Category Archives for "sales"

Trust – but Use Discrimination

By John Aberle | sales , Sales and Marketing

My friend, DeBorah Beatty, http://www.deborahbeatty.com/, just sent me a book she felt I would enjoy because she thought it sounded like me: Trust-based Selling: Using Customer Focus and Collaboration to Build Long Term Relationships by Charles H. Green. That’s what soft sell marketing and soft sell sales are all about. It’s wonderful having friends who care about you.

I decided to follow up on information she sent me with this book. This led me to an interesting blog post by Charles Green, “Is it Stupid to Be Trusting?” It’s common knowledge in sales and marketing circles that “people buy with their heart, and rationalize it with their brains.” Naturally, this can lead to problems when dealing with con artists and “slick” salespeople, which results in bitter customers who feel taken.

A couple years ago at the Los Angeles County Fair, Continue reading

What Numb3rs Demonstrated About Selling Benefits

By John Aberle | sales , Sales Training

As we were watching one of my favorite shows, Numb3rs, Friday night, I saw a fabulous demonstration of salesmanship and the use of benefit statements all in a non-sales role. In “Animal Rites,” Episode 19, Animal Rights Eco Terrorists attacked CalTech research labs and killed a professor. FBI agents David Sinclair and Liz Warner called on an animal rights group to find out where the terrorists hung out. At first, the leader did not want to give any information on fellow activists. Then Sinclair said to him, “They already killed someone, and they are hurting your cause.” After a pause, the leader told him where the people advocating violence gathered because Sinclair was right.

The point this program made so clearly is that salesmanship and benefit statements are not limited to people who sell for a living. Everyone sells, every day. It’s a natural part of life. The key to being good at it is to think from the viewpoint of your prospect or customer. The standard question that we all think about when someone is trying to sell us is, “What’s in it for me?” Sales professionals call that WIIFM.

That’s what Alimi Ballard’s character remembered when he sold the animal rights group’s leader on helping him. Continue reading

Soft Sell Marketing Resembles Farming More Than War

By John Aberle | sales , Sales and Marketing , Sales Calls

If your expressions about selling sound like a military commander planning for a battle, you probably learned from someone who taught traditional sales and marketing techniques. Their terms sound like a military engagement: overcome objections, take control of the prospect, and conduct a marketing campaign (which I still use to describe the multiple aspects of a coordinated program to find and sell to customers). Internet marketers have added a new one, squeeze pages. What a controlling sound for something as simple as inviting you to sign up for an ezine (electronic newsletter), usually in exchange for a gift. It’s no wonder business people call “old school” sales and marketing tactics hard sell.

People who believe, like I do, that selling is a spiritual service prefer farming analogies to war and fighting because, like farming, soft sell marketing sales and marketing nurture and cultivate relationships with perspective customers. Like farmers who care about their crops, soft sell marketers care about taking care of their customers.Continue reading

How to Give a Compliment that Builds Trust

By John Aberle | sales , Sales Calls

Have you ever noticed how little things in life can mean so much? That’s the way it is with compliments. How you give a compliment tells whether you’re sincere or just trying to make points. For some people, it seems they’ve read a book that says if you want to be a good manager or a good sales person or a good date, compliment the people you meet.

Personally, if it’s not sincere, skip it. Believe it or not, I’ll like you better for being more real. Insincere compliments come across fake. They put people off. Watch your own reaction when someone is “kissing up.” Your immediate reaction will normally be, “What’s he (or she) want?”  And nowhere is it more important to come across authentically than on a sales call.

How then do you give a compliment so that it builds trust rather than destroys your credibility? Continue reading

Master Sales Call Reluctance to Become the Hero in Your Own Story

By John Aberle | Prospecting , sales

The Main Character in a Novel Is Much like a Salesperson
Because I decided to take a break from the genres I normally read to relax, I finally recognized the parallel between the protagonists in my novels and making sales calls.

The Protagonist’s Internal Conflict Makes the Story Interesting
In every genre I read, the main people in the stories must be likeable enough that the reader will care about them. At the same time, they must have some flaws that make them human. Ideally, these weak character traits will help set up the tension for the conflict that they must overcome. Especially among Dorothy’s favorite authors but also in many of my preferred sci-fi/fantasy novels, the conflict takes place within the protagonist’s mind and emotions. In other words, the central character must overcome some fear or other weakness to win the prize, which can be anything from a kingdom to a battle to a relationship, such as a happy marriage.

All Salespeople Must Confront Call Reluctance
This is the very thing that I found when I started out in sales. Sales managers call it “call reluctance.” It’s a fear of cold calling and prospecting. Continue reading

Sales Can Provide a Great Life as Well as Great Income

By John Aberle | sales

Becoming a Servant Salesperson Made Life Rewarding and Enjoyable
Selling is one of the most challenging professions imaginable. And yet for over 25 years I have loved every day of it, especially once I learned to become a “servant salesperson.”

Sales Involves a Bit of Detective Work
If the challenges are so great, why did I stay in this profession for so long? First off, I wanted more out of life than most jobs could give me, like control over my time and income. But along the way, I found that I really love selling — true, it normally provided me with an above average income; however, I enjoyed the people side of the business. There’s an element of being a detective involved in many of my business-to-business sales because I had to find out what was really important to them.

You’re Not Always the Most Important Person in Their LivesContinue reading

Least Favorite Customer Type: The Bully

By John Aberle | sales

We all knew them when we were growing up. It seems every school or every community had at least one bully. The problem is that most of us still have to deal with them at work or as our customers.

If you’ve any length of work experience, you’ve had at least one boss who was a bully. If you are in sales, you’ve encountered them as customers. Sometimes they are normally nice people who are so frustrated with your company’s policies they lash out. But others bully people as a normal course of dealing with others.

I never felt comfortable that I knew how to handle them. Then I read Seth Godin’s blog for January 28, 2009. It rang true.

In a few paragraphs, Seth clearly defined bullies and then stated how to handle them. In essence, “A bully is someone who uses physical or psychological force to demean and demoralize someone else. A bully isn’t challenging your ideas, or working with you to find a better outcome.”

His solution is captured by the title, “Take the ball and go home.” I encourage you to check out this article at http://tinyurl.com/bhalav.

Suzi Defines "Sales"

By John Aberle | sales , Sales and Marketing

Suzi Pomerantz on her YouTube interview, “Business Development Defined,” described the difference between networking, marketing, and sales. I was particularly interested in her take on what sales is: “Sales is really implementation. That’s when you’re out meeting people, talking to people, finding out what their interests are, finding out what they do, and how, whether or not your services can help them.” Obviously my interest is self-serving. After all, I believe the role of a salesperson is to Help Customers Buy.

Do You Have the Sales Passion to Become Outstanding?

By John Aberle | sales

In the chapter on “The 10,000-Hour Rule,” in his book, Outliers: The Story of Success, Gladwell makes the point that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to achieve world-class performance, whether it’s with the violin, the piano, or programming – provided, of course, that you even have the basic aptitude to excel at that activity. While he covers many other things necessary to great achievement, the point of this chapter is that the competent put in 4,000 hours of practice. The good performers will invest 8,000 hours while those who want to be true masters of the activity invest a minimum of 10,000 hours. It takes the brain that long to digest and organize those skills.

So what does this have to do with sales? Everything – if you want to become an extraordinary salesperson. You need to find sufficient desire and motivation to put in the time needed to become great.

Learning to Help Customers Buy still takes effort; it’s just developing a different sales approach than the Old School one. It takes an incredible level of persistence to perform 10,000 hours of sales activities, especially to do so with a conscious view to improve. You must constantly look for new and better ways to communicate and to grasp the real wants and benefits your prospect desires – without using control of the prospect, manipulation of his or her emotions, or pressure to buy.

Having a passion for what you are selling is vital to achieving world-class sales performance. After all, why would anyone put in years to master something they hate doing? To become an acknowledged master salesperson, you need enough drive to keep yourself focused on developing and improving your knowledge and skills – 10,000 hours’ worth of persistent practice.

I really value your input. Let me know what you think about this article. Does it jive with your experience? Please comment.