RECiRCULATING THE MEDIOCRITY

by Hank Trisler

Whenever you advertise for an "experienced salesperson," you run the risk of recirculating the mediocrity. The only people who read those ads are those who are looking for a job and those are the LAST people you want in your sales force. If they aren't happy and productive where they are, what makes you think they'll be happy and productive in your store?

Oh, I see. You're a better manager, offer better sales tools and a far more positive sales atmosphere. Of course they'll succeed where heretofore they have failed.

BULL!

If they haven't been making it before, you're not going to materially change them. You're just not that good. None of us are. Good sales critters will produce in any environment and bad sales critters will fail in any environment. Your efforts will affect the ultimate outcome only marginally, in that you can often help a good salesperson become truly excellent, while being unable to make a bad salesperson good.

When I was an automobile sales manager in San Francisco, back when the earth was still cooling, the union salesgrunts would come by and say something like, "I just thought I'd see what you guys have going on." A variation on the theme was the "Three Ds:" "Can I get a Draw? Where's my Demo? When's my Day off?" If you were silly enough to take one of these slugs, they would give you nothing but grief.

Many years ago I determined that I was far better off taking people with good people skills and teaching them how to sell, rather than take retreads from my competition.

The best time to recruit is when you don't need any salespeople. When you have all your desks full, you tend to be fussy and that's terrific. If half your cylinders have no pistons, your discrimination weakens as you're just tired of being alone. Halitosis is better than no breath at all.

Constantly look for good sales candidates among the people you do business with. People with big smiles, bright eyes and hustle will usually excel wherever they go.

What about your past customers? They're already sold on you and your company and your product. Why not convert them to paid ambassadors? A mother who has just hit the "empty nest" phase of life may be just the ticket for you.

Take a good look at the kids of your friends and the friends of your kids. Yeah, they're just snot-nose punks today, but they'll be blossoming into honest to goodness, full fledged adults before you know it. You needed good people five years ago, you need them today and you'll need them in five more years. Start sowing the seeds of your future sales team today.

How about sharing some of your recruiting secrets and thoughts with our group? Let's focus on new talent, rather than recirculate the mediocrity.

SOCIAL PROOF - THE MOST POWERFUL PERSUASION TACTIC

by Zeke Camusio

Social proof is showing your potential clients that other people think that what you want them to do is smart. When you say something, what you say is obviously biased. But, if someone else is saying it, it's much more credible.

Although this is extremely powerful, very few business owners actually use social proof. My goal here is to show you the different kinds of social proof and how you can use them to skyrocket your sales.

Testimonials

This one is a classic. However, most testimonials out there are really bad. This is my formula for getting killer testimonials every time:

1. Find the most common objections your potential clients have. If you have salespeople, have them write down all the reasons why people don't buy ("too expensive", "what if it doesn't work?", "a friend of mine tried that and his ear came off", whatever)

2. Send your happiest clients guiding questions (not "what do you think about us?" but "how did our customer service handled your complaint? Were they fast? Did they solve your problem? How?")

3. The idea is to tie testimonials to the main objections. If one of the main objections of your prospects is your high price, include a few testimonials from clients that address the issue of why you're more expensive than your competition. Remember the "loaded" questions: "what did you think of our price before making the purchase? How do you feel about hiring us? Were we worth the extra $50?"

A few extra tips on getting killer testimonials:

* Don't ever make them up. Your customers are smarter than you think, you can get in trouble and you won't feel very proud about yourself.

* Consider "third-party testimonials". This is when someone other than the product user gives the testimonial. This works very well in B2C markets. An example: "Since my husband started using StopSnoring Pro I sleep a lot better and he wakes up full of energy."

* Try to get VIDEO testimonials if you can. They're extremely powerful! The second best kind of testimonials is the audio/photo testimonial. Regular "text" testimonials are OK, just make sure they're not signed by "C.M., New York"; include real names and cities/company names/websites.

Celebrity Endorsements

If you're a small business owner, chances are you can't afford to pay a celebrity to endorse your product. So, here's a way you can do it for free: just mention what celebrities do and say. Some examples:

* "Oprah and Larry King talk about the law of attraction and believe in it" (your reader thinks: "I admire Larry and Oprah; if they believe in this, this might be a good thing".

* "This tuxedo is the same style Pierce Brosnan wore to the Oscar Awards last year"

You get the idea, right? The good news is that the celebrities don't need to be talking about YOUR specific product. If Oprah says she eats 4 eggs each morning and you sell eggs, profit from that, even if Oprah doesn't buy the eggs from you.

Expert Reviews

Again, you don't need an expert to review YOUR product. If you sell a weight loss supplement that contains Vitamin X and the Mayo Clinic and WebMD.com said that Vitamin X has been successfully used for years to lose weight, use that in your copy!

Find the authorities in your industry and borrow their credibility by quoting them.

As Seen On...

Once again, if CBS features a news on a special kind of massage technique that you happen to offer, add an "As Seen On" badge to your site. (Note: talk to your lawyer before doing this; make sure you're not breaking any law. Most of the time, if you give credit when credit is due, it'll be fine.)

Case Studies

Case studies are very powerful because you're not just showing what other people are saying; you're showing actual results. Show before and after photos, charts, screenshots or present your evidence in the best way possible.

If you say something, it might be true. If someone else says it, it's likely to be true. If you SHOW EVIDENCE, it IS true.

Read more about Zeke Camusio at:

http://www.TheOutsourcingCompany.com/blog

POWER QUESTIONS THAT MAKE YOU HAPPY

By Jamie Ford, www.foresight.co.nz, Guest Blogger

“There is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three things we crave most in life: happiness, freedom, and peace of mind; are always attained by giving them to someone else.”
Peyton Conway March

In his book "Awaken the giant within” motivational speaker Anthony Robbins notes that our life experience is based on what we focus on. And what we focus on is often determined by the questions we ask ourselves on a regular basis.

The best questions to ask yourself are what he calls Power Questions. Power questions are designed to cause you to experience more happiness, excitement, pride, gratitude, joy, commitment, and love every day of your life.

Anthony suggests you come up with at least two to three answers to all of these questions.

If you have difficulty coming up with an answer, just add the word "Could". For instance you might want to ask “What could I be most happy about in my life now?”

Here are some Power Questions you can ask yourself first thing in the morning when you wake up:

1: What am I happy about in my life now?
What about that makes me happy?
How does that make me feel?

2: What am I excited about in my life now?
What about that makes me feel excited?
How does that make me feel?

3: What am I proud about in my life right now?
What about that makes me feel proud?
How does that make me feel?

4: What am I grateful about in my life right now?
What about that makes me feel grateful?
How does that make me feel?

5: What am I enjoying most in my life right now?
What about that do I enjoy?
How does that make me feel?

6: What am I committed to in my life right now?
What about that makes me feel committed?
How does that make me feel?

7: Who do I love?
Who loves me?
What about that makes me feel loving?
How does that make me feel?

Action Exercise:
Use some (or all) of these Morning Power Questions every morning for five days and notice how good you end up feeling.

It really is remarkable how much better you will feel when you make these Power Questions a regular part of each day.

What do you think? Are Jamie and Anthony full of caca de toro, or have they hit on something that you can use to improve your life? Please share your thoughts.

A LETTER TO AARP

Guest Bloggers Walt & Cyndy Miller, Miller Farms Equine Transport

This was sent to Mr. Rand who is the Executive Director of AARP

Dear Mr. Rand,

Recently you sent us a letter encouraging us to renew our lapsed membership in AARP by the requested date. I know it is not what you were looking for, but this is the most honest response I can give you. Our gap in coverage is merely a microscopic symptom of the real problem, a deepening lack of faith..

While we have proudly maintained our membership for several years and have long admired the AARP goals and principles, regrettably, we can no longer endorse it's abdication of our values. Your letter specifically stated that we can count on AARP to speak up for our rights, yet the voice we hear is not ours. Your offer of being kept up to date on important issues through DIVIDED WE FAIL presents neither an impartial view nor the one we have come to embrace. We do believe that when two parties agree all the time on everything presented to them, one is probably not necessary. But, when the opinions and long term goals are diametrically opposed, the divorce is imminent. This is the philosophy which spawned our 200 years of government.

Once upon a time, we looked forward to being part of the senior demographic. We also looked to AARP to provide certain benefits and give our voice a power we could not possibly hope to achieve on our own. AARP gave us a sense of belonging which we no longer enjoy. The Socialist politics practiced by the Obama administration and empowered by AARP serves only to raise the blood pressure my medical insurance strives to contain. Clearly a conflict of interest there!

We do not understand the AARP posture, feel greatly betrayed by the guiding forces whom we expected to map out our senior years and leave your ranks with a great sense of regret. We mitigate that disappointment with the relief of knowing that we are not contributing to the problem anymore by renewing our membership. There are numerous other organizations which offer discounts without threatening our way of life or offending our sensibilities.

This Presidential Administration scares the living daylights out of us. Not just for ourselves, but for our proud and bloodstained heritage, but even more importantly for our children and grandchildren. Washington has rendered Soylent Green a prophetic cautionary tale rather than a nonfiction scare tactic. I have never in my life endorsed any militant or radical groups, yet
now I find myself listening to them. I don't have to agree with them to appreciate the fear which birthed their existence. Their borderline insanity presents little more than a balance to the voice of the Socialist mindset in power. Perhaps I became American by a great stroke of luck in some cosmic uterine lottery, but in my adulthood I CHOOSE to embrace it and nurture the freedoms it represents as well as the responsibilities it requires.

Your website generously offers us the opportunity to receive all communication in Spanish. ARE YOU KIDDING??? Someone has broken into our 'house', invaded our home without our invitation or consent. The President has insisted we keep the perpetrator in comfort and learn the perp language so we can communicate our reluctant welcome to them.

I DON'T choose to welcome them.

I DON'T choose to support them..

I DON'T choose to educate them.

I DON'T choose to medicate them, pay for their food or clothing.

American home invaders get arrested.

Please explain to me why foreign lawbreakers can enjoy privileges on American soil that Americans do not get?

Why do some immigrants have to play the game to be welcomed and others only have to break & enter to be welcomed?

We travel for a living. Walt hauls horses all over this great country, averaging over 10,000 miles a month when he is out there. He meets more people than a politician on caffeine overdose. Of all the many good folks he enjoyed on this last 10,000 miles, this trip yielded only ONE supporter of
the current administration. One of us is out of touch with mainstream America . Since our poll is conducted without funding, I have more faith in it than one which is power driven.

We have decided to forward this to everyone on our mailing list, and will encourage them to do the same. With several hundred in my address book, I have every faith that the eventual exponential factor will make a credible statement to you....

I am disappointed as hell.

I am scared as hell.

I am MAD as hell, and I'm NOT gonna take it anymore!

Walt & Cyndy

Excellent letter and here is the link from snopes so y'all don't have to look it up.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/aarp.asp

Well, folks, what do you think? I'm inclined to think she makes a lot of sense and may just drop my AARP membership.

Hank

TEAM BUILDING

By Hank Trisler

Gresham's Law (GRESH-ums law) noun: The theory that bad money drives good money out of circulation. [Coined by economist Henry Dunning Macleod in 1858 after Sir Thomas Gresham (1519-1579), financier and founder of the Royal Exchange in London. Gresham, a financial adviser to Queen Elizabeth I, wrote to her “good and bad coin cannot circulate together.”]

Gresham's Law says that when both are required to be accepted as legal tender, inferior money remains in circulation while the good money tends to be hoarded or exported.

Examples of bad money could be counterfeit notes, coins that have their edges scraped off to siphon precious metal, or two legal tenders where one is intrinsically superior (e.g. a gold coin vs. a paper note of the same face value). In general, the law applies to situations outside the financial world as well: for example, bad politicians drive out good ones.

“But the main blame for the debasement lies with the Tories, who have conclusively confirmed that there is a Gresham's Law of politics: the most squalid party drags the others down towards its level.” Roy Hattersley; Exploitation Dressed Up As Compassion; The Guardian (London, UK); May 2, 2005.

“So what does that have to do with team building?” You might well ask. “Isn’t that about climbing ropes and paddling canoes and like that?”

I reply, Nah, that’s just programs to justify having a party at company expense. Team building is something you do every single day with your every word and action.

Gresham’s Law explains why we see good, intelligent, compassionate managers build squabbling, avaricious and lazy sales forces. We managers can’t get the people we want, so we settle for those we can get and then cry about our lot in life. Your best recruiting tool is your existing sales force. You will not be able to hire sales stars if they have to run in the same harness with slugs. The very best method of increasing the production of a sales force is to increase the minimum acceptable production.

Enforce it diligently. Every month look at each person in your sales force and determine whether they are a profit center or a loss center.

If a person is below your minimum acceptable sales production, you must help them increase their sales, or find a position with another company, and do so within ninety days.

Allowing them to hang around longer does no favor to them and will be the destruction of your sales team. You spend most of your time trying to make good wine out of bad grapes, when you should be lavishing your attention on your top producers.

I recall a real estate broker once telling me that if she dehired all her low producers, she’d be alone. GOOD! I told her she’d be better off alone, as she was likely taking some of her personal production just to keep the turkeys afloat. It took guts, but she made a clean sweep of the office and said she had never felt better. She had more time for her personal business and was very selective in allowing new people to join her. When she had one really good person, that person brought a friend in for an interview.

And so it grows. If you have a really great success sales atmosphere in your store, you’ll attract the sort of salesperson you want. Conversely, you’ll never get the people you want if you ignore Gresham’s Law.

SALESPERSON'S BIGGEST MISTAKE?

by Hank Trisler

"So what's the biggest mistake salespeople make with you, Chat?" I was talking to a tennis partner during a break in the hostilities this morning. Chat Forbes is the purchasing manager for a respected manufacturer in Silicon Valley.

I had expected him to say they talk too much, as that would have reinforced my long-held belief, but it didn't go that easily.

"They call on me too often," Chat said. "Some of them call me every week and they drive me nuts. I can't get anything done when I'm always talking to salespeople."

"How often should a salesperson call on you?" I asked.

"Well, there's a fine line they need to walk," Chat said. "They need to call often enough to find out when I need something, but not so often as to become a pest."

"How often is that?"

"There's the problem. I don't know. That's the fine line."

"How can they determine how often is too often without talking to you?"

"There's the problem," Chat said.

Now you may find this very unsatisfying. I certainly did, but there you have the problem in the real world with real buyers and sellers.

Here's the question I pose to you for your consideration and discussion: How often should a salesperson call on a customer and how is that frequency arrived at?

I'll be waiting for the fruits of your thinking.

SILVERBACK SELLERS

by Hank Trisler

So you have a few miles on your chassis. So you've got a little gray in your hair, or hair in your gray. So occasionally you lose your car in the parking lot and can't accurately recall the spec sheets. Does that mean you can no longer function as a sales professional? Hell, no.

Selling is one of very few TRULY equal opportunity employers. It just doesn't matter what gender you are, or which race or how old. If you can think and listen and talk or write, you can sell.

Silverback Sellers is a group dedicated to the furtherance of senior salespeople.

Why a Silverback? Well, they're gentle creatures until you mess with them. They neither offer, nor suffer offense gladly. They got to be old because they learned to survive in their environment, just like a good senior salesperson. They help the younger members of the family learn to survive, as well.

Our group will share ideas, leads and experiences. There will be a place to pitch products, proposals and opportunities, but not in the main discussion area. We'll have a separate area for commercial ventures and the main discussion threads will remain blissfully spam free.

Please take two minutes and forty seconds to squint at the video attached. You might find it informative.

I think you'll find this a refreshing and illustrative group, but your input will be necessary to make it that way. Please click on this link http://bit.ly/44UYKa to visit our group and hopefully join. Your thoughts, questions and comments are welcome, as always.