It's About Being Stretched and Challenged Mentally

At this point it's more about being stretched and challenged mentally.  

I've made entire career decisions based on this. The opportunity to master a skill set and help others to master a skill set is much more enticing than any other offer.  I have also found that when the "opportunity" is the focus, the money always follows.

I respect and am loyal to leaders who are all about this as well. Only following leaders with a personal commitment to development is a non-negotiable on my list. 

“You cannot serve from an empty vessel.” ― Eleanor Brownn

A commitment to development can be spotted by the amount of development that leader actually does themselves. How can you tell if that leader is personally committed to development? 

Observe. 

Development should work like a "full vessel" with the overflow of knowledge pouring onto all those around that vessel.  

If you aren't getting an outpouring, its either because that leader is not personally committed to development OR they have not learned the ability to communicate that knowledge. Either way, its not a good indicator.  

Leaders who invest in personal development are engaging, inspiring, and are committed to developing others. They bring new topics to the table. They are NOT "yes men". They evolve. They create. They provide direction. 

They LEAD. 

8 Daily Activities That Make All The Difference

1)     Show up Early  

We’ve all heard the old mantra, “1st on the field and last off”, but do we truly buy into the principle behind it?  It’s not about merely “physically arriving early”, and great producers use this time to start creating traction before others even get started. 

“It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom.” ~Aristotle

2)     Be Prepared 

Preparation is 100% controllable, and should never be a reason for not succeeding. Look good, feel good, have a prospecting list or any other prep work your role requires. Routines and rituals are great for staying prepared, and most high performers have consistent daily rituals that keep them prepared and on track.

3)     Outwork Everyone

This is not about mindset. This is about action. Speed equals power, and it pays to create more activity than your competition. You will hear some people say, “work smart, not hard”, but the great ones are willing to do both!

4)     Commit to a Process/Structure

Don’t wing it! There are tons of approaches to sales, but the most important thing  is choosing one and using it. You must be fully committed to the process in order for it to work, so skip “trying it out” and fully commit to working that process.  Top producers work a system. 

5)     Ask for the Sale

This is pretty simple to understand, but still many sales people miss asking for the sale altogether. Ask and you shall receive.

Here are some sales stats we have all heard:

·        72% of all Sales people never ask for the close one time 

·        95% never ask twice 

·        80% of all sales take place after 5 attempts

6)     Follow Up

We have all heard the term “buy or die”!  While this isn’t meant to be literal, it drives home the importance of working follow up effectively!

Follow up using multiple platforms (phone, email, text, social media, mail), and follow up often. It is not the customer’s job to remember us, but rather our job to be remembered.

Here are some sales stats we have all heard:

·        48% of all sales people never make even one follow up call  

·        65% of all businesses admit they don't nurture leads  

·        Companies that nurture sales leads with follow up have 47% higher profit margins than companies that do not

7)     Leave Late

This is very straightforward. The greater you invest the greater the return. Don’t be afraid to put in more than all your peers. If you have great goals, they will require great action. If you aren’t getting the results you want during normal hours, then do whatever it takes and put in the time. There is no way to sugarcoat this. 

8)     Invest in your skills outside of the required office time

After polling 10 high level athletes, I found that all 10 sacrificed a great deal of time, energy, and money developing their skill set outside of the normal team practice time. 

When I asked why they did this, here is what they all said…

If you want to be the best, you must be willing to do what the others will not. 

These are very talented individuals, but they all understand the importance of investing into themselves on a level that the mediocre can’t understand. The great ones will always do more than required. What are you willing to sacrifice for your goals? 

What’s your ANGLE ?!?!?

 

What’s your ANGLE ?!?!?

**Many salespeople talk about “researching” a prospect, but they have NO idea what “research” actually means or entails.**

Research = Finding your ANGLE

ALWAYS HAVE AN ANGLE WHEN ENTERING A SALES CALL!!!

What is an angle:

• ·      A problem or need that you can fix or resolve

• ·      A competitive advantage over the prospect’s current service provider

• ·      Personal/Professional experience that would separate or make you memorable

• ·      Anything that you can leverage to create a “reason”  for your call 

Why an angle is important:

• ·      Takes the cold out of cold calling

• ·      It is the reason for your call

• ·      It is “why” your prospect should talk to you

• ·      Provides a focal point from the beginning of the conversation

“Angle List”

Make a List of any angles you could use to enter your sales call.

1.  _________________________      

2.  _________________________      

3.  _________________________      

4.  _________________________      

5.  _________________________      

   

Author: Bradley B. Watkins

http://linkedin.com/in/bradleybwatkins

https://twitter.com/bradleybwatkins

Keep Evolving, Keep Trending!

#TRENDING

Facebook is ever evolving:

1.     Facebook has made several changes in the past year. The success of a page is no longer measured on the amount of "Likes" a page has. Facebook made this change so small businesses could compete with larger businesses who had millions of likes.

2.     Facebook is no longer concerned with the amount of likes a page has. We always want to help the page grow and get a larger audience, but we need to focus on getting engagement to the page and in turn we will get that audience. The more engagement a post gets, the more often Facebook will show their updates on their follower's newsfeed. If no one is engaging with the posts, Facebook won't show their updates as often on people's newsfeed.

3.     Facebook wants to show people what they WANT to see, which are posts that are NOT promotional sounding or asking someone to "Call Now" or "Buy Now", etc. We want to feel out what kind of posts will spark engagement so we can start growing that reach per post, so when we do post about the business directly, we have a good chance of getting it in front of people.

4.     Post content that is industry related, cater it to what is trending online, what people are interested with on Facebook and Twitter at the moment, and what the target audience is most likely to engage with. That way, they will see a Facebook page as a resource for information, and have the business name in mind when they do need a certain product or service.

5.     Overall - Facebook wants to give their customers what they want so people continue to use Facebook. Because Facebook is making it harder for an audience to see posts from business pages, so we need to alter our strategy as well. The good news is that the amount of likes on a page isn't relevant anymore.  A page can have 400 likes but if no one is interacting with their page, then Facebook is more likely to show posts form a page that only has 50 likes and more engagement. It's important to follow Facebook's guidelines of posting relevant and timely content that doesn't sound promotional, so we can get as much reach as possible on a page.

What type of salesperson are you?? Hammer vs. Swiss Army Knife

Hammer vs. Swiss Army Knife

Good morning,

Is it better to be a “Hammer”, or a “Swiss Army Knife”?

The Hammer:

A hammer is only good for hammering nails.  Many sales professionals take on the persona of a bulldog, pitbull, hammer, or various other analogies such as this.  I relate this to a one way approach, a lack of flexibility, and a singular focus on aggression.  The customers usually feels their interests, opinions, and goals are not taken into consideration in these instances.  Although a hammer is ideal for, hammering nails, a hammer is a one way approach to providing value.

The Swiss Army Knife:

A swiss army knife can be used for many situations.  These sales professional take on the persona of a problem solver, consultant, or expert.  I relate this to a multi-faceted approach, flexibility, and a singular focus on providing a desired resolution.  The customer usually feels their interests, opinions, and goals are taken into consideration.  This sales professional will ask questions rather than telling their client what they should do.  This approach enables the customer to TRUST the sales professional, and this is the keystone to commitment.  The swiss army knife is the preferred tool in survival situations because it provides the most value.

Consider being a better resource.  Consider being a Swiss Army Knife.  

What can a white label partnership do for your marketing firm?

1. Free up time and resources to focus on revenue-generating task and design task that you absolutely love and prefer to focus on. 

2. Instantly have access to grow your business exponentially without the large investment into new resources, employees, technology, training, insurances, taxes, etc.…

3. The ability to have constant SEO updates, and seamless Google algorithm updates each time they update 500-600 times a year for an endless number of clients. 

4. Create a stronger product for your clients! Create a new and scaleable cash flow stream, while freeing up time and resources to focus your business and its revenue generating tasks! 

#1 Reason you are not Closing

Author: Bradley B. Watkins

http://linkedin.com/in/bradleybwatkins

https://twitter.com/bradleybwatkins

Fear is the #1 reason Sales Reps do not close.

Most are so fearful of rejection they never attempt an actual close.

The best way to overcome the fear of closing is to train and prepare. 

A great resource to learn 100+ basic and more advanced closes is listed below. 

http://www.grantcardone.com/close-the-sale-app/

 I recommend downloading the Grant Cardone "Close the Sale" App.

Establish a mental library of closing material so you can attempt a close in every situation.

Sales is not merely talking to people, Sales is the art of influencing others.  

Be prepared.