Sent Folder.

This a copy of an email I sent my network of sales professionals. I wanted to share it here.


Good Morning Everyone,

This time of year is a challenge for even the best salespeople. I was going through my tools and read this again for the first time in 4 months. I wanted to share it. Remember, the world does not go around demanding new products, THEY HAVE TO BE SOLD.

As Sales Professionals, you shape the world and dictate what people buy. With all of your talents and skills you could sell phones, pens, snow removal or copiers. You have chosen the product you sell, hopefully because you BELIEVE in it. If you BELIEVE in your product and you BELIEVE in yourself – nothing can stop you. With your creative powers of persuasion and communication you can turn the Christmas ‘Call me NEXT year!’ into ‘We need your product THIS year!’. Be proud! You are a Salesman.


I Am A Salesman

I am proud to be a salesman, because more than any other man, I and millions of others like me, built this world.

The man who builds a better mouse trap - or a better anything - would starve to death if he waited for people to beat a pathway to his door. Regardless of how good or how needed the product or service might be, it has to be sold.

Eli Whitney was laughed at when he showed his cotton gin. Edison had to install his electric light free of charge in an office building before anyone would even look at it. The first sewing machine was smashed to pieces by a Boston mob. People scoffed at the idea of railroads. They thought that traveling even thirty miles an hour would stop the circulation of the blood! McCormick strived for 14 years to get people to use his reaper. Westinghouse was considered a fool for stating he could stop a train with wind. Morse had to plead before 10 Congresses before they would even look at his telegraph.

The public didn't go around demanding these things; they had to be sold!!
They needed thousands of salesmen, trailblazers and pioneers - people who could persuade with the same effectiveness as the inventor could invent. Salesmen took these inventions, sold the public on what these products could do, taught customers how to use them, and then taught businessmen how to make a profit from them.

As a salesman, I've done more to make the world what it is today than any other person you know. I was just as vital in your great-great-grandfather's day. I have educated more people, created more jobs, taken more drudgery from the laborer's work, given more profits to businessmen, and have given more people a fuller and richer life than anyone in history. I've dragged prices down, pushed quality up, and made it possible for you to enjoy the comforts and luxuries of automobiles, radios, electric refrigerators, televisions, and air conditioned homes and buildings. I've healed the sick, given security to the aged, and put thousands of young men and women through college. I've made it possible for inventors to invent, for factories to hum, and for ships to sail the seven seas.

How much money you find in your pay envelope next week, and whether in the future you will enjoy the luxuries of prefabricated homes, stratospheric flying of airplanes, and new world of jet propulsion and atomic power, depends on me. The loaf of bread you bought today was on a baker's shelf because I made sure that a farmer's wheat got to a mill, that the mill made wheat into flour, and that the flour was delivered to your baker.

Without me, the wheels of industry would come to a grinding halt. And with that, jobs, marriages, politics and freedom of thought would be a thing of the past. I AM A SALESMAN and I'm proud and grateful that as such, I serve my family, my fellow man and my country.

All the best with the rest of this selling year!!

Reflection.

For the last month I have been reflecting, reading and most importantly learning more and more about myself and how I can become a better leader, teacher and provider of services. A new acquaintance recommended I read a short book written by Og Mandino. It is fittingly called The Greatest Salesman in the World. Many of you reading this have likely heard of the book or read it. After my first time through the book, I could not believe I hadn’t read it before.

The book, which reads more like a novel than a sales training manual, tells the tale of how a stable boy becomes the greatest salesman in the world. It is unbelievable the impact this book is having on my psyche and in turn, my wallet. I encourage you to read the book and discover for yourself, just how real world and practical it is.

As many sales people speak too often and listen to seldom. I have silenced this blog for the past few weeks while I ‘listened’ to the words of others. It was time for me to listen a little while before speaking. I will continue with the regular updates, but in the mean time I cannot stress enough how important this book will be to your career.

In other news, I wrote a great article which has already helped boost sales. I'm slowly starting to enjoy technology and not curse it for allowing a 'reply all' feature.

Go get 'em!

Hypocratic Oath.

Veteran Sales Rep: "In 2002 I was the top rep in my organization 8 out of 12 months."

Me: "That's awesome, what's happened between then and now?"

(The flood gates open)

Veteran Sales Rep:

-The economy these last few years has been brutal.
-Prospects just don't speak to sales people anymore. They research everything online.
-I'm doing the same things I did then, I have no idea why it's not working.

We have a sign on the door to our office that says,

"Positive People Only! Negative, excuse making, complainers will be removed. Please keep your personal problems in the parking lot."

I have no time for excuses. I have less time for whining.

The economy isn't the problem! You are. I promise you that in every legitimate sales organization in the world, there was always a salesperson that exceeded their company dictated goals. If not, those companies need to hire someone to come in and shake things up. My best 18 months as a Sales Professional was from 2008 to 2009. Now tell me, weren't those the times the economy was at it's worst? I like a beer or two a few times a week. If there is such a spending freeze going on, how come every bar I walk into are filled with people spending money? When the economy slumps, you just have to get more creative. You have to start working SMARTER.

Prospects don't speak to sales people, the research everything on the Internet and then they buy. This is partly true. What do people think of when they hear the words 'sales person'? We've been over this. Your goal is to NOT be that salesperson. You need to position yourself to be seen as a friend, a trusted advisor, a knowledgeable consultant - a true Sales Professional. Why not bring a competitive analysis with you on every sales call? Clients love that. Cell phone companies and insurance agencies have been doing this for years. They all tell future customers to go to their website and compare. What a great idea! Imagine that, using a simple yet effective technique that has worked for years. All you had to do was use your brain.

If you're doing the same routine you did 8 years ago, you are doomed to fail. In almost every other industry, companies mandate that employees take courses that bring them up to date on a variety of subjects. If practically everyone else is constantly learning and evolving - why are you doing the same thing you did in 8 years ago, or 20 years ago for that matter? My mentor used to tell us that one of the most important actions you must do each and every day is read. If you're not learning everyday, you are standing still. How many people do you know that are able to move forward while standing still?

It's not what you know in sales, its whether you implement what you know. We all know we shouldn't smoke, but some of us do. We all know we should eat better and exercise often, but some of us our overweight. We all know we should be learning more about our industry daily, but many of you choose to stay stagnant.

True Sales Professionals do whatever it takes. They learn daily and evolve into the person their market will bear. It's not enough to KNOW something, you have to practice it daily. Now that you KNOW what to do, go and DO whatever it takes. Otherwise, you are a hypocrite.

Do you believe in Santa Claus?

There is an old adage that goes something like, 'They don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care.' I guess some sales guy who hasn't sold a product without the help of a PR Firm and a marketing campaign thought that was a clever phrase to say when addressing a group of other salespeople at a convention or something. (By the way, the great Josh Haddon is available for any speaking events.)

There is another adage that says, 'The hardest door for a cold calling salesperson to open is the car door.' This one is discussing how even good salespeople fail because they dread cold calling, so they waste time or 'drive around' all day instead of prospecting.

For every hundred or so of these catchy phrases I read, I appreciate about one of them. Let's take a look at theses two:

Wouldn't actually CARING about your customers mean that you believed in your product so much you would stop at nothing to tell them about it? I always tell my salespeople that I will give them a reference for any career on the planet if they resign, and tell me it is because they don't believe in our product.

The number one rule of being a top Sales Professional is to believe in what you provide to your customers. So if one of these quoted sales guys would just say, "BELIEVE IN YOURSELF AND YOUR PRODUCT OR MOVE ON." We wouldn't need cute little adages like the ones above.

If you believed in yourself and your product you would:

(I encourage you to make your own list of what you would do differently if you truly believed in yourself and your product)

-Not hit the snooze button when your alarm goes off.
-Seize everyday as a chance to help others and be the best you can be.
-Tell everyone you know that could benefit from it, about your product.
-Start early, leave late.
-Use the product yourself.
-Receive a testimonial, written or videotaped, from everyone customer you have.
-Be happier than you could possibly imagine.
-ETC...

I CAN sell anything and HAVE sold everything. In the last decade I've been in the best on every team I was on, no matter what the product was. However, sometimes I was only the best by one or two units a month. The times when I have blown the rest of my team out of the water, were the times when I truly believed in what I was selling. If my mentor has said it once, he has said it one thousand times - 'We transfer belief for a living.' Maybe he knew how genius that really was. If don't have belief, you have nothing to transfer.


I'll leave you with a fun little adage my Mom used to say to us every December when we were kids, 'If you don't believe, you don't receive.' I thought sales is like Halloween, but I guess it is also like Christmas. Hmm, life is a sale.

You're a Diaper Wearing Child!

Well, you used to be. You used to be in diapers. You didn't know anything was wrong with that until someone told you so. If it wasn't for your parents choosing to potty train you, you might still be running around with fecal crap in your pants.

Gross right? I know.

The point is, you used to be alot of things. That is what is so amazing about life, which is one long sale, at any point you can choose to stop being those things and evolve. Think back to high school. I'd bet that most of you would be described by your high school peers as totally different people than you are now. For example; I know there are people that would describe me as anything from a devout Catholic Alter-boy; to the best sales manager in the world; to the worst sales manager in the world; to a Jock; to a drug addicted thief. All are right in their minds - yet both are dead wrong today.

Everyday in our personal and professional lives we are allotted a fresh start. A brand new day to learn about the world and learn about ourselves. Last week you might have taken long lunches and gone home early, well then last week you were a typical salesperson. This week you can choose to eat on the run and work until 6PM. By doing that, this week you are on your way to becoming a true Sales Professional.

You are what you consistently do, not what you've consistently done.

Practice good habits, learn everyday and do your best. You will not become who you want to be overnight. However, you can start becoming that person any time you choose.

As my mentor always says; 'When's the best time to do something?...NOW'

Full Of It Fridays.

Fridays are notorious for being the day salespeople start late and leave early (Especially in Business to Business Sales) - that's if they decide to work at all. Our team is lucky in the sense that they have a Sales Manager who has made every mistake they have made, or will make in the future. Our team is also lucky because I generally know what they are thinking before they think it. I'm a realist - sometimes to a fault.

Every Friday I hear the same lame excuses for why a salesperson isn't working.

- "Josh, I cold called for a few hours this morning and no decision makers are working."
- "Josh, every business I've called went to voicemail."
- "Josh, you know Friday's are horrible for cold calling."
- "Come on, if you ran a business would you be working today. It's gorgeous outside."

Salespeople like the ones above are full-of-it. I've been there though. Early in my career I pleaded with my Sales Manager to let me leave early. I came up with way better excuses than the ones above and the sad part is - my Sales Manager's either bought it or didn't care enough to argue with me.

After being a typical salesperson for a while, going into debt and working too hard; I now see Friday's as fun days. They are the days I write most of my orders. Let me put it this way; all week you've been following up, pitching, tweaking proposals and hammering away - Friday is like the universal 'get 'er done day' (Excuse the Fargo-ian reference). For most people, everything that was on the to-do list Monday, gets scratched off on Fridays. If you're persistent, available and have a good weekly value proposition; you'll ink loads of orders on Fridays.

As with everything in sales; If you THINK you won't make money on Fridays - you won't. If you THINK you will make money on Friday's - you will. It's 11:55 Friday morning and I have a rep who finalized three orders this morning and a another rep who finalized two.

I'll write a piece on the weekly value proposition next week. People generally want to have less things to worry about and they want to have less on their plate. By combining people's human nature with a weekly value proposition; Fridays are FANTASTIC selling days for true Sales Professionals.

Think I'm full of it? What did you do this morning?

Biggest Mistakes Salespeople Make.

Donald Trump said, "Without passion you have no enthusiasm, without enthusiasm you have nothing."

If ever someone is a poster child for failing upwards, Donald Trump is. He has made lots of mistakes. We make mistakes every single day. Learning from them is great but some mistakes cannot be undone.

In sales, there are three mistakes that guarantee you are not successful:

1) Not realizing how important your attitude is to your success. You wake up every morning and you have more choices than you realize. You can decide to make $100 that day or $1000. You can decide to hit the snooze button, not shave or watch Sports Center. I haven't hit the snooze button on my alarm clock in 4 years! Have you? Your attitude dictates your success - no question about it. One hundred years ago or so, Napoleon Hill (Sign Up for the Daily Newsletter) wrote something like - Whatever the mind can believe and conceive it can achieve. Ain't that the truth! A huge part of being a successful Sales Professional is thinking you can and expecting positive results.

2) Getting into sales for the money. Again, The Donald is right. If you don't love what you do, you will never be as successful as you could be. You will never achieve all the goals you've set for yourself. Passionless sales people don't make anywhere near the money an enthusiastic and passionate Sales Professional does. You have to love this profession to be the best. Being a Sales Professional is like being the driver of a roller coaster - it's intense, exhilarating and fun as hell. If you're in sales for the money - QUIT. Go be a lawyer or lobbyist.

3) Excuse making and blaming others. If you are the type of person who always finds a way to pass the buck, sales is not for you. The great thing about being a Sales Professional is that the buck ALWAYS stops at you. You control your destiny. Whiners don't make it in sales. Your computers crashed - whine. Your car broke down - whine. UPS lost the package I sent - whine. Why don't you go back to your Mom's house and live there. Then while you are at it, you can tell your Sales Manager that your dog ate your proposal and the prospect didn't buy because your prices are too high (you baby). Not taking full responsibility for your success doesn't work in sales. In the old days they would say that cold calling outside sales separates the Men from the Boys. Really it just separates the losers from the winners. Making excuses is for losers. So in short, if you don't make it in sales - you're likely a loser.

If this offended you, I feel sorry for your organization. If this inspired you to grow and evolve from a typical salesperson to Great Sales Professional - email me and I have a great position for you.

You're a Scum Bag!

Sales Rep: "I had the worst day ever! This bitch at XYZ Corp. kicked me out of the building and told me she was going to call the cops."

Me: "That happens all the time when you're new at this. I've only been kicked out of maybe three buildings in my entire life. What could you have done differently?"

Sales Rep: "Nothing. I was polite. I told her I was from _______ and then gave her a brochure and started telling her why we are better than their current provider."

Me: "What else did you tell her?"

Sales Rep: "I told her we would save her money and that we've been in the business for 75 years and, I don't know...a bunch of stuff. She kept saying she wasn't interested so I kept telling her why she should give me 5 minutes of her time."

Me: "Did you ask her anything?"

Sales Rep: "Not really, I didn't get the chance. She kicked me out after me being there for only 5 minutes."

I have conversations with salespeople just like the one above about once a week. They give me the same excuses as the week before, take no responsibility for the prospect's actions and they whine. Why do cold calls sometimes end with the salesperson being kicked out of the office? That's easy: BECAUSE THEY ARE A SALESPERSON.

In order to be successful at selling, (or any form of persuasion for that matter) you must be able to mentally trade places with the person you are speaking with. You have to understand their mindset, trade places with them and be sympathetic to what they are feeling.

Every training session I conduct, I ask the salespeople one question: What do people think of when they hear the word 'salesperson'? The answers vary, but the following four come out every single time:
-Pushy/Closers
-Greedy/Only worried about their commission
-Fake
-Slimy/Greasy/Used Car Salesmen/Scumbag etc.

This exercise is beneficial because it is a HUGE wake up call for many salespeople. It shouldn't be. We've all dealt with a salesperson like the one described above. However, for some reason, as soon as you get your business cards many of you adopt a holier than thou persona.

The facts are these:
-You are a salesperson.
-You are stereotyped to be the typical salesperson.
-The typical salesperson is the one we've just defined.
-The typical salesperson is a failure.
-The typical salesperson scares people.
-The typical salesperson puts people on edge and makes them put a wall up.
-The typical salesperson is the last person people want to talk to. You're right up there with ex-wives and mother in laws.

Now that you have this information, it is your goal to separate yourself from every other salesperson out there and become a Sales Professional. You can start separating yourself by asking questions instead of stating facts. Next, you can do the exact opposite of what a your think the typical sales person would do. Every interaction with a customer is a chance to change what they think about you and your profession.

Next time you are with a customer, remember, they hate you and you are a scumbag - until you convince them otherwise.

The wondeful world of Email.

Now that I run a sales division, I have loads of salespeople pitching me on copiers, trade shows, marketing ideas and whatever else people sell these days. I welcome all sales calls and treat each and every one of them with respect. That is until I get an email like this:

Mr. Haddon,

I just wanted to see where we were at with that proposal...

Sincerely,
Joe Schmuck
XYZ Ltd.
"Useless tag line that offends me"
(XXX)-XXX-XXXX


What are salespeople thinking when they hit the send button after putting such little effort into earning my business? The fact of the matter is, they aren't thinking.

Email is a wonderful and easy way to non-invasively keep in touch with prospects and customers. It allows you, the salesperson, to separate yourself from every other salespeople. You can do this with minimal effort.

Sending emails like the one above; or emails with subject lines like 'touching base' or 'checking in', will fast track you to mediocrity. You must add value to the relationship and show you care. You can easily do this by sending links to e-zines, articles and useful tips that will help your customer with their success. Focus on them, not yourself or the sale. Everyone knows salespeople get paid on commission. Your customers know that every time you call, you are calling to check on your paycheque and see when you are going to get money out of them. Eliminate this feeling by caring about the customer's success and you will never worry about your paycheque again.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. How long have you not been the top earner in your organization? I guarantee if you send every single prospect an email that is useful to them, you will have greater success this year, than last.

Here's a link to some useful links, provided by Jeffrey Gitomer, my favourite sales authority.

Two ears, one mouth. 2.0

I mentioned in a previous post that I would touch on the sales practice of asking questions in order to secure an order. I understand that every product/service is unique, however, I truly believe every person is similar when it comes to how they want to buy your product or service. If you ask the right questions, you'll discover that your prospect will basically tell you how they want to be sold.

I was once challenged by my former Vice President of Sales, Sean, to spend an entire day cold calling while only asking questions. I pushed back, citing that this approach would seem salesy, flighty and unnatural. Sitting in a training room this idea seemed far fetched and unrealistic. After two weeks of sub-par selling I decided one Monday morning to give it a shot, thinking what's the worst that can happen?

I wrote 4 face to face, cold, one call orders that day. Which is my best day of cold calling in that industry to date. I was shocked and excited. At the end of the day I reflected and thought that it was just a lucky day. The rest of the week I got 2 more orders after reverting back to my old ways.

The following Monday I gave the 'questions only' method another shot. Guess what? Three more cold, one call orders. Did I become a believer in this method? You bet I did. To this day I practice this method and owe it to Sean for the tens of thousands of dollars in extra commission.

Some of the simple leading questions I use are very basic (Mostly geared for Business to Business sales. Please email me for Business to Consumer sales questions.):

-Hey there! How's business?

-Hi! I know you don't know me from a bag of potato chips, but it's hot out, is it alright if I suck up some of this Air Conditioning while I'm here?

-Hey! What do you folks do here?

-Good Morning! How's it going today?

Now, these are very basic opening lines that are questions. The answers will tell you alot about the person you are dealing with. Once I have established whether I wear my professional or funny-professional hat I continue asking only questions:

-Cool. How long have you worked here? (Alt. How long have you been married? etc)

-Wow, long time. Do you like what you do?

-It's funny, as a receptionist, everyone knows you really run the place. Do your bosses treat you well?

-What's your boss like?

-Is he/she pretty hands on or rarely in the office?

-Is this his/her card? (Alt. What is his or her name?)

Wow! Look how much information I've received. I know if the gatekeeper likes their job, has any clout in the company based on how long they've worked there, I know if they have a sense of humour. I also know what the boss is like, his/her name, management style and likely their sense of humour as well. How great!

The rest of the questions peak interest and qualify. These vary from industry to industry. One part of the question should not change. No matter what you're selling, I suggest asking in a way that activates both their personal and professional brains, like this:

-Are you or your company looking for ways to reduce your carbon footprint?

-Are you or your company looking to reduce costs at all?

-Are you or your company concerned with the new H.S.T.?

-Have you or your company ever dealt with a Worker's Compensation claim?

You can alter the questions to suit your industry. The premise is still the same. By phrasing it as YOU or YOUR company, you have 2 chances per question to peak their interest. Once their interest is peaked, they will then begin to ask you questions. Once you have them interested and asking you questions, you're off to the races.

Remember, "In selling as in medicine, prescription before diagnosis is malpractice."

Who's name is at the top of your company's sales leaderboard?

Mind Your Own Business.

Building a true sales team is a heck of a task these days. My demographic especially, is the worst demographic of sales people ever born. We're lazy, unfocussed, spoiled and uncultured. Show me a 20-30 year old who is a hard working and I'll show you 1000 who aren't. Show me a 45-55 year old who didn't hustle their butt off when they were 25-35 and I'll show 1000 who did. What happened? My opinion; Video games and unrealistic Reality TV.

As I weed through resumes on the weekend I find one common theme, many former business owners are applying for sales jobs. Great! I used to think. Business owners are hustlers. The motivated, big picture thinking, creative people I've been looking for... - In most cases I couldn't have been more wrong. Many of these men and women were beaten up and wimps. They feel like failures and they acted the part as well. When I asked why they were looking into sales as a career there was one major common theme; THEY WANTED TO RELAX. THEY WANTED TO NOT HAVE THE STRESS OF HAVING THE BE SUCCESSFUL.

So let me get this straight; You've walked into a sales job so you didn't have to do what it takes to be successful? This isn't a government job pal, go pound sand!

Being a professional salesperson is in every way, shape and form running your own business. I tell my team all the time that they have the luxury of being entreprenures that already have the brand, office, supplies, stock, service team and admin support - all they have to do is sell the best product in our industry. You wake up every single day deciding whether you will be 'a poor', 'a good', 'a great' or 'the best and most successful' business owner. I strive every single day to be the latter, why doesn't everyone? Are you?

Ask any successful small business owner where they get most of their business and they will likely say, word of mouth or referrals. If they say the ad in the local paper or fax blasting, I'll eat my shoes. Look around at all the salespeople you know. Who gets the most referrals? Who has the best relationships with their client when the order is made?

Wake up! It's the same person.

Now, think about the barber, mechanic, tailor or any other provider of a product or service you use every single time you need something. Do they have the lowest price? Are they members of the Better Business Bureau? Do they have 24 hour turnaround time? Are they open 24 hours a day? Maybe. But does that matter? Nope.

You continue to go back to these people/places because of how they treat you and make you feel. When was the last time you recommended someone go to a barber just because it was open twenty four hours a day? We recommend people go deal with people that we liked and that did a good job.

Just doing a good job isn't good enough for repeat business. What is enough to get people coming back and sending others? Doing a good job while making the person you are dealing with feel great. Most sales are emotionally driven. I don't know a single woman who has ever had a 'happy period' but Kotex still emotionally sells them on that.

Whether you like it or not, you are running a business. Where do successful small businesses get the majority of their orders from? You should already know.

If you clicked on the link, you need to master retaining the information you read before attempting to become a true sales professional.

So, you can beg your organization for longer service hours, faster turn around times, lower pricing or more advertising... Or you can treat engage people while treating them with respect and let the bad sales reps ask for that stupid stuff. See you at the top!

Kicking ass, not kissing it.

You walk into a Wal-Mart to buy something and you are just a customer. As a customer you feel you are entitled to certain things. Generally a quality product and quality service at a price you are willing to pay. If something doesn’t go right, many of us ask for a manager to voice our concern. I do this often, and generally to some level of success with a red vested middle manager (all other employees at Wal-Mart wear blue vests). Many times by the end of the conversation I have the manager laughing, engaged and ready to do almost anything I ask to keep ME as a customer. The reason for this is simple; She is also a customer and she knows how it feels to be treated poorly or have something she bought be defective and not up to par. I end up getting what I want, as long as I being it to her attention with finesse, understanding and compassion.

Let us take that one step further, not only is this manager also a customer, she is a person, a normal human being. Someone who pays bills, gets parking tickets, eats, sleeps, cries, laughs and fights with her husband. Imagine that! A middle manager who is also a human being. The truth is when you are wearing your ‘customer hat’ you are very comfortable talking to this middle manager. Now, let’s look at what happens when you talk to a middle manager wearing your ‘salesperson hat’. You are over polite, meek, dry, boring, uncreative, and nervous. You don’t engage, you’re not funny and you sound just like the last salesperson who they talked to. You product puke and data dump all the while making it nearly impossible to establish a real human to human relationship. The words, “I’m not interested at this time.” simply means, “You’re not interesting to me bucko!”

All your niceties about your product and company history, all your insincere manners and all the boring banter you had, got you nothing. You’re a kiss ass salesperson who walked out of an appointment with no signature, no cheque and no real connection with the decision maker. Sound familiar?For some reason when salespeople are trying to make a sale, they forget that managers, decision makers and business owners are all just regular people. What do regular people like to do? Have a laugh with other regular people. They like to golf or garden, eat and drink, have sex and travel. They want to be engaged. They want to be heard. They want to feel alive and real. They want to deal with people who are real. If they wanted to talk to salespeople all day they would not have a no-soliciting sign, a receptionist who acts as a gatekeeper and they would go to timeshare presentations every night.

Want to start kicking ass in the sales world? Stop kissing the prospects ass and be real. Every single day I walk the line with my customers and I push my sales team to do the same. When was the last time you had a prospect talk to you about something real? I have had customers rant to me for twenty minutes about ex-wives, taxes, family members and sex lives. The rants I remember the best though are the ones where they tell me stories about some pathetic salesperson they’ve dealt with. Imagine that, they start putting down some other salesperson because I’ve made them feel comfortable and they no longer see me as just a salesperson.

Do you want to be the butt of a salesperson joke your prospects are telling or do you want to kick butt?

Actions, not words.

Three weeks ago I asked a colleague of mine for a professional favour. It was a very simple task that required at most, 15 minutes of organized thought. The person responded; "NO PROBLEM".

Here we are three weeks from then and I still have yet to received what I asked for. This morning I spent 7 minutes doing it myself.

How many of you salespeople are in the business of saying, 'No problem', 'For sure', 'Consider it done', 'I will have that for you on delivery' or the most insincere and most common, 'It would be my pleasure'? I'll bet over half the time you don't follow through. Why would you? It's easy to blame service, operations, the customer, your sales manager or anyone other than yourself. The fact is, when you say you are going to do something for a customer and that something doesn't happen, you've lost. You've lost some trust, some credibility, practically all chance of being referred and in short you've lost future money.

Now you're thinking, how I've lost money Haddon? Well;

TRUST + CREDIBILITY = REFERRALS
and
REFERRALS = MONEY.

Therefore you've lost money.

Think about that, MONEY! The very reason you have a car, house, nice things and a pot belly. MONEY - the root of all evil and modern innovation, the thing you work so hard (and dumb) for. MONEY the thing you dream of having more of and claim to be doing everything you can to get.

Wait, no you aren't. You're just lying to yourself.

By not exerting the extra effort and spending the extra time, you've lost future sales, repeat orders and lay down referrals. You are giving money away to the smarter sales person. The more organized salesperson. The salesperson who is a person of action!

If I had Loonie (proudly Canadian) for every time someone told me they were going to do something and they didn't do it, I would have more money than I'd know what to do with. Now, what if I told you that if early in my career I would have actually done everything I ever told someone I would do for them, I'd have even more money than that?

The point is, whether you are new to the sales game, an old dog with a pipeline the size of Alberta (Texas for you Americans) or someone who just switched to a new industry; a sure way of getting to the top is by doing what you say you are going to do. Under promise and over deliver - you've certainly heard that since you started your career. The problem with age old sayings is that they often fall on deaf ears.

Let me suggest this; If you promise it, look up the word promise in a dictionary and act accordingly. Otherwise look up the word failure and prepare to accept that as the definition or who you are.

You don't get what you don't ask for.

Quick tips for closing any deal/getting any order.

Too many of us get so caught up with talking about our product or service up front that we forget the purpose of us being there: Selling. There’s an old saying that says, ‘Telling is not selling.’ Don’t data-dump. Remember that on your next call.

How many prospects do you think are sitting at their home or business right now thinking, ‘I sure hope today is the day the __________ salesperson shows up so I can commit to spending X number of dollars on a product I’m not sure is any better than what I’ve got.’? NONE. People need to be pushed to changed. If salespeople were supposed to stand in front of prospects and just tell them about their product, then leave, your company would just send a DVD. Your job is to build value and credibility and then ASK FOR THE SALE.

In order to be successful at sales you must assume at all times that the prospect loves what you are saying and is ready to buy. Be confident but not cocky. Be relaxed while being focussed. Make them laugh without losing professional credibility. Be the greatest but appear non-threatening.

The saying, ‘The meek shall inherit the earth’ is dead wrong. If they do inherit anything, it will simply be what is left over from those who were on their game and came to win. Practice any system other than confident, relaxed, funny and focussed and your paycheque will reflect it. If you have a comfort zone, lose it or you’ll be lost in the world of the sales slump.

Three simple closing methods.

Age old, keep it simple close.
In the old days ‘handshake’ deals were common. In today’s world, not so much. However, the handshake is commonly used in business before the inking of the agreement. The handshake is non-threatening and everyone instinctively will shake your hand if you extend yours. It comes from the days of war and symbolizes ‘I come with no weapons’. I use the handshake close as often as possible. It is the best close to use for new salespeople because you never really have to ask for the business and yet it defines the moment you have a client and not a prospect. I would finish outlining the positives of what I am offering. Then, say something casual like, ‘So as you can see you’re getting a superior product to what you currently have.” Then, reach my hand out and say nothing. If he shakes my hand I say, ‘Good, I can have it installed/delivered/shipped Friday’ and start writing up the agreement. Or if you want to be a little softer you can reach your hand out and say, “So, we have a deal?” or “Well done, you’ve got a deal.”

Tie Down Close.
This close, like any close involves the salesperson already assuming that the prospect is buying. Why? BECAUSE THEY ALL BUY.
After you’ve explained your product and handled some of the minor objections you simply say things like:
“So would you like it delivered Friday or Monday.”
“I can do the ABC product/service for the $X/day or would you like the 123 product/service for the same price?”
“I was just in the warehouse and know we have both colours in stock, would you like the black one or the white one?

After asking these questions and the prospect answers, feel free to stick your hand out and say, “Great, we’ll install it Friday” or “Great. Welcome to the Sample Corp family.” Or whatever you want. Something that signifies they have taken possession so the transition to doing the paperwork is smooth.

FEEL, FELT AND FOUND.
Perhaps this is a closing technique; perhaps it is a way to overcome objects, whatever this is, when I learned it, my sales sky-rocketed. These three powerful words will change the way you see getting the sale. NO MATTER WHAT A PROSPECTS SAYS…..The simple words, “Feel”, “Felt” and “Found” are the answer.
“Mr. Customer, I know exactly how you feel, others have felt the same way, but after using my product they found…..”

Example: “It sounds great, but I’m not ready to change yet.”

“Mr. Jones, that’s not the first time I’ve heard that, I know exactly how you feel. In fact, many of my happy clients felt the same way when I walked in off the street sweating and out of breath. I nudged them a bit and earned their business and what they found was that our product/service provided much more than they expected.”

If you've been in sales for a few years or more you will quickly realize that this is just scratching the surface of the psychology of the close. However, the above is intended to assist novice-intermediate sales people fake it until they make it, or so to speak. You'll find a constant theme throughout these posts, closing is great, but opening is where hte money is.

Two ears, one mouth.

Salespeople are notorious for talking too much. At times, I'm even guilty of the sales person's cardinal sin: talking past the sale.

How do we stop this? How do we know when it is time to 'pitch' and when it is time ask questions. First of all, it is NEVER time to 'pitch'. Stop 'pitching' and start asking. 'You have two ears and one mouth' my mentor used to tell me. What this means is, at a very minimum, you should be listening twice as much as you're speaking.

How many times have you, at your prospects first sign of interest, started with your pitch and ended with them saying, 'Sounds great, let me think about it.' Too many times.

It is time to stop pitching and start asking questions. I'll discuss how easy this is to do in my next post.

Remember, "In selling as in medicine, prescription before diagnosis is malpractice."

Is your sales process boring?

You Can’t Close If You Don’t Know How To Open.

Opening is the most important part of job as a business to business cold caller. If you can’t open well, you won’t have anything there to close. It’s simple, “Open well, open wallet.”

Too many of us sometimes get caught up saying a variation of the same three things when we walk into a business. “Hi, my name is Josh Haddon and I’m with XYZ Company. What are you currently doing for your ______________ ?” Boring and not efficient. This approach generally gets us no where. Well, ‘The definition of insanity is doing to same thing over and over and expecting a different result.’

Here are some tips that will help you open more effectively:

1) Act as if you are in a hurry. I say act as if, but really, you are in a hurry. You have doors to hit and customers’ needs to meet. I like to sometimes start of by approaching the receptionist, extending my hand with a firm handshake and a smile while saying, “Hi there, I’m Josh Haddon, I only have a minute but I was hoping you could help me and answer a couple questions.” Unless we’re talking yard work or helping someone move, most people like to HELP. I can’t stress how important using that word is. Also, telling a busy receptionist YOU are the one in a hurry eliminates her/his ability to use the same excuse back. Think about it!

2) Be aware and play to your environment.
Pictures on the front desk? “Oh cool, they look the same age as my son, daughter, niece, nephew etc/is that taken at Yellowstone/what kind of car is that/when were you on that vacation/is this your entire team here?”
Work being done in building? “Oh hey, are you folks expanding/getting a new paint job/making the place more secure/adding a sky light so you can see awesome days like today?”
Sports team memorabilia, the weather, cool business cards, leather waiting room chairs, plaques on the wall – I’m sure you get the picture, you can open with anything. Engaging the gatekeeper without an ounce of commercialism will do wonders for your opening. Do your best to sound sincere. If you can share your wallet photos with someone before they know you are there to sell something, you’re in!

3) Confusion comes across as non threatening. Many times I like to seem a bit confused when I enter a door. I might say something like, “I had a heck of a time finding the place.” (Every single city has some local’s only street knowledge you can play on.) “I’m bad at these roads, are you from here?” Now you have completely disarmed the receptionist or first contact person. Whether the response is ‘yeah, grew up here’ or ‘no, moved here 2 years ago’ you are gold. RIGHT NOW, spend 5 minutes thinking about the endless directions you can go regardless of the response.

4) Take risks. Be brave. In theory this should be the first tip of this post. Changing anything about the way you currently do what you do, is always a bit of a risk. Remember, in order to separate yourself from every other cold calling sales person you must be able to reduce or eliminate your comfort zone. Try new things all the time. After 3 or less days of subpar results, you must change something. Personally, I ask myself all the time when thinking of tweaking my sales process, ‘What is the worst that could happen?’ Then I remember, ‘oh yeah, the last 3 days have already been the worst that could happen!’ In fact, recently I’ve started wearing a “Hello My Name Is:” tag everywhere I go. I think it will make me even more approachable. For great ideas on what to change when cold calling, read ‘The Little Black Book of Making Connections’ by Jeffrey Gitomer.

Halloween is Sales - Part 1.

As a poor child, a chubby one at that, my favorite day was Halloween. In fact, any day where I was able to knock on a complete stranger’s door and get free candy would have been a great day. Unfortunately for you and I this only happened once a year. Can you imagine how great our childhood would have been if Halloween was weekly? Or even daily?

As we grow older we buy ourselves candy whenever we want it and can afford it. For some us that want of candy has matured into wanting iPods, clothes, beer or any other grown up stuff we spend our money on. So in a perfect world, the adult Halloween would be us going door to door and having complete strangers give us money. With this ‘Halloween money’ we could go out and buy our grown up candy. Fortunately for us, Halloween can come every single day if we do a few little things right. The other fortunate thing is, with a little training we don’t even have to physically go door to door. We can call the money givers on the phone from our comfy chair or better yet, have the money givers come to us.

If you want to become a true Sales Professional, look back to Halloween. Why did you not dread cold calling then?

Josh Haddon - Who and Why?

Even though I am without cracker jacks, foam fingers and a $9 beer; this post still feels like opening day for me. A new chapter, in the bestselling thriller that is my life. I plan on sharing insights and pen fights from the marketing and sales fields I work in. With any luck, I will be able to look back at this blog as a sort of map, accurately describing how I became free from the daily grind.

WHO I AM:
I'm Joshua Haddon or 'Josh Haddon' to some, a sales professional currently living in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. I currently own and operate Discount Savings Network based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.  I have managed sales teams for international water treatment companies, vacation clubs, Rogers Media, Shaw and fitness facilities. I pride myself on a motto my mentor taught me years ago, 'Who can I help? What can I learn?'. I have little time for whiners and less time for people who over do diplomacy. I thrive in 'just make it happen' situations and get more satisfaction in helping others become successful then in any other aspect of my profession.

WHY I AM WRITING:
Verifable proof that we all choose our destiny. I have given myself 10 years to be at a place where I financially secure and feel personally rewarding. This will be my road map, my guide and my measuring stick. Everyone knows that it isn't what you KNOW that counts, it's what you DO with what you KNOW. I know a fair bit about this sales game and I learn every day. I figure if I am preaching it, I'll practice it even more.