Not Being Pushy Shouldn't Equal Not Selling

Once again, misconceptions about selling rear their ugly heads.

It's so fixed in the minds of many that selling equals "pushy" that many people who must sell aren't selling at all. They present their product. They'll tell you what's great about it. Maybe even ask you a question or two but leave it up to you, the prospective customer to take the lead. If the customer has no questions, makes no move to buy, then it's over. Sure, some of them will decide to buy later on, but all this technique does is leave money on the table.


Now I'm not going to advocate "pushy". It really doesn't work effectively as a long term strategy. Perhaps if you are working with a product that people will only need once, you could pull it off. However, if you're hoping for them to buy again - or give you referrals - pushy isn't your best choice.


Going in the opposite direction, isn't effective either. The goal should be to discover needs and concerns through careful questions and listening - discussing the pros and cons. If there are more pros than cons suggest the product/service as the solution.


But here's the kicker. To do this right and to be effective, you've got to practice. You need to know how to do this right. Not just a few meetings with your manager or (and this is really bad) being handed a binder or a pdf file and told to learn it.


You need to practice, you need to DO.


Only that will bring you the confidence, the results and the happy, satisfied customers who do not think you are pushy!




KRG Communications Group: we help you bridge the gap between knowing and doing. (www.krgcommunications.com) How can we help you?

Sales or Service Success: Listening is Key

I spend a lot of time with inside sales and customer service personnel helping them improve their interpersonal skills in areas such as questioning techniques, reaching decision makers, dealing with difficult people, closing sales and so on. The key to all of it, however, is the ability to listen well.

Studies have shown that we spend about 9% of our time writing, 13% of our time reading, 23% of our time speaking and 55% of our time listening. What's staggering about that is not only do we spend most of our time listening but that we spend double the time listening as we do speaking.


Here are some things to keep in mind:
You cannot not communicate. Even when you are not verbally saying anything, you transmit messages through your non-verbal's. How you dress, your body language, we count on so many visuals to communicate.

Up to 80% of our communication skills are non-verbal. So, when you speak to someone on the telephone, in effect, you're only using about 20% of your skills.


In my work in inside sales and customer service training, I've used the phrase "Communicating Blindfolded". It's a good analogy. Think of phone work as being given a blindfold. You can hear - but you can't see. You don't have a choice, you must listen.

I consider listening to be one of the three legs of the communication stool we sit on when we communicate over the telephone. The other two are words and voice. When I began in inside sales, I only considered these last two - but the more time I spent in these activities the more I came to realize that I can never truly be effective - never really reach my potential - unless I acknowledge the need for, improved and used my listening skills.


One of the greatest obstacles to good listening, particularly over the phone is that meanings cannot be transferred from one mind to another - only words can be transferred. The challenge here is that you, as the receiver of the message, attach your own meaning to the words I sent you. This is why I'm a huge fan of using clarifying questions when I speak with someone. Just because I attach a particular meaning to certain words or phrases, doesn't mean that someone else does. Regardless of the stage I'm in the sales or service process, I need to make sure that I understand what you mean and that you understand what I mean. 

I do this by focusing only on the task at hand: listening.

Listening is affected by what's called "selective attention". This is almost as a survival technique because I can't' possibly listen to and process every sound I hear. have to use selective attention in order to listen actively - and that means I have to stay in the moment. I can't let my attention wander. If I'm on the telephone, I don't yield to the temptation of reading email, trolling the news sites online or reading that report on my desk, all while "listening" to you. Can't be done.

Remember my mantra: Multi-tasking is the enemy of good listening. 

Listen well and all will be well. 

Relationships

Creating relationships with other people is always worth our while, whether for comfort, commiseration, sharing or just having fun. It's the same in our professional associations. When we're there for others, they'll be there for us. Taking the time to cultivate our contacts and create connections takes time but invariably it pays off. Maybe not today, but you never know where a business relationship leads you... to an additional sale, to a great job offer, to a mentor...it's always worthwhile.

Here's a great quote:

"Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict."
William E. Channin

Is Your Selling on Cruise Control?

When was the last time you really thought about your selling process?

Do you go out each day saying the same things and not getting the results you want? You remember the old joke: What's the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

Sometimes we've been selling for so long; we get into a rut without even realizing it. We have the same opening - with a couple of variations, the same offer, we rebut and overcome objections the same way. We have been using the same close forever. It short, we're in a rut.

Try this exercise for putting new life into your work. Go back to your sales calls and really think about what's going on in them. Has the industry you're selling in changed? Are your products being used the same way? Spend the time to re-evaluate what you're doing. I like to use a decision tree to help me in this process. 

The point of the exercise is to spend the time making sure that you are fresh and prepared. Selling changes. How I sold at the beginning of my career is different from how I sell now. However, I make the time to make sure I'm conscious of how I sell and make changes as necessary.

Remember, we're not cars, we're sales people. Cruise control has no place in our work.

Faulting People for Behaving Like Humans

Have you ever sat down and thought about how often you judge others? You judge them for their behaviors…their ideas, their lifestyles, their choices. Sometimes you judge lightly. Other times- if you are honest with yourself – it may be downright nasty. Often you are making judgments about people you don’t even know personally. Or if you do, you assume that everyone else in the same situation has the same motivations or will make the same choices.

In 2014, let’s stop assuming. Let’s stop assuming that when someone thinks differently than ourselves they are dead wrong or worse. Let’s stop assuming – let’s stop assigning guilt. Instead, let’s take the time to learn. Learn about their motivations, their needs, their thoughts. Approach each person as the individual they are. Don’t lump people into a group. Take the time to accept each other for the good, bad and everything else that goes along with being human.

Accept people. Understand them – that doesn't mean you agree – but understand where they are coming from. Perhaps, if we can stop talking (and in some cases yelling) AT each other and start talking TO and WITH each other, you might find that you have more in common with others than you think. You may also find yourselves counting your blessings and thinking “There but for the grace of God, go I”.

Stop judging. Start listening. Use your ability to empathize with others to gain new insights. Ask questions and don’t shut your mind as soon as you hear something you don’t like. Give it your full attention.

The ability to see other’s points of view, to create bridges of understanding will only bring good things to you.

In 2014, my intention is to facilitate this where ever possible and to remember to practice what I preach.

Happy New Year!

Dealing with Difficult People - a Few Notes

Here are some quick thoughts about dealing with people who we don't always see eye to eye with. Many of the instances where we deal with difficult people come about due to a combination of the situation and the behavior styles of the individuals involved.

Here's a few points to keep in mind:
- Many difficult situations between people are exacerbated due to a mis-match of communication
- You can't change others - only yourself
- Take your cue from others - learn to react to get what you want
In order to achieve our goals we need a mechanism to work through our differences. A technique I call Diffuse/Disarm is a great way to begin.

You can Diffuse/Disarm in 4 steps:

Diffuse

Listen

• Be objective
• Actively listen

Acknowledge

• The act of making sure what they said is what your heard
• Confirm that you understand the situation

Question

• Find out additional information or roadblocks
• Use open ended questions

Disarm
Respond

• A practical solution that satisfies the needs of both parties

Using these steps will make your communication process smoother, help people feel comfortable and cared for, and help you achieve your service objectives.

Failure Brings Success

Does that sentence make sense to you? Well, hear (OK, read) me out....

Here's a quote that caught my eye this week:
"Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success." Dale Carnegie

I'm sure you've also heard the quote from Thomas Edison regarding his many failures. "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." Now, Edison was regarded as a prolific inventor. He realized, though, that each failure brought him closer to success. 

Food for thought: 
Do you wallow in your failures or do you see them as learning opportunities? How do you keep picking yourself up?

No you don't have to write down your answer but it wouldn't be a bad idea to sit and ponder this and make some notes. Writing it down can make things clearer and lets you review your thoughts from time to time. Think of this as your homework assignment. Taking time to reflect is always a good idea. It helps keep you focused on what's important, what needs to be changed and what's working well for you.

Another thought: Can you recognize failure? If you haven't recognized that you've failed, you won't be able to ponder the situation and then begin to consider alternatives. For this concept to work, you must be honest with yourself. 

Failing is hard on ourselves. You want your idea to work. When it doesn't, by carefully studying what didn't work and why, you begin your renewed journey to success. Out of the darkness, comes the light. Out of your failures, you may see your greatest successes. 

Did You Learn in Reverse?

No, I''m not talking about taking Algebra 2 before Algebra 1....

We do, however, tend to learn certain communication skills in school in the opposite proportion in which we'll need them in our in adult lives and careers.

Here is a list of how we communicate, by percentage. Interesting, isn't it. Look at the first one:

• Listening... 55%
• Speaking... 23%
• Reading... 13%
• Writing... 9%

Although we'll spend most of our time listening, it's the other three listed above that get the most attention. Think to how much time you spent writing and reading. You spent less time speaking and if you're like many students, you probably weren't listening all that well. Most people aren't taught how to listen. As adults, though, I've found the most successful people in the room will usually also be the best listeners. My husband is fond of saying "Never miss an opportunity not to say something." I'll add to that "because it's hard to speak and LISTEN effectively at the same time". 

How is listening good for business? Here are a few points to ponder.

• Listening Effectively enables you to Reach a Clarity of Understanding and Respond Appropriately.
• It allows you to Enhance Communication and Support Cooperation.
• Effective listening helps to Improve Morale and Increase Job Commitment

.
...and finally it allow you to focus on real Opportunities.

You Can Get What You Want

No, this isn't about Laws of Attraction. Nor am I going to ask you to visualize or place your thoughts in a box. However, there are a few things you can do in order to help you get what you want.


First, remember that everything comes down to communication in the end. In order to get something, you generally have to get it from someone else. A communication - a dialogue - will need to take place. Next, it helps to be a student of human nature. Study people; they are endlessly fascinating. My father used to say he'd like to put a chair down in the middle of Times Square and observe all the people. Now, the city provides them for you! Increasing your powers of observation helps you create the best strategies to get what you want.

Here are some things to consider when trying to get what you want:


Listening

Hear what people say. Listen for the meaning behind the words. If you're not sure what someone means, ask them to clarify. Listen to the silences, the pauses. Silence can be louder than words. Think about what they are not saying. Tune into the non-visual clues you are getting.


Understanding Behavior

No, you don't need a PhD in psychology but studying behavior and learning to "read" others furthers your agenda. It's easier to tailor your responses and your strategy if you are comfortable analyzing others and modifying your behavior accordingly.
ou

Strategies for a Positive Outcome

Think through all the possible objections or concerns the other party will have. Take into consideration their behavior style and mentally map out how you want to proceed. Create a decision tree.



Finally, I don' believe that positive thinking magically changes your circumstances. I do believe that thinking positively helps us make better decisions. Better decisions help you more easily get what you want.

Prepare for that Call: Success Tips for Telesales and Service

Why do some people always seem poised, confident and ready for everything? Preparation.


Whenever you need to speak with someone, whether in person or through a telephone conversation, it's always a good idea to plan and rehearse beforehand. This is particularly true for sales people and customer service personnel, but is equally important to anyone who needs to achieve an objective or goal.


Many people are uncomfortable with the level of preparation needed to be successful in sales and service positions. For example, it's a good idea to think through all the opposition or even simple concerns that the other party may have. This allows you think up potential responses in advance and rehearse them. Done properly, you won't seem canned. You will however, appear (and are!) prepared. This shows the other party that you care enough about the result to put the effort into planning your conversation. Very few people wing it. Don't feel you need to be one of them.


Few things are decided in one call. Certain actions may require more thought than others. Achieving goals can take several conversations. In sales, it's been said that the fortune is in the follow up. Often the difference between success and failure is the ability to follow up appropriately. Inappropriate follow up falls into two camps: those that don't follow up at all and those that go overboard and follow up too much. You don't want to disappear into the woodwork but neither do you want to find yourself on a list of potential stalkers.


How do you find balance between these two extremes? Take your cues from your customer or prospect. Don't end the call without getting a follow up commitment. Let them know when you'd like to follow up. Listen to their response carefully. If you hear hesitation, ask them about it. "John, I'm sensing some hesitation, is that a bad time to call back or is there something we haven't covered that you're concerned about". Listen again but not just to the words. Listen to the voice, the phrasing and the hesitations. Listen to what he's not saying as well as to what he is.


You should also know the answers to these questions: How important is product/service this to them? What do you know about their situations? If you don't know the answers, ask. And, if you're playing phone tag, continue to call, if your calls are being returned. It's when they're not returned that you want to re-examine the situation.


In sales or service environments, avoid the use of email as a communications short cut unless necessary. As a communication device, it falls short. Email is great for exchanging information but if you want to resolve an issue or discuss a concern, nothing is more effective than a "real time" conversation.


Preparation is an ongoing activity during a call or conversation. Everything you are hearing from the other party helps you to prepare for the next step in your communication transaction. Re-connect with the reasons you do things in the first place. If they are no longer valid, re-evaluate. It may be time for some changes.

Open the Call

Have you taken the time to think about your telephone presentations lately? Many people tell me that possibly the hardest thing to do these days is reach the decision maker. But what happens when you do reach them? Have you created an opening that makes people want to listen to you and become active participants in the conversation? All too often when I look at prepared scripts, I notice sentences that might look well in a direct mail piece but will either get you shot down quickly or simply won't engage your prospective customer.

Here's two examples: openings that tout money savings or a saving of time and effort. It may very well be the case, but everyone says their product either 1) saves you money, 2) saves you time or 3) makes your efforts more efficient thereby also giving you savings from 1 and 2 as well. Seriously, everyone says it. Doing this actually makes it easier for a decision maker to tune you out - because you're not different from anyone else who calls - and they'll try to get off the phone as quickly as possible.

Let's think about a better way. Why not simply introduce yourself and your company name, make a quick one sentence statement about what your product is, and then ask some questions. Take the opportunity to learn more about your potential customers. In fact, one of the things you might find is that this decision maker is not a potential customer. Isn't better to find that out up front? Isn't it better to learn who you should be talking to or know that currently your products/services are not a good match for a particular organization?

Sit down and review your opening. Make it natural sounding. Avoid tired and hackneyed phrases. Take the time, instead, to become genuinely interested in your prospect. You'll be far happier with the results.

Quick Tips for Effective Telephone Communications

Here's a few quick tips for effective telephone communications.

Voice Mail

A voice mail message should follow this format:

Name, Company name, interest statement, close say number, repeat number

Remember:

Always use your first and last names

Use area codes

Message should be brief

Message should give reason to call back

Make message an opportunity for a 30 second commercial

Effectively Reach a Decision Maker

Getting Voice Mail

Give people a reason to call back

Screener

Develop a relationship with screener

Use screener to qualify prospect

Remember: Screener many have decision power

Time of Day

Always easiest to reach either early in morning or late in the day

Avoid Phone Spam

Don't leave constant voice mail messages that aren't returned

Don't call more than once a week (unless otherwise requested)

Do be respectful and polite, regardless of reception by decision makers or screeners

Listening

Learn to Listen

Be aware of listening patterns

Listen actively

Listen objectively

Don't be afraid of silence

Rely less on non-verbal cues

Over 1/2 of all communication skills are non-verbal

Asks Questions to Generate Information and Shift the Conversation

Generates Information

Open ended Questions 

Can be used for general information or specifics

Open ended Questions start with these words: Who, what, where, why, when, which, how

Close-ended Questions

Can be used to verify

Closed-ended Questions may start with: Is, Are, May, Can, Do, Would, Could, Should

Controls the conversation

Begin with the end in mind

Create a prepared sequence of questions

Have alternate questions ready

Conversations can go in many directions

Asking Questions Will:

Allow people to talk to you

Create engaged individuals

Give them the opportunity to "buy into" your conversation

Is Listening the Most Important Skill? (you know the answer's yes...)

Listening is the cornerstone for effective communication.  In some organizations, however, it's one of the least taught. That's unfortunate because it's the most important skill for any sales professional.

We spend a lot of time in training and development classes working on our communication skills such as questioning techniques, reaching decision makers, creating effective voice mail messages and so on. But if we don't spend the time learning how to listen well, we'll never be as effective as we can be.

Let's take a look at how our communication time is broken down. Studies have  shown that we spend about 9% of our time writing, 13% of our time reading, 23%  of our time speaking and 55% of our time listening. What's staggering about that is not only do we spend most of our time listening but that we spend double the time listening as we do speaking.

We are bombarded with thousands of messages every day. We couldn't possibly put concentration or energy into each one of them. Nor do we want to. Walking down the street talking to a colleague of friend, we want to be able to concentrate on what they are saying, not on the other noises around us. In a busy office, we want to be able to focus on the people we speak with on the telephone, not be distracted by people talking in the cubicle next to us.  So... we become selective.

Since listening is a tool for better communication, here are some things to keep in mind:

You cannot not communicate. Even when we are not verbally saying anything, we transmit messages through our non-verbal's.  How we dress, body language - in fact you can take whole courses on how to read non-verbal's.

In my work in inside sales and service training, I like to use the phrase "Communicating Blindfolded".  When we use the telephone as a primary means of communication, we really have to consider the importance of our listening skills. It's been said that up to 80% of our communication skills are non-verbal. When we speak to someone on the telephone, in effect, we're only using about 20% of our skills.

It's as though we've been given a blindfold.  It's important to be consciously aware of the increasing need for strong listening skills when communicating over the phone. I consider listening is one of the three legs of the communication stool we sit on when we communicate over the telephone. The other two are words and voice.  When I began in inside sales, I only considered these last two - but the more time I spent in these activities the more I came to realize that I could never truly be effective - never really reach my potential - unless I acknowledged the need for, improved and used my listening skills.

One of the greatest obstacles to good listening is that we cannot transfer meanings from one mind to another - only words can be transferred.  The challenge here is that we, as receivers, attach our own meanings to the words others send. This is among the many reasons I'm a huge fan of using clarifying questions when I speak with someone. Just because I attach a particular meaning to certain words or phrases, doesn't mean that other people do.

Regardless of the stage I'm in in sales process, I need to ensure that I understand what they mean and that they understand what I mean.

Listening is affected by selective attention. We decide on what we focus or to what we give our attention. We do this almost as a survival technique because we can't' possibly listen to and process every sound we hear.  We need to use selective attention in order to listen actively. Actively listening means that we stay in the moment. We don't let our attention wander. If we're on the telephone, we don't succumb to the temptation of reading our emails, trolling the newsites online, reading that report on our desk.

Active listening allows us to focus on the message from the person we are speaking with.