Author: mike

Here’s the Secret to Success

by mike

Want to know an important secret? The most powerful technique to ensure your immediate and continued success is staying focused on what you want – all aspects of it – and not give in to worry, doubt, or to the temporary circumstances are happening right now in your life. I know this sounds simple, but most people find it extremely hard to practice.

While everyone understands the importance of goal setting, what usually happens after the excitement wears off is that reality sets in. You may have a goal to earn a certain amount of money, or drive a different type of car, etc, but after you receive a few checks that seem to be about the same, or after you get back into your old car for a few months, have you ever found that you forget about your goal and just start accepting that things are probably going to remain the same?

Or have you ever attended a motivational seminar or read a motivational book and been fired up for a while? Have you even taken some of the advice and written down your new goals or even taken some action and tried a new marketing plan or diet? If you have, then you’ve probably experienced the kind of let down that comes from not making progress fast enough and then laying in bed at night worrying about your income or about your future (again).

In fact, let me ask you right now: “How much of your thinking is about what you don’t want to happen or about what might happen if something you’re trying to accomplish doesn’t work out?”

The answer to that one question will always determine your ultimate success. You see, the secret to all success is to be able to stay focused on exactly what you want regardless of how long it takes, or what else is currently happening. It is this single ability to stay focused, committed and always trained on the end result you want – no matter what – that enables you to ultimately achieve any goal you set.

So how do you stay focused on what it is you want when so much seems to be contrary, or your mind constantly says, “Yes, but….”? Here are some tips that help me, and might help you as well.

I remember when I wanted to upgrade my Nissan Hatchback to a Mercedes. Well, at first I couldn’t afford the down payment, didn’t know how I was going to make the monthly payments, insurance, etc. Instead of trying to figure all that out, I started with the thought, “If other reps in the office drive nice cars and they seem to be able to write enough business to afford them, why not me?”

That basic belief was the core driving thought that I always went back to when I had a bad sales day or week. Whenever my mind started to go negative on me with the, “Who are you kidding? You a Mercedes?” And so forth, I would always reaffirm what I could believe in – “If others could do it, I could do it too!”

After that, I strengthened my vision by going to a Mercedes dealership and test driving the car I wanted; I had the sales rep at the dealership take pictures of me next to my ideal car (in fact you can see that exact picture by clicking here and scrolling down a bit). I brought all the brochures home of the car I wanted and kept them on my desk and looked at them often. And then I wrote an affirmation card and spent three to five times a day slowly visualizing how I felt now that I owned my dream car.

That combination – always combating any negative thoughts with a thought I could believe in – “If others could do it, I could as well” – along with constantly feeding myself the feelings of having accomplished my goal, enabled me to stay focused on what I wanted, rather than on what I didn’t have.

The result? Four months after writing up my affirmation card and making the commitment to owning the car of my dreams, I went back to the same dealership and bought the exact car I had been visualizing about.

So my question to you is this: What do you want, and what belief can you believe in now that can become your default self talk that will counteract any negative thinking? And then what kinds of reinforcement tools can you surround yourself with that will keep you focused on how you’ll feel once you attain your goal? These, coupled with an affirmation paragraph that you read and visualize several times a day, will keep you focused on what you want.

And once you do that, your goal will always become a reality…

6 Things NEVER to Say During Your Sales Presentation

by mike

I’ve been listening to sales rep pitch their products and services for over 25 years now, and there are still words, phrases and techniques that send shivers down my spine. And I’ll tell you now they send shivers down the spines of their prospects and clients, too.

Let’s face it – when selling over the phone, all you have is your voice, and the way you deliver your presentation – the words you use, the inflection, pacing and timing you use – has a huge impact on the way you are perceived by your prospects. Unfortunately, many sales reps project an image of being unprepared, unsure, rushed and sometimes even scared.

Your prospects sense this immediately. They know from your first few sentences whether they are dealing with a confident sales pro, or with someone who isn’t very sure of what they’re selling and who is uncomfortable with the sales process. And like sharks, these prospects will attack and blow you off with all the stalls, resistance and objections you get now.

If you want to project an image of professional competency, then make sure and avoid using any of the following statements or words:

What NOT to say when cold calling or prospecting:

1) Stop opening your calls with, “How are you?” I’ve written about this before, but 99% of sales reps are still telegraphing themselves as unwanted sales persons by starting out their conversations this way. How do YOU feel when someone you don’t know calls you and uses this worn out line? Probably like hanging up on them– which is exactly how your prospects feel as well. So stop it!

Instead, use a better opening line that immediately differentiates you from all the other sales reps calling your prospects. Use something that connects with them instead, that focuses them on the call and that forces them to think and interact with you.

A few of my favorites are: “How’s your Tuesday going so far?” and “Has it started/stopped snowing there yet?” and “Can you hear me O.K.?”

2) Take the word, “individual” out of your vocabulary when speaking, emailing or otherwise addressing a prospect, as in, “I know you’re a busy individual…” The word individual is an institutional, cold phrase that doesn’t belong in a sales conversation.

Think about it: When was the last time someone you didn’t know called you and referred to you or your wife as “individuals”? How’d that make you feel? Did it give you the warm and fuzziness or did you make you think you were about to be committed?

The language you use must help you create a natural, conversational tone, and words like, “busy individual” or “busy professional”, etc, do just the opposite.

3) “Things of that nature.” I cringe as I even write those words…. Whenever I hear a sales rep end a sentence with “Things of that nature,” I’m pretty sure they have no idea of what they’re talking about. That phrase is most often used by mediocre sales reps to hide or cover up the truth that they don’t know all the details of what they’re talking about. Or, it is used to as lazy way to bridge into other qualifying questions.

If you are using it now, please consider using something else, or better, explain a few of those “things” and then use a tie down to see how that landed…

What NOT to say when closing a sale:

1) “Can you transfer me to (the decision maker)?” Most presentations end with the stall: “Well, I need to run this by my boss/partner/manager/corporate, etc.” Unfortunately, this usually comes as a surprise to many sales reps who failed to qualify for this upfront. Some sales reps then think they can just bulldoze through the stall by demanding to talk to the decision maker right then and there.

While I applaud you for your tenacity, asking to blatantly go above the person’s head you’re speaking to or have just pitched, immediately alienates them. Often times this person is some kind of sales influencer and alienating them is NOT what you want to do.

Instead you should use different techniques, one of which being: “So, John, when you consult with your manager, is this something that you’re sold on and will recommend to them?” (If yes, then): “Great, how can I help you sell them on this?” (Only if they can’t think of anything): “Would it help if I spoke to them and went over this just like I did with you?”

That’s the way to get permission and to finally earn the right to speak to the decision maker.

2) “I don’t know about that – let me get back to you.” It’s O.K. that you don’t have an answer for something, but what’s important is that you convey that in a confident manner. Try any of the following:

“That’s a great question and we have several ways of handling that. Let me ask you a couple of questions regarding your particular situation, and then I’ll be able to get the best solution for you…” OR

“That’s a good question for my technical support team. Let me see what they would propose and get back with you.” OR

“We have a whole department that deals with that, and I’ll check with them to give you the best solution.”
Each of these responses helps you delay answering until you get the right answer, but they paint the picture of a bigger, more competent company structure which helps to give you credibility.

3) “When should I call you back?” Why would you want to put the crucial follow up of your sale in the hands of your customer? Asking this question means handing over control of the sale to the prospect which means you lose control. That’s bad. Here are better ways of keeping control and getting a commitment for a follow up call:

“How long will that take?” Then: “O.K. I’ve got my calendar open and that would put us to Tuesday of next week. Are you looking at your calendar? Great. How does 2:45pm look for you?” OR

“(Prospect Name) you’re probably as busy as I am, so let’s go ahead and schedule a follow up call to access progress. I can do this same time (tomorrow, Friday, next week), does that work for you?” OR

“It’s going to take me (a day, two days, a week, etc.) to get this started on my end, how about I give you a call around Friday at this time to see if there’s anything else you need? Does 2:15pm work for you again?”

The key here is to get a commitment. All top producers remain in control of the selling process and know when the next call in the sales cycle is – and so do their prospects!

So there you have six things to stay away from during your next sales call. As you use these techniques, you’ll find yourself developing better rapport, getting more information and staying in control of your selling situations. Heck, it’s starting to sound like you’re a top producer already!

Why Not You?

by mike

Russell Wilson, the 5’11, 25 year old Seattle Seahawks quarterback who just won the Superbowl, loves to tell the story of how his dad pulled him aside when he was a kid struggling to make teams because he was so small. His dad would tell him, “Russ, you’ve got the talent, you’ve got the drive and the work habits, why not you? Why not you?”

Wilson says those words became the driving force that kept him competing for starting jobs on college teams and kept him working hard to get drafted in the NFL. On draft day, he watched as other quarterbacks got picked in the first round, and then the second round. The announcers who covered Wilson back then all said that if he were only 3 inches taller he would be a first round draft pick. Finally, with the 12th pick in the third round, the Seahawks drafted the undersized quarterback.

When Wilson showed up for training camp, it was almost certain he would sit on the bench behind highly prized free agent, Matt Flynn. Matt had been Aaron Rodgers’ back up in Green Bay and had a franchise record setting, 6 touchdown performance at the end of the previous season. Millions of dollars later, Matt was projected to be the Seahawk’s starter for years to come.

As Wilson started training camp, he heard his coaches say that the starting quarterback spot was open to the best player at that position.

“Why not you?”

These words rang in Wilson’s head again as he practiced, competed and performed during off season workouts and throughout the preseason. By the final game, Wilson was named the starter, and he went on to have an amazing 2012 rookie season.

As the 2013 season began, Wilson had a message for his team: “Why not us?” Every player bought into those words and that became their team mantra as they went on to a dominating 13-3 season. In February as they headed out of the tunnel to start Superbowl XLVIII, they all believed that no matter who their opponent was, there was no reason they couldn’t be hoisting the Lombardi trophy at the end of the game.

After all, “Why not them?”

As I read these stories throughout the season, I kept thinking about a similar mantra I adopted once I committed to becoming a top producer. I was struggling just to pay my rent at the time, but I’ll never forget looking at the top three producers and the porches they drove and the suits they wore and trips they won and thinking, “What do they have that I don’t?”

I realized they all were selling the product I was, had access to the same leads, the same sales scripts, the same amount of time in the day. What was different, I wondered? When I discovered it was only their commitment and ambition, I knew that I could do it too. And that’s when I developed the mantra:

“If they can do it, I can do it better!”

Once I made that commitment, I knew I could work harder and work smarter. I could learn all the top sales skills they were using, and I could perfect them even more. The old determination came back to me, and I suddenly remembered being in college. I knew I could get “A’s” there, too, if I was willing to commit, and I did. And if I did it there, I could do it here. After all, I had three role models who were doing it day in and day out.

“If they can do it, I can do it better!” That mantra drove me to succeed. I relentlessly listened to my recorded calls and committed to improving on the very next call. I learned how to qualify leads, and I learned how to listen (thank god for the mute button). I developed affirmations and began visualizing my success. And each and every day, probably a hundred times or more, I would repeat to myself:

“If they can do it, I can do it better.”

And I did. In 90 days I went from last place out of 25 sales reps to being #1. And I never looked back. Nine months later, I was the top rep out of 5 branch offices and won the closer of the year award. (That award, by the way, was a Corvette convertible. You can see a picture of me standing in front of it here – scroll down a bit).

I’m going to borrow a line from Anthony Robbins right now and say that I’m not telling you this to impress you, but rather to impress upon you that if YOU make a similar commitment, then YOU can also become a top producer at your company or in your industry.

And once you do this, entire world changes. Your family’s life changes. Your future changes. You sleep better every night and you don’t dread Mondays.

Once you become a top producer, you never go back and suddenly you know how to succeed in selling anything. I’m here to tell you, the freedom from worry, from debt, from the future is an amazing feeling and one you owe to yourself and to your family.

Now if you’re wondering if you can really achieve this kind of success in sales, I’ll borrow a line from the 3rd round pick of the 2012 NFL draft:

“Why not you?”

The Sooner You Lose the Sale, the Better

by mike

Last week I was speaking with another training company about perhaps joint venturing on webinars together. They would give a webinar to my list of subscribers, and I would then give one to theirs. After the initial conversation, next steps were made and we were to exchange various deliverables and take the conversation to the next level.

After giving it some thought, however, I decided that we weren’t a good match for each other, and, before we went through all the trouble of sending and reviewing material, I emailed them and declined. The email I got back was brilliant. They thanked me for my time and then simply said:

“We always like to lose early.”

Now that’s a response from a company (or sales rep) who understands the value of qualifying. Unfortunately, most sales reps operate the exact opposite way. Here’s how most sales reps do it:

Most sales reps act with a desperation to put anyone into their pipeline that will take their information. They are then happy to call these very shaky prospects back and waste their time by sending information or revising documents or whatever else they are asked to do. And after this long and frustrating process, the majority of these prospects end up not being a sale. In fact:

The industry wide closing average is 1 or 2 out of ten prospects!

Think about that for just a moment. Think about all the time, energy, phone calls, voice messages, emails, chasing and disappointment you have to go through pursuing 8 or 9 prospects through a sales cycle only to have them finally tell you no.

That’s why the response, “We always like to lose early” is so brilliant. By losing the sale early in the process – as a direct result of an intensive, first qualifying call, by the way – we both saved ourselves a lot of work, a lot of time in following up and the disappointment of a lost deal at the end of it all.

What this all comes down to is the concept of “disqualifying” your leads rather than qualifying them just enough to get them into your pipeline. What this allows you to do is spend less time pitching unqualified leads that steal your valuable time. And I’m sure you know who I’m talking about…

In order to identify non-buyers early on, get into the habit of asking these types of qualifying questions during the initial call:

“I know we’re at the very early stages of this, but give me an idea of your time frame for making a decision on something like this.”

“If you like what you see in our demo, what would be the next steps for you?”

“What would hold you back from making a decision to move forward on something like this in the next two weeks?”

“Besides yourself, who would be making the final decision on this?”

Then layer:

“And what insight do you have on where they are leaning right now?”

And finally,

“From what I’ve been describing so far, what are your initial thoughts on this?”

If any of these questions reveal that your prospect might not be a good fit or won’t buy at this time for any reason, then hold off! The less time you spend pitching bad leads who aren’t going to buy, the more time you can spend finding the real buyers.

This is a big point, so here it is again:

The Top 20% producers spend more time disqualifying out the non-buyers and so less time stuffing unqualified leads into their pipeline hoping they will close. In other words, they would rather lose early because it frees them up to find and spend more time with buyers later on. And this is what makes them top producers.

I challenge you to start losing more sales earlier in the sales process so you can spend more time winning bigger deals more often.

How Peyton Manning Helps You Slow the Game of Sales Down

by mike

I was reading an article in Sports Illustrated by Boomer Esiason (the ex-NFL Cincinnati Bengals quarterback) and he was breaking down what makes Peyton Manning such a great quarterback. He discussed specifically how, on November 17th of this season when Payton was playing the undefeated Chiefs, Peyton was challenged with surviving a defense that was leading the league in sacks. Boomer says:

“Pundits were saying how that K.C. pass rush was going to get to him, that this would really be a disaster for Peyton. But from the first snap, he knew right where he was going with the ball, he knew exactly what coverages he was seeing, and he took so much pressure off his line that the defense had no chance to get to him.”

K.C. didn’t get to Manning even once that night, and when the game was over, K.C. had its first loss of the season.

Boomer goes on to make a crucial point: When you truly understand the game of football, it’s turns out to be a simple game. To quarterbacks and players who haven’t taken the time to really learn it, to study it and adapt to it, it’s a fast paced game and one you often just react it. But when you’re committed like Peyton is, you can literally slow the game down and control it. Once you do that, you realize it’s really a simple game.

And in sales, it’s exactly the same.

Many sales teams and reps I work with find that the selling process – the prospecting/qualifying call, the demo call, the closing call, etc., all seem to happen very fast. They are often overwhelmed during each of these calls and miss asking important questions or lose control of the situation. They then become frustrated and struggle to catch up.

Boomer goes on to report that as a veteran himself, he also knew how to slow the game down and perform at the highest level. He says:

“I also had a crystal-clear understanding of what was happening on the field. I could process the game so quickly – call a play, get to the line, audible immediately, read the defense, work through my progressions, find the open man. I was like an old pitcher who could no longer throw 95, but who knew from ages of experience what he had to do to get the job done.”

And it’s the same in sales.

All top producers understand this analogy to sales. When you listen to a top producer’s recording, what is immediately apparent is their complete understanding of what is happening during the call. They, too, can process the situation quickly – and ask the right question, get to the appropriate comeback, read the prospect, work through their responses and find the opening they need to direct the call or handle potential objections.

As Boomer says next, “…but in every game his (Peyton’s) mental capacity is clearly so much higher than everybody else’s that it appears he has the answers to the test before he takes it.”

Peyton’s preparation, commitment, and study of the game allow him slow the game down and control and dominate it. His work habits are legendary. Boomer used to joke with Frank Reich – Peyton’s quarterback coach for several years with the Colts – that coaching Peyton had to be the easiest job in the world because of how much work he puts in. Frank disagreed:

“To the contrary, Boomer, this is the hardest job in the league. Peyton’s the most demanding player. From the moment I walk in, I have to have certain film clips ready; I have to be ready to talk over and over about what’s happening on the field, trying to foresee things that might happen. He has a relentless desire to be great.”

To be great in sales, you also have to put in the time, invest in the resources, and commit to learning the skills and tools you need to succeed. But once you do, the game of sales slows way down. It becomes easy for you to identify qualified and interested prospects and you immediately know exactly how to take them through the sale and win the deal.

It’s one of the most satisfying and exhilarating feelings in the world, and I hope it’s one that you have a relentless desire to experience, too.

Metrics-Driven Sales Objection Handling – Feel, Felt, Found

by mike

(This article is by Guest Author: Gareth Goh, InsightSquared.com)

When faced with a bevy of objections – particularly from top-of-the-funnel prospects – sales reps might see their slim chances of closing this customer fading away. Sometimes, sales objection handling can feel like throwing up a Hail Mary, especially when the sales rep is unprepared, with no data at hand to counteract objections.

That’s where the “Feel, Felt, Found” methodology can help rescue some of these slipping-away prospects, especially with coupled with metrics and data during the last stage. Here’s how you should execute “Feel, Felt, Found,” with some metrics-driven sales objection handling during the “Found” phase to really pack a powerful punch.

Feel

Prospective Customer: I’m just not convinced that your product can solve my pain points.

Sales rep: I understand how you feel.

Saying this demonstrates empathy and shows that you heard what the prospective customer is saying and that you can relate. People want to be understood, especially when they are describing their pain points and skepticism. Saying this is a great way of disarming them, setting you up for the next step.

Felt

Sales rep: In fact, this customer I just worked with, Steve, felt the exact same way as you do.

Again, this not only demonstrates empathy, but also makes the prospective customer feel more comfortable in the knowledge that he or she is not the only one who has felt this way before. Their objection is, in fact, a common one. Your confidence in acknowledging so also suggests that you are comfortable dealing with this objection, and that the situation is fluid – in past instances where other customers have felt this way too, they soon changed their tone. Which takes us to the next step.

Found

Sales rep: I demonstrated X, Y and Z capabilities of our product to Steve and he soon found that the we could not only solve all the issues he was facing, but even made his life easier in these other areas.

The “found” part of this methodology is critical. For starters, referring to a specific customer provides social proof – if other people are finding success with it, this skeptic will be more convinced. Additionally, this alleviates the burden of selling from you – old customer Steve is now essentially doing most of the selling.

Where “found” really has potential to succeed, however, is when quantitative data is cited, with demonstrable proof in the proverbial pudding. Take us, for example. Let’s say we were talking to a hypothetical prospect looking to significantly increase their average deal size. They are highly skeptical that a sales analytics product like ours can help in that regard. But what if the sales rep follows up the “found” section by saying something like this:

Sales rep: I understand your need to increase your average deal size. A lot of people we talked to expressed this concern and weren’t sure that we could handle it. In fact, Steve Richard of Vorsight found that after starting with InsightSquared, their average deal size increased from $16k to $25k – a 56% increase!

And therein lies the power of data. Look at the difference that metrics-driven sales objection handling can deliver. Instead of making some vague general references to past customers who have found success with your product – “Trust me, lots of customers have increased their deal size tremendously after they started with us!” – talking about a specific customer, with quantifiable solutions to common pain points, will resonate much more loudly.

Of course, getting to metrics-driven sales objection handling during the “found” phase means having those metrics and data available to you in the first place. This requires a data-driven culture that is invested and interested in quantifying the success of their past customers. Metrics-driven sales objection handling is made even more feasible if you have a library of case studies to access. The quantifiable data of success, coupled with the social proof of other customers, makes metrics-driven sales objection handling as part of the ‘Feel, Felt, Found’ methodology an effective strategy.

How do your sales reps handle sales objections? Are metrics typically involved? Share your thoughts with me by emailing me – mike@mrinsidesales.com.

InsightSquared <http://www.insightsquared.com/> is the #1 Salesforce Analytics product for small- and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). Unlike legacy Business Intelligence platforms, InsightSquared can be deployed affordably in less than a day without any integration costs and comes preloaded with reports that real business people can use.

Learn more about Sales and Marketing Management Analytics on the InsightSquared blog <http://www.insightsquared.com/blog/>.

7 Secrets to GREAT Customer Service

by mike

Introduction

In today’s inside sales environment, customer service reps wear many hats. Often a blend between pure customer service, where reps take inbound calls from existing and potential customers, to an order taking role where those same reps also take inbound customer orders, all the way to being tasked with proactive up-selling or prospecting into existing accounts, today’s customer service reps have to be adept at handling a number of customer interactions. Across these varying job descriptions, one thing remains constant: giving customers an outstanding experience. But how do we get them to do this?

The problem with most training

While training is crucial to the development of a customer service team, and to the overall experience a customer service rep delivers, the majority of conventional training falls short. Most customer service training is ‘top end’ heavy and focused on product education and services training, often neglecting the fundamentals of the customer interface experience. Companies tend to take for granted that reps should know intuitively how to make the customer feel welcomed and cared for, but, as many of us know who have had to call in to our cell phone company or cable TV company, these fundamental, common sense courtesies are anything but common sense intuitive skills.

The solution is in proper training and measuring consistency

In order to develop a customer service team that consistently delivers exceptional customer service, we like to start with a definition of customer service and then break this down into training areas we consider to be fundamental to creating a great customer service team. Our definition:

Customer Service is defined as how well a company is able to consistently exceed the needs of the customer.

We then break this down into what we believe are the fundamental elements to effective customer service training:

• “Is able to” = Customer Service is a set of skills that can be learned.
• “Consistently” – Great Customer Service means doing it all the time (Not just when you feel like it).
• “Exceeds the needs” – Wowing the customer, not just giving them satisfaction.
• “The customer” – Great Customer Service treats the customer as an individual, rather than as a group or company.

In addition to fundamental training, follow up mentoring, coaching and measuring adherence to a set of best practices are also essential for the development, integration and delivery of a ‘GREAT’ customer service experience.

7 Secrets to GREAT Customer Service

While many elements make up an effective customer service training program, here are 7 Secrets we use as a base to introduce customer service reps to the fundamentals of delivering a great customer experience:

Secret #1: Consistency is the secret to great customer service

Think about where you consistently receive GREAT customer service. How about a high end department store like Nordstrom? Or a luxury hotel like the Ritz Carlton chain. How about your local retail shop, coffee shop or favorite restaurant? If you were to choose one word to describe what makes these experiences great, wouldn’t it be consistency of experience?

All customers have a baseline expectation they expect to be fulfilled on every interaction with your company. Consistency of a positive experience creates feelings of predictability, trust and feelings of security (your customers know you’ll be there for them and that they will be taken care of). The more consistently you’re able to meet and exceed your customer’s expectations, the more they will want to do business with you and recommend you.

Consistency of experience is the first Step to GREAT customer service.

Secret #2: Personality is more important than knowledge

Whenever a customer service rep picks up the phone, you immediately know whether you are in good hands or not, don’t you? Their tone and attitude projects what kind of experience you’re going to have. And which customer service rep would you rather speak to:

1: A customer service rep who knows everything but who is not friendly, or

2: A customer service rep who is warm & friendly and willing to help you and will find the answers you need?

As customers, we would rather speak to a friendly, helpful customer service rep whose attitude is: “Would you mind holding a moment while I find the right person for you to speak with?” rather than with a rep whose tone is unfriendly or disinterested. In customer service: Attitude trumps knowledge.

How do you get your personality across the phone? In one word: Smiling. People can hear it in your voice when you’re smiling, and they can hear it when you’re not. The secret of pushing your personality across the phone is to “Never stop smiling.”

If one of our customers comes into the store without a smile, I’ll give them one of mine. -Sam Walton (founder of Wal-Mart)

Secret #3: It’s O.K. to make the occasional mistake or not have all the answers.

Too many customer service reps feel like they have to have all the answers and are afraid to make the occasional mistake. And when they do make a mistake, they tend to defend or deny they were wrong. Both are incorrect.

The true is, we don’t have all the answers all the time and we are going to make mistakes or give out incorrect answers occasionally. The key is how you handy this. What to do when you make a mistake:

Admit it. Denying it only makes it worse….
“You know I think I may have given you the wrong (part #, extension, etc.). Let me try that again, please.”

Apologize sincerely.
“I’m truly sorry for that.” “I apologize for that.” “That was my mistake…”

Offer to try to help them again or to re-do what just went wrong.
“Would it be O.K. if I tried that again?”

Thank them for their patience…
“I want to thank you for your patience with this…”

Secret #4: Prevent a customer who is having a problem from becoming a problem customer

Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. – Bill Gates of Microsoft

A big part of a customer service rep’s job is to handle customers who are having a problem. From a company stand point, the key to dealing with these customers successfully is to prevent a customer who is having a problem from becoming a problem customer.

Here’s how you create a problem customer:

• You don’t acknowledge their problem or urgency of situation

• You don’t empathize with them

• You pass them off to voice mail

• You don’t update them on the solution

The key to preventing problems from escalating? In a word: Be proactive.

Proactive steps to follow:

• Acknowledge the problem

• Empathize with the customer

• Clearly lay out the next steps for the customer

• Regular contact with the customer in need of service

• Update them on the progress of the solution

• Check back to make sure the problem is solved to their satisfaction

Secret #5:: Focus on building a relationship rather than making a transaction

What would you say is the most important aspect of any relationship? We believe that trust is essential to developing an atmosphere of caring and competent support. And how do you build that? By consistently & courteously guiding your customer through every step of your interaction with them. Starting with:

The Opening

Make your customer feel welcomed with a warm opening:

“Thank you for calling (Your Company) today”

“It’s a great day at (Your Company) …”

“Good afternoon, this is (Your Name) with (Your Company), how can I help you today?”

Continue this in: The Middle of Conversation

After your customer has stated their problem or the reason for the call, reply with:

“I can help you with that.”

“I’ll be happy to help you with that.”

“That’s something I can take care of for you.

And End by: Leaving your customers with a smile

“Thank you for calling us today.”

“Thanks for calling and you have a great day.”

“We appreciate your business and have a great day.”

“If there is anything else we can do for you, just give us a call.”

Always do more than is required of you. -George S. Patton

Secret #6: Courtesy is the #1 tool of every customer service rep

How do you feel when someone lets you in the lane in front of them in traffic? Or how about when someone holds the door open for you at the market, or lets you in front of them when you have just a few items? Probably pretty good. And that’s how every customer service experience should make you feel as well. Being courteous and polite are the most important tools to becoming a great customer service rep!

Your Top Courtesy phrases:

“Please…”

“I’ll be happy to help you…”

“Would it be O.K. if I put you on hold?”

“Thank you very much for your patience.”

“Could you please hold while I check that for you?”

“Thank you for calling us today!”

And the Key to using them effectively is Consistently!

Secret #7: Make Every Customer Experience a WIN

How would your customers describe their experiences with your customer service team today?
Would they feel underwhelmed, dissatisfied, satisfied, happy they called, or ‘this call was a WIN!’

The goal of all customer service training should be to get your team to consistently deliver the kind of customer service that will keep your customers coming back and recommending your services. Here’s how to Create a WIN:

• Be consistently courteous

• Make your customers feel welcomed

• Listen to and respond appropriately to their problem/request

• Present the solution and get their buy in

• Go the extra mile

• Make them feel special at the end of the call

There are no traffic jams along the extra mile. -Roger Staubach

Conclusion

As we mentioned at the beginning of this white paper, great customer service is a culmination of a set of skills that can be learned and measured. It starts with the proper training of these fundamental skills and then coaching their use on a consistent basis. The good news is that once these skills are internalized and become habits, these habits will then take over and the result will be the kind of consistent customer experience our customers expect and deserve.

Three Customer Service Secrets – True or False?

by mike

How would you rate your cell phone company’s customer service? How about your cable TV customer service or your computer company’s customer service? What word or words would you use to describe your feelings when you have to make one of those calls to either change a service, question your bill, get technical support or even buy an additional service? To get the answers to these questions, we conducted a survey and here are some of the words consumers used most often:

Dread
Frustrated
Anger
Hope

I’ll bet you can add some of your own words to that list, but the end result would probably be more negative ones than positive. In the training we conduct with companies who provide customer service as part or all of their primary function, we often start with a quiz to uncover some of the truths about customer service. What we are attempting to discover is why such a seemingly simple service – what is so hard about asking, “How can we help you today?” – is so difficult to consistently deliver.

Take the following quiz yourself and see how many you and your team get right:

True or False: You either have the right personality or disposition to be a good customer service rep or you don’t.

Answer: False. Good customer service isn’t as much about personality as it is about learning and consistently using a set of proven skills. Anyone who wants to get better at consistently meeting and exceeding the needs of customers can learn and then apply – consistently – a set of skills that includes the proper opening, middle and ending of a customer service call.

The problem isn’t that there aren’t enough people with the right personality out there, it’s that most of the customer service reps operating today haven’t been given the right training, nor the right follow up coaching, to be consistently good at consistently exceeding the needs of their customers.

True or False: Customer services reps with the most product and service training will result in the best customer experience.

Answer: False. Companies spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on product and service training hoping to put the most educated customer service reps on the other ends of the phones for their customers. The sad truth is that this doesn’t always translate into a positive or entirely satisfied experience for the customer.

We have all had an experience where the attitude and tone of the customer service rep over powered the knowledge or help they were able to offer, and we also have had the opposite experience of dealing with a pleasant or eager to help customer service rep who had to find the help or answers we needed. Which would you rather deal with? While product or service training seems more direct and measurable, basic customer service skill training is just as – if not more – important for the overall customer experience.

True or False: It is hard to find and train good customer service reps.

Answer: True AND False! Let’s face it – good help is still hard to find. Finding good people to hire can be a time consuming and difficult process. The saying “It’s a numbers game,” is an accurate way to describe this process. There are a number of variables that come into play in finding good candidates including your location (city, part of the country, etc.), your company and pay scale, the available talent pool of candidates, etc. While it is true that finding these candidates is sometimes hard to do, training them doesn’t have to be.

Training people to excel at giving great customer service is possible if you focus on providing people with the skills it takes to exceed your customers expectations and if you then coach adherence to those skill sets. Unfortunately, this is where many companies fall short.

While there are many good resources and training available to teach these skills, many companies still focus on product and service training. Hopefully, after a careful review of your own customer service team’s skills, you’ll decide to provide the kind of training that gives your customers the kind of experience that will keep them coming back.

If you or your company are interested in learning the kind of skills that enable your customer service reps to consistently give GREAT customer service, then visit our website: www.MrInsideSales.com, or call us at: (818) 999-0869. We look forward to helping you soon!

Three Techniques to Make Your Sales Training More Effective

by mike

Introduction:

According to CEOInsights.com, over 48% of inside sales companies surveyed reported that they missed their monthly revenues goals more times in a 12-month cycle than they reached them. Other sales indicators like time on the phone, closing ratios, percentage to monthly goal, etc, pipeline accuracy inevitably suffered as well as sales teams struggled to make quota and reach revenue.

In addition to missing revenue numbers, many other companies indicate that the level of training, core selling skills, and overall selling talent of their sales team could be improved as well. When asked how many companies have a defined sales process in place and a specific training program to reinforce and teach those best practices, our experience tells us that less than 35% of companies have taken the time to define and implement these processes.

While you would expect an under trained sales team to lead to under performance, what is rarely considered is the toll this takes on other factors that contribute to sales decline. Getting rejected daily and repeatedly missing sales lead to a lack of confidence which in turn leads to call reluctance. Getting beaten up for missing quotas leads to poor attitudes and these attitudes spread rapidly throughout a sales organization creating an environment that becomes toxic and self perpetuating.

Is Sales Training Enough?

All companies have some form of sales training, even if it just consists of new reps shadowing senior reps for a few days before they “hit the phones.” While sales training can be graded from inefficient to very effective, there are some important points you should consider when designing your own sales training:

1) Make your overall training not only specific to your product or service, but break your training down to the various parts of your sales cycle and teach best practices for each part. For example, if your first call is simply to set an appointment or send information to a prospect, what are the five benchmarks your reps need to cover for you to consider this a qualified lead?

Having this kind of clarity all the way through your sales cycle will help not only your reps but will help your manager coach them all the way through the sale.

2) Give your reps specific, scripted responses to the sales situations they run into every day. This is the best way to empower your reps and it helps them successfully navigate the sale from beginning (getting through the gatekeeper) through to the end (getting the deal in the door).

An example would be to script out and teach them how to overcome the smokescreen objection of, “I have to show this to my boss” objection. Most sales reps don’t know how to deal with this objection so their usual response is something along the lines of, “OK, when should I get back with you?”

This simply leads to non-qualified leads that clog up pipelines.

A specific, scripted approach to this objection will teach your reps to isolate this objection to see if it’s a smokescreen or a real objection. Have them use something like this: “I understand and I think you should speak to _________. Just out of curiosity, if they say to do whatever you think is best, where are you leaning in regards to using this?”

Again, giving your reps specific tools to navigate through the sale is what is going to help them become successful.

3) Make sales training a daily event. To learn a new skill of any kind you need to reinforce it daily. We recommend running a brief sales meeting every morning to reinforce the skills and techniques that your top 20% are using successfully. Playing recordings, role playing, passing out updated scripts are all things that will help your team improve on a daily, weekly basis.

Specific Sales Solutions

In alignment with the suggestions above, here are three specific sales solutions that you can adapt and implement to immediately make your inside sales team more effective. These are proven skills that will help your team navigate past some of the common objections, brush offs and situations they encounter on a daily basis. You can use these techniques as sales meeting topics and have your team help to customize them to fit their selling situations.

Qualifying Techniques

#1 – Question the Red Flags

One of the best ways to determine who actually does make it into your sales pipeline is to make sure you avoid one of the biggest mistakes 80% of salespeople make when qualifying. And that is to overlook or not react to obvious Red Flags prospects give during the initial qualifying call.

In their haste or desperation to “generate a lead” or to “fill their pipeline,” many sales reps will hope that any possible objection they hear on the front end will miraculously go away once the prospect sees their information or product or service, etc.

But you all know from experience — it never does.

In fact, the rule for calling back leads is that:

Leads Never Get Better!

What appears to be an objection or deal killer on the front end, always is.

A sales rep told me about a prospect who wasn’t calling him back, and who (once he did reach him) told him that he was leaving the company. He wrote to me and said, “I guess intuitively I knew he wasn’t the right guy to make the decision anyway.”

And I’ll bet he intuitively knew this because he heard (but didn’t question) the Red Flags the prospect raised during the qualification call.

You can’t ignore these Red Flags! Do what the Top 20% do: As soon as you hear something that triggers your intuition or that gives you that sick feeling in your gut, stop and ask the tough qualifying questions!

Here are some examples you can begin using today:

If someone says that they usually buy from ________, but would like to see your information, ask:

“Why would you switch vendors?” Or

“How many other companies have you looked at in the last six months?”

And then: “And how many did you go with?”

If someone says that they will pass your information on to ________, say:

“Thanks. So that I make sure I’m not wasting her time it’s best that I speak with her for just a few minutes. Can you please tell her that (your name) is holding please?” (If you’re then told they are not available, make sure and get their direct line or that person’s extension and keep calling until she picks up.

If someone says that they’d be glad to look it over, ask:

“Great, after you do, and if you think that it can help you (or your business, etc.), what would the next steps be?”

And so on.

#2 Teach your reps how to avoid getting brushed off

So many times prospects aren’t really interested, but they either don’t know how or won’t come out and tell us. Instead they will say things like, “Go ahead and send me the (information, brochure, demo) and I’ll take a look.” Or, “Put that quote in writing and send it to me.”

When a top closer hears this, his/her first thought is, “I don’t have the time to do that, and I especially don’t have the time to follow up with an unqualified lead.” Here’s how they handle it and how your reps should, too:

Put off #1: “Go ahead and send me your information.”

Your response: “I’d be happy to, and if you like what you see is this something you would move on in the next couple of weeks?”

OR,

“Before I do, I want to make sure you’d be ready to act on it if you like it. Let me ask you…(qualifying questions on budget, decision-making process, etc should be asked next)”

OR,

“Sure, and after you review it, how soon would you make a decision on it?”

OR,

“And what would you need to see to say yes to it?”

Put off No. 2: “Put that quote in writing and send it to me.”

Your response: “I’d be happy to, and from what we’ve just discussed, does it sound like you’d go with it?”

OR,

“Absolutely. How does this compare with the other quotes you’ve received so far?”

OR,

“Great. Based on the quote/price I just gave you does this sound like it fits within your budget?”

Closing Technique

#3 Five Ways to Stop Talking Past the Close

Have you ever caught your reps doing this? They deliver a great presentation, think that your prospect is with them, but then they just keep on pitching.

Or, they get an objection, answer it, but then again, they just keep pitching — or worse — they go to the next rebuttal and start reading that pitch.

Talking past the close is much more common than repeatedly asking for the sale (which is what they should be doing). And why is that? It’s because it’s scary to ask for the deal and be told no. It’s much easier to keep pitching, “Maybe they’ll just cave and finally hear something they want and buy.”

Sound familiar? It should. That’s how 80% of your sales reps are pitching. They are ad-libbing, talking past the close, and even introducing new objections. What a mess!

Here are five ways to stop talking past the close, so your reps can spend more time closing, and earning the income the Top 20% do:

1) Record yourself. Before you can stop talking past the close, you first must begin hearing and catching yourself doing it. One day of recording your reps and you’ll become immediately aware of when and how they do it.

2) Use a script. One of the best parts of a well-crafted script is that it ends with your reps asking for the deal! Listen to their recordings and then craft a good response to the common objections they are getting. Then, make sure they adhere to the script.

3) Ask for the deal five times. If you give your reps a close quota of asking for the deal at least five times, then they are going to be much quicker in asking for it.

Have them keep track of this on a piece of paper using stick figures. If 20 minutes has gone by and they don’t have any marks on the paper, then you know your team is in trouble!

4) Welcome getting a no. So many sales reps are afraid of no’s, but you don’t have to be. With most sales you’ve made, you’ve probably heard some no’s along the way, so reframe the way your team thinks about them and realize the truth — each no gets you closer to a yes. So welcome getting a no. It usually means you’re that much closer to getting the sale.

5) Shut up and listen. Teach your team to be quiet after they ask for the sale. Use your mute button or cover the mouthpiece and count to five – 1/1000, 2/2000, etc. By forcing your reps to remain silent for five seconds after asking for the sale, they’ll actually have something to concentrate on rather than fear.

Conclusion

If your sales team is in the 50% of teams that aren’t making their monthly sales quotas regularly, then daily, specific sales training is your fastest way of changing that. There are other factors as well, including having a Defined Sales Process, an organized sales training program that reinforces your best practices, etc. But using and reinforcing the three techniques above will bring you and your team immediate results.

Use This Magic Button on Your Phone

by mike

I was in Staples the other day and saw their promotion using a little red button that says, “Easy” on it. You know the one? They have commercials on it and essentially whenever a business person needs any help around the office, all they have to do is hit this button and BAM! their need is met. Would that be nice? Staples even sells little red buttons with “Easy” on them, and you’re encouraged to buy one and keep it on your desk. Nice marketing, huh?

Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a little red button on your phone called “Easy” and all you had to do was press it and your prospect or client would automatically start telling you exactly why – or why not – they would buy from you? How much would you pay for that magic little button?

Well guess what? YOU DO! In fact, you have an even more powerful, more magical button then “Easy” right on your telephone, and I bet you’re not even using it. That magic button? Your MUTE button, of course.

Now I know you may have heard me talk about the importance of using your mute before, but the question is, are you? If you’re like most sales reps I listen to, then the answer is no. Oh, you may use your MUTE button when you need to get information or check on something, but when was the last time you actually used it to truly listen to and allow your prospect or client the time to complete a thought – or even a sentence?

Let me tell you why it’s so hard to listen on the phone. When you’re with a friend having dinner and you ask them a question, do you immediately jump in as soon as they pause for a breath? Probably not. You see, when you’re in front of someone, you can read their body language, you can read their face, and you can see when they are searching for just the right words to continue. During the few seconds it takes for them to find those right words, you don’t just start talking at them, do you? (I hope you don’t because if you do, you probably don’t have a lot of friends!)

But when you sell over the phone, you don’t have any of those cues, do you? And that’s why most phone sales reps talk over their prospects and that’s why most people (including you!) hate it when a telemarketer calls. They don’t listen and they don’t give you time to collect your thoughts, do they? And, chances are, neither do you…

So, let’s get back to your magic button – your MUTE button. Here are three easy ways to begin using your MUTE button to guarantee that you give your prospects the time to complete their thoughts – and their sentences:

1) Use it when asking about who they are using now. I’m sure that during your qualifying stage you probably ask something like, “And how are you handling your lead flow now?” This is the perfect time to automatically hit your MUTE button. Expect them to answer in a sentence or two, but keep your MUTE on! During the next couple of seconds, chances are, they will elaborate.

If they don’t, just un-mute and ask, “Oh?” and then immediately hit MUTE again!

2) Whenever they ask about price. As soon as you give your price, you must always qualify and see how that landed with them. This is the perfect time to ask, “And how does that fit in your budget?” And then hit MUTE! Listen here carefully and then to prompt them after they are done by using a layering question like, “And what were you hoping to spend on this?” And then hit MUTE once again. And then listen….

3) The third time to use the MUTE button is whenever you get an objection. Rather than rush into answering it, ALWAYS get more information. Ask things like, “What do you mean?” OR “What else were you thinking in terms of this?” OR “Beside that, what other questions do you have?” And then hit MUTE directly after each of these and listen to what is behind the stated objection.

I think you can see how much more information you will get if you just listen instead of talking. You can do this easily if you just start using that magic button on your phone called, MUTE!

If you found this article helpful, then you’ll love Mike’s Completely Updated and Revised for 2014 eBook, “The Complete Book of Phone Scripts.” Now over 130 pages of powerful and effective scripts to help you easily get past the gatekeeper, set appointments, overcome objections and close more money!