sales success by brian tracy
"some people are just a little better in certain ways, consistently over time." <- that is the key to success
the highest paid sales people have an easy ability to enter into friendly relationships with a great number of diverse people and establish high levels of rapport and trust in the process. personality is 80% of sales success.
the vince lombardi approach to sales success - become brilliant on the basics, the fundamentals
7 key result areas of sales
1 - prospecting
2 - building rappoty and trust - understand and empathize with the needs and problems of the prospect
3 - identifying needs
4 - presenting
5 - answering objections
6 - closing the sale/asking for action
7 - getting resales, referrals, and reviews
the new model of sales
1 - build trust (40% of the process)
2 - identifying needs accurately (30%)
3 - present (20%)
4 - ask for a buying decision (10%)
the critical variable in a sales conversation is a "transfer of enthusiasm"
the only way to have sales success is to have an unrelenting positive expectation
practice visualization in your sales endeavors - ask, "what would I be doing right after I achieved whatever I want to achieve?" whether it be a prospecting call, anthing
the #1 reason some people are more successful than others is that they are absolutely clear about 1) who they are, 2) what they want, and 3) how to get what they want
think in terms of minutes, not hours, days, or weeks
developing an idea of your best customer
1 - demographics - literally, demonstrable measurables of your prospects/customers. how old are they? what income do they earn? where do they live? etc. measurables
2 - psychographics - emotional and mental environment. their fears, desires, hopes, dreams, needs, problems, goals, and pains
3 - ethnographics - how your customers use the product. what role does your product play in their life? how does it fit into their day to day life? and how can your improve upon that? (get them to see themselves using your product during their day, how it can fit into their lives)
what problem or pain does your prospect have that they will pay to take away?
*key to sales/marketing success* - identify your competitors and then develop a list of - all of the things that make your product better than theirs. (and also list how *could* your product be better, and work on making that a reality). then make sure you answer "what that means for you as a prospective customer" so that it is more powerful/focused on them, not you. that will give you your USPs, unique selling propositions, or marketing message, or competitive advantage, or whatever you want to call it
another way to develop USPs is ask - why do customers buy my product? (if you need, you can call up your last 10 customers and ask)
what kind of person would most appreciate the value of your product and buy it immediately? <- this is who you're trying to attract
always develop excellent competitor knowledge - their USPs, their marketing and sales methods, before you develop your own
in regard to calling up your last 10 customers and asking why they bought, you can also call your last 10 non customers up and ask them why they didnt buy
differentiation (the solidification and improvement of those USPs you developed earlier) is the key to sales and marketing success.
your product must be superior in 4 ways
1 - quality
2 - gets results faster
3 - cheaper
4 - easier to use/more convenient
4 key concepts of a successful sales strategy
1 - specialization
2 - differentiation
3 - segmentation
4 - concentration
^ those can probably be condensed into 2 keys - 1) specialization and 2) differentiation since segmentation and concentration and really forms of specialization
people dont buy products and services, they buy results, benefits, positive change, and improvement
list the benefits that a customer would enjoy if they bought your product and then prioritize. what benefits are they really looking for? how could you give those to them?
define your product in 5 ways
1 - what problem does it solve for the customer?
2 - what need does it fill for the customer?
3 - what goal does it help them achieve?
4 - what pain does it take away?
5 - what improvement in quality of life does it offer?
implement the 100 call method. get the fear of rejection and hostility out of your mind. make 100 prospecting calls asap! dont worry about any other result than getting the 100 calls made. once you do that, you will be close to fearless thereafter.
good questioning is the key to prospecting success, accurately identifying needs
the #1 benefit and the #1 fear - there is generally one thing that a prospect wants from a product and one thing that will keep them from buying. identify those for each customer is 80-95% of sales success
the 1st job of selling is establishing trust
be like a doctor of sales
1 - examination - find their needs, painpoints, and goals
2 - diagnosis - summarize the situation as realistically as possible
3 - prescription - refer them a course of action
3 keys to persuasion
1 - reciprocity - giving something of value to them in advance of asking for something else ; also see: emotional reciprocity, make them feel good . physical reciprocity is thank you cards and other resources that will help them achieve their relevant goals
2 - commitment and consistency - get them to say yes to things that lead to saying yes to the bigger thing, essentially getting them to admit they need the product
3 - social proof - showing that other people they respect/admire/identify with are doing the same thing you want them to do
formula for effective presentations
1 - show - what the product does to improve the life of the prospect
2 - tell - how the prospect will benefit and how others similar to them have benefited
3 - ask - questions to be sure that everything is staying relevant to them
presentation technique - "because of [product feature], you can [product benefit], which means [customer benefit]
anecdotal selling - tell as many stories as you can of other people using the product and getting the promised benefits because the prospect will see themselves as the customer in that store, place themselves in their shoes
5 elements of megacredibility
1 - the salesperson's tangibles and intangibles - their appearance and their emotional quality/personality
2 - company reputation
3 - social proof of product benefits
4 - authority - 3rd person and authoritative references
5 - the product's promised benefits/value compared to price
(as a side note, it is interesting how author and authority as so close together... maybe someone with "authority" is one who writes their own story or who helps shape our story as a whole)
list whatever the biggest fear people have before they buy your product or service, and then do whatever you can to remove it so they don't have to experience it
objections are a sign of interest and consideration! they are considering it, but there is something stopping them. they'd like the benefits, but they need some of the potential pain removed before they're willing to commit
list answers to this - "we could sell to everyone we talked to if our prospects just didn't say....." and then work on removing those things
treat objections as questions. if they say "well, the price is too high." say, "that's a great question. 'why is the price so high?' well, it's because xyz value or xyz reason."
5 closing techniques
1 - the preference close - "which do you prefer? option a or option b?"
2 - the invitational close - "would you like to get started now?"
3 - directive close/assumptive close - "for us to get started, you'll just need to perform xyz action."
4 - authorization close - "if you'll just authorize this order, we'll get started straight away."
5 - secondary close/minor point close - asking a question that assumes the main sale
make the customer happy they bought from you
4 levels of customer service
1 - satisfaction - minimum requirement from survival
2 - exceeding their expectations - minimum requirement for growth
3 - delighting them - making them very happy
4 - amazing them - making them raving fans
4 keys to effective follow up after the sale
1 - get things moving asap after the sale
2 - keep the customer informed as much as possible
3 - send a token of appreciation as quickly as possible, obviously in relation to size of purchase
4 - always leave every interaction with them on a positive note
focus on getting the 2nd sale every time, at least keep it in the back of your head
ask for referrals
the most important part of customer service is speed! followed closely by getting the result they're looking for
practice the golden rule applied to selling - dont use any sales technique you wouldnt appreciate being used on you
"based on your expereince with us, would you refer us to others?
"on a scale of 1-10, how likely are you to refer us to others?" "what could we do to get a 10?"
7 things to motivate yourself and to keep yourself performing as best you can all day long
1 - make a decision to become excellent in whatever you do
2 - strengthen your weakest key skills
3 - associate with true winners and positive people
4 - get into excellent physical shape/health
5 - practice positive visualization
6 - use positive self talk, affirmations, afformations, etc
7 - be action oriented - use an actions list if need be but get focused on taking the actions you need to take to achieve your goals!