This week’s affirmation of intention in “I am a lifelong learner.  This week I will read, watch or listen to something to help me grow.”

I have had the honour of presenting at the Young Achievers Awards in NSW for quite a few years now, and I remember the first time the opening keynote was by the Premier of NSW at the time, who asked these amazing young HSC and 1st year Uni people “How many of you enjoy reading”….and without an exaggeration, nearly every hand was raised, and the Premier said “I knew that would be the response for this group and that’s because……Leaders are Readers”.

And that’s what I’m focusing on in my affirmation of intention for this week – being a lifelong learner.

Whether it’s reading, listening or watching, or attending, I am absolutely convinced, that the more I learn the more I earn – and not just in terms of dollars, but in terms of earning the various gifts that life can deliver to us all.

The book I’m reading at the moment is The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann – and it’s a cracker.

Plan Your Reading List

Something that a mate of mine introduced me to some time ago was to set myself a reading list at the start of every year – and what I decided to do was to pick a minimum of 12 business/personal growth books every year.

I buy them in advance from Amazon.com and from a sales “Stay In Touch” strategy, if I find one that is easy to read, quick to read (under 2 hours) with a powerful message, I buy mulitple copies (again from Amazon.com – I save hundreds that way), and send them out to my “A” clients…..and the feedback is always extremely positive…..and I just love giving books to my clients.

So I simply google books on “topic” and pick a few topics that I’m interested in.  This year it’s all about reciprocity, habit, intention and emotion-energy engagement.

Imagine how much more you would know than your competitors if you were to invest a minimum 1 hour a week reading on a topic that was important to you and that could help you help your clients?  And I don’t just mean expanding your product knowledge – what else could you develop as part of your expertise knowledge that would be of benefit to you and your clients?

In what areas would you like to ‘grow’?

If you’re wanting to grow your knowledge, skills, confidence and success in being able to win more new, repeat and referral sales, the resource that can help you do that is of course to be found at http://www.salescoachcentral.com

Remember……Readers and Leaders!

Our SalesCoachCentral members’ “My Sales Story” competition is generating some great stories with lessons for us all to learn from to help us win more new, repeat and referral sales.

Congratulations to our winners for this month who were Ross Clennett and Peter Donald.

Here’s the My Sales Story from Ross:

When I was a rookie temp accounting recruiter I took my Director on a prospect visit. It was to a well known freight company, near the Sydney airport, who I had found out were using a lot of accounting clerical temps.

The visit was with the GM of Finance. I prepared my sales structure and answers to predictable objections, hoping to impress my director. However once we were in his office the prospect proceeded to talk (complain, actually) non-stop for an hour about the office politics and his boss.

I barely got a chance to talk and as we had another meeting scheduled we had to leave promptly after an hour.

As we drove off I was rather flat about the meeting expecting my Director be criticise me for allowing the client to run the agenda. Suprisingly he thought the visit went very well. ‘Why?’ I asked. My Director replied “clearly he isn’t being heard inside his own company and needed an outlet to express all his frustration and resentment. We were that outlet today. I bet he feels we understand him and what he has to deal with each day.”

I have to say I was very dubious – I mean we hadn’t even talked about temps! However the next day I received a call from one of the GM’s direct reports saying she had been told to call me about two temp jobs she needed filling! I filled both those jobs and that was the start of a $100k plus net revenue per annum client.

That experience was a big lesson in understanding that until the prospect feels heard and understood all I was doing was ‘pitching to deaf ears’.

My Comment: The old adage of ‘no-one cares how much you know until they know how much you care’ is probably a bit overdone these days, but the reality is too many salespeople still go in with a ‘pitch’ to a potential client and ‘capability sell’, rather than focusing first on what the client might like to achieve from the meeting, and/or what the client might like to talk about.

At the same time, there is an equally large number of salespeople who do not really focus on the client and choose to ‘fluff’ around with small talk, when what the client actually wants to do is find out more about the products and services that the salesperson can provide.

If we’re truly client focused, we can work out fairly quickly how much talking and listening we need to do to create an environment where the client is comfortable and confident to make a wise buying decision.

Here’s the My Sales Story from Peter:

I was referred to a young couple by a principal of the firm. They were in a difficult financial position. Following the loss of his Dad his mother found it diffucult to meet the home loan left behind ( no insurance ). She offered her son a 25% share in her home if he would take over the debt, which he did. He then married and together they bought an investment unit in 3 names using the equity in Mums house.

They also had some personal debt for cars etc. All this caused stress on the relationships to meet payments and rent. I was able to reorganise their strucure after 3 home visits one of which I arranged they get Mum to attend on a weekend.

The end result was they reduced the no taxable debt quickly and allowed cash flow to relieve the stress. After another year of regular follow up they purchased a home using her mothers assistance. Late last year they had their first child. I also referred them to our Insuracne advisor who arrange appropriate covers for both of them to protect their child.

So referral, follow up and further follow up resulted in a succes story for all. We also now do their tax returns.

My Comment:  I love the way Peter points out that the result was a ’success story for all’.  Selling should never just be about the success of the sale.  The most successful salespeople I encounter are those who’s intention is to create value for their clients.  Their focus is to look for opportunities where their products and services can help people solve problems, meet needs and satisfy wants.

When clients pick up on our intention as being that of genuinely wanting to create value for them, trust is built and deeper emotional and intellectual connections are made.

More stories from members of SalesCoachCentral next month.

As I reflect on this week’s affirmation of intention, I’m reminded of a parable my mum used to tell us about a beggar who spent his life sitting on an old box against an old building where he would with his head always facing the ground hold out his hand to passers by and ask for money.

One day a small child approached the beggar and asked him what was in the box that he sat on.  The beggar replied that he had been sitting on the box for as long as he could remember, but had never thought to look inside it.

The small child told the beggar to look inside the box.  The beggar did, and was amazed to find a fortune in gold coins and jewels.  When he looked up again the child was gone.

How close are you to success?

Sometimes we’re so close to all that we need, that we don’t see the potential.

Abundance thinking for salespeople I believe starts with the understanding that our success is certainly possible and believing that with the right intention, there will be more than enough clients wanting to buy from us…..we’ve just got to be proactive about creating the right environment for us to connect.

My financial adviser has been a wonderful mentor for me in many ways.  One particular piece of advice he has insisted on holding us accountable for is to celebrate our successes.

Celebrate Your Successes

As a sales coach I pass this advice on to you.  In sales we can become so focused on the next sales target, that we forget to celebrate the successes along the way.

If you’re struggling to think of a recent success, perhaps you’re operating out of a position of scarcity and not abundance.  Perhaps you’re operating out of a position of reactivity rather than proactivity.  Perhaps you’re operating out of a position of perfection rather than potential.

Just as I am practicing this week’s affirmation, I recommend you do too – take time to reflect on and celebrate your successes, and while you’re doing that, remember to reflect on and celebrate on the successes your clients are achieving from utilising the value you’ve created for them when they’ve bought from you.

You have all you need right now!

Much has been written about this concept of having an ‘extra mile’ philosophy, and most of us understand it. But practising it might just be something that those of us in sales need to consider more than others – especially if you agree with my defintion of selling.

Revisiting A Definition of Selling

You see, my definition of selling rests on the foundation of an extra mile philosophy.

The definition is this…..Selling is a process of building trust relationships with the aim to create reciprocal value on a continual basis.

If you’re a regular reader of my blog posts, have attended one of my programs or are a member of SalesCoachCentral.com, then you’ll be very familiar with this definition. If you’re not, then let me provide you with the reason why an extra mile philosophy is the foundation that holds this definition to be true, and if you are familiar with it, let me remind you of how important the extra mile philosophy is to helping you create environments where people feel comfortable and confident to make wise buying decisions.

What it really means to go the extra mile

Rather than start with the definition of selling, let’s start with a definition, or discussion at least, of what an extra mile philosophy is all about.

What if we miss doing what’s expected by the client in the pusuit of doing the ‘extra’? Going the extra mile, exceeding the expectations of clients has almost become a mantra through the nineties and the start of this century.

But here’s the problem.

If the client’s expectations haven’t at first at least been met, then there’s a danger that even when we go beyond their expectations, that they are still not satisified.

It’s a bit paradoxical…..we’re aiming to go the extra mile to demonstrate our value, but in doing so, we might actually reduce our value to the client. I’ve mentioned in previous blog posts that Andrew Banks, one of the founding directors of the Morgan & Banks Group in the nineties had a fantastic saying “Do the doable deal to earn the right to get the bigger bit of business”.

This has stuck with me throughout the building of my own business. My first aim is always to meet the client’s expectation by doing the doable deal – to meet their expectations and to help them with the thing that they need help with the most right now. Then it’s a case of working with them to discover the additional value that I can potentially create for them.

Beyond the ‘give-away’ and ‘add value’ culture

This is where the extra mile philosophy goes beyond just delivering some ‘give-away gift’ and calling it ‘adding value’. An extra mile philosophy is so much more than just ‘adding value’. An extra mile philosophy is based on a bigger intention of not just adding value, but looking for ways to create significant improvement above and beyond that which has already been delivered, and in ways that the client immediately recognises and experiences value that makes their individual and specific situation better.

A simple example is that I might send a client a copy of a book that I have read – and this might be an add value strategy.

What takes it to the next level of an ‘extra mile philosophy’ is the discussions we have together as to how I believe the contents of the book can help them improve their situation. Do you see the difference – one is a gesture that any process can deliver. The other is an intentional extra mile philosophy that can be demonstrated by simply asking the question…..when I do this added value strategy, how will this create more value for the client?

So…..are you just adding value……or are you adding value with an extra mile philosophy?

Let me know…

This weeks affirmation is I catch people doing good things.  This week I will catch client doing something right, and provide them with positive feedback.

This affirmation is a powerful framing for anyone in sales – and it’s about looking for opportunities to catch people doing good things.

Now on the surface this can seem a little trite, however, stay with me, as I’ve been able to turn this affirmation into very positive results, not just for myself, but for many of those who I have coached and/or presented my sales philosophy to over the years.

The One Minute Manager Revisited

Catching people doing good and providing them with positive feedback was wonderfully encapsulated in the classic management best seller “The One Minute Manager” by Blanchard and Spencer when they suggested to catch people doing things right.

In sales, when we look for opportunities to catch our clients doing good things….doing things right, we will discover reasons to acknowledge them that goes beyond just thanking them for their business.

Some ‘Real Play’ Examples

An example in business to business sales could be that you acknowledge something that you genuinely believe was a positive move by one of your clients (other than buying from you).  You could acknowledge a change that they’ve made to their website.  You could acknolwedge an advertising campaign that you’ve noticed they’ve introduced.  You could acknowledge a change in their strategic direction, or a milestone that was reported in the local newspaper.

I think often in business to consumer sales applying this affirmation is a little more difficult.  You could genuinely acknowledge or compliment (notice I said genuinely) the client on what they wear, or maybe it could be that you acknowledge their answer to one of your questions that you’ve asked to determine their wants and needs.

It really is however a bigger and more meaningful affirmation than giving people a compliment.  It must be genuine, and most importantly it must have substance and meaning.  For example to compliment anyone for what they wear, if it is not appropriately related to the sale you’re about to make is probably going to come across as shallow and a ‘technique’.  Whereas, if you’re in retail clothing sales, and you genuinely like the combination of what the customer is wearing, and again, that it is genuine, then most customers would feel good about that.

So what’s the real point of this affirmation?

When we adopt the intention of genuinely wanting to catch people doing things right…doing good things, and acknowledging them in some way for it, we are sending loud and clear messages that our focus is genuinely on wanting to improve each and every potential and existing clients’ situation.

The great boxer Ali was reported as saying that he believed that he was blessed with people around him who saw more in his potential than he saw in himself.

When any of us receive genuine and positive feedback on the things that we do, it reinforces our sense of self worth and this has a deepening effect on the value we place on the relationship.

Don’t Be Shallow

 Let me finish this message though by reminding you and reinforcing that shallow compliments will be quickly wiped away by potential and existing clients and damage the trust levels within the relationship.

Having said that, catching your clients doing things right and doing good things is in itself a wonderfully rewarding exercise for any of us in sales.