How do laughing, kissing and closing a sale differ?

Exceptional Sales Performance Monday Motivational Minute

How do laughing, kissing and closing a sale differ?

January 7th 2013
 

By Gregory Ferrett

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Welcome to Monday

While watching the film “She’s the Man” one line stood out to me. Viola, dressed as a man, is coaching Duke on how to get a woman to like him. She says “If you can get a girl to laugh she will fall in love with you...?”

Laughing breaks down barriers

This made me think ... what is it about laughing which changes a persons mind? And how relevant is this to influence in other life activities?

Laughter is one of the few activities which can change the chemistry of the whole body. A hearty well developed laugh provides input into three areas of the body;

Energy

Laughter is the simplest and best way to quickly recharge energy reserves. (You can read more about the energy in the article ‘What can you do when you hit the wall and nothing seems to be working’)

Chemical

When you laugh, you generate a wealth of healing biochemical compounds. Deepak Chopra says “...your body can produce any drug you can buy from your chemist or drug store...” and one short burst of laughter can produce the life saving chemicals which drug companies sell for thousands of dollars. When you laugh your cortisol and catecholamine levels reduce and the left and right side of your brain come back into electrical balance.

Physical

Laughter helps circulate lymph fluid and helps your organs by removing waste products, increasing your body’s ability to fight infection. Laughter also increases oxygen supply allowing your body to generate more energy. Higher levels of oxygen produce a natural ‘high’. Laughter, especially outrageous laughter, can give your body a real workout.

What about kissing and closing a sale?

There are a few high stress activities in life. Two of the items right up there are making a decision to buy something (especially something expensive) and closing in on that first kiss with someone you really like. 

As it turns out laughter affects the brain and body in much the same way to reduce stress for these activities.

One side of the brain is saying “You can do better than this”; or “Lets look at more options before we make a decision”.

The other side of the brain is saying “I like the way the colour will look in the living room”, or “I wish he would just kiss me”.

As the brain considers the statements each side of the brain produces a small electrical charge, one side (+) positive and the other (-) negative, not unlike a battle in the brain, creating stress.  By helping a person laugh this barrier is reduced by discharging the two sides.
 
Viola was right. If Duke could get the girl to laugh her barriers came down. Even if these barriers were raised by months of bad behaviour, a single session of laughter will bring all the barriers down.

The same thing happens in a sale. If a salesperson or business owner can reduce the stress being experienced by the buyer using laughter all the barriers are gone. It is then just a matter of handling the real objections to getting a decision finalised.

Today’s question and action

Laughter is a serious matter. Here are some things you can do to help.

• Be prepared with a series of really funny stories. Like I say to my mother “Never let the facts get in the way of a good yarn”.  Practice them and use them appropriately – you will find people start to respond to you better as you develop your library of humorous stories.
• Join a laughter club. A simple Google search will bring up your local club. Even a few meetings can change your life.
• Examine the blockages some of your sales. You may be surprised to see there is a minor point creating tension or stress.  Make it into a point of laughter, with the joke being on yourself, and the watch the process move ahead.

The more you allow fun into your life you will be surprised at how more people will listen and be influenced by you.

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 making room for success?

Exceptional Sales Performance Monday Motivational Minute

Are you making room for success?

November 5th 2012

By Gregory Ferrett

Welcome to Monday

It is 2AM and I can't sleep. My mind is racing with ideas! Why is it the best ideas come in the middle of the night? 

Every night I spend time writing my ‘six pack’ so I can get stuck into my day the moment I wake up. I start about 7 and before I know it 5PM rolls around. Where has the day gone? The vital tasks that will drive my success and maintain my health are still not done ... yet I feel productive. 

Here is an important lesson. When we allow our lives to be crowed with 'things to do' time flies. When we let things go, like in the middle of the night, important things come to the surface. Things which will drive our success.

Success comes when you decide what it is you can let go and create the space to do what is important – the learning, the relationships, health breaks and sales calls.

At 2AM there is nothing else happening to crowd your mind.

Think about your life. What could you choose to let go of today? What could you add to your day to make success that step closer?

• Make an appointment with yourself for a short stop at a book store or walk around the lake
• Have lunch with a friend that makes you laugh so much your serotonin levels rise 
• Write that chapter in your book or your Blog
• Sort out that cluttered office ... and cluttered mind

You see, Success needs space  and you are the only one who can control your cluttered day.

Today’s question & action

What are you willing to let go of today? 

• Select one thing you can let go and delete it from your life
• Select one thing to help you move towards your goals and make it happen first each day

Observe what happens as you introduce these changes and add or delete things to help move you to towards success.

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

Is High Energy Enough in Business and Sales?

Exceptional Sales Performance Monday Motivational Minute

Is High Energy Enough in Business and Sales?

October 29th 2012

By Gregory Ferrett

 

Welcome to Monday

 

I was breaking up some concrete over the weekend. I was enthusiastic and very positive about the job for ten minutes or so and stopped for a moment. I looked at the whole job and realised how much work it really was.

 

Car runs into tree in the middle of the dessert

A discussion I had with a concrete worker came to mind. He had said “To make the job easier just focus on the point you want to hit and allow the weight of the hammer do the work.” In that moment I re-evaluated the job. I saw what needed to be done, set some goals and started to systematically follow a pattern. This time, instead of attacking with enthusiasm I allowed the weight of the hammer to do the job and focussed on hitting the right point. The job was completed with a lot less energy, less time and my back thanked me for it.

There was a picture in the ‘The Age’ newspaper a few years ago of a crash in the middle of the Nullarbor dessert. The police were quoted as saying “We don’t understand how this happened. The driver has smashed head on into the only tree for over 40 kilometres.”  They were observing the same rule I used in breaking up the concrete, the rule of focus.

What you focus on is what you get

the rule of focus

 

As a business and sales coach I regularly get called to crash scenes. A sales person is faltering or a business failing where it has been smooth sailing for a long time. I am rarely surprised, however, as these crashes occur invariably for one reason. The rule of focus has been violated and the business owner or sales person has allowed their mind to wander from their customers goals to their own.

A lot of research has been done on what makes a person successful. What has been discovered is a successful person absolutely believes they have the ability to succeed. They will not entertain, think about, or talk about the possibilities that they'll fail. They do not even consider the possibility of failure.

This ‘feeling good and positive about you’ will help. To make a sale, however, it does not matter how good you feel or how positive you are. What matters is how good your customer feels and how positive they feel.

Why does your customer buy?

Your customer will only make a buying decision when their emotional needs are met and they can ‘see’ the product or service you offer working in their world and delivering value to them. When they are totally convinced you have the ability to deliver what they ‘see’ then they buy.

Focus on your client

Successful business people and salespeople are the ones who take the time to understand their customers, know their goals and ‘hit’ their client’s goals time and time again. They help their clients:

• ‘See’ how things could be
• Become enthusiastic about getting the results
• Believe they can deliver the result for them.

Moving from being good to being great

One of the things that make great salespeople stand out from the crowd is that they are not considered salespeople at all. They are regarded by their clients as consultants or a similar title. The moment a person is tagged by their customer with the label ‘salesperson’ it means they focused on something other than their client. When you are with your clients you are there to help them achieve their goals. Talk to them about:

• their bonus plan,
• their holiday,
• their promotion.

These are the things that engage them emotionally and drive sales. So, is high energy important is business and sales? Yes, but not as important as focus. High energy will give you a result. High energy with focus will give you an extraordinary result. 

Today’s question & action points

 Here are two things you can do to help you focus:

• Call up your top customers and ask them “What is it about my company that made you initially select us, or continue to deal with us?” The answers will tell you a lot about their perception of you and help you understand why others may buy from you.
• Before you pick up the telephone to your next client or prospect ask yourself “How will this person be better off as a result of using my product or service?”

When talking with your clients put your commission plan away. Hide the holiday brochure and forget about the promotion this sale may bring. There is time for that at the end of the day.

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 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