Can Work and Life be One Big Party?

Exceptional Sales Performance Monday Motivational Minute

Can Work and Life be One Big Party?

October 1st 2012
By Gregory Ferrett

Welcome to Monday

I turned up at a function a few weeks ago and offered the standard fare of cheese, dips and a drink. The atmosphere was dry with little conversation. I was surprised as it was supposed to be an evening to sell investors on the organisation. 

All of a sudden the atmosphere changed. The key presenter walked in with a big smile and a manner infecting the room with energy. 

I have known this presenter for some time, and in his private life he is a bit dry and not at all someone you would pick, at first glance, to be an ‘upfront’ person. 


So, what made him different at this function?

A strategy for fun

One of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to build strong customer relationships is to develop a business strategy around fun. Mary Poppins puts this very well. In the song, ‘A spoonful of sugar’ the opening line goes, “In every job that must be done there is an element of fun, you find the fun and snap! The jobs a game.” 

If you enjoy what you do your customers are going to enjoy doing business with you. If you find your work tedious you need to ask the question ‘what can I do to add a spoonful of sugar?’

People buy from People

Work and life need to be fun

Nearly every relationship study shows the number one most important reason people like to be with people is they are FUN to be with and they establish an emotional connection. People enjoy being with people they like and trust.


This is true for everything in life and especially in business. You may have a deep passion for a particular topic. While having a passion is good, turn this passion in to the only thing you talk about and you will gain a reputation for being intense; perhaps a bit of a bore or, worse, a zealot. Business owners and salespeople often get so caught up in what they sell, solving problems, meeting needs and identifying benefits that they forget to be the kind of person someone wants to be with and do business with. 

Even if your client introduces a topic you are passionate about resist the adrenaline rush, listen to them and keep focused on enjoying being with them.

What about frivolity and foolishness?

Fun is about creating good feelings, not behaving in a way you’ll later regret. If your business is selling circus acts and entertainment your approach will be different to selling safety equipment. Leave university pranks and tasteless jokes at home. Even better, put them in the garbage bin. 

Try turning foolishness in to fun instead. For example, if you dress up as a turkey to pass out information about safety you will probably not be taken seriously. However, dress up a turkey in a business suit and you have a very different message, “If you get gobble-gook from your safety consultant try calling someone who puts it in words you understand”

Finding Fun in the Ordinary

Try to find humour in otherwise uncomfortable situations. Even tedious tasks such as making a cold call can benefit from an injection of fun. Most people hate making cold calls and most people, if not all, don’t like receiving cold calls. One thing you can do is acknowledge this and have some fun with it. Jokingly say to your prospect, “Don’t you just hate it when you get a cold call.”


One thing I do, when making calls to new organisations, goes something like this:


When the telephone is answered by the receptionist I listen carefully for their name (If they only use their company name this technique can work even better). I muster up all my positive energy and say, 'Good morning Alcoa Reception, what a great day it is!'


I am continually surprised at how this statement, said in a positive way, injects energy into the person I am speaking with. All of a sudden I am having a positive and energetic conversation with someone I have never met before. As a consequence they assume I normally deal with someone at the office.

Use Discretion

I had a caller last week who was obviously using a script. I like to have fun with these sort of callers. When they came to the part where they asked me, “How are you today?” I made up a story.

'Oh, I am just off to my wife’s funeral as she died when a drunk driver crashed into her car with both of our children in the back seat who are now in intensive care.'

The caller responded by saying, “I am glad to hear that, I am good as well.” 

Not all situations call for light heartedness and not all people are receptive to jokes and anecdotes. If you are in business or a salesperson you always need to use discretion. Fun should be used as an appropriate response. If you’re faced with a client who’s in trouble and you start trying to make light of the situation your attempts at having fun are going to backfire. 

What made the presenter different at the investor function? They arrived with a spoonful of sugar, a positive feeling and a few great ‘one line’ statements ready to be said with enthusiasm. They walked in purposely and with confidence lighting up the atmosphere wherever they were. 

So, can work and life be one big party? Perhaps not all the time but if you turn your work in to fun it makes life so much more interesting.

Today’s question & action

During this week write down three energizing questions you can use with prospects or people who walk in to your business premises and practice using them. Ask yourself; 

• What is it about your business or work environment that is fun?
  
• Which words and phrases can you use to inject energy in to your relationship with other people?
  
• When you walk in to a room what is one thing you can do to electrify the atmosphere?

Having fun and enjoying your work is the first step in building strong lasting business relationships.

 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

Can you measure the results of a positive attitude?

Exceptional Sales Performance Monday Motivational Minute

Can you measure the results of a positive attitude?

September 24th 2012
By Gregory Ferrett

Welcome to Monday.

After the first day of an industry trade show one of my clients called me. "Everyone is going terrible. This show is a waste of time and there are four more days to go!”

‘Gong’ – a bell went off in my mind as these words tumbled from the telephone reminding me of the saying, ‘Change your attitude and change your results’. I spent about 30 minutes coaching this client on a few specific things he and his team could do to change their attitude and why. He was sceptical, however made a commitment to try just two ideas the next day and agreed to call me and let me know what happened.

"Greg, you can not imagine how unbelievable today has been,” were his first words when I answered the call. “The average order size has doubled and today we have taken more than ever before.”

I called again yesterday, and after four days they were so busy on their stand that people were complaining they could not get in.

What about all their neighbours stands?

Nothing had changed for them. They had similar products to my client. They were, however, not even going to recover the cost of attending.

Gandhi admonished, "Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, the belief makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it, even if I didn't have it at the beginning."

Who do you prefer to deal with?

A relative of ours is extending their home.

The plumber engaged by the builder to put the new roof on the extension taught me and my relative some juicy new words that I would find difficult to use even at the football! His entire day was invested in telling stories of how he could not get on with his family, why the world was terrible, and why his wife of less than one year left him.

His final complaint was that he found it difficult to get more than one job from a builder. I tried some careful coaching and he responded “Mate, I do a fantastic job and have great relationships”. I left him in his misery.

Ask this question of yourself. If you had your choice, which would you rather buy from.

A person who finds obstacles e.g. “I don’t know if we can get that product in time for you?”

OR

A person who is excited about their organisation and what they could do to help you achieve your goals? e.g. “This is exactly the product to meet your needs – I will make sure it is there when you need it”.

This may sound trivial. There is a world of difference in your clients mind.

Simple Strategies to Change Your Attitude

Attitude can be as simple as changing your focus. Here is a simple example;

You race into the car park a few minutes late cursing the idiot who cut you off as you tried to run a yellow light. You have been listening to talkback radio with callers complaining about the most trivial of matters. You are agitated and race into your prospects’ office.

Your prospect asks, “How are you?”

You respond automatically with your subconscious crafting words reflecting your mental state. Your prospect, subconsciously reflecting your attitude, goes into the same ‘negative’ mental state and you end up wondering why you even bothered calling.

Rewind …

This time you stop for a few minutes to reflect on your prospects’ business and your own objectives for this call. You had a motivational message on in the background as you drove there.

This time, when your prospect says “How are you?” you respond saying, “Bob, I am really happy to be able to meet with you today. I have some exciting news about potential solutions to overcome the business issues we discussed at our last meeting.” Your client, subconsciously, goes into an expectant frame of mind and you have a fantastic meeting.

So, can you measure the result of a positive attitude?

You sure can – and there have been many studies done to support this.

Recent research has shown that 94% of income earned by salespeople is made by just 7% of salespeople!

And why do people do business with this 7%? Research again tells us it is because they are great people to be around. Not noisy gongs or complainers.

Your attitude is where the biggest difference can be made. I have witnessed people transform their sales career with simple changes to the way they talk to themselves first, and then to others around them.

In the case of the industry show changing the teams attitude doubled their sales in one day and changed the outcome of the show. Most of the companies were happy to focus on the negatives – and they lived out this self fulfilling prophecy.

Where do YOU fit?

Today’s question & action

Do you want to be in the 7%?

Examine your words carefully. If there is even a HINT of being negative your subconscious will pick this up and act on it.

Ask your colleagues to listen into your telephone conversations and start recording your sales calls. If you hear things like “I can’t …” or “The company will never …” creeping into your conversation, create alternatives to use.

Put a 'swear elephant' on your desk (or any shape of money box) and put $2 in every time you catch yourself using certain words.

Before every appointment, even if you are a bit late, stop and make sure you have a plan to start the conversation off in a positive way. Once a conversation starts, especially a first conversation, it is tough to pull the level of attitude up.

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

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