THE REST OF THE YEAR

It seems funny to say “the rest of the year” when there are only 6 days left in 2012. It seems even funnier to say “the rest of your selling year” when there are only 4 days left if you count Monday which is New Year’s Eve.

Yet, work doesn’t stop because a new calendar begins nor does it stop because an old calendar ends.

So what should we as reps do for what is left of 2012? There are several things that will produce some awesome results. Think about where you are for the current year.

1)      Many of you, hopefully, have already met or exceeded your sales quotas. You need to look at your bonus opportunities. I have seen so many reps hit quotas and then leave money on the table because they stopped pushing themselves and missed bonus opportunities that were so close one good day would have meant thousands of dollars to them. You have 4 selling days left, make them count!

2)      Some of you are within striking distance of your quotas. This is the time to use your relationships with your customers to get you over the finish line. Go to your best and biggest customers and remind them of all the VALUE ADDED things you have done for them the past year. Let them know that you have gone above and beyond what they expected from a sales rep. Share with them the fact that you need X dollars to hit your quota and ask them for a BIG order. (DO NOT JUST LOAD THEM UP! MAKE SURE WHAT THEY ORDER IS PRODUCT THEY NEED) Keep in mind that if you load them up now you won’t be getting orders from them for a while, this may put you in the same position next year as you are right now. Use this opportunity to get new items in and set the stage for bigger sales next year.

3)      I know of a lot of companies that offer bonuses for reps who exceed their quotas. If you are one of the lucky reps that work for a company that will give you bonus dollars for going beyond your quota by certain figures, GO FOR IT! Know what the figure is you need to hit for the bonus and set your goals over the next 4 days to hit that figure.

4)      Unfortunately there are always some reps that are so far behind quota for the year that realistically there is no way that 4 days will make a difference. OK, put 2012 behind and start making your plans to blow it out in 2013. Do your homework, look at you customer lists and see where the opportunities lie for you to grow business next year. Look over your prospect list and make your plans on how you will open these new customers. Look at your pipeline and make sure you have your plan on how to keep it full. Look in the mirror and make sure the person looking back at you is ready willing and able to push forward to a new year.

The year is NOT over! Make the final days the best 4 days of the year no matter which group of reps you fall into.

2012 was an interesting year with the economy, the wars, the elections all having an impact on our business. 2013 is shaping up to be another interesting year filled with challenges and opportunities. It will be up to each and every one of us to use all our creative skills, all our selling skills, and all our business skills to assure that we come out on top.

Lorin

COMMENTS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME!

SAM I WAS

Over a year ago, 10/13/11 to be exact, I wrote about my Brother-In-Laws father SAM who to me was the consummate salesman. At the time Sam was 93 (I thought 94, does a year really matter at this point?) year’s young and going strong. However after his wonderful wife of over 70 years (again, I thought they were married 60+ but found out it was 70) passed away, Sam’s own health started to decline.

On December 15^th we lost Sam.

I say we, including everyone who will read this post, because when a lifelong salesman dies a little of each of dies along with him. I know that sounds so cliché, but in this case it is true. You see, as I said before, Sam was a salesman salesman. He was from the old school, he had the ethics of the old school, he had the persistence of the old school, he had the self-drive of the old school and most of all he had the LOVE for selling of the old school.

It was men and women like Sam that gave sales people a GOOD name. He was the kind of salesman that believed whatever he was selling, from Diamonds to his own artwork, it was not only the best but that everyone needed it and had reasons to back up his beliefs.

Unlike so many of the so called salespeople of today ho are nothing but order takers, Sam knew all the steps that it took to get the sale. He always built VALUE in his product and showed how ownership would benefit the customer and he made sure the product would meet the needs AND the wants of the customer.

Sam was selling right up until the end, he always had a piece of his artwork with him and would do his best, even from a wheelchair being pushed by one of his wonderful and dedicated caretakers, to find a prospect and go into his well-practiced and professionally delivered sales pitch. It may have been another patient, the nurse, or the doctor, but Sam always found a prospect.

As you can imagine at 94 years old he had patience. Along with his patience he also had the persistence of a Pit Bull. He knew that you may not say yes today, but if he could repeatedly show you the value and how his artwork would better your life you would eventually say yes.

WE lost a GREAT salesman. Our jobs just got a little more difficult because there is one less salesman doing it right and each of us needs to work a little harder to make up the difference. In Sam’s case we each need to work A LOT harder because the hole left by his passing is big one.

A final story about Sam. At the funeral Jeff, my Brother-in-Law spoke about his father. Sam was an artist and sold his own artwork. He had portraits of sports figures, famous people from all walks of life, and some religious portraits as well. Jeff said, “I can see my father now standing at the gates of heaven looking into G-Ds face and saying, YOU KNOW WHAT YOU NEED? A BEAUTIFUL PORTRAIT OF YOUR SON HANGING ON THE WALL, LET ME SHOW YOU WHAT I HAVE”

Goodbye Sam, Good Selling.

Lorin

THE PARTY’S OVER FOR FOUR MORE YEARS

OK, I have not posted since 10/9/12. Why you may be asking, simple, THE ELECTION. I didn’t want to get political on the blog nor did I want to compete with all the information surrounding the election.

But now it is over, we have our new President. It doesn’t matter which side of the isle you fall on we have our new president.

As sales reps we need to take a look at what is happening with our customers. I know it is early, and I am sure that good or bad a lot more will happen over the next 4 years, but for all the customers that told you they were, “HOLDING OFF UNTIL AFTER THE ELECTIONS”, has anything really changed?

I went into the sales field on 11/7 the Wednesday after the elections and traffic was the same, the parking lots were just as full or in some cases as empty as before the elections. The customers that were busy before the election were still busy and the customers that were slow were still slow.

I went to the grocery store and the shelves were full and prices were the same. Gas prices hadn’t changed much, I know that I hadn’t gotten any price increases from my company and I hadn’t heard from any of my friends that their companies passed along price increases either.

I got my paycheck on Friday and it was the same as the week before, as was my wife’s. Traffic in Atlanta was no better and no worse and the news was still the news.

So what I am saying is after being assaulted with what seemed like a lifetime of political ads, hearing what seemed like a lifetime of political reporting, and what seemed like a lifetime of excuses from customers, nothing has really changed.

I am not silly enough to think that who got elected won’t in some way affect our country, but the truth is most of us will not see any significant change in our business. We will hear a lot of opinions and speculations as to what has happened and what will happen, but for most of our customers, the day to day business will change very little if any.

WE ARE SALES REPS! We find ways to make things that look grim into opportunities that shine as bright as the sun. We take the cards that we are dealt play the hand the best we can. We don’t get caught up in the poor poor pitiful me game.

We have all had a week to either celebrate or curse the election. Let’s spend the rest of the 4 years leading up to the next election working on our success and the success of our customers and country.

GOD BLESS AMERICA for giving us all this awesome opportunity to succeed!

Lorin

IT WAS ONLY A FIB

When it rains it pours, this is a motto of a salt manufacturer and it is also an old saying meaning that when things go wrong they go really wrong! Well it is POURING at the Greenstein house!

I have a leak in my basement which may or may not be being caused by the fact that the cracks in my driveway are getting wider and starting to get uneven.

So not only is it pouring but the water is running through my basement.

OK, so that was the lead up to today’s post. I have had to get estimates from companies to do the work needed to solve my problems. First a company that can stop the leaking basement and then a concrete company to demo and remove the old driveway and re-pour a new one.

I have had several companies out to give me estimates and as I expected, the professionalism of the sales reps has been extremely diverse.

Each sales rep gave me the facts I needed about the work that needed to be done and they each had their own solution that they knew was the absolute best. I have no problems so far, if they didn’t think their solution was best why would I want to do business with them.

For the most part they have all been pretty ethical about measuring and providing me an estimate. However one company was all but dishonest about it. After the rep measured my basement and gave me his explanation of his solution and why I should use it, he got out his calculator and started figuring his price. He wrote out everything on his quote sheet and in BOLD numbers at the bottom he gave me his price to do the needed work.

His price was almost $1000.00 higher than the next nearest estimate I had gotten. I was about to say something about how high he was, but before I could he started talking. He said that he had a crew that really needed the work and that if I was ready to sign he would discount the price $500.00. (Still $500.00 higher than the next estimate) I was looking at the paper when he started talking again, this time he told me about a credit he had with his concrete supplier and if I would say yes RIGHT NOW he would use the credit on my job which would save me another $500.00. (Now he was the same price as the next estimate) As all the infomercials say, WAIT THERES MORE! I hadn’t said a word yet and he started talking again, this time he said he would rewrite the estimate so it would show 60 feet less drain, and he would charge me... you guessed it..$500.00 less.

At this point I was just sitting back waiting to hear his next price drop. I hadn’t said yes or no and I have already saved $1500.00 off the original estimate.

I just sat there looking at him and he must have known I was waiting for something because he said with a big question, “Is that enough to get your business”?

I just sat and waited to see if he would cut his price again. He did, he said he had forgotten the $200.00 discount form Angie’s List and he would honor that also. I thought it was funny he actually used the word honor because he surely didn’t have any.

I was getting tired of the game especially because I had decided I wouldn’t do business with him at any price. If he is that unethical and willing to spew any lie he thought of I didn’t want to know what he had lied about in reference to my work needing to be done.

I thanked him and brought the “sales pitch” to an end. He asked again if I was ready to sign and I said I didn’t think so. He asked why and I just said I am not sure who I want to do business with yet, but I was sure it wasn’t him.

I love bargains, and I love saving money, and I really love saving a lot of money! What I don’t love is being lied to, cheating, and stealing. The rep may have had a crew that needed the work, I will give him that one and I may have done business at that point, but to then to throw in a $500.00 credit was a stretch, but even that could have been true and I still may have done business with him. However, stealing and making me a part of it was too much for me. To be dishonest enough to under estimate a job to get the price down is over the line.

I am having my basement waterproofed Thursday by a company that gave me the next highest estimate. Not because I believe high price means quality, but because the sales rep didn’t tell me what I wanted to hear rather he told me what I needed to hear to solve my water problem.

Lorin

ACT NOW

Today I was severely reprimanded by my wife. I know what some of you are thinking, “SO WHAT ELSE IS NEW”. Well, I am usually the first one to admit when I act like a jerk and deserve to be reprimanded, however this time I really don’t believe I deserved it. You be the judge. Leave me a comment and tell me if you think I deserved it or not.

Here is what happened;

For the first time in several weeks we had a good rain storm come through the Atlanta area. Because we have been in such a drought the famous Georgia Red Clay has hardened and has constricted. This causes it to pull away from the foundation of homes and when the rain comes can cause leaks in the foundation. This is what happened to me.

For the past 2 days I have had a steady stream of water running into my basement. I had to buy some absorbent socks and try to put up a dam so the water wouldn’t ruin everything on the floor. The flow of water has been enough volume to soak all the socks I have put down in about an hour to an hour and a half. This means that for the past 2 nights I have been sleeping for 90 minutes and then getting up, going down 2 flights of stairs to the basement, using my shop vac to pick up as much of the water as I could, putting the soaked socks into a bucket (the bucket weighs about 60 pounds when it is filled with wet socks) carrying the heavy bucket up one flight of steps and to the washer where I spin them to dry them out, carrying the bucked with the damp socks (now only about 25 pounds) back down stairs and putting the socks back down as a dam. WHEW, I am tired just by remembering everything I have done.

Needless to say I have called a company that water proofs basements to give me an estimate to fix the problem before the next rain storm hits my area.

Late this afternoon one of the sales reps from a company I called showed up to give me an estimate to fix the problem the “RIGHT” way (meaning his companies way) He started out strong and asked me questions and gave me his full sales presentation. He then walked all around my home and in the basement taking pictures and measurements. After about an hour we sat at my kitchen table and he started doing the math.

I could almost feel the heat being generated by his calculator as he added up everything he needed to do to fix my problem the “RIGHT WAY”. He was writing and adding for about 10 minutes and then said to me, “This isn’t too bad, it will only be $XXXX.XX for the entire job” he then recapped everything that he had told me he was going to do. I looked over his estimate and he asked if I had any other questions. I told him no and he went for the close.

At this point I was not very happy with his figures, but I was impressed at this sales process and technique. I told him that I needed to think about it overnight (the rain had stopped and I knew I was going to get a good night’s sleep tonight) and I would call him tomorrow and let him know my decision.

He said to me, Mr. Greenstein (he had been calling me Lorin the entire time, now I was Mr. Greenstein) my company knows that many people need an extra incentive so if you say yes now I can offer you an additional 5% discount.

Here is where he lost the sale and my reaction is why I got reprimanded.

I said, “You know, I more than likely would have called you tomorrow morning and given you the go ahead, but now I am not at all interested in doing business with you or your company.” The rep looked at me and asked why, I said, “I don’t like a price that drops 5% for the next 5 minutes and then goes back up. If you can offer me a 5% discount now and you don’t give it to me tomorrow that means you are over charging me 5%” He started back peddling and stammering. I said, “I teach sales reps for a living and in all my years I have never dropped a price and told the customer it was for the next few minutes only, if I give a price I stand by it!”

As I spoke I got madder and madder until I said that I wouldn’t be doing business no matter what.

When he left my wife and youngest daughter told me I was too strong and I was almost rude to the rep. I told them that I was mad and I don’t like cheap sales tricks to get the customer to say yes. They agreed they didn’t like what he said but still said I was a jerk and was rude.

I defended myself by saying that if he was smart he would learn from the experience and not use cheap trick and pressure to close sales. If his price and service was as good as he said it was he shouldn’t need them.

We went back and forth for a while until I just said well he is gone and I am not calling to apologize.

OK you tell me, did I do anything wrong? I still think I helped him in the long run and that if he thinks about what I said and adjusts his story to soften it, he will close more deals and make more money.

Leave a comment and let me know if you are on my wife’s side or mine.

Lorin

THE VICTOR WRITES THE HISTORY

I was having breakfast with a sales rep friend of mine a few days ago and we were exchanging leads with one another as we have been doing for many years now. I handed him a business card from a customer of mine who I have just started selling a few months ago.

As I handed him the card he read the name and said, “That #^($@&!, I will never talk to him again, he is an #^%!&(*” I was shocked, not at his language (I have been known to let loose a string of words similar to his) but at the fact that he didn’t like this guy who I have started to become friends with.

This made me think about something that happened to me when I was in school. I was in a history class and the professor started telling the story of the Civil War, from the aspect of the losers (the South). It was actually pretty funny to hear about battles talked about from this aspect. It changed the way you viewed the entire war.

Getting back to my conversation with the rep, I started to smile as he was getting redder and redder in the face thinking about this guy that he didn’t like at all. Here we had the same person, being viewed by two people who do the same thing, and resulting in totally opposite opinions.

This reminded me of a sales meeting I used to conduct. I would start by making a statement like, “You can’t sell a convenience store, they never buy anything” I would then nod my head and ask who agrees with me, every time I would have a group nodding and readily agreeing with me. Before the meeting I would always look at my reps accounts and find a rep that had a BIG convenience store account. After I got most of the reps to agree that you could not sell a convenience store I would then ask that rep their opinion. They would tell everyone about the success they were having selling a convenience store.

I would do the same thing with 2 or 3 other industries and always have the majority of reps saying you couldn’t sell them, and then the rep that was having great success selling them. The end of the meeting was, depending on how well you are personally doing in an industry dictates your opinion of the industry.

The same goes for people. Depending on how much business a person is giving you often indicates how you feel about the person.

So now you should be asking what is the point of this post, simply this, Don’t listen to someone’s opinion about a prospect. You can take it into consideration but make up your own mind. What you may find out is that the bum to another rep may become your best friend and best customer.

Lorin

BACK TO YOUR ROOTS

As I was driving around yesterday I drove past the building that was the home to the company that I credit with making me a Sales Trainer.

The building looks exactly as it did 35 years ago. I could tell that the maintenance has been top notch. The sign on the building was the same and I saw several cars parked in the parking lot. I decided to stop in.

The first face I saw brought back a flood of memories. It was the warehouse production manager. I know that he has been with the company for over 30 years. He was just a kid when he started and now he had grown to be the VP of Manufacturing for the company. With a head full of white hair and a white beard he resembled Santa, and had every bit as big a smile as Santa would.

We sat in his office and talked for about 45 minutes. The entire time I was thinking about everything I had learned working for the company and how the President of the company always motivated me (and everyone else) to do our very best.

I remembered the first day on the job, I thought I was a seasoned sales rep until I met some of the “HUSTLERS” that worked for this company. For the next 12 years I was able to start my own business using their business model and sharpen my skills as a motivational speaker and trainer.

I walked around the building and met a few more people that I hadn’t seen for over 20 years and it was a great time.

As I was leaving I knew that just remembering all the things that brought me to where I am today will make me better TODAY! I have written about getting back to the basics and I have taught back to your basics, I have preached back to your basics, yesterday I lived back to your basics and wow what an experience.

I know that some of you may not be able to go back to your rots of selling, it may be because of distance or other reasons. It doesn’t matter, each of us can take the mental trip back to our roots and remember all the things we have learned (and forgotten or discarded) along the way.

I made a promise to myself as I drove away from the building, I will make it a point to at least drive by, if not stop in, every year. I know that the time spent will be rewarded 10 fold with the basics that I will remember and USE after the visits.

GET BACK TO YOUR ROOTS, GET BACK TO YOUR BASICS!

Lorin

IT NEVER SEEMS TO BE ENOUGH

I had a classic conversation with a sales rep this morning. He called me to vent about what has been happening in his company and what the company has been asking him to do.

For the first minute or so I was following along with him as his rant started to build up a head of steam. It then became a runaway train and as the momentum started to build I knew I just needed to hold on tight and make it through the ride.

They did this, and they want that... they told me to do this and then they wanted me to do something else… they made me say this and then they said that… Are you starting to get the picture of how this conversation was going?

I tried to be a good listener, I AM A GOOD LISTENER, but in this case I will admit it was more ignoring than listening.

As his rage came to a head he started telling me what he “SHOULD” have said to “them”. He should have stood his ground and told them he wouldn’t do it. He “SHOULD” have just gone and done what he wanted to anyway. He “SHOULD” have quit and found another job.

After about what seemed like a few hours but in reality was about 5 minutes he became silent and asked if I was still there. I assured him I was and joked that it was only because we are friends.

He then made the statement, “IT JUST NEVER SEEMS TO BE ENOUGH FOR THEM”

I asked what wasn’t enough? Not enough time worked, not enough sales calls, not enough sales volume, what wasn’t enough? He said they want him to do more and more!

I asked him if he wanted to do less and less? The phone was silent. He said, “What do you mean?” I answered, isn’t a company supposed to ask their reps to do more and more?

How many of you would want to work for a company that asked you to sell less this year? I can imagine the conversation going like this;

Company: Sales reps, this year we don’t want to sell as much as last year.

Sales reps: WHAT? WHY?

Company: Last year we paid out too much in commissions because you sold so much product, we want to cut the payroll so we are asking each of you to sell 10% less than you did last year.

Sales reps: Won’t that mean we are making 10% less commissions?

Company: Yes, that’s the idea, you sell less, and you make less.

Sales reps: If we do this won’t the company make less profits also?

Company: Yes we will.

OK, you see how stupid this conversation is. A company that doesn’t ask for growth is asking to go out of business. A sales rep that doesn’t want their company to ask more of them is a rep that is going to be out of a job and company very soon.

As I was talking to the rep I asked him if the problem is the company wants more of him or if the company isn’t giving him the tools to do more? He immediately shot back that was it in a nut shell.

Reps, we all want to be successful, we all want to grow, but we all need to right tools to help us grow. If your company isn’t providing the right tools, don’t get negative and cut off your nose to spite your face by not selling, ask for the tools! If they are still not provided, find them for yourselves. There are a million tools available to reps and many are at no cost.

Like so many people today, don’t blame others for the problems you have. Take responsibility and find your own fix. You will be stronger for it and your sales will continue to grow because you know how to fix your own problems.

Lorin

I WELCOME YOUR COMMENTS, PLEASE LEAVE THEM BY CLICKING THE BUTTON BELOW.

IF I ONLY HAD A BRAIN

Have you ever been with a customer and they ask you questions about your product or service that only the most inside technical people in your company could ever know? (And they might not even know)

The usual response is to try your best to give some kind of answer. It may not be the answer to the question, but at least it is an answer. Now I am not saying just make something up, I am saying the average rep will give a very accurate and correct answer that may not have anything to do with what the customer wanted to know.

This happened to me yesterday. A customer asked me a question about a piece of equipment and I had no idea of the answer. I immediately told the customer I can make one phone call and get him what he needed to know, he said NO!

The customer looked at me and said, “Why should I buy from you, if you don’t know your product?”

This question put me at a fork in the road. I could have chosen to say, “Why would I sell you a product you don’t know about” (JUST KIDDING!) Actually I did have 2 options. Option 1; tell the customer that I am a sales rep NOT an engineer. Option 2; (the one I chose) I simply told the customer that I carry tens of thousands of different products. Each one has its own specs. I try my best to know enough about each product to sell them, but I don’t need to know ever spec because I have a team of people that can give me that information in a few seconds when I need it.

The customer was impressed. He asked me if he had access to the same technical information that I had about the products he would buy from me. I told him he did. He asked me to make the call.

How much do you know about the support behind the sales at your company? How much confidence do you have in the support behind your products in your company? I know a lot of reps that can recite chapter and verse about their products. They have become students of the products and have a lot of technical information about them. I also know that every one of the reps that know this much DON’T KNOW IT ALL!

A smart rep not only knows a lot of information about the products and services they sell, they know where to get the information they don’t know. I don’t know any reps that don’t have their “Go To” people inside their own company or with their vendors so they have access to information as they need it.

You need to build your support network. It is just as important to build relationships within your company as it is to build relationships with your customers, maybe even more important. Get direct phone numbers so you have access, get e mail addresses, GET TO KNOW THE PEOPLE YOU WILL DEPEND ON AND MAKE SURE THEY GET TP KNOW YOU!

Having inside as well as outside contacts makes you a much larger force to be reckoned with. Do a survey within your own company. Ask the top reps if they have specific people they call for help. Ask not only about technical information, ask about credit, customer service, inventory, shipping and the list will go on depending on your company.

I will assure you that every top rep has their support team!

THE BIGGER THE FOUNDATION, THE BIGGER THE BUILDING.

Lorin

MAYBE YES BUT MAYBE NO

In a blog I was reading the other day this question was posted, “What can I do to get prospects to say yes more often”?

I read through the string of replies to see what advice and techniques would be displayed.  It was amazing what was written. Everything from drop price to don’t worry the numbers will work themselves out was offered.

There were dozens of replies that were supposed to be from other sales reps and yet not one offered and solid actions the rep could use to increase his closing ratio.

I was going to write a long drawn out post as to all the circumstances that could be the cause of the problem but felt this rep needed a quick simple fix to the problem.

My answer was this, “Stop selling features and benefits of your product and start selling the advantages of ownership”.

My post wasn’t up for more than 5 minutes before I started getting comments back. Within the hour the original poster wrote and asked me what I meant. I wrote that any customer will buy just about any product if and only if they can see how the product will help them.

The word help is the wildcard. For some help could be saving them money, to most money becomes secondary if you can show how the product will help them in other ways. I once closed a sale simply by showing the customer that he would look like a hero to his boss by buying my product even though my product was more expensive than what he was presently using. My product met the environmental standards the company set and he would be the first department to show significant compliance improvements.

I have made sales because the customers employees liked my product and the by supplying them my products it would improve his personal image with his staff. Some customers buy to save time, or make jobs easier. Some buy to reduce inventory. Whatever the reason you need to show the customer “WIIFM” (What’s In It For Me). In many cases the personal reasons far outweigh the business reasons for buying or not buying.

This is a lesson for all of us to keep in mind. A widget can be made of the finest materials in the world and sell for the lowest price in the market, and customers won’t buy it because they don’t see the advantages of the good materials or the cost savings. Don’t just sell features and benefits of the product, sell features and HOW THEY WILL BENEFIT the customer!

Lorin

A SPIN CLASS FOR SALES REPS

When was the last time you went to a circus? It has been years since I went and a few minutes ago I was watching a YouTube video and one of the selections on the page was a circus video. I have no idea why, but I watched it.

It was 12 minutes and 41 seconds of fun, excitement, and fun. About half way through came some of the jugglers. I remember as a kid always being amazed by juggling, I can remember as a teen wanting to be a juggler, I can remember as a young man wanting to simply learn how to juggle, and now I am back where I started and am amazed by juggling.

One of my favorite juggling acts was the plate balancer. You have all seen this, row after row of sticks and the juggler starts a plate spinning on top of each stick and runs around attending to each plate as they start to slow down and wobble. The performer runs from front to back and side to side always getting to the right stick a split second before the plate falls to the ground and shatters.

When I closed YouTube and thought about what I watched, I started thinking about what sales reps do during their careers. First we make cold calls and get a customer base. This is just like what the juggler does when he starts the plates spinning on the sticks. We then grow our accounts, this is the juggler adding more and more plates to the sticks. We then start to service our accounts, this is the juggler running around keeping the plates spinning. As we lose a customer we find another to take its place always keeping our territory maximized, just like the juggler starting a new plate when one falls off a stick.

This juggling act we do is different in many ways also. The juggler in the circus knows how long a plate will stay up by how hard they spin it. They know which plate will be the next one to need attention and the plates are very predictable so the juggler can rehearse hundreds of time allowing him to have a great show with the elements of suspense and talent neatly intertwined. As reps we don’t have the luxury of predictability. We don’t know where the next problem will come from or what the next objection will be. We can rehearse, but there is always an uncertainty about what we will need in our next performance to have a successful show.

We usually have more plates spinning than the juggle could ever think about and we need to control them better than the juggler controls his plates. A customer will only allow themselves to wobble so many time before they will jump off your stick and shatter on the floor of your account base.

As reps we may not have the excitement of the high wire acts, the animals or the peanuts and popped corn that comes with the circus, but we do have the same mess to clean up if we are not careful.

Lorin

EXCUSE DU JOUR

Over the next 8 weeks a lot of work needs to be done. Starting on November 25^th, the natural excuse “I am waiting until after the first of the year” becomes the “EASY” excuse. (And blow off)

Today the “I am waiting until after the elections” is the EXCUSE DU JOUR and we need to put up with that for another 60+days.

The facts are this, business goes on! Today, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year business goes on! There will always be an EXCUSE DU JOUR that we are dealing with. Our job is to find a way to negate the excuse and work with our customers to assure they have what they need when they need it.

So if we know the customer needs our product and service, and the customer knows they need our product or service, then why is it the customer resists and gives us an excuse? The answer is easy, YOU AS THE SALES REP IN MANY CASES HAVEN’T SHOWN THE CUSTOMER THE VALUE OF YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE!

Today the market demands Value, the customer demands value, and the sales rep is responsible for bring the value to the table. This is a task that most reps do very well during the initial sale. The rep makes a great presentation and the customer see’s the true value of owning the product or service.

VALUE isn’t a sometimes thing! Value is an ALL THE TIME thing. A rep needs to build the value of their product or service every time they contact the customer. Just because they customer saw the value at the onset of the relationship doesn’t mean they continue to see it. Many of you have customers that you have been selling for decades, it may have been 10 or 20 years ago that you last really showed the value of what you sell. The customer has been buying based on your relationship and sooner or later, in today’s market, that relationship will no longer make for a good business decision.

When I say every time, I mean EVERY TIME. It is a no brainer to build value on the initial sale, and most reps will continue to build value when the return for a “SALES CALL”. A good rep will build value at every step of the way. If you send a thank you note build value. If you leave a voice mail, build value. If you send a holiday card, build value.

One of the best examples I have seen was a rep that sent me a birthday card. The card was very simple in appearance and when I opened it there were only a few words. It said:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LORIN! THERE ARE A LOT OF THINGS THAT WILL TRY AND GET IN THE WAY OF YOUR CELEBRATION, YOU KNOW THAT MY ___________ WON’T BE ONE OF THEM. (The product I was buying was in the blank)

Every one of us could make a statement like this about or product or service. Imagine the impact it could have if we did it to not just the occasional customer, but EVERY customer EVERY time we had contact with them.

To use the CREED of the USPS.

NEITHER ELECTIONS NOR HOLIDAYS NOR THE STATE OF THE ECONOMY WILL KEEP ME FROM BUYING (INSERT YOUR NAME HERE) PRODUCTS OR SERVICES!

Lorin

AS ALWAYS, YOUR COMMENTS ARE WELCOME. CLICK ON THE WORD "COMMENT" (IF YOU ARE THE FIRST IT WILL SAY NO COMMENTS) JUST BELOW THE POST AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.

EVERYTHING IS NEW BUT NOTHING MUCH HAS CHANGED

I was listening to the radio the other day while driving around and heard an interesting statement made by a sports announcer. She said that although many things have changed during her 24 years of broadcasting, the fundamentals of journalism, who, what, why, when, and where have all remained constant.

When I was in collage I took a journalism course and the 5 “W’s” were taught to me, my 84 year old Mother-In-Law was a journalism major at the University of Georgia and I asked her if the 5 “W’s” were the fundamentals taught to her and she said absolutely.

As I searched for the origins of the 5 “W’s” I could trace them back to the 1^st Century BC. I guess the 5 “W’s” go further back than even my Mother-In-Law.

Like so many fundamentals, the 5 “W’s” have withstood the test of time, like so many of the basics do.

Sales is no different. I have read dozens of articles, written by some of the sales greats, talking about how sales have changed over the past 20 years. Everything from the introduction of the internet to environmental issues have affected sales in some way or another. The rising prices of energy and the breakthroughs in technology have affected sales. The cell phone and GPS systems have affected sales. About anything you can think of have in one way or another affected selling.

But through it all the basics, the fundamentals have remained the same. People still prefer to buy from people they like, the value of your product has to be there and service is what keeps customers happy.

I know that we are living in a world where instant information is available to just about everyone and customers are more informed today than ever before. However all this doesn’t eliminate the fact that the sales rep makes a difference. The sales rep still builds the trust that sales are based on and customers depend on their sales reps to help them through the electronic jungle that many companies have developed.

Building value, building a relationship, building rapport, building trust all lead to BUILDING SALES for any organization.

If you find yourself in the situation of sagging sales figures, try going back to the basics and using the fundamentals you were taught at the start of your career. Like sales, the basics of success haven’t changed, they have just been updated.

Lorin

IT IS BUZZ TIME AGAIN

In the past I have reposted articles from Salesbuzz.com, an e newsletter I subscribe to written by Michael Pedone. Today he has hit one out of the park and I know it will valuable to many of you.

ENJOY!

SALES QUESTION:

"How Do You Deal with Anxiety Before Each Cold Call?"

Answer:

Cold call anxiety happens when at least one of these two things is present:

•             Lack of confidence

•             Fear of rejection

You can psych yourself up all you want to make calls but if you are constantly being rejected when selling by phone, eventually no matter what you tell yourself or do to get all jazzed up before making the dials, the rejections will continue and eventually selling won’t be very fun anymore.

And when selling isn’t fun, you’re in real trouble. Like, “Can't make the mortgage payment because I haven’t hit quota in 3-months” trouble.

You can try and find ways to stay positive in everyday negative sales calls but that never addresses the real issue of what’s causing the “rejection” (which causes lack of confidence and fear of further abuse / rejection… it’s a vicious cycle)

There are two schools of thought on this subject:

1.            Its part of sales, deal with it or get out

2.            Its largely preventable (I’m in this camp and have years of experience behind me to prove this scenario exists)

When your cold call rejection rate is high, instead of accepting it as part of sales, why not ask yourself “why am I getting rejected a lot?” and refuse the answer of “that’s the way sales is” because it isn’t.

There’s a difference between being “rejected” and a prospect not being “qualified”

If your “rejection rate” is high, that’s a big arrow pointing to your sales process (what you say, when you say it, how you say it, why you say, who you say it to, etc.)

In essence, your game plan (sales process) isn’t working and you need one that does.

The first place I would look to revamp your sales process is within the company you work for… who’s the top sales person month in and month out? Learn what they are doing and follow their sales process.

If that isn’t an option, find someone else who has already accomplished what it is that you want to accomplish and learn from them.

The “A” Factor

Once you’ve found a sales process that produces the level of results that you want, your confidence will jump and commission checks will grow. But every once in a while you’ll still make a sales call and get a prospect on the other end of the phone that will just rip you a new one.

I’ve seen too many salespeople (myself included) take a working sales process that has made them lots of money just to start tweaking the heck out of it because of one prospect that read them the riot act over the phone. This is a mistake!

A mentor of mine taught me a long time ago to never let the "A factor" change what you know works. When I asked what he meant by the A factor, he said when a prospect is being an @ss! (Actually, he was a little more verbal in his description, but you get the point)

Fix your sales process until you have repeated success with it. And when an occasional call goes bad, you’ll have the confidence to know it wasn’t anything you did and you’ll be able to move on to the next call without an ounce of anxiety.

Michael Pedone

I hope this will help you and you have found it to be as useful as I have.

Lorin

ONLY THE BOLD SURVIVE

“Fortune Favors the Bold”

Virgil

If Virgil was a businessman instead of a poet he might have said, “Sales Favor the Bold”!

A large portion of successful selling is attributed to putting yourself in the position to make a sale. That’s right, PUTTING YOURSELF IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME! At times putting yourself into this right place means you need to be bold.

BOLD, not rude, not pushy, not dishonest, BOLD! This means that you may need to walk down the hall that is unmarked, it means you may need to walk past a receptionists desk as if it were not there, it means you may need to go into the back door. Whatever it means to you being bold is a big part of sales success.

In previous posts I have said not to give the credit for success to luck. You work hard for the success you achieve. Blaming failure on being timid is just as bad.

Unfortunately I know that some of the reps reading this post will take boldness and turn it into all the negative traits that sales reps have been accused of for years. If you are thinking in this way I can’t help you except to tell you that selling may not be a good fit for you.

If you are reading this and can think of a dozen times over the past year that you could have been bolder and possibly walked away with a sale, then you are the target of this post.

Be BOLD! Be very BOLD! And enjoy the success you earn.

Lorin

All comments are welcome and will be published. Let me know what you think about the Training Buffet, help Yourself.

A BOOK WORTH LISTENING TO

I have posted several "Books worth reading" over the time I have been writing the Training Buffet, Help Yourself. Today I want to change just a little and instead of telling you about a book, I wnat to tell you about a seminar on CD's.

BORN TO WIN; The ultimate Seminar by the GREAT ZIG ZIGLAR.

Below is the link to the Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Born-Win-Ultimate-Zig-Ziglar/dp/1442339683/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346121415&sr=1-3&keywords=zig+ziglar

Once you listen to Zig, you will be hooked!

Keep in mind, as always, this CD Book is available at most of your local bookstores so shop around.

Lorin

SHAME, SHAME, SHAME

I know better, in fact, I have been teaching reps to do it for the past two decades. Why didn’t I take my own advice? How could I have let myself fall into such a rookie trap?

Oh, sorry, I was giving myself a mental “GIBBS SLAP” (if you don’t know what a Gibbs Slap is look up NCIS) I needed a good swift kick in the seat of the pants!

Allow me to explain why I need all this punishment. I allowed my priorities to change without a plan.

Each day I have a set of activities and tasks that I know will lead me to achieving my goals. These activities and tasks are prioritized to allow me to complete the items that will have the most impact on my goals. Posting here is one of my main priorities. I know that by sharing information and giving the readers tools and thoughts that will make them better it will come back to make me better in turn.

Zig Ziglar says, “You can get everything you want out of life by helping others get what they want out of life”. The new term that seems to be popular today is “PAYING IT FORWARD”. This blog is one of my ways of paying it forward.

I have been very busy with my new position in my new company. I am out in the field selling every day and building a territory. I am using all the tools that I have been teaching other to use.

However, I have allowed new priorities to totally push some of my basic beliefs aside.

How many of you have done the same thing? How many of you have found a new task or activity that has made you sway from your basics and trek out on a new path?

Please don’t misunderstand what I am saying. Trying new things, taking new paths, and finding new adventures are all good things… if and only if you have a plan! If something new enhances your plan for success, then go for it! But if you fall into the trap I fell into and change things just for the sake of change, you are off track.

We work hard building out businesses, either face to face or electronically, don’t lose sight of what you have been working for. THINK before you shuffle your plan to accommodate an activity. Ask yourself will this task or activity move me closer to my goals faster, will they allow me to achieve more of what I have been working towards, will they enhance my quality of life (work or personal)?

If you answer yes to any ONE of these questions you need to reorganize your plan and priorities, if not, get back on track and back to your basics.

Lorin

THE PARTYS OVER

Last night I watched the closing ceremonies of the Olympics. I watched all the performers entertain what may be the greatest assembly of athletes ever. It was awe inspiring to watch all the replays of games and thrill to the victories over and over again.

Like a child starting out for their first gymnastics class, I sat there and pictured myself on the winner’s platform receiving my Gold Medal. I thought about what it would be like to win an Olympic Gold and wondered what I would say when the microphones were pointed at me.

Then my daughters little dog jumped in my lap, crawled up my chest and started licking my face which brought me back to reality. (I must have had some of my dinner on my cheek, the dog seemed very excited to be licking me)

It didn’t take long for me to start thinking about the Gold Medal again, this time however I wasn’t thinking what it would be like, I was thinking what it WAS like. I have won Top Sales Awards and have been on the winner’s stage several times before. I have had the microphone pointed at me during national sales meetings and had to answer the question, What does it feel like to win?

As the dog continued to lick my cheek (I must have had a lot of dinner on my face, I wonder why no one told me about it…a question for another post) I came to the conclusion that sales reps are competing at the Olympic level every day! We go into our territories, offices, phone rooms or wherever we sell from and go head to head with our competition time after time on a daily basis.

Like the Olympics, every time we compete, someone gets the GOLD and someone is out of the medal standings. Like the Olympians, we all know both feelings all too well.

The biggest difference between all of us and the Olympians is we don’t need to wait 4 years to “Go for the gold” again. Our next Olympics start as soon as we reach out, in whatever manner we use, to our next prospect.

 Like tens of millions of other people around the world, I am going to miss the excitement and energy of the Olympics. The good news is as a Sales Rep I will have the excitement and energy of selling to take its place.

Lorin

IT LOOKED GOOD ON PAPER

Once again I spent the night watching the Olympics. For the past week I have been glued to my television every night until midnight watching some of the most spectacular athletes in the world compete.

I have also been listening to some of the “so called” expert commentators tell me about what will happen, is happening, and just happened. Last evening during the Ladies Gymnastics Finals, the two leaders were within tenths of a point from each other going into the final event. The commentator said, “no matter how I look at the numbers, the USA should win by a minimum of 1/1000 of a point”.

Now I believe that future actions can sometimes be determined by past performance, however, 1/1000 of a point? The expert commentator was using the gymnasts past scores and performance scores to predict the outcome of last night’s competition. ON PAPER the young lady from the USA should have won.

 In sales, how many times have you walked into a “PERFECT PROSPECT” performed a “PERFECT PRESENTATION” delivered a “PERFECT CLOSE” and walked out with “PERFECTLY NOTHING”! I know I have not once, but a hundred times.

The question is what made us think they were a “PERFECT PROSPECT” to start with? In most cases it started ON PAPER.

We do our homework and look the prospect up on the internet. We check each point on our checklist;

The right type of business for our product or service                       CHECK

The right size for our product or service                                             CHECK

The right credit history                                                                           CHECK

The right number of employees                                                            CHECK

Name of the right person to talk with                                                  CHECK

Confirmed appointment date, time and location                               CHECK

Yada, Yada, Yada                                                                                       CHECK, CHECK, CHECK

EVERYTHING looks PERFECT doesn’t it? Then why no sale?

Just like sports, selling isn’t something that can be done strictly on paper. The attitude of the athlete like the attitude of the sales rep needs to be right for a PERFECT PERFORMANCE or PRESENTATION to be delivered. The attitude of the prospect needs to be PERFECT for a sale to be made.

All the preparation and hard work that got us to the opportunity to go for the gold has to be executed with PERFECTION.

There are so many “human variables” that neither sporting events nor sales can be predicted on paper. There is only one sure way to know the outcome, PLAY THE GAME, DO THE PRESENTATION!

Last evening the prediction of the commentator came to be, Gabby Douglas won the GOLD MEDAL in the Women’s All Around and stood on the medal stand for the United States.

While Gabby was winning her gold, thousands of sales reps around the world were also competing for their gold. Some only won on paper, others stood on the medal stand and collected their reward.

Lorin

ONE RACE AT A TIME

I just watched a remarkable race swam by a remarkable young lady who accomplished a remarkable feat.

If you are following the Olympics, and I don’t know anyone who isn’t, you probably already know who and what I am talking about. 17 year old MISSY FRANKLIN just won her first Olympic Gold Medal in the 100-Meter backstroke, in the her first Olympic individual event 10 minutes after swimming a qualifying heat in the women’s 200-meter free style and qualifying for tomorrow’s final.

This is a Herculean task by any swimmer, but for a 17 year old at her first Olympics it becomes unparalleled.

In the interview from poolside right after the race Missy talked about the advice her coaches gave her as to how to cope with the back to back races. She said they gave her several tips but she just took the races ONE AT A TIME!

Every day as sales reps, and just about any other professional, we have back to back to back to back appointments and meetings. We run from one customer to the next, answering our phone and e mails in between sales calls. Our managers and co-workers are asking more and more from us each day and we need to win our gold medals along the way as well.

 I think that we can all learn from the wisdom of this 17 year old swimmer and simply take all of the tasks, appointments, and duties we have one at a time. The customer you are in front of IS the most important customer of the day, the meeting you are in IS the most important meeting of the day, and the task you are performing IS the most important task of the day.

If you focus on your next customer, meeting, or task you will not give the present one the performance it deserves.

I will be watching the Olympics for the next 2 weeks like the rest of the world, you can expect to hear more of my INCREDABLE OLYMPIC MOMENTS turned into INCREDABLE SALES TIPS!

Lorin

LET THE GAMES BEGIN

As we count down the final few hours to the opening ceremony of the Olympics all the excitement and anticipation is coming to a crescendo. I know that my family, and many of our friends, will be together tonight glued to the television screen to watch the performance and 10’s of millions of others will be doing the same. For the next few weeks the DVR will be collecting our favorite shows as we watch the competition every evening.

Think about how the athletes must be feeling, all their years of hopes and dreams coming down to what is for many only a few seconds of actual performance. 1/100^th of a second will be the deciding factor between achieving their life long goals and the disappointment of not receiving an Olympic Medal.

For some athletes this may be their last chance to shoot for their star, others will set their sights on the 2016 Games and work harder than ever with their goals in sight.

Young men and women from around the world all gathered to together with one common dream, TO WIN!

It is not by chance that sales and sports are so often linked together in speeches and books. The sales reps of the world, at least the world class sales reps, all work with the same intensity as an athlete.  The sales people of the world work with goals, like the athletes, and they know that in some cases their hopes and dreams also come down to just a few seconds of presentation.

I am so glad that I decided to become a sales rep rather than an Olympic Athlete, mainly because using the remote control isn’t an Olympic event and that would be the only thing I would be qualified for, but also because my competitions aren’t 4 years apart, they happen several times daily, every time I approach a customer or prospect.

Reps work as hard perfecting their WORLD CLASS presentations as athletes do perfecting their specialized sport. Reps are shooting for their Gold Medals, the order, as intensely as the athletes shoot for theirs.

Here is the best news of all why we should ALL feel great about our decisions to become sales reps, we have a long and winning career to look forward to. Imagine if you worked as hard as you do and at the age of 19 knew you were too old to pursue your dreams. Think about what you would need to do if after years and years of working towards one goal, one performance, one dream you had to make the decision what you will do next in life because your chosen “SPORT” doesn’t hold any future for you.

Reps always have the next competition in sight, we are always in the hunt for our Gold Medal and we know that we may not win the gold every time we compete, we will stand high on the winners blocks and receive our medals in time.

Sales and sports are very closely related, in both I don’t believe LUCK ventures into the picture. PREPARATION is, in most cases, the deciding factor.

Are there other factors involved? ABSOLUTELY, sheer physical conditioning and build play a huge part in any athletic event. I could have swam more hours and practice 10 times harder than Michael Phelps when I was his age, but I can tell you I would never have been a great swimmer even on the baby pool circut.

We may not be able to match the physical attributes of the Olympic Athletes, but we can all have competitive spirit, we can match their desire to win, and we can exceed their success rate over the years of competition that we call selling.

All my best wishes to the 2012 US Olympic Team, may each of you achieve your goals and dreams over the next few weeks and I know you will make every citizen of the United States PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!

Lorin

SIGNS, SIGNS, EVERYWHERE ARE SIGNS

I walked into a business today and there was a sign that read, “I’M NOT BUSY BECAUSE I DID IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME”.

When I first read the sign I thought it was pretty funny, like many of you I have seen the sign that says, “THERE IS NO TIME TO DO IT RIGHT BUT ALWAYS TIME TO DO IT OVER” and thought his sign was just mocking this sign.

Then I walked into the shop area, and I was amazed at what I saw. It looked like a bee hive of activity. There were 20 bays (individual work areas), 16 of the 20 bays had lifts and all 16 had cars in the air at various stages of repair, several of the bays had a car under the raised car with the hood up and repairs being made. I asked the shop manager how many cars they turn a day, he said anywhere from 40 to 60.

As we talked the sign in the lobby kept coming back to mind, “I’M NOT BUSY BECAUSE I DID IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME”. The manager asked me why I was smiling, I mentioned the sign and we both started to laugh as we looked at the flurry of activity going on around us.

He said to me that the sign was not only in the lobby, each mechanic had a copy of it someplace in their work areas. He said that was the way he wanted everyone to think every day. He continued to tell me about how before he started the “DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME” program he would get as many as 2 out of 10 cars back within 2 days with problems from the repair being either done wrong or incomplete.

He told me about all the things he tried to get his guys to not rush the repairs and stop the returns. First he would not pay the mechanic for the time spent doing the second (or third) repair, when that didn’t help he started charging the mechanic a “FINE” of $25.00 for every return that was deemed their fault. He raised the fine to $50.00 and then started charging the mechanic what the shop lost because of the time AND inability to repair another car. He said that this could be anywhere from $100.00 to as much as $500.00 depending on the time it took to do the second repair.

He finished all of this explanation with, “AND NOTHING WORKED”! Until he saw the sign in the lobby hanging at another shop owned by a friend of his. He loved it and immediately had dozens of them made. He held a meeting and told the mechanics that all the fines were eliminated. He told them that doing the job right the first time was going to be the #1 priority and the guys who did the best would be rewarded for it.

The first reward was money, he offered $1000.00 to the mechanic with no returns for the month. NO ONE WON! He then offered gift certificates to stores and restaurants worth hundreds of dollars each for the next month, NO ONE WON! Finally he offered paid time off. The mechanic that had no returns would get 3 days off and be paid what he averaged per day that month. 3 MECHANICS WON! He said he kept the reward program going and the next month 7 MECHANICS WON!

As we were talking he was getting more and more excited about the story. He told me that the shop went from 20% returns to less than 2% in 6 months. The shop also went from 25 to 40 cars per day to the 40 to 60 they are doing now. He said the best thing of all is the attitude in the shop, the mechanics have all changed their thinking from, “GET IT DONE” to “GET IT DONE RIGHT!”

As sales rep we can all learn from this shop. As we go from customer to customer or call to call we sometimes take the occasional SHORTCUT to save time that day. The shortcut usually costs us twice as much time another day.

We have the “GET IT DONE” mentality, we need the “GET IT DONE ROGHT”! mentality.

A shortcut may get you to the store or a friend’s house a little faster but it rarely will get you a lifelong customer.

Lorin