Tag Archives: sales

For those of you who bring LOVE to your sales!

Sales is one of the toughest gigs on the planet. For those of you who bring LOVE to your sales!

What it takes to be really great is LOVE!

Love for your company
Love for your product
Love for your customers
Love for your prospects
Love for your family
Love for your financial well-being
Love for the game

But Loving all these things leaves you WIDE OPEN for heartbreak! 

So, today, for all of you courageous beings who go about their sales with LOVE, I give you this wonderful reminder.

“The heart was made to be broken.” Oscar Wilde

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

It is part of the design of a heart. It is made to be broken and it has the tools to heal. I salute you for your willingness to use your heart to its fullest!

Your success is ensured when you remain willing to put it all on the line, every time!

And, if you ever forget and get really discouraged…come back and see me. We’ll get you fixed up in NO TIME!

Love it ALL UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

How low do you go?

Reading the title, youHow low do you go? might think I mean price… I do not.

I am talking about technology today. Sometimes HIGH technology thrusts you forward. Sometimes the lowest technology keeps you connected.

Here’s the thing about technology… it ONLY works if it is working for you.

We find ourselves in a world of INCREDIBLE tools.. tools that will explode us to the top of the sales world, if only we can use them well.

Some of us are ACES at breaking through with new tools (read: www.DanWaldschmit.com, or even, Nancy Nardin http://www.smartsellingtools.com/about.html). Dan and Nancy are  MASTERS at quickly assessing new tools and applying them.

ME?

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

I’m a bit low-tech.

Yet, I am ALWAYS NUMBER ONE in sales!

All I am saying here is USE WHAT WORKS!

You would crack up if you saw my sales tools. A whiteboard of checklists and an Excel spreadsheet.

Today, in technology, I am a fan of:

The Smartphone: (I can answer emails immediately from my phone)
LinkedIn (I can do very quick research)
Google and Google Alerts (obvious)

Here’s where I win, though – EVERY TIME

I know what works for me and I do it RELENTLESSLY.

1) I am on time
2) I send hand-written Thank You notes (a rarity)
3) I track my activity

Of course, I do not ignore the new tools, I want to learn more. I just can’t be DISTRACTED by every little thing that rears it’s new head. Can you?

My question is: Are you trying to make new technology work for you OR are you making sure YOUR tools work?

There is room for all of it!

Love your sales UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

 

 

The seduction technique…an age-old winner!

Are you more attracted to that woman you can’t get, the one who makes it seem like it’s all available The seduction techinque...an age-old winner! to you, but you’re not sure you’re up to the challenge? Or are you interested in the woman who STALKS you? (Fill in gender as it makes sense for your situation!)

People want what INTRIGUES them!

And they run away from things that chase them.

Find a way to attract your customer!

Very few of us have a product that we are not willing to sell to just anyone who’s willing to buy it. Fair enough. But, I invite you to think a little bit differently.

Where does your product or service become available to only the “exclusive” ones?

I have a very good friend who is a wildly successful representative of a Brand-Name investment group.

When she sells her product like any old investor can come work with her, she grinds it out and doesn’t get many interesting and cool clients.

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

When she positions herself as if “Are you the kind of investor we would take? Worthy of our services?” business sky-rockets.

Take a look. How can you make YOUR customers feel like they are in the pool with the “cool kids”? Figuring this out is your ticket to unquestionable wealth.

When you DO get the “cool kids” to sign on, make sure you service the hell out of them and let them know that they are the “in-crowd”. They will be references for you like crazy.

CAVEAT: To do this strategy well, you must be three things:

1) The best at what you do
2) Relentless in delivering an experience once someone has climbed on board
3) Make sure your “cool kids” stay the “cool kids”. Keep reminding them that they are in THAT game!

Ready to seduce? I promise you, it is much more effective than chasing.

(Remember prom?)

Love your “cool kids” UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

I am going to really annoy some people here…

I am going to annoy some people hereThe more I read about sales “techniques” and “strategies”, the more I want to SCREAM!

Please (to the professional trainers) do NOT diminish my world into:

Acronyms like WHOOSH Selling and FEAR Selling and OUCH Selling (all fictitious)- as if there is a reliable formula.

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

Please stop preaching. Please tell me your stories. Please start telling me what you’ve experienced. In a way that mirrors the palpable, terrifying, satisfying experience of TRULY being in sales – and gives me insights to be GREAT on my own – with my OWN techniques and ideas.

Please stop acting as if you know it all. You don’t.

Please be a humble resource to me.

Love it all UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

Take the OFFER off the table…but, don’t take YOU off the table

Take the OFFER off the table...Don't take YOU off the table

When you take yourself away, you hurt yourself

Sitting in a sales meeting with a VIP at a company I would love to have as a client.

You know the one. The pretty big deal who would make a great addition to your core set of clients? A nice and pretty feather in your cap?

I was INVESTED in this deal

I had been working this deal like a good job.

I had traveled for hours to meet in person.

I looked my best, and I was prepared.

Things looked good

As we started to talk about how we could work together, this lovely VIP laid out the landscape. She shared with me how her systems weren’t working – how she wasn’t meeting her goals. (A-ha! I could help!)

THEN…Two really bad things happened.

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

Things took a turn for the worst

First, she said to me: “We don’t have budget for another solution AND I don’t have buy-in from my senior management to make any changes. It’s just not important to them.” (In other words, I CAN’T BUY ANYTHING FROM YOU)

The second thing she said was even worse. Next she said, “OK. Pitch me.”

(HUH?)

For a moment I could barely see straight

I was SO annoyed.

When she said “PITCH ME” – I was just floored. Here she was, completely wasting my time AND forcing me to be some small person who was going to give her a spiel. UGH!

Somehow, I regained POISE and PROFESSIONALISM

I remembered what a very successful friend of mine once told me, “Sometimes you will have to take the OFFER off of the table, but NEVER take yourself away.”

So, I paused and put myself on HER side of the table. She was in pain and wanted some help. I had nothing to offer. Not her fault.

I told her. “I have nothing to sell you. If you don’t have the budget and your managers won’t agree, then we don’t really have anything to talk about just yet.”

Then I laid out the plan

“I would love to have another conversation when you have more support from your execs and they see the value in putting money behind your efforts. Is there anything I can do to help you get that?”

She agreed that there wasn’t.

I stayed with her

When all of me wanted to storm out of her office and make her realize what a waste of time our meeting was and how badly she had insulted me, instead… we talked about other things.

We spent the next 15 minutes talking about personal stuff. The sales conversation was closed, but our relationship wasn’t.

Now, I’ve never sold to this company 

And neither have any of my competition, but she speaks well of me in our circles and we are friendly, and – who knows – Well, you just never know.

The moral of the story

Bring dignity to the sale.

Stand up for yourself. You are not a trained monkey with a canned approach. It would have been ridiculous and demeaning if I had given my well-prepared presentation.

Yet, love that other person UP! This VIP would NEVER have wasted her time with me if she didn’t need some help. I couldn’t help, but I could be her friend.

Take your offer away, but never take YOU away! 

Love ’em UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

It is all about looking good!

If you think about it, the MOST important thing to humans seems to be looking good! Our currency is adoration, looking like a good guy, and being right. And, we will do ALMOST ANYTHING to achieve those key qualities.

Here’s how this helps YOU as a salesperson (or, frankly, any business person).

When someone is buying from you, MAKE SURE they look like a ROCK STAR.

If a man has to defend his purchase of his car to his wife, MAKE SURE he looks like a GENIUS about the decision he made.

If an employee is buying a service, MAKE SURE that his boss is thrilled with his business acumen.

If a … well, you get the picture.

People want to feel smart about the decisions they make. If you understand why someone is buying, what need it fills for THEM and for their INFLUENCERS — you have got it made!

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

Make sense? Start finding out what EVERYONE who is impacted wants. Then arm your buyer with everything THEY need to look REALLY REALLY GOOD!

Your job is to create ROCK STARS!

Love your peeps UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

Are you eating well, and then starving?

This is SUCH a common occurrence, I must address it.

This article applies to pipeline salespeople and solopreneurs, mostly. Here is how the story goes:

I AM DOING MY MARKETING…GOING FOR IT

My focus is on marketing. I get 2 responses for every 100 messages I deliver (print media, emails, etc).

Then, I land a big deal (contract)

So, I start doing the work on that contract. I ignore my marketing.

Then, I have closed that big deal (finished the contract)

Now what?

I am back to the drawing board. Income is uncertain.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

I have fallen into this trap…

I have gotten a BIG FISH on the line, and devoted all my time to that. Then, when it’s landed, I am left with no pipeline.

I have learned…

Whle I am DELIVERING, I am sharing with my prospects WHAT I am delivering, WHILE I am delivering it…this is UNBELIEVEABLE marketing. I am DOING IT NOW for someone else, wouldn’t YOU like to be a part of it?

NEVER NEVER NEVER stop marketing … and your BEST marketing comes WHILE you are working

Because you are confident. You are producing. You can leverage your current success into future success.

It takes discipline…and it is fun

When you are winning, it is easy and fun to talk about helping people win. When you are out of work, it is scary and desperate.

True professionals work their pipeline NOT MATTER WHAT.

Work yours. If you are willing to set aside time for marketing. Every week, no matter what. There is no need for famine, or desperation, or worry. They will be lining up! Because THEY see you are working and THEY have to get in line for your services.

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

Love your marketing UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

A funny thing happened to me last week!

Are you the sales bully? One of the most amazing women on the planet today allowed ME to be a guest blogger on her site. Erika Napoletano is REDHEAD WRITING. She is a columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine, she is a Tedx Talker. She is, in short, the real deal.

AND, she is SO human.

I am humbled by her interest in the message of Bringing a Dash of Dignity to the Art of Sellling. So, today I share the Guest Blog that she allowed me to contribute.

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

It is on one of my FAVORITE TOPICS. I OBJECT to you overcoming my OBJECTIONS!

Enjoy good storytelling here: Are you the sales bully?

Love your peeps UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

Does “Love” matter in a Fortune 25 Relationship?

Today I met with my client. An executive of a Fortune 25 company.

Together, for the last 12 months, we have been working to make sure their programs work (the ones I sold them).

It has been an uphill battle. They signed on with my company in good faith. They wanted our product (and needed our product). My key contact has taken a stand that my service will work in her company – despite management changes and priority shifts (anyone who works in Fortune 500 knows that this is standard – everything changes on a dime).

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

My client took a risk with us. There were glitches at the beginning that, frankly, put her job at risk.

But, she got in touch with me, and my company fulfilled (and in some cases, over-fulfilled) on her expectations.

Turns out, we have been able to TRIPLE results! YAY!

Today, I had coffee with my client. Her job is going great. Her boss is now impressed. We shared a couple of personal stories.

At the end of our meeting, we hugged and she said, “I love you, dear!”

Can a Fortune 25 person say “I love you” to a salesperson? Turns out, the answer is “YES”, if you’ve fulfilled what meant the most to her and her and her position!

Can men share this sentiment? I hope so!

But, today, I got an “I love you” hug from a Fortune 25 executive. And I am happy!

Love your clients UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

Release your inner engineer!

I was reading a discussion on LinkedIn today about sales engineers; that supposedly magical mix of technical expertise and sales acumen. The woman posting asserted that “the two personalities are on opposite sides of the spectrum”…and I thought to myself, “Really?” I wonder what she means…

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

After all,

Great engineers figure out processes, fix things, and incorporate innovative products/services into existing systems to create efficiencies. They make things work.

So do great salespeople.

Great engineers know when something won’t work NOW or ever at all and they don’t pretend that it will.

So do great salespeople.

Great engineers know how to ask straight questions, get to the heart of the problem, and give straight answers.

So do great salespeople.

Great engineers know when a workaround can really work — and they bring creativity to the situation — solving the problem.

So do great salespeople.

Great engineers listen first and get ALL the relevant facts before they propose a solution.

So do great salespeople.

Great engineers know when something else will work better and are willing to share that information freely.

So do great salespeople.

Great engineers know their product inside and out and understand where it fits in the marketplace.

So do great salespeople.

Great engineers ask, “How can we?”

So do great salespeople.

You get the idea!

So, if I were a sales engineer and I was asked the tough question, “Am I more engineer or sales?” I would say “both”.

As long as I know how to listen for the problem, determine if we have a solution, and propose the right mix of products/services to either meet or exceed the client’s goals, then I can be your top engineer and salesperson every time.

Love the engineer in you UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl