Focus

Have you ever had a week where you didn’t close enough sales? You made all the correct prospecting calls. You had enough appointments and the appointments even went well but just didn’t end up in sales.

Did you consider that you might not have been as focused as you normally are? Focus is the difference between top producers and the mediocre producer. That additional focus the top producer has usually relates to the extra sales the mediocre producer does not. Sometimes even the top producer can lose his focus and therefore not have his or her best week.

So the question is, “How do I maintain that top focus?” Here is a list of ideas top producers practice:

1. First in last out - Top producers are usually the first in the office and the last to leave. They tend to make that one last call the mediocre producer doesn’t.

2. Make to do lists everyday – Top producers understand to stay focused you need to know what you are focused on.

3. Service issues first - Top producers don’t waste sales or prospecting time doing service issues. They get in early and take care of the service issues first so they can prospect and make sales.

4. Never stop prospecting – Top producers prospect even when they aren’t prospecting. They might mentally size someone up for future business.

5. Be organized – Top producers are focused because they are better organized than everyone else.

6. Close, Close, Close - Top producers ask for the business more, plain and simple.

4 great opening lines when prospecting

Great opening line for life insurance:
“Mr. Prospect, if it is this challenging for you to deal with these issues, with all the understanding and talent you have, what would it be like for your family if you weren’t able to help them? What if you weren’t able to come home tonight because of a fatal car accident?"
This is another great opening line for life insurance:
“How long can your wife and children afford to go without a paycheck?”
This one is great for business owners:
“Out of inquisitiveness, do you have an exit plan for your business? Someday, due to death, a disability or because you want to retire, you will exit your business. Do you have a plan to take your money out of the business on an advantageous basis?”
This one is very good for disability insurance:
Your Q.: Would $200 a month for your expenses make a big difference in your lifestyle?” Prospects answer: “No.” Your Q: “Would it make a big difference in your lifestyle if you didn’t have $5,000 a month for your expenses?” Prospects answer: “Absolutely — that would be a disaster!” Your reply: “Well, if you were to give me $200 per month, (which would pay the disability premium), I’ll make sure you and your family would receive $5,000 per month if you’re sick or hurt and can’t work. Does that sound like a fair deal?”

Confidence and Leadership

Confidence is the bane of every salesperson and leader. A salesperson must have confidence in their products, they must have confidence in their abilities and they must have confidence in their leaders. A salesperson that has confidence in all of the above will be able to establish credibility with other salespeople, earn the trust of their clients and become a leader. How do you guarantee your salespeople will have the confidence in your ability to lead them to become stellar performers and possibly future leaders?

1. You need to inspire confidence by paying attention to the little things. Leaders recognize team members for making contributions that aren’t part of their job descriptions such as helping someone who is struggling to make their numbers or offering to teach others the skills they use to be a top producer. Leaders recognize people for influencing those around them, who uphold the values and mission of the company and promoting the team vision. They also recognize talent and understand that confidence and loyalty is a two-way street.

2. Confident leaders and salespeople recognize the value of their teams’ ideas. They listen carefully, ”two ears, one mouth” to what their people say, and just as important, make sure they act on what they heard. Are you the type of leader who gives your team the opportunity to weigh in on certain topics but won’t act on their suggestions? A confident salesperson or leader seeks out team member’s opinions. They recognize and appreciate bold ideas and act on them.

3. Do you say thank you to your team members? How do you recognize someone for an exceptional job and show your gratitude for a job well done? Recognition and appreciation inspire loyalty and confidence in your leadership ability. You want your team to have superlative confidence in themselves which will make them feel like the rock stars they are or could be. Selling can be a tremendously difficult job. Provide your team the confidence they need so they can reach their highest levels.

The Perfect Client

CREATING THE PERFECT CLIENT RELATIONSHIP

Here are the five principles of customer loyalty and retention that you need to practice every day:

1. Know and understand the customer.

2. Value and respect the customer and their time.

3. Anticipate the customer’s needs first and foremost.

4. Know your own business and the potential it brings to your customers not to you.

5. Delight the customer, overwhelm them and make them feel like they are your only client.

By Vincent J Ferrara

Lucky

Luck

Good sales people are sometimes called lucky. Their colleagues who aren’t as successful will comment, “He’s just lucky. She is always in the right place or the boss favors him and gives him the best leads.” Guess what, they are right. Luck comes from hard work and perseverance. Luck is making that one extra phone call in the evening that the unlucky salesman doesn’t make. Success comes down to timing and sometimes the best salespeople get lucky. However, it is because they put themselves in the right place at the right time to meet the perfect prospect. You never know when people are ready to buy, or how something you say will create the buying signal they were looking for. However, luck is not a sustainable advantage.

So how do you make your own luck? How do you increase your chance of being in the right place at the right time?

Luck comes from outworking your competition. By being the best at following up on business opportunities and staying in touch with your prospective clients. Prospects become customers, customers become clients, and clients make referrals. If you don’t stay in touch with prospects they never become customers. How long or how many times will you stay in touch with a prospect to turn them into a customer? Luck is following up with that prospect for however long it takes for them to become your customer. In sales and in business, timing and referrals are everything and the salespeople who make that extra call or make that extra visit or follow-up with a prospect are truly the lucky ones!

Respect

How do you earn respect?

Respect can be earned many ways and lost just as quickly. Respect is described as a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements. When you share your abilities with others, when you expand others knowledge by sharing yours you earn others respect. Another way to earn respect is to respect others opinions and feelings. Respect for others allows you to grow as a person which in turn increases the respect you receive. Life is filled with challenges, it is how you respond to these challenges that determine your altitude and attitude and how much respect you earn.

In the world of sales, respect of others will help you increase your sales. By respecting and sharing ideas of your associates, paying attention to your clients wishes and following up whenever necessary you will earn the respect of others. By the way, “whenever necessary” is all the time if you truly want to earn someone’s respect. In the sales world, once you have earned respect it is up to you to retain it. You need to continue to listen and share what you have learned with others and respect will always be yours.

Evolution

Evolution

Have you ever seen someone speak and thought, “Man I would like to be as good as he or she is?” Did you know someone else is looking at you and thinking the same exact thought? It is called evolution and as humans we are constantly evolving. “The journey between who you once were, and who you are now becoming, is where the dance of really takes place!” – Barbara Deangelis. I believe this quote is the true story of evolving. Our entire lives we are evolving and becoming who and what we want to be and although we may never see it we are constantly at different stages of that growth and evolution. As we evolve life changes we become better, more consistent we improve everyday yet we still don’t see it.

Growing and evolving is a key component of every individual who wants to succeed as salesperson or as a business owner. When we stop evolving we stop growing and so will our business and sales. In business it is important to never stop evolving you must adapt to the changes around you and if you continue to adapt your sales, your business and you will continue to grow, evolve and change!