Know Your Product

What do you sell? What does it do? How does it work? Who is it for? If you cannot answer, confidently, any of these questions, then you’ve got to start again, at the beginning.

You must have a complete understanding of your product or service. The more knowledgeable you are about what you are selling, and what makes it superior to that of the competition, the better you will be in explaining to customers and in overcoming their buying resistance.

In your journal, write out your answers to each of these questions:

1. What are you selling? –Your product or service
2. What are the most attractive features of your product? (List 5 – 10 )
3. What other products, similar to yours, exist in the market? –Competitor products
4. What specific needs can your product serve?- Benefits to customers
5. What features separate your product from its competitors?
6. What flaws or disadvantages do your product/service have?
7. What edge does the competitor have over you product/service?
8. Why should anyone buy your product at all?
9. Why should anyone buy your product from your company?
10. Why should anyone buy your product from you?
11. Who are the people your product can be useful to?- Your market
12. How is your product/service delivered, and how long does it take?
13. What are all the costs incurred by the buyer from purchase to delivery of your product/service?
14. How much does your product cost? And what is the actual cost of production?

By the time you have thought through, and researched well enough to find the answers to these questions, you would have gotten a thorough knowledge of your product or service. This is the starting point- the beginning. 

To love what you sell, you have to understand it, and the solutions it presents to the customer. Then you will be able to convince anyone on why they should buy it.

Is there any other question you feel has been left out, that needs to be answered to have complete knowledge of one’s product/service? I would greatly appreciate if you would write them out in the comment box. We all would be glad to learn from you.

Have a successful sales week.

1.        

Love Your Product

To be a successful salesperson, you must believe in love. Yes, you read that right. You must believe in love! If you have never fallen in love, you must do so now- with your product; else, you will not move up to the top league. You must fall in love. You must be in love. You must love. You must love your product! That is it.

You must love what you sell, so much that you transfer you positive feelings to the prospect. Selling has been referred to many times as the transfer of enthusiasm. You cannot transfer what you do not have, enthusiasm you do not have, love you do not have. You cannot give what you do not have.

There are prerequisites to loving your product- stages that you must first pass through before you can confidently say you love your product. Each of these stages are highly important for your sales success- they are non-negotiable. Without them, you cannot love what you sell, and without the love and confidence in your product, you cannot successfully convince anyone to buy.

These stages are:

1. Know Your Product
2. Trust Your Product
3. Love Your Product.

If you are not successful with any of the 3 stages, I've got an advice for you- whatever the product or service, do not sell it!

I will be dealing with each of these stages in subsequent posts.

Till then, have a successful sales week ahead.

Solutions, Not Features

Have you ever had a salesperson ask you to buy their product because of its great features, yet none of the features were of any use to you? I believe most of us have. At some point or the other, we have been faced with a salesperson who kept going on and on about the awesome features of their product, with no idea what our actual needs were.

One of the very important parts of selling is your ability to identify the needs of your prospect accurately. Brian Tracy refers to this as "the indispensable step upon which the whole sales process depends." He says if you fail to identify the prospect's needs accurately, the entire sales process will grind to a halt.

Professional selling begins with needs analysis. Customer's buy for their own personal satisfaction, not yours. You need to identify the needs of the customer. Realize that people don't always know what they need, sometimes they know some of their needs, sometimes they know all. It's your duty as a salesperson to help the prospect identify their needs, albeit unknowingly. The most important step in doing this is asking questions- the right questions.

Prepare the questions you will ask the prospect before the appointment. These are not necessarily the exact questions you will end up asking the prospect, but you have to write out a list of basic questions you will ask every prospect, then during the sales presentation, you tailor the questions to the specific prospect. You are ill-equipped to sell until you have asked sufficient, effective questions.

Ask open-ended questions. Open-ended questions are questions that do not produce a yes/no answer. Steer clear of questions that will give a yes/no response from the prospect. Your questions should produce responses that make the prospect speak more, elaborate.

Ask questions that can be easily answered, not questions that leave the prospect groping for answers, feeling clueless and dumb. The prospects answers will reveal their needs, and wants. Listen attentively and effectively to the prospect's answers, this will help you understand the key needs of the prospect that your product can meet. Identify their key needs and present your product as a solution to these needs.

Successfully make the customer understand that he needs your product enough to overcome any buying resistance that can prevent him from buying. He must be convinced that to a very high degree, he is better off with your product or service, way more than he is without it. Convince him that he is better off with your product than he is with your competitor's product.

Present your product as a solution to the prospect's needs. Refrain from getting immersed, or carried away by the features of your product, instead, present the features as a solution to their needs. Remember no matter how great the features are, if they do not solve the prospects problems, or meet his key needs, you will not be successful at that sale.

Have you ever been on any end of a sales process where features were being presented instead of solutions? Where you the prospect or the salesperson, and what was the prospect's reaction, whether you were the prospect or salesperson? Please feel free to answer in the comment box, your feedback is highly appreciated.

Have a great day/evening.

Know Your Product

It was Children's day a few days ago, and I was out with the kids at a children's carnival. Yes, they had loads of fun, but no, I'm not here to talk about the children or the fun. Sometime, while we were having massive fun, a young man walked up to us, held a pack of something up to his face, and starts to implore us to buy. It was a packet of Vitamin C tablets and he was trying to sell that to us. He kept talking on and on, but didn't give any reason why we should be buying his product, so I asked him "the kids already have lots of Vitamin C tablets, why should we buy yours?" I turn my focus to the pack in his hands and I see a big picture of an apple right on it, I figure the tablets are apple-flavored and expect this salesman to tell me this, but to my disappointment, he doesn't! Instead, he begins to plead with us to buy "please just buy it, it's very good for the kids." At this point, I try to tell him about the apple flavor but he doesn't even listen to me. When he eventually stopped speaking, I told him about it, and he replies "Yes, there's the apple flavor, blah blah blah, yada yada yada, and mixed-fruit flavor." I again explain to him that this is a unique selling point for his product, and that I'd expected him to tell me about that- kid's love apple, that would've made me interested, and many other people as well. We eventually bought two packs and off he went, searching for his next 'victim'.

There were several things wrong with that young man's selling strategy, and that is what I want to write about today.

1. Dear Salesperson, you've got to know your product.

Study, study, and study your product. Read all the manuals on it, research it, run a google internet search for it, find out all the advantages and yes, disadvantages. Be an expert on your product. If that young salesman knew his product well enough, he'd have remembered to tell me it had various flavors. The prospect shouldn't be the one to tell you about your product, if that happens, then you'd be totally unconvincing, you'd be seen as one who was just selling to make a buck, not to help the customer meet their needs.

Know your product so well that if a prospect asks you any question about it, you can confidently answer without stuttering or pausing to think about your answer. Product knowledge is very important. If your product knowledge is limited, then you have no business selling that product.

2. Dear Salesperson, ask questions.
You've got to master the art of asking qualifying questions. You need to ask questions so you can understand the needs of the customer. When you understand the needs of the prospect, you will know the angle from which you should present your product.

3. Dear Salesperson, listen to your prospect.
Learn effective listening skills. You should listen to your prospect, not spend all the time talking about why your product is great! You must talk less, and listen more. Ask more questions, the person who asks more questions is in control of the conversation. Ask more, and you will know more. Know more, and you will present better. Present better, and you will sell better.

4. Dear Salesperson, never beg anyone to buy your product.
If your product is as beneficial to me as you'd want me to believe, why beg me to buy? People do not buy out of pity, they buy because your product/service can solve their problems. That's why you've got to understand your product, and understand your prospect so well that you know how your product/service will meet their needs and solve their problems. Realise that not everyone will buy your product, not every one is your customer. Develop a positive spirit so you can deal with rejection withoug letting it affect your selling motivation.

3 Steps To Creating Your Personal Brand

What will come to mind when your name is mentioned?

Mr. Bruce says to Mr. Albright "Yes, I knew I'd seen you before, I remember where now"
Mr Albright : "Oh really? where was that?"
Mr. Bruce : "Really, at Mr. Schneider's son's birthday party"
Mr. Albright : "Mr. Schneider? ermm....oh! Mr. Schneider! The guy who makes the best cheeseburger around town. I remember now"

When your name is mentioned, what comes to anyone's mind? What'll you be remembered for? What will you be associated with?
That is your personal identity- how others see you, how the world sees you.
Stand out from the pack, distinguish yourself, make it easy for anyone, and everyone to remember you. Create your identity. Remember what they say about first impressions? -You never get a second chance to make a first impression. The power is in your hands to create a first impression. Whether we like it or not, we are always being judged on our first impression, that's the way the world works.

Create your personal identity. One writer calls it "influencing how the world sees you...purposefully packaging the brand called you."
Your personal brand is everything.

Image: freedigitalphotos.net

1. (Re)Discover Yourself:
Write out all your skills, talents, abilities, and work experience. Ask yourself "which of all these would I love to be recognized for?" Decide all the skills, talents, attributes you want to be known for. Write these out. You must be sincere with yourself, do not write what is not within your capability. Impossible still exists in the English lexicon!

2. Decide Your Elevator Speech.
i. When you've discovered your best attributes, align them together. Merge them seamlessly into a short 'personal statement'. For instance lets consider Mr. Schneider once again. He loves to cook, and is a good cook, he loves to make people happy, he is passionate about high quality, and customer satisfaction, he has good time management skills, he makes good cheeseburgers.

Now here is Mr. Schneider's elevator speech: I make extra-awesome mouth watering cheeseburgers in ten minutes.
Next time you're in need of cheeseburger, wouldn't you remember Mr. Schneider? The answer is obvious.

Now, go right ahead and write out yours. It should be something captivating, that will stick in the memory for a very long time. It should be unique, and have the 'wow, really?' effect.

ii. After you have written out your elevator speech, begin to practice it. First, record yourself saying it. Then listen to the recording over and over again, changing the parts you that don't sound right. Do this over till it sounds perfect. Then practice, practice, practice. Say it to yourself while you're driving, walking down the road, climbing the stairs, in the elevator by yourself. Get trusted friends, and family to listen to you say it, and point out any flaws they notice. Look yourself in the mirror, and say it to yourself every morning before you leave your home. Say it over and over until you're able to say it naturally, with confidence, and convincingly. Then don't stop saying it, let it become your favorite song, till it plays itself in your memory.

3. Integrate Your Elevator Speech- Online, and Offline.
Your personal brand must be incorporated in every part of your identity- online and offline. Your social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+) profiles must reflect it, your business cards, and stationery must reflect this. When strangers, or non-strangers, search for you online, this is what they should find. Note that the word REFLECT, and not RECITE. It should give a general idea, not write word for word, what you'd say when they come in contact with you. That would sound kinda weird, wouldn't it?
Create a personal website. Your website should reflect clearly, who you are, and what you're about.

Now, I'd like to give you two extra tips:

1. Now that you have created your own personal brand, you must promote it. After carrying out step 3 above, you should do further. Attend networking events for professionals in your niche. Search out writing avenues, write articles on your niche online, and also on your local papers. Comment on blogs, join forums on your niche and join the discussions with relevant input,. Make yourself visible.

2. Manage your identity. Make sure you live and project the image you have created for yourself both online and offline. Your online image isn't a robot, it is you! Be you. Be careful of your comments and ensure you do not associate your brand with anything that will be negative to it. Control the impression you give people. Think before you tweet, post, chat. Remember that what you write/say could one day be held against you.

Have you ever written/tweeted/posted something online that was negative to your personal brand or identity? Were you able to resolve it in anyway? We'll appreciate your answer in the comment box, your feed-backs are highly appreciated.

Thank you, and have a great week ahead.
That's it today folks, have yourselves a great weekend.

Your Personal Brand (2)

Yes, I know I promised we'd trash out this topic today (trash? well, whatever ;)), but I am here to apologize because I got caught up with a whole lot of work, that I couldn't get anytime off to write the post until now. And now, I've got a bunch of kids running around seeking attention. I'm sorry folks, we will do this tomorrow, I promise.

Thank you for stopping by, let's do this again tomorrow, ok? Thank you, you're all far too kind.

Your Personal Brand

How do you see yourself? Do you see yourself simply as _______ (insert your name here)? Or as a function of what you do/can do? Do you see yourself as a sum of all your abilities, talents, skills and experience? Or no?

If you met someone new and you were to introduce yourself, what would you say? would it sound something like this "My name is Mr. Goodwillhunting, and I'm a hunter"? or "My name is Mrs. Madetomarket, I'm a marketing executive with M2M advertising agency"? Does this sound like you?

I had a conversation earlier today, and that is where I got the motivation for this post. I've realised that many of us do not see the need to promote ourselves as a brand. We do not even realise that we are brands. I am a brand, you are a brand, and you'd better start seeing yourself as one.

This is just an introduction for tomorrow's post. We will be discussing promoting our personal brands tomorrow.

Have a nice day/evening/night, whichever applies to you, and thank you for stopping by.

PROSPECTING- Finding New Customers For Your Business

Sales is the lifeblood of every organization. Without sales, even the biggest companies will wind up and 'close shop'. Prospecting is the lifeblood of the sales process. Without prospecting, the sales process is a butterfly without wings- handicapped.

The more time you spend with better prospects, the more sales you will make. Brian Tracy, one of the most influential sales speakers of our time, says the most inmportant rule for selling success is spending more time with better prospects. If you want to be successful in business, or your sales career, you have to master the skill of prospecting.

You get a chance to speak to a prospect for the first time, what do you do? Do you begin to blurt out your sales pitch and tell him how your product is the state-of-the-art, best thing that ever happened since ice-cream?

Read on, as I share with you, important tips on successful prospecting.

1. Be Professional. Realise that everybody is busy, and you are not the reason why the prospect is at that place at that time. Do not expect him to drop all his doing to listen to you. No sir! The prospect has his own business, and schedule, he has a list of important things to do, and that list, my dear salesperson, does not include you! you have got to find a way to get his attention and make him WANT to listen to you. You don't force him to listen to you, you make him interested in doing so. You do not barge in on the prospect, interrupt whatever it is they were doing before you arrived, and ask him to listen to your sales pitch. Well, except you've got a gun to his head!
2. Put Your Best Foot Forward.Realise that your aim is not to sell your product/service, but to get an appointment with the prospect. most likely what you will be given is a few minutes- maybe five, maybe less.Your most important task is to get the prospect to actually LISTEN to what you have to say. Your first sentence should be so powerful, it gets his complete attention. Never mention your product/service in your first sentence. If you do, you will most likely kill the sale. Your first sentence should pique his interest- it should make him think "For real?"
3. Get A Moving Opening Statement. This is an extension of point 3 above. In the first few seconds, the prospect decides whether or not he is going to listen to you, so it had better be good! Imagine this scenario: you go into a room filled with busy people, everyone occupied  with very important work. Suddenly, you take a hammer and bang loudly on a desk. What is going to happen? Everyone, no matter how busy, will look up immediately, and turn their attention to the direction of the noise. Yes? Of course! That is what your first statement should do. You must carefully decide the words you will speak, and rehearse them all the time till you memorize them and are able to say it naturally and fluently at any time, without hesitation. If your opening statement fails to get you the desired response/attention, then you must go back and change it. Keep tweaking it till you find one that works. Remember, it must focus, not on your product/service, but on the SPECIFIC NEED of the prospect.
4. Make The Prospect Comfortable. Make them relax, feel comfortable by letting them know they are in no way obliged to making a buying decision. No one likes to feel pressured, or trapped in a box.
5. Ask Questions. Always ask good question. The person who asks question has control. Don't let the prospect take charge of the conversation by asking the questions. Remember it's not in just asking questions, but asking the right questions. Ask open-ended questions, the kind that will get the prospect talking, not the one's that require yes/no answers.
6. Name-Dropping. You have to master the art of 'name-dropping'. Refer to other satisfied customers. People are more inclined to make buying decisions if they know that other people have made the same decisions, especially people they know, trust, or hold in high regard.
7. Get A Specic Appointment Time. Don't let the prospect wisely send you on your way by promising an appointment sometime later in the future. Get him to make a specific comitment, help him fix the appointment. You could say "Thank you Mr. Greenshield, when would be a convinient time for you?". If this doesn't get a specific time from him, you could further ask " would sometime around eleven on tuesday be good for you, or 2pm on Friday?" This will help in pinning an exact time. Remember to confirm the appointment (through the phone, or an eMail), like a day before that day, so you don't end up showing up to realise the appointment had been cancelled, or the prospect busy, or even out of town. Lastly, never expect anyone to call you back. No matter how genuine or promising the prospect sounds, make that call! Don't sit and wait for the prospect to call you, you need him more than he needs you, pick up your phone and make the call.

That's it for now, folks, practice these tips and let's know the improvement you get in your prospecting.
Don't forget to drop a line in the comment box and let us know which of the tips are most valuable to you, or give us more tips that have worked for you. Everyone needs information, you know.

Have yourselves a beautiful day.

Six Habits That Will Improve Your Sales Productivity This Week

Tick Tick Tick goes the clock. As Sunday gradually reaches it's end, you don't have to be filled with grief or dread. Dear salesman, you don't have to go through the week depressed and unfulfilled. Little drops of water, as they say, make a mighty ocean. You can improve your sales productivity if only you drop some bad sales habits, and form new ones.

Do not stop reading yet, these ideas will change your sales life, and your entire life. Get a pen and paper, and write out every  step you will take every day of the week to move you closer to your sales goals.

Sales Habits That Will Improve Your Sales This Week.

1. Learn to Write! With an ink pen, or with a digital pen. Write out your goals for the week. What did you achieve, in number of sales, and sales presentations last week? How many sales presentation do you want to have this week, how many prospects do you want to see? How many sales do you want to make? Write this down Sunday night, or Monday morning. Write out, also, the first three prospects you will speak to this week. Remember: Winners set goals, losers give excuses.
2. Be an early riser. Take action early, first things first. Get up early in the morning, earlier than you usually do. Set out early, make your sales calls early in the morning. Mornings are the best time to start your sales activity. Don't wait till afternoon, or midday. Don't tag yourself as an afternoon, or evening person, and so, decide you will only make your sales calls at those times. First things first!
3. Follow up! After every sales presentation, call up the key prospects and thank them for their time, whether or not they bought from you. Call or send an email, whichever is more appropriate as the case may be.
4. Always ask for referrals. For every prospect you speak with, before you leave, ask politely for leads. Be specific when you ask, for instance, instead of saying " Thank you so much Mr. Zuckerberg, do you know anyone who could benefit from our services?" say "Thank you Mr Zuckerberg, I believe that our services would (also) be needed by some of your colleagues, can you please give me some names to start with?" 
5. Analyse your product/service on Monday, and find out new benefits of your product that you never thought of before. Look at it from a new light, figure out the needs of the customers that this benefit will fill, and focus on this. Sell the product/service from this angle this week, Infuse this into the other benefits.
6. Be positive, feel confident! Look at yourself in the mirror and say to yourself "I am the best. I will achieve all my sales goals today, I am confident and I feel good". Always act confident even if you really don't feel so. 

Alright, go ahead and have yourselves a great week. But before you leave, please drop a line in the comment box, and let me know which of the six ideas you find most helpful. You can also add your own ideas, we all need ideas, don't we? 

Have a great sales week.

Three Attributes of Successful Salespeople

1. They are action oriented
2. They are good listeners
3. They have high physical and mental energies