Quote of the Week: Destiny and Decisions

Quote of the Week

"The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Your destiny is in your hands. All of it! Your business life and your personal life are all determined by the decisions you make and the actions you take.

Who do you want to become? And what steps will you take to get there? Got any tips for how all us Sales Dog can determine our success? Tell us in the comments below! 

We're Back! And We Missed All You Sales Dogs!

Our SalesDog Blog is Back!

Hello all you Sales Dogs! Our apologies for the blogging silence. Did you miss us? We most certainly missed you!

We're back now and have some great new content lined up for you! Plus, a brand new editor (that's me, Taylor Eaton). So keep your eyes glued to this blog for inspirational quotes, insights into the business world, and free tips and tricks (who says old dogs can't learn new tricks?) for your sales and marketing practices.

Can't wait for the new content to start showing up? Browse our archives or subscribe to our Coffee with the Dog newsletter for free weekly advice (AND 300 free business leads).

Got any questions for us? Feel free to leave us a comment below! We'd love to hear from you!

Selling to the Opposite Sex

No one will deny men and women have different ways of communicating - just ask any married couple. The question is - how do you deal with these different styles when selling to the opposite sex? Sales trainer Will Turner has the advice you need to break down the communication barrier and start selling. If you're a female salesperson calling on a male prospect, focus your talk on goal-oriented activities, tangible accomplishments, or problem solving. Observe and listen rather than processing out loud, and be succinct and bottom-line focused. Be careful not to offer help before it is asked for, as doing so may indicate a lack of trust in his ability. Above all, never force a man to talk if he is not ready. If you are a male salesperson calling on a female prospect, ask what you can do to help, as she will interpret this as a show of support. Understand that women may process out loud as a way of including others and building relationships. Listen patiently to the stories of your prospect, even when you are anxious to get to the bottom line. Never short-circuit the opportunity to get to know your prospect. Get advice to increase your sales each week. Take a moment to sign up for Coffee with Dog. You'll get world-class sales advice from America's leading experts along with priceless personal growth and motivational insights. :  click here and start selling more.

Cold Call Using Your Right Brain

If you're having trouble cold calling, the problem might be which side of your brain you're using.

Research shows that left-brain thinkers are analytical, logical, and look at things in parts, while right-brain thinkers are creative, believe that everything is possible, and look at a situation as a whole, rather than as steps. This means that right-brain thinkers are more likely to look at cold calling as a way to start a conversation, and consequently face fewer setbacks when the conversation doesn't lead to a sale.

If you're not enjoying cold calling, try looking at it with a right brain mentality. Here are some suggestions from sales trainer and speaker Ari Galper.

• Before you make a cold call, think to yourself, "My goal is not to make the sale but to create a conversation based on how I can help the other person."

• Avoid changing who you are when you make your call. There's no need to be on "stage" or to sound enthusiastic. Just be your everyday relaxed self, as if you're calling a friend. People know when you're being genuine, and when you're not.

• Throw out your linear sales script and generate a spontaneous conversation based on the problems you can help the other person solve.

• Let go of thinking "buyer-seller," and view the person you're calling as another person, not as a "prospect."

• Let go of worrying about driving the conversation "forward." Instead, open your call with a problem statement that generates the response "What do you mean?" or "Tell me more."

Ari Galper is the creator of Unlock The Game, a new sales mindset that overturns the notion of selling as we know it today. Contact him at www.unlockthegame.com.

Quote of the Week

"Let your hook always be cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish." - Ovid, Roman Poet

These may be fancy words from an old-world poet, but they ring true in business today. The only way you'll be successful in sales is to be constantly prospecting and finding new ways to reach your customers. Attend a community event, create a business card that expresses your personality, or just hold the door open for someone juggling a tray of Starbucks. You'll be surprised what turns up in your net.

Do you have any stories of unlikely meetings or a method that helped you reach prospects in a new way? We'd love to hear them!

Winning Lessons from the Indy 500

Colleen Francis, one of our sales experts, recently had the opportunity to meet racing legend Al Usner Sr. He shared his perspective on winning at the track, and his words were very applicable to the world of sales. His thoughts are below, and the full article (and a picture!) can be found here.

1. Focus. Mr. Usner said that no matter how much noise there was, no matter how many people were at the track and no matter who was approaching him, when he walked onto the Indianapolis speedway all he heard, and all he listened to, was himself. He had tunnel vision focused on finishing the race first.

2. Times change and winners change with the times. His first win came in a car with 1000 horsepower at a top speed close to 125 miles per hour and 1-2 brake changes throughout the race because you needed to brake in the corners due to tire performance. His last race was won in a car with 750 horsepower doing close to 220 miles per hour using one set of brakes because you no longer need to brake because of new tire technology. Conditions change, winners use the new conditions to their advantage, they don't complain about them.

3. Winners want to win. They hate to lose. Winners understand that if they aren't getting the results they want it's up to them - and no one else - to take responsibility and make the changes required to win. Winners hold themselves accountable for their results. No one else.

"Learn from Al Usner Sr.," says Francis. "His family is a dynasty at the track; the best there is with nine Indianapolis 500 wins amassed to their names. That's 10% of all Indianapolis 500 wins ever! What great lessons to implement into our businesses."

Don't Allow "Busy Work" to Interfere with Selling

How many times do you have a full day of selling that gets put off due to "necessary" interruptions? If you're like most salespeople, this probably happens more frequently than you'd like. Customer service issues, phone calls, emails and coworkers are all a drain to your precious selling time each day.

Sales trainer Paul McCord has a solution that can help you handle the interruptions without taking up too much of your selling time. In a recent blog post, McCord wrote, "My solution has been to set aside four 1/2 hour times during the day when I will address non-selling issues. Twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon I set aside my selling and marketing activities in order to return calls, handle 'emergencies,' and the other 'busy' work of my business. Of course, if a real emergency arises, it takes precedence over all else. But real emergencies are rare."

This can be a scary idea for those who check their messages and email often - but you'll find that this system allows you to be more productive and focus better on the task at hand. After all, building your business should always be the number one priority.


Author of "Creating a Million Dollar a Year Sales Income: Sales Success through Client Referrals," Paul McCord is president of McCord & Associates, a sales training and management-consulting firm.

SalesDog Quick Tip

As a sales professional, it is vital that you ask about competitors. Most of the time, clients will readily tell you about competitors giving you important information to plan a competitive strategy, and properly position your solution. A small percentage of clients may refuse to answer. For them, a simple acknowledgement like, " I can understand" and then moving the conversation along, works well. Or you can ask, "I know you don't want to share names, but how does (your idea) compare to what else you are hearing?"

Today's quick tip comes from Linda Richardson, president and founder of Richardson, a leading global sales training and consulting firm. This tip was excerpted from Linda's chapter in Top Dog Sales Secrets.

Quote of the Week

"Whenever an individual or a business decides that success has been attained, progress stops." -- Thomas J. Watson Jr.

Acknowledging and celebrating your accomplishments is important and can help motivate you when you reach an inevitable plateau (or valley). But, resting on your laurels will only lead to stagnation. So celebrate your next success, then be sure to ask yourself, "What's next?"

Too Much Certainty Kills Curiosity - and Costs You Money!

I was reading Bill Caskey's blog and came across this intriguing post. We often encourage you to research and educate yourself to become an expert in your field, and while this is very important, there is a point when too much confidence can become a deal-breaker. This story from Caskey will definitely make you think about how you position yourself:

Last month I was giving a sales training seminar, and one of the participants voiced his opinion on how he does something in the sales process. He was actually saying all the right things, but the "way" he said it turned other people in the room off a little.

I got to thinking about what he said and was curious about why that had such an effect on people; I determined that certainty kills curiosity. Whenever I hear someone say, "This is how I do it and it's always worked," they almost certainly have killed themselves off from being curious about other ways to do it better. You've heard the saying, "only fools are positive." To me, that is exactly what happens when you are so sure of yourself that you are not open to other ways to improve your results.

As you think about your sales approach to prospects and clients, be careful that you don't "have all the answers and don't need more input," because you may be cutting yourself off from one easy tactic that can monumentally affect your business.

Bill Caskey is a sales development leader and experimenter. His ideas about selling are convictions about life, money and meaning. He has coached sales professionals and executives for over 19 years, and his philosophies and strategies have fueled explosive growth in sales and profits for clients. Visit his website at www.caskeytraining.com

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Don't React - Respond!

For the past week sales expert Keith Rosen has been discussing the "Top 10 Most Common Mistakes in Selling" on his blog. Number four on the list is about reacting to your clients rather than responding.

This common mistake pops up when your customer says something like "Your price is too high." At this point, "salespeople often switch into a defensive mode, thinking about a past experience with a similar customer, and react accordingly," says Rosen. "Remember that re-action is any action you have taken before. So, if you are continually reacting from the 'same place' you are going to continue to generate the same result."

"'Your price is too high' is not a question you need to defend," explains Rosen. "Instead of answering it, respond with a question such as, 'Before you ask me why my price is high, why do you feel the other price you got is lower?'"

Switch your thinking from a "react" mindset to a "respond" mindset and you'll see the difference in your relationships with your customers, and your sales.

Keith Rosen, The Executive Sales Coach, is one of the foremost authorities on how to assist people achieve positive, measurable change in their attitude and in their behavior. He is a well known and engaging author, speaker, and coach. Learn more by visiting Keith's website at www.profitbuilders.com.

A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea

Motivator and speaker Bob Burg has written a new book with co-author John David Mann called The Go-Giver. It's an eye-opening parable about Joe, a harried young salesperson on the brink of failure. He's short on his quota - with just a week left in the quarter. Prospects are dim - that is until Joe meets the enigmatic "Chairman" whose friends reveal to Joe the Five Laws of Stratospheric Success, with intriguing results. Think The Celestine Prophesy for business people.

If you're not happily accomplishing what you want in your career, and earning what you deserve, you owe it to yourself to read The Go-Giver. It will change how you think about success and what it takes to manifest it.

Today only, they are having a one-day sale where you can get the book at a 20% discount and receive a $297 set of amazing videos for free! This is over ten hours of world-class training videos recorded at the "Extreme Business Makeovers 2007" event with people like Bob Proctor, Bo Short, Cameron Johnson and Stephanie Frank. Visit http://www.thegogiver.com/amazon today!

The "Goody Two Shoes" Approach to Networking

Many people mistakenly look at networking as collecting as many business cards as possible, or having a lot of contacts on LinkedIn. While it's great to have all those contacts, what happens when you call them? Hard to believe they're going to remember and want to help a person they barely talked to at a conference.

Networking and motivation expert Josh Hinds has seen this situation many times, and offers advice to help you build a network built on value and trust.

"One of the hardest things for people who are beginning to embrace professional networking to grasp is that it's not simply about sharing their product or service, but rather about first building some basic rapport with the person they've just met," says Hinds. "It's about creating value for others first."

"This 'goody two shoes' approach to networking ensures that you will not only be thought of in a favorable light - you will remain there for as long as you're willing to commit to keeping that connection going. The more value you create for the people you connect with - the greater the likelihood that they will not only end up a customer of yours, they'll even seek you out as a trusted advisor when they have a need that they feel you might be able to help them with."

Here are some of Hinds' tips for building value with those you meet:

• Upon the initial meeting, take a sincere interest in the other person first. Then let them know that you're always meeting new people and would be willing to keep an eye out for potential sources of business for them - you can even ask what their ideal prospect would look like. Be careful - you can't just give this idea lip service - you have to be sure to actually send referrals their way as you run across them.

• Be on the lookout for things of interest to the folks in your network - and pass them along to them. It's a terrific way to stay in touch, while being valuable to others.

• Every so often drop a quick e-mail, greeting card, or note to someone you may not have touched base with in a while. Something as simple as 'It's been a while so I just wanted to let you know I was thinking about you' can do wonders to position yourself in a favorable light.

• Be on the lookout for opportunities that will be of benefit to those in your network. Doing so is as easy as keeping your eyes open for news you might read, or listening to what others have to say.

Josh Hinds is a speaker, trainer, and author on topics such as networking and personal branding. Check out his popular newsletter at www.GetMotivation.com.

Don't take no for an answer

How do you react when a prospect tells you no? Do you immediately think, "Oh, there goes another one?" Do you counter "No" with more features, benefits, and explanations? Here's a much more effective strategy from Ron Karr, one of the leading Business Development and Turn-Around Specialists in America.

"Too many salespeople instantly respond to a no answer by either withdrawing from meaningful discussions with the prospect or turning up the heat by discoursing endlessly about features, functions and benefits," says Karr. "Yet all we need to do when we encounter a no answer is to find out what the customer perceives is missing."

Try this response to "No" and watch as the discussion continues to the sale.

Ron Karr is the Founder of Karr Associates Inc. and creator of the ground-breaking Titan Principle.

Destined to Fail: The Truth Behind New Year's Resolutions

If you're like most people, you've either already broken one of your New Year's Resolutions, or will sometime soon. Don't worry - it's nothing to be ashamed of! "The failure of your resolution has nothing to do with a lack of resolve or discipline. The success or failure of your resolution is determined at the very moment it is born, when the idea for change first stirs in your mind," says sales trainer and speaker Tom Richard.

"True change happens in the blink of an eye. It stems from an emotional trigger that speaks to you, stirs something within you and opens your eyes to recognize that something must change. If a resolution does not carry with it this immediacy of action, it is destined to fail. Therefore, any resolution that can wait until the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve lacks the emotional power to have any lasting effect on your life."

"The only way to change an entire year is to change how you act within every single moment. How can you best spend, not a minute next week or next year, but this very minute?"

"As you begin 2008, embrace the strength and courage you have to see that every minute you have the power to act in such a way that will make that minute its very best. You don't need the burden of trying to change an entire year all at once. By focusing on the present moment, you will discover a refreshingly light way to conquer large and long-term goals. Then, when 2009 rolls around, you will look back on the year with a smile, knowing that your entire year was as complete, fulfilling and successful as every minute within it was."

What a great way to look at the New Year!

Tom Richard gives seminars, runs sales meetings, and provides coaching for salespeople nationwide. He is also an inspiring and educated speaker who will light a fire under your team. For more information, visit www.TomRichard.com, or email info@tomrichard.com.

Where is everybody?

It's the day after Christmas and while much of the world is returning unwanted gifts, or sleeping off the eggnog, SalesDog is back on the job.

If you're reading this, I suspect you're working too. Allow me to share a secret I learned from telesales guru Art Sobczak: This week can be the best selling time of your sales year.

Huh? SalesDog, are you barking mad? No one's in. Everyone's gone until after New Year's. What are you talking about?

Think about it: you're not the only one working today. Plenty of your prospects are. Many of their gatekeepers are not there to hold you back. If your prospect is working, he's probably not being distracted by co-workers, his customers, meetings, and reports that are due. He's probably answering his own phone, and has time to talk.

Now is prime time for reaching prospects. They'll be more relaxed and willing to spend a few minutes with you. And, if they're looking for ways to spend money that is still left in their budgets? Well, I think you're getting the picture.

So, stop lamenting, and get dialing. Come back and share some of your successes this week.

Art Sobczak helps sales pros use the phone to prospect, service and sell more effectively, while eliminating morale-killing "rejection." See free articles and back issues of his weekly emailed sales tips at www.BusinessByPhone.com.

Be memorable, and make more sales

I recently came across an article on Entrepreneur.com that got me thinking. Here's an excerpt:

"Every time John Costigan of John Costigan Companies hands out one of his metal business cards with a custom cutout of his own profile, he's giving away $2. But Costigan, whose Cary, North Carolina sales training firm grows yearly, says it doesn't hold him back one second. He estimates that he's gained over $100,000 in business since debuting the cards in 2003. 'Metal represents what my company is - sharp, different, bold,' says Costigan, 43. He hands out a card to every person who takes his class, reasoning, 'The return on investment is more than worth it.'"

What an interesting idea - a subtle marketing message built into your business card. There are so many ways to make yourself memorable - whether with your business card, a thank you note, or simply the way you treat customers.

What are you doing to be memorable?

You've got a plan. How do you stick to it?

As the calendar year winds down, thoughts turn to new goals for a new year. Maybe you had a great year and want to go further, or maybe you didn't perform as you hoped and need to make some changes. Whatever your situation, thinking ahead will help you make it happen.

How do you ensure that you stick to your plan and reach your goals? Sales trainer Colleen Francis has some tips to help you focus:

• Make each goal quantifiable. It's simple to say, "I want to triple my sales this year," but how realistic is a goal like that? To make goals stick, you need a breakdown of exactly how you plan to succeed. How many more cold calls would it require? How many presentations?

• Execute on a daily basis. Once your goals are quantified, make a daily chart that includes the number of cold calls made, presentations scheduled, sales closed, etc. It's the only way to chart your progress and adjust on a week-to-week basis.

• Create a "To-Do List." Successful salespeople know goals are more than words on paper. Each week, make a list of the top five things you need to adjust in order to achieve them. The following week, replace the ones you've accomplished and continue to work on the others.

• Create constant rewards along the way. You are the ultimate manager of you! Lasting success comes when your motivation comes from within - not an outside source. To help along the way, provide yourself an incentive at key milestones. Try setting up small bonuses for meeting benchmarks along the way. Treat yourself to a purchase, a trip, a day off, or coffee with a friend. One way to achieve long-term goals is by focusing on short-term ones. I believe that what gets rewarded gets repeated.

Check out more of Colleen's advice at www.engageselling.com. You can also reach her by calling 877-364-2438 or emailing her at colleen@engageselling.com.

Dictate your sales conversation

Questions are critical keys to unlocking the information you need to gather in the sales process. Sales trainer and speaker John Costigan has a helpful acronym to prompt you in asking key questions that will dictate your sales conversation.

D.I.C.T.A.T.E. stands for:

D (Details) "Interesting, can you tell me more about that?"

I (Interval) "How long has this problem been going on for you?"

C (Cost) "How much has this cost you? I mean personally?"

T (Try & Fix) "What steps have you taken to try and fix this problem?"

A (in-Action) "Do you mind if I ask you what happens if you don't fix this?"

T (Talk less) Follow the 80/20 Rule.

E (Emotions) "What kind of aggravation has this caused you and your people?"

Remember this handy tip when talking with clients, and you'll find you're better equipped to help your customers, and make more sales!

John Costigan is a sales trainer and speaker. He combines reality, education, humor, and energy to create a unique training environment that allows people to see immediate results. Learn more by visiting John's website at www.johncostigan.com.