First, I’d like to thank you all for your Ezine topic requests. I do my best to answer them, and generally I look for multiple requests on the same subject. And there are a lot of them because let’s face it ? we?re all struggling with the same objections though in different forms.

For example, one problem I keep hearing about is how to get a prospect/customer to tell you what’s really going on. Many of you wrote that after multiple calls, messages, etc, when you do get them on the phone all you get are vague answers. If this has ever happened to you, then here’s how to deal with it:

The first thing you need to do is realize that if your prospect isn’t calling you back, or if when you do reach them all you get are vague answers or more put offs, then you probably already have your answer. They aren’t a deal. It?s time to move on!

The problem with 80% of sales reps is that they will chase and chase unqualified leads because it seems easier than cold calling and looking for real buyers. ?At least they took the information or have a need,? they say.

Yeah, but are they buying? Usually not. And all that energy and time you waste chasing them makes you a weaker closer.

The solution? Ask the tough questions! (Refer back to the earlier article on how to do this). In other words, when you do get them on the phone, ask them point-blank where they stand and if you’re still in the running. Try this:

?_________ let me ask you a question and please be honest. We’ve talked about this now for X amount of time (or — You’ve had this information for X amount of time), and I don?t want to keep bothering you if this isn’t a fit for you. But I do need to know if this looks like a solution you actually think you’re going to act on, or do you have something else in mind??

Now shut up and listen. Because you have given them an out, they will usually tell you the truth. Your job now is to listen to it and learn from it. Just because they aren?t buying doesn?t mean you can?t get stronger as a closer.

You see, whatever reason they give you for not buying — budget, not a right fit, staying with their current supplier, their accountant won?t let them do it ? whatever the reason is, you need to take this as a lesson and begin qualifying for it more thoroughly on all of your subsequent prospecting calls.

Sounds too good to be true, doesn?t it? Stan Billue, a top telemarketing sales trainer in the late 80?s, claimed that he had a sure fire technique that could double your sales in 90 days if you just followed it. So I did. And it worked!

The technique? Record your calls. Everything that you are doing right, and every area you need to improve in will be revealed to you in just a few hours. By being able to calmly listen to your qualifying/closing calls all the way through, here are just a few of things you?ll hear that you?re probably missing:

1. What your prospect?s true buying motives are.
2. What your prospect?s objections are.
3. Whether or not you listened to these and answered them.
4. Whether you were listening at all.
5. How often you talked past the close.
6. How many objections you created.
7. Whether you heard their objections and answered them and then confirmed your answer and asked for the order?or just kept pitching!

Everything will be there on tape and you and your manager can then go about correcting your technique and immediately improving your success on the phone. The bottom line for all sales teams and sales reps is that if your fundamentals and techniques are wrong, then you will keep getting the same results – you won’t make quotas, you will be frustrated at the end of each day, and you won’t improve. Period.

You must correct the fundamental problems. And to do this you must first know what they are! Recording your calls is the fastest, easiest, and best way to do this. All highly successful companies do this all the time. Start listening to the next on hold message you get and I’ll bet you hear, ?Please note that this call is being recorded for training and quality assurance.? Guess what they are doing with these recordings? They are using them to train and improve their inside sales teams!

Without a doubt, this one technique was the most important thing I did that catapulted me into the Top 20%. I relentlessly recorded myself and began improving in all areas and on each and every call. I listened to them at lunch, on the drive home, with my manager, etc. Because of recording myself, I literally doubled my income in 90 days. And I never looked back.

For managers and business owners, recording your sales reps is the single most important thing you can do to increase revenues. Among other things, if you:

• Want to know why someone is in making sales? Record them and you’ll have your answer in a day.
• Want to see if your training is working? Record them before and after see how many reps are implementing your training.
• Want great sales training material for your next meeting? Record your top reps and play the good parts in your next meeting.

Bottom line – if you want to double your sales and income selling over the phone, and want the fastest most effective way to do this, then go to Radio Shack today (or search online) and have a recorder in place tomorrow. Start recording and listening to your tapes, correcting your fundamentals, and watch your closing rate and income soar.

I talk a lot about the techniques that separate the Top 20% of the money earners from the other 80%. As you know, my Ezine is dedicated to providing you, often word for word, with the exact tools, tips and strategies that you can use to become a Top 20% producer. And today I’m going to share with you one of the most effective and easiest ways to double your sales. And it has to do with what you say when you call a prospect back to close the sale.

Here’s what 80% of the inside sales reps currently say:

?Oh hi, this is _______ with the XYZ Company. I’m calling to follow up on the (proposal, information, etc.). Did you have a chance to review that??

Or, another equally weak opening most sales reps use is:

?Hi, this is ________ with the XYZ Company, how are you? Good, I was just calling to see what you thought of the (proposal, information, etc.)??

Wrong, wrong, wrong! I cringe when I hear sales reps open the close this way! First, you’re giving all control over to your prospect — why would you want to do that? Second, you’re just opening yourself up for a stall or put off ? ?No, I haven’t had time yet, why don?t you call me back next week?"

If you want to be a Top 20% closer, strike the phrases ?just calling to follow up? and ?just wanted to see if you…? out of your pitch ? FOREVER!

Here is how the Top 20% start their closing callbacks, and how you can double your sales starting with your very next call:

?Hi _______ this is ______ ______ with the ABC Company. You know, I’ve been looking forward to getting back with you and getting you started with our (award-winning newsletter, number one industry ranked product, world-class service — fill in your product/service/investment here). I know you’ll be as happy and satisfied as my other clients are.

Now, I’m sure you (read/received the information), and I’m sure you see how it will benefit you. My question is: do you want to start with our professional position of _______, or does the _______ position work better for you??

Now shut up and listen. Earth shattering to you? Perhaps it is. But so will be your results. This works on so many levels:

1) You’re asking for the deal right away (and you?ll be surprised because some will buy on the spot!)

2) It immediately starts the close on an assumptive and positive note.

3) You eliminate any put-offs and stalls.

4) You immediately get the prospect to tell you where they stand and what they’re thinking (and what you’ll need to do to close the sale).

This is a powerful technique. I guarantee that if you begin using this approach on every sales call, you will be well on your way to doubling your closing percentage and income.

But don’t take my word for it — try it and let me know your results.

Have you ever sat at your desk, shuffled your leads, looked at the clock thinking that lunchtime was way too far off, and then prayed for the phone lines to go dead?  Has the phone ever seemed like a 500-pound weight?  If so, then you know what call reluctance is.

Before I became a Top 20% producer, I had these feelings all the time.  I hated Mondays and Tuesdays, hated my job, and dreaded making calls.  Pretty dismal.

The good news is that all this changed when I made a decision to become a Top 20% closer.  It all changed when I made a decision to change my life and committed to doing whatever I needed to do to be the best.  And you can, too. 

Here’s your Five-Step formula for turning your life and career around:

1) Ask yourself if your current job, company or industry allows you the real opportunity to earn the kind of living you can get really excited about.  What are the Top 20% in your company/industry making right now?  If you were one of them, would you be really happy, excited and motivated?  If not, start looking for another job/company/industry.  If you CAN get excited where you are, then:

2) Make a commitment TODAY to doing whatever it takes to become a Top 20% producer.  Your mantra should now be, ?If they (the Top 20%) can do it, I can too!"  It all starts with a decision and a commitment, and you need to make that TODAY.

3) Learn and practice the top sales skills, techniques and strategies of Top 20% closers. Become an intense student of your craft — buy, invest, study and use all the top sales materials you can.  Then commit to getting better on each and every call.

4) Lock on to the end result.  How much do the Top 20% in your company/industry make?  How will your life change once you become one?  What are some of the direct benefits you will enjoy?  Identify how it will feel every day to wake up and have them.  What kind of car are you now driving?  How does it feel to be debt free?  What is it you really want?  Get crystal clear on these things.

5) Act as it.  Make up an affirmation card and begin affirming with emotion three to five times a day your new reality.  Your affirmation must be in the first person as if you have already achieved your goal.  How does it feel right now to be the best?  Once you create this reality on the inside, your outside reality will change to reflect your new ?inner reality? (the key to The Secret).  Start today.

I guarantee that if you follow these five steps, your whole life will change.  And on Monday morning, you will be the first one in the office and you won’t be able to get on the phone fast enough.  Your call reluctance will turn into call urgency. I know because it happened to me and to hundreds of others I’ve worked with.

In response to last week’s article on ?Just send some information,? someone wrote and asked this: ?Sometimes it takes five to seven ?touches? before someone will buy, and sending information begins that process. How do I strike a balance or know when to just cut bait and not send anything?"

I understand it’s important to build relationships and that sending information is part of a process, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t disqualify those who are just looking for an easy way to get you off the phone, or who are trying to blow you off.

What you must do is ask questions, like:

?I’d be happy to, what other kind of information, companies, or solutions are you looking at now?"

This tells you how many other people they have given this line to (and how many brochures they?ve collected and who your competition is), and then:

?And what do you like so far?"

This tells you about their decision process and chances are any objections or stalls they mention will be the same you’ll get when you call back as well!

?What has kept you from moving ahead with that?"

Again, this will reveal their objections (as well as some of their buying motives perhaps). They may also come right out and say why they aren’t buying anything right now (and this would obviously apply to your information or product as well!)

I’m sure you can think of some of your own questions, but the point is that before you just send your information, you’ve got to do your job and qualify!

Of all the brush-offs, ?Just send some information? is one of the most common and deceiving of all. ?But they didn’t say no,? 80% of sales reps will say. ?Maybe after they see my information, they’ll become interested," they think.

Yeah, right. And maybe I’ll buy the winning lottery ticket today.

If your information did the selling for you, they wouldn?t need you! All they would have to do is send out information and then deposit checks, but it doesn’t work like that does it? So what to do?

Call your prospect out on this obvious attempt to blow you off! Try saying this:

?I would be happy to. Let’s say you like what you see, what would happen next?"

Or even stronger:

?I’ll be happy to. If you like what you see, will you be ready to buy at that point?"

In other words, use a trial close, and then listen and think before responding. And any answer that is not a ?yes? is a red flag, and that means you’ve got some disqualifying to do.

Just remember — the Top 20% would rather get a no now rather than take the time to mail out literature and then spend days and weeks chasing unqualified leads. And this should be your attitude, too. So use the above scripts, listen to their response, and act accordingly. Whatever you do, don’t ?just send out some information!?

Everyone in sales knows about rejection.  And to 80% of salespeople, this is what they fear the most.  Fear of rejection creates call reluctance; long lunch hours, sick stomachs and can turn a telephone into a 200-pound weight — hard to pick up.

The Top 20%, however, have found a way to avoid being rejected and use this technique to make every call successful.  It’s called the ?Next in line? pitch.  Here’s how it goes:

1) First, the Top 20% are prepared for resistance and are not surprised when they get it.  Instead, they expect it and are prepared to handle it.

2) When/if a prospect says any of the following:

?We’re not interested."

?I?m happy with who I’m using."

?We don’t need any right now."

Or any variation thereof, the Top 20% respond with:

?I understand _________, and let me ask you a question — the next time you need (your product or service) could I be the first one in line you speak with to get (another quote, opinion, check with, etc.)?"

The prospect almost always says yes, so then say:

?Great, I?ll send my contact info, please keep the near your (ordering information, etc.).?  Now briefly take this info down and then:

?By the way, what might have to happen for you to begin looking for a different (vendor, company, price, etc.)?"

This last part is what sets up your next call and reveals your prospect?s future buying motives.  Listen carefully and write down what they say ? you?ll need it later on.

Follow through with sending out your contact info and ask for a follow-up appointment.

By the time you get off the phone, you’ll have established rapport, gained buying information, and created a relationship with a potential buyer.  Not that, huh?

Use this technique and watch your call reluctance and rejection disappear, and soon you’ll be prospecting like the Top 20%!

You know that saying, ?Practice makes perfect?" Do you think that’s true? IT?S NOT. Practice only makes permanent. Only practice of perfection makes perfect.

This is why 80% of sales reps struggle so much. They have never learned the proper sales skills, or, if they have, they aren’t using them and so day after a day they practice poor techniques and develop habits of selling that don’t work.

And after weeks or months or years of selling, they automatically and consistently do and say all the wrong things — and get poor results because of it.

The Top 20%, on the other hand, are in the habit of learning, using and practicing techniques and skills that work. They’re constantly adjusting, adapting and improving on each call, and they practice proven techniques, skills and methods that keep making them better.

The bottom line is that practice creates habits. And first we form habits and then they form us. My question to you is what kind of sales skills are you or your sales team practicing everyday?

My tip for you today is to take one of the proven sales technique you?ve read about in this manual — either using a script, questioning the red flags, or recording yourself – and commit to practicing it everyday on every call this week. If you do that, it will become a habit for you and you will quickly see the benefit.

Then do the same thing next week. Take another Top 20% skill or technique and make it yours and get in the habit of practicing perfection.

If you do this consistently, you’ll soon be performing like a Top 20% producer.

I know because this was how I became a Top 20% producer, and I can tell you that it builds on itself — your closing percentage goes up, your confidence goes up, and soon you?re in the habit of closing like a Top 20% producer.

And it all starts by practicing perfection.

What technique or skill can you incorporate starting today?

Whenever the subject of scripts comes up, people usually have definite opinions – they either love them or hate them.

Those who wouldn’t be caught dead using scripts like to point to those pesky telemarketers will call at night that sound stilted and computer like. ?I hang right up on them,? they say. ?I’d never read the script. It’s totally unprofessional."

On the other hand, there are people like me who understand that some scripts, used in the right context, are exactly what separates the Top 20% from the other 80% who are ad-libbing their way through their presentations and careers.

The bottom line is that even if you’re not physically reading a script, chances are you say the same things over and over again. And, chances are, if you haven?t taken the time to plan out and script the absolute best, most effective, proven responses to the situations, objections, red flags, and reflex responses you get day in and day out, then you truly are winging it, and I’m here to tell you — that’s not a good thing.

I’m big on scripts. Oh, not every word — that would only work if you gave your prospect a script, too.

But to be successful you have to be prepared, you have to know what to say, how to say it, and you must know how to effectively deal with the objections and responses that blow away 80% of your competition.

Here are five key areas you absolutely must have scripts for:

#1 Gatekeeper Scripts. How successful are you at getting around gatekeepers? Do you cringe when you are asked, ?Will he know what this call is about?"

If you aren?t using proven scripts to get past gatekeepers, then I know you are hating life. It doesn’t have to be that way! Use this — it works:

?Can I tell him who’s calling??

?Yes, please tell him Mike Brooks with XYZ company is holding please."

The combination of please (twice!), and an instructional statement will eliminate 80% of any further screening. Try it!

#2 Reflex Negative Responses Scripts.

How do you feel when you hear these objections?

?I’m not interested," Or

?We do business with XYZ," Or

?We don’t have the money now."

These negative reflex responses usually mean the end for 80% of sales reps.

The Top 20% are prepared for these, however, and have proven scripted responses that work! Use this:

"That’s exactly why I’m calling, you see…" And then list a benefit your other clients are enjoying.

This is a proven and effective way to get past your prospect?s negative reflex responses, and a way to earn the right to find out whether or not your prospect really is or isn’t right for your product or service.

#3 Voicemail Scripts. Have you scripted a powerful voicemail message that provides a benefit, creates curiosity, and gets your prospects to call you back?

The worst thing you can do is ?um and uh? your way through a voicemail message. Follow the suggestions of the ?5 Golden Rules of Voice Mail,? and watch your call back rate soar.

#4 Rebuttal Scripts. Believe it or not, 80% of inside sales reps are still ad-libbing and stumbling their way through rebuttals. And most of them are not getting the deals. You must script or rebuttals! Must, must, must!!

For a list of: ?How to Overcome the Top 10 Objections," visit my website and download my Special Report.

#5 Taking Your Prospect all the Way Through the Close Script. This is a Top 20% favorite, and I?ve included the way to do this in the closing section of this manual.

So, do you need to use scripts? My answer is, ?Only if you want to be a Top 20% producer!"

At a company I once consulted with there was a manager, Brad, who would never think of taking a full week away from the office. "Much too much to do, and I don’t really need it anyway." He told me.

?When was the last time you did take off on a real vacation?" I once asked him.

?Heck, I can’t tell you. Got to be over six years." He said.

?Aren?t you burned-out?" I asked.

?Naw. I take three-day weekends occasionally, and there are holidays. I get by I guess." He answered.

On the other hand, a woman I’ve been coaching at the same company, Mirna, who is now a Top 20% closer, just last week got back from her first trip to Hawaii. She took her three kids and her husband, and last Wednesday she came back to the office and she looked like a new woman.

She was tanned, relaxed, excited and she was energized! She talked about the fun her kids had, about how incredible Maui was, and about how she couldn’t wait to go on her next trip!

Vacations are key to staying energized, focused, rested and motivated. And when you are energized and motivated, you perform better on your job and are happier overall. All work and no play make Jack, well, you know the story.

But just like in sales, there are guidelines and ?best practices" to ensure that you get the most out of your vacation. After years of perfecting the vacation, I offer, ?The 5 Secrets to Taking Great Vacations? — enjoy!

Secret #1 — Schedule and pay for your trips at least six months or more in advance.

Don’t wait till the last month to take a trip because it will never happen. You will always be too busy. By planning, scheduling and paying for your trips far in advance, you’re almost certain to actually take them.

July or November or March will always come and if you’ve already paid for a trip — you’re going!

Benefit: When you plan that far in advance, you get to look forward to it for months! It?s a great motivator.

Secret #2 — Go somewhere special.

Make a list right now of the six places you and your family with love to go to. And enlist their help! It’s a great family activity.

Then, pick one special or exotic places per year and — that’s right — book it now. Go ahead, buy the airfare, book the hotel and car and pay for it. And then, have everyone mark it on his or her calendars.

Benefit: Watch the attitude of your family change — for the better. Suddenly there’s something bright, fun and enjoyable you are all looking forward to. Gee, the kids sure are nice to be around again!

Secret #3 — Don’t return to work until Wednesday!

Even though you get back Saturday or Sunday, don’t go right back to the office. Give yourself time to readjust, run errands, and settle back in. Nothing ruins of good vacation more than going back to work the very next day. Vacation? What vacation?

Benefit: Taking the Monday and Tuesday off is like getting another ?bonus? vacation.

Secret #4 — Take at least one mini vacation per quarter.

Besides your one or two large vacations, plan to take at least one extended weekend, holiday or other four or five day break per quarter. Hitch a Friday and Tuesday onto a Memorial Day weekend, and voila! — you’ve got a bona fide vacation using just two personal days.

Try to go somewhere on at least two of these, and spend the others around the house getting things done or just relaxing.

But all the previous rules apply: plan, schedule, and pay for them advance!

Benefit: Even more to look forward to!

Secret #5 — Don’t work while on vacation.

Your vacation is exactly that — a vacation! Leave your laptop, blackberry, and paperwork at the office. Resist the temptation to check in with your office. This is your and your family’s time.

Train your sales manager, VP of sales, or assistant to handle all business while away. They will do fine without you, and it will all be there when you return.

Benefit: You will actually feel like you’re on vacation, and you?ll enjoy it even more!

So there you have it — the 5 Secrets to Great Vacations. I guarantee that if you follow these rules, you will not only enjoy your life more, but you’ll be more productive at work as well.

Imagine that — more successful and happier!

When?s your next vacation?