You're Going To Be Great At This!

We finally made it to the end of the year. For some people (like every realtor I know) 2020 was a fantastic year. But for the vast majority of us, it just sucked. The pandemic ravaged the economy, closing businesses and, in turn, causing massive unemployment. I may be wrong here, but most people without a job don't typically buy more stuff. As we start a new year, I usually recommend that this is the time to assess your business and see what worked and what didn't work in the last 365 days. In this case, an autopsy may be more appropriate.  But it's not all doom and gloom. Their were those who adapted to the "new normal" by readjusting the way they worked. Zoom and other virtual meeting platforms created a way for sales people to see their clients without having to physically meet with them. The "contactless" sales approach kept many a good sales person afloat.  As the vaccines begin to get distributed and the pandemic slowly ebbs, I predict the economy ...

With the exception of my infamous toddler years, I've been in sales all of my life. When I was a child my school would have fundraisers that involved sending the students into the wild to sell magazine subscriptions. Luckily for me I lived in a fairly safe residential area and my older sister would walk with me as I knocked on doors. As I was harmless and probably adorable, I sold more new subscriptions than 95% of the other kids in my class.  I changed tactics when I was in college. Looking for some extra cash, what we called "beer and gas money", I stumbled upon a company that was looking for someone to, once again, sell magazine subscriptions. It's funny how that was such a big deal at the time. Thinking back, I got a few dollars for each subscription. We also had credit card applications that struggling college kids felt they needed.  This company sent me a kit filled with display materials and applications. Each application had a numerical code printed on it whic...

I think we can all agree that 2020 has been a bad year. For me personally it began with my father being hospitalized, followed by my own hospital stay (pancreatitis) and then the subsequent passing of my father. A month later, things started to shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  Millions of people around the world, and hundreds of thousands here in America, have been infected by the illness. Businesses and financial institutions have suffered, forcing the layoffs, furloughs and terminations of millions of jobs. What we thought was going to be a "V-shaped" recovery in the spring has become a deep financial recession. As we go through this ordeal there is still hope. Vaccines are now becoming available and my gut tells me that by spring of 2021 we'll start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It won't be a quick recovery, but more like a aircraft carrier trying to make a U-turn. Slow but steady advances.  I also think that once things get back to normal (wha...

It can be difficult to get your client to understand you, your product or even the concept of what you are trying to sell. For sales professionals we have to figure out how to get our message to these people in a way that is not just easy to comprehend, but efficient too.  There's an expression I've heard over the years from managers and mentors alike which goes something like "Sell the sizzle, not the steak". The imagery of the aroma of a steak cooking on the grill makes me want a steak. However, if someone walked up to me and said, "I sell steaks. Would you like a steak off of my meat truck?" the chances of me purchasing will drop. Don't get me wrong, I love steak, but the approach and allure of the sizzling juices on the grill are much more enticing. Selling the benefits instead of the features is one way to get our clients to understand what we are offering. Sure, a realtor can go over the features, or in their case, the amenities of a house. Tile fl...

As we discussed in the two previous posts, marketing and selling work together to help us figure out what the customer wants, how to get them to take action and actually buy. But for those of us who are small business owners or independent sales people, we don't have access to a formal marketing agency.  In my previous post I mentioned a friend who was shopping around for help with a digital marketing strategy. He was quoted an outrageous (in my view) price of $2500 each month. He's a smart guy and I gave him a much less expensive set of options.  I'm not a tech guru by any means, but I do have a background in marketing and sales. With this in mind, I have researched a lot of this. The strategy is a simple one for most of us. If you have a website, and your goal is to get people to it, then "funneling" them in that direction is the job. In my book, I mention how my friends at Chastain Media explained this to me, keeping it simple and easy to understand.  When they...

As discussed in the prior post, marketing and selling go hand in hand, with marketing developing a strategy to find the "hot button" that incentivizes the customer into buying. Salespeople, on the other hand, have to really push that customer the last few inches into "pulling the trigger". With that in mind, the seller also needs to use marketing techniques and find out what makes the buyer want to buy.  Since I am an independent insurance agent, I have to do both marketing and sales. Most of the insurance carriers I represent have their own marketing staffs and I can use them as a resource if I need to. These folks have also developed brochures and other materials that are professional and compliant with insurance laws and regulations. In other words, they have done most of the heavy lifting for me in that regard.  My job is to find prospects and determine a way to get this information to them. More importantly I need to make sure those prospects need the product I...

Someone asked me the other day if I was in sales or marketing. The age old argument is that one is a subset of the other or vice versa. In my view, there isn't enough of a difference between the two to worry about it, but I'll give it a shot. Even though they are "first cousins", I've taken the approach that marketing is laying the foundation of the sale as well as the development of a product or service. In the old days, a marketing firm would do the research to see if a product was viable and to see if there were actually people willing to buy it. Focus groups are a good example of finding out what was going on in people's heads.  And that is what marketing really consists of. Trying to find out what the hot buttons are that will make a person not just want a product, but actually take action to get it, is the solution all people in business want. There is a lot of psychology in this process.  Let's assume that you have developed a better construction to...

One of the hardest parts of a sale for many people is the close. After learning about the client, asking the right questions, sharing your solution to their problem, and all of the other parts of the sales process, the fear of asking someone to buy can be the one thing that ends a career in the business.  In some systems, the sales process is broken down into activities, kept track of and examined. Doing this can show where the salesperson is strong and where they are in need of improvement. Every part of the process can be looked at, like making phone calls, getting referrals, and even how many meals one has with a prospect. And closing the sale always seems to be the part where people have the most issues. Oddly enough, there are sales people out there who are great closers but can't open a case to save their life. For those people, I suggest you team up with someone who can get the clients and isn't very good at closing, then split the business. Teamwork can work wonders som...

When sales people get started in the business they are often without prospects. How does one sell to people when they don't have anyone to talk to? Some are told to create a "warm market" list, which is basically a list of people they already know and feel comfortable approaching. Others are told to "get out there and knock on doors". Of course, we all know how effective that is. There are so many issues with all of this. First of all, why is the person with no contacts getting into a business that requires contacts? The answer is not difficult to find. They have been told by someone, either the sales recruiter or an acquaintance, that there is a lot of money to be made. I typically lay the blame at the foot of the sales recruiter though, as they are the ones who know about their company, their culture and, most importantly, the success rate of the other sales reps that have come and gone.  One other point I'd like to make is that these companies are set in ...

Getting your message out to the public can be the toughest job when selling your products or services. It can be especially hard when you have a lot of competitors. If everyone is trying to get the same group of customers you will need to find a way to stand out in the crowd.  When I watch television commercials I like to critique the ads. "Just another screaming car salesman!" I'll say, or "Is that supposed to make me want to buy that?" if the spot is boring. Coming from a sales and marketing background, I want to know what is effective and can motivate a potential client into taking action, like picking up the phone for more information.  People won't always remember what you say, but they will remember how you made them feel when you said it. That is why many companies have spokespeople or mascots and infuse humor in their marketing.  Old school life insurance agents will tell you that you have to sell on the emotions of the client. They love to paint the...