Sales Blog from Sales expert Trent Leyshan

Archive for the ‘Sales Training’ Category

Cold-calling is dead, but the Red Phone is alive and well

Wednesday, February 1st, 2012

The Red Phone image - CopyLeaders of nations first did it. Military generals do it. Even high powered CEOs now do it.

When they need something of critical importance actioned, they pick-up the Red Phone and make a direct call to the person who can most influence what they need to achieve.

Our world is now vastly more connected than ever before thanks to the internet. Yet, cutting-through to decision makers and getting them to take you seriously is harder than ever. We are all far too busy and well informed to indulge a stranger blatantly trying to sell us something over the phone. Countless past negative experiences have trained us to know better.

The phone is still a powerful tool if you know how to utilise its qualities correctly.

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Rules and records are made to be broken

Thursday, November 24th, 2011

Break free!

In 1988 I watched in horror as my childhood hero Carl Lewis was blown away by Ben Johnson in the men’s 100m final at the Seoul Olympic Games.

The ripped and bulging Canadian sprinter launched out of the blocks to blaze to a new world record time of 9.79 seconds. To my relief, three days later, Johnson was stripped of his gold medal and banned for testing positive to steroids. Lewis was then unceremoniously anointed as the Olympic champion, and faith was restored to my little world.

Not many records can endure the vacillation of time. Johnson’s drug assisted time was considered only possible because he used a banned substance. His time has since been broken on several occasions. Usain Bolt is the reigning Olympic champion and world recorder holder, clocking in a 9.58 seconds. May I be so bold as to suggest that one day a man of freakish ability will run it in eight seconds?

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It’s time to get angry!

Thursday, November 17th, 2011

defusing-angry-cust

Sales is a game. Though not a numbers game as some would suggest, it’s more a mental game.

Every year, I work with hundreds of sales and service people across industries. What strikes me most is the chasm between the high and low performers. This distinction is always a matter of mindset.

If you haven’t made a sale in weeks, or hit a target in months, you should be anxious. That state should transcend to frustration, and if that persists, then raw anger! By anger, I dont mean, slapping customers in the face until they sign the contract. I refer to a deep sense of injustice for not succeeding at what you do. This sensation is essential to all creatures that compete for survival in any jungle.

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Overcoming fatigue, apathy and burnout

Thursday, October 13th, 2011

tiredUnlike other performance athletes ― salespeople are expected to compete forty eight weeks or more every year. It’s no wonder most salespeople are bloody tired, if not utterly exhausted.

Nearly all performance sports are structured in a way so that the athlete actually competes at a small fraction of their time in comparison to the time spent developing strategy, refining skills and training and recovering.

Sales managers for some bizarre reason believe their salespeople needn’t subscribe to the same approach. This false belief limits their sales people’s success and ultimately leads to fatigue and underperformance.

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Friends with benefits

Wednesday, October 5th, 2011

friends-with-benefits-movie-poster-2011-1010702676

One of the most valuable asset’s you can create in business is called a ‘friendship with benefits’.

Not the touchy and feeling kind, rather an enduring relationship between a customer and vendor that contributes to both in a meaningful way. Acquaintances, we can take or leave. Typically surface level, these relationships hold little lasting value. Unfortunately, the majority of customers are treated this way because staff are not empowered habitually with the right knowledge and skills.

Its vital businesses get this right: how you treat people in a commercial situation shouldn’t differ that much to a social setting. The same essentials apply, such as; empathy, common courtesy, respect, keeping our word, and above all a genuine interest in the other party’s best interests. Think about the people we consider friends. What behaviours do they demonstrate? How long have we known them? Why are they so important to us? What really attracts us to them?

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Are you a quitter?

Thursday, August 25th, 2011

exhausted-runner

Despite what some entrepreneurs believe, taking risks is not a silver bullet to success.

What is, is taking a risk, experiencing challenges, and then applying what you’ve learned, time and again.

Many business people take risks and then experience overwhelming resistance, but this is not failing. You only truly fail if you abort your dream entirely. Ironically most people give up just before the finishing line, not aware that the line is within their grasp. Which demonstrates your potential is usually just beyond your breaking point if you dare to smash through it.

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Process is the Mother of replication

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

dna-double-helixProcess is essential to success in all areas of business.

Even creative people have a process for manifesting inspiration. In sales a successful process allows you to work by a consistent set of operating principles that guide and support you towards realising an outcome. This outcome can then be replicated time and again.

A lack of expertise in moving customers through an engagement process is commonly flagged by management as, “poor lead generation or closing ability from salespeople.” More accurate is both these points of failure are merely symptoms of a much larger problem: poor process. In that instance, where the process starts or finishes are determined by the customers and not salespeople.

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Love it or lose it

Thursday, August 4th, 2011

Grass is always greenerAfter over a decade of growing her web design business and helping clients achieve their goals―Sylvia’s success was recognised.

She was courted by a much larger company interested in buying her business for a generous price. The offer was enticing, also timely, as Sylvia had been admiring the green grass over the fence for some time. Months of negotiations ensued culminating in her company being sold and rolled into the larger entity.

A modified business name, new staff and a rebrand followed. She was appointed as a director and shareholder of the parent company. The new venture went well… for about two weeks! Sylvia quickly found herself immersed in a boys club. Her new partners’ snide and chauvinistic remarks, overt profit mentality and disrespect for some clients were excruciating to bear.

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How to be a soloist and why you should

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

climberMore hands can make light work. Yet, often more hands only equates to more work.

When too many people are involved in a decision making process it becomes counterintuitive. Double handling frequently occurs so insecure managers are given a false sense of control. And it’s not difficult to get bogged down in bureaucracy and internal politics either.

Sometimes you’ve just got to go it alone. Particularly if you have no one around you prepared to strive for excellence with you. In that case, take the bloodied bull by the horns and put yourself out there!

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Are production and sales singing from the same hymn book?

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

hymn book

If customers really knew what was going on behind the scenes — many would be reluctant to buy.

Production creates the product and salespeople are entrusted to sell it. These two areas must be in unison but often collide with force. To salespeople production can be considered slow and inflexible. And according to production the salespeople can lack detail and over-promise. Morphing these two contrasting perceptions into a cohesive reality poses some very real challenges.

To be effective salespeople need to believe in what they sell. Any attempt to mislead customers will be met with resistance. Successful salespeople invest time understanding the inner workings of their product. They dont need to be experts, but they possess the ability to articulate the process involved in creating what they sell. This safeguards overpromising and also helps to build trust with customers.

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