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

Why do people really like you and do business with you?

Exceptional Sales Performance Monday Motivational Minute

Why do people really like you and do business with you?

November 26th 2012

By Gregory Ferrett


Current research tells us the average person thinks about themselves, and how the world impacts them as an individual, almost every minute they are awake.  Their brain is constantly monitoring the environment alert to physical and emotional danger and opportunities. In less than a second the brain can flood the body with chemicals driving a ‘fight or flight’ or a ‘this sounds great’ response.  

As funny as it sounds, in business I continue to find people who think a person’s response to a sales pitch or a request for support will be different just because it is not a social situation. This is dangerous thinking and can lead to wasteful expenditure of money and emotional capital.


What we see is what we want to see - not what others see

My business partners and I were examining a great product developed by people with outstanding credentials and who seemed to know their target market. Despite good promotion and a strong message which brought in some early wins, it remained languishing as an ‘also ran’ product. At the same time a less developed product with fewer capabilities had grown to dominate the market.

We quizzed the developers who were consistent in their responses.

• They had developed the most advanced product in the market – no one else could come near it technically
• They always made a big effort to deliver a great presentation
• They seemed to be in the right place at the right time early on – now they seemed to be always catching up in the sales process

The consistent message we noticed was our client was focusing on how good they were.

Place yourself in their mind

When you need to influence an outcome or want someone to purchase your product or service the first thing you need to do is understand their situation. The research we mentioned earlier tells us the person you are trying to influence cares very little for you or your company, only for them.  Your telephone call, email or letter is an interruption. You need a way to help the person you want to influence see your product or service making their life better. If you can do this they will start to consider what their life might be like with you or your product or service in it.

This is easier said than done as you also spend most of your time considering yourself. After all you are a human being as well. You think of yourself as someone special, with intelligence and you know what is good for your customer.

I have watched with interest advertisements for the iPad and new Intel Surface computer. Both show people in real situations with their lives enriched because of the device. While they talk about the quality of the display, the discussion is about the way your life will be if you use the device. Not the fact one has so many mega pixels. Each time the advertisment shows my whole family wants one - each one for their own reason.

There is a painfully simple yet important lesson to be learned here. When it comes to influencing people or getting them to make a buying decision it is their expectation of what you are asking them to do or buy which will make their mind up. Not what you think is right or wrong.

You can tell the story enthusiastically and with passion, using the best multi-media presentation with endorsements by the best personalities. If you do not know what the person thinks about you are, at best, putting on a show in hope someone listens.
People decide to buy on the basis of expectation – what they perceive the decision will do for them and in their life. If your product or service fits into that perception you have a sale. If not then you don’t. It is as simple as that.

The company was investing enormous amounts of time and effort into selling the inventors idea. He had come up with the idea and made a number of initial sales. Now the company was talking with people who were unfamiliar with the inventor and the concepts he presented.

By changing the perception of the company owners and the way the product and services were presented made an immediate and enormous difference.

People like you and do business with you because they can picture you and your product or service working in their life. The better you are at helping people place you in their life the more successful you will be.

Questions and this weeks activities

There is nothing mysterious about what we did. It required a few simple changes. Try these and you will see your level of influence change quickly and dramatically;

• Engage your customer in a discussion about their business and their life using a reflective questioning style. You will be surprised what you will find simply by  being genuinely interested and scratching under the surface.

• Once you have established some rapport ask questions like “Have you considered …?” and “What happens when…?”

• Paint a picture using words like “Can you imagine leaving the office early confident …?” or “Can you hear your team celebrating knowing …?”

Leave your own ideas at the office – even better, in the shredder. They are great ideas if you are buying – but you are selling and you need to become a part of the buyers concept they are thinking about all the time.

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 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