Tag Archives: sales

I woke up again…and I am still 60!

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I can’t stop thinking about this!  I am still 60 years old.

In reflecting… I had good intentions, but I haven’t helped anybody achieve their dreams. I look at this as a failure in life…if I can’t help others.

Now I am 60 with nothing to show for it…and I don’t have much time left!  But at least now, I am going to savor each moment with the time I do have left.

I asked my wife of 28 years: what happened to my big dreams? She answered that question with a kiss. Isn’t she a great wife?

I would like to give back to other struggling entrepreneurs. Can I show them how to succeed in sales? I have been out of sales for 10 years (a stroke thing). Do I still have what it takes?? I would like to do the things that people really want: all the ins and outs of sales. I would like to help them…no compensation…but with the fact that I was doing something nice.

Where do I start? Please call or write to me.

 

The results of my “no visual” presentation are in…

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shutterstock_400996384I spoke with the president of the company on Friday because I wanted his opinion first.  Since the employee feedback dropped significantly, I wanted to make sure that HE was impressed before I published the results. I expected about 200 responses; I got about 50.

So how did I do?

How would you rate the impact/usefulness of the presentation     8.6
This rating was ok, considering I had no visuals.  Could it be higher?  YES!

How useful were the exercises?    7.6
This area will need some work.  Only a few people can with pens.  In the future, we will hand out pens.  Also, the president suggested that we send out an emails telling them what we are doing and telling them to come prepared to write down just a few goals.  When I have that email prepared, I will send it to you for you feedback.

The Challenges you face

  • Setting goals
  • Never giving up
  • Develop consistent work process
  • Overcoming obstacles
  • Having a strong faith
  • To keep going, even though the odds are against you
  • Perseverance
  • Not allowing failure to define you

This was really inspiring! We asked the people to write down their contact name and titles so we could send them a FREE copy of the book, Painful Blessings.  Only a third of them had a sales title.   That means, 67% came from a non-sales role!   That’s impressive.  The president suggested that I change the presentation slightly to make it more about being a professional.  This made sense and I will incorporate this in my next speech.

So I guess I did ok!  I can’t wait for the next time I do it; it will even be better!

I received my first ever inbound sales lead!

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I had my VERY first sales call for a lead who called in the other day. Can you guess how I did?

AWEFUL!!!

When I first picked up the phone, I thought it was a telemarketer…so I was very polite.  I figure anyone who is calling for a living deserves politeness on the other end of the phone. My form of politeness came of across as bright and cheery hello!

When I discovered who he was, I decided to go into my sales mode.  Unfortunately, I really don’t have a sales mode. I thought of all the things I wanted to say, but I couldn’t get them out.

I stumbled and then I thought of something.  I would call the guy back, but I would be prepared. I did…and it didn’t work.  I was trying VERY hard but I couldn’t get the words to come out in the right order.  I recorded myself …but am to embarrassed to play it for you.  I just sound terrible.

Do you want to hear it…at least…part of it?

 

Sometimes you are surprised!

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When I walked into the room that I would be presenting, I was the only one there.  What a surprise!  Soon, the IT guys showed up with a screen, projector and sound system.  BUT it was this BIG, EMPTY room. The previous tenants moved out and the landlords gutted the place so they could show perspective buyers the space.

I was at DiscoverOrg today.  They filled up the room with sales and marketing people that they wanted to get jazzed up for the final month of the year.  Unfortunately, they were all standing.

I wanted to try out my new and improved speech and I wanted their feedback. The first section was how useful/impactful the presentation was:

Screen Shot 2015-12-02 at 7.02.00 PMI THINK it is alright; I need to move it up a few notches. The CEO gave me a bunch of great ideas to use to make my presentation even MORE sales compelling! I like when someone takes an interest and wants to improve my speech.

One surprise was the sound system.  Jill gave me an idea. Next time, I will put her at the mike and see how SHE sounds.  My concern was that I was too loud, so I didn’t raise and lower my voice enough.  I think I sounded a little flat.

What I didn’t ask was how USEFUL was the exercise I gave them. I was told by the CEO that I should have given a little MORE time. The, he said, ask them to get with the person next to them and tell them the 3 goals the set and when they want to accomplish them by. Then switch roles. That will really work great in bringing continuity to my program.

I think setting goals is a fantastic exercise, but its more important what THEY think!

How to make one sale a day

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They actually told my daughter, Rachel, she would accomplish that her first week…and that is EXACTLY WHAT SHE ACCOMPLISHED: one sale a day. What will week two be???

I AM PROUD OF HER

We were having dinner and she told me how she had, for the first week, one sale a day!  I can’t tell you how PROUD I am of her.  She is ACTUALLY doing sales. Not thinking about it, but doing it. Consumer direct sales is, what I think, the toughest sales there is.  And my little girl is doing it.  I told her again: the prospect is NOT saying no to you; there are saying no to your offer.  Improve your offer and you will see your sales go up.

I think the trainers are doing a good job.  They started her off, right away, selling.  Sure, she will have her stumbles, but she will also have her successes.  I am guessing they didn’t like my referral idea.  I don’t want to interfere on what they are training her to do. I will say this: REFERRALS s are BEST way to get sales.  But I am a little bias.

Wait…didn’t you want to be an accountant?

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That’s right: I was all set to be an accountant.

It was June and I was home from college. I answered the ad, thinking it was something else…and it turned out to be sales for Cutco.

When I told my father about the interview, he said “you didn’t take that job, right? You want to be an accountant.” “No”, I responded, I did.  And I had to buy $200 of samples so I can demo the knives in the prospects homes.”  He said “but you HATE sales.”  I replied “I thought I did, but I liked the way HE explained it.”

I started out and soon became the top performer in the office.  When it was time to start college in September, I was considering not going to college and just selling Cutco.  I  explained to my father that my boss didn’t go to college…and he was doing GREAT.  My father quickly left the room, celebrating me NOT finishing college. He was happy! He finished 8th grade and dropped out of school to care for his mom.

My mother had a talk with me and told me to finish college.  I could keep selling knifes; but college should be first on the agenda. I gave it some thought. I decided to quit selling Cutco and focus on my college years because they were going by so quick.  It  was a wise choice.  I graduated from FDU with a degree in Marketing and THEN began my career in sales.  .

Now, my daughter just started a career in…SALES. I can not believe my little girl is actually TRYING sales. I said it before: I am so proud of her!

BTW: I will continue the story in my future blog posts