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Obviously you want to be nice to everyone personally and professionally. Not only is it smart, it's simply the right thing to do. In addition to that, being nice to people can have a great effect on your career. For example, I recently heard of a company that asks the receptionist what she thinks of a job applicant they are thinking about hiring. If the review is favorable, the person gets hired, not favorable, not hired.
I once had an account in my territory that stopped doing business with our company years earlier because the previous salesperson snubbed everyone except the person he was there to see. One of the snubbed people found himself as a decision maker later on, and we were out.
The bottom line: You never know who will be important down the road and whose oppinion of you will matter. As a result, you want to be nice to everyone. Well, that and the fact that again, you should be nice anyway.
John Chapin - co-author of Sales Encyclopedia www.completeselling.com
Whether we are referring to our selling profession, or life in general, it is important to be direct in our communications. By direct I don't mean rude, obnoxious, or in someone's face, I simply mean asking questions and saying what you mean in nice, short, sweet, clear wording.
Especially in today's economy, salespeople tend to be more indirect because they don't want to lose a lead or potential sale. They would rather be wishy-washy and pretend someone is an actual lead rather than be direct and find out the person is not a lead.
Ask the direct questions such as, "What information do you need from me in order to make this decision?" "If I get the information to you and it is what you are looking for, will you be able to give me a firm yes or no decision at that time?" "When are you looking to make a decision on this?"
We must be closing on the next step in the selling process and we must be moving people through the sales process and finding out whether or not they are true buyers as opposed to letting them sit there where we can "pretend" they are real, live potential sales.
The bottom line: You need to be direct with people and find out where they are at in the sales process. You need to know whether or not this is a good place to be spending your time. Right now you likely have fewer prospects thus, you have to spend your time with the good ones, get rid of the bad ones, and chase more good ones finding out quickly whether or not they are good ones. The best way to do that is to be direct.
Okay, it's the first day of the year... well, maybe not the first day of the year, but for most of us it's the first work day of the year. So how will yours start?
First off, have you written some goals out for the year? If you haven't, jot a couple down now. Second, what can you do to start the year off right? It's always good to get some momentum at the beginning of the year. If you can get a sale, get some leads, or do something else to start the year off right, things will get easier and run smoother. This will also get you into work mode which isn't always easy at the beginning of the year.
The bottom line: Get your year off on the right foot by getting something accomplished early. The best case scenario would be to get some business but in any case, do what you can to hit the ground running in the New Year as beginning the New Year right will help propel you through the rest of your year.
John Chapin - co-author Sales Encyclopedia www.completeselling.com
Okay, I'll keep today's idea simple. Do just one thing that can have more of an impact on 2009 than anything else: set some goals for the New Year and write them down.
3% of the population has written out goals with a plan for their achievement and those 3% out earn and far out distance the other 97% of the population. Studies have shown that simply writing out your goals once at the beginning of the year can double your chances of getting there.
The bottom line: Write down some goals for the New Year. If nothing else, simply write out your sales goals. Keep the piece of paper somewhere and look at it again in December and see how you did. Better still, write out your goals, set a plan for their achievement, look at it and keep working on it every day, then I'll soon see you in the top 3%!
John Chapin co-author of Sales Encyclopedia www.completeselling.com
