A guest post by Mark Trinkle, President & Chief Sales Officer 

Should your days or evenings include any down time, here is a great book recommendation for you.  

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading “Go-Givers Sell More” by Bob Burg and John David Mann.  I just don’t think I have ever read a book that is more consistent with the approach to selling that we both take and advocate to our clients, particularly along the lines of not sounding like a salesperson.

Listen to this quote from the book on the supreme importance of creating value:

“There is something quite utilitarian about the Law of Value.  Its pragmatic beauty is that it places the principal determinant of your success squarely in your own hands, rather than letting it be a factor of your circumstances.  While you cannot control what others do, you can control what you do.  If your goal is to make the sale, then you are dependent on the buying decisions of others.  But, if your goal is to create value for others, you are dependent on nobody but yourself.”

I also love the section of the book that teaches that your compensation as a salesperson is not a reflection of your goodness, worthiness, merit or industriousness: instead, it is an echo of impact. In fact, revenue (or, for our purposes, new business) is the echo of providing value in your conversations with prospects.

So, how about you?  Do you worry about selling something?  Maybe it would be helpful to simply worry about whether or not your prospect conversations are providing value.  As the authors point out, that is up to no one but you.

So, give the book a try. Thanks for reading…now go sell like a champion today.

Summary: When your goal is to provide value, your success as a salesperson is in your own hands. The impact you make on others determines your compensation. So, worry less about selling and focus more on providing value.

A guest post by Mark Trinkle, President, Anthony Cole Training Group

An audible is a change in the offensive play called by the quarterback at the line of scrimmage.  Today, I thought of that in Chicago as my Uber driver made several deviations from her GPS directions in transporting me from Midway Airport into downtown.

As I rode along with the windows down on a beautiful and sunny day in the Windy City, my thoughts turned from sightseeing to salespeople…specifically, the need for salespeople to make changes on the fly, whether that be during the initial phone call, the first meeting or even at the time they present their solutions.

Anyone and everyone who has had any exposure to Anthony Cole Training Group knows we are completely sold on the importance of process.  We have table-pounding conviction (a tip of the hat to my good friend, Mike Iverson in Atlanta) around how important it is for a business driven around and by sales to have certain key processes in place in term of their sales infrastructure.  And, of course, we believe that sales training creates the most return on a client’s investment when the salespeople and sales managers are following a sales process where opportunities are moving through the funnel in a stage-based and milestone-centric manner.  We believe that firms who don’t have a consistent sales process (everyone following the same steps and using the same terms to describe stages in the sales process) but who implement such a process can often see a 15% to 20% increase in new business sales.

But, here is something worth remembering – life is complicated.  Ferris Bueller (can’t come to Chicago and not think of him) told us to slow down or we might miss something.  And the same is true with selling.  Sometimes you just need to slow down and do something unconventional.  Sometimes you need to do something that is even contrary to what your training has taught you to do.  Sometimes you just need to call an audible.

Let’s be clear – usually your training is going to be correct.  But, sometimes, you will need to remember that selling is both science and art…and the art part means you might need to listen to your heart and occasionally let that heart override your mind.  Of course, the best in the business know when to listen to their head and when to listen to their heart.  And if they get it wrong every so often, so what?  They get back up and keep going.

So, listen to your heart.  Sometimes you will need to call an audible.  Like now…forget the salad; there is a deep-dish pizza out there calling my name.

A guest post by Mark Trinkle, Chief Sales Officer, Anthony Cole Training Group

Hello, darkness, my old friend.

I’ve come to talk with you again.

Because a vision, softly creeping,

Left its seeds while I was sleeping.

And the vision, that was planted in my brain,

Still remains…

Within the sound of silence.

So, that is the answer, courtesy of Simon & Garfunkel…And the question is this: “What song, released by a duo over 50 years ago, can help salespeople today?”

Yes, the unmistakable sound of silence. Wait a minute…does silence make a sound?  If you are a professional salesperson, you would say it absolutely does.  Susan Scott, the author of the wonderful book, “Fierce Conversations”, offers up some great advice when she suggests making your conversations more impact-ful by allow the silence to do the heavy lifting.

I think what Susan could have in mind are the hundreds of thousands of salespeople who treat silence like it is the Zika virus…they instantly run away from it.  But, what if silence was good within the context of having a powerful conversation?  What if silence led you a deeper level in a conversation?

Most salespeople are afraid of silence because they perceive it to be a) awkward or b) a sign that the prospect has checked out on them.  But, remember that you can speak much faster than people can listen…so sometimes they just need to be given time to allow their internal processor to catch up.

Here’s one more thing I have observed with salespeople.  They ask a great question….a killer question… the prospect goes radio silent…and then our salesperson ruins the moment by collapsing like a poorly dug prison tunnel.

Let the silence do the heavy lifting. I know it will be a strange feeling at first, but sometimes strange is actually a good thing.  Give your prospect some space to process the questions you ask them.

Thanks for listening. Now, go do some heavy lifting…actually, let the silence do the heavy lifting for you…and sell like a champion today.

A guest blog post by Mark Trinkle, Chief Sales Officer, Anthony Cole Training Group

Why…Why…Why…Why…Why??????

My apologies for sounding like a 3-year old wondering why they need to stop doing something, start doing something, or eat something green and not so tasty off their plate.

So, here’s the deal. Do you know who else on occasion has a serious case of the whys?  You guessed it…your prospect.  For the record, prospects are also really good at simulating the temper tantrums of a three-year old when they don’t get their way.

Specifically, according to The Bridge Group, Inc., there are 5 Why Questions that most prospects ask themselves during the sales process:

Like it or not, your prospect is asking themselves these five questions….perhaps consciously so they are full aware of it or maybe it is being asked at a deeper subconscious level.

Either way, you better know the answers.

I guarantee you that your prospect does.

Thanks for tuning in…now go sell like a champion today.

A guest post by Mark Trinkle, Chief Sales Expert, Anthony Cole Training Group

“My momma told me, you better shop around…shop, shop…oh yeah, you better shop around.”

Perhaps you recognize those lyrics from the 1960’s hit by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.  Maybe (and it probably depends on how old you are) that triggers memories of the good old days.  If you are a salesperson, maybe it triggers emotions around how frustrating it can be when your prospect goes shopping.  Smokey Robinson wrote those lyrics from the perspective of a mother’s advice to her son about making sure he finds the right girl to marry.  Of course, prospects use those lyrics to make sure they don’t “marry” the wrong supplier or the wrong vendor.

You and I both know that prospects shop…that is to be expected.  We use the term “buy cycle” to talk about the process that people go through when they make a significant purchase.  And most people have a buy cycle that is heavily influenced by lessons learned over many years of being a consumer.  Throw in some early lessons they might have learned from mom and dad like “don’t buy the first thing you see” and then add to that the messages that they receive from advertisers such as “you can get it for less here” and it is no wonder that buyers today are more convinced than ever that going shopping makes sense.

So, what can you do about it?  What can you do when your prospect wants to go Smokey Robinson and the Miracles on you?

Here are a few thoughts:

1. Understand that is perfectly normal for your prospect to take the buy cycle they use as an individual consumer and apply it to the purchases they make as a business.
2. Remember that their buy cycle has generally benefited them as a consumer as it has probably saved them money.
3. Remember that while it is ok to challenge their buy cycle, you don’t want to confront or challenge them directly. You should ask, “I’m curious; could you tell me more about the process you are going to follow for making this decision?”  As Stephen Covey has said, “Seek first to understand before being understood.”
4. Be strong enough to ask, “What are you hoping to accomplish by shopping?”
5. Deal with their buy cycle upfront. The best salespeople always understand two things:  why the prospect will buy and how they will buy.  Address that early in the sales cycle as opposed to worrying about it after your presentation.

That’s all for now, folks. Now, go sell like a champion today.

SUMMARY

When your sales prospect wants to shop around, remember these 5 things:

1. It’s normal for your prospect to have a buy cycle in their business purchases.
2. Their buy cycle has generally benefited them as a consumer to save money.
3. Ask, “Could you tell me more about the process you are going to follow for making this decision?”
4. Ask, “What are you hoping to accomplish by shopping?”
5. Deal with their buy cycle upfront.