Sales conversations always start with the right intent in mind (at least in my happy place they do)—figure out the problem, put a recommendation together, connect the dots so that my prospect believes in the value I will bring to the situation. Somewhere in that stream of events it seems that things go awry.

Our focus and intent goes away from helping our prospect. Suddenly, we’re more concerned about being right—concerned about beating the competition—concerned about getting our way—concerned about looking good to everyone BUT the prospect.

Who loses in this situation? Is it you, the competition, the opposing viewpoint? No. It’s the person that had the problem to begin with. When we lose our intent on fixing problems and instead focus on being right, the person we set out to help doesn’t get the best of us.

Remember what you’re “fighting” for. If you’re fighting to “get,” the majority of the time you’ll lose.

Here’s my take on how we should be working the recession for all it’s worth:

•    Workforce: What a perfect time to get rid of your underperformers. You can’t afford not to be getting the highest return on your investments on your most expensive assets—your people. They say the cream rises to the top. In hard times, other stuff floats to the top. Ever heard the expression “turds in a punch bowl”? I don’t think I need to say more.
•    Training: For your peak performers, now is a great time to give them an edge. Maybe it’s outside training, coaching, or cross training within your organization. Truly turn your team into a lean machine. If you’re not green and growing, you’re ripe and rotting. (I think Einstein said that.)
•    New ideas: Have you been sitting on a new, innovative approach to your market place? Have you been thinking “the same stuff is still working, I’m going to keep doing it”? I would guess the “same stuff” isn’t working anymore. Whip out those new ideas. Take a chance. Think outside the box. If not now, when?
•    Clients: Take care of what you have. When’s the last time you asked your current clients what challenges they have, even if it doesn’t have anything to do with something you can sell them? How can you bring more value to your relationship? Have you surveyed them? Asked them about their dreams and goals? Or, have you been taking them to lunch once per month and talking about your kids because “that’s what we always do.” Tisk, tisk.

What’s your new normal? What’s your strategy to survive and thrive?

The list goes on forever.

Fear Affects You.

Q: But did you ever wonder how that fear affects you on a daily basis. And is it possible that the fear paralyzes you–or makes you less effective than you could be?

A: Yes.

Look at this list and see if you can relate. These are some of the things fear causes you to do–(and the result).

• fail to dream big (you continue to play small)
• fail to plan your strategy (so you don’t really have one–you just wing it)
• fail to bring up price when you should (so the prospect controls that conversation–you get defensive)
• fail to understand the prospect’s true motives (you’d prefer they use your motives instead, which seldom works)
• fear of bringing up the competition (so you pretend they don’t exist, even though they were there right before you)
• fear of trying new prospecting techniques (just relying on cold calling)
• fear of shutting up (maybe the prospect will say something you won’t know how to handle–or maybe  they’ll buy something)
• fear of not being seen as ‘credible’ (spend so much time on credibility you lose credibility because you fail to ask them their issues)
• fear of calling higher (so you are content with closing a small percentage of business)
• fear of demonstrating value (instead of just talking about it)

You might have all or none of these working and you might refuse to admit you have them–but in the quiet of the evening some night soon, print this list off and reveal–to yourself at least–whether you have these at work.

What To Do

All of these have distinct answers, but one thing I’m preparing for my remarks at Rewire The Sales Mind seminar is that all of these can be cured with one simple notion:  Stop focusing your attention on You. And start focusing on Them.

Think about each one of those above–and they are all a result of an over-focus on you–what you can get–what you need to avoid. That’s the problem. All fear comes from a misguided focus OUTSIDE yourself.

Bill Caskey, Bryan Neale and Brooke Green are preparing for their program, Rewire The Sales Mind, in Indianapolis on November 4. They will be addressing how the mind set of the professional seller needs to change in light of market changes.

So Why Do People Buy?

Our philosophy is really quite simple–people buy when they are either a) in pain with their current situation– or b) have a vision that will be accomplished easier with you in their life.

The “rewiring” here is for all professional sales people to understand what they’re listening for–so that when they hear it they’ll know they’re close.

How do you know when you hear it? It’ll sound like one of these:

1. “I”m really frustrated about…”
2. “I hate it when…”
3. “One of the things we ‘MUST’ change here is….”
4. “I can’t believe we haven’t….”
5. “We really NEED to ….”
6. “One of our biggest issues is…”
7. “I would love to….”
8. “My vision is for us to be ….”
9. “I can see a time when we are ….”
10. “We have tremendous opportunity in….”

If your prospects aren’t talking to you using those words, then you’ve failed them.

Bill Caskey, Bryan Neale and Brooke Green are preparing for their program, Rewire The Sales Mind, in Indianapolis on November 4. They will be addressing how the mind set of the professional seller needs to change in light of market changes.

Even a lame answer would be better than the blank look I get when I ask the question.

In the last few weeks, I’ve had a chance to ask a few people that question–and I’m convinced that there’s something deep down inside us that says it’s uncool to have a dream.

We were told early in life ‘not to dream.’ We talked about dreaming as if it was cool–but when any of us did it, we got crapped on.

Here’s What I’d Like You To Tell Me

If I have the pleasure of meeting you in the next year, and I ask you what your vision is, here’s what I wish you’d say (or something like this):

1. I want to make tons of money. I have a vision of myself being a $500,000/year earner–and I see myself giving a chunk of that to my church and other charities. I also want to help young kids who don’t have the opportunity I’ve had.
2. I want to work 20 hours a week. I see myself getting my prospecting and selling in such good order that I only need to work 2o hours/ week. I have a system in place that generates discussion with new prospects and I have a person who walks the prospect through the sales process. I spend my 20 hours ONLY on key accounts.
3. I speak at national events. I see myself accumulating knowledge and skills in presenting my solutions to our industry. I see a time soon–this year–when I can speak at national events on my area of expertise.
4. I have a team that produces at my company and I generate income from them. I see myself as an entrepreneur within my own company and have learned how to build a team and lead them to production.

When you tell me that, I’ll give you a high five and say, “You are on your way to success.” But most of you won’t. You’ll tell me that you want to make more money this year than you did last–and that will be the extent of it.

Come on people. Dream a little. And get rid of those that laugh at those dreams.

I was called on last week by a guy who seemed like an OK chap. But he never stopped smiling. It was some kind of a “put on” smile. Pretty obvious.

He seemed overly enthusiastic–and you know what I think about fake enthusiasm (I hate it!). So, when it came to him asking me some questions about what I was looking for–and any problems I was experiencing with my current vendor–I thought he’d hide the smile.

But No!  Similar to the “tell tale heart” he kept right on smiling!  Smiling right past the pain.

At one point, I felt like saying, “Why are you feeling so happy when I’m telling you my problems?” But I didn’t. I just said “Goodbye.”

Lesson

Come on people…if you’ve bought in to our philosophy that you are a problem finder — then a problem solver, wipe the fake, cheesy grin off your face. It’s not helping me tell you my problems. And it certainly doesn’t give me much faith you’re listening.

Today’s Lesson: How We Think Determines How We Act (And Achieve)

This is step # 1 in rewiring the sales mind–to understand that if you want to make quantum changes in your results–you must not just change your actions—you must change your thinking (which is the entire essence of “rewire the sales mind.”)

“How you think about what”, you are asking?

• How you think about yourself and the value you bring. Are you merely a representative of corporate value–or do you bring value by YOU showing up?
• How you think about your customer or prospect. Do you see them as a target to be shot (sounds gruesome doesn’t it?). That’s the WRONG way to think about your customer. The RIGHT way to think about them is to think about the pains and problems they have which they can’t possibly solve without your value. Have some empathy for them. Listen to them when they tell you about their issues.
• How you think about money. We address this in our book by the same name, Rewire The Sales Mind. This inner issue has to do with your relationship with money–the money you talk about with your customer–and the money you make in your life. How you think about it directly influences how much of it you make.
• How you think about your product value. Do you see it as something that your customer needs to have to solve problems–or something that your marketing department tells you to emphasize? (Hopefully, the former).
• How you think about prospecting/business development. If you think about it as something you HAVE to do in order to meet your goals, you’ll always struggle with it. If you believe it is a service / a cause to help those around you who need you, then you’ll do fine. Great achievers see prospecting as a service to the disadvantaged.

I hope you can make it to Indianapolis on November 4. There will be some ground breaking content.

If you can’t, I urge you to secure the DVD of the event. You can do so at www.rewireseminar.com.

Had they been in our sales class-and come to us last week and told us of their opportunity– here is the ONE THING we would have told them.

“Keep Your Intent High”

That’s because most of we sales people fail when it comes to our intent. I describe INTENT as that which is in your heart that governs how you attract or repel prospects to you.

High Intent is when everything is about THEM, YOUR CUSTOMER, YOUR PROSPECT, YOUR TARGET.
Low Intent is when everything is about YOU, YOUR NEEDS, YOUR COMMUNITY, YOUR DESIRES.

One sure way to “whack up” your sales process and your presentation is to make everything about you. That’s what the Obamas did.

FACT:   There were probably dozens of other issues that got in the way. In fact our rule at Caskey is:  “Never allow the final presentation do the heavy lifting.”

You should know prior to the presentation if you are getting the business.

The reason for that rule is the tendency for us to look needy and desperate in that final “pitch” for the business. And that’s exactly what happened here.

Chicago won’t get the Olympics in 2016. Maybe that’s a good thing–or a bad thing. But never miss the opportunity to learn from the failed sales mistakes of others.

And keep your Intent high.

It’s a constant struggle for sales teams to make their customers aware not only that they exist and that their company exists, but of the assortment of products and solutions they offer.

The answer lies within you. As with most things in life, the answer to this problem is not on the outside, but on the inside. What I mean by the inside is: It’s in your current database right now with people you already know who are somewhat aware of your services and your value.

In other words, why spend all this time trying to court a person who doesn’t know you—spend millions of dollars in advertising, web banners, billboards, radio and TV trying to make a person aware of you who is probably not likely to buy—when you have in your current database people who are already there? It’s a lot easier to take someone from awareness to comprehension of your solutions and conviction that they need your help, than it is to take someone from unaware to aware.

It seems like some kind of challenge that we take on: We’ll do the hardest stuff we possibly can, and we don’t want to do anything that’s easy because that would imply that we’re wimpy.

I say, take the wimpy road. You’ll make a lot more money, you’ll have a lot more fun, you’ll serve a lot more people, you’ll be able to give more to charity if that’s your wish. But why spend all your time making the unaware aware, when you’ve already got people who are in need of what you have—you just haven’t cultivated them yet?

Caskey-Neale-Podcast

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