The Eight-Point Buyer Checklist

How many times do you leave an introductory meeting, or hang up from a phone call with a prospect, only to realize that you are missing critical information that you need? Instead of slapping your head, like in the old V-8 commercials, use sales trainer George Ludwig's easy acronym -- BEND 4P's - to help you remember what you need to know.

B-BELIEFS: What does the buyer believe about you, your product or service, your competitor, etc.?

E-EVALUATION PROCESS: How will the buyer evaluate your product? What criteria will he or she use?

N-NEEDS: What does the buyer really need?

D-DESIRES: What does the buyer really want?

P-PSYCHIC WOUNDS: Does the buyer have any ill will toward your company, you, or a particular type of product or service?

P-PERSONAL INTERESTS: What are the buyer's hobbies, his or her family life, favorite sports, etc.?

P-PERSONAL MENTORS: Whom does the buyer look to for similar buying decisions? What references will he or she accept?

P-PERSONAL SUCCESSES: What is the buyer proud of? What has he or she purchased before that gave him or her a personal win?

Remember to get the answers to the BEND 4-P QUESTIONS, and you'll be better armed to better serve the buyer and close the sale!

George Ludwig is an author, speaker, and consultant with years of experience as a top-seller. He developed his Power Selling Process and the Double Your Income Power Seminars after 20 years of researching the most successful sales strategies in the world, and is the author of the book Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code. Discover your sales strengths and weaknesses at www.GeorgeLudwig.com.

How to use Google to search smarter

While looking through past posts, I found that I talk a lot about doing research before starting the sales process. If you're like me and you aren't a tech guru (another thing I seem to talk about a lot) then you may not be finding everything you need.

Simply typing a company's name into Google will only get you so far. Here are some tips from the HubSpot blog to help you search smarter:

Looking for your prospect's stock info? Enter a valid ticker symbol as your search term and Google will give you the current financials and a quick thumb-nail chart for the stock.

Example: GOOG

Want to find sales advice on a specific subject? Search within a website by typing the word or phrase you're looking for, followed by this modifier - site:(site you're looking at).

Example: "cold calling" site: www.salesdog.com

Putting together a proposal for an overseas company and need to figure out the total in Euros? Type the following into Google:

Example: 100 USD in Euros

See the rest of HubSpot's Google search tips, (and many more from their readers!) here.

SalesDog Quick Tip

Sales trainer Lori Richardson has a sales blog on AllBusiness.com that I highly recommend - it's well written and her posts are always content-rich. She recently wrote a "Sales Prospecting Tip Sheet" to help make your prospecting a success. Here are a few of her tips:

• DIVERSIFY - Mix up how you contact your more probable prospects. Call early in the day, call at 5pm.
• BE CONSISTENT - You must set regular time slots in your calendar to do this! Once you set the times, honor your commitment to yourself and to growing your business.
• GET FEEDBACK - Ask trusted advisors to let you "call them" with an introductory call. Find out how you can tighten what you say - especially in voice mail messages which are nearly always way too long.
• SEPARATE research time, calling time, and updating time. Work like a machine - create a smooth process so that you do research at a different time, and you are able to crank through calls and email messages.

A consummate student of learning, Lori immersed herself in "how to" books, strategies, and professional development programs from an early age. She's walked on hot coals, watched and studied masters in diverse fields, and sold "in the trenches" - on straight commission - and otherwise - for more than 30 years. Visit Lori's website at www.scoremoresales.com.