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.

Ease Cold Calling Fears by Changing Your Focus

Here's a quick tip that is sure to change the way you look at cold calling from The Queen of Cold Calling, Wendy Weiss:

Change your focus from 'cold calling' (sounds scary) to 'introductory calling.' You are calling to introduce yourself, your company, product and/or service. In life, you make introductions all the time. This is an introduction that happens over the telephone.

For more no-nonsense cold calling advice, check out The Queen of Cold Calling.

Quote of the Week

"No one can defeat us unless we first defeat ourselves." -- Dwight D. Eisenhower, former U.S. President

Today is President's Day in the U.S. - a day to remember and celebrate our nation's leaders (or just an excuse for the government and postal service to take a break!)

Take a cue from a past President and military leader. Never accept defeat. If you're having a hard time cracking an account - don't give up! Try another method of contact, get a referral, or send a funny note. Go out and find five new prospects to replace that one that's driving you crazy. Your persistence will pay off in the end.

SalesDog Quick Tip

Sales advice is filled with admonitions to salespeople to listen more and talk less. Sometimes this is easier said then done. Active listening is an acquired skill. Beyond asking open-ended questions, summarizing and asking for feedback, what can you do to actively listen? Try this tip from tele-selling expert Jim Domanski.

The best way to listen is to listen with a pen in your hand. Take notes. Tell your client that you'll be taking notes as you go. They'll appreciate it. It gives them peace of mind. It suggests to them that you are thorough. They also have a tendency to slow down a bit which makes listening and note taking that much easier.

Write in point form. Don't worry about getting every word in a sentence. If you miss something or you don't understand something, put a circle around it or put a big question mark beside it. When it is time for you to 'investigate' use your notes to guide you. Preface your question with trigger phrases such as, "I have a note here on my pad. You said something about ... and I did not quite get it. Could you elaborate?"

Taking notes is almost a forgotten art, particularly in tele-sales. This is often due to complacency. The rep figures he's 'heard it all before' and the need to jot down notes is not necessary. Big mistake. Writing notes keeps your focus and concentration.

Jim Domanski is the President of Teleconcepts Consulting Inc. and works with companies and individuals who are frustrated with the results they have been getting when using the telephone to generate leads and sales. For more information visit: www.teleconceptsconsulting.com or call 613-591-1998.

Working with Warm Leads

If you're like most salespeople, your company probably gives you leads from website inquiries, trade shows, Internet advertising, media advertising, and more. This is good for you (more leads!) but can also be troublesome if you don't know how to deal with these "warm leads." Mike Brooks, Mr. Inside Sales, has some Do's and Dont's for handling these leads:

#1 DO begin your opening in a welcoming, assumptive way. Try:

"Hi, this is Mike with ABC Company. I wanted to thank you for (visiting our website, stopping by our booth, your interest in) and I wanted to answer any questions you had. What specifically were you interested in?

DON'T be vague:

"Ah, this is Mike getting back with you. I see you went to our website and I was wondering how I can help you?"

#2 DO be prepared to ask qualifying questions and LISTEN to uncover their specific buying motives. Try:

"What motivated you to take the time to fill out our request form?"
"What specifically were you interested in?"
"What part of our (product/service) appealed to you most?"
"Many of our clients like that we provide X. Is that what you were looking for, too?"

DON'T start pitching! 80% of your competitors make the critical error of assuming a warm lead is interested in your product or service so they start pitching. Don't go into pitch mode!

#3 DO use a script. The top 20% of sales closers (who account for 80% of sales revenues) understand how important it is to make a connection, stay in control, uncover buying motives, and disqualify prospects who are just looking. Only a carefully crafted script allows you to do that.

DON'T ad-lib your way through your presentation. 80% of your competition still make the mistake of assuming that a warm lead is a good lead and so they often quickly make appointments, send demos, etc., without properly qualifying. Big mistake! Treat a warm lead like any other and qualify it using a script.

Mike Brooks, Mr. Inside Sales, specializes in helping sales reps avoid rejection and make more money. Check out his free ezine at http://www.mrinsidesales.com/ezine.htm

What Buyers Really Want from Salespeople

One of our sales experts, Chris Lytle, asked more than 40,000 customers what they want from the salespeople who work with them. Here are the top 7 things customers want you to do:

1. Learn about my business
2. Quit bad-mouthing the competition
3. Make appointments
4. Listen better
5. Follow up after the sale
6. Treat me like I'll be in business next month
7. Treat me like a client and not a category of business

Learn what you can do to make your customers happy -- read the entire article here.

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.