Blog
sales professionals
Ending the First Month in the New Year
Whew! Month one in and done.
Are you off to a good start? Did you start and stop and start again? Did you hit your target for the January yet?
This is a good beginning, whatever the outcome. You are a starting a new process and you are completing your first milestone. Take a look at your actions and results and find something to celebrate – even it’s just sticking to the program!
You are likely in this for the long run and not just a quick accomplishment, so slow and steady wins th…
New Year’s Celebrations, anyone?
Starting something new takes time to incorporate into our lives. We see it when we put last year’s year on checks (who writes checks anymore?) or on documents. New things take getting used to.
And it’s likely that we don’t build enough celebration into new activities…would you agree?
Setting short-term milestones or hitting daily targets are celebration worthy accomplishments that will keep enthusiasm up and focus strong. We know it’s easy to get distracted or to make setbacks seem lar…
Take Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
Starting new practices and habits isn’t a smooth process. After the initial excitement and inspiration wears off and old habits start to call to us, we feel pulled in a couple of directions: moving toward the future that we envision and desire and being tethered to a familiar way of doing things. We start to tell ourselves that the current reality is not so bad….and maybe we just need to live with it.
Fear. Resignation. Hopelessness.
When we know that breakdowns will occur or we may f…
New Actions in Action
Actions are the only things that produce results. New actions feel awkward at first and sometimes that awkwardness stops us from continuing them.
If you know this might happen, then it’s not a surprise when it does. That’s why you want to keep actions to a very few and repeatable if possible. Feeling awkward lessens with practice. And how we know we are doing something new IS the awkwardness of it…so that is good news!
Have a reasonable expectation of what new actions will produce. Give…
Get It in Writing
Have you finished writing your goals for the new year yet?
If this is your first-time setting goals and putting them on paper, then give yourself a break. Did you get started and distracted? Did you lose your way? Did you need help with articulation but didn’t ask for it? No worries, just sit down and finish it. Even if you only have a couple of things written down, it’s a start.
If you have written goals before and had good results and still haven’t finished, well…are your goals inspiring…
DISC – Influencer Style
I use DISC as a core competence for sales professionals. Last week I focused on the Dominant style. this week I'm focusing on the Influencer style.
Influencers are also fast paced, and are expressive, outgoing and engaging. They motivate and encourage others to accomplish and produce results. As performers, they may produce up and down results, as they tend to shoot from the hip rather than follow a process. They have a unique and individual presentation and may have a ‘signature look’. Expec…
Managing Distractions and Interruptions
We can do a fine job of organizing and planning our own actions and involving others when we schedule appointments with them. And even with all that, our best-scheduled actions can be derailed by the actions of others.
Take a look at how your time unfolds. Are your actions taken as you plan them…or do they get pushed back to accommodate the requests of others? Does this happen frequently? Do others interrupt you because you allow or encourage it or because you have a skill that they often nee…
Asking for Referrals
I must admit, as a salesperson this is one of my weaker areas. I GET a lot of referral business but it’s not because I ask for it. I can only imagine what would happen if I intentionally asked a happy client to refer me to someone they know who might use my assistance. So, don’t follow my lead on this.
However, I do work with people who are good at this and are generous to share what they do that works, which is what I will share with you.
ALWAYS give two business cards and say: “Here is…
Calling Unsold Opportunities
If you have neither closed the sale nor scheduled an appointment to meet or speak again with a prospect, calling to see how their process is unfolding IS the next action to take. Always.
It’s a judgment call as to WHEN to reach out, and I invite everyone to examine their follow-up on unsold opportunities to see if you have a process in place (such as reaching out 48 hours after contact unless otherwise noted). At the very least, start by reaching out with a ‘great to meet you!’ email or text……
Structures and Support
“I don’t write goals, but I have them in my head.” What??
If you’ve heard yourself say that, challenge its efficacy: DID you really achieve the goal? Did you even have one? Or is that something you say to avoid the responsibility of making a commitment and then taking the actions to achieve the goal?
Some facts about goals:
- You need to write them down. The action of thinking it through and articulating what you want is powerful and part of the process.
- Put your goals somewhere that yo…
Categories
- #FillTheWell (11)
- #JodySays (63)
- #SellItOrScheduleIt (79)
- Action plan (111)
- Build Habits (86)
- Coaching (96)
- Qualifying Questions (44)
- Sales Coaches (88)
- Sales Managers (103)
- selling (59)
- Uncategorized (39)
- Achieve (78)
- Interactions (52)
- Opportunities (101)
- Commitment (46)
- Excellence (23)
- Results (85)
- Retail (62)
- sales (70)
- showroom (35)
- #closeratio (26)
- Closing (42)
- managers (10)
- Sketch (6)
- Sketch the space (6)
- sketching (4)
- Small businesses (4)
- communication (35)
- solutions (57)
- Systems (28)
- challenges (29)
- Compromise (4)
- relationships (30)
- Goals (65)
- strategy (35)
- success (14)
- BADAS (7)
- acceptance (4)
- leaders (11)
- team (12)
- Discovery Questions (23)
- Prospects (7)
- Decision Maker (6)
- Organization (10)
- planning (15)
- profitability (2)
- Quality (2)
- Standards (3)
- connecting (18)
- practice (13)
- Objections (10)
- Clarity (8)
- Creating Urgency (7)
- email (3)
- E-Commerce (1)
- #babyboomers (1)
- #millennials (1)
- social media (1)
- marketing (27)
- Consistancy (8)
- consistency (11)
- Designers (3)
- gratitude (11)
- Holidays (7)
- Reflection (35)
- Pandemic (1)
- Change (7)
- Travel (1)
- Family (2)
- distraction (3)
- onething (2)
- Actions (22)
- Structure (4)
- Inspiration (3)
- Setbacks (1)
- Celebrate (3)
- Process (15)
- Resistance (8)
- Mindset (14)
- Furnishings (4)
- Problems (6)
- priorities (5)
- Customer Satisfaction (2)
- Consultative Selling (12)
- Appointments (15)
- leads (1)
- sales professionals (35)
- Conversation (12)
- Summarize (2)
- Connection (4)
- Buyer (2)
- Follow-up (3)
- development (2)
- Imposter Syndrome (1)
- imperfections (4)
- Procrastination (1)
- Intention (5)
- traffic (1)
- sales strategy (2)
- traffic (1)