|
|
| www.1001TopWords.com : "Sales" Home Page |
|
|
< Do Your Words Betray You?
What do the words that you use say about you? What is your basic message? Do your words support that basic message? As a business owner, entrepreneur or sales professional, part of your message must be of confidence and authority. You always want your prospect or your customer to see you as an expert in your field, as someone who is credible and someone who is knowledgeable. Sometimes, the words we use or the way we use them get in the way. Have you ever started a conversation with a prospect or customer with the phrase "I'm just calling?"? That little word "just" is an apology. It says that your call is not important and that what you have to say is not important. Delete it from your vocabulary immediately! Simply tell your prospects and customers why you are calling. That is enough. "I believe that?." "I think that?." "I know?." Who would you rather listen to? Someone who believes or thinks she knows something-or someone who just knows it? The phrases "I believe" and "I think" detract from your message. They detract from your power. "Once we have completed? we will hopefully achieve?" Hopefully? No one pays you to "hopefully" do something. They pay you to do actually do it! Tell your prospects or customers what they will achieve or should expect to achieve. To make your words sound powerful, pitch your voice to a lower level than your usual speaking voice. In our society, a lower-pitched voice is perceived as more authoritative. Also, make sure that the inflection goes down at the end of every sentence. When nervous, everyone tends to make even statements into questions with an upward inflection. This will make you sound nervous and unsure. Be careful also, as you are doing this, not to drop off or throw the last words of your sentence away. That would sound like you are giving up. It may take some time and practice before you are fully comfortable eliminating the words "just," "I believe," "I think" and "hopefully" from your vocabulary. It will also take some time and practice to get the lowered vocal pitch and downward inflections at the end of sentences. But it will be time well spent when you see the difference in the way your customers and prospects respond. Even if you do feel nervous, using these particular word and vocal tips will make you sound confident and self-assured. Eventually, you will even begin to feel that way! © 2004 Wendy Weiss Wendy Weiss, The Queen of Cold Calling & Selling Success, is a sales trainer, author and sales coach. She is the author of Cold Calling for Women and the recently released Cold Calling College. Get her free e-zine at http://www.wendyweiss.com.
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Interactive Sales Letter Skyrockets Conversions with 2 Simple Questions There are many tactics and techniques that go into converting visitors into buyers. However, this article will prove to you why creating an "interactive" sales letter will be the most critical weapon in your modern marketing arsenal to accomplish this. Your Proposal Was Rejected... But Why? When a request for proposal (RFP) comes in, you get excited! It's a chance to earn income, develop more business contacts, and expand your client base. You work your little heart out in order to be thorough, compelling, and professional. Everything is in place. Your RFP is geared to show why your product or service will meet or exceed the client's goals. With fingers crossed, you submit. Referrals: Getting Good Business By Doing Good Business Whether you're a conventional sales person, a professional ? such as a dentist or lawyer or doctor ? or a business owner, you've got to have clients to stay in business. There are several ways to do this: either continue to find new customers, keep all of the customers you've ever had, get old clients to return, or get customers to send in referrals. The Damaging Admission - A Persuasive Technique We would all like to think that our product or service is flawless. More importantly, we would like for others to believe that as well. But no matter what you sell, a drawback (sometimes several) will always exist, even if only in the mind of your reader-prospects. Either way, you MUST address the issue up front. In fact, if written properly, "the damaging admission" can actually be used to your advantage. Mindset Over Materials: The Secret Weapon of Sustainable Sales Success Long-term sales success has less to do with skills or knowledgethan you might think. Nor are stunning brochures or excellentproducts guaranteed to make one iota of impact over time. Unlesscertain critical elements already exist in the salesperson,providing training and tools in hopes of improving performancedoes nothing more than giving a PGA golfer's best driver to anamateur. The club itself can't make someone a pro.Yet a pro can take a cheap driver and make a better shot than anamateur with the best and biggest Big Bertha has to offer.Likewise, you probably know one or two standouts who haveexcelled without classic sales training, without flashy supportmaterials for their products, and even without a superiorproduct to represent.Then what makes the difference? If it's not remarkable closingability, appealing brochures, outstanding product knowledge, orrelentless objection handling... if it's not talent orbrainpower or tools that create sustained success, what is it?In more than twenty years studying the top performers in manyfields, I've discovered the mysterious X-factor is mindset: agroup of attitudes, understandings, beliefs, and resultingbehaviors. Whether you're talking about golf or sales or anyother pursuit, the same principle applies. Ultimately, themindset creates top performance, excellent production numbers,and prosperity for both the salesperson and the company he orshe represents.Creating a mindset of sustained success requires you to focus onthree key areas:The beliefs you have about yourself;The attitudes you have about your customers, product, andindustry;The ownership you take of your own success.The Inner Game of SalesYou have to see yourself as successful in the inner game inorder to be successful in the outer game. When you give that"command" to the unconscious mind -- when you imagine howyou'll feel, look and sound when you are producing at the levelyou desire -- the mind thinks it's already occurred and callsfor an encore performance in the real world.The first step to changing your own "mental programming" is torecognize it. Think about it. Think about why you don't do whatyou know intellectually you should. Then start thinking aboutwhat's behind it. What do you have to believe about yourself,your world, your product, your industry, to cause this behaviorto occur?Some common underlying beliefs that regulate salespeople'sperformance are"I need more training and skills before I can succeed.""I'm not worthy of earning more than...""I am not good at cold calling.""I'm not able to talk to (or get to) the decision makers atthe top."Once the underlying belief is uncovered, a new belief must bechosen. The new belief can be the opposite or an "antidote" tothe old one, such as "I have unlimited life knowledge andexperience." New beliefs must then be "installed."Specifically, the new belief must be supported by both evidenceand habit.Start by answering a simple question: What will I have to see,hear, and feel to cement this belief? Then begin vividlyvisualizing these results at least twice a day. (Note: the mindis most open to suggestion first thing in the morning just afterwaking and the last thing at night before sleep.) Many peoplethink that results build belief, and in some cases this is true,but it's more often the inverse. Remember the chain:thought/word-image-emotion-action-result. You must be able tosee yourself already in possession of the outcome of the newbelief.Champions in any field create an unbending belief in themselves,program themselves to continually find evidence to support itstruth, then consistently and vividly see themselves inpossession of the desired goal. William James, the father ofmodern psychology, said, "Your belief creates the fact."Now Forget Sales, and Focus on YourCustomersOnce you've visualized yourself achieving your goals and removedany psychological obstacles, it's time to put those goals asideand focus on the customer. Again, this all happens in your mind,but it has a profound impact on the way you affect your outerworld.Today's customers and clients require a new attitude, one thatoffers something rather than asks for something. In a high-techsociety, high touch is highly valuable. The new-schoolsalesperson focuses on giving instead of getting, on serviceinstead of sales. Always a man ahead of his time, Henry Fordcaptured this mindset eloquently: "Wealth will never beachieved when sought after directly; it only comes as aby-product of providing useful service."This level of service takes some guts. Sometimes you have totell people what they don't want to hear. Sometimes, you evenhave to say, "Maybe I'm not the best for you... I'd like tosend you to someone who will be." Service means that you're nolonger willing to do whatever it takes for the sale. Now you'lldo whatever it takes for the customer -- because it's thecustomer who makes or breaks your business, not an isolatedtransaction.Old Hat, New Head: Take Ownership of YourSuccessHave you heard these ideas before? Are you utilizing them as youshould? If not, why not? Likewise, are there other, obviousprinciples of business success you've overlooked?Sales success grows out of a fundamental mindset, based on someideas that may be "old hat" but require a "new head" to fityou. I operate from the premise that you know what you need todo, and you have what you need to create a six- or seven-figureincome. Most salespeople have heard all the "magic bullet"ideas and pitches. But until you begin to think in new ways, youwill never apply these time-tested principles. The distinctionbetween short-term flashes in the pan and sustained success issimply doing what may seem obvious to you right now. We mightsay, "If the hat fits, wear it." How to Eliminate Objections to Price Have you ever stepped your way through the sales processonly to be disappointed by your prospect's objection toyour price? How To Seal The Deal In Seven Seconds Can you close a sale in just seven seconds? If you make a great first impression, you can do it even faster. Seven seconds is the average length of time you have to make a first impression. If yours is not good, you won't get another chance with that potential client. But if you make a great first impression you can bet that the client is more likely to take you and your company seriously. Warming Up To Cold Calls Will you do just about anything, including sending out hundreds of letters, to avoid making cold calls to your potential customers/prospects? If so, you're not alone. Millions like you have started their own businesses, only to find that the thought of making calls to potential customers/prospects leaves them paralyzed with anxiety. Believe me I was one of them. For those of you who know us and have read "Who Makes It Happen", remember what I used to go through before I would get on the telephone to cold call. How to Give Your Customers a Choice Between You and the Competition and Have Them Choose You Instead of giving your customers or potential customers a choice between you and your competition and having them choose the other guy, have them choose you. Finding a Used Mannequin Many stores on a budget choose to buy a used mannequin. Used mannequins are a good deal for several reasons. Many stores do not see the purpose in buying new mannequins when used ones work just as well. While some used mannequins may have slight damage or need to be repainted, most of them look as good as new. Many places offer used mannequins for rent as well. Exporting to Europe: Not the Challenges You Think If you plan to do sell your product or service in Europe the problems you encounter may not be the ones you expect. It's easy to focus on perceived difficulties, such as the so-called 'language barrier', while not noticing the real pitfalls ? until it's too late. I learned three lessons the hard way: appreciate the different cultures, understand the value of quality vs. speed, and know which foreign language is key to your business. Is Sales Profession an Oxymoron? If you are in Sales, you have probably heard these before: Do Your Words Betray You? What do the words that you use say about you? What is your basic message? Do your words support that basic message? Planning to Realize Your Goals Recently, I wrote about about creating specific, compelling goals that pull you towards what you want in your business, career and life. When Selling, Keep It Simple Stupid! After our first half-hour telephone coaching session, when asked what he thought about our training, my client felt the learning process we had undertaken together earlier in the week, "was a bit too elementary." As a Branch Manager with over 18 years of sale experience, a supervisor who must also produce sales over and above the five representatives reporting to him, when he purchased our training, he thought that he would receive and then drill-for-skill some new and yet undiscovered selling process that would magically change his ability to produce sales. What he actually found was a "deceptively simple" system with methods proven in the field to produce a consistent flow of new business. Later he wrote: 6 Creative Questions To Move From HOW Are You To WHO Are You Imagine you just met someone new. The formalities of names, jobs and the like have been exchanged and you seem to be getting along famously. But before you know it, a few minutes pass ? and it looks like you're running out of clichés! Leveraging Yourself Up To Executives When Selling The fastest way to get a decision made is to speak directly with the decision-maker, right? OK, so you knew that. Often times, the decision-makers are not easy to get to. There are dozens of salespeople who would love to pitch to the CEO, President, VP, or Department Directors if given the chance. And the purpose of middle management is to filter communication to executives, and oversee the execution of plans and policies so that the executives don't have to. Instead of Discounting, Back Some Value Out of Your Proposal Last minute discounting has become so prevalent that many companies have come to depend on it as their default sales strategy. Employing a go-to-market strategy of being the lowest cost provider is one thing, but dramatic, tactical discounting on every deal will erode your company's margins and leave you digging a deeper and deeper hole in which your company will ultimately bury itself.I don't want to give you the impression that discounting is never appropriate. I can think of three scenarios where it is required: Lock, Stock, and Barrel! The other night I was watching a classic western from 1969, Sergio Leone's "Once Upon A Time In The West". Pinging for Success: Creating Search Patterns One of my first internship jobs as a college student was working for a defense company who, at the time, developed a highly sophisticated torpedo for hunting down submarines and destroying them. The operation of the torpedo was pretty fascinating. The torpedo was launched from the deck of a ship or dropped from a helicopter into the water.
|
 |
| © Athifea Distribution LLC - 2013 |
