Management & Sales Training Newsletter

“Goal Setting – Targeting Your Success”

How many of us have heard that goal setting is important? That it’s something we should be doing on a regular basis? We’ve all heard it, yet most of us aren’t doing it.

A study was performed at Yale University in 1953. They polled the entire graduating class of students in Yale of 1953 and they found that only 3% of those students had written down what they wanted to accomplish after college. Years later, in 1973, they revisited that same class of students and found that 97% of the total wealth accumulated by that entire class within those twenty years had come from that 3% that had written down their goals. Isn’t that an extremely powerful testament that goal setting is critical to your success?

Almost four decades later a similar study was performed at Harvard in 1989 and what did they find? T hey found that almost forty years of time did not affect the results. The study showed the following:

3% of students had clearly written goals 13% of students had unwritten goals 84% of the students had no goals at all…no idea of what they would do after graduation.

Ten years later, the 3% that had clearly written goals were earning ten times that of the other 97% combined and the 13% that had unwritten goals were earning twice as much as the 84% combined with no goals.

Well, if goal setting is so important then why does less than 2% of the general population have written goals? Well when you write something down you’re making a commitment, right? And when you don’t carry through with your commitment what do you feel like? A failure.

The fear of failure stops most people from ever setting a goal, nonetheless, no matter how good of a marksman you are, if you’re trying to hit a target through the fog, you’re unlikely to hit that target, true? That’s why it’s so important that you’re clear, specific and defined about your goals so that you can pool your resources to accomplish them. You’ll eventually hit a target you’re aiming at, but you’ll never hit a target you can’t see.

These are the seven steps to goal setting…

1. Decide exactly what you want. Make sure it’s specific, measurable and has a time limit.

2. Write your goals on paper. Write them in the positive and present tense.

3. Determine the price you will have to pay to achieve your goal. Thoroughly think through the resources you’ll need to commit.

4. Write down your plan of action. Prioritize the list of activities.

5. Take action towards the goal. Resist the temptation to procrastinate. Get started immediately.

6. Do something every day that moves you towards the goal. Create and sustain the momentum, instead of stopping and starting.

7. Never give up. Refuse to give into temporary defeat. Remember the darkest hour is just before the dawn.

Management & Sales Training Newsletter

“From Conversation to Appointment – Advancing Your Sales Conversation”

When you’re in an initial conversation with a potential prospect you, at some point, should attempt to move the conversation towards an appointment. It’s not appropriate for instance to start to do an in depth analysis of needs and wants and/or to present your product or service when socializing at a party. If your prospect demonstrates an interest, you can move to the next step by saying, “Why don’t we set up a day and time to get together for a few minutes and if you like what you hear and meet the qualifications we’ll talk about the next step. If not, no hard feelings. Fair enough? What’s the best number to reach you?”

Take note here of how you ask for the advance. You’re asking for the next step, which in this case is to set up another day and time to get together for further discussion. It’s very important here not to discuss the situation any further. Why? You want to be able to control the environment so that you have the highest probability for success. Is your prospect likely to whip out his or her credit card or sign a contract while you’re standing at a social function or on the sidewalk? Of course not.

The words used to move to an appointment are simple yet effective. Notice when you move for the advance, you start out by asking, “Why don’t we set up a day and time we can get together…” This will lead to either one of two answers you want. Why? They may tell you it’s OK to go ahead, which is what you want or they may let you know why they don’t want to go forward. Why is this good? It gives you an objection you can deal with.

Also take notice that you say it will only take a few minutes. And why only a few? Well, if your prospect feels it may take a long time, they’re more likely to not want to meet or they’ll want to meet later when they feel they’ll have more time. Guess what, they won’t have more time. So, let them know that it won’t take long and there’s no big commitment. You can always ask for more time once you’re actually in the appointment.

The wording in the advance also is used to qualify your prospect. You relay to the prospect that they must be interested in what they hear and more importantly that they must meet with your qualifications. Why? To give the impression that you aren’t inclined to, and don’t accept everyone as a client and that there is something they must demonstrate to you in order for you to spend the time, energy, effort and emotion that it will take to get them involved with your product or service.

Don’t be afraid to let the prospect, although subtly, know that you’re in control. You also demonstrate that, although they may want to work with you, they may not fit the criteria for you to work with them. Do doctors operate on every patient that wants them to? Do attorneys accept every case that a prospective client brings to them? Of course not. All professionals screen their clients. Why shouldn’t you?

Professionals do an evaluation of the potential client based on certain factors. Some of the factors may be how much money this person will spend and when they’ll pay, how difficult this person may be to work with, and how difficult their particular problem or situation is. Also taken into consideration is the probable outcome of working with this person, the time and effort associated with the case and the potential for future business from this person in regard to referrals and/or repeat business. This is done before any new client is taken on. It’s a subjective call that you set up your own criteria for. Many of us know all too well that dealing with low paying, difficult clients who are very demanding and have little need or benefit from what we’re offering may not be our best use of time, right?

At the end of the advance you simply suggest to them that if the proposed conditions are met i.e., they’re interested and they meet your qualifications, you’ll simply share with them how to move forward. On the other hand, you let them know that if the conditions aren’t met, that there is no resentment towards that person for not moving forward. Many people have had bad experiences with salespeople taking up a lot of their time and when they told the salesperson no, it was obvious that the salesperson may have reacted rudely or defensively. Be honest with yourself and keep in mind that your prospects may have these worries and take steps to counteract them upfront.

The last part of moving from your conversation to the appointment is to use a directive advance and simply ask them what the best number to reach them is. Notice that you’re assuming that you are meeting for an appointment and you simply focus on what number to call them at. You should never ask, “Would you like me to call or would you like an appointment?” Why? Because you have just given your prospect a choice between a negative and a positive. Your prospects do like options because it makes them feel like they’re in control. However, you want to remember to always give them different options between two positives scenarios you’d like to see happen rather than between a positive and a negative.

Management & Sales Training Newsletter

“Manage Your Time or Someone Else Will”

Regardless of who you work for or what you do, your time is simply that…yours. You chose your profession and you chose the company you work for and therefore you chose where you spend your time. You are simply contracting your time to accomplish a certain goal for the organization that pays you. Ultimately, you will either learn to manage your time or someone else will be paid to do that for you. Studies show us that the top 5% of income earners are excellent at self-managing their time.

The key to managing your time effectively is to understand the definition of time management. What is the definition of time management? The planning and organizing of your time so that you accomplish your most important goals in the least amount of time possible. And what is the goal of a business or more particularly your business? Although most would say making money, I have come to believe differently. Money is simply the by-product of the goal of a business. The goal of a business is to create and keep customers! So the true definition of time management is the planning and organizing of your time so that you create and keep customers in the least amount of time possible.

How do you create and keep customers? You must contact them and you must protect your time each and every day to do this. Refuse to spend your day simply reacting to things. Successful people are proactive rather than reactive. If you are continuously reacting to things, you’re letting others control your time. And isn’t it true that your customers that take up most of your time are usually your worst customers! These are the customers that complain about everything, never refer you to anyone else, and are constantly trying to beat you up on your price, fees or commission.

Having all your incoming calls blocked for a specific period of time when contacting your prospects and customers is a great way to stay focused on your most important tasks. You can turn off the phone or have all calls go into voicemail with a message stating specific times that you’ll be phoning back. When you don’t reach a person and must leave your own voice mail you can leave specific times that you’ll make yourself available for call-backs. You may also want to hang up a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the wall of your cubicle or on your office door so that associates know not to bother you during your outbound call time.

Do you ever have to deal with time wasters at your store or office? Well, when dealing with time wasters or people in your work environment who always want to talk about anything other than the business at hand, here’s a technique to handle them…When someone enters your office space and begins talking for several minutes, simply stand up during the conversation and say, “Just one thing before you go…” and then lead them out of the office or cubicle and head off toward the copier, mailbox, washroom, etc. Another way to handle office chatter is to say, “I really must get this done, why don’t we schedule another time to chat.” This is such a great technique…why? Because time wasters never want to schedule anything! Another diplomatic method to excuse you from an unproductive conversation is to say, “Well, I guess I should get back to work.”

Accountability is the key to success in anything in life. Why? When you know others are looking you do a better job. For instance, if you were told that you would be asked questions about this newsletter you’re reading and graded on your answers, would you read through it more carefully? Of course you would! And the same is true with your goals. Therefore to hold yourself more accountable, a good idea is to tell others when your deadlines are. Tell you family, co-workers, managers, etc. One word of caution is to only tell those who you believe will be supportive. Practice reciprocation and offer to do the same for others. Have supportive co-workers tell you about their goals and deadlines.

Another good technique to motivate yourself toward excellent time management is to reward the completion of small tasks. For instance, if you’re making prospecting or follow up calls, get a soda or take a coffee break for 5 minutes every ten calls you make. You might also reward yourself by working a crossword for a short time, going for a short walk or reading a book for a few minutes. It should be something small that you enjoy. These ongoing rewards will help you focus for smaller blocks of time to do what must be done to reach your goals more quickly.

Management & Sales Training Newsletter

“Pre-emptive Strike”

Why might bringing the objection up first be the best way to handle an objection? There are three reasons:

1) Do you have more control over a situation if you’re proactive rather than reactive? Yes.
2) Do you have more credibility if you’re showing your prospects concerns that others have? Yes.
3) Once your prospect says the objection they own it, don’t they? And once they own it, what do they do with it? They protect, justify and defend it. They don’t want to lose face. They don’t want to look like their wrong. They would often times rather lose money than look like they’re wrong…you’ve seen people do it, haven’t you?

Now, don’t attempt to bring up every objection that may be out there in the entire universe. Sometimes you may bring up concerns that the prospect hasn’t even considered. So, how do you know what objections to bring up? 80% of objections you’ll hear are just one of only six. You don’t hear a new objection everyday, do you? Use good interviewing, qualifying and questioning techniques so that you’ll be able to uncover what objections are likely there.

Let’s take a look at an example of handling the objection before it comes up. We’ll call it the pre-emptive strike. Just as in war or in chess, often times the best strategy is to think ahead to your opponent’s move and to counteract their move before it’s made. Let’s say that you realize through good questioning that your prospect has been with your competitor for years and this will probably be an objection. Ever heard the prospect say something like, “Hey, I’ve been with them for fifteen years and I’m not changing!” Well, you could wait until they told you that and fight with them or you could bring it up first. Which is better? Bringing it up first!

It might go something like this, “Mr. or Mrs. Prospect did you realize that many of my clients had long-term existing relationships with our competition? Would you like to know the reasons why dozens of my clients have chosen to work with me although they had a long-standing relationship with our competition?” By using this tool you’re now taking control and creating credibility for yourself.

Another way you can use the pre-emptive strike is to combine it with a multiple choice technique. What’s the advantage? It makes it easy for your prospect to talk about their concerns and it allows you to find out what issues may be there.

For instance if you’re in real estate, you might start your sales conversation by saying, “Sometimes when I talk to people about what I do – and it may not be the case here – they tell me one or more of the following:

1. They see all realtors as being the same
2. They don’t really know how to select the best agent to list their home
3. They had a bad experience the last time they tried working with a realtor

Which, if any of these, is a concern for you?”

Once they give you the objection, you can probe on it by saying, “Really. I’m surprised at your answer. Why did you pick that one?”

Management & Sales Training Newsletter

“Turning Objections into Appointments”

Your ability to turn common objections and questions experienced on the phone into face-to-face appointments with your prospects is critical. It is the constraint that will hold most sales professionals back and it’s also the reason that many good, competent and knowledgeable salespeople are afraid to pick up the phone. Look at it this way…if you knew you could handle anything that was thrown at you in a professional manner that made sense to your prospect, would you be more or less likely to make more calls?

We will look at a few ways to handle some of the most commonly mentioned objections experienced when phoning for an appointment…

I’m Happy with What I Have
A good technique to use if your prospect says that they’re happy with their current product or service is to ask a question that is easy for them to answer. Don’t get confrontational or to bad mouth your competition. Why? Well, who decided to choose to purchase the product or service from your competition? Your prospect did. So, aren’t you really just implying that they made a bad decision if you talk negatively about their current product or service?

What do you say instead? Well, for instance, if you’re in the insurance business you might ask, “How do you feel about your current agent or policy?” What will they respond with? How happy they are, right? Well that’s what you want. Why? Well, when they respond that they are fine, you ask, “How long have you been with that company or had that policy or investment?”

Then let’s say they respond with, “Three years.” Then you ask, “Did you have a different agent, company or policy before that?” When they say yes, you ask, “In the decision to change three years ago, what was major deciding factor to make a change…was it the amount of coverage? Was it the premium or fees? Was it your agent’s inattentiveness?”

Let’s say that they told you they changed to get better coverage. You now ask, “And have the results lived up to your expectations?” When they say yes, you say, “Since you’ve received greater coverage by considering and then making a change 3 years ago, wouldn’t you agree that the possibility must exist to do it again? All I need is ten minutes of your time and you can be the judge. Is midday or evening better for you?”

Another tool you can use after they’ve told you they’re happy is to say, “I’m curious, who/what are you using now? Great! We should get together to show you ways we’ve been able to compliment what you currently have with my other clients. All I need is ten minutes of your time and you can decide. You be the judge. Is midday or evening better for you?”

The key is once you’ve overcome the objection you should move directly into setting the appointment. If you hesitate it will give your prospect time to say, “Ok thanks for calling. I’ll call you back if we’re interested.”

Bad Experience
Some of you may be thinking…what if your prospect mentions that they’ve had a bad experience with your company, product or service? Here’s a tool to handle that situation. You can answer with, “Would you for a moment pretend that you’re in charge of my company and you’ve just found out about the challenge we had with that. What would you do?” When they tell you what they’d do you say, “When can we get together so that I can show you how we’ve overcome that issue…is midday or evening better for you?” The reason this is effective is that you’ve let your prospect take the driver’s seat and come to their own conclusions. They’ll have a hard time disagreeing with themselves, won’t they?

Price Question
If your prospect asks price over the phone what should you do? Well, what do most of us do? We simply state the price or fee and the prospect uses that information to disqualify us or pit us against our competition.

When your prospect asks you how much you charge you can say, “That’s the best part. If it’s not exactly right for you, there’s no charge. Why? Because if it’s not right for you, we won’t proceed. And if we don’t proceed, there’s no charge. All I need is 10 minutes of your time and you can be the judge. Is midday or evening better for you?”

Another tool you can use when hearing the price or cost question is to respond to them by saying that you don’t know. What do I mean? Well it might go like this…They say, “How much is it?” You respond with, “I don’t know…I don’t even know if what we have and what you need are compatible. First of all, I would have to ask you a few questions to identify your situation and then I can give you a price. Again, all I need is ten minutes of your time and you can be the judge. Is midday or morning better?”

Management & Sales Training Newsletter

“All Prospects Are Not Created Equal”

Most top sales professionals are not simply born. Most top sales professionals have risen to the top because they’ve determined that’s what they want and they practice and perform skills that get them the results they desire. There is a recipe or formula for success. Winging it will leave you frustrated, broke and looking for another career.

You can be certain that all prospects are not equal and it’s important that you know the different mindsets and situations your prospects will be in upon your initial approach.

The Four Situations You Will Find Your Prospect In:

1. Known Need, Willing to Talk
Salespeople often get excited about a “hot” prospect who either is a call-in or whom you’ve happened upon. They tell you they’re in need of what you’re offering and they sometimes even tell you they need it right away.

A word of caution here…you must be careful to ferret out those prospects that seem to be in a position to go ahead right away, but are merely price, commission or rate shoppers. Also be weary of the prospects that are simply using you to get a better deal with someone they’ve already chosen to work with.

2. Known Need, Unwilling to Talk
Oftentimes, you’ve learned there is a need from someone other than your prospect(friend, family member, co-worker, etc.) Although it is apparent there is a need, your prospect, however, doesn’t seem to want to talk to you.

Reasons for this may vary, but many times the prospect may have had a negative experience with your company or your competition. Another reason for this type of complacency is that they may simply not want to hassle with making a change right now.

In this situation it’s very important that you have as much excellent pre-approach information as possible so that the prospect is compelled to speak with you. Ideally, your prospect should feel that you know their situation so well that they should be paying you a consulting fee just to talk to them.

Look at it this way…when you don’t know much about your prospect and how your product or service will make an effect that he or she cares about, what do you tend to start doing? You resort to reciting features and benefits about your products and your company, right? And guess what? Every other salesperson they’ve had the privilege of talking to has done the same thing!

3. Unknown Need, Unwilling to Talk
You realize a need your prospect has that your product or service fills due to your knowledge or experience, but the prospect is initially unconvinced that there is any reason to speak with you. Your prospect may not realize how painful it may be to be in their present situation until you’ve done a good job uncovering some dissatisfaction and the consequences of doing nothing.

You can accomplish this by showing them where they are and where they could be with your product or service. You then demonstrate that your product or service is the bridge over that gap and focus on the cost of not buying your solution.

Forget practicing the Golden Rule of selling or in other words, “Sell unto others as you would them sell unto you.” Why? Based on personality profiling statistics, 75% of the people you’re calling on aren’t motivated to buy in the same fashion that you are.

What do you do? Focus, instead, on how that person buys and match your sales approach to that. If you can see Joe Jones through Joe Jones eyes, you can sell Joe Jones how Joe Jones buys.

4. No Need, Willing to Talk
We’ve all run across the prospects that seem to be quite willing to chat with you and are very cordial, but they have no real need or desire to pay for what you’re offering. You, therefore, must qualify your prospect. How do you do that? Asking questions. For instance, if you are in the real estate business, you might ask, “If I can show you exactly the home that you’re looking for, when are you ready to take possession?” If they can’t answer that question or are seem to be very vague, you might probe a bit more, but they’re probably not a prospect for you right now.

The bottom line is to safeguard your time. If you want to make friends…that’s great. Just don’t expect to get paid for it!

Management & Sales Training Newsletter

“Confirming Your Appointments”

Making certain that your appointments stick is critical. Why? Think of how much time and effort goes into just reaching your prospect and getting them to commit to a specific day, time and location for a face-to-face meeting. Remember that small things make big differences in ultimate outcomes. If you don’t believe this theory, just watch a car race, golf tournament or horse race! Inches or fractions of a second can make all the difference in any competitive arena and the profession of selling is no different.

Upon closing out your phone conversation with your prospect you want to make sure to remain in control and move to the next step, which is the face-to-face meeting. Keep in mind that your goal on the phone is to sell the appointment, not your product or service! If the customer can’t buy it over the phone, then by no means should you attempt to sell it over the phone. You can end the phone conversation by saying, “I know you have some questions…I’ll ask that you please hold any of those until our meeting. I will cover all the particulars then and you can ask me anything you have at that point, fair enough?” The bottom line is that you don’t want to get caught up into fielding questions on the phone…do that in person.

Next, knowing that a lot of appointments are ruined because the prospect fails to write down the correct date and time for the meeting, you should ask, “Do you have your calendar handy? If you could jot down the day and time that would be great.”

At this point in the conversation you may want to get a temperature gauge for how solid the appointment is or how committed the prospect is to keeping the appointment. You shouldn’t come out and blatantly ask if they plan on keeping the meeting because it’s accusatory and confrontational. However, you can ask the following…”Should we write down the date and time in pen or pencil?” If they respond with pencil, you can say, “So there’s a chance you might have to change this appointment?” If they say yes or maybe, you should respond with, “Could we do that now? I run a rather tight schedule and I’m sure you do too.” If they say, no, you can respond with, “The only reason I brought that up is that sometimes, and it’s probably not the case here, people tend to set appointments casually. Like myself, I’m sure you appreciate the value of using time efficiently. I apologize for even bringing it up.” Then move on to repeat the day and time for the appointment.

If you still feel there is some hesitancy on the part of the prospect to set the appointment, you can ask, “Many times when people like yourself have trouble in finding a time to meet they may have some questions or concerns about me, the company, or the product. Which of these did you have a question about?” You want to get to the bottom of their hesitation to meet with you because if you don’t, they won’t show up for the appointment or call later to cancel. You also might ask, “When was the last time you met with someone regarding __________” (selling your house, refinancing your home, investing your money, etc.) Then ask, “What was your experience with that?” This question will usually open the floodgates of disappointment and disillusionment in regard to encounters with others selling to your prospect. You must get this negative info out in the open because if you don’t your prospect will assume that you’re going to be the same as everyone else.

You can end your conversation with, “Here’s my cell phone number. Make sure to call if an emergency comes up because my appointments are usually scheduled very close together. Otherwise, I’ll see you on ___________.” Why use this language? Now the pressure is on your prospect to call you if there’s a problem, which they are unlikely to want to do.

Have you ever had an appointment scheduled and simply shown up to your prospect’s home or office to find that your prospect was unavailable or too busy to meet with you? Why does this happen? Mostly, because you let it happen. Why don’t most people in sales confirm appointments? Because they are afraid the prospect will cancel or reschedule, right? Keep in mind that you can’t lose something you never had. So, don’t pretend you have a firm meeting unless you confirm this fact.

The key here is to be in control, but non-confrontational. If you have a doctor’s appointment you are there at the time scheduled, aren’t you? And if you can’t make it or are going to be late, you always call, don’t you? Why? Because you know how busy they are and you respect the value of their time. Your prospects will respect your time too, if you set the stage by communicating to them how busy you are, how much you’ve prepared for the meeting and that you have something of value to talk to them about.

Management & Sales Training Newsletter

“Dealing with Barriers to Setting Appointments”

Do you ever get put off or stalled when phoning for an appointment? It happens and it happens a lot…therefore, you need a counterattack for the inevitable hesitations that you hear. If you don’t, you will be losing close to 80% of your appointments and as a result 80% of your income. Remember that your goal on the phone is to sell the appointment, not to sell your product or service.

The rule of thumb is that if your customer can’t buy it over the phone, you shouldn’t try to sell it over the phone! Your goal is to simply sell a few minutes of face time so that you have all of your faculties working for you. Huh? Studies show us that 55% of your communications effectiveness is simply how you look when you’re saying something. What does that mean? That means you’re losing over half of your influencing ability on the phone and more importantly you’re losing over half of what you can gain from your prospect because you can’t see how they look when you’re interacting with them.

Have you ever had your prospect say, “Why don’t you send me something?” What you should understand is that you might as well stick that material in your own waste-paper basket and save the postage on it! And by the way, how many times have you sent materials and followed up just to have the prospect say, “I haven’t had a chance to look at the material you sent. You’ll have to call me back.”

Instead of simply sending out some information that simply wastes your time and clogs up their computer or mailbox, you might say this…”There is whole closet or computer full of information I could send to you. It would be very helpful if I ask you a few questions to better identify your situation, fair enough?”

Take note how we’re using the fact that we need to talk more on the phone as a benefit to the prospect…we don’t want to overwhelm them with too much of the wrong information. We then proceed to ask one or two good qualifying questions and then say, “Based on what I’ve heard, we definitely need to get together. Is midday or morning better for you?”

Another tool to use in the situation might go like this…”Glancing at my calendar it looks like I’ll be by your office or home around 10am this Wednesday. Why don’t I stop by and hand you the materials? If that person says, sure…come by, what have you just accomplished? You have an appointment, right? Once you get face to face with your prospect everything seems to change, doesn’t it? A minute will often turn into twenty or thirty.

A third way to deal with this is to ask, “How much time will you need to review it?” If they respond with three days, you can say, “I know how valuable your time is, therefore I’ll be frank with you…I will phone you in three days and a couple of things may happen. Number one, you’ll have read the material and have questions or number two you’ll have read the material and there’s no reason to get together. If number one happens and you do have questions and are interested, all I ask is that you’d invite me in for a few minutes to talk in person. Fair enough?”

This technique is called an upfront contract. It takes some confidence to use, nonetheless, it is effective because it establishes a specific agenda and it makes it more likely your prospect will actually look at the material before you talk again.

What if the prospect tries to stall you by saying, “Why don’t you call me back to schedule a time?” You can respond with, “I know how busy you are…why don’t we just manage-by-exception. Let’s set a time now and change it later if we have to. Is midday or morning better for you?” The key to this technique is that once your prospect makes a commitment he or she will likely talk themselves into why they have made the commitment. Look at it this way…most people don’t think they’ll win the lottery until after they’ve purchased a ticket!

Management & Sales Training Newsletter

“The Six Steps of the Investigation”

Investigation? Yes! In order to sell your product or service, you must investigate your prospect’s situation and demonstrate that your product or service is a solution to their pain or problem. If you’re not positioning your product or service as a solution to their pain or problem, you’re simply not doing your job (and you’re not likely getting the results that you want)! How do you do investigate?

1. Bring out the Pain
Once you have a face-to-face appointment with your prospect, a good way to start the sales conversation is to ask the following question…”Do you mind if I ask what prompted our conversation today?” This is used to bring out the problem or pain of your prospect. Let’s say that your prospect responds with, “I went with a financial advisor about four years ago because he was doing a lot of business with some of my co-workers back at another job I had. He seemed knowledgeable and nice enough, but it hasn’t worked out.”

2. Expand and Probe on the Pain
Next you want to expand and probe on their pain that was mentioned. You might ask, “How do you mean, it hasn’t worked out?” Your prospect answers with, “Well, the market took a down turn and I lost some money. He didn’t even bother to call and suggest anything or to console me…nothing!”

Keeping in line with step two you continue to probe a little. You now ask, “How did that make you feel?” And your prospect says, “Well, like he had too many other priorities and that he messed up, but was afraid to call.”

You’ve now found your prospect’s pain and probed on it. The good thing is that now the problem and the pain associated with it are on the fore-front of his mind. By the questions you’ve asked your prospect is now re-living all the awful experiences from his or her past experiences. You want this. Why? Now your prospect is more motivated to actually do something about their disatisfaction because they become emotional.

3. Confirm the Problem
Next you move to step three and confirm the problem. You can do this by simply practicing active listening. You paraphrase the problem they’ve told you they’re having, along with the pain associated with this problem. You might say, “If I understand you correctly, what you’re saying is that your advisor doesn’t stay in touch with you at all and you feel like he’s taking you for granted. As a result you’ve lost a significant amount of money. Is that right?”

4. Ask a Solution Question
Next you go on to step four where you will switch gears and get your prospect to focus on your solution, and thereby transfer them from the pain of their problem to the pleasure of your solution. You might ask, “Is it important for you to get out of this situation and find an advisor more in tune with your needs and goals?”

5. Ask a Trade-Off Question
When they say yes, you go to the fifth step and ask them a trade-off or qualifying question by saying, “I can’t make any promises, nonetheless, if I could show you how we can structure a relationship where you’ll make money, instead of losing it, and I’ll make contact with you every month whether we’re up or down, would you be open to more information?”

6. Ask for an Advance
The sixth and last step is to simply ask for the advance or the next step to move the process forward. You might ask, “May I make a suggestion? Why don’t we schedule a day and time we could get together for a few minutes and if you like what you hear and meet my qualifications we’ll talk about the next step. If not, no hard feelings…fair enough?”

You now have a qualified prospect who has expressed a problem or pain, they’ve told you what it’s costing them and they’re interesting in speaking to you further about a solution to their problem. This is high level consultative selling and it’s where you have to be if you want more and better clients.

Management & Sales Training Newsletter

Let’s talk about several excellent time effectiveness tools that you can use to make more money in less time.

First of all, you can learn to practice triage in selling. What does this mean? Well, triage was developed in wartime to prioritize the wounded. As the casualties would come in to be treated they would separate them into three groups. The first group was made up of soldiers that wouldn’t survive regardless of what kind of medical care they received. The second group consisted of soldiers that would survive whether they received immediate medical care or not and the third group was comprised of those soldiers that had a high likelihood of survival if they received immediate attention.

How would this help you? It gives you a system to prioritize your customers and prospects…all customers and prospects are not of the same value! Some cannot be helped no matter what you do. Others will buy and continue to buy regardless of how much attention you pay them. And then, most importantly there are those that have a high likelihood of spending significant amounts of money with you and referring you to others if you spend time building a relationship.

In addition to practicing triage in your sales process, another good idea to be as efficient with your time as possible is to batch your prospecting calls so that you can do them all back-to-back. This way, mentally and emotionally, you won’t have to warm up each time before the call. You will start to get into a groove and create momentum.

Another effective strategy to manage your time is to make sure to script your calls so you know exactly what to say and ask. You want to make sure that when you do get a hold of the prospect that you utilize your time most effectively and get all the information to move the sales process along.

When you don’t script the call you’ll often miss something important where you’ll have to spend more time in follow up or correcting a mistake later. And make sure to write down notes on each call so that you don’t have to re-ask the same questions.

Many of us tend to waste much of our day traveling in our vehicles. We drive from one end of town to another. Why? Well, it’s easier to chew gum and drive around listening to the radio than to talk to a live person that can say no, right? To counteract this problem we must plan our work geographically. Schedule your appointments so that they are in close proximity. You can use the internet and/or GPS systems to help map out where your customers and prospects are and schedule your appointments accordingly.