Integrate Your Customers into an Exclusive Club

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Create a customer-only club to solidify and enhance your reputation as expert in your field. Doing this not only builds your image, but will also generate a steady stream of future referrals and other business opportunities.

A Customer-only Club Is Your Greatest Source of Support

If you create a community of people who have brought from you in the past, there are a lot of things you can do:

Run customer appreciation events

Provide incentives for refeffals

Deliver exceptional after-sales and suppout

Host luncheons where customers have the opportunity to network with each other

Let people collaborate to solve problems

Provide information about new products under development

Share useful information

Introduce people or organizations that sell complementaty products or services

Overall, having availble an excstmer-only club further strengthens the perception that you’re not just a salesperson but an important resource. Over a people will come to trust you more and more. They will have no hesitation in recommeding you to their friends because they will see you as a high-value consultant.

This is all part and parcel of being perceived as a persuader rather than a manipulator. Traditional sales techniques are only needed when someone does not want to buy. When you’re entering into an arrangement that will be mutually beneficial. If you’re viewed as a trusted consultant with considerable expertise in your field, then people will naturally choose to do business with you. Every part of your system is designed to finetune your persuasive eather than your manipulative skill sets.

Honesty and Integrity Is the Best Policy

If you’re honest and have integrty:

you’ll always set realistic expectations: rather than making vague promises you know full well you cannot keep. Rook salespeople promise whatever the client wants to hear to make the sale first and worry about the consequences later. Experts do just the opposite. They say “No” right up front to what they can’t deliver and then work hard to exceed expectations.

You’ll break bad news to customers immediately: rather than waiting to see if it gets lost in the crush. Experts accept responsibility when things go wring, beginners are always blamming everyone else, Customers realize problems can crop up, and it’s what you do to resolve the preblems that counts.

You’ll readily admit it when your solution is not the best fit: and steer people to where they can secure something that works better for them. This is the real acid test of your status as an expert. Real consultants aren’t biased. They make recommendations based solely on the cuetomer’s needs, not their own desire to make a sale. Fortunately, you’ll be pleasntly surprised by how many people will still choose to do business with you even when you tell them bluntly that a competitor’s product is better. They will also rave about you to everyone they know.

No Selling, Just Buying

In essence, sales manipulators are only focused on what benefite them. Persuaders genuinely want to create a win-win situation that benefits everyone. If you have high ethics, prospective customers will pick up on that and want to do business with with you. They will also be happy to act as references for you and to steer their friends doing business with you as well.

Top sales professionals don’t need to sell. Instead, they create the conditions where people want to do business with them and in fack seek them out proactively. No selling takes place–just buying. If you can attract people who are ready to buy and then induce them to go ahead, this is always going to be easier than making presentations, handing objections and aggressively closing the sale. Top sales pros don’t need to memorize their tactics-they just treat everyone ethically.

How to Integrate Your Customers into an Exclusive Club

Consider setting up a website where they can meet each other and discuss ideas.

Run some customer appreciation events.

Give everyone who sends you a referral a thank-you gift that impresses.

Provide customers with opportunities to help you develop some worthwhile follow-on products and services that they will love.

Provide a way for customers to collaborate with each other and come up with new ideas and solutions to problems they have. Facilitate and encourage this actively and enthusiastically.

There’s an unfortunate myth that great salespeople are born, not made. That’s simply not true. Top salespeople are made through knowledge, and by learning to acquire the skill set of a top salesperson.

Master persuaders are top sales pros because people want to buy from master persuaders who they know they can trust. When you operate from a position of integrity, and seeking to create a win-win outcome that benfits the prospect as well as yourself, your nonverbal communication conveys an air of confidence, power, respct, prestihe, and trust. The higher your ethice, the stringer your nonverbal communication becomes. Prospects will want to be around you and will want to do business with you. They won’t know exactly why–they may simply describe you as ‘likeable’–but who cares if they know why or not? The bottom line is that you’re going to get the sale, and future sales, and referrals!

The ability to speak well in front of a group is a skill that no sales pro lacks. It definitely put me on the fast track to becoming a top sales pro and it will do the same for you.

Becoming a recognzed expert is one of–if not the–most powerful things you can do to supercharge your sales career. Prospects forget about why they should or should not buy from you. They consider the fact that you are a tecognized expert who can help them in really big ways if they buy from you.

I’ve been accused by my critics of turning salespeople into order takers. To them I say, what sane salesperson does not want to be an order taker? What I’m really doing is getting salespeople to stop selling, and turning them into top sales pros who know how to create the conditions for a sale to take place without selling–just buying.

–Frank Rumbauskas Jr.

Develop Your Sales Systems

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If you’re good at selling, you need to set up systems so you can maximize the time the time you spend selling. Once you have those systems in place, you can then set about automating them. This is the only practical way to maximize your personal effectiveness.

Focus on Sales

Most sales consist of two distinct parts:
1. Face-to-face meetings with decision makers.
2. Everything else that has to be done to make the sale.

If you become very good at actually making the sales in those face-to-face meetings by virtue of the fact that you’re an expert in your field, then you really should set up systems for all the other stuff and get someone else to do them. With the technology available today, it has become feasible to automate or outsource many of there support fumctions entirely.

If you have assistants handle all of these routine tasks rather than you, this will further solidify your position as an expert in your field. These people will either work for you for a flat rate, or if you really want them to put their whole heart and soul into it, offer them a chunk of your commission generated on each sale. This will make more money.
for you in the run, because it will maximize the amount of time you spend working with buyers rather than lookers.

Steps to Planning Sales System

A reasonable timeline for developing an appropriate kind of automated sales system using these principles will probably look something like this:
1. Work on increasing your know-how so you can credibly become an expert in your field. Build a foundation of internal knowledge and self-confidence that you will perform well.
2. Start finding tangible ways to provide value without expecting any direct sales in return. This will be something simple you can start working on right away.
3. Begin publishing some articles online. Create proof of your expert status and recognition by writing and publishing articles online. Give them away for free.
4. Issue some online press releases. Use a service so they get picked up by Yahoo! News and Google News. You can then include these in your media kit, which you start developing.
5. Start using your media kit to generate more media coverage and free publicity. Send out media kits and make yourself available as a resource for research. Be available.
6. Create your own personal website using the material from your media kit. Add links to published articles and press releases. Make an e-book available for download from your site.
7. Start actively seeking opportunities to speak to speak at local networking events. Develop a presentation idea that is topical and interesting, and make your avaliability known to organizers.
8. Find ways to automate your sales precess through outsourcing or the use of automation. Focus on the area you’re best at and hire others to do everything else that is required.

The whole point is that everything needs to unfold in a logical order. You need to build a foundation first before before you can move away from cold calling to a referral only business model. Similaly, each step in your system needs to build on the previous ones. You can add whatever is needed for the requirements of your particular industry or profession, but the logical sequence is important.

Sit down and analyze single task you do in an average day. Then you need to ask whether each task absolutely requires your hands-on involvement or whether there isn’t some service or piece of software that could perform it just as well. For every task you’re best at and whem to maximize your income.

How to Develop Automated Sales Systems

Do everything in proper sequence and at the most appropriate time.

Maximize the amount of time you spend doind what is most productive and either automate or outsource everything else.

Work hard to set up automatic systems to ges everything done.

This process of automation gives a tremendous amount of leverage, and leverage is something that all top sales pros use to their advantage. Leverage simply means the use of another person’s time or talents to get a job done for you. In my business, I’ve hired out just about every task I had previouslu been doing myself. That’s why I have time to sit here and write. My time is now entirely devoted to thinking, creating new books and other products, and to my coaching and learning program.

–Frank Rumbauskas Jr.

Provide Value to Everyone Who Interacts with You

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Value is what you provide without any expectation of payment. Find ways to deliver more value. If you do that consistently well, people will recognize what you’re doing and reward you with their business. Value is the purest form of integrity.

Having No Expectations Brings the Greatest Rewards

If you can get into the habit of providing value to the people you meet irrespective of whether they do business with you or not, you’re positioning yourself to be a long-term success. So how exactly can you do this?

Create a website where you offer free, helpful reports and links.

Be perfectly willing to tell people straight when what you have to offer is not appropriate for them.

Have the goal of being an effective persuader rather than a manipulator using slick lines and pushing them.

Avoid harassing people with cold calling. Instead, generate a stream of referral business.

Think and act like a powerful business leader than a pushy salesperson.

Act with a high degree of professionalism and integrity.

Become a recognized expert in your field and back that up with published articles, speaking engagements and other tangible evidence.

Deal from a Position of Power

In you concentrate on delivering value first and foremost: with no expectation whatsoever of payment: you transform your image from that of a salesperson to one of being a trusted business adviser. You’ll stand out from the crowd, and prospective customers will seek you out rather than having to be forced to see you. This is a great way to do business, because you’ll be dealing from a position of power rather than being subservient.

Top sales professionals always deal from a position of power. Using old-school sales methods of manipulation always puts you in a position of weakness. When you provide value and then people seek you out to do business with you, a new dynamic at work.

Power always accrues to the person who has the least need for the transaction to happen. If you have to make the sale to pay your rent, then you’ll be nervous and the prospective client will pick up on that unease and use their position of power to advantage. If you reverse that situation and hold the high ground yourself, you’ll do better.

To be in a position of power:

Avoid phoney rapport, canned speeches or memorized dialogues: because they always come across as unnatural. Instead, slow down and be yourself. Say what you think clearly and concisely.

Avoid seeking validation: meaning don’t say “Right?” or “You know?” after your statements.

Have strong body language: take up as much physical space as you can, keep your hands calm and speak in a commanding voice Lean back and project yourself rather than appearing to be on edge all the time.

Structure your conversations productively: which basically means finishing your presentation before you answer questions or revisit unfinished points. State your objective briefly and directly, present your supporting information and then answer any questions. Make the decision to go with your suggestion a natural flow-on rather than a cleverly arrived at contrivance.

Keep things interesting: by having a lively voice and obvious self-confidence. Don’t apologize for any shortcomings, but rather mention them openly and then move forward with your presentation.

The key point is that top sales professionals come from a position of power and then maintain it throughout. They know they are filling a prospective customer’s need rather than meeting one of their own needs to make a sale. If the prospect has called you to come and see then have to adroitly manage the interaction so that power does not slip away.

The Internet Gives You Infinite Reach

In today’s business world, being Internet-savvy is essential if you’re to have any hope of being in a position of power. The Internet is this generation’s premier mechanism for generating leads, creating professionals until you master the use of the Internet in marketing.

At the very least, you need to establish and maintain your own website. This will enable people to find out about you before you arrive in person. And on your website, you should offer free newsletters, reports and e-books. This is a very direct way to offer value regardless of whether people do business with you or not.

Your website and its reports will:

Establish your credibility as a recognized expert in your field

Get people familiar with you.

Start some very helpful viral marketing buzz.

If you make an e-book available for download from your website that contains very helpful information that is also devoid of any direct sales pitches, all kinds of great things can happen. Incorporate a link back to your website and give people permission to forward the e-book with loads of information and you’ll find it goes all over the place generating people who will be more inclined to do business with you in future.

How to Gain Power and Provide Exceptional Value

Stop cold calling and encourage people to contact you instead.

Find as many ways as possible to deliver value with no expectation of direct payback.

Become Internet-savvy.

Build and maintain your own personal website.

Write an e-book about what you know best and provide this as a free download from your website.

Avoid the manipulative techniques old-time salespeople have traditionally used and instead establish yourself as an expert in your field.

Build Communities of Prospects to Generate Referrals

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If you’re smart, you should build communities of people who will generate business for your user group wirh a paid referral program, you can end up with enough quality referrals to fuel your business well into the future.

Use Communities to Generate Referrals

Manufacturers of high-tech devices are very good at creating user groups made up of owners and prospective owners of their products. Doing this:

Lets people brainstorm: and comd up with other innovations, thereby enhancing customer satisfaction levels.

Creates buzz: that makes it easier for word-of-mouth to begin and spread.

Three Ways to Create Communities

If you want to do something similar, try adopting a three-step approach:

Set up an online discussion forum: where your customers can share their ideas, ask questions and help each other out. This is tremendously powerful because prospective customers will immediately see the value they can receive by doing business with you. Their will come back again and again to track posted to their questions. They will also be able to link up with others with similar interests.

Use conference calls and Wed conference calls on a monthly basis: to let people discuss ideas, hesr about new product announcements and network amongst themselves. These conference calls are tremendous for marketing because prospective cuetomers can see or hesr for themselves how much value you provide and how happy your existing customers are. The added capabilities of online Web conferences are also quite alluring.

Every once in a while, run some in-person get-togethers: This adds a nice personal touch and creates a superior networking environment. Host some get-togethers and see where the concept evoves from there.

Of course the whole objective of building these types of user communities is that they enably you to generate some quality referrals. If you can get your feeder network set up and working well. you’ll be able to get to the stage where you can put “Appointments by referral only” on your business card. Where people see they, they will assume you’re so successful that you won’t meet with just anyone off the street, and they will actually feel privileged when you agree to meet and work with them. This is quite a turnaround from the usual mind-set of a potential customer trying to figure out how to get rid of you as quickly as possible.

Finder’s Fee Encourage Referrals

In some lines of business, you can and should pay a finder’s fee for your referrals. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by how motivated some people become to refer their friends and associates when they receive a nice check in the mail a short time later. It you provide the opportunity for people to earn a commission, you’ll often find you have a nice flow of high quality referrals on an ongoing basis.

There are three ways you can get going on this:

Company-based referral programs: check whether your company already has a referral program in place and start using it mors consistenty.

Suggest establishing one to your company: and see whether they will set up a referral program. If you can show this will generate more money, they may come to the party.

Offer referral fees out of your company: look at it as your investment in working with higher prospects than you would ever meet by cold calling.

The whole point is that if you offer a solid financial incentive, people will sit up and take notice. Be careful you don’t break any laws in this regard, but paid referral programs can work extremely well. They can enable you to get to the stage where you only with people who are prequalified to buy what you offer. When you take sales appointments by referral only, you also lift yourself out of the masses of salespeople and give yourself the aura of success.

Don’t Use Closes

There is also one other thing you can do to differetiate yourself. Contrary to accepted wisdom, the top sales pros don’t use closes. They deliver so much value that people want to buy without being painted into a corner and forced to buy. To stand out from the crowd, forget about using closes.

Remember what you’re trying to do:

You’re not trying to manipulate someone into buying: You’re trying to act with honesty to find product or service that will be best for that person.

You’re not trying to move people past their indecision: You’re tryint to provide so much value that not doing something would seem foolhardy.

You’re not trying to get people to buy because they are embarrassed or feel pressured to do so: Instead, you’re trying to facilitate a deal that will genuinely help them and by good for them.

Simply put, closes are only required by salespeople who don’t deliver value. If you’ve genuinely developed a solution that is win-win, you don’t ever need to use a close. You’ll create a situation where people just naturally want to buy from you because you’re the best.

How to Build Communities Which will Generate Ongoing Quality Referrals

Start a user group for your customers.

Set up online discussion boards and other forums for people to talk with each other.

Run some conference calls month.

Offer a few in-person get-togethers each year.

Offer a finder’s fee for everyone whe gives you a referral that results in a sale.

Forget about using power closes or other forms of manipulation.Instead, provide value.

Customers gain a tremendous amount of added value by being able to communicate directly with each other, thlk about how they are using the products to greatest benatest, and share and create additional uses and ideas. To many customers, this is more valuable than the content of the product itself. This provides value for them and is a viral marketing mechanism for you.

–Frank Rumbauskas

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Competent and Powerful Speaking

February 18, 2008 by admin  
Filed under Sales

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Don’t just attend networking meetings: be the featured speaker at these events. That way you can take the lead and actually generate something of value from these get-togethers rather than leaving everything to chance. Kick your networking up a notch or two.

Use Public Speaking to Network and Gain Prestige

In every city, there are always more than a dozen or more networking events that take place every month. They are typically sponsored by chambers of commerce, neighborhood business communities or a number of different entites. The one things they all have in common is that they don’t have a budget to pay speakers so they are always on the lookout for interesting people who will come and speak for free. Your challenge is to turn this into a win-win proposition.

The Benefits of Speaking at Networking Events

Decision makers who are persent will approach you afterwards rather than you needing to go after them.

You position yourself as being more authoritative than anyone else who attends.

The people in the broader business community will get to know you and what you do.

Get a Handle on Topics and Speaking Skills

So what exactly can you speak about? The potential topics are limitless, but realistically you should focus on topics that are related to your industry that will also have broader appeal. As long as you have a presentation that is factual in nature rather than an overt sales presentation, you’ll do fine.

To make this tactic work, there is also one other prerequisite you need to address: you have to become a competent public speaker. Competent public speaking always translates into better sales ability. In fact, the benefits of public speaking are numerous:

You learn how to express ideas clearly

You become skilled at using body language

You learn how to get your point across

You get good at maintaining attention

You learn how to think on your feet

Overall, competence in public speaking enhances your self-confidence and enables you to become more powerful. It always takes practice to learn how to become a public speaker, which is way it is a worthwhile investment of your time to join Toastmasters or attend a public speaking course offered by your local community college or business training school.

Insider Tips

Always remember that body language is very importment in public speaking: Stand up straight but don’t appear too rigid. Lean back slightly and from time to time put your hand in your pocket so you appear to be at ease and relaxed.

Unless you’re at a podium, move around so you maintain the listener’s interest: Visualize a large W painted on the stage and walk along its imaginary lines from point to point. This type of controlled movement on stage keeps the audience interested.

Practice speaking loudly and clearly in advance: A powerful speaking voice comes from the diaphragm rather than the throat. Learn how to speak from your core. Practice this in private first so you know you’ll be able to project your voice well when the time comes to stand and deliver.

Learn how to maintain good eye contact with your audience: Make good eye contact with an audience member for 2-3 seconds and then do the same with someone else. You’ll know you’re getting this right when people start sitting up and paying attention.

Use enough humor: to keep people interested, but not so much that it becomes a distraction. The best humor is witty and usually serves as a good lead-in to your next topic.

By all means use notes while giving your presentation: but don’t resd from them. The same goes for PowerPoint presentations. There’s nothing worse than a speaker who reads what is written on their PowerPoint slides to the audience.

Insert some deliberate pauses into your speaking style: These are excellent for reinforcing key points or simply to give people time to absorb what you’re saying. Deliberate pauses also make you appear more profound and confident.

Handouts are fine as long as you give them out at the end of your talk: rather than at the beginning. If you hand them out too esrly, people will read them rather than listen to what you’re saying.

When it comes to public speaking, you learn by doing. Create some opportunities to do this on a regular basis. You’ll then be able to add some polish and finesse to the basic points outlined here.

How to Give Memorable Public Presentations

Enroll in a public speaking course or join your local Toastmasters.

Practice speaking in public at every available opportunity.

Learn how to master the mechanics: projecting your voice, using handouts, maintining eye contact, etc.

Contact organizers of networking events and offer yourself as a featured speaker.

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