The Pierce Marrs Show

The February 2011 issue of Success Magazine focuses on sales. As usual, I immediately turned to the Publisher’s Letter. The first thing I noticed in the left margin was this statement, “If you are not good at sales, life will be more difficult for you. It’s that simple.”

For those of you who embrace the art of selling these words are no surprise. You understand that everyone sells and that it is a part of life, not just business.

On the other hand, if you are part of the growing population of people entering self-employment, you may not have the fundamental skills required for effective selling. You may also have a negative perception of selling that could hinder your ability to market your product.

Recently, I was speaking to a potential coaching client and he said, “Pierce, I just don’t want to sound like a salesperson.” This gentleman desperately wants to run his own business and has finally reached an understanding that his business will not succeed without selling.

I am constantly looking for different words to help people gain a new perspective on this skill. For me, the act of serving provides a positive mental picture. Darren Hardy was given some advice early in his career. Mark out the word sell and replace it with help.

Darren was also reminded that the people we serve and help are real people, real families that deserve to be treated like you would want to be treated.

Do to others as you would have them do to you. Luke 6:31 ~ Jesus

Have a great week!

Pierce

P.S. Dale Carnegie tip of the week: Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.

While conducting a phone interview for a sales position for one of my clients I asked what he believed was his greatest sales weakness. He stated that breaking the ice with someone new seemed to be awkward and difficult.

I believe this can be overcome with some coaching even though it might be uncomfortable in the beginning, especially if you are more introverted.

I teach that 40% of the sales process is building trust and rapport. Simply stated, if your prospect doesn’t like you or trust you, they probably will not want to do business with you. I want to leave you with three suggestions that I believe will serve you well in this area, be confident, courteous and curious.

Use good manners, be polite and do not say ask a stranger how they are doing? If they do not know you, it is doubtful they will want to divulge how they feel personally. Instead, thank them for their time and be nice. Here are a couple of examples:

Good morning Mr. Austin. It’s a pleasure to meet you.
or
Good afternoon Mrs. James. I really appreciate your time today. Thank you for agreeing to see me.

Next, you want to reduce the tension. The best way to accomplish this is to ask specific questions about them. These questions can be about a lot of things including curiosity about their business, occupation, family or leisure activities. My purpose is to build a bridge or make a connection. Maybe we both have children that play sports or we both like golf. If I am meeting them face to face I always look for clues in their office. Pictures, plaques and Degree Certificates help expose their interest and give you a starting point to break the ice.

Lastly, be confident in what you bring to the meeting. Look them in the eye, give a firm handshake and be prepared to provide compelling solutions to their needs. This will come with practice so do not hesitate to get started.

Have a great week!

Pierce

P.S. Dale Carnegie tip: Smile!

Fear
I recently sat in on a discussion about fear. Fear is described as a distressing emotion aroused by a perceived threat. The threat can be real or imagined. Fear and anxiety can cause inaction and all types of physical and mental issues.

While being a coach in Dale Carnegie’s Effective Communication and Human Relations Course I watched many people overcome the fear of public speaking. I was amazed at their courage and the confidence they developed through this process.

Here are a few of quotes from Carnegie that I believe are very appropriate concerning fear:

“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, don’t sit at home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”

“Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest steppingstones to success. No other element can do so much for a man if he is willing to study them and make capital out of them. Look backward. Can’t you see where your failures have helped you?”

“ If you want to conquer fear, don’t think about yourself. Try to help others, and your fears will vanish.”

S.M.A.R.T.
Are you sick and tired of hearing tips on goal setting? Well, here is one more.

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely

After you have made goals that are Attainable and Realistic, make one that will stretch you. You may surprise yourself.

Great Earbuds
My wife bought me a great Christmas present, the Bose IE2 Audio Headphones. I use my ipod a lot and complained about the comfort and constant adjusting required with many types I have tried. The Bose head phones are amazing. They have a soft attachment they call StayHear Tips that hold the earbud in place and of course the sound quality is amazing. A little pricey at about one hundred dollars but worth every dollar.

Have a great week!

Pierce

Welcome to the first Monday of 2011. I hope you are looking forward to it. I know that I am. I hope you decide to be happy in 2011.

As I reflected on 2010 I determined that my greatest success was the relationships that I developed. I can count three or four people that were extremely influential as a friend and coach. We have similar attitudes, interests and a strong faith. They have encouraged me and I have tried to reciprocate. One thing we have in common, we are happy people and we laugh a lot.

I am naturally a happy, optimistic person. I would like to say that everyone wants to be happy but I would be lying. I have met a lot of people who chronically complain and nothing anyone can say will make them feel better. I apologize but I do not have a lot of patience with these people. I believe you can control your own state of mind.

Many people believe happiness will come when they reach a certain status in life. I believe it is a state of mind that starts from the inside out. We will all be disappointed occasionally and some days will be better that others. However, I believe it is a choice.

I hope you decide to take steps to build positive relationships and find ways to be a happier person. There are many benefits to being happy including better health and the feel-good factor, you will also draw people to you. The January edition of Success Magazine says that happier people will outsell their pessimistic counterparts by 56%.

One more thing to consider, make an effort to lift other people up and you will be amazed at how exhilarated you will feel.

Dan Miller says rain or shine, “I carry my sunshine around with me”. I agree with Dan.

Happy New Year!

Pierce

P.S. The January Issue of Success was dedicated to being happy. It is my favorite magazine and you should check it out. It has Ron Howard on the cover.

Early in my sales career, I participated in a Stephen Covey Leadership Seminar where I was asked to write my own eulogy. The purpose being to make me take a hard look at what people closest to me would say at my funeral. The process made me take a hard look at what was really important and how being proactive and intentional can create the life and reputation you want. What is the alternative? Just let life happen and wait for circumstances and other people to create the life you desire. Unfortunately, most people choose the latter.

The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, but everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty. Proverbs 21:5

Recently I heard that Samuel Clemens’ (Mark Twain) autobiography was close to the top of the bestseller list. This was of interest to me since he died one hundred years ago. He requested in his will to have it released a century after his death. Due to his blistering honesty, he wanted to make sure most of the people he was likely to offend would be long gone before it was published.

I am not here to criticize Mark Twain on his decision. I want to know if you are creating a great story.

I was recently introduced to author Don Miller who wrote “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years”. In this book he details one mans opportunity to edit his life as if he were a character in a movie. Would your life make a great movie? I know when I see a great movie I want to tell my friends about it. I also notice the good movies stay with me for a day or two and make me think.

It is almost 2011. What are you planning to do to create a great story in your life? What will people say about you at your funeral? Or, you could write it down and let the world know what you really think in a hundred years or so. It truly is your choice.

Have a great week!

Pierce

P.S. If you would like to meet one person who is writing a great story, go check out Deanna Eller-Goodin’s site at D. Marlene Jewelry.

She left a job that she did not enjoy to create her own company designing and marketing her own jewelry. Lesa and I did some Christmas shopping with her recently and I was amazed at her creativity. She is truly exercising her gift.  By the way, the word SANTA might get you a nice discount. Shhhh…don’t tell Deanna I told you.

Should selling and work be fun? Yes, I believe it can but what is the ingredient that makes this possible? Dan Miller states in “48 Days to the Work You Love” that 85% of finding work you love is knowing who you are.

Last week I co-hosted a podcast on personalities and selling with Deb Ingino, creator of My Wired Style. Deb’s company helps parents understand their children and teenagers using the D.I.S.C. Personality Profile system. In the class we discussed how your personality style can impact the way you approach selling.

One participant in the class mentioned how much he enjoyed his retail sales job until his company was bought out and the new owner changed the selling environment. He missed the slower pace of the original company and how he could spend more time with each customer. The new quotas and faster pace took all of the enjoyment out of his job and jaded him against selling.

In my twenty eight years of sales experience, I have encountered certain types of sales positions that I did not enjoy as much as others. This does not always mean the position or the company was bad. It was merely a bad fit for me and the way I am wired.

Dan also says, “Meaningful work blends our natural skills and abilities, our unique personality traits and our dreams and passions.” Are you doing work that lines up with these characteristics? I hope so. Let me know how I can help.

Have a great week!

Pierce

P.S. If you would like to learn more about how you are wired, contact me. I have Career and Sales Personality Profiles available and would enjoy helping you reach your full potential in 2011!

My twenty five year old son, Nick, is working in a sales position with a large company that has a reputation for developing young professionals. He recently participated in a goal setting exercise. At the end of the exercise they mentioned a study conducted by Yale University on the power of setting goals.

“Three percent of a graduating class of Yale University responded ‘yes to a survey asking them if they had written goals. Twenty years later, the net worth of these three percent, who had written goals, was greater than the combined net worth of the other 97 percent of the their graduating class.”

Can merely writing down goals make that much of a difference? First of all, studies say that only 3% of the American population sets goals consistently and are among the wealthiest in the country.

Nick added, “take it a step further and write down the “why” behind the goal. Once you write down the why and force yourself to recognize the motivation behind achieving this goal, it brings the goal to life and requires you to take action. It gives your goal purpose”.

Remember, a dream becomes a goal when you add an action plan and a deadline.

Another study I reviewed showed an increased level of success when the group not only wrote down their goals with an action plan but took it one step further. They told a friend and gave that person weekly updates. This accountability allowed them to achieve 76% of their goals.

Are you setting goals for 2011? If you haven’t, now is the time to start. Dan Miller stated in his book “48 Days to the Work You Love” that you should set goals and make positive deposits regularly in seven areas of your life:

1. Financial
2. Physical
3. Personal Development
4. Family
5. Spiritual
6. Social
7. Career/Business

Let’s make 2011 the best ever.

Pierce

One of my clients called me this week with some exciting news. He was referred by a friend to a potential prospect. What makes this exciting is two fold 1) Referrals are one of the best ways to grow your business 2) This is his first sales call in his new coaching business. Few things in business can be more exciting, exhilarating and scary that putting yourself out there and anticipating your first sale.

My advice to him was simple. Ask a lot of questions. Dale Carnegie wrote in “How to Win Friends and Influence People” that one of the six ways to make people like you is to talk in the terms of the other person’s interest.

How upset would you be if you went to the doctor and as soon as he walked in he told you about his education, qualifications, how thrilled he is to be a doctor; then diagnosed your problem, prescribed some medicine and walked out without ever asking you why you were there, what problems you were experiencing and so on?

Why is selling and relationships any different? How can you diagnose a viable solution without becoming very interested in what they need from you? How can anything be called a relationship if you do all the talking?

Pretend you’re Columbo, Dan Rather or Diane Sawyer and get genuinely interested in people. Everyone you are associated with will appreciate you more because of it.

No matter how excited you are about your business and regardless of how many compelling reasons you give and even if they would just have to be stupid not to buy what you’re selling…your prospects will always buy for their reasons…not yours!

Have a good week!

Pierce

This week I am featuring an article written by one of my closest friends, Jason Cruise. We have spent many lunches at Bishop’s in Franklin, TN discussing God, marriage, children, business and too many subjects to mention. Jason eloquently sums up in the following paragraphs my personal philosophy. I felt it was appropriate to share this with you in its entirety. (Check out a link to Jason’s bio at the end of the blog).

Every company sells something; yet, in the end, the only true product that stands the test of time is the relationship between the company and the customer. Anyone can deliver a product, but few can deliver on the power of authentic relationships that earn trust; and, trust is what brings repeat business. It matters not what you sell in terms of a market niche. Life, as well as is business, will forever come down to relating to people; and, that is where the caliber of character cannot fail but surface.

When people treat one another the way they want to be treated, it reveals the power of the motive behind the company, and their person, doing the selling. I can think of few things in this life that have the power of “motive”. Motive determines the way you answer a customer when they ask you the tough question. Motive determines the words you choose as you try and explain your most recent short-comings to the leader that you answer to on a regular basis. Ask yourself, “What was my motive in that situation?” In that moment your heart will hold up its own mirror and reveal what you are really trying to accomplish from the very beginning. Motive is everything, because motive comes from the heart, and the heart drives your every action.

All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD. – Proverbs 16:2

Have a great week!

Pierce

Click here for a complete Biography of Jason Cruise.

Are you excited and passionate about the product or service that you provide? I hope so and you should be. I can’t imagine selling anything that I didn’t believe in.

Many times during casual conversations with entrepreneurs and sales people, I hear them share passionately all the reasons why people should buy what they’re selling. I think this is great and I believe it is necessary. Selling in its basic form is “shared enthusiasm”.

However, a common element of this enthusiasm is that they want to “tell” their prospects all the great reasons why they should buy instead of finding out the prospects needs and providing a compelling solution to fit that specific need.

Knowing your product and making a great presentation is vital to your sales process. My point is that people buy products and services for different reasons. They will also find different ways to object to buying the same product. Why not take the time to ask a few questions and listen closely to your customer. Let them TELL YOU why they would like to buy what you are offering.

A great sales manager told me that customers buy for three reasons…they like you…they trust you…and always for their reasons not yours.

Have a great week!

Pierce