At the start of 09, I expected my own sales performance to increase significantly.  I based this expectation on two sound contributing factors.

1.There would be a greater need for my services.

Companies would have a much greater need for improvement around sales performance than in previous years. If making sales would be harder in 09, mine was a recession solution.

2. I offered a guaranteed result.

I would be offered a ROI payment option, which meant that there, was no risk in investing in my sales programmes - I guaranteed actual sales improvement. This would give me a significant competitive advantage.

My analysis of how I performed vs. my expectation.

I recently undertook an analysis of my personal sales performance for the year to date. While I am satisfied with many of my performance indicators, I am slightly disappointed with my win ratio per meeting with new customers specifically. I expected a nearer 100% hit ratio, I delivered 62%.

While some may be happy with such a return in this environment, my continued sales improvement has always resulting from me not resting on my laurels; and continually seeking out ways in which I can better what I do.

So how do I explain this?

Initially I must admit that I struggled.

While there may be room for improvement around my qualification process, I work very hard to ensure that I am talking to genuine prospects that are in a position to buy. I believe I am talking to the right people and at the right time and I am offering a better product than that of my competitors.

A more convoluted, complex and ever changing decision making process may go some way to explaining my disappointment. However, I don’t think that it is the only factor and even if it is, my payment options should go a long way to overcoming this as an obstacle.

So I asked myself, what I am not considering, what might I have not planned for.

I begin by revisited my stats on paper, I compared what I was doing against best practice, there was very little by way of explanation.

I then begin to consider that my expectation was unreasonable, that I hadn’t given enough weighting to the recession factor. While it might have worked for me on many occasions, perhaps it had also worked against me.

I quickly realised that I was engaging in the type of attitude; I so often have to help overcome in those that I work with. I was engaging in can’t do rather than can do.

I shook myself down and decided to investigate further. I pride myself on good planning, yet here was something I had failed to consider. It had left no apparent trace of itself in my work. It was bloody invisible.

Invisible! Now there’s a thought, what might have been invisible to me at the start of the year? Something I would not normally consider…….. Ah! Gotya.

it’s FEAR!!

I have trained myself to ignore fear; it plays no part in my decisions, my planning or my expectations. This philosophy has always served me well. I realised at an early age what fear can do, how it can control and how it can destroy.

At the start of the year, my intentional ignorance towards fear had allowed me to plan for success, to see abundance, and to plan for opportunity. Sounds great?

I’m afraid only to a point (did you get the joke?).

This same philosophy had blind sighted me, not to my own fears but towards the fears of others; in this case the fear in my prospects. I had failed to consider and to plan for their fears.

I started to recall the conversations where I had failed to win the deal. A comment trend started to appear.

“I know where we need to go, but I am not prepared to do what it takes to get there”

Yes, I had helped them to identify their need.

Yes, I had shown them the solution.

Yes, I had taken away the risk.

Tick, tick, tick…

But No, In a great many cases, I had failed to take away their fear of making the decision. Because I had failed to plan for fear, in doing so I had also failed to plan for how to deal with my prospect’s fear.

The good news, I am now on the case.

Btb Guest Author

Cindy King

So you want to make your business international?

Traditionally there are 7 different options open to you. Each path has advantages and disadvantages.

Businesses just starting their business development abroad will need to study these options very carefully.

Online businesses starting to develop a regular international client base will also find it very interesting to look at the traditional business development strategies. You never know where your international internet business can lead you.

Here are your international business expansion options.

1 – Sell Directly To Your Foreign Clients From Your Home Offices

The advantages are:

• No expensive foreign offices
• No foreign taxes
• You retain full control of your international strategy

The disadvantages are:

• More difficult to penetrate foreign markets
• More cross cultural communication issues
• No local expertise in-house
• You handle all sales issues that arise
• Full responsibility in the event of legal issues

2 – Open A Local Office To Represent Your Business

The advantages are:

• Local presence
• You retain full control of your international strategy

The Disadvantages are:

• Full responsibility in the event of legal issues
• Need tax advice on how to set up finances
• Local taxes due
• Financial results not fully integrated with main company

3 – Create An Overseas Subsidiary

The advantages are:

• Local presence
• You control your sales strategy

The Disadvantages are:

• Expensive solution
• Separate company structure has financial, fiscal and legal repercussions to be researched fully

4 – Hire A Sales Agent To Sell To Foreign Markets

The advantages are:

• Local presence
• Local expertise
• You control your sales strategy
• This is usually a cheaper option than going through a distributor

The Disadvantages are:

• Research needed for legal and taxation issues
• May cost you a fee to terminate agreement

5 – Find A Foreign Distributor

The advantages are:

• Local presence
• Local expertise
• Sales network in place
• No expensive foreign offices
• No local taxes
• Distributor is usually responsible for local legal issues

The Disadvantages are:

• You lose control over your sales strategy
• Distributors are generally more expensive than sales agents
• To end a distributor agreement you need to give notice

6 – Develop A Franchise Overseas

The advantages are:

• Local presence
• Local expertise
• Benefit from franchiser investments

The Disadvantages are:

• Not always an option
• Strict legislation sometimes

7 – Enter Into A Joint-Venture

The advantages are:

• Local presence
• Local expertise
• Possibility of mutual benefit if a good fit
• Each partner keeps the ownership his side of the Joint-Venture
• Flexible structure

The Disadvantages are:

• Need to research the legal responsibilities and implications involved
• Opens your intellectual property to risk

Research Your Options

This list gives you a quick glance at the different international development options and their advantages and disadvantages.

This list is by no means complete. There are many parameters involved. You will need to do your own research and contact the authorities involved.

But this list is interesting for the online businesses starting to get international sales. It is a reminder of how your business could evolve, of the directions you could take your business.

You might find the ideal distributor or sales agent for your products and services one day. This is just a reminder of your other options.

International internet marketing allows businesses to enter into international business development one step earlier.

Internet business does not exclude any of these traditional international development options.

An international internet marketing strategy can be a very good international market research tool leading towards more traditional international expansion methods.

——————–

Cindy King is a Cross-Cultural Marketer & International Sales Specialist. With over 25 years field experience in international sales & marketing and 3 years professional copywriting, Cindy helps businesses to get more international sales, primarily by:

• Creating international business development strategies to shorten time to profitability

• Developing international lead generation strategies

• Lead generation copywritin —interviewing international clients for success stories, case studies, & white papers

• International SEO & Web Copywriting

Cindy can be found @ www.getinternationalclients.com or @ her blog cindyking.biz

——————–

In the News

TSE Captain and powerhouse sales leader, Jonathan Farrington is very very close to reaching the milestone of publishing 600 blog posts - he is on 599.

Here is a video of how Jonathan likes to motivate the TSE Team

THANK YOU JONATHAN

I would like to congratulate Jonathan on this tremendous achievement, thank him for everything that he has taught me and for the continued patience and kindness he has shown towards me.

Well done Jonathan, please continue to INSPIRE us all.

Part one received a great response. A BIG thank you to everyone who took the time to read it.

Are you being Talked About?

You hope so?

This is a very simple way to use twitter. You can monitor for mentions of you or your brand. If people are saying (tweeting) good things, and even when they are tweeting bad things; if you engage in the conversation - Twitter gives you an opportunity to market yourself in a positive way.

Get Talked About (RTed)

It’s easy, just SHARE

I am not a big brand, so when I started using twitter, I had only a very limited number of mentions in the twittersphere - I knew I needed to change this.

• The easiest way to get RTed on Twitter is through offering your Twitter friends (followers) great content.
• Get RTed by RTing your Friends - this is critical step towards building effective marketing on Twitter.
• Remember, the more you RT others - the more lightly they will do the same for you.

Now, if I twit a piece of information like a new blog post on Twitter, many others will RT which in turn sends additional people to my blog. So far, this has meant an additional 50-100 visitor per day.

Note: All this helps to build your friends (followers) organically. Simply put, the more you put in - the more friends and RTs you will get back out.

RT @nialldevitt #twittertip make sure you comment/recommend why someone should read the RT

RT @nialldevitt #twittertip if you want to be RTed, make sure you keep your tweets to less than 140 characters

Who are you Talking to?

The art of conversation

As I mentioned, I am at heart; a salesperson - this is the bit that really interested me about Twitter . Can it help me to sell my services? The answer is a resounding YES.

One big advantage, Twitter has over other social media is that it predominately happens in real time - hence you can have live conversations in the Twitter virtual world.

If you think about it, Twitter is the perfect online environment for the sales professional because:

• You have live opportunities to listen
• You have live opportunities to ask questions
• You have live opportunities to start conversations

And these are all key skills in developing relationships (prospects) …..Yippee!

Ok, so the questioning and listening skills that are required might be more subtle; than say those needed in a traditional face to face setting (meeting). I definitely believe it’s worth the effort, because the opportunity to do so is enormous.

Remember: RTing is at the start and heart of this process - In essence, it is both the seed and the building block rolled into one.

One of the reasons I really get Twitter is, I know that with the right amount of savvy - I can get to talk to key people within organizations right now. Going down more traditional prospecting routes, these same conversations could take me weeks to achieve. If you factor in the Twitter culture (the RT) you quickly come to realise - that Twitter is highly sophisticated business development tool.

Taking it Offline

VERY IMPORTANT!

If you really really want to maximise on Twitter’s potential, the next step is to take these relationships offline.  Again, this is easy, start by sending a DM and then arrange to have phone conversation, a coffee or a meet up.

RT @nialldevitt #twittertip every day, take one online relationship and make it offline

It’s Additive

I hope you enjoyed my Twitter Story thus far. I am off to tweet and retweet. You can catch me on Twitter @ http://www.twitter.com/nialldevitt

Please don’t be a follower, be a friend

As some may already know, I was once upon a time social media sceptic. While I could see a distant value in using these tools, I remained unconvinced as to how an old fashioned sales gun like me - could generate real B2B sales using social media.

If I was sceptical about social media in general, I was entirely sceptical about Twitter. It appeared to me at first glance to be a lowest common denominator kind of tool.

My initial impressions

Having thousands of followers appeared to be the name of the game. With so many tweets and re-tweets, how could a B2B salesperson like me develop anything that resembled a meaningful business relationship on here? Where is the sophistication I thought? This is a nothing but a school yard tool containing a myriad of little broadcasts and where no one appeared to be listening.

So about two months ago and against my own better judgement - I decided to persevere with Twitter.

I started with Three Objectives

1. While having thousands of followers might be nice, I was only interested in people who genuinely wanted to follow me.
2. I had to be able to take these on-line relationships to an off-line setting, if I was to realistically create sales opportunities.
3. This had to be doable in either faster or easier terms than my traditional business development efforts to make Twitter worth while for my business.

So what I have I learnt?

Is Unique because it’s Pick Up and Go

Twitter is unique; It’s a “pick up and go” tool. It is it’s simplicity of use that makes it so effective. As I said earlier, I initially thought that this was a failing, but now realise that this is what actually makes it so effective . This is also probably one of the main reasons behind its massive popularity.

It Takes Time to Truly Get It.

That’s right, even though it is easy to use, it still takes time to work out how best to use it. While its functionality may be straight forward, the potential of this functionally is not. This is where the learning is, and this is what takes time to master.

So it’s a Broadcast Tool, Right?

Yes it is, but that is less than half the story.

Twitter is a truly amazing broadcast tool. It allows you to instantaneously tweet and get information out there. If others see value in this information, they will re-tweet it, further maximising on your potential audience.

It’s about Followers and Lots of them?

NO ITS NOT!!

The term “followers” is in my opinion an unfortunate Twitter description. It is the interpretation of what is a follower? And why should I follow? That turns people off understanding and using twitter effectively.

I prefer to think of my followers and those that I follow as “friends” or perhaps a more approvite description might be “potential friends”

• Remember, having followers in not worthwhile unless the follower is worthwhile.
• If you are interested in using Twitter as a genuine business development tool – do not treat it as a popularity contest.
• Having lots of followers is a result rather than an objective of using Twitter effectively.

The Most Important Letters are R and T

RT @damienmulley: Advising to follow “influencers” on Twitter is downright ignorant/fatal. Everyone has influence due to 2 letters: R and T

Damien Mulley brilliantly highlights through one of his tweets why re-tweeting is the most important thing that you will do on Twitter.

Think of retweets (RT) as Twitter’s very own currency.

• RTs build your followers, If you re-tweet someone - that person is much more likely to follow you.
• RTs lead to more people RTing you, If you re-tweet someone, they will nearly always RT you back.
  
• RTs are the first step in building proper relationships on Twitter.
• RTs not followers are the real indication of your influence on Twitter.

In Part 2

In Part 2, I will be discussing why in my opinion, Twitter should be used as both a Sales and a Marketing tool and why if you only see Twitter as a marketing tool - you might very well be missing the Twitter boat.

Follow me on

In the News

Over at Top 10 Sales Articles, Diane Helbig has taken a commanding lead, but it’s still early days - have you voted yet?

We are delighted to be included in both “The Best Sales Blogs in the World” and ” The Top 100 Sales Blogs to Boost Your Sales“

The Best Sales Blogs In the World

How do we know that? We sell. Just like you. We know what works and what doesn’t. What’s real and what’s hype. Visit some of the more than 30 bloggers we’ve individually selected to provide you with top quality sales-related content. We think you’ll agree that we have the World’s Best Sales Blogs.

Subscribe to the World’s Best Sales Blogs

Btb Guest Author

Ian Brodie

A topic I’ve blogged about frequently is the importance of good follow-up and of nurturing relationships over time.

In The Importance of Good Follow-Up I highlighted the futility of the “Nice to meet you, if you ever need our services…” email follow-up to networking meetings and suggested a number of value-adding alternatives.

One trend I’ve noticed recently is the increasing use of email newsletters as a follow-up mechanism. The price-point and ease of use have reached a level nowadays that even the smallest of businesses can have their own regular newsletter delivered to clients and prospects.

But just because something is easy doesn’t mean you should do it.

On at least half a dozen occasions recently I’ve found myself subscribed to email newsletters from people and companies who I’ve met briefly at networking meetings. I’ve given them my business card and they’ve plugged it straight into their email distribution list.

This is a follow-up mechanism that has the potential to add value if the newsletter is of high quality and relevant to me. But how does it make me feel to have my details “harvested” in this way?

To be honest, not great.

It feels impersonal. I’ve not had an email or call from them. Nothing mentioning any connection we made at the event and no thought from them on tailoring the message to my specific needs. I’ve just been fed into their email marketing machine.

I wondered whether I was the only one who felt this way, so I posed the question on Twitter to see how others felt:

As you can see from this sample of responses, people’s feelings are almost universally negative. They range from “I want to *smack* them!” and “it sucks!” to at best, “my junk filtering can soon take care of them if they fail to send me anything interesting or useful”. And remember, these negative responses are to something as seemingly innocent as adding someone’s name to an email distribution list after meeting them. For me, Kneale Mann summed up the sentiment best best when he replied: “A handshake does not make you a customer”.

Obviously, Twitter followers are not a sample that’s representative of the public at large. But I do believe they represent an important and growing sensitivity to the appropriate use of information.

So what’s the alternative?

Well, since you are interacting face to face with them, there should be ample opportunity to offer to send the newsletter and get their permission.

If the time isn’t right when you meet them, then send them an email afterwards with a sample copy of the newsletter suggesting it might be of interest and giving a link to sign-up if they are. Personalise the emails – recalling topics you discussed or better still – add value by suggesting ideas for questions they posed or challenges they highlighted when you were talkign with them.

Now don’t get me wrong, this is my opinion as to what you should do rather than something that is proven to have better results. I haven’t done any testing to see what results in better long-term subscriptions, click throughs on the newsletter or eventually sales.

But for me that doesn’t matter. If you want to establish a reputation as someone who can be trusted then you mustn’t do anything early on in the relationship to suggest an abuse of trust. Auto-subscribing people to your newsletter without asking is hardly the crime of the century – but to many people it suggests that you will not treat them as individuals with their best interests at heart.

Personally, I’d rather lose potential newsletter subscribers than lose that reputation of trust.

Ian Brodie has been helping some of the world’s leading organisations with their marketing and sales challenges for over 16 years. He has been interviewed on industry and business issues by the BBC and Business Week magazine. Ian is the editor of Rainmaker Resources – the leading internet portal for partners, businesses developers and marketers in Professional Service Firms – featuring reviews, feeds and links to the leading Professional Services business development resources on the web. He also run the Rainmaker Network – the Linkedin Group for professional service business developers. You can contact Ian on ian@ianbrodie.com or through his website www.ianbrodie.com

In the News

The voting has nearly ended over at Top 10 Sales Articles - if you haven’t voted yet, you can still register your support for your favourite article here

Sales Leadership Ireland continues to go from strength to strength. We now have three further subgroups which are:

INTERNATIONAL SALES

SALES TEAM MANAGEMENT

OWNER MANAGER SALES

Updated 17/09/09

I have been effectively using LinkedIn for about 3-4 months; it’s a super networking and business development tool. If you do not have a LinkedIn profile - well you should have? Here is a list of some of the Irish LinkedIn groups that I am a member of - to join a group, just click on the name.

If you are a founder or member of a group that you feel should be included – please let me know @ nialldevitt[at]btbtraining.com

Sales Leadership Ireland

This is the group I founded and you guessed it - its focus is selling in Ireland. Sales Leadership Ireland is a new group that aims to help Irish B2B sales people network and discuss all things related to “selling in Ireland”

SOCIAL MEDIA IRELAND

The second group I manage on LinkedIn. it’s for anyone that is interested in learning about using social media tools to effectively and organically grow business -
Blogging, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn etc

Irish Software CEOs

This group is for Irish Software CEOs with experience to share and have high-growth aspirations for their businesses. From early stage to global domination, how does a software company grow through the stages. How can Enterprise Ireland / IDA help? What are they good at and what should people expect?

Paddytech

Paddytech is a new group on that aims to connect Irish ICT executives within Ireland and those overseas interested in keeping abreast of the Irish marketplace

OpenCoffee Ireland

Self-organising business meet-up group with members in all major Irish cities such as Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Waterford.

Ireland Business and Professional Network

Ireland Business and Professional Network is the leading business and professional network in Ireland, bringing together experienced, sophisticated private investors and professionals with exciting, early-stage, high growth companies.

121 Marketing Network Ireland

This is a group for Ireland-based Marketing professionals to discuss marketing ideas, industry trends and help people find other marketing experts. Connect with friends, colleagues, alumni, and develop new marketing contacts. Check the notice board for 121 Marketing Network Ireland associated marketing events in your area and meet up with other like-minded professionals.

121 Business Network Ireland

This group is for Ireland-based business professionals to discuss ideas, industry trends & help people find other experts. Connect with friends, colleagues, alumni & develop new business contacts. This is a platform to interact with your peers.

Irish American Business Network

The IABN is founded on the cultural and historical contributions Irish descendents throughout North America. Using a light hearted approach, we seek to use our collective experiences and insights to further our social, professional, and individual pursuits.

Irish Executives

Networking group for Irish business people abroad with close ties to Ireland and want to see it continue to thrive. The aim of the group is to share business connections, ideas, job or consulting opportunities with Irish folks first.

Irish Business Association

The Irish Business Association is a group of professionals and business owners committed to promoting business relationships and personal interaction within the Irish-American business community based upon a shared heritage.

IT Ireland

Group of IT Irish professionals and people working in IT in Ireland.

Freelance Ireland

Brand new LinkedIn group dedicated to freelancers based in Ireland (and anyone looking for freelancers). Find Job postings, participate in discussions, read news and reviews, show your work and expand your professional contacts.

SME Links Ireland

This Group is for Owner-managers / Senior managers of irish SMEs and specialist consultants working within the SME space. Its intention is to allow members to share ideas, gather information, express opinions and concerns, and to make contacts. It is an opportunity to discuss issues, explore opportunities and learn from best practice.

HR Ireland

HR Ireland - HR Network Group run by HR Professionals for HR Professionals in Ireland and Europe. Network of HR Professionals in Ireland and Europe to share and discuss people topics.

Mise Éire (I am Ireland)

Ok, so not a strictly business focused group but well worth a mention not the less. Mise Eire is a varied group of Irish and Irish diaspora. The topics of discussion include politics of all kinds, ancestry, history, music, recipes, humor… and there’s even a virtual pub that’s just shoy of having 15,000 posts in just the past four months! A great bunch, and great craic!

Irish Twitter User Group

Irish Twitter Users on LinkedIn

The Btb Interview

Daniel McVicker is director of client services for StrathMadigan , which is a professional services and business consulting firm. Their focus is on developing long lasting and mutually beneficial partnerships with clients by providing straightforward and Consultative advice. The firm is tasked with delivering genuine added value with a measurable return on investment through the provision of highly experienced and industry specific professional business consultants. StrathMadigan provide 2 distinct services across all disciplines. They can provide an entire Outsourced function for a division of your business or provide Project Staff and Interim Managers to address specific critical issues.

Me: Cost is the big issue now, is price cutting a good way to hold on to existing customers?

Daniel: Don’t lower your prices. Tempting though it is under the premise that it may increase sales, I believe that although in the short term it may generate revenue - it could have a potentially serious damaging effect on the longevity of your business.

If you cut prices now, when the upturn comes as surely it will, how will you then justify increasing your prices.

Me: So how then can you deal effectively with customers who want cheaper prices?

Daniel: Address pricing issues with guarantees. By giving a guarantee to your customers it says that you are confident in your product or service and it is also ethical. Be prepared to give generous guarantees, customers will see through guarantees which are weighted in your favour.

Me: Salespeople and business owners tell me that motivation is very difficult, as someone who is continuing to successfully grow business - what would you say to these people?

Daniel: Knowledge and ability mean nothing without action. With the credit crunch and the recession biting hard, sales people and business owners alike are becoming increasingly despondent and shying away from picking up the phone to customers for fear of hearing another no.

Now is the time to pick up the phone and stay close to your customers. The companies which are weathering the storm best at present have one thing in common, they are taking Action!

They are increasing their marketing, increasing their customer contact, whilst all the time stealing and increasing market share!

Me: So how do you know what actions you should take and when you should take them?

Daniel: There are 4 important factors in taking action:

(i) “All Encompassing Action”: taking action in all the areas of your business which require it. It is easy to fall into the trap of taking successive steps action, ie: I’ll do a leaflet drop this month; I’ll update the Website next month etc.

(ii) “Habit” Once you begin to take action makes it a continual habit, not sporadic. Successful people generally have similar habits but beyond that they have a structured plan and one that they follow religiously.

(iii)“Focus and Measurement” On taking action, make sure it is the right action, it is easy to become a busy fool taking the easy options or doing the tasks we enjoy. For every Action we take it should be measured to ensure that it is an effective use of our time.

(iv)Be positive about taking action. Taking action and making change can be difficult; it takes us out of our comfort zones. A positive attitude and a realisation that your business will benefit as a result will increase the likelihood of your actions having the desired outcome.

Me: Are we perhaps paying too much attention to the problems and not enough attention to the solutions?

Daniel: Stop talking about the credit crunch. Talking about the economy won’t change it, taking action, speaking to customers and selling will.

Over at TSE

Tuesday, June 23rd 2009 at 6PM GMT (1:00PM EASTERN)

Join Danita Bye, Jonathan London, Steve Martinez, Craig Klein and Jonathan Farrington for our latest TSE Roundtable:“The Power Of Sales Process”

Take the tour above.

This is my article from the new Summer eBook from Top Sales Experts International.

It’s 147 pages and includes articles from some of the foremost sales experts in the world. People like Dan Adams, Keith Rosen, Wendy Weiss , Nancy D. Solomon, Joanne Black, Jonthan Farrington, Paul McCord , Cindy King and Kelly Robertson to name but a few.

It will be on sale for $19.95, but you can grap a copy for FREE here. To download your copy - just click on the widget on the right.

————————————————————————————–

A person’s likeability factor is often referred to by people such as Simon Cowell when assessing contestants for TV shows like Pop Idol. While it might be a commonly used term, how many of us really understand what it means? How can you use your own L-factor to improve your sales performance?

Definitions of “likeable” can be vague. Terms such as “Easy to like”, “attractive” or “appealing” are just some of the descriptions that are often used. In the book “The Likeability Factor” author Tim Saunders tells us that it is only when we enter the fields of psychology, physiology, and personality that a more concise description of likeably can be found.

Tim defines our likeability as, “An ability to create positive attitudes in other people through the delivery of emotional and physical benefits” He identifies four key factors that go to make up each individual’s L-Factor, they are:

● Friendliness: your ability to communicate liking and openness to others.

● Relevance: your capacity to connect with others’ interests, wants, and needs.

● Empathy: your ability to recognize, acknowledge, and experience other people’s feelings.

● Realness: the integrity that stands behind your likeability and guarantees its authenticity.

We refer to actions in sales, where both the prospect and the salesperson benefit, as win-win. Improving your L-factor is also win-win, because not only do those who know you benefit, but as Tim points out - you also benefit. You win more of “the popularity contests” that define your life.

In sales, your likeability is vital in creating good first impressions, building rapport and allowing the prospect to trust you. These are critical building blocks to creating strong relationships with customers.

Likewise, in a competitive situation where two solutions are evenly matched, the salesperson’s L-factor could quite easily become decisive. So what are some practical steps you can take to increase your own Lfactor with your customers?

————————————————————————————–

1. Friendliness - Be more open to creating a lasting Impression with your Customers.

One of the first ways that you convey friendliness to prospects is through non-verbal communication.

● An open posture
● Using open gestures
● Maintaining eye contact
● Interested facial expressions
● Smiling
● Laughing

Note: Remember that later evidence is only interpreted by customers in light of their first impressions of you.

————————————————————————————–

2. Relevance - Let your Customers know you are listening to what they want.

Active listening is how you communicate your listening to customers. This means nodding, conveying expression in your face and making good eye contact. Also important are not interrupting, asking the customer checking questions and taking notes. Remember, it’s how you dramatise and convey you’re listening that really matters.

————————————————————————————–

3. Empathy - To better know your customers, first get to know how they are feeling.

Developing empathy with your customers requires that you manage your responses to:

a. Your customers and their circumstances.
b. Your customer’s reactions to you.

● Be careful not to pre-judge an emotional state, tone or reaction, as there are nearly always circumstances beyond your knowledge.

● Rather pose questions to better understand where the particular emotion (good or bad) is coming from.

● The best way to develop empathy with customers is to ALWAYS try to look at things from their perspective.

● Remember, the first step in getting customers to feel strongly about you is to first understand what they already feel strongly about.

————————————————————————————–

4. Realness - Guarantee your Customers nothing but the Truth (even when it hurts).

Honesty is an integral part of sales. Without it, there cannot be trust and without trust, there cannot be a relationship. The ability to develop strong relationships is the critical aspect of a successful outcome in sales - which in turn makes honesty so vital.

Remember (Honesty ● Trust ● Relationship ● Sales)

Most salespeople are never intentionally dishonest, but there are times when pressure or temptation creates traps that we can fall into. These sometimes result in salespeople venturing into grey areas and telling customers white lies.

Traps to be very careful of:

● When a customers asks a question where you don’t know the answer to or only know some of the answer. Not wanting to appear foolish - the temptation here can be to bluff - don’t do it!

● When a solution only partially meets a customer’s needs, but they continue to be interested - the temptation can be to fail to highlight that the solution will not meet all of their needs - don’t do it!

● When a competitor makes very ambitious claims - the temptation can be to follow suit - don’t do it!

● Where a customer is still struggling to grasp how a solution will work, but still wants to buy - the temptation can be to choose to explain after the deal is done - don’t do it!

The easy rule to apply to any circumstances is, if in doubt - DON’T do it!

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Getting prospects and customers to like us more is by no means easy. The challenge to building great person to person relationships, very often comes down to our understanding and acceptance of the individual’s uniqueness (warts and all). The skill is in finding the common ground.

There are certain traits that we all find appealing in others - business and sales are no different in that regard. Becoming a better salesperson may require that you become a better person.

Applying these 4 simple, yet effective, principles in both your personal and professional life will help.

Oh yeah! And your customers will trust, respect and LIKE YOU MORE for it.

I had intended that our interviews would happen once a month, however based on the amount of interest, I have decided to make it weekly for the foreseeable future. If you are interested - please let me know @ nialldevitt[at]btbtraining.com

The Btb Interview

Joseph Kelly is CEO of the Loopthing, the newly launched social business network, ww.loopthing.com The service provides any business or self employed person with the opportunity to create an interactive profile in addition to forming and joining networks that relate to their area of business. Together with the open application environment that is being created, Loopthing is starting to push the boundaries of business communication and interaction on the web.

Me: As an Irish based start-up looking to grow the Loopthing network both here and internationally how are you finding current market conditions?

Joseph: It is definitely fair to say that current conditions are by far more stable than Q4 2008 and Q1 2009. Towards the end of last year it was extremely difficult for organisations to see over the business horizon, which made forecasting future profitability and even basic inventory requirements very hard.

Within the ICT sector there are some very innovative products and services in development, and it is essential that we as an entrepreneurial nation capitalise upon opportunities that are being created in current market conditions, especially on an international level. Our only concern would be the support available to SME businesses in the current environment. Speaking from our company’s personal experience it has been very hard to gain any level of concrete support from the country’s enterprise support networks.

Me: “Increasing brand awareness through the web” – Discuss?

Joseph: We believe in today’s business environment every single business, no matter what industry they operate in should be in complete control of their web presence.  It’s basically all about communicating with the widest possible audience and if you’re missing a trick on the net, you’re basically ignoring a large potential customer base. Check out our blog on what steps you should take - http://blog.loopthing.com/?p=351

Me: What advice would you give to increase sales in the current market environment?

Joseph: To improve sales in any downswing is obviously a very hard task, but our belief is that if you can dramatically increase the information surrounding your products and services, your business will stand much more of a chance of attracting those vitally needed sales leads.  Given the product and service is satisfactory, improving the information and transparency associated with your business, in our view carries a high correlation with sales generation. http://blog.loopthing.com/?p=95

In the News

Hi Niall,

We just posted an article, Top 100 Blogs to Boost Your Sales Skills?. I thought I’d bring it to your attention in case you think your readers would find it interesting. I am happy to let you know that your site has been included in this list.

Thanks for your time!

Suzane Smith

Top Sales Experts International have just released their very latest ebook.

It’s 147 pages, packed with articles from some of the foremost sales experts in the world. It will be on sale for $19.95, but you can grap a copy for free, that’s right for FREE here.

I haven’t got around to reading all the articles yet, but I have already found some gems in there:

Business Consultants, Strategic Orchestrators & Long-Term Allies
By Jonathan Farrington

A “Big Picture” View Blurs The Vision…..
By Christian Maurer

Don’t Get Referrals, Get Introductions
By Paul McCord

Are You Missing These Buying Signals?
By Skip Anderson

Recruiting A Sales Force That Sells
By Colly Graham

How To Successfully Cold Call For New Business
By Steve Martinez

Time Well Served!
By Tibor Shanto

Sociable! Selling Integrating Social Media Into Your Sales Process
By Shane Gibson

The Secret To Getting More Done And Making More Money
Aligning Your Activity With Your Objectives
By Karl Goldfield

Stop Blaming The Economy! Three Tough Questions
For Winning More Business In Today’s Soft Market
By Tim Wackel

To download this super ebook for FREE - just click on the widget below

Oh! and by the way, my own article is on page 109. Its called “Are You Selling Your L-Factor?” - Make sure to check it out

I have been involved in a number of interested and heated discussions over at the www.salesjobs.ie sales forum. One in particular, sticks out where one Irish sales trainer criticised me heavily as to how I dealt with an enquiry. I choose to qualify early so not as to waste mine or indeed the prospects time.

Based of the 2 footedness of his initial comments, I imagine this gent may have been motivated by attempting to make a bit of a name for him. To be fair to the guy, there was some merit in what he was saying. I could easily have taken a different approach. This could have let to a different outcome??

However, what this so called expert failed to grasp or indeed ask “was this the right thing to do?” based on the available evidence. Had he done this, the answer would have been no. One reason for this is that his training approach, and therefore his sales approach only goes so far as to consider actions. Simply put, it’s an act now, think later methodology.  He believes that he can sell anything to everyone.

When I explained for him, why I believed under these circumstances, taking his advice would lead to a salesperson “wasting their time”, he got cross and accused me on been “ambiguous”. He may even have felt that I had trapped him - I am not sure.

Again, I understand why he might feel this way - his training is based in a world where prospects say, do and mean in the “black and white”. Unfortunately, for salespeople, the real world is not like that and prospects are very often ambiguous.

Salespeople are all the time having to make decisions where they lack 100% of the facts. In my opinion, a big BIG part of effective selling is making great decisions with less than all the facts.

You see the net result of listening to these “chase at all costs” preachers is just that - It’s all cost. It will cost you time, it will cost you your resource and it WILL cost you sales.

Now, more than ever salespeople need to be more strategic in their approach. You cannot consider sales without considering the strategy of selling - you cannot sell without THINKING FIRST.

In the News

We are launching the latest TSE ebook- 147 pages, packed with articles from most of the Top Sales Experts including yours truly - Ill keep you posted.