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Don't be a Turkey_Gobble up year end sales
Don’t slip into that Turkey Day slump just yet! While friends and family, celebrations, and personal reflection are all a significant part of the end of each year, this is still a critical time for business. For Business Owners and Decision Makers, there’s still much work to be done to make it to the end of the year. They...
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In sales silence is deadly
I can usually diagnose problems pretty quickly. I work hard to do so because of that whole “time is money” theory. I like to think it’s a combination of listening, experience, perception, and intuition that makes me a keen consultant. Like a bloodhound for revenue issues . . . but one that loves a good...
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How to Avoid Perpetual Sales Prospecting Burnout
Every December in Memphis, TN, thousands of people descend upon the city’s Downtown area to participate in the St. Jude Marathon. Runners run or walk a 5k, 10k, half, or full marathon and raise funds to support the mission, research, and children of St. Jude. This year’s marathon weekend raised over 12 MILLION dollars! It’s...
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Avoid missed sales opportunities with current customers
My agile, fit, 71-year-old mother came over this week after cleaning her gutters. They were pulling away from the house so she climbed on a ladder and in the 90 degree Memphis summer heat, cleaned the debris and gunk out of her gutters. The rub came later when she was in the house and tidying...
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Taking notes on “Selling” from Cooking Competitions If you’ve had young children, you’ll feel my lament over those awful cartoons with the characters and theme songs that take root in your adult head like uninvited weeds in your brain garden. From the mouse to the purple dinosaur to the little girl who yells everything and carries a backpack – there are dozens of children’s cartoons that contribute to the world’s adult beverage consumption. Thankfully, my children have graduated from most of those cartoons. The occasional obnoxious Spongebob Squarepants and TMNT (that’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to you) still show up from time to time but for the most part, my Jr. Associates have fallen in love with cooking and baking competition shows. They love the idea of challenges and all the tricks and turns, sabotages, and the pressure cooker that all the contestants are in. As we watched our favorites this weekend, I listened to my children talk about what they would do differently, other strategies they would take, or how they would explain their dishes another way. After the 3rd or 4th episode of Cutthroat Cupcake Chopped Academy (a mash up of all the shows), I started to think about the similarities of the pitfalls in cooking competitions to where we see mistakes in sales and selling. Strangely, though no surprise to those of you that know me, in this relaxing down time, I couldn’t help but build some sales coaching analogies from these entertaining battles. Today, I have made for you . . . Four Ways Sellers Can Avoid Ending Up In Hot Water - Listen to what’s important. Many a sale and a challenge have been lost by not listening to what’s TRULY important to those making the decisions. When cooking contestants don’t build their strategy around satisfying the criteria they will be judged against, their success is compromised from the start. Going through the discovery process is critical with your customers to understand not only what they want, but how they will be making decisions, what their success metrics look like, and ultimately, how they want to go through the buying journey. Miss this key component and you could quickly be eliminated as a potential provider. Don’t serve the status quo. Just as cooking shows challenge the skills and creativity of contestants, buyers want sellers that bring them different and creative solutions to their problems. Stand out from the competitors by highlighting what makes you different and focus not on your capabilities, but your competencies, and results that you’ve proven for similar clients. True contenders don’t show up with the easiest dish or the most common ideas. Challenge yourself to serve your clients something different. Don’t die for your perfect plan. Sometimes, in cooking, as in selling, we’re thrown a curveball. A mystery ingredient in a baking challenge might be the equivalent to a potential customer asking you to work with a smaller budget or a shorter time frame. I’ve seen this blow a hole in many a sales pro’s “perfect plan” and they never quite recover because they’re not able to be flexible or go outside the box for resources or solutions. Listen to your customers, consult your team, play to your strengths, and adjust and adapt to the circumstances so you can meet your client’s needs. You may not be able to solve all their challenges on your own but you can track down other resources or collaborate with your customers to customize the opportunity just for them. Don’t tank your presentation. Part of the pleasure of these pressure cooker contests is the moment of judgment for competitors where their efforts are weighed and measured against the expectations of the judges. We’re rooting for the contestants, for we know all they’ve been through and how they fought to get their final product ready for presentation. And this moment, many battles are won or lost by how the contender steps up and presents. Confidence or lack thereof is the first place to lose. Fear of rejection or fear of walking away empty handed can be off putting to customers. It detracts focus from discussion and emphasizes desperation. Some contestants lost the judges when they start inventing fancy names or try to distract from their presentation’s potential flaws. Buyers, just like judges, see straight through those tricks. Calling any dish “deconstructed” means you are missing ingredients or couldn’t pull it together in the end. Glossing over incompatibilities or dodging objections annoys customers and discredits your trust and credibility. Be transparent with your solutions and present your offers confidently. Next time you’re up to bat with a prospective new client, think about the pressure cooker of one of these cooking or baking competitions. Keep your eye on the prize by truly listening to what problems your customers are asking you to solve and confidently adapt to their needs and delight them by serving them their own unique solution customized just to their tastes. Until next time, stop hoping, start cooking SELLING! -sks PS - Jumping from the kitchen to the office – if you feel like you’re losing your battles at any one of these points, contact us. We can help you understand your customers, deeply differentiate your offers and profoundly connect with your audience to earn trust and sales quicker.
If you’ve had young children, you’ll feel my lament over those awful cartoons with the characters and theme songs that take root in your adult head like uninvited weeds in your brain garden. From the mouse to the purple dinosaur to the little girl who yells everything and carries a backpack – there are dozens...
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Small Business, Employees sell, Motivate, Selling Organization
Most small businesses don’t yet have a sales team. All the “selling” has been shouldered by the owner from the launch and through the growth of the business and that owner wears way too many hats. For successful businesses, at some point, the owner decides that growth requires sharing that “sales” hat and then seeks...
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Small Business Solutions: Steak or Potatoes Strategy
  We work with a lot of small and not-so-small businesses – from many different industries and markets – data management, accounting, freight and logistics, restaurants, technology, drilling {oil}, commercial construction . . . a pretty diverse group. But they all have one thing in common: most of these great businesses have tried, started or...
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Take off your blinders, walk around the desk, around the counter and seek outside perspective to improve your business.
When you stand before a group of people who come to hear you give them solutions, bring them strategies and help them change their economic status—that’s a pretty awesome and humbling place to be. So, you better show up with some REALLY excellent, impactful, inspiring and in my opinion, ACTIONABLE recommendations. I like to close...
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How are you getting in front of your Target Audience? Do they know your expertise and value? Did you see what we did there? We didn’t say “customers” or “prospects” we used “Audience”. Because if you ONLY speak to whom you think will BUY from you, you’re missing the boat on advocates, influencers, donors, supporters and...
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Since many of our clients at The Selling Agency are working feverishly to build their Selling Organization around meeting the Modern Consumer, we often coach them on the tools and resources that can best help them leverage low investment technology that brings high returns and allows them to scale their time and resources. Meet our...
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