Declare Yourself a Winner!

by | Jun 22, 2011 | Sales

I had an interesting conversation with my husband yesterday. I’ve been on this really strict diet and have had some good results (Thank goodness!).

 

However, in a three-week period this is how the weight came down. Week one: I lost a ton of weight. Week two: I did OK. Week three: nothing! And, while I was having an out loud conversation with myself, Jerry happened to be in the room.

 

The conversation went something like this: “Well you know, 15 lbs in three weeks is nothing short of a miracle for me. I need to be happy and focused on the fact that I’ve made really great progress. I mean after all, yadda, yadda, yadda…”

 

Finally my husband looked up from the paper and said, “Hon, you’ve lost a lot of weight in 3 weeks, why don’t you go get a trophy and declare yourself and winner!” We laughed and I went shopping!

 

The point of the story is that sometimes, we need to look at our accomplishments and declare ourselves winners! Are you taking the time to celebrate with your staff?  Have you set meaningful, reachable goals so there can be celebration?

 

It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the day-to-day tasks it takes to run the business, that there’s never any time at all to pass out trophies! Please take the time today to set some goals with your team. Get them involved. Plan the celebration.

 

If you have been celebrating please take a moment to post your ideas on our Facebook page. I know others would really appreciate having a look at what you’ve done to inspire or motivate your staff. If you have questions or concerns about planning the goals or the celebration, ask your questions now.

 

Finally, remember to check out our webinar schedule. Laura O’Neal is teaching us all about motivation in a couple of weeks!  You won’t want to miss this one! CLICK HERE to get motivated!

Sales & Curiosity

by | Jun 8, 2011 | Sales

It’s interesting to be in sales. You talk to a prospect and many times we find ourselves beating around the bush as we try and get to the perfect time to ask for the order or close the sale.

 

Here’s some big news: If you sell stuff then people already know you want to sell and expect you to sell something to them.  It doesn’t take a lot of slick sales techniques. A friend of mine puts it so well when she says, “Approach every situation with curiosity.” I think that’s a great way to sell.

 

If, as sales people, we simply stay curious about the potential to sell our products to others, how can we fail? That curiosity helps you stay very focused on the customer and their needs. They don’t care that you have a quota or that you’re trying to raise enough money to send your kids to college.  They care about themselves. Get curious about their needs and you’ll know if you can sell your stuff to them or not.

 

No one likes to be pressured. Jeffery Gitomer says it best, “No one likes to be sold, but everyone likes to buy.” In a way a great sales person is simply a buyer’s advocate. I always like to think of it as doing something for someone and not to them!

 

I’m not sure why I’m on this rant this morning. I guess it’s because there’s been a lot of conversation recently about how to keep sales up in the summertime.  I wish I had a magic answer. My advice is: see more people than normal.  If your goal is to connect with 50 people each week, raise that to 75. Know that people you connect with expect you to try and sell them something. Have conversations of curiousness so you can find out if they should buy something from you. Remember, great selling is helping. Make a commitment to help more people have fun this summer.

 

If you would like to participate in an interactive webinar that focuses on getting more group sales for the summer, please sign up for “Get the Scoop on Groups” webinar.

 

If you really want to grow your birthday and group sales program, make plans to attend the TrainerTainment Party Summit this summer in Brooklyn, New York.

 

It would be great if you would take the time to post your best summer sales ideas on our Facebook page. I know that those who read our newsletter would be grateful and I bet you get a good idea or two yourselves.

 

Please click here and give your best idea; I’ll give you a free month of Xpress Training if you do!

 

When Selling CLICKS

by | Jun 3, 2011 | Sales

I know I usually only give a tip … but this little nugget deserved a whole STORY!

Last week I had an INCREDIBLE week down in Dallas working with Beth. We were preparing all of the collateral on our new social media products and services.

Let me tell you (though you probably already know) I’m SUPER excited about what we’re about to offer our clients. I love getting in front of a client who’s skeptical and changing his or her mind about how social media can open up new paths for conversation, marketing and of course, NEW BUSINESS.

So imagine my delight when THIS happened …

Beth’s son, Jordan, is a fabulous musician. He plays several instruments, including the sax, flute and clarinet – just to name a few. In a social media EXPLOSION Jordan set forth a chain of events that I describe as being able to happen for our customers, too! Things just CLICKED.

Jordan posted a video of himself on playing a piece by Christian Lauba for an audition with Cirque du Soleil. Lauba happened to see the piece and messaged Jordan on YouTube (yes, you can do that!). He then connected with Jordan on Facebook, asking to become his friend. After a short conversation, Lauba asked Jordan to Skype with him so they could talk about the piece that Jordan played!!

That’s only four CLICKS if you’re counting!

Jordan and Lauba had a great Skype session, where he learned how to play the piece more as it was meant to be played (apparently French music is just a difficult as the language), and where he was also showered with compliments such as “the way you play is poetic.”

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is social media hard at work. The audience is captive, GLOBAL, and just waiting for you to entice them to respond – with a CLICK. You don’t have to be a beautiful musician, either. Or a commander of content. Well … you DO, but with our new social media products and services we’ll TEACH you how to do these things – or better yet, do them all FOR you.

Do you have any social media stories?  Tell us your social media triumphs in the comments below.

We’d love to hear them, and may even ask you to retell them in our NEW upcoming blog that’s all about social media!

~ Brooke Ballard

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