If you want to make sure that your next sales meeting and visit bombs quicker than Liverpool’s chances of winning the 2009 Champion’s League then make sure that you take the advice of Ivegotta Closeya, one of the most successful, unsuccessful sales people in the world.

Here’s his top 6 tips for making sure that your next sales meeting is well and truly a sales meeting from hell!

Ivegotta Closeya

1. Just Wing It!
Go into the meeting with no specific objectives in mind. Just play it be ear and have no specific outcome for what you want to achieve. That’s a real test of a salesperson! Fly by the seat of your pants!

2. Research Is For Whimps
Conducting clent research is a real pain in the 8ss! Just don’t bother. After all, sales is a numbers game isn’t it? If the next sucker doesn’t buy then some other sucker will…won’t they?

3. Decision Maker? Keh?
Assume the person you are going to meet is the decision maker. After all, they must be important to be meeting you right?

4. My Kit Has Never Let Me Down Before
No need to check your laptop cables, your laptop batteries or whether you’ve got a back up plan if the laptop packs up. What’s the use of that? Also, you’ll have plenty of business cards either in your brief case or in your jacket pocket so no need to waste time on them.

5. That’s Enough About Me, What Do You Think About Me?
Me, me, me, me, me! Love it! I’ve perfected my pitch and I’m gonna close this person and get them to buy it. I’m not going to waste time hearing about their pain and their issues as I know these already. So I’m gonna go for the kill. Wish me luck!

6. I Get Objections All The Time, I’m Great At Handling Them!
I was once told by my Sales Manager and some Bald Sales Jedi Guy to frontload my objections into my presentation but that’s a waste of time. I love it when objections surface at the end and then I have a ping pong match in overcoming them. Oh, yes, that’s the true test of a sales rep! 15 love!

And now a tip from “The Bald Sales Jedi Guy” – Ivegotta Closeya is a complete loser!

Make sure you reverse his logic and tips and be prepared for your next client sales meeting!

Happy Sales Meetings!

Sean

Sean McPheat
“Bald Sales Jedi Guy” – thank you Ivegotta!
MTD Sales Blog

Telephone: 0800 849 6732

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I’m asked a lot about the value of asking the right sales questions, so much so that I put a free report together on the homepage of the blog on the top 23 sales questions to use with your prospects!

You see, in any sales interaction you need to adopt the PULL rather PUSH mentality.

What I mean by this is that you don’t just PUSH benefits down the throat of your prospect. Instead, you pull out the problems and pain from your prospect and then you SOLVE the problem with what you offer.

So when you go into your next sales interaction remember to PULL out the problems and pain by asking effective questions. You need to assume the position of a doctor!

Now a doctor will perform a thorough examination before writing out a prescription and so should you.

And just like a doctor remember this:

“Prescription before diagnosis is malpractice!”

So, in summary: Pull out the problems first and then solve them. Ask questions, listen and make sure you unearth what EXACTLY the issues, problems and pain is before you SOLVE them!

Happy Selling

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Blog

Telephone: 0800 849 6732

Have you downloaded my latest report yet? “The Sales Person’s Crisis” has been downloaded by over 10,000 sales pros and entrepreneurs. Don’t miss this unique report that lifts the lid on modern day selling!

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

I’ve just got off the phone with a FTSE 100 company (yes, one that is actually making money!) that has asked me to speak at their international sales conference on the subject of differentiation and uniqueness.

Of course I’m going to use a better title than that for my talk!

Now there’s a valuable lesson in this…

You see, nowadays you don’t need to be better to get the business. Sometimes you just need to be different.

Just step into the shoes of your prospects and clients for a moment and you’ll see what I mean:

Your prospects will receive tons of direct mail letters and boring “I’ll call you in the next 4 days to discuss”

They all look and offer the same thing!

Your prospects will receive tons of cold calls from people just like you and your competitors – you’ll all sound the same and you’ll all you use the same techniques. Boring!

When you meet with your prospect and go over your USP’s I’d bet that they’re all a much of a muchness compared to the competition too. “We offer the best after sales service” – come on, everyone says that!

So, differentiating yourself is more difficult in today’s marketplace when it comes to your services and products.

…..and even if you have got some unique points to make, your prospect will not believe you to start with.

So how can you set yourself apart from the rest?

Well, I could be here all day but let me give you just one idea that I’ve used in the past and it has worked wonders!

When prospecting…

Send a chocolate foot in the post and title the letter: “We’d love to get our foot in the door!”
Then when you call up you will be remembered!

You see, you will be remembered!

So have a think of any creative ideas in your prospecting and in your selling that will make you stand apart.

Does that mean that you’re better?

Well, no.

You’re just being different.

And all you need to start with is a receptive ear to move the sales forward.

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Blog
www.mtdsalestraining.com

Telephone: 0800 849 6732

Have you downloaded my latest report yet? “The Sales Person’s Crisis” has been downloaded by over 10,000 sales pros and entrepreneurs. Don’t miss this unique report that lifts the lid on modern day selling!

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

I just had to write a post about the TV programme I just watched.

I admire a great business story and this was one of them….well at least it is for the time being.

Wellworths was the brainchild of Claire Robertson.

Former Woolworths Manager Claire and her team from the Dorchester branch were made redundant along with thousands of others when Woolworths went bust.

But Claire wanted to fight back and she reopened the store and renamed it Wellworths. So she re-employed all of her staff and along with an 8,000 product line and £38k to find each week just to stay afloat she started a media frenzy!

It was a great PR story and local, national and international press all had a piece of the action!

On opening day it meant that they took over £8k including £2k in the first 2 hours.

Chris Evans opened the store and he summed it up nicely when he said “This is a great story and Britain loves a trier”

So, will Wellworths make a better fist of it than Woolworths?

Well, time will tell but the lesson to be had is this…

Don’t look back in 20 or 30 years and ask “What if?”

Have the balls to go for what you want.

Have the balls to keep on trying.

Have the balls to take a chance.

Have the balls to ask for the business even when you think all is lost.

Have the balls to make another 20 cold calls even when you’ve heard “no” for the past 2 days.

Remember, there are 3 types of people in this world…

There’s those people that make things happen like Claire Robertson.

There’s those people that watch things happen.

And then there are people who say “What happened?!”

What will you make happen today?

Happy Selling

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Blog
www.mtdsalestraining.com

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Have you downloaded my latest report yet? “The Sales Person’s Crisis” has been downloaded by over 10,000 sales pros and entrepreneurs. Don’t miss this unique report that lifts the lid on modern day selling!

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

Emotional Selling Proposition - have you got one?

We all know that sales are based mostly on emotion and the decision is backed up with logic.

That’s the law of the salesperson!

You’ve heard of a USP right? i.e Unique Selling Proposition – well, these are the benefits that your prospects and clients can look forward to receiving when they purchase your wares.

They could be called “THE LOGICAL BENEFITS” of doing business with you.

Your Sales Manager and Sales Director will most likely ram USP’s down your throat so you can discuss them with your prospects.

But based upon what we said earlier, your prospects will make their buying decisions based upon emotion and will back that decision up with logic and not just logic alone via your USPs. Are are USP’s really USP’s any longer? Everyone seems to have the same USP’s!

Therefore, you need to work out what your ESP is!

And your ESP stands for your:

EMOTIONAL SELLING PROPOSITION

So what’s an Emotional Selling Proposition?

Sure, your USP will provide logic and reasoning as to why someone should select you but their primary reason will be an emotional one.

Your ESP’s are your products/service/companies emotional levers that help the prospect to buy. They are the “beneath the service” triggers to creates emotion.

So think about the feelings and the emotions that you want to stir up with your prospects and clients and use this in your sales. Can your product/service make the prospect:

* Feel important
* Feel valued
* Feel part of a unique group or select band of people
* Feel whole
* Feel remembered
* Feel attractive
* Feel trendy
* Feel hip
* Feel safe
* Feel accepted

You get the picture!

So, next time you are revisiting your USP’s make sure you take just as long if not longer on your emotional selling proposition too.

Happy ESP!

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Sales Blog

Telephone: 0800 849 6732

Have you downloaded my latest report yet? “The Sales Person’s Crisis” has been downloaded by over 10,000 sales pros and entrepreneurs. Don’t miss this unique report that lifts the lid on modern day selling!

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

Want some tips on cold calling?

Here’s the cold calling cheat sheet!

I must receive about 20+ emails each month that ask me for specific help and guidance on cold calling so here are some top tips:

1. Sound Like A Human Being
Try not to sound like a robotic cold caller. That’s what 95% of the cold callers sound like. You need to sound as though you are just calling up a colleague for a chat rather than a “have I got a deal for you” salesperson!

2. Learn How To Get Through Gatekeepers
You need to ne able to identify a gatekeeper screen and also know how to get through them!

3. Opening Is The New Closing
Spend a lot of time on perfecting your opening to your calls. So many salespeople come to me and ask for tips on how to close a cold call. Just forget it! If you don’t open your calls in the right way you will not even get to the close! That means trying out different openings and measure the response and reaction of the prospect. Keep refining and modifying the opening until you nail it.

4. Understand Your Numbers
Keep detailed records of the calls you make, what you said, the response you get etc. You can’t manage and improve what you can’t measure. Keep tabs on the voicemail messages you leave and which ones get the most number of returned calls. If it moves, measure it!

5. Strong Work Ethic
Even if you close 10 out of 10 calls on the bounce please keep going and carry out your planned number of calls for that day. A 100% strike rate is not sustainable. You may go 50 calls with no sales in the future and you may feel like you’re in a slump when all it is are your averages catching up with you.

6. Have Clear Objectives In Your Mind
If your calling objective is to set an appointment then sell only the appointment! Don’t go into the latest and greatest benefits of your products and services. Stick to your objective!

7. Have A Secondary Objective In Mind
Ok, so they don’t want an appointment even if you gave them money for attending! What are you going to do then? You need to have a back up objective in mind. Can you find out who their existing supplier is? The length of the contract? There’s plenty of info you can find out!

8. Cold Calling Quick Wins

There are some quick wins to be had if:

- You can sound like and create the impression that you’re well known to the decision maker

- You can sound as though you’re an important person who expects to be put through

- You are polite! (A lot of cold callers in trying to sound important are out and out rude!)

- Assume that you’ll be put through in your mind

- Assume that you’ll be put through by not asking to be put through but by using the following:

Instead of:
“Hi it’s Sean, could you put me through to James please?”
Use
“Hi Jenny, it’s Sean, could you let James know that I’m on the line, thanks”

By using “thanks” at the end of the sentance it assumes you’ll be put through and a lot of gatekeepers will assume that you know James and instead of giving you a qualification grilling and be made to look stupid if it were James’ best friend they will put you straight through!

Ok, there are hundreds of other cold calling tips – but these should get you started!

Click on this link for some more cold calling techniques

Happy Cold Calling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Sales Training

Telephone: 0800 849 6732

Have you downloaded my latest report yet? “The Sales Person’s Crisis” has been downloaded by over 10,000 sales pros and entrepreneurs. Don’t miss this unique report that lifts the lid on modern day selling!

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…