Communication

http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42816

I want to use the imbedded video to illustrate in an extreme way how important communication is.  It is not only speaking and listening but also UNDERSTANDING what is being said.  Sales people who have mastered the understanding of what is being communicated are the real champions of our chosen profession.  I was privileged to fly in an assortment of airplanes while serving in the United States Air Force! Steve Ritchie (who tells this story and is one of only 5 Aces from the Vietnam war) along with Robin Olds, "Chappie" James, Ray Robinson and of course the immortal Chuck Yeager are among my greatest heroes.      You must learn to really listen to what your customers are saying. Now I mean really listen not just be preparing for what you are going to say in response!  To understand what they are trying to communicate to you by asking them questions of clarification is the best thing you can do for them because you are able to really help them with what they need and not just sell them something.  Communication is the foundation of friendship and friendship is the foundation of relationship and relationship is the foundation of everything no matter whether personal, spiritual or professional. Wishing You a communicative 2013, Dan aka Captain W Dan Dobson USAF 1967-1972 To no longer receive emails from this sender, click here If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender as such and delete the e-mail from your system immediately. No one other than the intended recipient is allowed to use the information contained herein or attached hereto in any way.

Cutting Corners

A salesman was a whole hour and a half late back to work after his Friday lunch break.

"Where have you been?" asked his sales manager.

"Getting a haircut." replied the salesman.

"On company time?" asked his manager with a huff.

"It grew on company time," countered the salesman meekly.

"Not all of it," asserted the sales manager.

"That's why I didn't get it all cut off," replied the rep.

Moral of the story.  True sales professionals know that if you want to have lasting success at sales you can't afford to cut corners.  An hour here, a few minutes there, it all adds up over time.  And before you know it, it's quarter end or year end, and it's now impossible for you to hit your number.  When you cheat at anything, you're ultimately cheating yourself.   Eventually you will be caught, and eventually YOU will pay a price for it.  Just ask Lance Armstrong.

For a great discussion on the "Lance" issue, check out this thread,   (Make sure to Kudo Granbit on the timely topic.)

http://community.jigsaw.com/t5/The-Water-Cooler/Lance-Armstrong/td-p/133207

"People have a moral standard about what they will do and what they will not do.  At the end of the day someone who cheats has a lower moral standard than someone who does not.  And they will cheat in other areas of their lives as well."  -  Carl Lewis

Easing tension

Your palms are sweating as you pick up the phone to make a call on a very warm lead and you are feeling like there is a lot riding on the call. Oddly enough as soon as the person on the line answers and realizes you are a sales person the tension likely increases between the two of you.  You are nervous and they are probably bothered.
Last week I talked about opening statements and suggested that you need a good one.  I have used this one for many years and with great results as not many can resist being asked for help.
Not sure if you can help me, but thought you could possibly point me in the right direction. Would you happen to know who in your organization would be responsible for carrier selection with regard to truckload, intermodal and less than truckload shipments?  I’m Dan Dobson with Trinity Logistics, and we specifically help companies with these types of freight moves. Any help you could provide would be very graciously appreciated.
As soon as you get to the right person a great tension breaker is to say something like this.  Before we get started, I noticed on your web site that you manufacture fracking fluid tanks.  Since that is such a hot topic right now can you tell me briefly how those huge tanks are transported.  It looks like they actually have their own wheels.
Tension is usually broken as they launch into how that is done and you have demonstrated to them that you have done some research about what they do and are interested in broadening your knowledge.  A good start in establishing a relationship with someone who can help coach you into becoming the trusted advisor that we all would like to be become.

Don't Make First Impressions Last Impressions

 I read this paragraph recently in a blog and it has haunted me ever since with regard to what those of us who sell goods and services do every day to earn a living.  Read it and then I will tell you what I think.
"It is so true we can only make one first impression, but if we base all that we think of someone on a first impression, we are the ones who lose out.  We never know when someone has had a bad day, or bad news, or bad experience just before we see him or her.  Are they sick and just pressing through because we are that important to them?  We don’t know if their culture dictates certain behavior on a first meeting.  So, be cautious, first impressions may cause us to miss some of the best relationships of our lives."
     In 53 years of selling I have learned that those who deal with my chosen profession are very unforgiving with regard to first impressions.  Are there exceptions?  Right on! But by and large you either make it or break it in the first 20 seconds you stand in front of or speak to a prospective customer on the phone.  What you say means a great deal. It really means almost everything!
     Potential customers have many more potential vendors than most people have potential friends so their level of tolerance is much lower than we are with people we meet casually.  We can forgive a bad day or a bad experience.  Most of our potential customers do not have or take that luxury.
     What you say initially will define whether the conversation goes beyond that or not.
    Do you have a statement that will help insure the conversation continues?
     If you don't you had better get one and it better be compelling!

Wishing You a Prosperous 2013 very limited as to foot in mouth situations,

Dan

Paralysis

Every new year I try to go back to this theme in my own mind so that I continue to realize what the greatest deterrence to my success in life really is.  It is the biggest roadblock to  dreams being fulfilled, to not becoming complacent, and to leading a happy life.  It is fear of rejection.  And it has killed off many people who had the potential to be great sales people simply because they would not or better still COULD not pick up the phone or make that next knock on the door that might have given them the impetus to move forward.  Instead fear of rejection caused them to join the ranks of the millions who quit on themselves every single day.
     I used to be in medical products sales for a large company. I called on every hospital in the state of Arizona no matter the size.  Did I get rejected? Too many times to admit.  Did I want to quit?  Too many times to admit.  Did I give up on myself. I did not and for this reason:  My attitude in my head was " Hey, you don't want to buy a product from me that will help you become a better medical facility.  Shame on you!  Now I am going down the street and sell it to your competitor and they will end up being better off for the buying of it"  A mind game that worked for me beyond my wildest dreams. I became a very successful sales person.
     I am am reading a great book by a guy named Robert W Smith and it is his only book to date so it won't be hard to find.  20,000 Days & Counting.  His mind game was to look for as many no's as he could find realizing that a yes was right around the corner.  That worked for him. What works for you?
     You find something that works for you and use it diligently and I assure you you will never again be paralyzed by the biggest killer of sales careers on the plant.  The fear of rejection!

Wishing You a Prosperous 2013 but it will be filled with rejections. Deal with it!

Falling

One Wednesday morning, a salesman arrived late with one eye swollen shut, his left arm in a sling, and his clothes in tatters."It's 10:00," pointed out the sales manager, "and you were supposed to be here by 9:00."The salesman explained, "I fell out of a tenth story window." The sales manager snorted and remarked, "And what, it took you a whole hour to land?"
Moral of the story.  True sales professionals know that sales is a tough racket.   You can't let little things get you down.   No matter what, full speed ahead. 
"The future is something everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, who ever he is." -  C.S. Lewis
"Let him who would enjoy a great future waste none of his present."        -       Roger Babson

Merry Christmas!

 
All of us during this past year have had some difficulty with a carrier or a customer or even a friend or co-worker.  Let me suggest to you that you take it upon yourself to reach out to that person (or maybe those persons lol) here at Christmastime and extend them wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year (bag the Happy Holiday deal, as it is Christmas.... like it or not).  No strings attached. No ulterior motive.  Nothing but a simple wish of happiness from you to them.  Then forget about it because you have sewn the seed and it is God's business to take it from there.

     “There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say,' returned the nephew. 'Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round -apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that- as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!”
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

God Bless Us Everyone.  Merry Christmas