Open Forum

Hey everybody,

It is my favorite day of the week. I am actually honored to be able to answer and solve some of your problems. Thank you for the opportunity, and N-Lo, thank you very much for the compliment. It means a lot to me.

I am going to devote this Saturday to one particular question because it is involved and can possibly help a lot of people. N-Lo states she has male and female sales persons under her supervision and even though all the women are doing great the two male sales persons have a hundred excuses for not selling. Examples: There are no prospects, girls are better at sales then men…I think you get the picture. N-Lo, I think this is a management problem far more than a sales problem. There are some potential underlying issues here. For one, they may resent that they are working for a woman and coupled with perhaps some inexperience in your management, the situation is compounded.

Before I give you the solution to this and most management problems I want you to know that if these young men do harbor resentment because you are a woman, they probably will not work out. Lets run the ultimate test. There is a system I have been using since 1985 in solving sales and management problems that I will pass onto you. It is called the PRICE system. Each letter stands for something.

The “P” is for PINPOINT… pinpoint the problem with these two young sales persons.

The “R” is record the information (example: the desired result is for them to talk to x number of prospects a day, and sell x number of them). Are they not talking to enough prospects or are they not selling them after they talk to them or both? Pinpoint the problem then record the results.

The “I” is to involve them in the solution. Let them know you are recording the data for each phase of their employment. Show them what good behavior is and what unacceptable behavior is.

That brings me to the “C” in the equation. Inform them of the consequences of the desired results opposed to the consequences of the unacceptable results.

And finally you have the “E” for evaluation. Let them know that you will have a meeting with them in two weeks or whatever time frame you feel appropriate and then DO IT! Evaluate their performance. If there is an upswing in results give plenty of praise and continue forward. If the results do not get better or go backwards you can either completely start over with them or you can talk to them about a career change.

Once you put “The Price System to work you will find out that your professional approach to them eliminates the gender excuses. I hope I was of some help if you have further questions understanding the Price System don’t hesitate to ask again for help. By the way, you are this weeks winner. Don’t forget to e-mail “The Specialist” with your mailing information.

“The Specialist”

Response to “Mrs. Negative”

Hi everybody,

I was getting ready to wrap up the week when I received a comment I had to respond to NOW! I have no one else to blame except my self because I encourage your questions and comments. Mrs. Anonymous says she is the most negative person in the world but despite all that she has lead her region in the country for 4 straight years. She also went on to state that she was a WINNER.

Mrs. Anonymous, for now I will refer to you as Mrs. Negative, you are confusing some issues here. 1st, just because you are perceived as negative does not mean that you are. By making the statement that you are a winner speaks volumes about how YOU perceive yourself. Quite frankly that is all that matters. 2nd, there have been many people who have been very successful in sales with a negative persona. Remember opposites attract. You happen to be one of the very few true professionals that adapted your personality to your own sales style. The mere fact that you let “The Specialist” and all of our readers know that you have led your region 4 years in a row also tells me how much pride you have in knowing you are truly one of the best! Now that you are not Mrs. Negative anymore I will refer to you as Mrs. Anonymous. You have had many great accomplishments, don’t lose sight of the fact that a true professional takes advantage of the gifts that have been bestowed on them, and always insist on being the very best YOU can be.

Thanks for your great comment.

“The Specialist”

Consistency and Positive Thinking

I was with a gentlemen the other day and I have known this person for 4 or 5 months. He is one of the most talented sales persons I have ever met. It pains me to say this gentleman lives in a hotel room and lives hand to mouth. To complicate things he also has a drinking problem. Forget the drinking problem and lets focus on mental conditioning. This gentleman is 53 years old and won’t let you forget how great he thinks he is. That’s fair, because it’s true! If he works he is GREAT!

On the highway of life I have literally met thousands of people some in sales, some not who have allowed lack of mental conditioning control their life. It’s funny, we nourish our body two, three and sometimes four or more times a day, yet we nourish our minds almost never! Mental toughness is extremely important in sales and in life. While I was listening to this gentleman describe his failure for the thousandth time, he proceeded to tell me how he kept statistics and he had missed x number of sales in the past six weeks. It was incredible to hear him spout off the exact number of sales he had missed week after week. Not once in our conversation did he tell me how many prospects he SOLD!

There are literally tens of thousands of people who only focus on the negative things in their life. Take it from “The Specialist”, it won’t work. If I thought it was out of your control I wouldn’t be doing this post. I also find it quite amusing that in our social life regarding the opposite sex we manage to keep an amazingly positive outlook. If that was not the case very few people would be married or have girlfriends. Look how much rejection we take before we find the right mate. If it will work in our social life it will work in our business life.

I asked the gentleman, since he had not only kept all these incredible statistics and by writing them down had really reinforced them, what good were they? I challenged him to show me one positive thing that he could derive from that information he had gathered. He had no answer. If he had focused on the 2 sales he DID make each week he have a reference to build from. Not only that he could set goals and maybe over a short period of time move out of that hotel room. I informed him that the bad results had already happened and I couldn’t change them. He might learn something from it, but That’s IT! Move on and focus on the positive.

The longer you focus on your failures the longer your down curve will be. The faster you move on and start focusing on the positive not only will your down curve be shorter but your up curve will last a lot longer. EVERYBODY has ups and downs in life. It’s just how we handle them. Major league baseball players get paid literally millions of dollars if they can get a hit just ONCE in three times at bat. That means they fail 67% of the time. What do you think they focus on? My guest started to tell me that 2 days last week he was positive and nothing happened. SURPRISE! Positive thinking is not a sometimes thing. It is an ALL THE TIME THING! It is not your aptitude but your attitude that determines your altitude in life! Right now that gentleman is just a wandering generality. A person with permanent potential.

“The Specialist” works very consistently, but when things are not going well, as happens to everyone, I work even harder. Consistency and Positive Thinking are a sales professional’s BEST FRIEND!

“The Specialist”

Eye Contact

Hello everybody,

“The eyes are the window to the soul”. If you can’t look me in the eyes when you are talking to me you must not be telling the truth! We probably have heard at least one of these statements from someone in your life. There is a little truth in these statements but there is also a lot of myth in them. It is a fact that the biggest liars in the world know that you are indoctrinated to these part truths so they practice to the point of exhaustion in perfecting the art of lying to you while they drill a hole in you with their eyes. In the sales profession good eye contact is a must just because the average person believes these part truths are gospel!

“The Specialist” uses good eye contact with a much deeper purpose in mind. I’m sure you already guessed that. Besides the integrity part, by studying peoples eyes while you are conversing with them not only can you avoid embarrassing situations, but you can see with a slight movement of the prospects eyes that maybe the talking point you are discussing is not appealing to your customer. On the other hand, you may really want to DRIVE a point home when you see a favorable flicker of the prospects eyes. Is this heavy stuff? You betcha. Sales is a profession.

There are a million little things like this that make up the whole. I have literally made thousands of sales by actually switching gears right in the middle of a sentence when I see my talking point is not going to fly. For all the people that fancy themselves as professional salespeople there are very few that really are. If you have been reading this blog the last month, and I have just touched on a fraction of the whole picture, you will see that a tremendous amount of work goes into this profession. I stated in an earlier posting that I know very few people in any profession that are as well trained as a REAL professional salesperson.

In another posting I will show you how to counteract the liars and con men that think they can fool you because they look at you dead in the eyes. Then, and only then, when you have that ability will “the eyes TRULY be the windows to the soul” As always I look forward to your comments and questions.

“The Specialist”

The hidden importance of listening

I was privileged, as I so often I am, to get the opportunity to watch a very accomplished salesperson tonight, hence the topic of my posting changed just that quick.

This particular salesperson is light years ahead of his experience. Even though he made the sale, which netted him somewhere in the neighborhood of $2000, “The Specialist” couldn’t help but see a common error that so many new and ADVANCED salespeople make. While he had everything under control, the prospect asked him a question and he proceeded to explain his position and then finally answered their question. The problem with that is the order should have been reversed. Any time a prospect asks you a question always answer their question first, then go into your explanation.

Two things here…1st, sometimes if you just answer their question first, the reaction is such that you can see that no explanation is necessary. The prospect is happy and you don’t risk the chance of talking them out of the sale! 2nd, When a prospect asks you a question, they zone out until they hear the answer to THEIR QUESTION! All the explaining is for naught because they aren’t listening. They may “pretend” to be listening but their mind has left the building. Now they have lost interest in you, the subject, and consequently the sale. I always answer their question first while I am framing the answer to serve the ultimate goal of closing the prospect.

I hope you enjoyed the special bonus tip today and, as always, look forward to all your questions and comments.

“The Specialist”

SPECIAL: Bonus tip of the Day!!!

Don’t mean to interrupt your day but I just couldn’t resist this one.

Everybody is insecure. Have you ever wondered what people are saying about you when you walk away? A really advanced tip… When I walk away from my customer and I am with a friend or fellow salesperson I say something nice about the prospect, just loud enough so as they are walking away they can hear it. They won’t acknowledge what they heard but boy does it help solidify your sale! Try it!

Don’t forget to read today’s post entitled “The Power of Words”!

“The Specialist”

The Power of Words

Hi everybody, I hope you had a great weekend! It is going to be an exciting week and I thought I would start off the week sharing a story with you that taught me “The Power of Words”, and how, before you say something you always need to think before you blurt out your comments.

By the way even though this story relates to sales as in all my postings you will see the parallel with life in general as well.

I was a young salesman, but fancied myself as the next up and coming golden boy of the sales industry. (I was starting to believe the press clippings) Wrong thing to do! I remember it as if it were yesterday. I sold this military officer and his wife. It was a great sale, so I thought. Then the next day they cancelled. Well most people in the sales industry that do not take their profession seriously just forget it and go on to the next sale. Not me. I went back to that family and humbly asked them why they changed their mind? The man looked at me and said the only reason he would give me the time to explain his actions was because he could tell I cared. Then he explained. (It was ugly and amateurish). There was a part in the presentation where there were subtitles like “sports and games” and we had the latitude of ad-libbing a comment. Well the subtitle in question was the one entitled “The Military”. When I got to that one I just made a one liner that had gotten laughs before and I said “ways to get in and ways to get out”.

Well, to someone that took his profession seriously, and especially during the time of the Vietnam War when the public was so busy slamming the Military, you could see where someone who had a love and passion for his profession could take it the wrong way. This particular gentleman was offended and rightly so. I could have said a million positive things about the military, instead I said something cheesy for a laugh without thinking of the ramifications. He did not want to do business with anyone that made light of his profession.

I learned two important lessons that day. One was to call back on orders that change their mind and even though 90% of them will not tell you the truth…they will make up some excuse, the knowledge you will get from the small percentage that do share their reason with you will be invaluable. The second thing that I learned and that I want to pass on to each and every salesperson and manager out there is once the words are out of your mouth they can never be taken back. By the way, that means things you say to your spouse and children. Mean what you say and say what you mean. When I am in the process of closing someone no matter how natural it looks I assure you every word out of my mouth is carefully measured. Let my experience be a lesson to you all…Never underestimate “The Power of Words”!

I look forward to your comments.

“The Specialist”

Ethics and Morality

Hi everybody!

This is my 1st real Sunday posting and the subject of ethics and morality being the topic was no accident. I have been thinking about this subject for quite awhile because no matter how much I help you in sales and management there is no one lesson more important then INTEGRITY!

From the earliest days of sales back in the day of the snake oil salesman, and the traveling salesman selling magic cures back in the days of the wild wild west, salesman have always carried a little extra baggage of being perceived as silver-tongued fast-talking smoothies that will tell you whatever you want to hear in order to MAKE THE SALE! I think that perception was well-deserved and I, along with thousands of other honorable salesperson’s have committed their lives trying to change that image. It is not easy. But it is the most important contribution you can give back to your profession.

As the next few months go by I will be going into isolated incidents and situations where the crossroads meet and the differences between an honest salesperson or an honest manager become forks in the road and you and only you will have to decide which path you will travel. I hope that with some guidance from “The Specialist” and some great stories you will see the perils of taking the path of least resistance. There will be many character tests along the way and you will have to decide “Pleasing methods or Pleasing results”.

I made that decision years ago and have had to defend it hundreds of times. I am very proud that I withstood “the test of time”. I wish the best for you, and you can count on “The Specialist” to give you all the insight I have to hopefully have you stand shoulder to shoulder with me as we make the biggest contribution possible to the greatest industry on the planet!

“The Specialist”

Open Forum Day…Questions and Answers

Hey everybody, I hope your week was as good as mine!

Before I start I have an announcement to make. Starting tomorrow and every Sunday there will be a post on “ethics and morality” in sales and management. A much needed topic. So remember, every Sunday will be “ethics and morality” day!

Okay lets start with some questions. I am sure you realize that I cannot possibly answer everybody’s questions. I try and pick the cream of the crop or at least some of the most interesting ones. One of our faithful readers Glenn had a couple of questions that, because of his newness in sales, I thought I would address. The first one Glenn wanted to know was why he felt so “great and invincible” after a sale? I discussed this in an earlier posting and it is very easy to understand. Whether it be sales, basketball, bowling or anything that is achievement based, when one makes that shot or gets that strike or closes that sale, not only is your adrenaline flowing at a higher than normal rate, but you did everything almost perfect to achieve that accomplishment. Why wouldn’t you feel great and be on top of the world. That is why in sales it is imperative to immediately find someone else to talk to right after the sale so you have a much better chance to succeed. It is no coincidence that after a basketball player makes a shot the team tries immediately to feed him the ball and get him another shot. His chances for success are much greater. So are yours!

Glenn also wanted to know how to get rid of nervousness in front of groups of people. The example he used was doing a solo in front of about 40 people. Well the one sure way of getting rid of nervousness in anything is the formula for acquiring self-confidence…by the way that is another one of the “8 basics of success” and soon I will be spending a couple of weeks going over all of the 8 basics. Very valuable information. For now Glenn, the best quick fix I can give you is mingle with the audience before you go on and make some friends. While you are doing your solo, focus your eye contact on those people. Even if you suck! Because they like you they at least will be compassionate with their response. Sorry Glenn, that’s the best I can do on such short notice. Good luck I’m sure you’ll do just fine!

Chris had two great questions, in fact he is the winner this week for the free gift for the best question of the week. Chris wanted to know how he could get his body language, posture and voice inflection all in sync. Chris, I am not as big as you but I have trained a lot of people much bigger than you and before I give you the solution I want you to know that the good news is you recognized that your small talk is your strength. We have a lot to work with here. What I recommend is that you smile a lot, slow down and with your sense of humor practice making the jokes on YOU! In other words, practice the art of poking fun at yourself and people will automatically be drawn to you. In regards to the posture and voice inflection, what I did and found to be very helpful was practice in front of a mirror. What a difference it made. With technology available today you can even video your practice sessions and you will be amazed at what you see.

Chris, your next question was exciting and I can’t wait to help you with it but I need more information. Chris is getting out of the Navy… and by the way, THANK YOU for your service to our country… and he has an opportunity of a lifetime in a management position with a sales company. He wants to succeed but only has a month to prepare himself. Chris, my 1st piece of advice is to STOP what you are doing and take a deep breath. Even though your mentor is gone until April, “The Specialist” is here daily to guide you through all of your problems. Even when your mentor gets back “The Specialist” will be a form of continuing education in sales and management. DON’T read all those books! Consistency is one of the most important things in management. I will recommend three books, all very short that I based all of my management expertise on since 1985. If you will e-mail me I will forward the names of these three treasures. Please keep me updated on your progress, I will be anxiously awaiting the news.

The next question came from someone listed as N/O, and they wanted to know how to live under the expectations of peers and employers. Easy, be true to yourself! Set your own realistic goals and attack them. If you do this not only will you live up to your own expectations but you will surpass anyone else’s. The 1st person you have to please is YOURSELF!

Rhea wanted to know how to feel comfortable with small talk and not worry about offending someone. Good question Rhea. When you are just learning you just very well might offend someone. Show me anyone that is doing something for the very 1st time that has never made a mistake! Impossible. We have all done it. What I can tell you is that if you really focus on the individual that you are speaking with they will always drop clues. For instance, if it is their hair they may be playing with it. If it is their nails they may position their hand almost in a pose type position. If it’s their physical conditioning they may wear a shirt that personifies their pecks or biceps. I think you get the idea. Their is a lot involved in becoming a professional salesperson. People that have watched me sell think it is so easy until they try it. They don’t realize that all the things in these blogs I do naturally down to the very last one.

That’s all the time I have tonight, thanks for your questions and comments. Remember, I love hearing your comments and hearing your questions. The success of this blog is predicated on your interest and YOUR involvement. Also remember Sunday is now “Ethics and Morality” in sales and management.

“The Specialist”

Goal Setting

Boy has this week flown by.

Hi everybody. Remember, Saturday is open forum day and I answer any and all questions that I didn’t address during the week. Also the best question receives a special gift from “The Specialist”

Lets get started on tonight’s topic, “goal setting”. It is almost impossible to put in order all of the things that are vital to mastering becoming a professional salesperson. What happens is, in my travels or conversations each day, someone’s predicament or comments trigger my daily posting.

Goal setting is one of the most important things, not just in sales but in life! Imagine playing darts at your favorite neighborhood bar but you have to play BLINDFOLDED! How could you possibly hit your goal? The sales profession is exactly the same. You have to have something you can shoot for. It is imperative that you write your goals down so you can see them daily. I kept impeccable records during my 39 year sales career. I have ledgers of every person I sold since 1972. It is very difficult to plan where you want to go if you don’t know where you have been. So you say, I set goals and after a few weeks of not hitting them I throw the paper away or conveniently misplace it so I don’t have to see it. I understand. You HAVE to set goals that are obtainable. For example, lets say you wanted to lose 100 lbs. in 3 months. What is easier…lose 100 lbs. in 3 months or lose only 33 lbs. a month? Or better yet loose 8 lbs. a week? Or better yet, how about only 1 lb. a day? Anybody can do that! The secret of successful goal setting is taking your big goal and breaking it down into a bunch of little obtainable goals.

I once knew a man that religiously saved 10% of every dollar that ever came into his hands, even birthday money he received from his relatives. By age 45 he had amassed over $500,000 in cash! His big goal was to have over $100,000 in his savings account by a certain age. Instead of being overwhelmed by the enormity of his goal he just did 10% at a time and not only did he achieve his goal but after reaching his goal he took the next step and reevaluated his goals and set new ones.

With sales I did the exact same thing. I didn’t get overwhelmed by the enormity of what it would take to win my 1st “man of the year” award. Instead, I took it month by month and was the best salesperson in the company, one month at a time. That year I only won 11 of the 12 months but no one else was even close. Result…I reached my goal and became “man of the year”. Whether it be sales, finances, management goals or something else, there are a few basics that will ensure that you reach your goals. One is, write your goals down and post them somewhere where you will see them everyday. Second, break the ultimate goal into a bunch of little goals that are in your reach. Finally, set a deadline for your goal. If you say you want to lose 100 lbs. but don’t put a deadline on it, you have given yourself a way out. NO GOOD! You must have a deadline. I know this will be of help to you and in further postings I will elaborate more and will be glad to help anyone with setting up your goals with you. Have a great night…

“The Specialist”