How Do You Relate to Sales?

"The fact is, everyone is in sales. Whatever area you work in, you do have clients and you do need to sell." - Jay Abraham, Marketing Expert

Many of us have stumbling blocks when it comes to sales. All too often, sales carries with it a negative connotation. We have images in our heads that sales people are intrusive, pushy, and even dishonest. Who hasn’t been hassled in a department store by a lurking sales clerk, asking us every three minutes if she can help us find something? And we all know what happens when we want to buy a new car or a major appliance. We often dread making these purchases because we fear that the sales process itself will be unpleasant.

If these are the images you have of salespeople, how does that impact your own ability to sell? Sales is the lifeblood of any business. We have to have sales or we are not in business. So how do we transform the sales process from one of dread to one of satisfaction?

The key is to remember that when you are selling something, you are solving a problem for someone. If you need a new washing machine, you want the salesperson to answer your questions and help you make the right choice. You want the salesperson to satisfy all the concerns you have about buying a washing machine. The salesperson solves your problem by taking away your concerns. Which one is the right size, the right price, the best quality?

The same holds true for any kind of sale. Our job, as salespeople, is to solve the problem, to identify the customers concerns and work hard to answer the questions. Our job is not to sell people services they don’t need or to push people into decisions they are not ready to make. When a salesperson does his or her job well, closing the deal is the logical outcome of the interaction. Closing the deal is the clear indication that the salesperson has identified all the customer’s concerns and addressed them.

So what are the keys to making this work? Having good qualified prospects is important. Look for the people who want and need your product or service and are ready to buy. Knowing how to identify concerns, having a good sales pitch, understanding the steps of selling…all these things are skills that good salespeople work hard to master.

Are you ready to re-think your relationship to sales? Could you use some feedback on your sales pitch? Do you need some fresh ideas for finding new prospects in a changing marketplace? Do you just need some support in revitalizing your sales process?

At Possibilities Unlimited, we can help. We’ve put together an 8-session course called Sales2Win that’s designed to give you a new way of thinking about sales. Whether you’re new to the game or a seasoned veteran, Sales2Win will give you tools you can use that will increase your sales and set you apart from the competition.

To learn more about Sales2Win, just email us at info@consulting2win.com, or call our office at 310-374-5976. We’re here to support you, and to teach you how to win the game.

Are you ready to win?

How LinkedIN Can Grow Your Business

Networking is an essential part of building wealth. ~ Armstrong Williams

Networking online has become an effective way to reach out to more people while also bolstering your online reputation. LinkedIN is the tool of choice for individuals who are looking to demonstrate their experience while also connecting with people they might not have met otherwise. Here are 3 effective ways to use LinkedIN to group your business.

1. Make sure your LinkedIN profile is optimized.

• Include a photo of yourself. Make sure it is a recent, professional photo that represents the business person that you are.
• Create a job title using keywords that demonstrate your knowledge.
• Add links to 3 key websites that represent you. This could be your company website, blog or even another social media profile.
• Include a summary of your experience. The keywords in this summary will help people searching for somebody like you.
• List out all jobs you have had. Be certain to include volunteer positions. You can have more than one current job listed, which looks really good if you work full time plus volunteer on committees or with charitable organizations. Include your complete work history. You will likely remember colleagues and classmates you may have forgotten. Those contacts will be able to search for you based on what is in your profile and most social networking sites will suggest people that share these groups or interests.
• Get recommended by peers and clients. Recommendations are always an excellent source of credibility and your recommendations are always there for anyone to see.

2. Keep people updated on what you are doing

• Regularly edit your profile by adding connections or editing content. By adding connections and editing your profile, you are more likely to be at the top of the list when somebody searches for a company like yours. Each time you edit your profile, the information will be circulated to your network, which regularly puts your name in front of your contacts.
• Use the status field to put in updates. Like Twitter, LinkedIN offers the ability to add a short update on your profile. This information is usually sent in emails to others that are connected, share an affinity group or are following specific people.
• Publish your events. Whether they are events you are sponsoring or events you are attending, publishing events helps share what you are involved with. Once you publish an event, you can share it with your network by inviting people to also attend.
• Pull in your Twitter feed. There is an application in LinkedIN that allows you to pull in all your Tweets. This helps spread your tweeting efforts beyond the Twitter domain.
• Use the SlideShare application. If you are teaching classes or have valuable information to share, SlideShare is an excellent way to let others know what your area of expertise is. If you have done an online webinar using online meeting software, you can record your webinar and use SlideShare to share it with your network

3. Join Groups
The number one way to connect with others on LinkedIN is going to be through the groups. Joining professional groups within LinkedIn gives you opportunities to provide input and gain exposure. Whether it’s your own industry, or one your business serves, professional groups are an excellent way to generate new contacts through the online Q&A section.

• Join groups in all areas of interest. Whether you’re a work at home mom, an avid skydiver or an individual who brings spirituality into the workplace, there is a LinkedIN group that will fit your interests. It is often in the less-traveled groups that you will be able to make the quickest connections. Also join groups where your clients hang out. Create a profile of your ideal client, and determine which LinkedIN groups they would be hanging out in.
• Set your preferences to receive email summaries of group questions. By receiving email summaries you will not miss any activity in the group, but you do not have to spend the time visiting the group each day. In this way you will always be front and center when there is a question available that you can provide an expert answer for.
• Become known as an expert. By posting answers in the questions online, you can share with others what you know. If you have good answers, it will create an interest in knowing more about your services.

LinkedIN is a very rich opportunity to grow your network while building your online reputation. In as little as 30 minutes per week you can easily create a network that will help you grow your business.

What Are Your Intentions?

“Excuse me gentlemen, but what exactly are your intentions?” Tom Hanks as Captain Jim Lovell, Apollo 13

As business coaches, we are constantly working with people to craft their intentions for their businesses. It’s surprising how few people have put serious thought into what they want to get out of their businesses or their careers. One of the first things we do as coaches is drill down to the specifics of what people want.

“I want to make a lot of money.” “I want to work fewer hours.” “I want to sell the business.”

These are all understandable ideas, but they are not specific intentions. You need to think about exactly how much money you want to make. Are you wanting to make enough to retire? To put kids through college? To pay off debt? How much money is enough? Be specific about what you want to make.

How many hours is “fewer”? Twenty-five hours a week? Thirty? And if you want to sell your business, how much do you want to sell it for?

We ask our clients to come up with three big intentions for their businesses. These intentions need to be something unprecedented, something they don’t already know how to do. And they need to be specific.

Once you get specific about your intentions, you can start using them as tools to that will drive all the actions and decisions you make in your business. Your intentions become the top of the mountain that you are going to climb. Stand at the top of that mountain and ask yourself how you got there. What resources did you need to do to accomplish your intentions? More hours in sales? More employees? New computers? Whatever it is, start doing it. Set a timeline for accomplishing your intentions and make sure you have specific and measurable benchmarks along the way to track your progress.

Do you need help creating intentions for your business? Do you need someone to hold you accountable for those intentions? We’d be happy to help. We’ve worked with thousands of people over the years to help them deliver on their intentions and win the game of business.

Are you ready to win?