Author: Pat Helmers

I help businesses grow with podcasts. Plus other stuff too. How can I help you? Let's have coffee.
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Credible Handshake

Selling starts the minute you enter the doorway and  prospects judge the seller both swiftly and harshly. In sales  there are few mulligans and the first handshake is a bell that can’t be unrung.  If the buyer doesn’t like you, the quality of your product or service matters little.  

Next under the microscope is your company, demanding faith it is solid, trustworthy and viable. The prospect may genuinely like you, but if your company is the least bit green or sketchy, the sale is in peril.  

Lastly, the thing you are selling must fit their needs. Listening,empathizing, and flashy presentations may not be adequate. What needs to be answered are the questions “Does  this product or service make my life easier, does it take me to where I want to go?”

Without credibility, these questions never get asked.  

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Credible Possibility

Considered a stranger 
The buyer is quick to judge the seller.
From dress, to speech, 
from handshake to eye contact
Credibility starts.

Considered an unknown 
The buyer measures the company.
From experience, to brochures,
From references , to network
Credibility proceeds.

Considered a possible solution 
The buyer vets the product.
From ease of use, to flexibility,
From  meeting specs,  to cost 
Credibility is cemented. 

Seller, company and product,
This is the path to credibility. 

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Anecdotes, Stories and Metaphors

Have you ever given a presentation, excited, engaged and in the moment? And then the time comes when you pause to catch your breath and like the good Master Seller ask if they have any questions? And then you look up and all you hear is the sound of crickets as your audience naps the afternoon away?

You could have a long list of features and benefits that far out weigh anything your competition can offer. But there are limits to what words can say, and you can rarely fully describe to complete precision what you’re selling with dry lists and specifications.  But a quick anecdote, a little story, an example that draws upon a metaphor or common experience can make all the difference. 

In the hubbub world of today, prospects quickly tire and get glassy-eyed.  A great tactic is to frame a benefit in a real-life story.   Start with “Have you ever been in the situation where …….”   And the story ends with some frustration of life.  You then proceed “Consider instead this ending…..” explaining  how your solution makes everything right in the end.  

Listen to what people say. Describe what you do with their stories. Make sure they fully believe you, and if they choose wisely,  they will live happily ever after. 

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Cow Tales

Once upon a time a salesman worked for a dairy  products company that provided milking equipment  for farms.  One morning he was trying out his new Taoist sales techniques and he asked an open-ended question to a prospective client “How long cows should be milked?”  The farmer paused and scratched his head for a moment and  answered “Well………. I guess the same amount of time as the short ones.” 

Were you intrigued by this story when it started “once upon a time”?   Did it perk your interest?  Stories intrigue buyers.  Sharing an anecdote  allows them to viscerally embrace what your selling.  Consider common stories you’ve heard from other buyers.

What are your stories? What are your anecdotes? Do you know how long cows should be milked? 

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Storytelling

Story Books
The nature of the world is beyond description
Yet stories are your greatest tools.

With the art of narrative,
the buyer identifies with your characters.
Compelling in action,
they see the struggle in their lives.
Clear in thought, 
they embrace the moral of your story.
Obvious  in solution,
they are drawn to your products and services.

By shedding light 
on what was once nothing,
The Master Seller becomes storyteller,
Creating possibility in the buyers’ mind.

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Focus On The Hard

Question Mark

There are many tasks in sales and some you naturally attract you; organizing your desk, preparing your script, going on cold calls, tidying your contact data or schedule . These things are all well and good UNLESS you’re doing them to avoid real work. Ask yourself “What do you dread doing?” Ask yourself , what are the things you find hard to do and then consider that maybe, just maybe that’s where you’re failure lives?

Take a moment and look inward. Do you have any suppressed self-destructive traits or childhood hang-ups that are roadblocks to promoting your dream? Are you putting yourself out of business?  Today, focus on one thing you avoid. Put it on the top of your to do list. Do it right now!

See the world as it is
Focus on the hard
until the hard becomes easy.

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Making the Hard Easy

image
Nothing in the world
is as weak as water.
Yet for dissolving granite mountains
nothing can surpass it.

The soft overcomes the hard;
the easy overcomes the difficult.
Everyone knows this is true,
but few can put it into practice.

Therefore the Master Seller
Remains cool under fire.
Prepared they are ready for all objections.
Because they have stopped avoiding work
their work gets done.

See the world as it is
Focus on the hard
until the hard becomes easy.

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Assessing Failure

Sales professionals come from many backgrounds: accounting, engineering, teaching, corporate America – careers that have not required phoning strangers, shaking hands and smiling when you don’t feel like it. Now you must.

It is not easy to taste success if economic conditions, shortage of money, aggressive, even unethical, competitors, and your own weaknesses conspire to bankrupt you. But if you’re going succeed as a Master Seller it maybe time to stop placing blame on others and focus inward on what you can do to hone your craft. Do you have any suppressed self-destructive traits or long-time hang-ups that are roadblocks to promoting your success? Are you putting yourself out of business?

Right now, ask yourself if there was one thing you could do to improve your success rate, what would that be? Ask yourself What have you been avoiding and putting off? Quick now, what’s the first thing that comes to mind with these questions?

Right now, say it out loud……..

This is awareness.

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Learning from Failure

Poster for LearningA lost sale is a failure
And  an opportunity to learn.
If you blame someone else
Or the circumstance
There is no end to the blame.

Like the seasons
Deals are won and lost.
Make failure the  opportunity to start again,
Yet this time more intelligently.

The Master Seller
Meets their own obligations
Corrects their own mistakes
Doing what they  need to do
Demanding  nothing of others.