The Two Most Powerful Words That Will Make You Sell More

This is such a great article!!! I thought everyone must read!!



So, the title pulled you in because you think that someone has found a new formula for water…that there are two words that you can say that will skyrocket your revenue and commissions. The title referred to these words as "powerful" so they must be new, since you haven't heard them before. Perhaps, these words are a deceptive trick that hypnotizes prospects into pulling out their credit card to buy from you.
Well, these two words are not ones that you can ever say to a prospect, but they are guaranteed to drive your revenue and income. Yes, you read correctly…guaranteed. Who would be crazy enough to say "guaranteed" about two little words? Well, it's not crazy. In my travels working with thousands of sales professionals, I've found a common thread in those who are tremendously successful. That thread comes down to two words on which they base their entire sales career.
Many think that the rock star sales people are born with a gift of gab and that makes them a success. Not true, these two words can be taught to any sales person and they can effectively include them in their selling repertoire.
Enough mystery, the two most powerful sales words are synergy and priority.
Synergy is the process by which matches between the needs of a prospect and the capabilities of the supplier are identified. Synergy means you are crafting a solution, not pitching wares. Synergy means you understand the buying players as individuals, not just their company. Keep in mind that, to date, a company has never bought anything…people do.
To master synergy, there are a few actions that need to be taken. The first is to study your buying players and make sure you fully understand them and what makes them tick. As they lie in bed at night thinking about their work, where is their mind focused? If your buying player is a CFO, he is probably focused on profits. How does your solution help the profitability of the company?
The second is to fully study your company and understand its capabilities. What is it that your company does that solves the awake-at-night problems for your buying players? If you cannot identify these synergies, now you know why you cannot get meetings with the people you want to engage. Your solution has to be congruent with their focus.
The third action is to develop a template needs analysis program that includes questions that expose the prospects' perceived challenges, and positioning questions that expose opportunities where your firm can improve upon the present situation. This part takes work, but it becomes the foundation for your sales success. Needs analysis, also two words, drives sales.
In my keynote speech, I use a Velcro metaphor to make the point about synergy. As you know, there are two sides of Velcro the cotton side and the hook side. If you evenly overlay the two sides, there is a tight bond and it is difficult to separate the two pieces. If you only match a corner, it is easily separated. Synergy in sales means that you are forming a tight bond between a supplier and a prospect based on a match of needs, wants, and desires. As you can imagine, the needs analysis discussions are critical to a sales person's ability to identify the synergy. And, needs analysis plays a role with the other most powerful sales word…priority.
Priority is what leads a prospect to buy today, not tomorrow, not in the future…today! Synergy gets the prospect into the pipeline. Priority leads a prospect to become a client. The same tools earlier referenced for synergy are also necessary for priority. A sales person's ability to facilitate effective needs analysis discussions are the key to mastering priority.
"Why should they buy this today when they can just as easily buy tomorrow?" Sure, there are motivators that can be employed…discounts, incentives, etc. However, if you truly understand your prospect, their challenges, and the solution, you are armed with the information you need to get the deal done without those motivators being offered. Priority's arch enemy is status quo…and don't under-estimate the power that it has. It is the number one killer of sales pipelines. Status quo will win every time if you don't have the information you need to understand why the buyer should buy today.
Ah, but the decision maker is a busy person…"She is a heavily influential person in the company and it will be difficult to get her attention." Bet I can get your attention. Imagine you checked your email and you see a note from your CEO who wants to meet with you at 1:15pm tomorrow to discuss tripling your salary. You won't even check your calendar before responding, "I'll be there!" Making money is a priority for you. All else gets cast aside when someone wants to put more money in your pocket.
The same concept applies to sales. If the solution that you have designed is aligned with the priorities of the decision making buying player, the deal happens. If not, status quo will win it.
Need help profiling your buying players? Send me an email and I'll send you my Buying Players Worksheet. This will become the most powerful sales tool that you have ever had in your hands…and you will come to master the two most powerful words that drive sales.

Two more powerful words…Go Sell!

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By Lee B. Salz

DSS to reimburse for Vaccines for Flu & Swine Flu shots.

Today’s effort to control the outbreak of the H1N1 virus (Swine Flu ) is being witnessed everyday via the national media. Diversified Sourcing Solutions wants to help their employees to remain healthy during this year’s flu season. DSS will reimburse any permanent employees that pays for vaccinations, $15.00 for the Flu Vaccine and an additional $15.00 for the H1N1 Vaccine. If you have any further questions feel free to contact Chris McKenzie in Risk Management.

The Meaning of Leadership

Life is not easy for any of us. But, what of that? We must have preseverance and, above all, confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.

by: Marie Curie

Why the Next 60 Days Are Critical

Doyle Slayton | Sep 09, 2009

The next 60 days are critical to our success. There are very few times during the year that are as important as September, October, and early November.

This is the Time to Start Thinking About It – Companies who think about adding a new initiative or making a change in service providers, vendors, etc., often begin that process during...

Read more ->

The post above is from SalesBlogcast by Doyle Slayton.

What Happens When Communication Stops Flowing UP?

I found the following post (waaay down below my post. Look for "A Night Out In August") on a blog that I follow by April Dowling. She is both humorous and serious and always thought provoking. She works in the Birmingham, AL area and is aware of our company and I have communicated with her a few times via email. She is always helpful and eager to share her knowledge of the HR industry. Thanks, April, for your insightful and delightful musings. OH, crap. I was starting to sound like a blogger myself!

Seriously, though, her blog post brought back all the memories of our company of days gone by. We had regional and company-wide management meetings where everyone had a voice and a direct line of communication with the owners of the company. We had Club Navigator meetings where the company's tenured top performers and management got to share ideas but more importantly, got to know one another. The meetings fostered a corporate culture of family and camaraderie--we knew each other, we all worked together for the common good and we had each others' backs. As a result and perhaps more importantly, we all cared deeply about the company and its success which in turn guaranteed our own successes.

You've no doubt heard "United we stand, divided we fall". In those days, we were united and we could meet every challenge that lay before us but then, just as in April's story, we stopped the Navigator Club meetings and trips and we stopped the quarterly management meetings and eventually all company-wide meetings stopped--even the Christmas parties. And, just as in April's story, employee morale began to decline, the family fell apart and all we had left was a job.

Don't misunderstand me. I know we still have many employees who still care deeply about the company and its success, the difference is that no one knows it. There is no opportunity to share ideas, feelings, successes, and failures. The company is fractured with each region doing its "own thing" and mostly just keeping to itself. I think the monthly management conference calls have even stopped. I think that there is enough caring and compassion out there to bring us back to the glory days but we must act quickly to get everyone together, face-to-face, to reignite, rejuvenate, and reinvigorate the troops, to get everyone on the same page and plan, doing the same things, watching each others' backs and working as one. We should know everyone and be able to put a face with a voice. Heck, as small as we are there are still people who don't recognize a co-workers' name or voice much less a face. I know we are geographically spread but that is no excuse with today's technology and low cost of travel.

Let me be the first to admit that I'm guilty of every charge presented but I also believe that it is critical that we change our current culture and and reengage our staff and provide them the forum for the voice they need. If you believe as April does, as I do, that we need to take a chance and spend the money to reengage staff company-wide, make your voice heard. Post a comment, call your manager or Regional VP, heck, call an owner. The only place I disagree with April is I don't want to wait to work it into next year's budget--we need this now!

Night Out In August

Posted on August 5, 2009 by adowling

Way back in the day, I worked for a company that held an annual “Night Out In August”. Each department was given a budget and allowed to take their entire staff out to dinner to a place of their choosing. The only catch was the manager had a list of questions and topics to discuss with the staff and then had to give a written report to the CEO. These questions were things such as XYZ Company is considering adding a new widget to its product list, what do you think about this?

I loved “Night Out In August”. Not only did it give us a chance to share our ideas for product lines, services offered, marketing ideas but it gave us a voice to the CEO.

Sadly, when things started going south this was one of the first things to go. It was greatly missed by all employees.

I found it an interesting observation; after the program ended, employee morale started declining, rapidly. Employees felt their voice was unheard and many felt they didn’t know what was going on in company. I must admit I was one of those people – pre HR days.

Fast forward to present day….

I’ve considered presenting the same type plan to my current employer but I’m a bit hesitant. The cost of the program can run rather high, especially when the department head count reaches 20. I think it would be a great plan to increase employee engagement.

When employees see their ideas become reality, and they receive credit for the idea from the top, it is a huge motivator. I think the cost would be worth it, the hard part is selling it to the Corporate types; to be included in next year’s budget of course.

Secrets to Using LinkedIn as a Headhunter
What I learned from Ron Nash’s talk radio blog:

1. To close 1 account, you need to make at least 200 calls per day
2. Create a list of 50 companies you’d like to target
   -Use Linkedin to “Search people” from your list of 50 companies: Your building a list of people to reach out to
   -Use company name and the geographic area
   -This gives you the people who work at the company
   -You can also search your college
   i. You can use this connection/commonality when you do your informational interview-Example-“Hi John, I saw on Linkedin that you’re a UGA grad like myself….”
3. Do the research about the company:Go to company website

-Once you’ve found people from the company to reach out to, use the web (google, yahoo,etc.) to find the 1-800 or main telephone number for that company
i. Ron advises to call early in the morning if you want to reach high level employees
-Who’s their executive team?
-Read their press releases and financials-how’s the company doing? Are they recovering in these hard times? If they’re not then you wouldn’t want to try to place someone with a company that could go under or be bought out
-Learn their core product(s) and/or servicesLook at cultural and mission statements

4. Create a list of questions to ask during informational interview
-i.e. “How’d you get into the industry?”, “How’s (Company name) doing in this economy?”, ‘What’s some of your companies goals?” “Who’s the hiring manager?”

5. Informational Interview
-Leave a message on voicemail-Ron says to use the same message on every voice for that day’s calls, then use a different message the next day, and the next day. Track to see which message people responded to (which got the most people to call you back)
i. Leave only 1 voice message, call back in 2 days if you haven’t received a return call, leave a 2nd message. If no calls back by 3rd day, don’t leave anymore message. Try calling the company and ask the receptionist if the person you are looking for is in the office.
-When calling tell the person you’re doing an informational interview and would they help you
i. Try to find out what kind of candidate they’re looking for, i.e. skills needed, experience needed, personality, etc.

6. You want to build friends/allies with in the company
-Use your new contacts to find out who the hiring manager is; not just HR, because the hiring manager knows what funds/resources he/she has if they don’t have an opening ask if other managers? friends? recruiters? have a need.
i. See if they’d be willing to look over your candidate’s resume and experience-i.e. “Would be open to looking at my candidate’s resume? I want to make sure theirs looks the best it can.”
ii. See if they’re willing to have an open discussion about your candidate’s professional background-see if your candidates proficiencies could add to/increase the companies business

iii. Don’t be a taker, always offer help back-i.e. “Thank you so much for X, please let me know if there’s anything I can do for you”

-When speaking with the hiring manager, be sure to have an outline of key points you want to cover in front of you.
i. Always have the person’s resume in front of you so you can highlight their experience and accomplishments
ii. Ron recommends standing when doing phone interviews, says you sound more professional
iii. Employers are typically looking for answers to these 3 questions
~Does the candidate have the skills and ability to perform the job?
~Does the candidate have the enthusiasm and work ethic that the company expects?
~Is the candidate a team player and will they fit into the organization?
iv. Use elevator pitch if need—highlight 3 top attributes

7. Closing Strategies
-Image your candidate already on the team
i. Example- As a team member of (company name), (candidate’s name) would provide the clients with thorough information regarding their accounts, and would handle all inquiries and discrepancies with confidentiality.
-Summarize why your candidate would be a great fit
i. the exact reason why there’s a match between your candidate and the company
~Want to match company requirements with your candidates experience and goals.

8. The Offer
-Know what people in that field are being paid in that region
i. Do research on salary.com or jobstar.org

The information below comes from Ron Nash’s Book “How to Find Your Dream Job Even in a Recession.”

-You can find a copy of this book at his website www.thefriendzone.tv for free

-You can catch his talk radio blog at www.blogtalkradio.com/thecareercatalyst

SCRIPT FOR CALLING INTO COMPANIES COLD

When you call in to the company and have a name of a contact, here is a
simple script that you can use as a guideline.
Hello ____________________, my name is ___________________________
and I am a ________________(Your Professional Title) Is this a good
time for you to talk? Would you be open to doing an informational interview? (If it's not a good time to talk) May I call you in the future to get information on __________________?
If yes, The purpose of my phone call is to network with professionals like
you to help identify opportunities for my candidate. I’ve targeted your company as
one that my candidate is potentially interested in applying to, and am hoping that you
would be open to talking a little about your corporate culture and some of
the things you love about the organization?

QUESTIONS FOR PHONE NETWORKING
1.How is the executive team to work with?
2.What is a typical day like for you?
3. What do you do? What are the duties/functions/responsibilities of your job?
4.What kinds of problems do you deal with?
5.What kinds of decisions do you make?
6.What are the most important personal satisfactions and dissatisfactions connected with your occupation?
7.What part of this job do you personally find most satisfying? Most challenging?
8.What do you like and not like about working in this industry?
9.What are the various jobs in this field or organization?
10. Why did you decide to work for this company?
11. What do you like most about this company?
12. How does your company differ from its competitors?
13. Why do customers choose this company?
14. Are you optimistic about the company’s future and your future with the company?
15. What does the company do to contribute to its employees’ professional development?
16. How does the company make use of technology for internal communication
and outside marketing? (Use of e-mail, Internet, intranets, World Wide Web page, video conferencing, etc.)
17. What sorts of changes are occurring in your occupation?
18. How does a person progress in your field?
What is a typical career path in this field or organization?

Our OSHA Forklift Certification giveaway is becoming a huge success. Over the past three weeks the Atlanta market has sold more certifications then the entire company has over a 2 year period, simply by giving it away free!!!! Tom Bragg just completed a free certification for a current customer, the Owner was so impressed he placed an order to certify 5 more employees! Tuesday a company contacted me that watched my video on my blog and wanted to take me up on my free offer. She also inquired if we could certify 6-8 more employees! Scott Ritch in Branch 14 gave away a free certification to a local hospital distribution center, the customer then asked would it be possible to certify 10 more of her employees. As we move forward we are also learning that these companies are interested in establishing relationships with us for their staffing needs when their business picks up!!!

Soon we will be launching the Free giveaway program in the Birmingham and Richmond markets. Hopefully those markets will share in the success as well.