Becoming a Sales Superstar

Improve Your Success Using Clear Communication

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Most of you know how important Effective Communication impacts Your Results. I utilized an entire chapter in my book Three Games of Selling to this most important element in sales and leadership.

There are Seven Tips for Being Clear in Your Communication with Customers. Without this clarity, you can create issues and concerns for the customer which can ultimately cost you sales. Your Success depends heavily upon your ability to communicate exactly what you mean to say and the customer actually gets your meaning completely.

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Signals of a Transactional B2b Sales Person

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One of the biggest signs of a problematic b2b sales performance is the challenge of unlearning the traditional or transactional sales tactics of the past. When b2b sales people start telling me how hard their job is today – and it is – I first want to empathize with them and then find the answer to their problem.

I agree with one “excuse” customers & prospects want to get the best deal – which to many means lowest price. To the superstars, it means they want the best value offer which is quite different from the lowest price concern.

Now as someone who has assisted many sales people and sales teams transform from Transactional Selling to a more Progressive B2B Selling, this has always been an issue for the sales executives. The Key was to fundamentally change or transform the mindsets of the sales teams.

An interesting observation from these experiences – it usually just took One Sales Person to accept the new mindset, change the way they sold and have success in the field. Amazingly, the majority of the team would sudden change their performance levels shortly afterwards. This proves the power of mindsets in the world of selling.

So, how do you know if you are a Transactional Sales Person today? Usually you are not happy with your results, while your gross sales may be the same – your margins are lower and you feel you get less respect from both the customer and the sales manager. So what is causing this issue?

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Top B2B Sales Book – Must Read

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We are off to a new year so I trust you have first done the following…

  • Reviewed Your Results from the Previous Year
  • Thought about Your Key Accounts and Their Current Direction of Revenue
  • Identified and Related Your Key Targets to Your Ideal Customer Profile
  • Set Some Exciting and Challenging Goals for the New Year

If you have done the above list with some time and energy, then you are ready to execute on achieving those goals.

However, if you are continuing down the road of doing your sales process the same way you have done it in the past – well, you may be in trouble. The Buying Landscape has changed. Have you noticed some of things you have used successfully in the past are not working as well or even at all?

Welcome to the new world of b2b selling.

The Buyer feels more in control and is using their new found power (occurred since the Great Recession) to control our efforts as successful b2b sales people.

So if you are sincere about taking back control of your b2b sales success, you need to take a moment and read an exciting new b2b sales book. Personally, it has changed my success since I began following the recommendations found in the book.

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B2B Sales Leaders Do Three Things All the Time – Do You?

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B2B sales leaders are winners in their field of play. I sincerely believe they are playing a game they love, admire and are totally dedicated to being their best.

With that being said, what are the little things the b2b sales leaders do everyday that the other 80 to 90% fail to do?

Once you understand the qualities they have, you can make a decision to join their ranks – if you choose. This is the rub making the difference between the winners and the average to poor sales people. You make the choice to be a winner – you are not anointed by the sales manager, VP of Sales or the President of your company. You can control these essential qualities, so here they are…

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5 Reasons You Don’t Get a Return Call from Prospects

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Have you noticed it is getting harder and harder to get a phone call returned? If you have, welcome to the new reality of life selling to the corporate world.

The real question is what are you doing differently to change the results? If your answer is nothing and you continue to use the “same old – same old” calling techniques – well, you deserve the results you are getting. Sorry, not meaning to be mean spirited, yet, I get impatience with sales people who are noticing things seem different, yet, do not think to try something new or different.

It is time to wake up to the new norm and reality of getting in touch with real buyers and decision makers.

First, what are the reasons these people are not calling you back?

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Five Self Made Destructive Mindsets

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Often I am asked by a sales manager to coach a sales person who is not meeting their performance goals or standards. Sometimes I’m told straight out that the sales person has lose their motivation or drive to be successful.

After assessing the individual and reviewing all the data and information provided by the sales manager, I begin the coaching process. Using questions to open up dialogue and trust, an interesting pattern begins to unfold, the sales person has the skill set and knowledge to be successful, yet their results indicate another issue.

A majority of the time I find three major factors in play…

  1. The Sales Person is Missing a Key Skill which can be developed.
  2. The Sales Person is a total Mismatch to the Sales Position thus a lack of performance.
  3. The Sales Person has a set of beliefs or a pattern of destructive mindsets which need special coaching. ( refer to Winning Mindset for Sales )

When working with sales people in the third group, I have found five self made destructive mindsets causing the majority of the poor performance. Here are the five most common self-made mindsets…

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Positive Attitude in Five Easy Steps

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One of the toughest jobs for a sales person is to remain positive in your attitude. Especially today with all the talk about recession and down turns it is easy to get caught up in the negative talk.

Well, get tough and get going to the positive side of things. Remaining positive gives you the self-confidence to stay in the hunt for new deals, new accounts and recognizing new opportunities when others only see hard work.

So here are five steps or changes to your lifestyle designed to give you the extra advantage of a positive attitude.

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Confidence Makes It All Work for You

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This is the final step in becoming a sales superstar. Actually, the real question is: “Is Confidence really the First step rather than tenth?” There are several reason for Confidence being the first step and like wise there are several reasons it is the tenth. No matter which side of the debate you are on – Confidence is the lead element in your ultimate success.

First let’s look at the reason it could be first on the 10 step list. Confidence in yourself is the key for wanting to achieve anything in life. It is the foundation used to set believable goals and expectations for things you can do and achieve during your life. It gives you the willpower to start new things and expect positive results. The “You Can Do It!” mental attitude takes the front stage of your mind and drives you forward – even during times of stress or adversity (like the economic conditions of today!).

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Practice Makes Sales People into Sales Stars

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This ninth step is a bit different from the first eight, however, it is no less important. The actual step is:
 

“Practice, Practice and Practice some more.”

Most sales people look at this statement and say things like – “That’s not important.” ; “Situations never go the way a role play does!” or “I don’t have time to practice – I need to sell more!” DUH! These people don’t get it and it’s a terrible mistake. Practice makes things better, smoother and more natural. Let me discuss a few advantages and methods for getting sure fired results from PRACTICE.

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