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“The greatest sales people in the world respect their buyers and leave them feeling confident that they have just made a fantastic decision that will help them achieve their goals more easily.”
~ Chandell Labbozzetta

The Impact of AI on YOUR Sales Numbers and Influence

AI is actually something of a red herring.

The truth is that we’ve all been using AI in the background for years without ever thinking much about it, but now it seems as though people are worried that it will take their jobs, their clients, and their business away. For some people that may be a real threat, but here’s the good news… It’s up to you whether AI is the promise of abundance or the threat of scarcity. That outcome is something you CAN control!

I’m working with sales professionals and leaders in many different fields who are using AI to accelerate and empower their sales results. For example, Jenny is using AI to locate ideal clients and research their background so that she can direct her conversations and focus on their highest goals. It has enabled her to get to a 91.3% close rate, more than doubling her sales value with less time spent and ensuring that she has a waiting list of highly qualified clients. Anna is using AI to motivate her team and help them track their performance more actively – as a result, individuals have discovered new strengths as well as ways to overcome weaknesses and plug the holes in their system. For both of them, AI has been the tool they never realised they were missing that enables them to fully use the human potential in themselves and their collaborators.

How is that possible?

It simply requires that you recognise what AI is good at and use it to help you track and perform those actions, while also letting your human side shine. AI is like your calendar or your PA on steroids – helping you plan and organise more effectively so that you have more time and energy to do the things you do best.

What Does it Mean to be Authentically Human in Sales & Leadership Anyway?

Scripts are powerful. They give us guidelines – rather like a rope in a cave – but when we depend on them too much, they turn human beings into tools and robots.

It doesn’t matter if you are delivering a formal sales presentation, having a phone conversation, or an in-person meeting… A script can be deadening or it can deliver results – depending on the other skills you bring to the conversation.

A recent example of this was shared during a session in which we played recordings of real conversations. It comes from a performance discussion:

Manager: How’s it going, Sally?
Sally: I’m having a terrible week, my cat had to be put down on Sunday.
Manager: Oh. (Brief pause) Well, how do you feel that’s going to affect your numbers this week?
Sally: (sounding disinterested) They’ll stay about the same.
Manager: Are you sure? I’d hate to see you lose your bonus.

I mean!!! Here you have two people face-to-face in the same room and all the manager can say is, “Oh!” before continuing on with the planned conversation. I’d have to say he deserves to feel threatened by AI because that was about as scripted and inhuman as you can get.

If Sally had been talking with a chat bot it might have at least been programmed to offer a response to her news about her cat.

As it happens, this manager has been passed over for promotion several times because he has not worked on his listening and conversational skills. He feels like he’s good at his job, organised, and cares about the company so he deserves a promotion. He doesn’t understand that leadership isn’t about competence as much as it is about influence which comes from being human and relatable.

I could have told you some equivalent examples from sales calls and presentations where the individual ignored the cues from his audience and pressed on with his prepared message. You can probably think of some yourself.

Effective sales people (and leaders) can tune into their audience, they know how to listen and pick out the key phrases or emotions others need to hear, and they can respond appropriately to other people and then return to their presentation or script gracefully, leaving the other person feeling they have been heard… And, therefore, open to listen in turn to what you are saying.

What is the Difference between Authentically Human Sales and Traditional Sales Strategies

“The person with the most flexibility controls the situation.”

Traditional Sales Strategies can be a little like the manager I quoted above – so focused on the script and the message that they can’t manage to deal with any variations. Really effective sales people may use the same strategies and scripts as others, but they have the ability to pay close attention to the person in front of them, to listen closely, and to make adjustments to their language, mannerisms, and the way the present the facts.

In a thriving economy, scripts and systems are incredibly effective, but when things get tough, it is the connection and relationship that dictates the outcome. That means that you need the flexibility of authentic humanity and the more powerfully you can project that, the more effectively you will be able to sell you product, service, or idea to others.

The era of heavily scripted and automated sales is over. If that is your preferred (or only) method of selling it’s time to expand your range… Or you really will be an AI casualty.

Leadership and Sales - the Power Couple!

If you think that your ‘Sales Team’ are the only ones who need to know how to sell your products and services then it’s time to reevaluate your approach. When I tell people that Sales is the #1 Life Skill, I often get pushback and a request to explain why I say that because it seems to me that when it comes to things people fear, if Public Speaking is the top contender and Death is second, then Sales is in third place. I get that… If you’re thinking of the pushy, sleazy sales tactics that are often associated with used cars and real estate…

BUT – the truth is that we are all selling

  • Ideas
  • Behaviours & Habits
  • Products & Services
  • Choices

… Unless we stand back and take the approach which lets other people dig their own grave if they don’t immediately resonate with the advice we offer.

Natural consequences are great teachers – yet, as parents, friends, colleagues – and certainly as leaders – there are many lessons we’d all prefer to have our children or others learn from advice rather than experience.

That is why leaders in every context need to hone their sales skills and their ability to choose the right examples, present them appropriately with language and images suitable for the person listening to them… So that you can deliberately and purposefully lead others to examine their options critically, choose wisely, and follow through diligently.

How to Accelerate Your Sales Skills in a Changing World

As I’ve mentioned previously, sales skills aren’t just about selling products and making money – and they’re certainly not about manipulating others for your benefit at their expense. If the idea of ‘sales’ leaves a nasty taste in your mouth then you probably need to make a determined and decisive effort to reevaluate your position.

If you aren’t averse to ‘sales’ but recognise that your current skills aren’t sufficient for the future challenges you anticipate then you probably already know that I’m going to suggest that you improve your ability to:

  • Listen actively
  • Ask probing and powerful questions
  • Accurately observe others’ behaviour
  • Use appropriate language
  • Build strong connections
  • Create powerful visions of the future

Your question is probably:

“How can I take my existing knowledge to the next level?”

My answer:

“Knowledge is not enough. You also need to practice, experiment, and get feedback.”

Which is why I’m excited that we can once again hold in-person events!

My Leadership Sales Summit is designed to guide you through this way of selling in an authentically human fashion so that both parties feel valued and end with a sense of satisfaction and a stronger relationship. This is not ‘merely theory’ it’s 2 days of solid practice and learning with the goal of enhancing your skills.

Click HERE to email the team and register for Early Admission and join us for this powerful and transformational experience.

“Resourceful people are happier, more successful, and have more satisfying relationships.”

~ Chandell Labbozzetta

Yes, You CAN Become Resourceful… if You Want To!

Before you waste your time reading this article, let me ask you a question:

Do you actually WANT to become resourceful?

Not too long ago… In fact, not much more than 12 months ago, most people who read this article would have said, “Yes!”

These days, I’m finding that people like the ‘idea’ but not the reality.

It’s amazing what uncertainty, a global pandemic, and government interventions can do!

Here are three quick questions to test your mettle:

Are you willing to own your current results… Or do you blame others for them?
Do you take action… Or do you wait for direction, permission, or circumstances?
Are you ready to change your behaviour… Or do you hope that you can keep doing the same things and yet achieve different results?

If your answers were weighted to the right hand side, and you are happy with those behaviours then you’re probably not ready to make the shift from reactive to resourceful. On the other hand, if you still think that you’d like a little more control over your life, then maybe you should rethink your willingness to change.

What Does This Change Demand of You?

Resourcefulness is really about control and ownership.

One of my favourite sayings is, “You can’t control the wind, but you can control the sails.” In today’s terms that means that you can’t control what governments, authorities, and germs will do to your circumstances, but you can control your actions.

So, creating change demands VISION, COMMITMENT, and ACTION.

The surprising thing for many people is that you can become more resourceful just by practicing a few tiny (but transformational) habits.

Step #1: VISION

What was the first thing you did when you arrived at work this morning?

If you opened emails or other communication channels to decide what you would tackle first, then you’re becoming the victim of other people’s priorities and the chances are you are not completing your own high value activities.

This usually happens because you don’t have a clear vision or goal for your role, or at least for your day.

  1. The first step to becoming more resourceful is to clarify your vision and then make sure that you set your task for the first hour of the next day according to your goals before you leave (or stop) work each evening.
  2. When you do this, you are telling yourself that you have something important to do… And you are also triggering a resourceful response to interruptions, distractions, and derailments.

Step #2: COMMITMENT

Start by taking control of your day in small steps. You can commit to one hour of self-determination for a month (your first hour) even if you aren’t yet ready to take control of a larger chunk.

Once you see how effective that mental decision is and how it helps you discover resourceful ways of deferring interruptions, you’ll be motivated to take bigger steps, but it’s important to start with a “No matter what” commitment… And I really do mean, “No matter what!” Unless you are dead or dying, don’t let anything derail that commitment!

Step #3: ACTION

Just do it!

Don’t think about it. Don’t write about it. Don’t talk about it. DO IT!

… Now notice what you accomplished.

  • Was it enough?
  • Was it more than you expected?
  • Was it less than you expected?
  • What will you change about the way you set your goal tonight?
  • Will you do something different tomorrow?

Spend a few minutes journaling about your experience, then feel free to go back to your usual schedule – until tomorrow morning.

You’ll be surprised at how your entries change over the course of the next 30 days… And you’ll be ready to decide whether resourcefulness and control is something you want to pursue, or whether you’re happy reacting to whatever the universe sends your way.

#TuesdayTips

If you’re a fisherman, you know the importance of being in the location where the fish you are looking for hang out and having the right bait to attract them. In business it’s no different.  Once you have a vivid picture of exactly what type of person is your target market you can work out where they hang out, and exactly what sort of things will interest them.

In the early days of my coaching business I assumed that if you were paying a coach you’d discuss your marketing with her. (Now I know that I need to bring this matter up explicitly.)  Anyway, Anna didn’t tell me she was going to spend $5,000 on advertising until it had been signed off, and I went, “What are you doing!”  Spending $5,000 on broadcast advertising was like hiring a trawler and hoping to catch trout – and Anna’s cash flow meant that this was cutting out a lot options.

She was competing with so many larger companies who had more money to spend on the channels she was dipping into and she was not going to have much budget left for targeted marketing! So I was really worried about her survival. The earlier you are in your business the more laser-like your targeting needs to be – later on your cash flow is less restricted and you can afford to experiment a bit, but at the start you need to be very cautious.

Two months later we evaluated Anna’s marketing and looked at the results. That $5,000 had produced $0 in revenue and no enquiries while $100 invested in a targeted campaign had delivered a substantial return. It was a lesson neither of us will ever forget.  Anna had assumed that the return would be based on the size of the investment, I had assumed that there was nothing to be salvaged.

The Lesson: Selling is Like Fishing  I use this story to explain selling quite a bit. When people first get into business they just want to get any kind of business they can.  So they get a great big fishing trawler with a massive net and they go out there. If you ask “Who’s your client?”  The answer is “Anyone! I can help anyone! Just send them to me, I can help anyone.”

They go out with this great big net, they trawl along in the ocean and they put all this effort and fuel and resources into dragging this great net along and they get back to the shore and they’re really excited because it’s heavy. Then they start sifting through all the stuff in the net and the excitement starts to wane because they find lots of toilet lids, shoes, and other garbage that was at the bottom of the ocean, and a few rotten fish that they can’t use.  Finally, out of that entire big load there was probably only about four or five fish that were worth spending time on.

This is what most people do – especially when they’re starting out.  They go out and they spend thousands of dollars sending a trawler out into the ocean when they could do so much more with a clearly defined target market and the perfect bait.

Just imagine if they invested all those resources fishing in a clearly defined target market! They could attract wonderful clients who were looking for what they were offering.

How have you found working in a niche compared with working with ‘anyone’?  Let us know in the comments.

Meta Description: Know your target market then use the right bait to attract them to your service and help them buy.

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Book your complimentary 30-minute Discovery Session with Chandell.

By popular demand we have turned many of our multi-day workshops into multi-week online courses with a live day to kick them off. Learn more at https://businessgrowth.mykajabi.com/masteryoursales

By The Business Doctor, taking the headache out of your business!

Remember that day you decided to start your own business, how excited you were and probably had tonnes of other emotions running through your head, but deep inside you knew it was the right thing to do. You worked as hard as you needed to all of this as to ensure that your business would take off. You would celebrate your wins and push through the losses and things just started to happen….

So the next logical step was to get some help in your business, you had the clients but you realized you were probably spending far too much time on things that were not making you money. So here you go finding some help. I mean how hard can it be?

You know what you want and within no time you have hired your first employee. Your new employee is perfect and as a bonus the new employee is also nice. You spend time together and explain what needs to be done and off you go.

You are growing your business and at first the employee seems to be going okay and so you give the new employee more things to do, you can’t believe your luck! But as time passes things don’t seem to be going that great and even though you keep telling your employee to step up nothing really seems to happen so you decide to do it all yourself just to ensure it gets done right. What could have possibly gone wrong?

Now this might not be entirely you and if it is not you you might know someone like this. So what happened? Finding the right staff is not just a matter of hiring someone you like, it requires a certain amount of skills and if not done properly will cost you as the business owner not only lots of time and money but can also damage your reputation.

Consider the following 5 things before hiring a new employee:

  1. Be clear:– Write down a list of what skills are required and what you expect this employee to do, be specific
  2. Target:- Be clear in your ad of who you are looking for
  3. Shoot:- Make sure you have a process in place to respond to the applicants, not responding in time could already have you start on the wrong foot and create a wrong image of your business
  4. Communicate:- Have a clearly defined recruiting process in place so the applicant knows how long the process will take and what is expected
  5. Action:- Once you find the perfect employee make sure you keep in communication with them, e.g. employment conditions, start date etc.

After all think about it, the reason why you are employing in the first place is to help you grow your business and make your business more profitable right? So make sure you don’t take any shortcuts in introducing one of the most costly resources into your business.

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By popular demand we have turned many of our multi-day workshops into multi-week online courses with a live day to kick them off. Learn more at https://businessgrowth.mykajabi.com/masteryoursales

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