Can You Be Trusted Before You Can Prove It?

 

Exceptional Sales Performance Monday Motivational Minute

Can you be Trusted before you can prove it?

September 17th 2012
By Gregory Ferrett

Welcome to Monday
In Australia we live in what I call a ‘high trust’ society. We tend to take people at their word.

example You are at a social gathering where you do not know anyone. Someone asks you “What do you do for a living?"

You could say “I am an airline pilot with QANTAS” and most people will accept what you say immediately.

This model will, of course, fail immediately if the person you are talking with says “I am too, which route do you fly?” or if they know someone in the room who is also a pilot.

The lesson here is, in Australia and many ‘Western’ countries people tend to trust first and ask questions later. In most of the world, however, business is transacted in a low trust environment where trust must be earned, sometimes with every call you make.

We work with those we trust to solve our problems

If I want someone to make a buying decision with me I need them to trust that what I say will happen when they buy my product or service. The bigger the decision the larger the level of trust required.

Trust comes in three stages

This is a good person (stage 1)

I was talking with an older person just listening to their stories. After awhile, out of the blue’ she said "Greg, you are a good boy”. I was so surprised I said “Why don’t you put that in writing”, which she did.  I now have a signed piece of paper which I treasure stating 'Greg is a good boy'.

Getting to the point where someone thinks you are a good person is just a matter of listening and asking open, reflecting and probing questions. The fact you take the time to listen tells the other person you are someone they can trust.

This person has good ideas (stage 2)

A fellow business coach asked for a minute of time to discuss a client of theirs they were having trouble with. At the end of this discussion she said “Greg, you always have great ideas. Do you mind if I use you on an ongoing basis?”  All I had done was listen to the problem and reflected ideas back in the same format as she stated them.

example “The person I am coaching has achieved all the goals we set out to achieve. I do not know where to go from here” she said.

 “Have you reset the goals in light of the way the person has developed?” I asked.

What I did was reflect back her words in a new way. While this was not rocket science, it did give her an ‘ah-ha moment’ and cemented in her mind that I have good ideas and moved me to the next level of trust.

This person can do what they say they can do (stage 3)

“You can change all that COBOL into JAVA using an automated tool?” one incredulous programmer asked me.  I could see this multi-million dollar project was going nowhere despite the level of trust we had developed. I asked,  “John, if I can show you this working will you authorise a pilot program?”.  What John wanted was evidence for himself and others of his team I was a trustworthy person. We setup the demonstration and won the pilot program.  They believed because we showed we could do what we promised on a small scale, then a large scale.

Trust Bank Account

When you meet someone for the first time you automatically open a ‘trust bank account’ with a small, but positive, balance.

• Every time you promise to deliver a result (to get more, to save more, to look good, to feel good, to eliminate pain, or to be loved) and you do it, you add to your trust bank account.
• Every time you fail you make a withdrawal.

Can you be trusted before you can prove it? Yes, in most situations people will take you at face value. When it comes to decision that will impact their business or life you can be sure it will only be made when you trust bank balance is substantial.

Today’s question & action

This week, when you meet with your clients ask this simple question; “How could purchasing this product or service change the way you do business?” you may be surprised by the answer.

What are you doing to make deposits into you trust bank account?

• Every time you make a promise, no matter how small, if you do not deliver it counts as a withdrawal.
• Send an unexpected handwritten card or thank-you note and you add to your trust account.
• Do you listen attentively?
• Do you share ideas?

Nothing will establish trust and increase sales better than becoming an expert in asking the right questions, following up with ideas and showing how these ideas work with other organisations Email me to setup a time to talk about opening a trust account with your team.


Have a great week!

Exceptional Sales Performance

P.S. More inspiration on our BLOG here.

Reprint permission
Permission is granted to reprint this article with the condition it is republished unedited and in full with full attribution to the author and the authors bio. Please provide a link to the reprint to the following email; greg.ferrett@exceptionalsales.com.au

Selling to the Seven Emotional Buying Styles Discover how to link your product to buyers emotion. In this very practical book you will learn everyday tools to take advantage of proven scientific evidence linking emotion to every decision. You will meet; the Hustler the Artist the Normal the Engineer the Politician the Mover, and the Double Checker This is one book you will refer to time and again to help you plan sales calls and to close sales.

Buy your Kindle or Hard Copy version here

Are You Valuable?

Exceptional Sales Performance Monday Motivational Minute

Are You Valuable?

September 10th 2012
By Gregory Ferrett

Welcome to Monday

I had just finished my degree and been hired by Honeywell as a trainee sales rep. I arrived late to a sales meeting. I felt the daggers from my sales manager as I walked into the room. He stood up and said “Ferrett, I want you to convince everyone in the room you are valuable enough to be on the team.”  I looked at the assembly of faces and thought ‘what is it that makes me valuable?’ I survived that day. However, this experience taught me a valuable lesson very early in my sales career. Every day I ask myself "What is the value I bring to the people around me?"

• Do people talk about me and my work in a positive way?
• Do people want me as a part of their team?
• Are people concerned at the thought of losing me to a competitor?
• Are my customers excited about referring me to their colleagues?

My actions scream 'Valuable'

I want my actions to scream ‘valuable’ without me needing to say it. As a salesperson or business owner this is where you want to be.  Who do you deal with every day that helps build your business?

• Your suppliers
• Customers
• Colleagues
• Business partners
• Others in your industry

The one thing that creates true economic and job security is the value you create for others.

The Fundamentals of Sales Value

When pressed most sales people and business owners I coach will say the most valuable thing they do is close sales. While I can not disagree closing sales is a vital part of the job, a sale will only close when the person you are selling to sees the value of what you are selling is greater than the price you are asking them to pay. As a salesperson or business owner there are many things which contribute to your professional value. The fundamentals for salespeople begin with the following:

Customers, Suppliers and Business Partners

• How well do you and your product / service help them meet their perceived need?
• Are you helping them maintain a competitive advantage?
• Do they enjoy working with you?
• Do they call to discuss business ideas with you? Do you call them to provide ideas?

Internally

• Are you meeting & exceeding sales and activity goals
• Are you a positive and inspiring member of the team?
• Do others like to work with you?
• Are you an expert in your product or service and industry?

Are you valuable?  You most certainly are. With a little effort you can begin to understand the value and continue to hone the value into a powerful resource for yourself, your team and your business.   

Today’s question & action

What is your value? 

This week set aside 30 minutes to have a coffee with yourself and ask these four questions 

1. What can I do to add value to my customers?
2. Why is it people want me to be on their team?
3. How can I become a more valuable resource in my industry? 
4. Who do I need to maintain a connection with to build strong  teams?

Review your answers and create an action plan to improve in each area where you feel you should. Then ask When do I need to do this? I hope your answser in NOW!

Have a great week!

Exceptional Sales Performance

P.S. More inspiration on our BLOG here.

Reprint permission
Permission is granted to reprint this article with the condition it is republished unedited and in full with full attribution to the author and the authors bio. Please provide a link to the reprint to the following email; greg.ferrett@exceptionalsales.com.au

Selling to the Seven Emotional Buying Styles Discover how to link your product to buyers emotion. In this very practical book you will learn everyday tools to take advantage of proven scientific evidence linking emotion to every decision. You will meet; the Hustler the Artist the Normal the Engineer the Politician the Mover, and the Double Checker This is one book you will refer to time and again to help you plan sales calls and to close sales.

Buy your Kindle or Hard Copy version here

Intrinsic & Extrinsic Motivation - why do they work against each other and which one works best?

Exceptional Sales Performance Monday Motivational Minute

Intrinsic & Extrinsic Motivation - why do they work against each other and which works better?

September 3rd 2012
By Gregory Ferrett

Welcome to Monday
Like everyone else I have followed the litany of disasters unfolding in various parts of the world. I was reading the newspaper the day after the Christchurch earthquake and as I read article after article a sense of deep gloom and despair come over me. I immediately put the paper down.
I wondered how motivation survived in situations like this? In particular, how is it a person can survive and thrive even in the face of insurmountable odds?

Motivation comes at two levels – Intrinsic and Extrinsic.

Intrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic motivation is the satisfying of our basic psychological need. It is the satisfaction of our purpose in life, proving our competence, being able to act independently and create relationships. This is the motivation most easily used to immediate change your mood or energy level.

The better you understand yourself the easier it is to build on this rich source of internal motivation. For example, playing music satisfies a deep need of mine so over my life I have learnt to play a number of instruments. When I was in University, when I got stuck, I would pick up my guitar and play for a few minutes. This small break gave me the energy to go on studying.Intrinsic motivation is at its strongest in life threatening situations. In these situations everything is compromised and your motivation to achieve is at its highest. The sight of Ahsei “Ace” Sopoaga flinging slabs of concrete around, like foam blocks to rescue people, was impressive. This ‘energy’ was likely driven by intrinsic motivation. In everyday life, in business and sales, however, we rarely experience the power of intrinsic motivation at this level. Intrinsic motivation typically comes from the satisfaction of achieving personal goals that are fun and enjoyable. When I evaluate people for sales roles or business owners I ask questions about their life. I want to understand what their level of intrinsic motivation is likely to be. If they talk easily about their personal desires they are likely to have a high degree of motivation. I just need to help them harness that motivation to see their goals being achieved working the business plan or in my sales team.

Extrinsic motivation

Extrinsic motivation is the energy we gain from those around us and the world we live in. We tend to reflect the psychological environment we live in, work in and play in.To create this environment businesses invest large sums of money to motivate individuals to do things they would otherwise not wish to do. For example, when you apply for a job you want to know things like the salary, the hours, the times of work amongst other things. These are all extrinsic motivators to encourage you to engage in a certain way. I can only imagine the negative extrinsic motivation coming from a major earthquake or flood. Yet, it is in these situations we see the evidence intrinsic motivation is many times more powerful than the strongest extrinsic motivation.

• What happens when intrinsic and extrinsic motivation do not agree?
• Or you provide an extrinsic reward for an activity intrinsically motivating?

Providing rewards and sales commissions does not always produce the impact you would think. For example, I engage a sales person and provide a base salary and commission. They do well enough so I decide to double the sales commission in the hope they will double their sales. In fact, their sales go up only slightly. The likely reason is that intrinsic motivation has not changed.

You could increase the intrinsic motivation at the same time by congratulating them personally for every sale. This may help them satisfy their personal need for satisfaction. By doing this you see an immediate uplift in sales. Yet in a few weeks sales are back to their old level. The likely reason is they now have linked the new sales commission to intrinsic motivation decreasing the value of internal motivation.

How to keep yourself and others motivated?

The best motivational people I know take the time to understand the emotional drivers of individuals. To keep yourself motivated you need to understand yourself. Link your own emotional needs to the success required to keep you moving forward.In my business I keep lists of small goals and overall goals. This includes sales figures, people I want to talk with, articles I write and things I want to learn. I remind myself regularly about how I am achieved. In my vision statement (you have one don’t you?) I have a goal “I will remember key dates for my family, including relatives and friends, and communicate with these people on these dates – birthdays, weddings, anniversaries.” While I do not always achieve this goal, when I do I feel good about it. This ‘good feeling’ generates energy or intrinsic motivation. You will have dozens of activities in your life that can generate strong intrinsic motivation. By extracting these and creating positive chatter when you achieve them will provide a steady stream of motivation that will overcome even the most challenging extrinsic environment.

Today’s question & action

There are two things I want you to do this week;

• If you do not have a vision statement for your life take the time to create one. I am happy to share mine with you if that will help get you started.
• Make a list of at least five things you do that make you feel good. This could include jogging, reading, talking with good friend or journalling. Put this list up where you can see it and everytime you feel your motivation slipping, or the external environment is getting you
  down, choose one activity and make it happen.

You will be surprised at how quickly your mood will change.

Have a great week!

Exceptional Sales Performance

P.S. More inspiration on our BLOG here.

Reprint permission
Permission is granted to reprint this article with the condition it is republished unedited and in full with full attribution to the author and the authors bio. Please provide a link to the reprint to the following email; greg.ferrett@exceptionalsales.com.au

Selling to the Seven Emotional Buying Styles Discover how to link your product to buyers emotion. In this very practical book you will learn everyday tools to take advantage of proven scientific evidence linking emotion to every decision. You will meet; the Hustler the Artist the Normal the Engineer the Politician the Mover, and the Double Checker This is one book you will refer to time and again to help you plan sales calls and to close sales.

Buy your Kindle or Hard Copy version here