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“Neediness kills sales faster than anything else. Find out why you feel needy and deal with it!”

~ Chandell Labbozzetta

The Confidence Killer...

I was looking through some old presentation files the other day and came across a slide with the title, “The Confidence Killer” and an image of a vampire just about to bite a young man while he was in the middle of a sales presentation…

The notes on the slide reminded me that it was the story of Jake, a sales man I mentored during my corporate career. Everyone on the team had to make 100 appointment setting calls every second day, with the idea being that we’d get 10 appointments for the following day and Jake was constantly missing the target.

He’d start each day with his list of people to call and ease gently into the day, taking the time to get psyched up for each call. By early afternoon, he’d be burning through that list at speed hoping to get the appointments he needed for the following day. On average, he’d get about 5 appointments from his calls in the morning, and 0 in the afternoon.

On appointment day, he would make about 2 sales in the morning, 0 in the afternoon.

When you looked at his metrics, you’d see that his mornings delivered OK results, his afternoons delivered nothing.

Jake knew it. His manager knew it… And his job was on the line.

I’m not even sure why Jake wanted to stay in his role, but he did, and he came to me for help.

Never be Needy!

I listened to a few of his call recordings and it was fairly clear what was going on.

In the morning, he was relaxed (probably too relaxed) and friendly. By 1pm he’d realise that he was less than halfway through his 100 calls for the day and he’d be rushing to meet that quota and he’d also be desperate to book appointments for the next day.

The stress and neediness showed in his voice, in his abrupt responses, and in his inability to listen and really hear what prospects were saying.

During appointments, something similar would happen. I went along with him and it was clear that the prospect could sense his urgency and discomfort and wondered why he was being pushed into a sale.

It was a vicious cycle… The closer Jake got to a deadline, the more stressed and nervous he became, and the less likely it was that he would actually reach his goal. Neediness was killing his sales AND his career.

So… How Do I Stop Feeling Needy?

Jake had asked me for help, so I was able to ask him some questions and find out why he wanted to keep putting himself through this torture instead of looking for a job in something else. I quickly realised that he had powerful reasons for wanting to succeed, so we created an image that would remind him of his deep intrinsic motivation and put it beside his desk.

I taught him to look at that image, breathe deeply, and really focus on how a successful sale felt, then we worked on his call strategy.

The essence of what Jake discovered was that if he focused on his intrinsic motivation rather than his need to:

1. Make 100 calls;

2. Set 10 Appointments;

Then he was more relaxed and able to listen. He said it was as though his neediness just evaporated and he was focused on the person at the other end of the phone. As a result, he got through his calls in a timely fashion, and he started to book 15 or 20 calls each day.

When we applied a similar tactic to his appointments, his closing rate went through the roof and he become one of the most productive sales people in the company.

The Hydra of Neediness

Remember the hydra?

It was a horrendous monster and every time you cut off one head two more grew in its place.

Neediness is like that… You might feel pressured by:

  • Performance goals
  • Action goals
  • Income goals
  • Bonus goals
  • Time goals
  • Etc.

Whatever combination of these you face, as the time behind you gets longer and the time you have to complete the goal gets shorter your sense of neediness grows… And undermines the chance that you will achieve your outcome.

Neediness threatens your likelihood of achieving any goal, but it’s particularly dangerous when it comes to sales.

Do you have a strategy for leaving neediness behind you, even when you desperately need to achieve your income goal or results target?

“Whenever you want to achieve something, keep your eyes open, concentrate and make sure you know exactly what it is you want. No one can hit their target with their eyes closed.”

~ Paulo Coelho

THEN… Your Energy and Confidence Will Drive Your Actions

As yet another challenging year draws to a close, it’s essential that we keep our focus on what we want so we don’t dissipate our energies in fighting things we can’t control.

I’m noticing that many Australian business owners are feeling discouraged by the constantly changing business landscape and are deliberately lowering their sights and settling for ‘second best’. This dissipates the energy and confidence they feel and project around their actions and becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

In the same way that ‘confused prospects don’t buy’, it’s equally true that  ‘uncertain business conditions don’t encourage the planning, investment, and action’ that lead to tangible results.

It Starts with Focus

Paulo Coelho, the great 21st Century philosopher talks about the danger of getting so absorbed in fighting our enemies that we forget to make progress toward our own goal.

One of the things that I’m seeing is that people are afraid to focus on exactly what they want… Too many people are focusing on the enemy they don’t want (whether that is business challenges, health struggles, separation from family and friends etc).

Yes, sometimes you do need to stop and slay the enemy that’s standing in front of you…

BUT most of the time, your best course is to keep forging ahead towards your highest goals, without deflection.

Are You Settling for Second Best?

Every day – week – month – year… is a new opportunity to muster your energy and confidence and start afresh.

As I publish this we’ve just started the final quarter of 2021, but it really doesn’t matter when you’re reading it: the Call to Action is just as clear:
What are YOU going to focus on today?
Will you focus on the things that are standing in your way, OR your…

  • Goals & Dreams
  • Plans & Actions
  • Energy & Strategy

Only the latter will help you achieve, believe, and succeed so you make progress toward your target?

The Truth About Confidence…

I learned many years ago that often the only difference between a “Yes” and a “Maybe”  when it comes to sales is the threefold confidence of the sales person.

When I talk to a business, sales team, or individual who struggles to make sales, it’s often a question of confidence. In fact, if your team is not exceeding their sales goals and projections, changing the sales tools is rarely the solution: while changing the energy and confidence of the sales person transforms their results.

Do You Lack Confidence in Your Ability to Sell Consistently?

If so, you’re not alone.
Even when people are convinced of the value their product or service delivers, they often fail to project confidence in themselves. In fact, this leads to a downward spiral of results that you can see in quarterly or monthly sales figures: lack of confidence leads to fewer sales and fewer sales lower your confidence even further.

There is a Solution to Your Sales Dilemma…

It’s called practice and success.

The solution isn’t complicated, but it does take some discipline and commitment which is why I created Ready Set Sell, my 30-day sales maximiser.

It’s designed for people who don’t consider themselves natural sales people, or for people in a ‘sales slump’ who recognise the need for a helping hand to boost their confidence so that they can boost their results.

I launched this course a couple of months ago and the customer feedback I’ve returned has reinforced my thoughts about the reasons why people don’t get the results they want.

I strongly believe that this course can prove to anyone who is willing to do the work that they are:

Far better at selling themselves and their services/products than they thought possible;
Elevating your ability to sell and influence others makes life infinitely more fun; and
Able to generate far more income than they thought possible.

Sadly, I’ve noticed that there are 2 types of participant:

Those who not only invest in Ready Set Sell, and invest the time, effort, and energy to generate results from it;
Those who purchase Ready Set Sell and hope that mere possession will magically transform their results even if they don’t follow the process – this also includes those who ‘know’ all about sales, but don’t ‘do’ anything systematically to turn their knowledge into results.

There is a Solution to Your Sales Dilemma…

It’s called practice and success.

The solution isn’t complicated, but it does take some discipline and commitment which is why I created Ready Set Sell, my 30-day sales maximiser.

It’s designed for people who don’t consider themselves natural sales people, or for people in a ‘sales slump’ who recognise the need for a helping hand to boost their confidence so that they can boost their results.

I launched this course a couple of months ago and the customer feedback I’ve returned has reinforced my thoughts about the reasons why people don’t get the results they want.

I strongly believe that this course can prove to anyone who is willing to do the work that they are:

  • Far better at selling themselves and their services/products than they thought possible;
  • Elevating your ability to sell and influence others makes life infinitely more fun; and
  • Able to generate far more income than they thought possible.

Sadly, I’ve noticed that there are 2 types of participant:

  1. Those who not only invest in Ready Set Sell, and invest the time, effort, and energy to generate results from it;
  2. Those who purchase Ready Set Sell and hope that mere possession will magically transform their results even if they don’t follow the process – this also includes those who ‘know’ all about sales, but don’t ‘do’ anything systematically to turn their knowledge into results.

You Are Far More Successful at Sales than You Will Ever Know…

Unless you choose not to succeed and decide to just think about the future you’d like to experience.

The power of confidence is that one level of success in sales leads to more success following the snowball effect. That’s why Ready Set Sell doesn’t just lead to your best month every, but leads to steady growth in what you define as best.

When you use my technique for focusing on what you want…

AND back that focus with decisive action…

AND reflect on what is working and the progress you have made…

THEN…

You become unstoppable!

Would You Like to Discover the Secret of Skyrocketing Sales?

Learn more about Ready Set Sell, my 30-day intensive course designed to help you focus on the sales you want and adopting the behaviours and mindset of a super-sales star at https://lifepuzzle.com.au/ready-set-sell/ to improve your sales success.

“No-one can read your mind! Half the time you don’t even know what you are thinking, so how do you expect anyone else to do so!”

~ Chandell Labbozzetta

You Miss 100% of the Shots You Don’t Take

I was talking to Vera, one of my closest friends, the other day and she was complaining about how people who were younger and less experienced were getting promoted ahead of her. She has always put it down to the fact that they were men and getting favoured treatment, but this time it was another woman!

(And yes… That “!” at the end of the paragraph is deliberate)

“She knows she’s not qualified, but she applied anyway and got the role. Just like the men do!”

“Did you apply?” I asked – knowing the answer was no.”

“Of course not!” She snapped. “I didn’t have 5 of the criteria they put in the job description – and all these people who are getting promoted over me have even fewer than I do.”

As the heading says, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

Your manager can’t read your mind and is probably too busy to go around thinking about trying to persuade you to apply for new roles anyway. Your prospects are just as busy. If you don’t ask for the sale, you’ll probably miss out… Unless you are important enough for people to seek you out.

How Was I Supposed to Know You Wanted That

Some years ago, Anna came out of a meeting with her boss absolutely fuming.

I asked what had happened, expecting to find out that she had been reprimanded, fired, or had her leave request rejected.

It turned out that she was mad because she was thirsty and her boss hadn’t offered her a drink of water, instead he had turned off the fan.

“Huh,”  I said. “That seems odd. Did you ask for a drink?”

“Oh no! But I told him it was draughty.

“You told him it was draughty and you expected him to get you a drink?”  I asked… Just to clarify that I hadn’t misheard.

“Yes. And he just ignored that and went on with the conversation.”

Look… People can be really tone deaf. They can miss things we communicate explicitly, but when you say it’s draughty, not many people realise you want a glass of water, so it’s your job to communicate what you want clearly and concisely.

Why I Say that "Sales is the #1 Life Skill"

Both of my friends in the stories above felt they’d received a raw deal. The reality was, neither of them had taken the time or action to prepare a sales pitch or say what they wanted.

Instead of considering how to present her abilities and pitch her readiness for a new position, Vera convinced herself that she wasn’t qualified and never applied for promotion, then she got mad about others who were prepared to put themselves forward.

Instead of telling her boss she was thirsty, Anna got mad because he couldn’t read between the lines and see that she was thirsty, not cold.

AND…

Instead of telling people about the transformation your product and service can make in their life or business for them then asking if they’d like to learn more…

There’s a strong likelihood that you are expecting the other person to take the initiative and getting upset when they don’t respond as you’d like them to.

Conversations, Sales, and Open Doors

Most people aren’t very observant… Or, if they are observant, they’re paranoid about being offensive so they don’t share their observations.

I like to think that’s the reason that networking events and business dinners can be so stressful and boring. It’s not that the people there aren’t interesting, it’s just that they are afraid of offending someone or prying. Zoom meetings, social media, and lockdowns haven’t helped at all! In fact, they’ve made it much worse.

What do you do when someone says something interesting?

Do you ask a follow-on question, or do you just continue with your planned script?

Most people are too busy to see or hear the open door, so they just plough onto the next question… And so they lose the chance to listen, learn, and create a relationship… Which may (or may not) lead to a future sales or other opportunity.

The archetypal pushy salesman of the 70s and 80s with a briefcase full of brochures and the goal of selling whatever they have available ‘no matter what’ learned scripts and stuck to them. They deserved the rejection and avoidance they received – BUT the truth is that those people were never the highest performers.

The most effective and highest-performing sales people have always been the ones who listened, asked appropriate questions to draw out their prospect, and then offered a tailor-made solution that met their needs. Once they had done that, they asked for the sale fully aware that their prospect wanted and needed the solution that was being offered.

Because… If you don’t ask for what you want, you probably won’t get it.

Do You Need to Learn to Ask for the Sale?

I work with a lot of people who tell me up-front, “I’m just not good at selling.” Many of them assume that sales people are born not made, when the truth is no-one is born a sales person. It’s a skill we learn (or choose not to learn).

I’m passionate about teaching people to sell because I believe that confidence in your ability to sell makes life much easier and more pleasant… And we all want our lives to be easier and more pleasant!

I’ve developed a 30-day course called Ready Set Sell that enables even the most reluctant sales person to prove to themselves that they can sell and that closing sales is fun. It’s great for sales-averse individuals who realise that they need to learn to sell because it’s non-threatening, can be applied in any industry or setting, and can even be practiced on your friends and colleagues.

If you’d like to learn more about discovering the hidden sales power within you go to https://lifepuzzle.com.au/ready-set-sell/. I hope to see you inside.

“The thing that makes the biggest difference for most professionals and business owners isn’t learning more skills, it’s learning how to highlight the value of the skills they already have.”

~ Chandell Labbozzetta

What Skill Would You Choose to Focus on?

I was talking to one of my clients the other day about hiring new staff. He’s the CEO of mid-size company that has doubled its profits over the past 18 months and I’ve been training his sales team for about 21 months. He made the half-joking comment,

“You know, Chandell, I really ought to pay for you to coach the top candidates for every position we advertise so they can master their sales pitch. I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that we’re losing some highly qualified candidates who have no idea at all how to sell themselves. That’s bad for them because they’re losing opportunities, and it’s bad for us because we’re losing quality candidates.”

His comment was born out of his awareness that he was no longer just relying on his sales team to sell their services and products. Every member of the team and gone through sales training and could present themselves and the product persuasively. That was the real secret behind their phenomenally successful results.

It works like this, when everyone from your partners and senior staff down to your receptionist and newest hires understands what your core business is about, they understand how to help customers and what needs to happen in order to not merely make a sale, but also improve the product.

What Does That Have to Do With giving Sales Training to Prospective Candidates?

If you’ve ever been responsible for interviewing candidates, you probably know what my client is talking about…

You’ve read the coverletter and CV or Resume… But did they write it themselves?

You’ve seen their work history and qualifications.

You’ve picked (or your recruiting company) has picked the best candidates to interview…

Now, it’s really all down to interview skills. And sometimes, those interviews don’t even take into account the kind of role a person is applying for.

This particular CEO talked about the candidates that had been sent for a technical position. Yes, they need to work with their team and think about the problem in a specific way, but at the core, they are being tasked with a lone-wolf technical job where attention to detail and ability are the essential skills.

“I’d love to put those people in a room with you for 2 hours, Chandell and teach them how to sell me on why their skills and personality is perfect for the job… and I’d like my interviewers and candidate selectors to look at those criteria too.” he told me. “Instead I had to task to see all the applications and pick the ones I wanted to talk to. I found someone, but I believe there is a better way.”

It’s Really Up to You!

My client had a point… From his organisation’s standpoint it would help if the candidates were trained to sell themselves… And how they responded to those sales trainings would tell him more about what he needed to know about them…

BUT…

It isn’t really the firm doing the hiring that is responsible for providing you with skills that will help you achieve your goals, is it?

It comes down to you.

Do you care enough about your future to learn the skills that will help you shine? You’ve invested in your education and training on a professional level, are you prepared to master the ONE skill that will help you move forward along the path to your goal?

In 2020, I was working with a Sales Team that was struggling to adjust to remote work and virtual sales meetings. One of the members, (let’s call him Sam) probably the most talented sales person on the team, was very angry about the changes. He sat through our trainings (mostly silent) and kept right on doing what he had always done. Month after month, his sales trickled in and he presented his results with an “it’s not my fault” attitude. You might have accepted his excuses if it wasn’t for Sally, another member of the team. Sally had her position on probation because the company really needs a sales person and she demonstrated her willingness to learn while openly acknowledging that she struggled to think of herself as a sales person.

Week by week, she took notes, practiced the skills I taught, and made calls. Week by week her results improved and in 3 months her results beat out all the others. After that, everyone but Sam got on board and worked their butts off, not just listening, but applying and refining their pitch and discovering ways of finding qualified prospects.

Sales isn’t just the Province of a Few.

Everyone can learn and change… If they choose to do so. Human’s are uniquely wired to adapt, so why wouldn’t you invest in learning one of the most powerful and useful skills on the planet?

You don’t even need to take a course. You can teach yourself to sell in an authentic and positive way… Your own skills and personality or anything else you want to. Don’t kid yourself that ‘nice people don’t sell’. I was talking to a doctor the other day and he said to me, “You know, if we learned sales skills at medical school, we’d be much better at helping our patients decide what was the best course of action to follow… And our patients would probably be healthier, happier, and more compliant. There’s a book called “Change or Die” that talks about how many strokes and heart attacks could be avoided if doctors understood the art of sales and took their responsibility to sell more seriously.”

What About YOU?

How are your sales skills?

Have you ever considered how much more effective (and profitable) every aspect of your business might be if you developed your own and your team’s ability to sell…

  • Yourself?
  • Your ideas?
  • Your solution?

I’ve noticed that many people today are looking around for a saviour – the government is an obvious candidate – but no Government can do everything for everyone. My solution is to find ways to help people help themselves… And learning to sell is something anyone can and should learn to do.

Sales, and the incorporated skill of communication, are life skills that rarely get taught effectively at school, so it’s probably up to you to learn it for yourself.

“Many people start doing things. Successful people actually keep doing them as long as they’re effective.”

~ Chandell Labbozzetta

Transformation vs Change

Tom called me one day to ask when my next “7-day Results Transformation Challenge” would be taking place.

He took the Challenge last year and suddenly had all the qualified clients he could manage… And a waiting list. As he put it a few weeks later, “I’m set, Chandell! Thanks to you I’ve got a 9 month pipeline and my business has been transformed.”

So, when he called, I asked him what had changed since we last spoke…

“Well, I need more clients. My business has grown, my expenses have grown and although most of my clients are staying with me I need to keep adding more. I really grooved on the daily tasks and interaction and I know your plan works.”

You see, Tom’s business was temporarily transformed by his strategic actions… But deep down, nothing had really changed.

Tom’s story isn’t unusual, lots of people take my challenges, have their best month ever, and then find themselves back on the rollercoaster of feast and famine. Even though they know how to create success, they don’t necessarily keep doing the things that create it. That’s where systems come in.

Creating Lasting Change

If you want to create lasting change, you need to put in place systems that will keep you doing the things that are required to succeed and keep those sales rolling in.

That’s why I developed Confident Conversion: 90 days to More Cash, More Clients, More Impact. The program is designed to walk you through the process of creating structures and systems that turn short-term transformation into lasting change.

When Tom enrolled in Confident Conversion and started following the plan he discovered that it was easy to keep on with the actions that delivered results. Unlike last year where he filled his pipeline and then coasted, he now has a system (actually a series of systems) in place to attract leads, qualify them, close sales, and follow them up to increase long-term retention.

The difference is incredible! Because systems help you keep doing the things that work as long as they’re effective and give you standards by which to measure your progress.

“As Long as They are Effective!”

I hope you noticed that significant phrase.

At the same time that Tom set up his systems, he set up tools to measure his results. Mostly, he’s measuring inputs the things HE controls, but he’s also looking at how long they take, how much energy they demand, and the results they deliver.

Strategically measuring these things has allowed Tom to direct his efforts. He knows that some of his sales and marketing activities are ‘slow-burn’ activities and others deliver fast results but don’t last as long. Over the months, he’s been able to determine what brings in his ideal clients and customers so he’s doing more of those and cutting out some other activities that aren’t as effective.

Measuring and Reviewing his results means that he has data to guide his decisions… In fact, last month he was about to cancel a program that he had grown tired of executing when he realised that it delivered almost 38% of his most qualified leads. He didn’t just keep that initiative running, he doubled down on his efforts in that area.

Pipelines Relieve Stress

Systems. Predictions (accurate ones). Pipelines… They’re all big de-stressers and stress-relievers and these days, we can all benefit from taking some of the stress off our shoulders.

If you are running from one crisis to the next in your lead flow and sales conversions then you need to do two things:

Build a robust pipeline or waiting list so you can confidently plan your cashflow; and
Create a sales system that guides you through the weeks and months of activity, relieving you of the need to depend on your ‘hustle-skills’.

Not only will these two things make your business more sustainable and less stressful, it will also enrich your relationships (because you’ll have more time and energy for them) and improve your lifestyle.

If you need some help with setting up these systems, OR, if you are wondering if you couldn’t improve even further, then consider signing up for Confident Conversion: 90 days to More Cash, More Clients, More Impact and shifting everything (including your peace of mind and ability to relax) up a notch or two!

“If you don’t see yourself as a winner, then you cannot perform as a winner.”

~ Zig Ziglar

What is a Winner Anyway?

At a recent conference I heard Nat Cooke (Former Australian Olympic Volleyball champion) talk about what it took to succeed. She talked about celebrating her failures as well as her victories… Like the time when she flubbed a shot, gave a goal to the opposing team and yelled out, “Winner!” This startled her opponent so much that she hesitated because she thought that she must have misinterpreted what she had just seen.

Nat’s intention wasn’t to disconcert her opponents, it was to remind herself that she was a winner – simply because failure didn’t stop her from keeping on with her training, shooting, and passing. She was fully engaging in the game as it was, not as it might have been if she hadn’t flubbed.

This is a critical success skill to develop!

What Makes You a Winner?

When I first started working as a Sales Representative and later as a Sales Manager I consistently outperformed my colleagues. From the outside, I looked like a winner, but deep inside I felt like a failure. No matter how much success I experienced I was haunted by what I saw as my failure… There was always more that I could have, should have, done.

It wasn’t that I didn’t learn from my mistakes, the real problem was that I carried my failures with me into those learnings. This drove me into a downward spiral of despair, burnout, and suicidal thoughts, and it wasn’t until I encountered Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and Time Line Therapy® that I found a way through.

One of the core principles of Time Line Therapy® is to ‘learn the lessons and release the negative emotion’. Only when you do that, can you move forward and become the strong, successful person you were meant to be. Nat’s practice of yelling, “Winner!” Is like that – reinforcing the fact that she may have failed in the moment, but perseverance and a positive attitude enable her to learn from failure and take the lesson forward.

How to See Yourself as a Winner

Successful people learn from their mistakes and move forward past them. In a recent Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) Practitioner Certification course we spent the last few days learning the basics of Time Line Therapy®.

As usual, I watched people (through the computer screen) follow this powerful process using active imagination. As they released the negative emotions and took the learnings with them their physiology changed… You could see them redefining themselves as ‘winners’, seeing their painful past from a different perspective, and committing to an empowered future.

That’s an exciting thing to watch… But does it last?

Mostly, it does… At least, it lasts if the participant chooses to make some basic changes that support their new success-oriented decision. It’s always a good sign when someone chooses to engage with our NLP Sales Mastery Group on Facebook and join the email newsletter list because it means that they will be regularly reminded of their choice.

Greasing the Rails of Success

You are a winner!

How do I know this? Well, you could be watching ‘funny cat videos’ or the news instead of reading this post.

You know that success takes work, and you’re willing to face that reality and do the work… Even if sometimes you’d like a shortcut.

Do you have any doubts about that truth?

The only ‘shortcuts’ that are really valuable are those that demand an investment of time, resources, or money so you can achieve your goal faster. Olympic athletes use trainers and coaches to speed up their route to success. It doesn’t mean they don’t do the work, it just means that their work is not wasted.

Are you surrounding yourself with the resources and coaches to accelerate your success? Unlike Olympic gold medalists, in business everyone can win if they put in the work and apply the right tools to an effective strategy.

All Olympic athletes are winners – even if they don’t win a medal. They were willing to bet on themselves, invest in themselves, and train no matter how they felt. In business and in sales, the people who win are those who see themselves as winners… And then do what it takes to perform as a winner.

Do you need some fresh tools, a strategic reset, or even some accountability and encouragement to reinforce your commitment to success and growth? Schedule a call with one of our coaches to find out how we can help you confidently step into your success!

Use this link to schedule an appointment.

“Actions speak louder than words!

As a sales person, your best metric of success is sales, not praise.”

~ Chandell Labbozzetta

Your Perspective is Showing

Last week I received a call from Kayla, one of the HR reps at a company that had asked me to work with their sales team to increase motivation and conversion. They had recently hired a new sales manager who has worked with me before and who knew that I could deliver the training his team needed to accelerate their results. I had discussed everything with him, told him my terms, and provided a course overview. The purchase was approved and I expected that Kayla was calling to discuss the start date.

Oh boy, was I wrong!

Thirty seconds into the call I realised that Kayla is one of those people who doesn’t have a sales person’s bone in her body… She also thinks that sales people are sleazy. For all I know, based on her tone of voice, she thinks they should all burn in hell. I could hear the disdain in her voice from the moment we started the call and it wouldn’t have bothered me except that…

Her first sentence began with: “I really think that you should change…” and she went on to tell me all the things she didn’t like about my 8-week program based on the 3-page program overview and her disgust for sales.

Whether your attitude to a topic is enthusiastic, neutral, or negative will communicate itself clearly to your prospects, just as Kayla’s disgust communicated itself to me. That’s why surveys and forums are often unhelpful and why you want to make sure to put yourself in a positive mindset before making a sales call so that you don’t sabotage your own results.

All Feedback is a Gift… AND

You should evaluate it carefully before you act on it.

Sometimes positive feedback is helpful. Sometimes it isn’t.

Sometimes negative feedback should be acted on. Sometimes you should ignore it.

You are responsible for your results, and therefore you are responsible for evaluating and considering the feedback you receive and deciding what to do about it.

One of my clients completely changed the name and content of her products and services based on advice from another coach who had his own hang-ups about what this person did. Her coach was never going to buy her services, but she took the advice he gave her and it cost her several years of progress and nearly sent her into bankruptcy. When she came to work with me, it was immediately clear that this coach had undermined her self-confidence because he didn’t value her particular specialty and the result was that she doubted all her hard-won knowledge and experience.

In our Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and coaching trainings we emphasize strongly that you should never work with a client whom you don’t believe can succeed because your belief (or lack of it) will communicate itself to them and affect their results. For this reason, I will reject clients whom I might like to work with, if I am convinced they do not have what it takes to succeed in their undertaking because I know that that belief is a critical component in their success.

Non-Buyers Can Help You Evaluate Your Sales Process

People who don’t buy can provide valuable feedback about your sales process.

One of the organisations I worked with had a conversion rate of just 3%. The first assignment I gave the team members was to call all the people who they had talked to who hadn’t bought and ask them why.

It turned out that the biggest problem was that they were talking to unqualified buyers. Eighty-six percent of the non-buyers were not and never would be, candidates for their service. When we evaluated our list and tightened up our qualification process, their conversion rate leaped to 82% even before we changed anything about the process. When we took into account the other negative responses from qualified buyers we were able to strengthen their sales pitch, follow up, and we got some valuable enhancements for the content of the program.

Even though you should always remember that the responses given in focus groups and through surveys are often not confirmed by behaviour, you can always learn something new.

Before You Refine or Change Your Product…

’The road to hell is paved with good intentions’ and even the best-intentioned people (both buyers and non-buyers) can lead you astray so think carefully before you act on the advice and feedback you receive.

Here are some key factors to start with:

  • What is your vision for this product? Do the critics understand that vision?
  • What is the core use of this product? Do your evaluators share or appreciate this need?
  • Where does your product fit in the marketplace?
  • How does it compare with its real competitors?

The less similar to existing products or services yours is, the more likely it is that criticism is based on misunderstanding.

Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, and other trailblazers did not ask the marketplace what was required: they built on the basis of their own vision, knowing that most people would have to see the results in order to appreciate the power of their product.

If you want to innovate, it is important for you to trust your own vision and know where to take feedback and from whom, and when your best course is simply to forge ahead as planned and keep seeking ideal prospects who will get excited about the results and solutions you offer. This is why at the heart of all my programs, there is a strong emphasis on building self-confidence, creating a powerful positive mindset, and learning how to accept and evaluate feedback so you can maximise your mileage.

“If you don’t make sales, your business will go bankrupt. It’s that simple.”

~ Chandell Labbozzetta

What Makes a Business Successful?

Any business has several essential elements.

These include:

  • Legal & Banking Compliance Structures
  • Financial Controls, Budgets, Projections etc.
  • Products and/or Services that People Want to Buy
  • Order & Delivery Mechanisms
  • Future Plans for Growth
  • Employees for Production and Administration
  • Marketing and Sales Plans
  • Etc. Etc. Etc.

BUT… Sooner of later: sooner, if you’re self-funded; later if you are funded by venture capital you actually need to make a profit… Which means that you need to make sales (preferably a growing number of them at a variety of price-points.

If you don’t, you end up bankrupt.

You Can’t Take Likes and Shares to the Bank!

You probably already know that no matter how many followers and fans you have on social media, how many people attend your free webinars etc. None of those things will pay your bills. Plenty of people have said that before me.

On the other hand, you’ve probably also heard people say that “the money is in your list” (both email and physical mail) which is only partly true. The money is actually in your list of buyers. Many of the people on that list are just empty names. If you are sending via email, then all those dormant names aren’t costing you $… But they are affecting your credibility and deliverability. If you are sending physical mail then there is a specific monetary cost attached to those non-buyers names.

This is not the place to talk about my method for qualifying people and distinguishing between:

  • Buyers,
  • Not-Yet Buyers, and
  • Never-Buyers,

But I wanted to get you thinking about these things because I’m seeing people take this “money is in your list” idea way too far.

The ONE Metric That Changes Everything!

= SALES!

If you don’t make sales you can’t afford anything else in your business.

I’ve worked with businesses of all sizes from start-ups to multi-million dollar turnover publicly listed corporations. From lifestyle and make-the-world-a-better-place businesses to profit-driven entities and mission-centric entrepreneurs. Sooner or later all of them realise that when they focus on improving their sales numbers, everything else starts moving in a positive direction.

It’s especially true when you are set on growing and taking your business to the next level:

  • From start-up to a half-million dollar business
  • From a half-million dollar business to a one million dollar business
  • From a one million dollar business to a five million dollar business

The thing you need is… More sales!

Are You Treating Sales as an Afterthought?

I can’t tell you how many people make this mistake.

They act as though sales are just  peripheral… And as though sales skills are only useful for the ‘sales professionals’ (often meaning – but not saying – those people who couldn’t do anything more useful with their lives).

Interestingly enough, many of the people who say, act, or think like that either lose their business or come to me and ask for urgent help with their sales either to save their business or so they can create the income and life of their dreams instead of struggling to make ends meet each month.

It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way

 


One of the things that brings me the deepest level of satisfaction is seeing business owners realise that developing their (ethical) sales skills helps them enjoy life more and develop deeper relationships with:

  • Staff and Colleagues
  • Prospects
  • Clients
  • Friends
  • Family

That’s because communication is at the heart of successful sales and better communication skills help you in every area of life.

In addition, once you master the art of opening sales conversation and closing sales, the tangible benefits appear in your bank account and your level of stress goes down… Dramatically.

If you’d like to join the thousands of people who have experienced the transformation that comes when you master ethical sales systems and implement them in your business, check out the programs and events I host and join my email list HERE.

“Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do.

Don’t wish it were easier; wish you were better.”

~ Jim Rohn

When Referrals Are Not Enough

Does your business rely on a steady flow of new clients to make a profit?

Are you relying on referrals for all of those new clients?

Does it impact upon you when referrals quieten down or things become less busy?

Recently, a prospective client called me and explained that he was relying on referral business to get new clients. This strategy had been working fairly well, but when Covid hit, and networking was restricted, his referrals dried up and he had no new clients to do business with. This presented a major problem!

After going through our client qualification process we determined that we were a good fit for each other and started working together with clear goals for the number and type of clients he was looking for. I worked with his team and we identified a pool of ideal prospects and a process for reaching out to them.

When he implemented these steps he was managed to increase his team’s call to appointment ratio from 12% to a whopping 85% success rate in just one week (This means that for every seven calls they used to make they now only need to make one!) and he also realised how much more effective and profitable this strategy was than his former networking process.

Taking the ‘Cold” Out of Cold Calling

I’ve done a lot sales calls in my time. At a former job my manager expected every person on the sales team to make 50 calls every other day, so that they could book 5 appointments for the next day – he based that on the calculation that we would close 1 appointment for every 10 calls.

My problem was that if I made 50 calls, I would end up with closer to 30 appointments, but he still wanted me to keep making the calls and my calendar was quickly booked out for months ahead. When I moved into a team manager role, I didn’t make the same mistake!

My best-selling book Confident Closing: Sales secrets that grew a business by 400% in six months and how they can work for you! tells the story of later adventure, but when I was first made manager I told my team,
“Appointments are the things that generate income. You need to make as many calls as you need to book 15 appointments per week with qualified buyers.” I then taught them how to take the ‘cold’ out of cold calling so that they could make fewer calls and set more appointments.

Not only did that make my sales team happy, it also meant that they closed a phenomenal number of sales because we worked on how to turn more appointments into closed business as well.

DON’T 'Start at the Very Beginning’...

I’ve done a lot sales calls in my time. At a former job my manager expected every person on the sales team to make 50 calls every other day, so that they could book 5 appointments for the next day – he based that on the calculation that we would close 1 appointment for every 10 calls.

My problem was that if I made 50 calls, I would end up with closer to 30 appointments, but he still wanted me to keep making the calls and my calendar was quickly booked out for months ahead. When I moved into a team manager role, I didn’t make the same mistake!

My best-selling book Confident Closing: Sales secrets that grew a business by 400% in six months and how they can work for you! tells the story of later adventure, but when I was first made manager I told my team,
“Appointments are the things that generate income. You need to make as many calls as you need to book 15 appointments per week with qualified buyers.” I then taught them how to take the ‘cold’ out of cold calling so that they could make fewer calls and set more appointments.

Not only did that make my sales team happy, it also meant that they closed a phenomenal number of sales because we worked on how to turn more appointments into closed business as well.

Success in Sales (and many other things) Starts in Your Head

Have you ever noticed that when you are having a good day and feeling really positive that you have better conversations with people?

It’s not just that you are looking at yourself with more kindness, it’s based on the reality that people tend to pick up unconsciously on the way that you are feeling no matter what you say (or how much you smile). If they don’t get a positive projection from you then (regardless of how much they need what you are selling) they will often say “No,” to you and go out looking for an alternative provider. All your conversation did was to make them aware of their need.

That is why it is absolutely essential for you to get you in the right frame of mind before you call anyone.

When you do a simple activity to raise your energy and prepare for the call, you raise your confidence, raise your awareness… and you will see the difference in your results. One of my colleagues used to make cold calls from under his desk if he needed to change his state of mind – he claimed it raised his call to appointment ratio by more than 25%.

Jim Rohn’s Secret of Success is True in Sales

There’s a simple reason why this series is entitled “How Much Do You Want That Sale?”

I’ve noticed that most of the time when people don’t get what they say they want it’s because they aren’t willing to do the work it takes to achieve their goal. This doesn’t mean they’re lazy… Many people work very hard… But they focus on the wrong things.

The people who get what they want are willing to do the things that are hard or go against their natural talents. They’re always learning, always growing their skills, and they’re willing to try something new even if it feels unnatural.

If you want to succeed in sales (and after all, sales is the #1 life skill) then there are just a few key areas to focus on. I’ve already covered most of them and we’ll look at the last 2 areas in the next segment.

“The map appears to us more real than the land.”

~ D.H. Lawrence

What Does This Have to Do with Business and Sales?

In it’s most general term a ‘map’ is any tool that helps us understand and navigate the situation we are facing and the ‘territory’ is our actual situation.

In business and in sales, these maps include:

  • Sales processes, scripts, and tools
  • Business processes and protocols
  • Dress and speech codes
    Financial instruments
  • Lead generation and nurture

The territory would be the actual real-world conversations you have, the sense of rapport you do or do not have, systems glitches, etc.

Every day your business uses a map to function. Even the decision to ‘wing it’ and make up the rules as you go is a map… of sorts.

One of my favourite stories to tell with regard to following a map is about a sales rep named Bob. My friends know him as ‘Bob the photocopier man’. Bob’s map was detailed and fixed in his mind. He went from Point 1 to Point 2 to… Point X without any variation.

I encountered Bob on a day when I was short of staff and short of time. I wanted the answer to a SINGLE question and was ready to sign the purchase order as soon as that was answered. Unfortunately, Bob was so fixated on his map, that he couldn’t read the situation… And lost the sale!

This principle can make the difference between paying your bills… And not doing so.

Reality Check!

When you mistake your map for the reality you actually face, you can get into big trouble.

This is why, in business and sales, there is no such thing as a perfect process or structure. There are frameworks that apply when certain things are true, but if someone says, “Just do x, y, and z, and then you will 100X your profit this year,” then you should run away as quickly as you can.

There are many valuable online courses that promise to help you succeed if you have the confidence and motivation to work at implementing them. Most of them are genuinely effective, but you still have to bring your analytical skills and imagination to them. This is why we insist on pre-qualifying people for our programs: they are designed for people who have specific needs and there are some people whom we cannot help for one reason or another.

In business, your processes, theories, and understanding cannot be divorced from the reality of everyday life. If you try to ignore reality, your business is likely to fail… Fast.

In fact, one of the reasons people often contact me is that the financial reality of a business that does not have a strong sales process and supporting sales structures has become painfully evident. The truth is, you can have a fantastic product or service, but if you can’t actually close sales then you are at risk of failure.

Jumping to Conclusions

A map is like any other model. A quick glance may expose the similarities, but may not give enough information to highlight the differences.

That’s where both parties need to ask good questions to establish their suitability. I’m always rather wary of a high-ticket service business that lets me pay my money too easily, especially when they are going to deliver an outcome. It may be tempting when you need to make sales quickly to take ‘anyone with a pulse’, but it has a negative effect on your positioning and your own confidence in the results you deliver.

This is why the most famous and successful sales and business consultants have a very stringent application process and turn away as many applicants as they accept. Those they do accept are happy to pay astronomical fees because they know they will get results. These companies have set up a process that weeds out all the people who do not fit their profile.

There are other consultants and trainers who offer one-size-fits-all courses and deliver the same advice to everyone without digging into specific situations and needs. Frequently, these people are well-known, but their programs don’t deliver such stellar results and there is rarely any effort to pre-qualify applicants.

There’s a third group of consultants and trainers who offer customised interactive programs that deliver stellar results to members even when they are at different stages (within limits). These consultants and trainers qualify and evaluate candidates and they exclude those they can’t help, but their aim is to fully understand just what the prospect is looking for and where they are in the process.

Who Made the Map?

When it comes to sales training, specifically, it is extremely important to know who made the map you are following… And when it was made.

There was a long period in the 80’s and 90’s when sales training focused on what I call, ‘drag, batter, and kill’ methodologies. The idea was that when you see someone who was a potential prospect, you should corner them, beat them over the head with information, drag them to the desk, and close the sale – preferably on a long-term contract.

Some of these ideas are still practiced and taught today… And I find them out-dated, repulsive, and arrogant.

When you think about your sales strategies, my question is: if you used them to offer your service to your best friend, would you still be friends?

If the answer isn’t a resounding “Yes,” then it’s time to re-evaluate your sales strategy and discover how to tweak (or redesign) your map so that it is truly useful in today’s business territory because sales has never been a more critical skill to develop if you want to succeed.

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