Actual for You - Business

Smart Questions Eliminate Objections
At first, hearing about my mother’s cell phone shopping experience was pretty entertaining. It was amusing just to hear her explain how she didn’t understand why phones have become so complicated in recent years.In fact, she told me she had proudly announced to the salesperson that she didn’t want to spend extra money on a phone with a built-in camera. The salesperson, hearing a price objection, gently complied. He eliminated all models that included a built-in digital camera, and steered my mother toward the inexpensive models.In just a few weeks, my mother soon realized that her new phone wasn’t able to do all the neat things her children’s phones could. It seemed that her phone was nothing but a cut-down, inexpensive version with absolutely no features.What neither the salesperson, nor my mother, had realized was that eliminating all of the phones with cameras had also automatically eliminate

ctions, challenge and/or counter them.
New Sales Mindset: When prospects offer objections, validate them and reopen the conversation.

Old Sales Mindset: If prospects challenge the value of your product or service, defend yourself and explain its value.
New Sales Mindset: Never defend yourself or what you have to offer. This only creates more sales pressure.

Let's take a closer look at these concepts so you can begin to open up your current sales thinking and become more effective in your s

Free Radio Publicity for Marketing-Minded Financial Planners
Radio is a powerful publicity tool. Most stations offer news and talk programming. Those shows are put together not necessarily by the voice you hear on air, but by people called producers.Getting to know producers, and giving them reasons to showcase you on air, is a very doable for most people in most towns. How? The same way you'd contact a print reporter, which I discuss in my other articles for financial planners.Getting on the radio is possible in huge markets like New York and L.A. too, but it’s not for the weak or the timid.Radio stations love to team with community resources – like you – on promotional activities. Call your station’s promotion department and tell them you’d like to explore ideas. Need an idea or two? Don’t worry – tell the promotion folks what you do, and they’ll probably think of the rest. (Hint: yes, as a successful professional, you can do this with appropriate dignity.

Sooner or later, we all backslide into old ways of thinking about selling that lead us down the wrong path with potential clients.

A few weeks ago, I had a phone conversation with Julie, who has been struggling with the old-style selling methods that her manager insists are the only way to sell their company’s technology solution.

Regardless of what product or service you’re selling, you should be able to relate to her dilemma.

Outdated sales skills fail to address the core issue of how we think about selling and unless we get to that core and change it once and for all, we’ll go on struggling with the same counterproductive sales behaviors.

And we’ll continue believing that we’re always just one new sales technique away from the breakthrough we’re looking for.

New Thinking = New Results

Maybe it’s time to take a different approach. Maybe we need to analyze our thinking and identify why we’re not making more sales.

Take a look at the table below and think about your current selling mindset.

How would your selling behaviors change if you changed your sales thinking?

Old Sales Mindset: Always start out with a strong sales pitch.
New Sales Mindset: Stop the sales pitch. Start a conversation.

Old Sales Mindset: Your goal is always to close the sale.
New Sales Mindset: Your goal is always to discover whether you and your prospect are a good fit.

Old Sales Mindset: When you lose a sale, it's usually at the end of the sales process.
New Sales Mindset: When you lose a sale, it's usually at the beginning of the sales process.

Old Sales Mindset: Rejection is a normal part of selling, so get used to it.
New Sales Mindset: Hidden sales pressure causes rejection. Eliminate sales pressure, and you’ll never experience rejection.

Old Sales Mindset: Keep chasing prospects until you get a yes or no.
New Sales Mindset: Never chase prospects. Instead, get to the truth of whether there’s a fit or not.

Old Sales Mindset: When prospects offer objections, challenge and/or counter them.
New Sales Mindset: When prospects offer objections, validate them and reopen the conversation.

Let's take a closer look at these concepts so you can begin to open up your current sales thinking and become more effective in your se

Finding Your Match: The Art of Meeting the Right Investors
In my practice, I meet with many entrepreneurs. Listening to their stories is a poignant reminder about just how difficult it can be to find the investment money they need to grow their businesses. Many often ask me about the best ways to raise money for their businesses. Believe it or not, often times my answer begins with a story about my dating life. It goes something like this:Although I was not blessed with Brad Pitt’s good looks or the best conversation skills, thankfully, I did catch the height gene and measure in at about 6 feet, 2 inches. Now, by Midwest standards, this is no significant thing, but in New York City, for whatever reason, it was one way to differentiate myself from many of the other guys in the singles scene. So, when I went to parties or out with friends, instead of competing with every other guy for the attention of the same group of women, I would try to meet the women who were tal

k about selling and unless we get to that core and change it once and for all, we’ll go on struggling with the same counterproductive sales behaviors.