You're Going To Be Great At This!

As someone who is self-employed, I have found that a great way to get my message out and to network with people I want to meet. By joining my local chamber of commerce, I've met great people, become referable and learned about all kinds of businesses that I didn't know existed. In an episode of the "You're Going To Be Great At This" podcast, I talked with Wendy Malenfant of the Little River (SC) Chamber of Commerce and we discussed the perks of joining a chamber.  I sincerely hope you find value in our podcast and ask that you follow/subscribe.  Chris Castane s is a humorous speaker who helps sales people succeed through workshops and humorous presentations. His new book, "Nearly Motivated" is available on Amazon. For booking information,  click here . His new podcast,  "You're Going To Be Great At This!"  is available on most platforms.   He's also the president of  Surf Financial Brokers  selling life and disability insurance in sever...

I recently had a great conversation with Bill Whitaker, realtor and owner of RawtapeRPM.com. Bill talks about his time in the real estate business, and his journey that led to running a business as a consultant and coach for real estate agents all over the country.  Below is the footage of the conversation. Please subscribe to our YouTube channel. Ch ris Castane s is a humorous speaker and former comedian who helps sales people succeed through workshops and humorous presentations. His newest book, "Nearly Motivated", is yet another humorous look at sales. For booking information,  click here.  As president of  Surf Financial Brokers  ,  he sells life and disability insurance in several states.

A few years ago I was working with an insurance company that provided a "book of business", which consisted of clients who already had our insurance policies. These "orphaned" policies were written by agents who had left the company (which is not unusual in the least as the industry is rife with turnover). The hiring managers would try to attract new sales reps by offering up these clients as "people who need to be serviced", which was to mean that we could call these people and set appointments to try to sell more insurance to them. I learned quickly that my time was better spent prospecting locally, mainly because the vast majority of this book of business was over an hour away. Apparently an office had closed in another city and these clients were from those accounts.  One of my co-workers had, on the other hand, been working the phones and trying to see these people. He would try to set appointments to make his driving time as efficient as possible whi...

It doesn't matter what you sell, or whether it's a product or a service, we all deal with people who just will not commit to buy, much less keeping an appointment. Some people would say that these people are not ready to buy or they are on the fence. One of my co-workers would just call them "flakes". And as she says, "No one likes a flake." When I lead a sales training session I mention that my definition of sales is a bit different than most people's. To me, sales isn't a transaction, but an attempt to convince someone to do something that may or may not want to do, but do it as soon as possible.  Let's use the example of a family that needs a new car. The old one is on its last legs, high mileage and needs to be serviced quite frequently. The purchase of a new vehicle keeps getting put off for several reasons, but more than likely this family just doesn't want to spend the money on a car.  Or we could use the example of a young family that...

For those of us who do a lot of B2C (and some B2B) sales, keeping files on those clients is important. I like to take notes during my initial meetings about the client's wants and needs, but at the same time, I write down a lot of personal information, like dates of birth, addresses and other vital information that I can refer to later. Making sure you keep that information safe and secure is of utmost importance. The news is rife with stories of security breaches involving millions of people's personal information. Most of those kinds of lapses are caused by hackers who break into large financial institutions, but there are those times when a smaller business becomes a victim of a cyber attack.  On the flipside are those instances when hard copies of personal information fall into the wrong hands. There are no hackers to blame here, just plain old carelessness.  A few years ago I was working with someone who left her work computer in her car in a restaurant parking lot, but i...

We all have a specific market that we would like to aim our attention to, be it business owners, single moms, realtors, or some other group of people. For me, as an example, I prefer working with small business owners, but I also do a lot of work with realtors. I didn't go looking for them, but we just have so many realtors in my area that it couldn't be helped. There are times, however, when you find yourself working in a totally different market, That's fine because in the end a sale is a sale. I'm not going to turn away business because the client was not in my business plan. And neither should you. When you do have someone approach you that you had not planned on helping, it's important to remember they may have different needs and budgets than what you are used to. Your usual banter may not be applicable or appropriate when talking to a new group of clients either. A good example of this is when I recently found myself getting referred to several school employe...

One of the most important life lessons I've shared with people is to know when to shut up. Seriously, people talk entirely too much. They want to share their opinions, political beliefs, recipes and personal drama because they either think that others want to hear this or that we need their valuable information.  This happens in sales also. There are sales people who give out all kinds of information about their product or service, from the features of the product to the long list of names of satisfied customers. But there comes a point in the sales process when you have to stop selling and close. And when you close you need to stop talking.  When it comes to closing, there's an old sales adage that says, "The one who talks first loses." For example, let's say you have been working on a customer for about twenty minutes. Now it's time to close and you go with something like, "So what do you think? Would you like to start filling out the paperwork?" (...

As a member of several sales groups on Facebook and LinkedIn I have noticed that the question that is asked the most is "Where do I find clients?" When it comes to selling, this is the proverbial conundrum wrapped in an enigma inside a puzzle. If you haven't read my book , one of the themes is that many companies are offering full commission sales jobs, which means that they can hire anyone and everyone at minimal risk because if these new recruits don't sell anything, the company doesn't have to pay anything. That puts a lot of the responsibility for finding prospects on the shoulders of the new hire.  As I state in my book, my first real sales job was selling insurance door-to-door in rural North Carolina. In the hiring process we were told that we would pick up renewals from people who had the policy and "they will give you the names of people to see". The implication was that when I showed up to get a renewal check there would be several names on a s...

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 previous post I discussed how staying active is important if you want to succeed in sales. I also mentioned that selling is a "numbers game" in that if you see enough people you will make some sales. But what are those numbers? Generally speaking, the numbers for each industry vary. We can be pretty sure that the ratio of sales per prospect is  different if you sell cars compared to selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door or real estate. Instead of going down that rabbit hole and doing the research for you, take the time to look into your own industry's numbers.  If you are not sure where to find this information, there are a couple of sources you can use. An honest sales manager will be able to give you a reasonable guess if they have been in the business for a while. Or you can just check on the web by doing a search. And while you are searching for those sales ratios, look into your customer acquisition costs too. That will tell you how much you are spending to get...

From the very first day I worked in sales I was taught that there were two subjects one should not discuss with prospects or clients - religion and politics. The reason is very easy to understand, in that almost already has "dug in" when it comes to these two topics and they aren't going to be changing their minds. People are committed to their churches or other places of worship. I can honestly say that I only know of one prospect who changed their religious affiliation, and that was because they were previously "uncommitted".  And when it comes to politics, it is more important now than ever to avoid the topic altogether. A quick glance at social media reveals that there are not many "undecideds" either. In the months leading up to the last election I saw people of varying political stripes making claims, true and false, about politicians and candidates. If they didn't like the information others posted they went after the messenger instead of fa...

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...

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 ...

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 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...

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...