“The Specialist” Sales and Management Training Blog

Hello everybody,

I ran into something very interesting today. I had an experienced sales person run into an unusual situation for himself.

He was selling a new product that he was not that familiar with and even though the company was a giant company his product knowledge was limited. He went on to tell me that he almost had the sale when the customer told him that he could have the sale if he could fax over the names and phone numbers of about 5 present customers that are already doing business with the company. What the young man ( remember All of you out there are young to “The Specialist”) failed to realize was that what the potential client was saying was that there was a trust issue. Somewhere throughout his relationship he did not win over the client’s trust.

I proceeded to explain to this sales person that all the references in the world would not change the equation. First off all the good intentioned references seem to always say great things but usually qualify their reference with something like…”after the initial bumps in the road it has been great working with the company”. Something like this or a variation. The road to hell is paved with good intentions!

Also unless you sell everybody the exact same product at exactly the same price you leave yourself wide open. How I told the salesperson to handle the situation is a standard reply that I have successfully used for years. What I say is, “Mr. Jones obviously there is a trust issue here and unfortunately due to confidentiality we are not allowed to give out that information…not to mention no one wants to be bothered all day by people calling for references. I know Mr. Jones you wouldn’t like it either”.

Having said that I go on to reiterate that since it is a trust issue why would he put himself in a position to ask the very person that he is skeptical of to give him 5 references. I could easily have 5 friends waiting for his call to say nothing but how great the company is. I go on to show him how foolish it would be to base a financial decision on this. At this point I go on to re-summarize all the national accounts that are with the company and stress that none of these accounts would be there if the company did not deliver what they promised. I then continue on with the remainder of the presentation and wrap up the sale.

By the way since I am “The Specialist” this problem only occurred in my early years before I mastered sincerity (one of the 8 basics). As you develop in this great profession you will find out that 99% of all the objections you run into can be dealt with long before they become OBJECTIONS!

“The Specialist”

Hi everybody,

I often see sales professionals perplexed as to why they just don’t seem to posses the “Complete Package” as a salesperson. The truth is that when we all first start out our enthusiasm is at an all time high. I mean, come on, we have a new opportunity with an unlimited future, it’s a no-brainer.

The problem is to achieve our goals we find that we are just a tad short in the product knowledge area. What happens during the course of our career is that, as our product knowledge grows, our enthusiasm starts to shrink. If you did a graph you could almost see one’s knowledge going up like an elevator while our enthusiasm is going down. The shame of it all is no one has informed the salesperson that in order to become “The Perfect Weapon” one must maintain his or her enthusiasm just like a new person and let the knowledge catch up to the level of the enthusiasm. Then and only then are you the “Complete Package”!!

It is ironic how often I see sales persons that have an abundance of enthusiasm only to lack product knowledge, and see another salesperson with tremendous product knowledge only to fall way short in the enthusiasm category. The veteran sales person that is operating with a 100 percent product knowledge and no enthusiasm is really only operating at 50 percent capacity.

The way I managed to reach and maintain a peak with both was to give back to the industry by helping others. Yes, by passing my knowledge on to others it not only kept me young but because I was always working with young people eager to learn it helped me maintain my enthusiasm, even more so when I heard from someone or saw the look on their young faces when something I showed them worked as planned. The enthusiasm the young persons injected in me because they were so excited about their accomplishment was definitely contagious. It didn’t take me long to realize there was a lot of benefits from helping others.

Rate yourself…draw two straight lines on a piece of paper from north to south and label one enthusiasm and one product knowledge. See where you stand. I guarantee you will see your product knowledge coming up to your enthusiasm level and your enthusiasm level going to meet your knowledge level. I have given you not only the formula to find out where you stand but also the answer to how you get your enthusiasm at the top where it belongs.

Let the product knowledge chase the enthusiasm. I guarantee it will be worth the wait!

“The Specialist”

Hello again Kind Readers,

Tonight we are going to talk about something everyone has heard of but of course from a different angle. “Persistence Beats Resistance”.

Most times when you hear that quote one thinks about never giving up on a sales call, or not taking NO for an answer. I want to talk about that phrase from the angle of your work ethics! So many people in our great profession quit or give up if the day is not going according to plan. I usually work on the basis of a regular work day opposed to working for a sale. This unique way of working in the sales profession has enabled me to learn to discipline myself and use persistence to resist the temptations that are out there to impede me from reaching my goals.

What I am trying to convey is that developing tremendous work habits takes tremendous persistence! It works the opposite way as well…Lets say your day exceeded your expectations in the first hour, again the path of least resistance is to say, oh, I’ve had a great day and go play golf. Again you have to remember that “Persistence Beats Resistance”! In the long run if you will focus on this you will develop tremendous work ethics and your sales will skyrocket! Every minute you spend in the field whether you realize it or not you are sharping your skills in one way or the other.

Who is the benefactor? You are! Remember “Persistence Beats Resistance”

“The Specialist”

Hi everybody,

It’s Friday night and as usual I am always in the mix with something to do with sales/management.

What I am about to discuss is only for the very advanced sales professionals. I was watching a salesperson that had a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and excitement in his sales presentation when I couldn’t help but notice something that if corrected would dramatically increase his closing percentage. What this person was doing was talking and moving his hands and body in a very sudden and startling style that almost scared the prospect. What I am referring to is instead of moving and talking in a sudden cadence of starting and stopping, starting and stopping, what is important is to get in a rhythm with your hand motions and voice so they are synchronized and appear very fluid.

Enthusiasm does not come from hand motions. It comes from the excitement in one’s voice and the ability to create excitement with your voice like a fine instrument. When you are giving a presentation and your body and voice are one in the same with fluidity, you can with your voice actually become so good that you can actually mesmerize the prospect. Any sudden jerk of your hands or abnormal dramatics with your voice will actually break the thought pattern you have developed with your prospect because the sudden changes tend to startle them and break the great connection you have with them.

This is a very tough technique to develop because it takes the ability to get your body and voice into a nice soothing, reassuring rhythm. Remember tomorrow is “Open Forum”, so get all of your questions in tonight or first thing in the morning.

“The Specialist”

Hi everybody,

It’s me again. I have a very interesting post for you tonight.

As usual I was talking with a salesperson today and they were explaining to me how they went into this business and got past the girl at the desk and managed to speak with the decision maker. This particular salesperson proceeded to go to great lengths to bond with this owner of the business assuming that the sale was imminent.

Well a funny thing happened along the way. After the salesperson got done with the presentation the alleged DECISION MAKER pointed to the girl at the front desk and informed the salesperson that whatever the girl out front decided was fine with him, but he leaves it all up to her. What a SHOCKER!! The salesperson went up front to speak to the young lady only to find out that she was really cold to his idea. You see, the error that the salesperson made was that along the way to the decision maker he has to win over everyone in his path and semi-close all of them into liking him. The salesperson completely missed this point and is now trying to figure out a way to get back into her good graces.

When I am prospecting or going to give a presentation everyone around the person I am trying to sell becomes my new best friend. I leave no stone unturned. Just imagine, if on the way into see the alleged “DECISION MAKER” I had made that young lady feel good about herself and took an extra second to make her feel important. I assure you the results would have been completely different. When you think people are insignificant or irrelevant to the sale, that is when you should stop and go out of your way to go the extra mile. Not only will they feel better, even if they don’t effect the sale directly, you never know what they will say about you behind your back after you leave. The extra bonus is if you make this a daily habit you will feel terrific about YOURSELF!

“The Specialist”

Hello everybody,

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! By the way, I felt so bad, you all know by now that Saturdays are open forum day and I answer everyone’s questions that I didn’t address during the week. Also the best question of the week wins a special prize from “The Specialist”. The only snag was that I left out one question last Saturday and I thought about it all day Sunday! I am going to answer it now. Ms T. asked, “When do I know I have made the sale?” Great question. That question differs upon the level of your expertise. I don’t want to discourage anyone, but usually I know whether the prospect is a sale or not within seconds of meeting them.

Keep in mind I am “The Specialist”. If it were any other way you wouldn’t be reading MY blog.

A beginner salesperson knows when he or she has made a sale only after the paperwork is complete. Some sales persons know after the small talk, others know at different intersections throughout the presentation. The beauty of sales is that, as you progress, you will watch yourself slide up the scale and your ability to recognize the sale will continue to grow. Having said that, I have seen countless sales persons prequalify prospects and jump to erroneous conclusions about who IS or IS NOT a sale! A dangerous trap to fall into. Beware, never predetermine your prospect. Give every potential prospect 100% of your ability and give everyone your best presentation as if it were your last presentation. I was very fortunate, I learned this lesson at a very young age because it happened to me. I went to an expensive car dealership when I was only 24-years-old and I was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. I had the money to buy the top-of-the-line model. I asked a salesman if I could buy this particular car and the salesman just laughed at me. His exact quote, and I will never forget it because it had a profound affect on me…he said and, I quote “Sonny if you can buy the tires I”ll give you the car”! Talk about pre-selecting! I very calmly asked him to introduce me to the newest salesperson on the lot and preceded to pay cash for the car! I took it a step further and brought my partner to the lot and the same rookie salesperson sold him one too!

It is a lesson I never forgot and I hope through this story you will never forget! By not preselecting prospects you will get to enjoy one of the great thrill rides of sales. The ones you think are sales turn out sometimes not to be sales and the ones you think cannot possibly be sales turn out to be your biggest and best sales!

Keep those comments and questions coming. I certainly do enjoy hearing from you.

“The Specialist”