Your Mobile salescoach 'Pause & Reflect' before and after each sales call

Less field accompaniment coaching is done by managers compared with a few years ago.

So today you have to coach yourself - either from your desk or out in the field.

Since Ofcom tell us today that the UK is a smart phone society where we spend 2 hours per day on the smart phone why not let your smart phone be your field coach.

Before you make that phone call to your client or visit face to face, take a PAUSE prepare for the call and then after each call REFLECT on what happened, what went well , what needs further work, what's the aim of the next call.

Here's a useful acronym "PAUSE and REFLECT "

So before you make that phone call or face to face visit gather your thoughts and PAUSE !


Plan what agreements you want 

Ask open questions to establish their needs

Use relevant benefits to match need


Select techniques best suited open and close your call

End with agreement to act



After the call reflect on what happened.

Carry out a quick Review and ask yourself , did you

REFLECT ?


Reach your objective

Establish Real Needs of your client ?

Find the relevant personalised benefits ?

Listen to your client's reaction

Eliminate Objections

Commit your client to action ?

Target your next objective?


Why not bookmark this PAUSE and Reflect post link on your smart phone right now !

Let your smart phone be your sales coach

Good Selling

Relate Links

UK now a smartphone society Ofcom

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Mind your selling language



Double Olympic Gold medalist Mo Farah
 struck up his famous Mo-bot pose with two telephones
 joining traders at global bokerage BGC in raising money
 in memory of 9/11 victims last week

Today those of us in Selling have more channels to communicate through than ever before.

 However many of us have fewer and fewer business meetings with buyers that are done face to face.

The phone is the predominant whether using landline or mobile.

Yet how many of us consider how best to communicate on the phone. Do we even consider what words work best on the phone?

Just consider for a moment how professional braodcasters have different approaches on radio as opposed to TV.

 For example the approaches by BBC Sports Live Radio and Channel 4  TV on this summer's Paralympics were quite different.  Clare Balding and Ade Adepitan had the advantage of graphics of the Lexi decoder to explain the 20 classifications.

 The BBC Radio 5 live  broacasters however Shelagh Fogerty, John Inverdale and Russell Fuller  had to explain the classifications more descriptively.

So it is with phoning a client. There is no visual so you need different vocabulary and technique.


Day 10 of the series  '5-a-day to go' Selling tips


Medals do hang on trees !

       46.       Polish up your telephone technique

       47.       Set aside time  to do research on existing and potential customers
         Click here for 3 key levels of research

Medals on the trees in Leicester Square
 during London 2012 Olympics

      48.       Plan my territory


            Click here for examples of territory and resource planning

       49.       Find out more about my customers and their organisations

Google search

Use Adword Key Word tools  Click here for link to Google Adwords

       50.   Identify other contacts within customer organisations

Ask the question " Who else should I be seing?" more often.

Wiff Waff , Ping Pong and Selling

Listening to an interview on Channel 4 TV with Table Tennis star  Will Bayley from Paralympics GB team  he said

"A Paralympic silver medal in table tennis is not an easy thing to achieve and I am proud of myself for that .

My coach said I should be proud of myself for working so hard six hours a day for the past six years and I have got to enjoy the moment because it doesn't happen often. “

Fortunately in Selling most of us get the opportunity to earn our medal more frequently than every 4 years, like the paralympians but  we could learn a thing or two from these elite sportspeople about PRACTISE.

Day 9 of the 5-a-day selling tips to go programme
For more tips from the 5-a-day to go selling tips


Sketch of Paralympian Table Tennis Star Bayley

    41.       Practise important presentations on a colleague. We may not be able to put in 6 hours a day like  Bayley but we need to set aside time to practise for a key presentation.

 

    42.        Make more calls in a day

 

    43.       Use the Pause and Reflect technique to assess yourself as if you were a coach. Before a call  - Pause -just run through in your mind your call structure and plan. After the call - REFLECT- what went well, what needs further work and what is the next step.

 

Bayley "Pauses and Reflects" . He is already looking to another big-stage appearance in Rio in four years time.
 

"I've come on a lot in the past four years. In Beijing ( 2008) I didn't make it out of my group and here (London 2012) I have won a silver medal. I am still young and I feel like I am good enough to win Paralympic gold but today just wasn't the day.

But I've trained as hard as anybody else in the world and that is why losing is so hard to take."

 

44.       Sell internally – practise good human relations with your colleagues and internal staff as well as your customers.

 Just consider how appreciative the paralympians are of their support group, such team colleagues, family, coaches, psychologists, nutritionists etc.
 

45.   Remember Buyers “likes and dislikes”

Related links
For more tips from the 5-a-day to go selling tips

Another 5 selling tips from the 5-a-day programme

Sketch of Djibouti Determination

As the Paralympics 2012 festival continues, we see the tremendous mental strength of these elite athletes.

Of course we admire the medal winners but also cheer on efforts even of the last athlete.
 
One of the loudest and prolonged cheers were given to the only competitor from Djibouti to the games. despite an ankle injury, Hussain Omar Hassan  was determined to finish his 1500 metre heat.





Just like the Paralympians we in Selling have to exert maximum effort determined to reach our goal.

Here's Day 8 of the 5-a-day selling tips to go Click here for other 5-a-day to go selling tips



Sketch :Woman and machine - Hannah and 'Sally'

36.       Tailor the presentation to the buyer
  
  Make sure you are answering the question in their mind  WIIFM  "WHAT will it do for me?"
  Click here for examples of WIIFM

37.       Set fall-back objectives
    for suggestions of fall back objectives click here

38.       Try to pre-empt common objections
Click on this link for examples of how to

 

39.       Don’t criticise the clients' past decisions

Be careful of rubbishing a client's current 'old' product particularly if you are planning to replace it or upgrade it with your current offer. They might have been responsible for buying it originally.
 

40.   Structure your presentation  e.g. ABC  Attention Benefit Close

 Related links
For more tips from the 5-a-day to go selling tips 

Selling Facts and Involvement lessons from the Paralympics and NASA

To the millions of viewers and arena spectators at the Paralympics there is quite a lot of Paralympic terminology to get your head around. The Classification system seems at first sight or hearing rather complicated with all those letters and numbers from Archery's ST, W1 and W2 to the Open and Quad classifications in Wheelchair Tennis.

 There have been for instance quite a number of 100m finals !


Sketch of Olympian Swimmer - London 2012

One of the communication challenges that Paralympics 2012 has is to keep the viewers interest and involvement in some sports which we are unfamiliar with, whose classifications are complex and whose novelty is not enough to sustain our interest of the eleven days of competition.

So Channel 4 TV and the BBC Sports 5 involve us through back stories of the athletes and the use of phone-in and twitter with the public along with the expert input by past paralympians and the brilliant skills of  anchor presenters Ade Adepitan, Clare Balding and Jon Snow.

Likewise in selling we have our own classification terminology and technical jargon that can confuse buyers much like viewers leaning about the elite sports mentioned above.

 So let's be inspired by the way the Paralympics communicate their sports and learn better ways to sell to our customers.

(Day 6 of our 5-a-day selling tips to go Click here for Other 5-a-day to go Selling Tips)

     31.       Keep looking for you appeal or ways to personalise the benefits of our offer for individual customers. Where appropriate gie them your back story - better still -find out about the buyers' back stories and relate your offer to them.

     32.      Avoid jargon. This one is easy to say but quite a challenge  to do in day to day business. 

We all get in to habits of a verbal shorthand which is fine if both parties understand it. 

But Buyers unfamiliar with jargon may feel embarrassed  about constantly asking for explanations in areas they are unfamiliar with or simply  become disinterested and 'switch off'.
Maybe as we are listening or watching the Paralympics sports programmes over this week, why not listen to how they tackle the jargon challenge in order  to give us ideas of how to adapt such approaches in our selling work.




Floral Cyclists Embankment Gardens
during London 2012

 

     33.       Spend an extra 30-60 minutes on territory per day.

Picture of Mars by NASA rover CURIOSITY August 2012

Even in this virtual world of the PC, Internet nothing beats our curiosity of the reality.

 For all the scientific analysis undertaken at distance, the space body NASA  have still considered it necessary to land a craft on Mars and send the rover  'curiosity' to get to know the territory of Mars better.


So it is on a  sales territory.

On the commercial battlefield time spent in reconnaissance is seldom waisted. You need to augment your intelligence with on the ground scouting.

     34.       Follow up enquiries promptly

This has always been important. Today it is even more so . Remember the customer's click on your website is where they see the enquiry cycle starting not when we click open the email, enquiry etc
 

     35.   Use attention getters effectively Click here for examples of attention getters



Related Links

Click here for Other 5-a-day to go Selling Tips

Lord Coe's Paralympics inspiration to selling

Whether Lord Coe sees himself as a successful salesperson I am not sure, but he  and his team not only sold the winning bid for London 2012  all those years ago, but have seen the project all the way through.


There is much talk and expectation of legacy and asking how the slogan " Inspire a generation" will really turn out beyond the rhetoric and hype.


Lord Coe, himself a two-time Olympic 1500m champion, said at the opening of the Paralympics opening show last night :

"Sport is about what you can do,

 what you can achieve,

 the limits you can reach,

the barriers you can break.

Sport shows what is possible.

Sport refuses to take no for an answer."

"And everything sport stands for we are going to see right here, right now. Everything sports stands for we are going to experience with these Paralympic Games."

His words are inspirational and it got me thinking that the endeavours of both sport and selling have parallels.

Substitute the sports word for selling and his words become .....

My sketch of a blade runner

"Selling  is about what you can do,

 what you can achieve,

the limits you can reach,

 the barriers you can break.

Selling shows what is possible. 

Selling refuses to take no for an answer."

So here is another set of 5  to add to our 5-a-day series of selling tips inspired by the paralympians.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

 

       26.       Ask my manager for help and support with critical calls.

       In the opening parade at the Paralympics the athletes entered the stadium with members of their support team including  technicians, sports psychologists  even their guide dogs  !

        27.       Make more appointments – don’t just call on the off chance.
        Like paralympians realise that the word 'success' comes before 'work' in a dictionary!

28.       Don’t pounce.

As with paralympians salespeople need to listen patience and interest.

29.       Use appreciation technique for answering objections.
Don't argue and contradict rather persuade clients.

     30.    Make a list of objections you meet most often,  and prepare answers  for them.

Like paralympians learn from your mistakes and by getting it right.


For some worked examples click this link
http://fruitsofsuccesswithhugh.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/5-of-most-common-sales-objections-and.html

Becoming a selling legend Usain Bolt style

Listening to Michael Johnson on the BBC TV coverage of last night's 200m  men's final at London 2012 it appears that a lot goes on in the head of the elite champions during those scant 20 seconds.

Usain Bolt set his own target to go for Gold in  the 100 and 200metres in successive Olympics which would mean for him - he would be a legend.

 He even admitted ahead of the games he was only 95% fit.

Olympic great Johnson pointed out the checks that are carried out in double quick time by elite sprinters in the race which were further explained when the slow motion repeats were played .

 You see Bolt's eyes darting around checking the rest of the field of competitors and in particular Blake.

His gesture when crossing the finishing line of his index finger crossing his lips  gestured to his critics and doubtrs that they should keep silent and should have not lost faith.

Day 5: Your 5 a day selling tips to go a la Bolt today are

      21.       Look for buying signals - check for positive body language,- sweep those eyes around like Usain

      22.      Listening actively straight from the start like those sprinters intently listening for the starting pistol

       23.      Prepare some different closing techniques  like the sprinters you need contingencies and flexibility at the real race- directly ask ( closed question), alternative, assumptive ( open question), summary, caution, reference, isolation, concession Click this link for worked examples

       24.       Look for ‘yes’ responses’ Keep you eyes and ears alert for positive responses.

25.   Keep the chat gap to a minimum.
       Bolt may have chatted to the other competitors and officials  in the last couple of preparation minutes but you could see he was still focused.
He built instant rapport with the 80,000 in the stadium. He settled the arena down for the start.

 For all the show biz gestures, media sound bites, lightning mimes and gentle clowning ultimately he let his legs do the talking. Let your hard work and talent shine to become  the best salesperson you can be - Your Own Legend!

Related links:

5 a day to go Blog bites

Day 1

http://fruitsofsuccesswithhugh.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/your-5-day-selling-tips-to-go-14-day.html

Day 2

http://fruitsofsuccesswithhugh.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/usain-bolt-quotes-for-salespeople.html

Day 3

London 2012 Handball Olympians see themselves as Sales reps  http://fruitsofsuccesswithhugh.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/selling-handball-to-british-public-at.html

Day 4

17 years planning for 4 weeks 1551 days planning for  1 day

http://fruitsofsuccesswithhugh.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/17-years-of-planning-for-london-2012.html

17 years of planning for London 2012 – Planning lessons for Selling

To bid to host an Olympic and Paralympic Games, plans have to be made well in advance.

 For example yesterday before the London 2012 games have finished, the Kenyan Prime Minister announced that Nairobi will be bidding for the Olympics for 2024.

The current London 2012 games were awarded back in July 2005.

The final bidding cities were Paris, New York, Madrid Moscow and London but preliminary planning for 2012 began as far back as 1997.

Each Olympic Games host sets the bar higher for the following host city. Beijing set it high for London and London sets it high for Rio

Much like today’s Business bidding processes of RFI and RFIs, much planning is involved in modern selling.

So it is for the principles of day to day selling.

Professional salespeople need to plan the year, quarter, month, week and day.

Planning for Selling -Travel , Business Objectives and Time management

Day 4 : Today's 5 a day to go sales planning tips





Poster on a London Tube Train 2012
 advocating JOURNEY PLANNING

  16.       Plan journeys to minimise time e.g Use you sat nav software, for London use the Transport for London's journey planner 

   17.        Set individual objectives - “Why am I here ?” - decision based objectives - to gain agreement on....
       information based objectives - to establish /to find out

 18.       Grade customers to use your time more effectively

 19.       Complete all the necessary paperwork / populate the CRM system after each call- do less important paperwork in own time

20.   Prepare telephone list the night before  your telephone appointment getting day

Related links:

5 a day to go Blog bites

Day 1

http://fruitsofsuccesswithhugh.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/your-5-day-selling-tips-to-go-14-day.html

Day 2

http://fruitsofsuccesswithhugh.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/usain-bolt-quotes-for-salespeople.html

Day 3

London 2012 Handball Olympians see themselves as Sales reps  http://fruitsofsuccesswithhugh.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/selling-handball-to-british-public-at.html

Selling handball to the British Public at London 2012

‘  We’re like sales reps – we’ve sold the public a product and I haven’t heard any negative comments back’  Team GB Women’s Handball Team member Holly Lam-Moores at London 2012 Olympic games .

Pierre de Coubertin (founder of modern Olympic Games) is recorded as saying

 “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well”.

The British handball team lost all five of their group but British Handball was only founded six years ago. Yet the support they have had in Hackney's Copper box has been tremendous. British handball

  Holly went on to say “We need to capitalise on what has happened.

‘The fans cheered us as if we’d won gold –that must be a signal something has to be done about it

King of the Road Kenny
 - Jason winner of the Golden Fleece

Day 3: Today's 5 a day to go

If you have the challenge to sell your product imagine if you were British handball bidding for funding Here are 5 selling tips for salespeople and fundraisers.

6.       Improve your product knowledge  ( select and read a piece of your company's product literature)

7.       Maximise the benefits and minimise the cost ( name the chief benefits of 6. above, how do these benefits minimise cost for a customer)

8.       Develop open questions that might pin point client information and opinions that could draw out their need and want for the 6. above - ( Who, What, When, Where, How and Why)

9.       Develop more benefits for each feature - keep challenging your product knowledge with "so What! So What! " Challenges

10.   Smile  

Here is a selection of  Lonodn 2012 winning smiles from the London Times and Metro newspapers

 



 





Related links:

5 a day to go Blog bites

Day 1

http://fruitsofsuccesswithhugh.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/your-5-day-selling-tips-to-go-14-day.html

Day 2

http://fruitsofsuccesswithhugh.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/usain-bolt-quotes-for-salespeople.html