Goal Setting Techniques That Work

First, I want to thank everyone who has helped make Prospecting Skills That Work a success! Your feedback has also been great about seminars that you would like to see in this format. This is why very soon we’ll be releasing Goal Setting Techniques That Work: How to Create a Five Year Action Plan for Your Life. Below is a preview of the new DVD. If you know you need to get clear about your future, but haven’t yet clarified your vision, this program will give you the tools and motivation you need to get started now. This DVD will be available in the coming weeks, so check for updates.

The Illusion of Selling

One of the worst objections a salesperson can hear is: “Could you send me some information?” It’s not that you can’t turn that objection around; it’s just that you know the prospect has no intention of ever looking at it. Besides, even if they do look at it do you really think they’re going to fully understand it? And, if they have questions, do you think they’re going to run right to the phone and call you for the answers?

Let’s face it. All information gets shipped to the same address: 1 Garbage Can Drive!

But now, here’s the real issue; many salespeople love to send out information because when you send information you never have to actually hear the word, “No,” while appearing to be doing something. It’s called the illusion of selling. It’s the ability to do sales-like activities where you don’t actually have to ask someone to buy, thereby avoiding rejection.

There are many examples of this:

• Salespeople who visit the same clients all the time. I say “visit,” because that’s what they do. They don’t actually do any selling. They “Hang out.” It’s a great way of covering your ass, because you can fill out a report that shows you were seeing clients, thereby keeping your manager off your back.
• Email. What a great non-threatening way of keeping in touch with people without ever having to speak with them and risk the chance they might turn you down for business. I love email, but not as the be-all and end-all, but more as an add-on to actual client contact; such as phone calls and face to face visits.
• Paperwork. Salespeople love to complain about how much paperwork they have. The standard complaint is: “I’d love to sell more, but I have so much paperwork to do, I don’t have time to make the calls.” However, if you read between the lines the actual comment should be: “If I sit around doing paperwork, I’ll look busy without having to go out and get rejected.” Of course, the best way to eliminate paperwork is to stop selling. Soon there’ll be no paperwork, simply because there’ll be no customers.

The problem with the mediocre to poor salesperson is they will do anything to not have to sell. Here’s a great real-life example sent to me as a blog comment by Brad Trnavsky, a sales and management blogger:

“I had an outside rep that worked for me for about two months. He ignored every piece of advice I gave him and just walked around downtown passing out info packets and collecting business cards. Guess what; in two months he passed out hundreds of info packets and did not make one sale. It’s probably why he only lasted 2 months.

The bummer of it all is, the guy had skill, and could quote every sales book ever written. He was just too afraid to ASK for a sale.”

As you can see, participating in the illusion of selling can only take you so far; 2 months for the salesperson in the example above. This always amazes me because if these same salespeople put as much effort into selling as they do into the illusion of selling, they’d do a lot more business and make a lot more money.

There’s a huge difference between people who are “busy” vs. people who are actually getting things done. It’s great to be a hard worker, but it’s even better to be a smart worker. Even better yet, find someone who can combine both.

A Customer Service Story: The Ritz-Carlton Way

One of the most visited articles on my blog (so I’m told) is a piece I wrote a few years back titled, "Customer Service: The Ritz-Carlton Way." It discusses the six steps that make Ritz-Carlton customer service so exceptional and unparalleled.

Well just last week, I received a call from a good friend of mine who related a wonderful story about Ritz-Carlton. Dennis Lacognata is a partner in a company called Prompt Mailers in Staten Island, NY. They are a full service mail house and if you’re looking to put together a great direct mail campaign visit their website.

The great story Dennis told me was about his daughter, Annemarie.

About a year ago, Annemarie and her husband spent their honeymoon at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Hawaii on the island of Kauai. Naturally, they had a great time.

A few months ago, Annemarie received a phone call from someone at Ritz-Carlton. Being a smart organization that prides itself on service and follow-up, Ritz-Carlton knew that Annemarie and her husband would soon be celebrating their first anniversary. Figuring they would want to celebrate in style, they offered her a terrific package deal to stay at one of their hotels in the Caribbean. Naturally, Annemarie booked it immediately.

No sooner was the reservation booked that Annemarie received a call from the concierge at the Ritz-Carlton where they’ll be staying. The concierge asked if there was anything he could do to make this occasion even more special.

Annemarie said there was nothing she could think of at the moment, but was there anything special he had in mind? Did he ever!

The concierge told Annemarie they had a beautiful package that would allow them to renew their vows in a setting that was romantic, and Ritz-Carlton would arrange for everything: Limo, a setting on the beach at sunset, the priest, music; all top drawer. You couldn’t say no.

So Annemarie and her husband bought the package and sometime this month they will fly to the Caribbean to celebrate their first anniversary, Ritz-Carlton style. Why?

Because Ritz-Carlton:

When was the last time you received a phone call from a hotel or resort who felt that you were important enough to keep as a customer? And it wasn’t as if Annemarie and her husband had been longtime steady clients. As a smart company, Ritz-Carlton knows that if they can do a great job for this nice young couple just as they’re starting out in life, then they will have a place in their hearts for a very long time.

Many years ago, I received one of the best pieces of advice from a great speaker named Joel Weldon. He told me: “If you want to be successful, look at what everyone else is doing and do something different.”

That’s what Ritz-Carlton does everyday.

Podcasting and Sales Training

Over the last two years, I have developed and now host a number of corporate podcasting programs for repeat clients.

This was all so new that making it a success was my number one priority before promoting it widely. I’m now proud to say that the success of these programs has allowed me to start a program for one of the largest insurance companies in the US, among others.

I think it is important then to tell the story of how we got involved in "podcasting" (and no it’s not something from the movie Cocoon). It is also important to explain the benefits to companies looking for new ways to motivate and communicate with their people.

Back in 2004, when I was first getting into internet radio, I was exploring many online tools (blogging and podcasting) to help me connect with a small business audience outside of corporate and association speaking, mainly because my book was coming out.

Fast-forward three years later and these same tools (particularly, podcasting) have allowed me to offer motivational and sales training services to my corporate clients that were unimaginable less than a decade ago.

In 2006, we launched our first customized podcast series with a corporate client. This consisted of creating a series of audio episodes that captured the power of motivational speaking, the insights of their best people, and the sales methods underlying their success.

These episodes were delivered via the web to a network of over 800 salespeople, where they were streamed online or downloaded to portable media players (e.g. iPods). This allowed their salespeople to reap the benefits of a new media that can reinforce sales training without bringing them out of the field.

Presently, these ongoing commitments with major companies all demand the same thing: a powerful message that brings their systems/training methods to salespeople quickly and conveniently. Our customized podcasting program fulfills this need perfectly.

Just imagine being able to deploy a motivating, multiple-participant, in-depth audio series to your entire salesforce or dealer network instantly. It is the perfect supplement to sales training, because it reinforces and summarizes with a punch what may either be quickly forgotten or lost in the steady drone (or in some cases, the ADD) of internal communication.

Make Employee Praise Worthy, Not Worthless

Do you ever just say to yourself, “Am I going crazy, or is the whole world nuts?” This happened to me recently as I was reading an article a couple weeks ago in an issue of the Wall St. Journal, titled, “The Most Praised Generation Goes to Work. ”

The article discusses the culture of praise that has been heaped upon the latest generation of twenty-somethings. From parents and teachers who see their job as building self-esteem to soccer coaches who make sure every player gets a trophy, the need to lavish praise on young adults who might wither under an unfamiliar compliment deficit has crept into the workplace.

As the article states, “Employers are dishing out kudos to workers for little more than showing up. Corporations including Lands’ End and Bank of America are hiring consultants to teach managers how to compliment employees using email, prize packages and public displays of appreciation. The 1,000 employee Scooter Store Inc., in New Braunfels, Texas has a staff ‘Celebrations assistant’ whose job it is to throw confetti – 25 pounds a week – at employees. She also passes out 100 to 500 celebratory helium balloons a week (Author’s note: You can’t make this stuff up. Can you imagine a company who’s willing to admit they pay someone to pass out balloons and throw confetti?).The Container Store Inc. estimates that one of its 4,000 employees receives praise every 20 seconds, through such efforts as its “Celebration Voice Mailboxes.”

Aside from the social and psychological ramifications of this insanity (psychologists agree that adults who were overpraised as children tend to be narcissistic at work and in personal relationships). They’re also lousy at basking in other people’s glory, which makes for problems in work and marriage relationships. How can a company develop outstanding performers out of people whose egos are so fragile?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big believer in encouraging and recognizing employee achievement, but the key word here is achievement. No company or organization can survive when doing the minimum (showing up) is considered praiseworthy. Companies succeed because of the many people who constantly go above and WAY beyond the minimum. Praise and recognition lose its value when it’s too easy to achieve; leaving no incentive to go way beyond the minimum.

But here’s a bigger problem: we all know that experience is the best teacher, because it gives us the opportunity to make mistakes, and all successful people will tell you that you learn from your mistakes. However, we only learn from our mistakes because there are other people (managers, peers, co-workers, friends), who can point out our mistakes and show us how to correct them.

How can you, as a manager, business owner, executive or leader possibly be expected to correct the mistakes of people who are so used to being praised for every insignificant accomplishment? When the slightest criticism, no matter how warranted, will send them screaming to the nearest therapy session? If you can’t be told you made a mistake, how can you ever avoid making the same mistakes over and over again?

Don’t make praise meaningless, make it worth something.