Leadership isn’t just for managers.
One of my clients shocked me the other day when I mentioned our upcoming Leadership course in Chicago this July. He told me his managers are well trained regarding leadership. When I asked him about his salespeople, his response was alarming. “Salespeople? Why would salespeople need leadership training? They’re not managers.”
Perhaps you’ve seen the video of a study done with fleas. It’s on YouTube now, but it’s been around a while. A researcher puts fleas in a jar and closes the lid. The fleas jump around hitting the lid. Eventually, they stop jumping high enough to hit the lid. The lid is removed. The fleas never jump higher than the level set by the lid, and their offspring never jump higher either. They’re conditioned for life.
Successful leaders are free from self-imposed restraints, what we call lids. These lids are preconceived notions or thoughts that keep us in our comfort zones. They may be assumptions rooted in fear, doubt, or the result of unpleasant past experiences. Strong leaders rise above their lids with a clear path for growth and success, pushing themselves to reach their maximum potential. All salespeople benefit from being able to recognize and overcome the self-imposed lids that limit their success.
Successful leaders are inspiring. They are excellent communicators with an ability to passionately share their vision. Salespeople who create and share a vision of success are much more effective than those who don’t.
True leaders don’t just create followers. They create leaders. One definition of the word “Lead” is: “The art of motivating people to act towards achieving a common goal.” Consider the mission of your sales team for a moment. What are the goals? What is the mission? Would you not be better served if everyone on your team understood the mission and possessed the leadership skills to reinforce it proactively? By training your salesforce in the principles of leadership, they reach and influence additional team members in ways upper management can’t.
Why do salespeople need leadership training? Because it’s a state of mind, not a station in life. You don’t have to be a manager to have a leader’s mentality.
Improve your leadership skills, achieve your potential. Address biases that keep you from accepting new ideas and better alternatives. Evaluate yourself objectively. Leaders know and accept their strengths and weaknesses. What are yours? Do a survey. Ask your family, friends, and coworkers what they see as your strengths and weaknesses. Strive to overcome negative emotions and thoughts that hinder your progress. Be aware of how you talk to yourself! Be positive and encouraging. Successful leaders have a sense of purpose. Do you know yours? Successful leaders understand who they are, what they want, and how to inspire others. They have a plan, and their actions are deliberate.
Help your team answer these questions or answer them for yourself. Attend our Leadership program and master the six levels of leadership.
You have the right to remain silent.
As a salesperson, you not only have the right to remain silent, you are often obligated to stay quiet! When selling, anything you say can and will be used against you in a negotiation; and you are always negotiating. In our last blog post, we discussed how silence is one of the most potent tools salespeople have. Well, it turns out silence may be the single most potent tactic you have when negotiating.
Silence is often perceived as awkward. Silence creates a strong urge within us to keep talking. Use it when negotiating to apply subtle pressure and the person with whom you are negotiating may share information they don’t want you to know. At the very least using silence might provide you the insight you need to ask more profound questions about the other person’s situation. In negotiating, information is power. Silence is a magnet for information.
The power of silence is often overlooked when answering questions. How often have we heard a customer ask, “How much?” and a salesperson replies with a lengthy explanation trying to justify a price they believe to be too high. Want customers to accept your prices? Then answer the price question directly, factually, and concisely with solid eye contact and be quiet. Allow time for your prospect or customer to respond. Let them tell you they are not happy with the price, don’t help them by volunteering that you aren’t confident about it either. That is a recipe for lower margins. Who knows, they may not even have a problem with it.
One of the worst things we can do in a negotiation is to talk ourselves out of a good deal with negative self-talk. Sometimes we must be silent to ourselves. Don’t allow negative thoughts to cripple your ability to negotiate confidently.
Visibly nervous people seldom do well in negotiations. When we are nervous, we tend to talk faster and at a higher pitch. Silence helps you avoid looking nervous. You may be coming apart inside, but by remaining calm and talking less, no one will suspect it. Silence exudes confidence. Want to appear more confident in a negotiation? Talk less, ask more. Heck, you might even come across as intimidating . . . If that’s what you want.
Silence slows things down and allows both you and your customer time to think and consider possible creative alternatives.
As with most forms of communication in a business environment, less is more. Avoid the compelling temptation to talk too much. Ask questions and patiently, quietly, wait for the answers.
Attend our Value-Added Negotiating course to better negotiate on value instead of price.
Want to Sell More? Be Quiet.
Fr
ed Rogers is famous for the children’s show, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood on PBS from 1968 to 2001. His objective was to use television to help children learn how to talk about emotions. His lessons are not only helpful to children, but also to those of us who want to be successful salespeople.
Mr. Rogers said, “Silence is one of the greatest gifts we have.” Silence is a tool all salespeople have but rarely use. Silence makes salespeople uncomfortable. Why? Why do we think when we ask a customer or prospect a thoughtful question they should answer immediately?
Silence can be used throughout the sales process in many ways.
Asking a question and listening patiently without interrupting, encourages people to think and allows them time to provide thorough answers. You learn what they value. This enables you to establish how your product or service is the best solution. Asking a question and being silent also encourages customers to continue speaking. Most of us are not comfortable with silence and fill the void with words. We learn much more about our customers’ needs by patiently letting them respond and actively listening.
Mr. Rogers once asked the children on his show, “Do you want to know how long a minute is?” To demonstrate, he turned on an egg timer, and just sat quietly for one minute. He believed slow space was not wasted space. Salespeople will sell more if they learn to use this slow space. Don’t talk over it!
Silence is even more useful when negotiating! We’ll have more on that in our next post.
Mr. Rogers said the best way to get children to share their feelings was to ask short, simple, direct questions and then wait for them to answer. When they responded, he listened, waiting for them to elaborate, then they would say a little more. He believed this was a great interviewing tactic. This is also a powerful selling tool.
Practice using silence when speaking with people. Before filling that void with words, count to ten slowly in your head. See for yourself what a great gift silence can be. Put silence to work when speaking with your customers and prospects. Reap the benefits of silence!
The Great Salespeople are Grateful!
Hard to believe that here in the United States Thanksgiving is upon us which means we are quickly working our way through November and 2018! Time for some reflection.
It’s often said that to be happy one must be thankful. Well anyone in sales should be thankful for customers. After all, customers provide us with our living. I am sure we are all thankful for our customers on some level, but how do we let them know?
Countless studies have been done on why people lose repeat business and, they seem to agree that over 68% of repeat business is lost because of perceived indifference on the part of the salesperson. Therefore, it becomes critical that we consistently remind our cherished customers how much they mean to us, but how?
Here are seven ways to let your customers know you care:
1. Send them a handwritten card.
These days there is just something special about receiving a handwritten note or card. Take the time to do this to let customers know you truly care. Extra points if you send them a Thank You card for Thanksgiving. Differentiate yourself and be early. Set yourself apart from all the cards they get in December.
2. Take them out for a meal.
Spend time with customers away from the normal grind. You will enjoy their company and learn a great deal about them and their interests.
3. Keep up with their interests.
Let customers know you care. Stay in touch with them regarding their interests. I once had a customer who was a Revolutionary War buff. When I went to Boston for a vacation, I sent him pictures of Paul Revere’s grave and other memorials. He loved them. This simple action forever changed our relationship.
4. Send them relevant stories or articles.
Since you are paying attention to their interest, send links, articles, and news stories related to their interests. Should you come across something in which your customers might have an interest, pass it along or send a picture.
5. Keep in touch with them on a regular basis.
Out of sight, out of mind. Call or email them on a regular basis. LinkedIn is also great for this purpose. Connect with your customers on LinkedIn and be active with them there.
6. Ask for their opinion.
Everyone wants their opinions heard and valued. Listen to what they have to say and then send a “Thank You” note for their thoughts and time.
7. Follow them on social media. Support their posts.
As appropriate, pay attention to what your customers do on social media. Like, share, and comment on their posts. Mention something about it when you speak with them.
8. Always give a little extra.
I know we said seven but here is one extra! Hewlett-Packard used to give out 13″ rulers to their customers. The quote on the ruler said This ruler is just a little longer than most. We put an extra measure of performance into everything we do.
Do the same for your customers.
Do you see what your customers see?
Have you ever caught a glimpse of yourself in a mirror and thought, do I really look like that? Maybe you saw a photo of yourself and thought the same thing? Unfortunately, mirrors and pictures don’t lie.
What if you could see yourself in the middle of a sales call? Would you see yourself with two ears and one mouth, or the other way around? Do you talk too much? Do you interrupt? Do you ask enough questions? Would you sound just like the salesperson that represents your competitor? Do you work to discover how your products and services help your customers? When you watch yourself give your fantastic elevator pitch, do you see the customer thinking, “So what”?
If you were able to see yourself in a real situation, would you be delighted? If not, make changes!
Ask Questions! Don’t rely upon assumptions. Before you speak with a prospect or customer, plan five open-ended questions you would like to ask over and above the questions you usually ask.
Silence is golden! When you ask your customers a question, allow them time to think if they don’t answer right away. Wait until your customer is finished speaking before you respond. Do you tend to say, “mm hmm”, or “uh huh”, when someone is speaking to let them know you are listening? This is called chirping. Chirping is distracting. Don’t chirp when someone is speaking. You will glean more from your prospects and customers if you maintain eye contact and listen quietly.
What are you doing to set yourself apart from the competition? How are you different? What value do you bring? Know this. Be able to explain your value concisely.
Embrace that you are there to help your prospects and customers. Ask questions to determine what is of value to your customer. It is imperative that salespeople understand the benefit.
Paint compelling word pictures. Practice using words, concise stories, and questions to connect emotionally with your prospects and customers. Help your customers visualize benefiting from your products and services.
Go a step further and attend a Sales Concepts program. Our programs are designed to help you see yourself in selling situations. We customize our courses for each individual. Attendees sell their services and products, away from the group, in one on one situations and receive powerful feedback regarding how they perform.
What would you want to see if you could catch a glimpse of yourself selling? Sales Concepts gives you that glimpse! Work to make it a reality.
Successful Salespeople are Like Children
As sales professionals, we should be curious like a four-year-old. Most times we are not. When we are not curious, we are often dismissed, at least mentally while demonstrating the good points about our products and services. We do this by talking too much. When we do ask questions, most of them are of a basic nature: “How is it going?” or “What can we do to earn your business?”
Why do children ask so many questions? Any parent knows curiosity and a desire to learn to play a big part in their questions. Children’s favorite questions begin with why. Their curiosity about the world around them helps to build concepts, skills, vocabulary, and an understanding of the unknown. Curiosity is a fundamental part of how they learn.
As a salesperson, can you place a value on building your concepts, skills, vocabulary, and understanding of the unknown? Ask entrepreneurs why they decided to start their business. Ask newly-placed executives why they chose the position and company. Ask decision makers why they prefer this but not that. Ask successful businesses what makes them successful. Ask troubled businesses what they see as a challenge.
Before you make your next call, consider your customer or prospect. Make a list of five why questions. Pay attention to the answers. The worst-case scenario is it will be somewhat better than just another sales call. The best-case scenario is discovering what takes you to your next level of success.
Find the business equivalent to the following questions posed by children: Why do cats have fur? Why is the sky blue? Why is there a Leap Year? Why does cutting onions make us cry? Why do we drive on a parkway but park on a driveway?
Embrace Your Youth.
Be Curious!
