a statement of ‘fact’ to yourself. It’s things you tell yourself every day that affirm that you are as cool as you think you are.
*I am always memorable.
*I give, with no expectation of receiving anything in return.
*I always look for the good in other people.
*I’m the friendliest, most helpful, most knowledgable sales person in the room.
*I am a great listener and can make a difference.
*I avoid arguments, don’t use sarcasm and am never mean.
*I am great at remembering peoples’ names.
Self Talk – give it a try; you’ll be pleasantly surprised; here’s one more:
“I am very lucky; I love life; and am confident about the future.”
Thanks for being here and remember: it’s up to us to build our own self esteem; so think positive and act accordingly – even if you have to fake it.
Craig McConnell, President, PrintGrowPro/SalesGrowPro
“Great selling is a process artfully done.”
Follow me on Twitter – http://twitter.com/printgrowpro
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Be memorable, have a great weekend, be truthful about how much time you are REALLY spending in front of prospects, and as we have been saying here in St. Louis since the end of August: never, never never give up!
Thanks for being here.
Craig McConnell, President, PrintGrowPro/SalesGrowPro
“Great selling is a process artfully done.”
Follow me on Twitter – http://twitter.com/printgrowpro
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Sales 101 (listening “tips” continued)
I talked last week about the importance, if you really want to become a great listener, of always maintaining eye contact.
This week I’m suggesting that you try to pay a little more attention to how you position your body.
I’m not claiming that this is ’rocket science’, but my goal, as always, is merely to increase your sense of awareness.
Here we go – Body Position.
When seated, if you’re leaning away from the person you’re speaking with, what’s the message? “Man, there are a bunch of other things I’d rather be doing right now; this is boring!”
On the other hand, if you turn your whole body toward the person and lean in, the message is reversed. “This is cool stuff. I really appreciate your insights.”
If you’re standing, make sure you give the other person some space. Use your personal preferences as a frame of reference. How do you like it if someone gets too close to you? Too far? As was the case when seated, leaning in says “I find what your saying to be fascinating.”
Never fold your arms across your body – wrong message.
Thought(s) for the Week
Be memorable and remember: you know all the stuff you have lying around that you’ll never want, need, wear or look at again? File it, donate it or throw it out.
Thanks for being here.
Craig McConnell, President, PrintGrowPro/SalesGrowPro
“Great selling is a process artfully done.”
Follow me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/printgrowpro
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Sales 101
I wrote earlier in the week about how important it is to your sales career to become a good listener. I’m going to continue down that path today.
How can you tell if someone is REALLY listening to you? What signs do you look for?
Let me give you one sure sign and I’ll make it real simple: if someone is not looking at you, he or she is not listening to you.
How does it make you feel when you’re talking to someone at a business function or a cocktail party and their eyes are all over the room? Doesn’t allow you to ‘feel the love’ does it?
So here’s my listening tip of the day: make and maintain eye contact (and to my way of thinking there is no such thing as too much).
Make it a habit to use direct eye contact when you are listening. Don’t look around the room. Don’t (ever) check your Iphone/Blackberry. Don’t look at their neck or ears or forehead. Stay with them until they are finished speaking. “Be There” for them.
As a listener, you can go from ‘good to great’, but you’ve got to want to change.
Thought(s) for the Day
Be memorable and remember: Great parents can have rotten kids and rotten parents can have great kids. But even though biology plays a huge role in destiny, that’s no excuse to give up or stop trying.
Craig McConnell, President, PrintGrowPro/SalesGrowPro
“Great selling is a process artfully done.”
Follow me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/printgrowpro
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Sales 101
Other than prospecting, the ability to listen is far and away the most important sales skill you can develop.
In his book Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman concluded that your ability to connect emotionally with people (your EQ) is as vital to your success, and perhaps even more so, than your IQ. He actually defined the most important element of EQ as empathy, or the ability to be aware of and sensitive to what people say and what they really mean.
Every course, every book, every article says pretty much the same thing: there are 4 key elements of effective listening. If you can figure a way to master them (a good way to start is simply by being more aware), your sales should skyrocket.
1) Listen Attentively: listen in silence, without interrupting. Nothing in the universe should be more important that what the other person is saying.
2) Before replying, pause: allow some silence to exist; don’t just jump right in as soon as the other person stops to breathe.
3) Always ask for clarification: the person who is asking questions is in control (Sales 101); and always ask short, succinct questions – in most cases, the shorter the question, the longer the answer.
4) Play it back for them: this proves that you were truly listening.
Effective listening is all about convincing people that your are completely involved with what is being said. Try it; practice it; talk less; no interrupting (ever); start at the office with your co-workers; you’ll be amazed at the results.
Thought(s) for the Week
Make this the week that you’re memorable every day; then be sure to make a difference, pay it forward, call a friend, and exercise daily; as always, thanks for being here and remember, You can’t avoid offending people from time to time. When you don’t mean it, apologize. When you do mean it, accept the consequences.
Craig McConnell, President, PrintGrowPro/SalesGrowPro
“Great selling is a process artfully done.”
Follow me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/printgrowpro
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Just some quick thoughts on doing a better job of writing and managing your emails:
1) Do your best to say all that you have to say in the “subject line’; think of your emails as a message inside a box and your subject line is the box label. Get into the habit of putting more thought and effort into the ‘subject line.’
2) Try not to mix information, discussions, or instructions in the same email.
3) Practice using acronyms in the subject line: EOM – end of message; FYI – simply for their information, no action required; TODO - you’re telling someone (again, at the end of the subject line to take action)
4) Know when to end an email trail and pick up the phone (or get out of your chair) and talk to someone.
5) Never say anything negative or derogatory about anyone in an email.
6) Write your instructions in an outline format - use numbers and bullets; too much copy and verbosity will insure that your email does not get the attention it probably deserves.
7) Respond - even if it is only a subject-only email; “Got your directives; appreciate it; will be in touch.” EOM
8) Avoid ‘reply to all’ unless ‘all’ really need to know; this is merely the CYA factor and should be avoided at all costs.
And last, but certainly not least: give serious consideration to the real message they’ll get, before you send the message you think you are sending. Your recipient can’t see you to pick up your non-verbal communication; he cannot hear the tone of your voice so that’s not a piece of the communication pie that is available to you; so pick your words carefully; no yelling (capital letters); no slang; no smiley faces; no profanity; think, think, think.
Craig McConnell, President, PrintGrowPro/SalesGrowPro
“Great selling is a process artfully done.”
Follow me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/printgrowpro
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Never:
1) Use the phrase ”I’ve been meaning to apologize”…………………apologies should be made on the spot; as I recently Tweeted: if the true sales pro messes up, he or she ‘fesses up.
2) Try to Call in favors……………………………….playing the guilt game is not good business. Generosity should always be a one-way street. The true sales pro always gives with no expectation of receiving anything in return.
3) Set a specific time to conduct a review of your internal support person(s)………………..the best feedback isn’t scheduled; the best feedback should be spontaneous and again ‘on the spot’ (as praise, encouragement, or suggestions as to how to improve); as a true sales pro, you have to sell internally as well as externally, and you should always be helping to coach, develop, and mentor.
Have a super weekend, make a difference, and pay it forward. Thanks for being here. “See” you Monday.
Craig McConnell, President, PrintGrowPro/SalesGrowPro
“Great selling is a process artfully done.”
Follow me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/printgrowpro
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