Even though price selling may be easier and faster, you will be the loser because of under selling and more than likely earning less income.

Many customers like me have a strong reluctance to purchase poor quality, and some who do so will regret and quite often cancel later.

If you are involved in making major sales or in fact any kind of sales you make a grave error with either extreme.

A: Concentrating your sales effort on quick selling only.

OR

B: Overselling or forcing your customer too hard.

You must determine your customer needs, I do not know how many times this week I have given car sales people a brief on what I was looking for. Price was NOT the motivating factor in my case, yet this brief went over most heads. In nearly every case they tried to sell me something I had no interest in.

There are two reasons for selling a better or upmarket product. The obvious one is too increase your earnings or profitability, and the second is to serve your customer better. A customer frequently will make a buying decision on price alone, unaware that a far better product or service, more keeping with his or her needs, would cost comparatively little more.

In fact it is rather interesting as I am a cash buyer with no trade in and in fact I want to purchase two vehicles. What an opportunity in such a tough market. Any sales person worth their salt should be able to uncover what I am after by asking the correct questions and no doubt could make some dollars!

Anyway, the review will come but I need transport sorted first.

At this time I was young and had dreams of becoming a Radio Technician.

During my four year tenure here an immigrant from England by the name of Ray Woolf joined the company for a short time. Ray’s mother already worked for the organization and Ray took a job on the assembly line. Ray had been trained as a singer in the UK and he had aspirations of entering the entertainment scene in New Zealand.

It is now 2008 and Ray has had a sensational career winning many awards and he has become a very professional and polished entertainer.

This brings me to today’s rave about being the best you can be.

Mt career took a turn for the better in 1975 when I realized I could sell and it was in the late eighties I got a lesson from Ray about being your very best.

I had been visiting one of my country Hifi retailers Roger Angell in Whakatane New Zealand. I happened to be staying over night and we heard that Ray Woolf and his band (including Billy Christian) a great bass player were in town. They were performing at a local hotel.

We decided to go and see them and to our amazement our group made up of sales staff etc happened to be the majority of people there.

When the show started only a handful of patrons arrived and it was rather disappointing to see such a poor turnout for what was going to be a class act.

When the concert finally got under way I was totally speechless as I witnessed the most professional musical event I had seen in years.

Ray and the boys gave it 150% effort despite the very poor turnout of support. The people who did not come missed a real treat but above all this drummed into my mind about being your very best.

Remember when you are in any sales situation or presentation you must be absolutely on top of your game.

Take a lesson from Ray Woolf just like I did. The fact his audience was small and probably intimidating did not phase him or his band in any way. They gave more than anyone expected that evening and this is a credit to this entertainer and the belief he has in himself.

You too will have witnessed the professionalism shown by similar people to Ray Woolf and when you think of these people try and apply the same faultless level of expertise to your own efforts. Whether you are running a business or making major sales this applies in every case.

Ray Woolf…. A Class Act

Therefore we are constantly being bombarded on TV and in the streets with “HYPE” that creates a buying frenzy.

Professional sales people sometimes get caught up in this hype. They are so enthusiastic about their product or service that just can’t help themselves.

All they want to do is broadcast to their prospects and customers how good this item is, or how good this service is. The reality is in this day and age with fast lane business, IPHONES, Smartphones, Cellphones and all the other gadgets that speed things up we must take stock.

My tip of the day is to ask all of you people involved in “Making Major Sales” to slow down, think about your customer, ask the correct questions that may uncover solutions that your product or service just might fix.

1. Remember that unjust criticism is often a disguised compliment.

2. Do the very best you can.

3. Analyse your own mistakes and criticise yourself.

4. Ask others for constructive criticism.

If you are making major sales in your own business or in a sales team the best thing to do is be your very best. If your company does not provide any form of sales training (most do product only training) make sure you do it yourself. Read all the books by Neil Rackham and practice what he preaches. Making major sales is a completely different skill from making simple sales and the more training you do the more skills you will aquire. That means in the end the more money you will make. Once you become a true professional salesperson the world is your oyster.

The course was over fourteen weeks one night per week and by half way through I changed my vocation and knew all I wanted to do was sell and work entirely for myself.

I have never forgotten the lessons learned on that course and this one is the most important.

If you want to get on in life you must get people to like you and here are the six ways:

1. Become genuinely interested in other people.

2. Smile

3. Remember that a person’s name is the sweetest and most important sound in any language.

4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.

5. Talk in terms of the other persons interest.

6. Make the other person feel important and do it sincerely.

ALL of this is vitally important if you are making major sales. If you are involved in sales training or sales management you must impress these important aspects onto your sales staff or participants.

How many sales people do you know who really have these skills? It is not rocket science, and all of these skills are worth mastering.

I guess most salespeople do, however PLEASE do not let it ruin your chances of making major sales. There is a serious problem out there and it is very disturbing.

I was in Melbourne Australia a while back and I was having breakfast at a popular cafe at 7.30 am. Next to me at a big table was a sales team enjoying a breakfast meeting. There were around ten people including a sales manager leading the group.

He was trying to get started with what appeared to be a structured and well planned program. During this time his cellphone rang three times and in each case he answered it. This distracted the remaining group and after that third call a female salesperson got up and angrily made this point. “If that cellphone is not switched off now I am leaving this meeting”.

Naturally the sales manager was upset as the whole restaurant overheard, however is this not a valid argument?

What on earth would have happened before smartphones? Would these calls have taken place? I do not think so and it baffles me why a sales manager would turn his phone on at anytime when running a motivational meeting for staff.

In my opinion it degrades those staff and takes the whole focus off the meeting. The same thing applies and is equally important when in front of a customer. Real Estate sales people generally make a habit of it and it surely sends the message to the customer about who is the most important.

My tip of the day is to just think about the importance of this post.

The Title was Brave New World by Owen Thomson

Date: 29/07/2006

This is so true and is a solid reminder today.

The way we buy has changed and the role of the sales professional has evolved as a result, writes Owen Thomson.

Money-making opportunities abound in the world of sales, so it’s hard to imagine a shortage of eager professionals looking to capitalise. But according to experts, that very scenario is one of the challenges facing Australian businesses.

The number of sales positions has increased markedly in the past year, aligning with the growth in the economy generally.

James Fennessy, managing director of sales performance improvement organisation Huthwaite Asia Pacific, says there are often more sales positions than there are quality people to fill them. The biggest issue facing organisations, he says, is not only finding, but also retaining top sales staff. “Competitors are coming in trying to throw them an extra 10 or 15 grand a year to attract them away,”

Fennessy says. “We’re seeing that right across the board, whether it’s in health care, financial services, IT or the telecom sector. Job prospects are absolutely excellent.”

Lenga agrees that the skills shortage at the top end is a real issue; expert salesmanship is a vocation, he says, demanding several key attributes. “It’s a particular skill-set that’s required, involving a lot of relationship building and a lot of comfort around numbers; the ability to make cold calls; the ability to sell as well as the confidence to sell.”

As if talent shortages weren’t enough, Fennessy says all industries are also having to take a different approach to selling. In an overcrowded market, products lose their individuality, so winning over customers is not as easy as it once was.

“What’s happened over the last five or six years is that products and services have begun to look more similar, so the importance of a quality sales force has become more important,” he says. “One of the big challenges in the sales game is now creating competitive distinct value.” Because the nature of the sales role has also evolved enormously in the past five years, many sales reps who were successful in the old world are ill-equipped for the new one. “Five or six years ago, all sales guys needed to be was a talking brochure because their products had something unique about them,” Fennessy says. “Today, salespeople need to create value through their ability to help customers understand problems, issues and challenges that they don’t know they have. Customers are looking for a different kind of relationship. What they’re saying is, ‘Don’t sell me a product, be a business partner.’ “

Peter McKeon, managing director of sales training and solution development company Salesmasters International, says it’s not only salespeople who need to move with the times. “I think that many organisations lack the necessary accountability and discipline in their sales forces,” he says. “It’s, ‘Here’s your car and mobile phone, go out and sell.’ Most are under-trained and simply not maximising their opportunities. We need to get a lot more customer-centric: ‘Here’s me and my car, dropping into do a PR call’, as opposed to a true sales call.” McKeon believes many who are already in the sales field need to improve their game. “The vast majority of people in the sales fraternity in this country, if you were to rate them on a scale of one to 10 … I would suggest that the majority of them would be running at around a four or a five,” he says.

“I think people could do a lot more with their customer base than what they’re currently doing.”

CASE STUDY: CHRIS LAMBETH, PHARMACEUTICAL SALES REP

Chris Lambeth has been a pharmaceutical sales rep for drug company Aspen Pharmacare for 12 months. A former vet, the 30-year-old Sydneysider switched careers after realising his original choice wasn’t for him.

“It was a brand new challenge, completely different to anything I’d done before and so I just ran with it,” he says of the change in direction. These days Lambeth spends a lot of time on the road, visiting medical professionals in his prescribed

territory and keeping them up to date about what his company has to offer.

“I do part of the inner-west, extending down south a little bit and also part of the city,” he says. “I take care of all the GPs and hospitals in that area. We also have a country territory where we go for a week or two a couple of times a year.”

Lambeth’s favourite aspect of the job is the independence. “You’re in charge of your territory,” he says. “From Monday to Friday, you plan your week, how you

structure things and how you make appointments. You have quite a bit of control over the way you do things … while at the same time, you’re constantly seeing people and meeting new people as well.”

Anne Mulcahy has turned round the fortunes of the one time copier giant that has been the training ground for many super sales people and entrepreneurs.

If any sales person has any doubt about the ability to make a fortune from this exciting career just think again. Anne was paid thirteen million US dollars last year in salary and bonus for the effort she put in to this sensational position in the company.

Her great attributes that head her priority is never forgeting a persons name and continuously being in front of customers to access the company performance.

If you are employed by a company you have a responsibility to understand their requirements from you as their representative. Remember you are the advertisement for that company and most companies would like the best possible image.

If you are self employed and your income depends on the amount of sales you make then you need to make certain your presentations and preparations of such are impeccable.

I have been doing a great amount of traveling lately and I am delighted to see many retail stores in many countries are finally getting the message about professional displays and stock presentation.

I have also received a copy of a report sent to my son from a real estate agent in New Zealand who is promoting one of my son’s properties. It is most gratifying to see at last sales people and companies involved in making major sales are making the effort to do that little bit extra.

I do believe however there are many companies out there with a long way to go yet. For instance it is still impossible to phone some organizations and speak to a live person during normal office hours. Studies in Australia showed that 35% o people hang up when confronted with a robot phone offering choices by pushing buttons.
We live in a fast age where people want answers now. If I am selling a property I expect my agent to report to me weekly in detail. As a regular property investor and developer I expect my agent or agents to keep in contact with me on a regular basis.
If they don’t I simply replace them and that is what most customers do when they are dissatisfied with service.
Therefore my tip of the day is to think seriously about your responsibility if you are a professional sales person.