“The Specialist” Sales and Management Training Blog

Hello everybody,

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving Holiday. Personally, I got a lot of much needed rest!

Today “The Specialist” Spotlight was on the best Master Closers you will ever encounter. Your children! Thats right, your children, they are naturals. Children have the ability to attach the emotional needs of their wants directly to their prospects. Their parents!

I personally know 2 little girls that convinced their father who dislikes cats intensely to buy not one but two cats at the same time! By the way I was the prospect that bought the two cats! This one young lady wanted a new car and explained to her parents that since she was attending an out of state college she was sure her parents wouldn’t want her walking the streets in a strange town. Incredible! Talk about knowing your prospect and attaching emotion to the sale…that is truly a work of art.

Here is an example that I read about that was really a stretch but worked! A young boy convinced his parents that by buying him that new video game he would be a lot safer than hanging out at game rooms where there were bad influences and maybe trouble. What a close. If you do not have any children go baby sit your sisters or brothers children and watch them very closely and marvel at their expertise. Their parents already know! I GUARANTEE it!

Don’t forget to sign up for the FREE newsletter and get 20% off on all “Specialist” gear on the site. I will share another story with you tomorrow.

“The Specialist”

Hello everybody,

I am still very excited about the news I have to tell you about but it is not ready yet so I have to contain myself a little longer!

Thanks again for all of your loyal support. The blog has reached unprecedented heights thanks to your loyalty.

About today’s post. I find it very interesting in sales and management that there are so many “Cleo’s”… you know, the physic hot line lady…that feel that they can tell whether someone can make it sales or management. The arrogance even goes as far as to predict the level of people’s success! IMPOSSIBLE! In fact, I will go as far as to say that most of the time when someone does make a prediction it is almost always the opposite result.

Using myself as an example, I got fired 5 times, thats right 5 times, from a door to door sales job! No one gets fired from a door to door sales job. They are so desperate in that field they take almost ANYONE!

I remember working for a drug wholesaler, and I asked the main person if I could be a salesman? Not only did the owner get a GIGANTIC laugh on me but he went on to tell me that I would NEVER be a salesperson! Then to add insult to injury he fired me!

When I became “Man of the Year” for the first time in my career I had to go and show this man the error in his judgment. Quite frankly, it didn’t help much. Life went on. But I did learn a valuable lesson. Never, and I mean NEVER, prejudge someone! By the way, that also pertains to your sales prospects. I hear everyday young and old sales professionals preselect their prospects. As usual, almost always they picked the WRONG one. It happens all the time. How I have learned to protect myself against this common mistake is to give EVERYONE 100% of my being! Regardless of what I think, give every employee as well as every prospect your very best effort!

“The Specialist”

Hi everybody,

I have a great story to share with you this evening.

A keynote speaker was asked to speak at a real estate convention in Pittsburgh, Pa. during the time of the closing down of the steel mill industry in Pittsburgh. The outlook was bleak as almost everyone had lost their job. When this gentleman arrived at the convention he found a completely negative group of agents that were just completely devastated.

When he was getting ready to seat himself, he was worried about sitting around all those negative people. All of a sudden this very cheerful lady invited him to sit next to her. Unlike everyone else she was extremely cheerful. The keynote speaker, taken aback asked the nice lady why she was so happy and cheerful when everyone else was complaining about no sales because no one had jobs. She went on to tell him that in all the years she had been selling real estate she was having her biggest year ever. Wondering out loud the speaker asked how that could possibly be when no one had jobs.

The cheerful lady went on to tell him that in all her years of selling, it was the first time all the husbands WERE HOME! They couldn’t use the excuse that they had to work! She had turned a potential negative and turned it into a positive by seeing the entire picture, not the obvious one that everyone else was focused on. Needless to say the keynote speaker changed his planned speech and used her story to elevate the crowd into another dimension. This applies to all of you when you by into excuses for failure. When one door closes there is always another one that opens. You just have to SEE IT.

A lot of those families had lifetime savings tucked away but never had the time to purchase a home. Now because of one lady that had positive thinking, they not only had the time but also had the money, and ended up with their dream home! Analyze this post and see how it applies to your business! THEN APPLY IT!

“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”