#13 Exchange Loyalty
You can invest in some marketing program to reach new people – or you can invest in giving your existing customers the best service possible, and let THEM find new people for you.
Amazon has led the Internet all the way with vision and tenacity. Quality and value. Ease of doing business and buy with one click. Purchase suggestions and published reviews. Not just price – delivery. And now add to that list: proactive WOW interaction. They dominate because they differentiate. They dominate because they innovate. They don’t study the market – they create it.
Take this lesson to heart – and take it to your customers. If you come up with something creatively compelling, you can also take it to the bank!
#14 Earn Trust
Everyone wants to be fully trusted. The reality is very few people are. Most of the time lack of trust isn’t from failure to gain trust, it’s from the fact there was some degree of trust, but by your (their) words, actions, or deeds – it became lost.
Sales CANNOT be made without trust.
When you can identify what does and does not make you trustworthy and admit your shortcomings, you can become trustworthy again.
Here are 4.5 things you can do to build trust – keeping in mind that trust is gained slowly over time:
- Find and read Napoleon Hill’s legendary Law of Reciprocity . It states that “you get what you give.”
- Risk giving trust – especially first.
- Be vulnerable when you give trust.
- Be honored when you receive trust.
- Know that the path to keeping continuing trust is truth and consistent, trustworthy actions
#15 Utilize Voice of Customers
Oh Yeah? Prove It! Everything Requires Proof.
If you have no proof to offer the prospective customer, you have no case, and most likely no chance to make the sale. If you have proof, you have a chance.
Your customer’s voice is more powerful than yours.
In sales, as in any court of law, you have the “burden of proof.” This ensures you of credibility AND assures the customer that what you are saying is true. It goes beyond your presentation and the sale, all the way to ownership, outcome, and expected results.
Voice-of-customer – most often referred to as a testimonial – is THE most powerful sales tool you possess. Especially when it’s in video format.
#16 Discover The Why
“I Want to Think About It.” “I Want to Think It Over.” Crap!
It’s not about RESPONSE. It’s about PREVENTION.
The better you understand yourself, the more powerful you’ll be at “getting a favorable decision” from others.
Finding out the “why” behind the “what” of your presentation is one of the most important aspects in building relationships, understanding customers, and making more sales.
#18 Be Perceived As Different
Differentiate with value, or die with price.
Go get a pen and paper. Make a list of EVERYTHING that you claim about your company and your product or service that your competition does NOT claim they do or have. Go ahead, make a list. Nothing yet?
Then name ONE THING that you claim to have, that your competition won’t claim they have. Great quality? They claim that. Great service? They claim that too. Great delivery? They claim that too. Great people? They claim that too. You say tomato, I say tomahto – but the prospect perceives the same thing.
Here are a few painful questions:
- What’s different about what you offer?
- What’s different about what your literature says?
- What’s different in your creative approach or ideas?
- What’s different in the ordinary things you do?
#19 Perform Dynamically
The weakest area of most salespeople is their presentation skills. If you possess all the knowledge on the planet, but you have poor presentation skills, your message fall on deaf ears. Think back to college and your most brilliant professor. How impactful were his or her presentation skills in class lectures? They were often the difference between paying attention and not paying attention. It’s no different with your customers. To me, having excellent presentation skills is a given. But the sad reality is that presentation skills are rarely taught or emphasized.
Once you become proficient at presenting, the real potential for your increased sales power lies in your ability to convert your presentation into a dynamic performance. Here’s Jeff’s recommendation to you…
- Write a 500-word blog post once a week
- Speak in public once a week. A
- You will not reap immediate rewards. But slowly over time your dynamic performance ability will emerge.
#20 Attract, Engage and Connect
Business cards are not necessary to connect anymore, especially if they’re boring, or have been created by some marketing department, or both. Realize that a business card only really represents a simple exchange, but that a LinkedIn or Twitter or Facebook on-the-spot connection creates engagement.
- Start tweeting value messages once a day. Send a few samples to your list and ask them to follow you by clicking a link.
- Get to 501 LinkedIn connections, and post your thoughts.
- Talk to customers on your business Facebook page. Encourage more posts by responding.
- Start a YouTube channel by using your smart phone as your camera and posting device. Create videos worth watching
#21 Earn Without Asking
THE SECRET OF SELLING CAN BE DEFINED IN FOUR WORDS: Perceived value and perceived difference. Two of the four words are the same: perceived.
If your prospective customer perceives no difference between you and the competition, and perceives no value (better stated, a greater value) in what you’re offering, then all that’s left is price – and you will most likely lose the sale. Or, if you win the sale, it will be at the expense of your profit
Earning Referrals Is Harder Than Earning Sales.
If you’re determined to ask, you better know WHEN to ask. Too early and you’re dead. At least let the relationship blossom. At least let your product or service begin to evolve into a favorable outcome.
If it feels awkward, DON’T ASK. If you don’t have a solid relationship, DON’T ASK. If you ask for a referral and don’t get one, DON’T ASK AGAIN.
Don’t ask. Earn.
- Earn referrals with value perceived by the customer in the relationship.
- Earn referrals with value-based actions.
- Earn referrals with quality of relationship.
- Earn referrals with memorable service.
- Earn referrals with quality of product.
- Earn referrals with reliability.
- Earn referrals with consistency.
- Earn referrals with speed of response.
#21.5 Love It or Leave It
While burnout and stress are real, often they’re self-imposed feelings that you can overcome.
Burnout manifests itself in your daily talk until it’s embedded into your psyche. Not good.
Here are a few suggestions for what will take you from “burnout” mode into a more positive and hopeful frame of mind:
- Start your day with the three most important things you want to accomplish.
- Cancel all stupid and time-wasting meetings.
- top talking about things that don’t matter, especially other people.
- Focus on outcome, not just task.
- Dedicate at least fifteen minutes a day to thinking by yourself.
- Go home from work and read instead of watch.
- Review your accomplishments at the end of each day – to both praise yourself and challenge yourself. Write them down.
The 21.5 Unbreakable Laws of Selling are not just to be read. They’re to be understood, put into action, and mastered.
In between reading and mastery, there’s work.