Welcome!  We are wrapping up our series on Power Sales Questions that we have covered during June.  We have discussed Three Power Questions and how important they are:

1. The Columbo Approach—Learn when and how to use it!
2. The Plus/Minus Question—Find out what’s going well/what’s NOT going well.
3. The Price Question—Find out how the client evaluates price.

Now, we move to the GROUND ZERO QUESTION, which is the personal level question—the fourth of our Power Sales Questions.  Why is this important?  We have to earn the right to ask questions on a personal level and find out what matters to the customer on a personal level.

Remember, “People buy for PERSONAL REASONS, and they justify for BUSINESS REASONS.”

**WHAT WOULD YOU CONSIDER TO BE A PERSONAL HOME RUN FOR YOU?

This question can take on different forms depending on the type of sales business:

• If we were to work together, a year from now . . .
• If we were successful in this bid process . . .
• If we were assigned to this project . . .
• If everything went as you want it to go . . .
• When this project is complete . . .

What the customer tells us in answer to this question becomes our PRIMARY GOAL, so they will look to do business with us in the future. 

 I’ve used this question for close to 15 years with clients, and found it benefits me in the following ways:

• It helps me control the conversation.
• It gives me lots of valuable information about my customer.
• It allows them to talk about their business.
• It helps avoid the “Show Up and Throw Up” disease.

Listener Question of the Week:  What do you do to avoid the inevitable summer “slowdowns”?

• Find out what is going with your customers over the summer.
• Find out which contact people are gone on vacation and when.
• Find out what you can do to serve them best before, during, and after their vacation.
• If possible, send a gift to them while they are on vacation if you know where they will be.

Quote of the Week:  “People don’t ask for facts in making up their minds.  They would rather have one good, soul-satisfying emotion than a dozen facts.”   Robert Keith Leavit

Welcome to Inside the Sales Arena! 

 This month we are covering “Power Sales Questions”.  So far in June, we have discussed:

The Power of Asking Great Questions

We have looked at two tactical strategies:

1. The Columbo Approach

2. How To Ask the Tough Questions.

This week we are going to look at Questions to Keep You Out of the Price Trap!

1. If we were to work together and I brought you a proposal how would you go about evaluating price?  

Would it simply be the cheapest price?

Do added features and benefits matter?

How would delivery time and service figure in?

Would you look to us to create ideas and solutions that may be new to the mix?

2.  POWER Question – If I were to bring you a solution that was at a higher price but could show you better/higher ROI for using that product/service would that be a business case you are open to listening to?

What if they say – "All I care about is price”?  

1. “Typically that isn’t our strong suit but I would love to get involved and see where we are price-wise. How does that process work for you?
2. How would we get involved?
3. Gather the information and prepare to leave like a good little sales rep the buyer has controlled again. 
4. Columbo them on the way out with the power question … 

While there are tons of great questions in the business unit category, I love this Power Question because I want to hit the “price is too high” objection head-on, long before we have put together a proposal.  Use this Power question before you quote the work to:

1. Establish a high level of credibility with the prospect
2. Understand early on how they will evaluate your pricing strategies
3. Quickly determine if this client fits your “ideal client” avatar and are worth spending time on!

Listener Question of the Week – Jim you talk a lot about “ideal clients” and focusing on doing business with just them. So, when is it time to fire a customer?

1. When their ROI isn’t where I need it to be
2. When they are asking me to do things that would bring my integrity into question
3. When they aren’t fun to work with any more!

Quote of the Week - "The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus." - Bruce Lee

Welcome to our podcast!  All month long we are talking about The Power of Questions, and today’s topic is How to Ask the Tough Questions.

From our webinar of February, 2015, we covered value-based selling.  The value propositions for clients are based on the following:

• The Issue:  What is the problem?
• The Action:  What are we going to do about it?
• The Impact:  Why should they care?

We discuss the issues of “me-too’s” and “hammers.”  

• Me-too’s---Occur when we do the same thing someone else does.
• Hammers---Occur when we do something no one else does.

Remember, we ask questions to find out what it is the client values.  This helps us avoid the “show up and throw up” disease!

The strategy that leads to asking the tough questions is to start by asking positive questions.  We ask about something that’s worked well for them, and then we flip to ask about what hasn’t worked well.  Examples include the following:

• What are some companies that do the best job at what you expect?
• What have been some major successes since ___________________? (some milestone event)
• What do you expect from me?

Then, the FLIP:

• What hasn’t worked well?
• How does that present challenges for you and your business?

“When they reveal what ISN’T WORKING, it tells us how we can bring value to the table in a way they aren’t getting it now!”

Listener Question of the Week– I love the first podcast about questions! I have already used it twice! What do you do if you are trying to ask questions, and the person on the other end is giving you nothing and almost being rude?

Quote of the Week-- “Customers expect salespeople to stimulate the sales process, to ask the right questions and finally, to ask for their business. When this initiative or confidence is lacking, no matter how much they like you personally, they aren‘t going to respect or value you as a business partner.”  ― Ann-Marie Heidingsfelder, The 20 Minute Sales Coach

THE “HOW” AND “WHY” OF USING QUESTIONS

             “THE COLUMBO APPROACH"

Welcome to the first podcast of June!  All month we will be considering “The Power of Questions.”  We will discuss helpful, basic information that YOU can begin using right away.

WHY are questions so powerful?  There are three reasons:

• Use questions to create credibility with clients instead of skepticism.
• In sales, we should be talking 20% of the time and listening 80% of the time.  Asking questions allows for that to happen.
• When we ask questions, we are in TOTAL control of the conversation.
• A BONUS REASON:  Asking questions is the cure for the “show up and throw up disease” in sales.

From our Value-Based Selling webinar in February 2015, there are THREE LEVELS OF QUESTIONS to ask clients:

• Corporate Level Questions—no risk/no harm, but with very little return.
• Business Level Questions—higher risk/higher return
• Personal Level Questions—highest risk/ highest return

The PERSONAL LEVEL questions are the goal, but we have to EARN the right to ask those questions of a client.

I recommend “THE COLUMBO APPROACH” in questioning a client.  It’s taken from the old detective show, and it is a remarkable way to get someone’s attention.  Listen to find out more!

THE COLUMBO APPROACH is the lead-in to the most important question for a salesman to ask a client.  “What is the difference between the person you let back through the door on a regular basis and the sales rep you never see again?”  What comes next gives a road map for how to make that customer happy!  Learn how to use these questioning techniques successfully and MORE!

LQOW – What do you think are the three most important skill sets for a successful sales rep?

QOTW - “I was so sure that I knew what they needed and what I wanted to sell them that I never stopped long enough to find out what it was they wanted to buy.”  ― Chris Murray,  The Extremely Successful Salesman's Club

Welcome! This is the last podcast for Mindset May! 

So far in May we have discussed:

1.  What we think matters

2.  The mindset of an entrepreneur

3.  Considering what really is possible

and

4.  Today:  3 Key Sales Strategies for Partnering with Clients

•Customers are not adversaries – we are not at war with them!  We want to       partner with them to in their fight towards profitablility.

•Partnering with “ideal clients” is more fun!

                     It is a lot easier!

                     And … We make more money!

Bottom line? Partnering with clients is the best ROI for all of our hard work!

Let's review of the 6 Levels of Relationship

Level 1 – they don’t know us

Level 2 – they do know us

Level 3 – we are considered as a vendor

Level 4 – we are a supplier

Level 5 – we are a partner

Level 6 -  we are an adviser

In our workshops we discuss what percentage of potential profit is there at each level and the big leap is between 4 and 5.  

The example is: For every $100 in profit per sales, what dollar amount would come from each level of relationship:

Level 1 - $0

Level 2 - $10-$20

Level 3 - $30

Level 4 - $40-50

Level 5 - $75-$85

Level 6 - $100

Most sales reps spend the majority of their time in Levels 3 and 4, so you can see that there is money left on the table with every sale!

3 Strategies for Partnering With Clients

1.  Focus on working more and more with ideal clients – the ones who respect and appreciate you and what you do! Go to www.thesalesgladiators.com and search for “ideal clients”!

2.  We have to master what it means to sell “value” (what the customer values) day in and day out! Issue, action, impact! February webinar was on how to avoid the price trap by selling value!

3.  Be intentional about building Level 5 & 6 relationships! ITSA #022 is about the 6 levels!

So, as we wrap up Mindset May we hope we have challenged the way you think about sales! How we think really does matter!

Listener Question of The Week - "Ok Jim! What do you struggle with most in sales?"

Quote of the Week - "If eighty percent of your sales come from twenty percent of all of your items, just carry those twenty percent."  Henry Kissinger  

Have a great week gang!

Jim Jacobus

Welcome! This is “Mindset May” and we are discussing how what we think impacts our sales?

I switched gears this week because I was listening to a book titled “The Million Dollar Real Estate Agent” by Gary Keller of Keller Williams Real Estate and they were talking about thinking big. What stuck with me was

·      Big dreams and goals = big accomplishments!

·      Never will = never does!

·      We all have so much more potential than we imagine!

Let’s start by reviewing the process of how what we think/believe impacts what we accomplish!

1.     Core beliefs?

2.     Create thoughts

3.     Create actions

4.     Repeated create habits

5.     Repeated create performance

6.     Repeated create accomplishments!

7.     What we believe matters!

So? What are your thoughts on money?

·      Our experience tells us you are only able to do about 10% more that you imagine you can!

·      The question I always have is how much do the best of the best make in your company? Why not you?

How do we get there?

• ·      The “Be” + “Do” = Have Equation
• ·      Dream big!!! What are the big hitters doing?
• ·      Have a plan!

o   Did you know that a 10% growth over 5 years is 161% of your original business?

o   20% growth equals 249% of your original business!

Remember!

·      Big dreams and goals = big accomplishments!

·      Never will = never does!

·      We all have so much more potential than we imagine!

The “Listener Question of the Week” – how do you stay “up” when every day it seems like it is getting tougher and tougher?

Quote of the Week – “Push yourself to the limit to make peace with your limitations! Then you can go to bed every night with a clear conscience!” Gary Keller Keller Williams Real Estate

Have a great week gang!

Jim Jacobus

Welcome – this is mindset May and we are talking about the way top sales performers think!

I have said over and over … I am a sales guy! Always have been and always will be. When done properly I believe it is among the most honorable professions on the planet!

How about you? If I were to ask you what it is you love about selling what would you say? We do ask that question at the start of most every sales program we do and the answers are usually the same:

• I love helping people or customers, creating solutions, solving problems, playing the game
• I love the money, lifestyle, stuff that selling allows me to afford
• I love the freedom, power, control I have in sales
• How good we are at selling determines how much we have of the three above!

Today we are going to look at that third one a little closer. In the assessment work we do (we talked about it last week) we create a benchmark by asking top performers how they think the job “should and could” be done at the highest level!

• We end up with the Big 5
• Resiliency and personal accountability are #1 and 2
• Continuous learning and influencing others #4 & 5
• Self management stands in the middle at #3

Translating that means they treat their sales business & their lives like a small business! That creates 4 very distinct mindsets that make them successful;

1. They act like an owner and not like an employee – come early, stay late and do whatever it takes to grow their business! Owners do whatever it takes while employees have a transactional mentality!
2. They invest in their business and in themselves – tools, training, support systems
3. They understand their inventory is their time not their product or services and they are protective of that limited resource
4. They demand a solid Return On Investment for that inventory! Not wasting it is one thing. Not giving it out to clients who don’t want to pay for it is where we are really going here! Go to www.thesalesgladiators.com and do a search for Ideal Clients and you will find some great resources for this mindset!

If you are:

• Brand new and wanting to build a great sales career
• That sales rep that is “stuck in the middle”
• The best of the best
• Then take a look at how you are executing this mindset and the four key elements!

Your Listener Question of the Week – I am a new grad and I am brand new in sales. A friend of mine turned me on to your podcast and website so while I am really enjoying it I am a bit overwhelmed by all that I want and need to do to be successful. Since I don’t even start until June 1st so what would be your approach to getting off to a fast start?

Quote of the Week - "In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also sell what you create." – David Ogilvy, co-founder of Ogilvy & Mather.

Have a great week gang!

Jim Jacobus

What We Think Matters! - ITSA #036

Welcome To Mindset May

Welcome to mindset May gang. Our tagline says “Providing the strategies, tactics, real world skills and mindset to build the sales career, and life, you want!

This month we are going to cover 4 specific mindsets that make a difference in our sales success!

• Week 1 – What we think matters!
• Week 2 - The mindset of an entrepreneur!
• Week 3 - The mindset of a problem solver!
• Week 4 – The mindset of a partner to your clients!

Even in our webinars this month we are going to be covering how important mindset is with two webinars dedicated to the mindsets of resiliency and personal accountability.

There is a continuum I want us to consider as a baseline for this discussion;

• Core beliefs
• Thoughts
• Actions
• Habits
• Character
• Legacy

Some of the more critical areas of mindset that we need to consider are;

• A positive outlook in general?
• Sales and selling
• Customers and clients
• Your company, products/services and your boss!
• Success and failure, rejection, self esteem, self image and self confidence?
• Life in general?

How do you develop and positive mindset?

• GIGO
• The people around you
• What are you doing to learn and grow?
• Why are you here? Why are you sucking up air?

Two things “to do” this week

1. Go to TSG and read the blog post “I Wanted To Introduce You To Jim Rohn
2. Subscribe to the newsletter on success.com!

Listener Question of the Week – the drop in oil prices is beginning to affect my sales numbers, and my pocket book! Any thoughts on what to do?

Quote of the Week - "Tough times never last, but tough people do." – Robert Schuller

 Jim Jacobus, CSP

4 Reasons Why No One Reads Your E-mail - ITSA #035

(And What To Do About It!)

Welcome to In the Sales Arena Podcast #035 ... 

We are wrapping up a months worth of content where we have been working on how do we get to see more decision makers – prospects or current clients. Today we are going to talk about why we can’t get them to respond to our e-mails.

So … here are the 4 primary reasons no one reads our e-mails …

#1 – it is all about us! Let me tell you about! Here is our newest! Guess what we just did! Market, market, market! Sell, sell, sell!!! I, I, I, We, We, We!!!

#2 – we have a brand that says we don’t consistently deliver “value”

• But wait … a lot of my customers read my e-mails so they are perceiving value!
• Are they?
• Are we communicating the things they value?
• Is the value consistently communicated?
• With their best interests always at heart?

#3 – no thought put into the subject line! It is boring and can’t compete with all of their other e-mails!

#4 – the e-mail itself isn’t written to make it easy to read! They see the e-mail is from you and set it aside until they have time to read a book!

What to do?

1. Find a resource that will help you write more effective copy – Copyblogger, Ray Edwards!
2. Learn to write compelling subject lines and use scanable copy!
3. Make it about them – you, you, you! Ask a lot of questions?
4. Always make certain your e-mail brings them value!
5. Info, did you know, articles, whitepapers, case studies
6. Use “google alerts” to stay on top of cool things going on with them!!!

Consistently communicating value, value, value + consistently delivered in a compelling way = the privilege of marketing to them! (Thanks Tom Antion!)

Our Listener Question of the Week – Jim, you are always talking about how it sucks to be “stuck in the middle”! I don’t get it … doesn’t someone have to be there?

Quote of the Week – “Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small things, but not you. Let others leave their lives in the hands of others, but not you!” Jim Rohn

Thanks for joining us on this week's In the Sales Arena" podcast ... 

Jim Jacobus, CSP

4 Keys To Using Social Media Work For You In Sales!

I love using social media as a sales tool and when you use it properly it can be very effective. Some of the reasons I think it should be a tool in your bag would be:

• It’s free!
• It reaches a ton of people for free!
• It can bring credibility when used well.
• It can be noticeable by its absence.
• It is a lot of fun …

The important part of social media is learning to use it properly. Here are 3 Keys to making social media work for you in your sales efforts:

Key #1 – not all channels are created equal

• Facebook – primarily B2C
• Twitter – B2B or B2C
• Linked In – B2B

Key #2 - You have to have the goods that help people by bringing value to their work and/or personal lives.

Key #3 – you have to be consistent in your delivery whatever channel(s) you choose to create a voice and build up a following.

Key #4 – bring value, bring value, bring value and bring even more value and then they will let you market to them!

We recommend you pick 1 channel at a time, master it and learn how to leverage it before getting involved in another!

Listener Question of the Week – our operations guy is a bully with a lousy attitude and makes things at work very difficult at times. I need to work with him to be successful in the field but I am getting tired of his “crud”. What do you recommend I do?

Quote of the Week – “the price of progress is the pain of change”! Tom Hopkins