You're Going To Be Great At This!

Let me start with saying that there are only two times when someone is okay using profanities. The first is if the "curser" is under 3 years of age. There's something oddly adorable about a toddler dropping f-bombs, especially when the parents of said child feign any knowledge of "where she heard that". Fun and cute at the same time. The other situation would be if the person using blue language is over the age of 85 and female. Hearing grandma threaten to "stomp a mudhole in your ass!" would make every kid laugh because they knew she wasn't that serious. This example is only made better by memories of my Greek grandmother watching professional wrestling and yelling at the TV.  Get your copy of "Nearly Motivated" here  https://tinyurl.com/3tp37psa In other than these two situations, keep the cursing to yourself, or your friend group. And maybe that group of guys from church you hang out with. But definitely keep it away from work and prof...

A couple of years ago, before Covid arrived, I was asked to speak at a breakfast meeting of a local civic organization. I brought a few copies of my book along just in case someone wanted to purchase one. The person who had invited me to speak apparently had a last minute appointment or something and couldn't be there, but he let the rest of the group know who I was and why I would be there. As I walked in a young professional looking man approached me and introduced himself. "Hi, I'm Bob. We're looking forward to your talk," he said. "Please feel free to eat something. It's on us." He pointed to a table filled with store bought muffins and Krispy Kreme doughnuts, my favorite. Since I had not eaten breakfast at home (I was told there would be food) I thanked him and treated myself to an assortment of the delicious round treats. In retrospect, I probably had too many, but hey, you only live once, right? The young man was the president of the group and...

For the last year I have been trying to maintain my business. Luckily for me, I'm a one-person operation, so I am not on the hook for payroll, much less overhead for a staff. But while in the throes of a pandemic, I have had to look for a whole new clientele that is hunkered down in isolation. Meeting people has been tough to say the least. Sure, people are going places, but everyday events like going to the movies, festivals and other places have been rare. And I'm the first to admit that Zoom meetings are not my forte. In person networking meetings, on the other hand, are right in my wheelhouse.  I love a good networking event, so much so that I even discussed how to get the most out of one in my book . So you can imagine how thrilling it was to actually attend a good luncheon again this week.  This particular group typically meets once a month and always was a great source of clients and referrals for me. It's a very loose knit group with not a lot of structure. No dues ...

In the last post I discussed meeting with a client and keeping everyone focused on the subject at hand. Using some basic leadership skills by setting the tone of the meeting, along with reining in conversations were helpful (I hope) tips that can be implemented immediately, or as soon as your clients allow you back in their homes or offices after the pandemic is done.  The same basic rules apply for larger group meetings. I have led meetings for groups that range from a half dozen people to crowds of over a hundred with no two talks being the same. Some were at networking events where each person stands up and gives a one minute commercial, which sounds easy, but can be much more difficult than you would think. Getting my message to the masses in under 60 seconds with a bit of humor is tough. Then there are the talks that last anywhere from 15 to 40 minutes. To make it harder on myself I go without notes. That takes preparation and a lot of mental organization. There are times when...

Have you ever had an appointment with a client that was scheduled for an hour but lasted for two or three hours? Have you been in a meeting or presentation when someone was asking questions that were either too detailed or off topic? Have you ever sat down with a group of people wondering when you will get home? These are problems that happen much too often and can be avoided if you take control of your meeting from the outset. It doesn't mean you have to be rude or obnoxious, but instead become a leader.  One example of this happens before I the appointment happens. When I call my prospect I let him or her know that I would like to meet for a set amount of time, say 30 minutes. (As a matter of fact, if you go to my website and book an appointment online, it clearly states 30 minutes). This is the first message to the prospect that there is a time limit. I am aware that we may go over the time necessary, but I don't want the prospect to take advantage of my time.  When I meet ...

One of my old sales managers had been in the insurance business for about 40 years and had probably forgotten more about sales than I will ever know. Every Monday morning during our weekly sales meeting he would open up a discussion on any topic related to our work. If one of us was having a hard time closing a client, we would analyze the situation as a group and try to find ways to help solve the problem.  On those occasions when a new agent was having a hard time presenting a product our manager would say that a story would help. In some parts of the sales community, a good story is needed for every situation. If you are selling a car, you need to have a story about someone who bought that car and was the happiest person ever after. Selling homes? You probably have a story about how someone bought a fixer-upper and flipped it for a nice profit.  One note: Don't make up or embellish a story. Someone may actually want to verify it, so make your story truthful.  In the in...

One of the biggest problems in sales is when a prospect gives you a reason why they can't, or won't, buy. Some of the more common objections are "I don't have any money" or "I need some time to think about it", but there are some others that can be used as well.  One of the craziest ones I had was someone who tried to tell me he was dead. He literally said, "I can't talk, I'm deceased," right before he hung up the phone. I applauded his creativity and nerve, but I wasn't sure if he was dumb or thought I was.  As I have mentioned in previous posts, my first paying sales job was selling accident insurance plans door-to-door in rural areas. Being a new college graduate I was eager to learn all the tricks of the trade. In our sales class we were given a large 3-ring binder filled with rebuttals to a wide variety of objections.  For instance, if someone said that they didn't have money or could not afford it, we had about 25 response...

Imagine having to stand up in a room full of prospects and give a sales talk. For many people, public speaking is unbearable and, as we all know, one of the biggest fears of a large number of people. Now consider giving that same talk to a group of people, but this time you are with your coworkers next to you waiting to present as well. It doesn't matter if there are five of you giving a presentation to a large group or just two of you in the home of client, you have to be prepared ahead of time. Determining who is going to do most of the talking, the order in which you speak and where you will sit when others are talking are important in keeping the audience engaged. Years ago when I first got into the selling professionally, my sales manager would take me with him (or ride along with me to my clients' homes) to critique each other's talks. Mostly he was there to make sure I didn't say something stupid. Before we would go inside a home we would discuss the plan of atta...