If you ever feel like you are putting someone out by asking them to do something that you think is a good idea then you might be letting your pride get in the way of your value.
You have a tremendous potential value, but it stands as nothing until it is initiated. I have seen so many of my classmates in the IEM Program and coworkers that will blow you away with their capabilities. I have to shake my head at some of the brilliance I hear from these people, and I only shake that little head of mind harder when I see lack of confidence in these abilities. We all have a certain amount of ability, everyone’s abilities are different too, but the hardest thing to measure the willingness or “will do.” I am guilty of resting on certain abilities I have to compensate for my willingness to try, but this isn’t laziness I am talking about. The willingness or lack-there-of is far sneaker than slothfulness, I am talking about my Pride. Pride can make you stop before you ever begin because it creates self-doubt and fear. Here are some ways I found in my own career to get around it when I am lucky enough to realize what’s at hand.
1) Respect yourself and others appropriately. An attitude that measures yourself against others is unhealthy a in no way a reasonably measure of success. Being “better” or “not as good” is not the issue, focus on your goals and the rest will take care of itself.
2) Recognize the fear that is holding you back and single it out. Once it is out, you can start addressing why it holds you back. For instance, I still get nervous when I make a cold call on a potential client. The nerves don’t match the possible risk; what are they going to do? The worst they can do is be mean and not want to go any further. The monster you build up in your mind is always worse than the reality that awaits. (see Grover’s There is a monster at the end of this book for reference.)
3) Embrace the value of your purpose – I probably didn’t say anything you don’t already know, but I wrote down what I need to remind myself. If you know of something that trips you up consistently try to write it down so you’ll remember to watch out for it. (maybe that was 3.5 ways)
Feel free to add what works for you, as this is something we all suffer.
April 13, 2010
1) review you elevator speech
2) take the document in your hands and rip it to shreds
3) place the shreds in the trash
4) relax…
5) think of a story that can illustrate what you speech said
Wait! Those tips were horrible. I can’t throw away my elevator speech, how will I be able to explain to some VIP what I am doing and why they should care? Well, the answer is they won’t care, unless they are just nice people and if they were just nice people they’d listen to anything you have to say. So, how do you attract the right kind of person to what you have to say? The best way is an interesting story; a relevant, timely, and emotionally appealing story that opens the door for action.
There is an art to story telling, but for our case we’ll focus on the things you need for attracting the result you want. This blog can’t make you a good story-teller, however we can focus on the areas that drive results. Keep these 5 things in mind when giving that wonderful story of yours:
1) Have believable characters and scenarios – people are interested in other people, especially if they can identify with their circumstances.
2) Use what the audience is interested in – you should know a little about who you are talking to, so use that knowledge to pique their curiosity.
3) Be relaxed, yet brief and to the point – you are making a point, right?
4) Allow the testimony to flow into an action they can take – here is where you reintroduce yourself, exchange/gather contact info, and/or give them a reference or website. (You only keep going if they are more interested in you at this point.)
5) Say ” goodbye, nice to meet you” and be smooth enough in your departure that when you follow-up with them, they remember you and your story.
PS. Do Not Loiter! Show an utmost respect for their time.
April 12, 2010
I just got an article sent to me about not cutting price to close a sale. The article was sound in theory but had nothing backing it, like what to do instead of giving price away. So, one search and two post later I found this and was impressed enough to want to share it. Here is a real answer:
http://www.eyesonsales.com/content/article/how_to_stop_giving_profits_away/
April 12, 2010
Effective Selling is some old book I don’t care anything about, but they have this brutal list of things that Cause Failures in sales. Here it is:
Lack or initiative
Lack of enthusiasm
Salesperson too customer-oriented
Lack of personal goals
Lack of job satisfaction
Insufficient self-discipline
No interest in self-development
Lack of self-confidence
Personal problems
Dishonesty
Unfortunate appearance
Improper attitude
Lack of tact and courtesy
Gambling and drinking
I am sure we can all look at these issues and see why they would cause problems. You can sum it up by saying all these accept “unfortunate appearance” are within our power to control, and if you can check off that list in a positive way you will be the success you chose to design for yourself.
April 11, 2010
No one makes this point better than C.S. Lewis in his book Mere Christianity:
“There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others. The vice I am talking about is Pride or Self-Conceit: and the virtue opposite it, in Christian morals, is Humility.”
I bring this this topic up so that we may be more attractive to others, especially those excellent ideas you have. I am not talking about showing humility or false humility which is just another form of Pride. I am asking that we look at ourselves and relax the strain of trying to appear better than others and our-self. Lets be honest with who we are and what we want, this behavior takes out the element of fear. If you can remove fear of rejection because of your humility, you will be able to boldly present your ideas. These ideas you boldly present are made attractive by the strength of your confidence in who you are and why you wish to present them.
I am guilty of Pride when I start thinking I know better than my co-workers, customers, management and those involved in the sales process. A condescending attitude never makes anyone want to help you and rarely are you going to get anyone to buy-in to your ideas. If selling is all about getting other to consider your ideas in the best possible light, then Pride is always going to hurt your chances.
April 11, 2010
Human relationships can be a hard thing to handle. If you happen to be married you learned this pretty early on, or if you have had the same boy/girl in your life for longer than that “can’t-do-anything-wrong” period” you probably realized some of what I am about to say.
When I met my future wife she thought I was perfect for almost 6 months. Then we almost broke up because I wanted play basketball one night instead of be with her. Silly – yes, lesson to be learned – most certainly.
Actually, it wasn’t that I wanted to play basketball that almost caused the brake-up, it was the “discussion” that followed. Maybe you have had one of these “discussions” yourself and understand what I am talking about without me exploiting all the embarrassing details from that night.
The bottom line of the problem came down to how we reacted to each other in this “discussion.” After I informed my future wife that I would be playing basketball, she made a request that I spend the evening with her, I told her I was playing and that was that, she reacted as you might imagine and I continued to ignite the situation. After 2 or 3 hours of “discussion” I was pretty sure we were done, that was until we both realized how small of an issue sparked this “discussion.”
Your spouse is your most telling relationship. They way you respond to them is a good look into the way you truly respond to all your relationships. Learn to care and listen to your wife/husband, learn to meet an objection and reply accordingly, learn to get them what they want so you can get what you want (Zig Zigglar), if you can do that – you can manage any other relationship. Maybe you see that aren’t responding to you spouse in the way you do other relationships, and that can be telling in its own right.
If you are looking for a good book on this from a Christian perspective check out Love & Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs. He has an interesting thought on Respect than any that is for anyone wants to have better human relationships. Even though his book is devoted to the relationship of a Husband and Wife, with a little creativity I am sure you can see a bigger application of his work.
April 11, 2010
Here is a quote from story: “Why am I trying to become what I don’t want to be? What am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am!” I am not really interest in book, The Death of a Salesman, just the title fit the point I am going to make and quote can hit home if you’re not following your heart in life. I am here to say I think the old school characteristic of sales has died, wilted, turned to ash, and blown away.
Where have the salesmen gone who wear a suit and tie? Where has the big-talker gone? Where are the nice guys who bring donuts and a smile? Answer: they retired, quit, or got fired.
No Value = No results = No Profit = No Job
What is the value in a salesman? The value to company that hires the salesman is the amount of business he can bring in or maintain. The value to the client is his ability to help is operation be more profitable. The perceived value has more to do with trust and respect than it has to do with the products the salesperson represents. Today’s industrial client is lean; they have one guy doing 4 jobs. That one guy no longer has the time to sit around with a salesman because he has too much work to do. This is especially true in the industrial sales market, but is a common theme for most industries.
Does this mean selling is dead? Not at all – the traditional method of selling is dead. A salesman separated from his services (engineering, project management, manufacturing, design, or technical assistance) is just about worthless and a nuisance at best. A salesman that is integrated with those services is worth a fortune. An excellent communicator with technical understanding, possessing the respect of the client is the “invisible hand” of business. The understanding of what the client needs and how to get them there, that is selling. Better yet, that is technical selling; this is the person that takes responsibility to MAKE IT HAPPEN.
Goodbye Sales Rep, hello sales tech and sales engineer. Although you may not have this title, if you are viable in the industrial market this probably fits your job description better than Sales Rep. This is the bases for a new form of doing business in my company. The introduction of Sales Techs and Sales Engineers that offer value to clients is being considered for our growth markets and hopefully for our older markets as well.
What is your Value? MAKE IT HAPPEN.
April 9, 2010
You, Inc. has been an easy read. I think it is one of those books you just want to read a bit at a time. Easy to read, but is packed with info.
It has simple, helpful information on how to present yourself to others. It feels like something you already know, or maybe it is just that it rings true when you read it. I almost think I could just pick it up and randomly select a page and get a good lesson to focus on that day. You can buy this book for under $15 and is definitely a good value. A little story telling mixed with quotable content.
I recommend it for anyone that wants to market their own talents and abilities as a business.
April 9, 2010
This guy comes off a little over the top, but he makes a good point. A point that is true, but might get you booted from an interview. This ugly little truth stands the test of time, don’t let anyone tell you differently. When you are competing with another person for a promotion, job, account, etc. you need to know how the other person is approaching the task. Look at this reference from shameless Shamus Brown:
http://sales-blog.industrialego.com/sales-tips/2009/06/sun-tzu-had-this-to-say-about-your-sales-competition/
April 8, 2010
If you want to convince someone of something, you first want to understand where they are coming from first. This means you need to set aside all preconceived notions and assumptions and truly listen to the person. So how do you get to the good stuff without just hearing someone’s mindless ramblings.
Reflective listening is a communication skill whereby you focus on the central points of the speaker and encourage them to disclose an emotional response. Why the emotional response? Since you asked, this it where you can build a case for your solution. You need to work off the speaker’s emotional perspective first to get them to understand you point of view later. You are trying to get deeper than just hearing them out, in reflective listening you are trying to get to the heart of the issue.
Here are some ways to do it:
Find the emotion(s) that is motivating the speakers behavior. Be aware of body language, tone, and how they say things as much as what they are saying. Then see it from their emotional perspective, couple that with your understanding of their personal and business life and try to portray yourself in that situation. The sympathy and insight will give you an advantage in gaining their trust because you understand their perspective.
Do the following while listening:
Let them know you are interested in what they are saying.
Involve your body language as feedback that you are interested and hear what they are saying.
Ask the opened ended questions about things they are talking about that you want to focus on.
Stay physically engaged and focused. (Even if you are on the phone.) Controlling your physical actions will keep you engaged in the speaker, and the speaker will pick up on it if you are disingenuous.
Don’t do the following:
Interrupt with your opinions.
Check you phone, emails, text messages, the time, or engage in other activities (Unless this is my wife and a football game is on.)
Good listening is the first step in good selling. It makes you focus on the issues at hand and have fundamental understanding before you offer a solution.
March 31, 2010
Previous page