The Last Post

WOW, just woke up (for the second time (daughter had to be taken to some ridiculous school evnt that required a lift to the MRT station at six am on a Saturday morning (what do the schools think parents are for "Oh goody, Saturday morning, after a hard week at work I would just love to get up at five thirty!") so I am back to bed by seven)), to discover as I check the calendar to book a talk somewhere that has just been requested, that today is the last day of the year!
How did that happen? It was xmas last time I looked!

So this makes this the last post of the year! Had to be done. Have I got anything useful to say? Probably not, except it reminds me of a coaching session with a client last week, where client was bemoaning the difficulty of procrastination causing a really bad week. We had a great session and client overcame the problems and has now reported a fantastic week. So I am prompted to ask you all: What are you procrastinating about? Write a list of five things you have been putting off; then beside each answer this question: What is stopping you from doing it?

A final thought for the year. Don't waste any time tonight on New Year Resolutions. All that goal setting stuff is a waste of time, and you know it. Unless you have figured out what your Purpose is.

Maybe a bit more tomorrow about finding your Sense of Purpose.

And if you feel a little help would be useful with that, watch this space. We will be launching a variety of coaching programmes in the New Year, ranging from email coaching, on-demand coaching as well as our more usual stuff. Dop a line to tony@reallybigimpact.com if you want to know more.
Happy New Year!

Are you a hare or a tortoise?

Singapore has been really quiet this week. Half empty car parks in the city, seat space on the MRT in the rush hour, somewhere to sit at lunchtime! STRANGE EXPERIENCE. Practically no clients around to talk to. So what are most sales people and small business owners doing? Well most of the ones I know are taking a break. "No one to talk to, might as well take a few days off and relax" they say.

But hang on. Take a moment to think about all those things you should be doing on the marketing and admin front. You know, the stuff you put off all last year because you were just "too busy" chasing business.

Here is your challenge. Sit down this morning and make a list. What are the most effective things you could be doing to increase your visibilty with your target audience for the coming year? What could you put in place as a system to make your admin easier and more effective?

Now go do it. You have a few more days before the hectic chasing of business starts all over again. The winners will be the ones who prepared for the race.

We have just started a new company to be the regional delivery mechanism for our work. New partners, new expanded team, new products. Even a new identity and new location. Just the same really different approach to improving your sales performance and a focus on making a Really Big Impact on our clients and their business results. I am having a great week preparing for next year.

Remember Aesop's fable. The hare sat back and relaxed, the tortoise prepared and started moving; slowly it is true, but he built up such a head start, the hare just couldn't catch him.

So in the race for success in 2006, which are you going to be? Hare or Tortoise?

Raising Your Profile

Following up from the last post, this week has been a computer nightmare. The trusty old thinkpad having died after 5 or 6 years of service, I finally went back to a mac. I've only had one mac before. The very first model! so I guess about 20 years ago!

Why am I wittering on about this? well I am trying to get up to date with the blog, but found blogger doesn't work with Safari. Well it works, sort of, but the useful commands, like hyperlink, just don't show up. And that seems to pretty much kill the point of a blog entry.

Tried firefox and my problems are solved, a bit. Still not all the commands showing, but hyperlink is there! Thank goodness for that, My dreams of getting really efficient and blogging whenever the muse strikes, as opposed to when I get back to an office or home base where the pc is, almost died! But now we can move on. I am trying out some varied bits of software and equipment to create some audio cds and try out podcasting as well.

I reckon some of this stuff is going to be useful to you in raising your profile, so as I fumble through without spending a fortune on getting "gurus" to tell me how, I will let you know how it goes and what works. I have to mention one good bit on Safari though, at last I have figurd out how to easily find my RSS feeds without messing around with Yahoo or stuff like that. Safari just lets you put them at the top of your browser. Yippee! SO you can subscribe to the feed for this blog here, maybe soon i'll figure out how to get one of those cute icon for that.

Oh and by the way, we have new contact details to be found here. I'll get the rest of the links from the bar on the right side of this page reset soon.

Helping Coaches and All Self Employed Salespeople get more business

One small step for mankind, One Giant Leap for coaches in Asia. What are we rambling about? The new ICF Singapore blog of course.

Several hours of blood sweat and tears and we have done it! Why? Because we can! No, seriously, it's because I discovered some of my coaching collegaues didn't even have a website, let alone know what a blog is. So there is no point in being an expert on sales if you can't help a few friends to sell themselves, is there?

And that made me stop and think. I know quite a number of people who have blogs. Techie types mostly and a few people who just like to rant on about stuff. But where are the sales people? What about all you individuals who are struggling against competition to get noticed. This, my friends is all about personal branding. And you can do that no matter what you sell.

Try looking at some of the free info available to help you get started. My good friend Marina Pelekis at TotalGamePlan has some neat ideas.

So why not consider getting a blog and making it part of your personal branding exercise. Of course there is a lot more to it than just going to blogger or some such and setting one up. You need to think about your message, your target audience, who you are and who you want to interest in your expertise.

We'll have a go at some of that stuff over the next few sessions. This is a good time to do it as we are launching a completely new identity to celebrate and accomodate our growth in business this New Year. Watch this space!

Get More Clients

This has been one of the most frequently asked questions over the past few weeks. Of course the easy answer is, "get a sales coach". But maybe you need some easier ways to start. So I am putting together a few ideas for you all out there.

Step one is a self coaching email course that we will be launching soon. This combines with a psychometric assessment which my clients have found very enlightening and useful.

Step two will be a two part ebook giving insights into The 9 Actions and helping you understand them, plus a field workbook to support you through applying it to your specific sales process and situation.

If you want advance notice on the course or the books being available send an email to tony@salesteamtraining.net

Step three comes from a person whose ideas I have developed great regard for over the past couple of years of avidly reading her newsletter, Bernadette Doyle. I am currently trying out some of her ideas and will keep you posted on how it goes. One thing I can tell you is that I spent an hour on a most productive tele seminar with Bernadette late last night. The best I have heard in a long time. Bernadette Doyle actually believes in two things dear to me. Giving Value and Simplifying things.

So that is todays message. To get more clients, Start to simplify things.
Put Simply, ask yourself, who could use what you have? (and yes those of you who have attended our sales training on The 9 Actions will remember that as the first rule)

Then ask yourself, "Do they know I exist?"

Then ask yourself, "What should I be doing about that?"

Remember, if they don't know you exist, they can't buy from you.

Nasty Surgery

No posts for a while again? Well that was due to a huge amount of work created in developing our new products. Client said "do you have this stuff on cd, so we can refresh on it later?"

"I do now!" said the voice in the back of my head. Lets go do it. More news on how you can get that stuff soon. But image being able to drive to your next sales appointment and refresh on the key things you need to do, or pulling into the car park and being able to take 2 minutes to reset your mind into a state of total confidence right before the meeting with your hot prospect? Sounds good? Stay tuned.

So now we are back. Oh yes and some weeks of recovery from a nasty bit of "below the belt" surgery. That made sitting, standing, lying down and every form of physical activity painful. Trust me, you really don't want the details. The jokes from those in the know were bad enough, not to mention the cartoons that appeared from everywhere.

And the lesson for today?

What are you doing that is not moving you towards your objective. What is pushing you off track to The Big Hairy Audacious Goal that shines in front of you and draws you forward to your compelling vision of the future? Is it time for some drastic "below the belt" surgery for you?

What do you need to stop doing - TODAY!

You can't get it right all the time

The ultimate sin! A blog with no entries for three weeks!

I am ashamed of myself. Well not really, I have been playing around with some radio stuff

Good fun. The Positive Business Minutes slot was all about solving the 25 most common sales problems, so very relevant to this blog. It ran for the past five weeks, so if you don't live in Singapore or you just plain missed it . .
actually no, you will be able to get it soon. I am going to shove the files up as MP3 on our website and let you download them for free!

I will spend the next couple of weeks catching up on the outstanding questions you have been sending in. So if yours hasn't been answered yet, relax. it is coming soon.

And if you can't wait there is always a series of good reads available at the e-newsletter site. The latest entry is on Fear in Selling. I know a newsletter is old fashioned, but hey! I am old.

Next step is to get the podcasting going so you can download the files and listen as you drive to your next sales appointment. I am feeling a little vague about this whole podcast thing, but spend a little time every evening on research. There are a few good sites out there, but most are written by techies, so when they offer tolet you listen to their explanation via poddcast . . Brace yourself! This may not be the ultimate listening experience.

I was once told I had the face for Radio, but some of these guys have the voice for braile!

More soon, keep the questions coming.

Serious change required

Ooops. Blog is supposed to be fast, right? Lots of new entries on a regulars basis. Well this last few days has been a disaster from that perspective. We went to KL to run PRM ASIA 2005 (Partner Relationship Management) at Le Meridien organised by EMP-ASIA. Great session, everyone from TelekomMalaysia, Applied Business Systems to the Ministry of Agriculture, plus a few other industries in between (including Ericsson). Expect some serious changes if you partner with these companies, they really got down and worked hard!

Several good lessons there.
Lesson 1. Beware attachments. I have a delightful old Thinkpad 240 laptop. Fits in by briefcase so I don't have to lug a big bag around, great for on the spot work. But old. Hotel has freee broadband in the room. No problem, quick blog before bed and we are away! WRONG. BB connection not compatible with 4 year old lappy!

Love it yes, but time to change. So, what attachments have you got to old habits or ways of working that may be hindering your progress?

Not sure how to handle them? Hit this blog and get answers.

Great article on Fastcompany about change and our resistance to it.

And if you have big stuff to deal with, I am now making a few other changes. Most of our work has been training and coaching in corporate groups for the past 6 years. Recently I have discovered individuals around the region who need and want a coach but didn't realise they could find the right business related, international expertise in Asia. Recent coaching sessions with clients arond the region have been a blast for them and me. Skype means great phone quality from everywhere and no call charges. Want a coach? Call me. Skype id tonylatimer

And I'll let you know which new lappy graces my briefcase soon. (clue here)

Keep selling

Tony Latimer

How do I sell if I'm not supposed to talk?

OK we have had a comment on previous entry from rme3, who asks:

Hi Tony, they say good sales is about listening more than talking how can I sell if I don't talk? Your advice is to stay away from product features, but how do I focus on needs when often times the customers do not know what they want exactly or how they want to apply the product/services?

Well that is the common mis-conception. That selling is about talking. Selling is about getting people to buy. And they don't buy when you are talking, they buy when they are talking or thinking about the emotional drivers for taking action and getting benefit from using or having your product or service.

You say that often times people don't know what they want or how they want to apply the product or service. Quite right. That is often the case.

By asking really good questions, you help them with their thinking process and they get more clear on what their problem is, and how much they need to solve it.

As they get more clarity, they start to tell you exactly what the problem is they need to solve and their preferred way of solving it.

There is a whole lot more to say on this, so I am going to write a longer article on the main newsletter, Tony's Opinions for you. Thanks for the question.

One of the reasons I developed our advanced sales masterclass The Customer Coach is to teach sales people how to do that questioning and listening process very effectively.

So give it a try. To get a guide for this listen in in July to Positive Business Minutes on 938 Live (yes newsradio is rebranding itself, sounds interesting) .

I am doing a series of 25 PBM on the top 25 problems sales managers and sales people have told us they have. If you miss any you will be able to download the mp3 file from our website in a few weeks time.

Get an RSS feed reader and subscribe to our feed if you want to be proactively informed when a new post comes up.

If you are not sure how to do that you might want to check out William Claxton, a local expert here in Asia on web streaming, podcasting, and all that latest and greatest stuff.

Good Selling

Tony

My Prospects think my investment product is too risky

Today's question has come from Lawrence in Singapore. He writes:

Dear Tony,
I have had talk with some of my important prospects to invest land asset in a foreign country (Canada).
Every time, the answer bounced back, you know what:
too far away and too risky and I must see it before I'll invest.Tell me how I can overcome and solve this situation.
I look forward to your reply asap.
Thank you!
Best regards
Lawrence

OK Lawrence, there are a couple of possible things going on here. First, it may just be that this person is not financially in a position to invest at the moment. Maybe they don't have the amount of money the investment requires available. Only you can know that. Just check back, have they approached you, or have you approached them? Have they specifically said they are looking to make investments at the moment or are you just assuming they might want to?

This is important because you are getting an objection based on risk. And your particular product, Canadian land investment, is from many angles considered to be a safe investment.

(I can't mention your company because you didn't give your permission for me to do so; and I will always respect everyones privacy)

When an objection is directly contrary to the normal positioning of a product, the prospect is either not in possession of all the facts or is giving nice words to escape. Their real message may be "I am not interested right now."

It also indicates that you have been "feature dumping" on them. If they are unfamiliar with your product, then they need a level of education before you try to "convince " them of how great it is.

That done, lets move forward on the assumption that they are someone who has money to invest and are interested in making investments right now.

Their feedback to you says they feel it is risky.

Perfect, Start to ask questions about their views on investment risk. What is important to them about risk? What is their previous experience with "risky" investments? (see if you can get information about their investment portfolio from this).

Once you know their feelings and experience and what they have invested in, you will have the information you need to figure out how to position your product.

Prospects are people who have a need for the kind of solution you can offer and an interest in doing something about it. If you have not established this, they are just a "Suspect".

You need to start by asking questions.

As you are in Singapore Lawrence, watch out for the next series of Positive Business Minutes on NewsRadio93.8
I will be running a series soon to solve the 25 most common problems that sales people tell us they have. Any of you who want a heads-up on the date for On-Air, just drop an email to salescoach@corporatesurvivors.com and I will keep you posted.

Good Selling
Tony

My customers only care about price

This question of customers only caring about price is one that comes up time and time again as I work with sales people. This week it was Raj who asked me, while we were up in KL this week doing some seminars on Confidence and Fear of Rejection for the investment sales teams at Walton International Malaysia.

As it was just a casual conversation over coffee at The Coffee Bean on the ground floor of Wisma Genting (why do I mention these guys? Because they have the most friendly attitude and helpful customer service I have experienced in one of these stores for a long time. They actually seem to enjoy working there. If you want to discover what service attitude in your retail outlet should be, go to KL and try this one), anyway back to Raj. I didn't even find out which company he works for, so I can't give him a mention here.

So, why do customers seem to care only about price? Because features and price is usually all we give them to choose from! How often do you go in and start doing your "company pitch"? You talk about your product before finding out what they need or why. Now this may come as a shock to many of you, but the stuff your marketing department gives you as a great pitch on why your company and product is unique, is pretty much the same story that everyone else uses!

So the prospect is hearing the same features from everyone. All the product options seem to be the same. So what can they choose on? PRICE. It's all they have left! And let's face it, given two apparently identical products, who would buy the most expensive?

Oh yes, and for those of you who I can hear muttering, "but we talk about benefits, just like our marketing brochures say" Sorry, products don't have benefits. Benefit is what someone gets if they need it, buy it and correctly use it.

If your customers ask about price first it is because they have been "trained" by sales people over the years. Because we don't move the conversation in a different and better direction!

If you have a question about this in your industry, email your question in. Be sure to give as much information as possible about a real situation, not just theory or a fear you have about asking questions. Let's work on real stuff.

Do tell me who you are and what you sell. You will not only get answers, but also a link to your website. You never know when a prosect might be reading here as well.

Good selling

Tony Latimer
Asia's Sales Coach

Help for the self employed sales person

OK, this blog does what it says on the tin. It is intended for those of you out there who just don't get enough help with selling. Think about it. Here in Asia there are huge numbers of self employed sales people, or employed but on practically or entirely a commission only basis (the insurance industry in tiny Singapore alone has 15,000 self employed sales agents).

Interesting fact: Companies tend to spend money on training their people in direct proportion to their perceived cost (i.e. salary). That is why the CEO gets a personal coach at around $800 per hour, but the poor old sales team gets begrudged a few hundred dollars per head for several days training.

When are they going to wake up and start calculating how much extra profit you make for them by just improving your sales performance by one extra deal per year! Who knows. But then again; who cares! Their loss is your gain. You can now get some help.

Unlike my regular sales tips newsletter, this blog will be shorter, crisper, more frequent; and most importantly we are not going to be inhibited by others opinions. If you want to express your feelings about the quality or lack of training you get from your company, feel free. I will give answers to good questions here and if a longer answer is needed then it will be turned into an article on the main newsletter (which you can also access through my company's main site).

So that is the introduction done. Over to you. What are the burning questions you have or the biggest problems you face in your selling career?