21 Life Tips To Boost Your Sales (from Anthony Robbins)

What is the difference between a hole in one and a birdie? It's not luck. It's skill. Like Gary Player said, "The more you practice, the luckier you get". These are 21 good things to practice and they will boost your sales and enrich your life. Print them out and carry them in your wallet. Read them daily along with your other goals. I am going to reflect on them and I hope you will too.

Good Selling!

ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

TWO. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

THREE. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

FOUR. When you say, 'I love you,' mean it.

FIVE. When you say, 'I'm sorry,' look the person in the eye.

SIX. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight.

EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much. NINE. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.
TEN. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.

ELEVEN. Don't judge people by their relatives.

TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly.

THIRTEEN. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, 'Why do you want to know?'

FOURTEEN. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

FIFTEEN. I skipped it...not that good a tip.

SIXTEEN. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions.

EIGHTEEN... Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

NINETEEN. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.

TWENTY- ONE. Spend some time alone.

The Lost Art of Validating Value – Getting the Customer to tell you why he loves your product

Validating value doesn’t always happen after the customer buys. In fact, value validation is a great selling discipline to employ late in the decision process, especially when the customer is in the angst of resolving those final concerns. I went on the road for a week coaching sales calls with some of our sales people. On one call, we had a service deal on the table with an important customer who was growing dissatisfied with their current provider. Earlier in the year, our salesman had uncovered that pain and developed it into an strong need for change. They invited us to bid against the incumbent!

On this sales call, we were closing and we knew the customer was really agonizing over the decision. The board was meeting the next day to decide and “our man” had to make the recommendation. We were more expensive but we had a better offering and the client knew it. Change is hard but justifying a higher price to your boss is harder!

Planning the Sales Call
In the pre-call session, we developed questions designed to get “our man” talking about why our offer was superior and why now was the time to change.

Here are the questions:
-What are the main reasons that you have decided change the business model?
-Why is that important to you?
-What savings does that produce? Any other savings?
-How else will it help you?

-I know our program costs a little more, but how is it different from your current provider’s program?
-Are there other differences?
-Are those differences important enough to justify the higher price?
-What do you see as the three main benefits of our service vs. your current provider?
-Does that make a big difference? Why?
-Anything else we may be missing?

You get the idea…

Professional salespeople get the client talking and describing the benefits in the client’s own words. Pros rehearse clients by asking them well planned questions. Average salespeople don’t. Average salespeople show and tell and talk, talk, talk. Average salespeople try to fill the client’s head up with what’s in the brochure, on the PowerPoint, and in the proposal. It just flat does not work and that is why they will always be average salespeople. As Jeffery Fox says, be a seller, not a teller. Ask great questions. Stop talking and take notes. Let the customer tell you what they value about your offer.

Final Preparations

Final Preparations
Allow a break between the dress rehearsal and the actual presentation. This lets the presenters incorporate comments from the dress rehearsal and make any final improvements.

Show Time!

Now, you are ready. Your team can deliver the presentation with the confidence that comes from being fully prepared. You’ve practiced. You know what you know. It’s going to be great. Relax and execute.

Hold a Dress Rehearsal

The presentation information packet should be augmented with the information on the question and answer chart (see previous post – Step 2, Assign Responsibility). Conduct the dress rehearsal in a room that simulates the actual site. Allow no interruptions. The presentation should be conducted exactly as it will be given to the customer including timing signals from the team leader and simulated questions and answers. Video and review the performance with the team. Coach individual presenters on delivery and style. How do they look? Grooming issues? Do we have to go shopping for a tie or other clothing? Now is the time.

Conduct a Team Dry Run

Assemble a knowledgeable audience and distribute a packet of information to aid them in the evaluation. Include the following in the packet:

1. Purpose of the Presentation
2. Summary of the audience analysis
3. The presentation strategy
4. Themes and sub themes
5. Presentation format/agenda including time allocations

Require each presenter to observe the entire dry run. The graphics/artists should also attend to record comments and changes on the visuals. Allow no interruptions during the individual segments. This allows the speakers to maintain concentration. It’s more constructive to make comments at the end of each segment. Besides, it makes time keeping a lot easier. Repeat these as necessary.

Decide the Final Lineup

If, as a result of the management review and the segment dry runs, it becomes clear that a presenter is not effective or is not showing improvement, name a replacement now. Your new presenter still has time to catch up with the others.

Decide the Final Lineup

If, as a result of the management review and the segment dry runs, it becomes clear that a presenter is not effective or is not showing improvement, name a replacement now. Your new presenter still has time to catch up with the others.