As 2007 draws to a close, New Year’s resolutions emerge from the unfulfilled promises of the year and the excesses of December. According to Marie Hartwell-Walker, Ed.D., in an article on Psych Central, the Internet’s largest and oldest independent mental health social network created and run by mental health professionals, ”most New Year’s resolutions are broken within 48 hours.” So as we plan our 2008 sales year, this statistic begs the following questions:

• Should we even make New Year’s sales resolutions?
• If we choose make to make resolutions, what should we change and how do we quantify that change?
• Once we commit to change, how do we keep these resolutions?

Should we even make New Year’s sales resolutions? Absolutely! The seed of progress is the desire to improve. It is true that we either grow or we die, so it is imperative that we seek never ending improvement. A salesperson that is “comfortable” is in long-tern or possibly seven short-term peril.

If we choose make to make resolutions, what should we change and how do we quantify that change? The thing we should not resolve is to change results. You can’t manage results; you can only manage behavior. The decision to change behavior (activity) creates meaningful changes, and sometimes quickly. There are only two ways you improve sales results – increasing activity and improving technique. Improving technique takes time, but increasing activity gives immediate or near immediate results. Make plans to improve activity and technique.

Once we commit to change, how do we keep these resolutions? Follow these four tips to help make 2008 your best year ever.

1. Set realistic goals. Make these goals activity oriented, even if you are scheduling new training to improve technique. If you reduce your goals to manageable activities, you will see positive change.
2. Set timetables and review dates. Goals without deadlines are daydreams. Give yourself a deadline for projects, such as signing up for a particular sales course no late than (date), and schedule daily and weekly sales activity objectives, such as five calls per day – minimum.
3. Don’t make activity goals cumulative. In other words, if you exceed your sales call goal Monday, there is no carry-over to Tuesday. Likewise, if you miss a daily activity goal, start over the next day without feeling the need to catch-up. Don’t be afraid to fail, and don’t get down when you miss a day. Resolve to succeed tomorrow.
4. Develop a personal reward system. When you achieve any goal, no matter how small, have an appropriate reward and celebrate your success. For example, if you hit your sales activity goal early in the day, give yourself a pat on the back. Hit a weekly activity goal? Take your spouse or a friend out for dinner, or see a show, or take a day off.

New Year’s resolutions can be the start of something great. Follow these tips to jump-start your newest best year of your life.

Happy New Year – and Good Selling!

Yesterday, along with millions of other families, we opened Christmas presents. My grandson Cameron, (aka Camper), was right in the middle of it all. Camper was that star of the show! He is a wonderful little boy. Bright, cute, loving, and while I am partial to him, all of that is the truth. As are many kids, he is a model of persistence – something that, as a sales trainer and sales coach, I love! In the midst of opening presents, he reminded me (aka “Pam Paw”) of an old sales principle – “Don’t Confuse Your Prospect!

Camper gets more toys that most children - a lot more toys! He would rip open one package, get real excited – and then push it aside for the next gift. Before long he was through opening packages and playing - in a box! Many of you will identify with this story. However, I hope it doesn’t remind you of your sales presentations.

Sometimes sales people give the prospect too many choices. A great way to close a sale is the “Choice Close,” where the salesperson offers the prospect two solutions, either of which will solve the prospects problem. No matter what choice the prospect selects, everyone wins. The Choice Close works, but the problem with this close is salespeople sometimes offer more than two choices. I know a salesperson in the 401k market that prepares spreadsheets of five to ten, (yes, TEN), products from which the prospect is expected to select one solution! Two problems exist with this approach.

First, just as my grandson has so many toys that he can’t decide which to select, and ends up selecting a non-solution solution (the box), our prospects can’t decide upon the best solution from those offered. A confused mind never buys! Second, if you are truly a professional salesperson, your opinion is of tremendous value to the prospect. They expect you to have an opinion, and you better have one!

So, how can multiple options help you close more sales? First, if you use the Choice Close, limit your choices to two solutions or, in any case, never more than three. However, always have an opinion of the option that best serves your customer, and the reasons for your choice. Second, if you did a spreadsheet analysis for the prospect - keep it in your file. Tell the prospect, “I reviewed X number of options, and I feel the one I am presenting to you today best meets your needs.” Another tactic is to use the same approach, but tell them you reviewed multiple options, and boiled them down to two, and then point out the advantages and disadvantages of each offering. Once again, have an opinion about the better choice for the prospect.

Don’t let your prospects play in a box – a competitor’s product. They deserve the benefit of your expertise, so make your recommendations with conviction based upon your experience, research, and facts. The client will be well served and your sales will go up!

Happy Holidays – and Good Selling!

Technorati Tags: persistence, sales trainer, sales coach, sales principle, professional salesperson

Anyone else remember when the Holiday Season wasn’t hectic? Actually, I think it has always been hectic, but hectic in different ways. Everyone is drawn between professional, personal, and social responsibilities, not to speak of holiday shopping. How do you shop and still have time to enjoy gift giving?

For me, this is where the internet comes into the picture. We travel for a couple of weeks in late December seeing family, and we simply don’t have time to shop from store to store, and then haul the gifts 800 miles. A trailer would be needed – we have grandkids! The Internet provides me what I need.

• The internet is convenient, and saves me time.
• I can go to a number of virtual stores to find exactly what I want to buy from the comfort of my home or office.
• I can compare prices.
• Merchants ship the gifts to the proper location.

There are two morals to this story, and one may not be what you expect.

1. Make it easy for your customers to do business with you. Examine the ways you are a vendor of choice, and write them down. At the same time, ask yourself, “How can I provide even better quality to my customers, and continue to make it easier?” Going through this exercise and writing down the answers helps to crystallize your thoughts and turn them into action.
2. Ease, (like price), is not the only factor that determines customer and client behavior. Believe it or not, many people like the experience of shopping the day after Thanksgiving, to the point of staying out all night in line to be among the first to shop. Do not discount the experience you provide. People still buy based on feeling and emotions, and the experience you create is a big factor in determining your sales success. Over the holidays, give yourself the gift of spending some time working on your business to create a bigger vision for 2008.

Happy Holidays - and good selling!

This morning I received an email from a long-term sales coaching client. He is in his mid thirties and has built a wonderful financial advisory business. His is client-service and long-term focused. Here is a portion of his message:

“Good morning, just got to work to catch up on some things. I checked the 15th pay run and the office is at $607,000 in gross commissions YTD!!! Last year we hit $505,000. I couldn’t have ever hit those numbers without your mentorship….I’m thankful for you.”

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What follows is my response, which I believe is appropriate for any salesperson, or for that matter, any business.

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Congratulations! You are a star because of your willingness to learn from many people, and there are many who have helped you down the path. But at the end of the day you were the one who had to do the work, so you can take satisfaction in the fact that YOU are the one ultimately responsible. The chef uses ingredients from a variety of sources that were not a result of his or her own work. However, without the chef, it is just stuff. Because you choose humility, it makes your work special, as you have acknowledged others and because your clients come first.

This is the trap. When you look at the commissions it would be easy to become absorbed in “look at what I did.” Take a look at the $600K and then look at the sales blotter for the year. Spend an hour looking at each transaction and ask yourself, ‘How did this benefit this client, their family, and their business?” Spending this hour, or however long it takes, will keep you grounded.

This is the secret. By focusing on what you do for your clients, and the benefits you provide them, it gives you the ability and the privilege to ask yourself important questions, such as:

• If I do $750,000 in commissions in 2008 (or for that matter $1,000,000; the choice on how big to dream is up to you), how many more people will I serve?
• In what ways could I provide better value and better service to my existing clients?
• What can I do to make it easier for my clients to tell my story, and thereby help them grow my business?
• Exactly how will I find more clients, and where will they come from?
• By hitting my sales number what would it mean to my family?
• What kind of opportunities can I provide them?
• How would our free time be better spent?
• What kind of vacations would we take?
• What kind of experiences would I be able to share with my children?
• How would I make certain that my wife still knows she is also my girlfriend?
• What would I do for my parents?
• What would the effect be on the charities and causes I hold close to my heart?
• How can I help my clients enjoy and discover the same types of experiences?

If you live in the questions, then you will find the answers. There is no limit on what you can accomplish, if you do it in the spirit of service above self. So my questions for you are:

• What’s next?
• Where do you go from here?
• How can I help?

Your move.

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As you enter this holiday season and plan for 2008, put together a list of questions for yourself that empower you to take the next steps to exponential growth in your business.

Happy Holidays - and Good Selling!

Technorati Tags: sales coaching

Business strategist and professional speaker Michael Roby addressed a group of leading financial institution sales managers at a management conference in St. Helena, CA on December 3, 2007. Bank Insurance Securities Association (BISA) hosted their “Sales Management Fall Workshop,” which was open to institutions in the United States and Canada. Roby conducted his “Managing Excellence” seminar, which teaches sales management strategies and skills.

BISA, based in Wayne, PA, fosters the full integration of securities and insurance businesses with depository institutions’ traditional banking businesses. BISA reaches out to and offers services to executives throughout its member firms. BISA participants include executives from the securities, insurance, investment advisory, trust, private banking, retail, capital markets, and commercial divisions of depository institutions. The BISA provides a single forum for these executives and their product and service partners to work together to find solutions to help grow their businesses.

Michael Roby is a nationally known speaker that helps his audiences get improved sales results that are quantifiable and lasting. While corporations and audiences know Michael as an authority on sales, marketing, and the distribution of financial services, he is also known as one of America’s best motivational speakers. Roby delivers thought-provoking keynotes that leave a lasting, positive impression on his audience. His website, www.michaelroby.com is also home to a leading sales and marketing blog.

Technorati Tags: Business strategist, professional speaker, Bank Insurance Securities Association, sales management