Brian Sullivan, President of PRECISE Selling

Think of somebody new who you recently met who you now call friend. Why did you like them when you met them? How did they communicate with you? Chances are, you connected with them because they showed more interest in YOU than themselves. Before they started telling you all about their job, family and favorite hobby, they first asked you about yours. And they REALLY cared about the answer. They didn’t ask the question then look down to their iPhone to see who just Twittered or texted.

So the formula is simple. If you want more friends, customers and more rewarding relationships, begin every conversation this week with a question. Replace the “I think…” with “What do you think?” When selling, remove the “My product will make your life easier by…” and replace it with, “How do you think that feature will help you?” (even if you know the answer) By replacing your statements with questions, you will learn, solve, sell, lead and connect with more people than ever. And those relationships you create will become your most valued and precious asset.

To download Brian’s FREE iPhone Application of his popular sales book, 20 Days to the Top, go to www.preciseselling.com.

Peter Ebner, The printing industry’s leading sales trainer

When prospecting for new business are prospects always saying “I’m not interested, I’m happy with my printer”? If so, it’s because you’re making a common prospecting mistake. Here’s how to eliminate this objection forever.

Click here to hear Peter’s weekly tip.

For more information on Peter Ebner and Ebner seminars, visit www.ebnerseminars.com.

Craig McConnell, President PrintGrowPro, Inc.

You’ve developed and adhered to your prospecting plan religiously. You’ve worked your way through the gate keeper. You’ve avoided voice mail hell. You’ve actually gotten the prospect on the phone, established some rapport, qualified him, gotten some personal information, uncovered some pain and he has indicated a willingness to take some time to talk with you. You’ve successfully set up that all important ‘face to face’ meeting. You’ve brushed your teeth, shined your shoes, brushed the lint off your shoulders, checked your ’gig’ line, made sure you have business cards, and you’re sitting down in front of the prospect.

Now what???????????

When you are in these early stages of the relationship you’ve got to have 10-15 good questions prepared, written down, and ready to go. The quality of your questions will dictate the quality of the relationship.

You’re looking for pain and problems.

All great sales people are smart, and smart sales people ask smart questions. In an ideal situation, they ask questions a prospect has never been asked before.

I try hard to do that in my business. Here are some of the questions I ask; the goal being to get my prospects to think about their current situations and perhaps uncover some pain.

*How successful is your sales team in converting cold calls into face to face meetings? How do you measure?
*What are you doing to insure the professional development of your sales team? How do you measure their progress?
*What percentage of your sales team made their numbers in 2009? How much new business did they develop?
*Are there things you are doing differently in 2010?

Just for kicks, I went on line to see if I could find any examples of what might be considered ‘bad’ (dumb?) qualifying questions. A few of the ’best’ are attached below. Hopefully, you’ve ever used any of them. What kind of answers might they generate?

*Would you like some information on our company and what we do?
*If you thought our company could help you improve efficiency and quality at the same time, would you want to know more?
*Can you tell me a little bit about your business?
*Can I quote on some of your upcoming projects?

Always put yourself in the prospects shoes. If you heard one of these questions would you open up (“WOW, I glad you asked; I was hoping to take the time to share this kind of information with someone that I am meeting for the very first time.”), or, would you very politely move to terminate the meeting?

If you don’t already have them, start making your list of SMART questions today; questions that find pain, get personal data, identify needs, and differentiate you from the competitors.

Have a great week, go sell something and remember, the answer to any question you never as is always going to be ‘no’.

For more information on PrintGrowPro, Inc. please visit www.printgrowpro.com.

Linda Bishop, President and Founder of Thought Transformation

What separates “best of the best” salespeople from the rest of the pack? It’s how they chose to use their time! Eliminate these time wasters and sell more.

• Stop calling on accounts with teeny-tiny payoffs. You know who I mean. That’s likable Bob. He’s the part-time designer who works out of his basement and still hasn’t upgraded from the original version of InDesign! He’s also the guy who has ten alternates on the business card job and needs sixteen papers samples—cut to size and dummied up—and after all that will tell you with great regret that he bought the job on VistaPrint because they were cheaper.

• Stop looking for leads from 8AM to 5PM, Monday to Friday. Those are prime selling hours. Use them to sell. If you need leads, look for them on the weekend or after hours.

• Stop spending hours on useless research. By useless, I mean stuff that is interesting to know, but won’t help you get an appointment or make a sale. To become a better researcher, write down the specific question you need answered in order to take the next specific step.

• Stop calling people 100 times without leaving a message. You have to call five to eight times before people believe you’re relentless. The faster you prove that by leaving a message, the faster they pick up the phone.

• Stop calling people who demonstrate by their actions they are satisfied with their current solution. If you have called a prospect twelve times in 90 days, mailed three times and sent five emails—TAKE THE HINT! They’re not interested. Let them go. Move on. You’ll sell more in the long run when you stop wasting time on people who obviously don’t want to buy.

Want to read more from Linda? Visit her blog by clicking here!

Dale Rothenberger, VP of The Winters Group & Associates

The impact of social media to our marketing and sales channels has created an atmosphere where people will gladly tell us things about themselves and their business; while at the same time has made sales more difficult because we have lost that personal connection.

Maybe it was my Dale Carnegie training, or just that I like to talk to strangers and learn about them ……. Whatever the cause, I am routinely getting into conversations anywhere I go. (In my 2-1/2 hour flight this afternoon, I discovered that my seatmate is in the mail and fulfillment business, and now he knows all about the Winters Group & Assoc. and we’ve agreed to talk again next week.)

Ok, so I’m outgoing (and inquisitive). But I also have a habit of wearing a name badge in most business settings. I find that it makes me approachable and it breaks down barriers. Being approachable is priceless.

But you don’t need to have a nametag to walk into a room and tell people who you are. By the same token, everyone I talk to gets a business card from me. (And if I think they are connected to someone who might be a “likely prospect” I will give them two cards and ask them to pass the second on to that person.)

It’s all about getting to know who your customers are before you can sell to them. (Or is it that they are buying, we are not selling at all).

One rule remains unchanged: If the salesperson invests more time uncovering his prospect’s process and timeframe for taking action in the early stages of the selling cycle, he’ll spend less time later trying to solve “problems” that don’t need solving.

In today’s world, every lead needs to be qualified. Just as important, every prospect needs to be nurtured to the point of when ready to buy, we’ve gained top of mind position.

For more information on The Winters Group and Associates, visit www.wintersmg.com.

Brian Sullivan, President of PRECISE Selling

You can’t do that. You are out of your league. They are going to think you are stupid. It’s not your place. Leave well enough alone. There is nothing wrong with playing it safe! No doubt we have all heard words like this at times in our life. But I have realized something about top performers like explorer Gary Guller. They have a way of simply ignoring those who doubt themselves and doubt others. They will NOT let the negative influence of others affect their rise to the top. And I have noticed another thing about top performers. While getting to the top is fun for them, often the real blast comes from helping others reach beyond their perceived potential.

For example, on May 30 2003, one armed climber Gary Guller reached the summit of Mt. Everest, dropped to his knees and cried, realizing he just made history. But perhaps an even greater moment in his life came just seven weeks earlier when he, despite the odds, led a team of disabled explorers to Everest Base Camp at 17,500 ft. And here is something most folks don’t know. Only 1 in 10 climbers ever reach the base camp of Mount Everest…and these people did it in wheelchairs, with prosthetic limbs and a host of other disabilities.

So what’s the point? Well no doubt Gary and his team of very “abled” explorers heard the naysayers say there was no way it was possible. They can’t do that. They are out of their league. But Gary would tell you this. Don’t believe it when others tell you that you are not capable. They are WRONG. How does he know? Because he saw the tears of thanks in the eyes of the disabled friends he led. He stood on the top of the world, witnessed the greatness of the human spirit and looked down at a world full of potential. The potential that is in YOU right now. So this week, as your own doubtful mind or the cynical minds of others tells you how so many things are impossible, fight back! Because this is the year you will turn your potential into amazing possibility. See you at the TOP!

Brian Sullivan is the author of the book 20 Days to the Top. To learn more, go to www.preciseselling.com.

Peter Ebner, Founder of Ebner Seminars

If you expect to be successful in print sales you must deal with a decision maker. So makes someone a decision maker? The decision maker is not the individual that can give you the order, nor is it the person that can sign the check. The decision maker is the individual that has ….

To listen to Peter Ebner’s sales tip of the week, click here.

Craig McConnell, President and Founder of PrintGrowPro, Inc.

I received quite a number of email responses to my March 28 blog that dealt with the concept of going ‘cold turkey’ with your communication devices for some period of time — an hour, two hours, a day? My suggestion was that this ‘found’ time could be used to think, to plan, to prioritize, or to review your goals. I am a firm believer that this exercise will greatly increase a sales reps long term productivity (think Stephen Covey’s thoughts about ‘sharpening the saw”) and income. However, most of the comments were of a similar vein: “no way; not going to happen; can’t risk it.”

Our tendency as sales people is to buy into society’s need for instantaneous, non-stop communications (think Blackberry, Ipad, Iphone, Internet – wired and wireless, cell phone, Facebook, MySpace, LINKEDIN, PDAs, CRMs, etc.), can be physically and mentally exhausting. It can also actually be a ‘crutch’ that keeps you from doing things that might actually grow your business.

By the way, as an aside, it is also dumb and dangerous: texting in the car? Reading emails while driving? Think those actions through the next time you get behind the wheel (Go Oprah!!!!)

Ask yourself if you’ve become a slave to technology. What is the first thing you do every morning? Read something motivational? Meditate? Exercise? Are addicted to your communication device? The receipt of an email does not mandate an immediate reply; it may not mandate a reply ever.

My brother, who is the assistant principal at an elementary school in Tampa, recently shared with me his frustration with parents who drop their kids off at school in the morning talking on the phone (there is no “have a great day”, “learn something new”, “I love you”, “be safe”) and pick them up in the afternoon still talking on the phone (there is no ‘how was your day?’, “tell me about school“, “great to see you”, etc.). Continuous, non-stop contact and communication is not essential – especially in this situation.

Have a great day and go sell something!

To read more from Craig McConnell or for more information on PrintGrowPro, Inc. please visit http://www.printgrowpro.com/.

Dale Rothenberger, VP of The Winters Group and Associates

I read an article recently about how our military is using business applications to be better able to communicate within government and media outlets.

One example of how this became so important was when a program for college reimbursement of dependents was out of funding appropriation, the wives knew about it before the “brass” because of Twitter and Face book.

Social media continues to evolve and grow. A recent CMO survey showed that 38 percent say they are exploring alternative media and new routes to market, while 62 percent will be crunching customer data with analytic software to improve segmentation and targeting. We all want our ideas to spread, our company to be recognized, and the medium you choose will change your ideas. As a marketing guru, you should think about creating unique strategies for different sales channels, and apply an integrated approach including digital and social media technologies in the marketing mix.

Creating a dialog and a conversation between your company and your customers and prospects requires thought, approach, and execution. Start thinking not about cluster segments (a group of people that share a demo- or psychographic), but rather a conversation of one. Gaining information that allows you to acquire Voice of Customer means you can create the proper message, at the right time, in the proper communication channel leading to a sale and more importantly, brand loyalty. You will be able to track both ROI (return on investment) and ROA (return on awareness).
The value for the print community in this new era of marketing lies in the high-value print component and fulfillment services.

If you only pay attention to the world from your comfort zone, you will stay in that space of never knowing how your marketing is performing, and lose the opportunity to grow your business.

We’ve come a long way from a marketer having just two channels for advertising and promotion.

Choose or lose.

To learn more about The Winters Group and Associates, please click here.

Linda Bishop, President of Thought Transformation

The shortest route to any sale is diagnosing pain and curing it. Here are five problems the CMO would love to solve and how you can help.

1. Declining Profitability: Storefront solutions can help organizations reduce overall costs by cutting soft costs and hard costs. Marketers can put all digital assets in one secure location and access it anywhere, any time. They can manage campaigns, order print-on-demand and access inventory. Talk to the CMO because they can authorize the purchase.

2. Mature Markets: In our fast-paced world, new ideas are born, live and die quicker than ever. For marketers, that’s a problem because it’s harder to grow in mature markets because you must snatch market share from competitors. One success strategy in mature markets is niche marketing. Variable data printing is perfect for marketers who are targeting a niche. If your customer is in a mature market, find out if they’re exploring niches. Tell them how you can help them with targeted campaigns.

3. Increasing Competition : If your customer faces increased competition, they need strategies to stand out and get attention. If you sell wide format, introduce them to new ways to make an impact with banners, oversized posters, stand-ups and large-scale point-of-purchase.

4. Providing Sales with Quality Leads: I suspect you would like to solve this problem as much as your customer would! One way to do that is by well-thought out leads nurturing campaigns. This marketing tactic helps companies identify prospects who raise their hands and say, “tell me more,” and then provides them with information to generate sales. Learn more at http://www.marketo.com/b2b-marketing-resources/lead-nurturing-definitive-guide.php

5. Declining Customer Loyalty: Recently I read a great article called “The Decline of Brands” by James Surowiecki on www.wired.com. Suroweicki says we live in a “What have you done for me today?” economy and that’s why there are great opportunities for printers who help customers create loyalty programs. I recently spoke about this in LA at the PIASC Awards Luncheon. My presentation is posted at http://www.slideshare.net/thoughttransformation/piasc-keynote-presentation.

Good Selling!

Check out Linda’s blog by clicking here.