Creating Killer Sales Meetings Part II

So much of what determines a salesperson’s success is based on their attitude, commitment, enthusiasm and energy. The way they feel about themselves, their company, their clients and the products and services they sell. If they don’t believe in who they are and what they do; don’t expect the customers to believe it!

To reinforce this, a killer sales meeting should be bursting with energy and enthusiasm. Now, I know that’s hard to do; especially when people are cooped up in a hotel or conference center going from one session and meeting room to another, but there are certain little things a great meeting professional can do to keep that energy and enthusiasm at a high level.

• Make sure the room fits the audience. The wrong size breakout or general session room can absolutely suck the energy right out of your audience. Have you ever been to a sporting event where the stadium or arena was packed vs. being only half full? The difference in energy both on the field and in the stands is staggering.

As a speaker, I would rather speak in a room that’s too small for the audience and is bursting at the seams, rather than a room big enough to seat 600 for a crowd of 300. Your speakers and presenters feed off the energy of the audience and visa versa.

• Put your speakers in the right time slot. High energy speakers should open, close, and fill the dreaded right-after-lunch spot. After dinner speakers should be light and humorous. I am a high energy speaker. While I use a lot of humor and consider myself a good story teller, I should not be put in the after dinner slot because of the content level of my talks. I am not the light and airy type, yet I’ve had many companies who’ve wanted me in that slot (to answer your question, I either turn it down or convince them to put me in another slot).

In addition, watch where you place the afternoon break. I’ve found that while audiences have less energy near the end of the day than at the beginning, their lowest energy level is right after lunch. Try to place the afternoon break closer to the end of lunch than the end of the day. Give your attendees a chance to get their second wind sooner rather than later.

• Don’t let the presentation materials become the presentation.While Powerpoint is a great presentation tool, too many presenters use it as a crutch, rather than an enhancement for their presentation. Making a room full of salespeople read slides is pretty much the same thing as slipping knock-out drops into their water glasses.
• Motivation and inspiration is great;but motivation and inspiration with content is even better. While salespeople want to be motivated, inspired and entertained; they also want to be informed. Most salespeople are bottom line people. They want to receive 2 or 3 good ideas that they can implement tomorrow in order to start growing their business by the day.

It’s these subtle factors that can either kick off a killer sales meeting or cripple it. In Part III, I’ll discuss what you should expect from your speaker.

Trip Report: Phoenix and Detroit

I spent this past week speaking in Scottsdale and Detroit, and I can honestly say this was one of the best road trips I’ve had in my 21 years as a speaker. First, I have a free companion ticket whenever I fly Southwest since I fly them often, so I was able to take my wife, Linda. Second, each one of my seminars (3 of them) went beautifully.

I delivered a full-day seminar for State Farm Insurance in Scottsdale, and two seminars for the Yes! Network in Detroit. The Detroit seminars (one on prospecting, the other on goal setting) will be coming out on DVD within the next few months. Keep checking this blog for a special offer on these DVDs when they are released.

What made the trip even better was that the airline, hotels and car service were absolutely perfect! Not one problem. So I’m plugging each and every one of them.

I traveled Southwest all the way. The flight from Raleigh to Phoenix arrived 40 minutes early! We stayed at the The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Scottsdale. Not only a beautiful resort, but the staff couldn’t have been nicer. One night we ate at a restaurant in the hotel named Deseo. Fantastic food, great service; I recommend it highly.

Then it was off to Detroit where our flight landed 10 minutes early. We were met by one of my favorite car services in the U.S.: Metro Car. Their drivers are always on time, friendly and courteous. The cars are immaculate. If you ever have to fly to Detroit on business and need airport transportation, call Metro Car at (800) 456-1701.

Now for our most pleasant surprise of the trip. The Hampton Inn at 169 Loop Road in Commerce Township, Michigan (248-624-8100). When it comes to budget hotels, I’ve always liked Hampton Inns. They’re clean, the people are nice and you get a free breakfast. But this Hampton Inn went above and beyond our expectations.

The room was terrific. The bed was amazingly comfortable. We had free high speed internet access, both wired and wireless. The staff was fantastic. They had a free shuttle service that took us and picked us up from wherever we wanted to go. Of course, they had free breakfast, along with with a take-away breakfast bag. Check it out if you’re ever in that area.

The flight back home landed in Raleigh about 10 minutes early and, of course, Thorpe’s (919-544-4363) the best car service in the U.S. was waiting for us.

When you have a trip like this, you wonder why can’t every hotel, airline and car service fulfill the same expectations? This was not brain surgery folks.

In fact, it was as simple as attitude, commitment and caring.

Selling With a Purpose

A salesperson you work with has just come back from an appointment and you ask him, “How did it go?” Have you ever heard this response, “It was great! We were together for hours. We talked about everything. We had a GREAT conversation. I think she really likes us.” You ask if she bought anything and the reply is, “No, I don’t really think she needed anything.” Of course not, and do you know why? He probably didn’t ask.

Having "great conversations” is not selling; it is the illusion of selling. I think we can all agree that the single biggest commodity people have the least these days is "time." Do you really think you’re doing a client or prospect a favor by hanging around and talking about nothing? No, you’re just wasting their time and yours.

I have actually had salespeople say to me, “Well, I don’t want them to think I’m trying to sell them something.” Unbelievable! Let’s face it, YOU know why you’re there. I have a sneaking suspicion THEY know why you’re there. So, if you know and they know, WHAT’S THE BIG SECRET?

Here’s a very simple tip that just might help you stay focused during your presentation and keep you from having “great conversations.”

Just before you are about to walk in the door for your appointment, ask yourself, “What is the purpose of this appointment?” Once you have established this purpose in your mind, everything that goes on during that appointment should lead to the fulfillment of that purpose.

Now you’re probably saying, “What’s he talking about? My purpose is to make the sale.” And that’s true in many cases, but not all of them. You might be there to find out more about the prospect and their company, so you can come back again to present a proposal and hopefully close the sale.

In that case, your purpose is to sell the next appointment, not just to do a needs analysis. If you did the needs analysis, but walked out without a set follow-up appointment, what did you accomplish? The needs analysis was just a means to get you to your end (the next appointment). You can’t close the sale without the next appointment. If you don’t get the appointment before you leave, your chances of getting it after you’re gone drop precipitously.

Your purpose might be to close a sale. In that case you better make sure you walk out with either a “Yes,” or a “No,” since either way you’ll know how to proceed. Walking out with “I’ve gotta think about it,” isn’t going to do it. The best time for prospects to think about it is when you’re there to answer questions. If you’re not there, who’s going to answer their questions? This is assuming they’ll even be thinking about it. You must make the prospect reach a decision.

You might be there to obtain referrals. If so, make it short and sweet. Try to follow the guidelines I set forth in my two part series on referrals . This way you’ll fulfill your purpose and won’t walk out empty-handed.

Just always remember to ask yourself, “What is the purpose of this call?” Then make sure everything you do during that sale’s call is geared toward getting you to that purpose. Hopefully, this will stop you from having “great conversations.”

Be sure to check out my podcast, "Preparing for the Sales Appointment," for more tips on dealing with prospects.

The Ease of Business: Southwest Vs. American

A couple of months ago I read a travel tip written by another speaker. He wrote that if your round-trip flight has a turnaround of less than 24 hours get your return boarding pass at the airport when you arrive, before you go to the hotel. This will save you time by allowing you to bypass the line at the ticket counter or kiosk on your way home.

I loved this idea for two reasons: (1) it’s very difficult to print out a boarding pass from a hotel room. Either there’s no printer or if the hotel does it for you at the Business Center they’ll charge an inflated price for the service. (2) Most of my trips have a turnaround time of less than 24 hours.

Since reading this travel tip, I’ve tried it and it works. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work with every airline. Why? Many airlines, like many companies in all industries, still don’t understand that when you constantly try to save your customers time and make their lives easier; it comes back to you in the form of increased business and greater market share. And you know what; it’s not hard to do.

Let me illustrate how easy it is to beat the competition, with a personal experience I had with two different airlines.

A little more than a month ago I flew into Orlando on Southwest Airlines to deliver a speech. Knowing that I would be leaving in less than 24 hours, I stopped at the Southwest ticket counter at the Orlando airport before heading off to my hotel.

At first, I tried to print out a boarding pass at one of the kiosks, but none of them seemed to be working. So I went up to an agent working behind the counter and asked if I could get a boarding pass for tomorrow’s flight. He said, “Sure,” printed it out and I was on my way. No waiting on lines at the Orlando airport for me the next day.

A few weeks later I flew into Washington D.C. for another speech; also going home the next day in less than 24 hours. This time I was on American Airlines. I stopped at the ticket counter before going off to the hotel and like Southwest, was unable to use the kiosks, so I went up to an agent behind the counter. I asked her if she could print me out a boarding pass for the next day, but, unlike Southwest, she said, “No we can’t do that.”

I said, “I don’t understand. I can print out a boarding pass up to 24 hours in advance online.” She said, “Yes, you can print it out online.” I said, “I know that. So if I can print it out online, why can’t you just do it for me, especially since I can’t do it at my hotel?” I then said, “Southwest prints out boarding passes at the counter up to 24 hours in advance, why can’t you?” And she gave me that blank look you get when someone doesn’t want to say, “We don’t care about our customers’ convenience and ease of doing business as much as our competition does.”

Giving customers the ability to print out a boarding pass up to 24 hours in advance is a great convenience, but also something every competitor in the industry does. Allowing me to get my boarding pass at the ticket counter the day before is going the extra mile. Something very few companies do, which is why customers never forget it.

What does your company do: Save customers time and make their lives easier by doing only what the competition does, or have you taken your competition’s ideas and policies one step further to allow you to stand out from the pack, be truly memorable and give yourself an opportunity to be indispensable to the customer?

Getting the Life You Want

Planning ahead is the key to successfully transitioning from two incomes to one. Most people think they can’t do this because it’s not affordable. Learn: why it’s more affordable than you think. 4 steps to affording your dream lifestyle. Specific tips to make it easier to “Stay home with the kids.” The allure of being a homebased entrepreneur is hard to resist, isn’t it? Whether you’re deciding on a business or have already started up, these 19 timely tips will guide you through your homebased journey.
 

Always Keep Your Clients Informed

Have you ever had this happen to you? You see a client; someone you’ve been doing business with for quite a few years. On this occasion they tell you about a product or service they just purchased from your competition and you say, “You know, we also offer that,” and their reply is: “I wish we would have known, we certainly would have bought it from you.”

How stupid do you feel at right about this point? Too many salespeople have the mistaken idea that it’s the client’s or prospect’s responsibility to know our product line, or, at least, assume what products or services we offer. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The only way you can be sure a client knows exactly what you offer is if you tell them: and remind them, over and over again. Even if they have no need for many of the products and services you currently offer, it doesn’t mean they never will. And believe me; when the time comes that they need one of those products or services, you’ll be glad you delivered those constant reminders.

Remember it is never the client’s responsibility to stay informed. It is your responsibility as an expert, advisor and resource AND single point of contact to KEEP them informed.

Many salespeople would rather have an uninformed and naïve customer because they’re the type that will “Buy anything you put in front of them.” The only problem is if you have such an easy time selling to them, so will your competition.

What you really want are informed, educated customers who will not buy from every flim-flam man that comes down the pike. The best way to make sure your clients are informed and educated is for you to do the informing and educating.

Do you know why so many salespeople are afraid to constantly inform the clients about the other products and services they carry? They’re afraid they’re being too pushy.

But if we go along with the theory that clients want to deal with salespeople who are experts, advisors and resources, who will also act as the client’s “Single Point of Contact” within the company, then aren’t we doing the client a favor by constantly keeping them up to date on all we have to offer.