21 Day Sales Learning Challenge: Days 17

"Quit Assuming "

Today was interesting, to say the least. Scheduled an appointment two weeks ago for a lunch meeting and even sent out calendar invite. Received confirmation the prospect was going to be there the same day, two weeks ago.

Two weeks go by, no change in the calendar invite, so assumed we are still good to go. The person seemed punctual and would be the kind of person who would cancel if they can't make it.

Showed up to the meeting location 5 minutes early and ordered a drink. Sat there catching up on emails waiting for the prospect to show up.

Five minutes went by, then 15 and still no one showed up.  Now twenty minutes past the appointment I'm calling the prospect to confirm our meeting. They apologized that they forgot to send a notification they couldn't make it and said try calling next week.

Really?! That just happened?! I worked so hard to schedule this, the prospect confirmed two weeks ago, and not I'm sitting by myself waiting for nothing.

I assumed the client was coming. I assumed it was in their calendar and so assumption kicked in they would be there for that.  worst mistake  to make with assuming things.

I learned two lessons today on this:

First, don't punk and stand someone up. Keep track of your schedule and don't flake out on someone, it's rude! And unprofessional!

Second, quit assuming others will be there when you ask or schedule them. Always confirm an appointment before driving and showing up.  Being stood up once is one too many.

I learned today to quit assuming and instead be 100% sure each appointment is confirmed.

21 Day Sales Learning Challenge: Day 16

"First Initial Contact is not a time to Sell"

Great opportunity this week to represent the company on a golf course with a charity tournament. I was asked to be part of the event to tell the golfers about our company and give away some freebie.  I was joined by a co-worker.

As we're on the 18th hole and the tournament begins, every group got a chance to stop by our booth before teeing off.

I sat back a few times and let my colleague take the reigns with the groups.  He would try to over Sell, once he got someone to listen to him he wouldn't stop talking about our product. At one point he tried asking to schedule a meeting.

I learned how easy people put their guard up when they are over pitched, especially on a fun day off on the golf course. This is the first time meeting someone and he was basically going into trying to get signatures(over exaggerating, but you get the point).

Now here was my approach the entire day. Make small talk, find out what the person does, keep asking them personal questions (after all we're not in office setting). I made sure to keep the conversations light. In fact, the only time I'd talk about my company and product was when someone was truly interested and asked.

The initial meeting, especially in the golf setting we were in, is a time to gather contact information and learn a little about the person. Of course, the moment they teed off, I'd run over to my notepad (CRM) and write every word they said; I was writing down their wives names, where they traveled, and even interests they mentioned like restaurants or sporting games or favorite golf course.

Whenever I look at my co-workers strategy, I could tell the golfers became standoff ish and didn't engage too much. But the results I had were deep conversations, real connections, and leads.

My biggest learning curve was undersranding the difference between pitching and versus just meeting someone. Being the first time meeting, there's another time and place for the business pitch.

#rallsysalesjourney

21 Day Sales Learning Challenge: Day 15

"Importance of your pipeline"

Today was a great learning example of how to stay successful;  keep your pipeline full. 

Our office had 2 potential clients going through proposal stage of our business. If we were to close them, we would be well over our goals for the month. Deadline to complete is this friday.

Everything was going great; all week, the clients were responsive, mentioning their interest with coming on board, answering all our questions, and turning in required paperwork to get deal finalized.

But one client, the vibe changed this morning.

Called the client, assistant said he was "busy". After the entire day goes, we tried calling back in. When owner gets on, you can immediatly hear the tone change in his voice.

He informed us that a competitor came in cheaper. Apologized and said he liked our model but has to go the route in saving money.

The other account, was slightly different...client told us yes and was ready to move forward. We had everything completed except for one approval from underwriting, "Risk".

An email came in from underwriting informing us that the potential client had too many issues for us to sign them on.

Here's the importance to the story. These are two completely different ways a client may not come on board;  went elsewhere or internal decline.  But this story isn't here to tell you how to avoid losing potential clients, in fact it's not to better assist you on how to avoid losing the close.

I learned this morning how great it is to keep your Pipeline filled because of these two "NOs"! You see I didn't mention that these are only 2 accounts of the 20 prospects that we are currently looking at all in the next few weeks.

Keep working on the pipeline as your main priority in order to hit your numbers. The more prospects you meet, the more prospects you will have on your desk to close, which also means more deals should be signed.

It's rough to get a no on two accounts, but it doesn't change a your pipeline in front of you. NOs just remind you to move on to the next one.

On the white board, there's a reminder "Next". It reminds Us after a yess, or in this situation a No...move on, tel yourself Next.  There's plenty of work being done each day so no need to go piss on the present with the past. Focus now.

#rallsysalesjourney

21 Day Sales Learning Challenge: Day 14

"Throw Your Butt out Properly"

Had a lunch meeting today for work and it was nice enough to sit on the patio. As we were sitting down discussing business and enjoy old town, there was a moment I got to people watch.

A guy pulls up across the street. As he gets out of his car, he finishes exhaling a huge puff of smoke from his cigarette throws the butt on the sidewalk. Then he throws in a piece of gum in his mouth, chews it while grabbing a file out of the back seat.

At this point, I've informed my colleagues to take a look at him and caught them up with what I've seen so far. As this moment he takes his gum out of his mouth and threw that on the walkway while heading up the business.

He most likely is selling something and is walking into his appointment. After about 20min, the guy came out, jumped in his car and took off as if he just got rejected. Briefly after the guy leaves, a gentleman walks out of the business with a broom and pan, sweeps up the cigarette and gum, shakes his head and heads back in.

The observation of the scene; salesman rudely liters his cigarette and gum in front of the business owner's window. Owner watches the entire thing, pre-judges the guy and couldn't overcome the scene he watched happen and tells the guy no on the product being sold.

Learning lesson showing you never know who's watching you on the job. This guy was already pissed off seeing a person who he may have been looking forward to meeting trash his business entryway.  That can easily lead to immediate no no matter what...

Everyone has a story where they saw so-and-so out in public doing something rude or gross; spitting, littering, picking nose, speaking rude to someone else, speeding and cutting others off, caught lying, over drinking, and so on.

In sales, we always need to remember we are a public figure, our clients are everywhere and you never know when they can see you in public. Always be on your guard, or better yet make a change on any bad habits you may have.

#rallsysalesjourney

21 Day Sales Learning Challenge: Day 13

"Comparing Sales and baseball on similar level"

Before I go into today's learning lesson, here's a little background about myself. I played competitive baseball all the way through College. In high school, I batted  .450 and in college I hit .386! Offense came easy for me, I loved hitting and wasnt afraid to take anyone on. I was successfully hitting 4 of every 10 at bats.

Baseball is not easy to play. As a hitter you have 4/10th of a second from a pitcher throwing the ball to the hitter making contact. Reaction time has no room for errors. The entire major league of baseball hits an average of .250 per season. That's 1 of every 4 times at an bat you get a hit.

I always relate baseball to sales. No matter what industry you are in, there is always a way to relate it in your success by using similar numbers like baseball and stats.

Just like baseball whether you succeeded or failed in closing the last appointment, you go to the next one and always keep swinging. Its necessary to keep on producing  numbers in the pipeline so you have more chances to sell.

Playing baseball, I wanted to get as many at bats in as possible. The more at bats the more chances I had to get a hit. More hits I get, the more successful I'll be for the team. To prove what you are worth on a baseball field, you had to continuously produce numbers and only way to do that is swing for a hit every at bat.

If I hit .300 over 100 at bats, that's 30 hits! Way better to see then 3 hits in 10 at bats. Yes your average is the same, but your value proves more worthy when you bring in the 30!

Sales is just like baseball, you have to keep producing deals. If I close 3 out of 10 chances with prospects, my average is pretty good. But I need to keep producing prospects daily so that instead of 10 chances, I have 50, or 100, or 1,000! The way you sell more deals is you keep bringing in the numbers.

Keep bringing more chances to the table, more opportunities, more prospects and focus on swinging hard and efficient and it will lead to deals.

#rallsysalesjourney

21 Day Sales Learning Challenge: Day 12

"Prospects attention span is like a toddler's"

Today, in sales, it's a short window from the prospect giving you complete attention to changing the focus to be distracted by something. This means we have to take advantage of every second  like it's our last.

Storytime...today my son, who's 2.5yrs old, had teeball game.  He plays once a week with 8 other toddler's between 3-5 on the team. They play against another team with 9 players age ranging 2-5. They get to be coached by the local high school baseball team.

As a parent, this is comedy hour for us since we don't have to do anything but watch. Parents are suggested to stay off field and not try to help.

The 3 coaches that run each team have a tough "Job"; try to keep toddler's focused on playing the game, for 3 innings.

The first inning goes smoothly. Everyone sat in the dugout patiently waiting for their turn to hit. The toddler's listened each step of the way; they listened when they were told it's their turn to hit, run around the bases, and to go sit back in the dugout.

Next the kids were taught to put on their gloves, take the field, get the ball when opponent hits, and throw it back to coach. The first inning, most of the kids were lined up on the field waiting for the  ball to be hit. Every now and then the coach had to re-explain his objection with the group and get their focus back on the task.

As I'm observing the game, it made me think about  the meetings when you sit with a prospect and your having to reiterate every now and then because they were distracted by something.

Going into the second inning, half the team were listening; some chased their own ball when they hit instead of to first. A few were playing in the dugout not paying attention, then they took the field and half were ready, the others were watching the birds, picking flowers, or still sitting in the dugout not wanting to go.
By the third inning three were ready, the other guys were in the stands getting food, crying because they don't want to go, or sleeping. They all want to do what they want to do, not what you as a coach want them to do.

In a proposal meeting, the client doesn't want to go through your process. At the beginning they are listening and focusing to everything you say, then you start seeing the focus change.

Prospect starts reading ahead to page 4 or 5 when you are still looking and explaining page 1. They peek at their email. They wonder off looking around the room, office or through window outside. 

Short story long, our prospects and clients, even employees are easily distracted. They are like toddlers; we have to focus on keeping their excitement focused on task at hand.  Remember to keep presentation short and exciting to avoid a wondering listener.

#rallsysalesjourney

21 Dale Sales Learning Challenge: Day 11

"Visual Goals that come from Role Models"

At least twice a week I stop into the local coffee shop near the office. Over the past month, there's been a Lamborghini Aventador parked in the lot every now and thenthat catches my eye. Because it's there when I pull up and still there when I leave, I never get to see who the driver is.

I love this car, especially since I got to borrow a Lamborghini  Gallardo for a weekend when in my early 20s. The looks, the style, the power, the smoothness in ride, everything from front to back is beautiful and makes the car a work of art!

So back to the coffee shop. When I go in, I am always aware of people around me. In fact, over the past few months I've gotten to know the owner a little bit. He comes in the coffee shop in street clothes, buys his coffee and sits in random places each time working off a laptop.

He holds himself as a very genuine Guy. Sitting with him, he makes conversation easy. Last time I spoke to him, I found out he doesn't just own the coffee shop, he also owns three other businesses.

The reason I'm thinking about  how this coffee shop owner, the coffee shop and this Lamborghini all come together is, as of today, it now became my visual goal.

Today, shopping at the mall with my family, the same Lamborghini I've been noticing pulls up next to us and of course it's the coffee shop owner who gets out.

I of course greeted him as we were walking into the mall. He reminded me of what the success I want looks like  me. He, in my mind, is an ideal individual to look up to and a perfect person to have as a visual goal.

I want to have multiple incomes; daily job, residual, investments, part ownership in a business. These four incomes will be able to provide the necessities for me and my family. But what this owner reminded me about is when success is in your pocket, you don't have to become a typical rich stuck up jerk like some people become.

Money doesn't need to rule us, we don't need to flaunt it. But doesn't mean we need to live in a bubble when successful.

Find a visual goal you want to live and use it for motivation to work 10X harder then the day before. Find a certain individual who is living the goal life you want and use it for determination each day where you are going to be.

I found out that my excitement walking into the coffee shop and seeing the owner now just became ever more exhilarating seeing similar success I am working towards.

#rallsysalesjourney