Archive for January, 2009

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The Eightth Step in Becoming a Sales SuperStar involves Creative Problem Solving. The key word is “Creative.” Most problem solving is by the book or problem solving by first thought. Or the least effective problem solving, by taking an internal point of view (what’s best for the company) without any thought or discussion as to the impact on the customer.

Okay, here are the pitfalls I have seen in sales situations. First, the problem is discovered and the sales person states – that’s not our policy and ends the conversation. Bad move. This action just shows the customer that the sales person is lazy and inflexible to discuss possible solutions. By the way, large account prospects will test how flexible and customer oriented you are by giving you a problem solving test during the mid-stages of the sales process. They will ask how you would handle such unique or different type of requests – just to see how you handle it! If you are not willing to discuss the issue, show a solution attitude to the process, then they know you are just a talking head with no depth or flexibility. They want to know what you would do early – before they are committed to you – are you customer oriented or just following the rules of your company? Continue reading ‘Becoming a Sales SuperStar – Step 8 – Creative Problem Solving’ »

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Posted by Voss Graham on January 16, 2009 at 4:20 am under Sales.
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This is the one step that could be titled “Think like an Owner” “Coordinating Results” or “Customer Satisfaction Goals”. There are important information and processes to follow with each of the three titles. Yet, I choose the Think like an Owner because it encompasses all three.

So what does “Think Like an Owner” really mean? An owner is fully committed to their business. The Owner has to balance all the functional areas of the company to get the best results. An Owner depends upon their customers to stay in business. And, decisions must be made for the overall good rather than personal agenda. All of these factors are supported by the superstar sales people.

So the Sales Superstar connects all the dots and builds a business rather than just making a sales. Too many sales people only focus on “making the sale” and little else. So what do the sales superstars do? Continue reading ‘Think like an Owner – Step 7 to Becoming a Sales Superstar’ »

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Posted by Voss Graham on January 14, 2009 at 5:04 am under Sales.
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Closely related to the Questioning skill is the ability to actively listen to everything being said and also what is not being openly said. The key for the sales person is to focus on the customer when the customer is talking and particularly when answering questions presented by the sales person. The number one flaw with aggressive sales people is they are too busy thinking about what they will say next, mentally rehearsing the script plan or just plain thinking about other things unrelated to moment.

Sales Superstars take the proactive listening skill to the next level – giving them a competitive advantage and greater trust with their customers. There are several reasons to improve our listening skills: Continue reading ‘Becoming a Sales Superstar – Step 6 – Listening’ »

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Posted by Voss Graham on January 13, 2009 at 4:41 am under Sales.
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To join the ranks of Sales Superstar, You must learn to ask Questions – early, often and late. I realize that some of you believe the early, often and late is about closing the sales – sorry, that is old school selling! Today’s superstar sales person masters this skill and uses it to gain a competitive advantage.

The big issue is this – the average sales person has a tendency to talk too much in a sales situation. Yes, they talk too much and actually bore or confuse the customer. Why? Because the customer also has an opinion about how things are going and what is important to them. Remember this:

“The Customer Will Believe Their Thoughts over Your Statements!” Continue reading ‘Becoming a Sales Superstar – Step 5 – Questioning Skills’ »

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Posted by Voss Graham on January 12, 2009 at 11:30 am under Sales.
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The fourth step to becoming a sales superstar is having superior Industry Knowledge. Again, the top sales people understand this and use it as an advantage against the average sales competitor. I have seen many of the top sales people use this resource of knowledge to out flank a competitor or to show a customer or prospect a better method to improve performance – using their knowledge of the industry.

There are several reasons that a sales person should master industry knowledge particularly in the world of B2B sales. The four biggest reasons are: Continue reading ‘Becoming a Sales Superstar – Step 4 – Industry Knowledge’ »

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Posted by Voss Graham on January 9, 2009 at 4:12 am under Sales.
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The third step in the ten steps to becoming a Sales Superstar is Preparedness. The best salespeople are always prepared – like the boy scout motto. What is so important about preparedness? It shows the customer that you are ready to talk about important things rather than the typical push the sales agenda on the customer.

There are two primary issues covered by being prepared. The first is to have a call plan. The second is to do your research on a customer BEFORE arriving at their office. Continue reading ‘Becoming a Sales Superstar – Step 3 – Preparedness’ »

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Posted by Voss Graham on January 8, 2009 at 4:33 am under Sales.
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Step Two in our series of steps to becoming a sales superstar is about Business Acumen. Many people ask, ” what the heck is business acumen?” Well, it’s a term used regarding your knowledge of business philosophy and how organizations survive or thrive. It all about understanding exactly how a company makes money. So how does business acumen impact a sales person’s success? Continue reading ‘Becoming a Sales Superstar – Step Two – Business Acumen’ »

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Posted by Voss Graham on January 7, 2009 at 4:52 am under Sales.
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Okay, one of my favorite topics is sales. Now I’m not one of these blowhards that tell you I started selling as a young boy and became an over night success. No, I missed that fast track! In fact, I had to learn how to sell. At first, I had no clue as to what I was doing, no plan, no guide, and most importantly – no understanding of how selling worked – selling well that is!

Then I attended programs at my first job – the banking industry – and we had a very aggressive business development priority. Now, I’m talking about bankers – some of whom felt selling was beneath them. I attended a required class (singular) and was told that I had to make three customer calls – face to face – every quarter! Talk about pressure – what you don’t know is amazing sometimes. Believe it or not I found my way into the top three for business development for several years. I now know this was a case of luck and really enjoying the customer interaction not selling skills or understanding the sales process.

I really did not understand selling until I went to a four day sales training program. It totally opened my eyes as to what could be and should be in the world of selling. I now had to learn how to sell well if I wanted to survive.

One of the key instructors also talked about the need for continuous learning. He referred to listening to tapes, reading sales books and other business books that related to things I wanted to understand. This was really a turning point in my sales career and professional career as a business advisor. Continue reading ‘Becoming a Sales Superstar – Step One – Continuous Learning’ »

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Posted by Voss Graham on January 6, 2009 at 4:24 am under Sales.
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During the weekend, I took time to reflect back over 2008 and look at all the events that are shaping our current economy ills. During this reflection time I noticed something that was missing in the actions of those that contributed to the negative situation – Integrity! Or actually, the Lack of Integrity.

We need and You need to use 100% integrity as we meet the new critical issues of 2009. If you only use 90%, then what constitutes no integrity? Again, we are back to the choices that people make. And the heat of battle does not make it okay to be anything but 100% with our personal integrity.

Leaders must embrace this concept and beware of the selective ethics used by some of our non integrity based individuals. Some of the major causes of lack of integrity include: personal greed – decisions made for personal gain rather than the good of everyone; no purpose or vision – decisions are made on the fly with little or no thought about the consequences or effects on others; and bowing to external pressure – decisions based upon what external powers want rather than what you know is the right thing to do.

These are the top three reasons for poor integrity decisions made by leaders. Review the list again and make certain that you do not fall for these traps. Rather than embracing greed – embrace helping and sharing with others. Think about how you can help others as your number one mission in life.

Take time to understand your purpose in life – again helping others comes to mind as a key focal point. Plus, create a vision of what you want as a legacy. Remember that leaders who lose their integrity are remembered as losers or dishonest or some other combination of negative phrases – not the legacy another wants to leave behind in my opinion!

Finally, the third issue – bowing to external pressure. Leaders that made poor decisions have stated that they had no other choice. Bull! You always have a choices including “I quit!” There are many occasions where leaders have chosen to leave a position rather than bow to external pressures to do the wrong thing. While I hope that you don’t ever have to make that kind of choice – here is the quote I want you to remember:

if you are prepared to walk away – you are prepared to make the right choices!

Always take the high road and you will be more successful and leave the best legacy. People will remember you and keep your legacy alive due to the quality of your decisions and the high level of integrity you maintained during your tenure.

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Posted by Voss Graham on January 5, 2009 at 5:11 am under Leadership.
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