Program on Persuasion

Would You Invest 3 Minutes Of Learning To Improve Your Close Rate? Why?

There exists a natural principle to remain consistent to how we see ourselves and to commitments that we have made.  Science has proven that the more public the commitment, the higher the probability that we will keep the commitment.  Promises that we silently make to ourselves are not nearly as powerful as those in which we write down.  Those commitments we write down are not as powerful as those we verbally make to others . . . the more public the commitment, the higher the probability that we will follow through.

When we are asked to predict whether we will engage in a socially desirable behavior, such as scheduling a specific time to talk, we feel compelled to say yes.  Once the question is framed in a manner that the responsible thing to say is “yes”, and then gaining the public, verbal commitment is essential . . . “would you please call if you have to cancel”?

The key to success is that your initial inquiry is voluntary action from the one you are asking.  The second element is that you gain verbal commitment.  To further cement the commitment, you can ask them to briefly describe “why” they think scheduling the call is important?

Studies have demonstrated a 25% improvement in commitments when using this technique.  Would it work on someone like you?  I don’t know . . . “would you invest 3 minutes of learning to improve your close rate?  Why?

How Consistency Increases Your Persuasiveness

Rodney Whaley was our youth football coach.  He had an uncanny ability to find the best in every  player and describe it in a way that we all could see it.  Most importantly, the individual began to believe it.  What a great trait, to be able to find the best in others, to cull out the skill that could be honed into something truly exceptional.

We believed so much in Coach Whaley that when he told us we were very good at something, we took on the role.  He once told one of my teammates that he was a bull, a fearless hitter . . . and he was OR at least he became one. 

I later learned that this is strategy used by master motivators called labeling.  It involves assigning a trait, attitude or other label to someone, and then making a request of that person consistent with the label.  Clients that are labeled as early adopters or open to new ideas, tend to live up to the expectation.  Of course, it has to be sincere and true or the labeler will lose whatever influence he once possessed.

Imagine, if you will, if you began to look for the best quality in every client, employee, or family member you have?  Not only would be in a much better position to have your request accepted, but more importantly, can you imagine positive influence you would have on others?  Well, I can tell you, I know about 12 other guys my age that would do anything for Coach Whaley.

Your Greatest Achievement Is On the Other Side of Your Greatest Fear

There are three simple, yet bold, steps you must take in order to achieve your greatest victory.  First dare to dream and dream big.  Second, put dreams down on paper, that transitions the “wish” into a goal.  And third, set your mind to embrace the risk. 

Dream . . . desire reveals design and design reveals destiny.  Visualize what you desire, bask in it, daydream – get the emotion, let it cascade over you until it feels real.  Do more than just see it in your mind, use all your senses (what are the texture & temperature, the smells, sounds and taste) of the dream. This visualization locks-in your subconscious mind to go about finding that which you desire.  We are all emotional beings and that emotion will spark the first step and fuel the journey.

Set your goals: when you begin setting your goals, you are taking that first BIG step on your journey, and your inner-self realizes this . . . you are for real, a force to reckon with.  You must have a clear destination of where you are going.  Put yourself there mentally, in the future state of your desires, then look back to the present state as if that were your imagination, then ask yourself how did I get here, what was the path . . . my journey.  Then go about making those plans, step by step, do the hard work.  The better the plan, the more confidence you will have in your ability to achieve it.  There will be some surprises, plan on it . . . and when they come, stay calm, accept it and calmly figure out how to overcome it.  The worst thing you can do is let the “fear” overtake you.  There is always a way out, the secret is not necessarily being the most intelligent person in the world, it’s simply keeping your wits about you in the most stressful situation you can imagine.

“What would you dare to attempt, if you knew you could not fail?” If you are not pursuing your dream it’s a high probability you fear the failure, you’re afraid of getting knocked down.  You should not ponder whether you will be knocked down . . . you will, heck that’s only a right to passage, if you attempt something worth pursuing, you are going to get knocked back down . . . that’s what makes it worth pursuing.  It’s not what happens to you that matters, it’s the meaning behind what has happened to you.  It’s all about that inner voice and how you talk to yourself.  Most people spend their entire adult lives trying to survive it . . . trying to avoid taking any risk.  Here’s some sobering news . . . none of us are going to make it out of this world alive (physically that is).  My hero, Augustus McCrae, Texas Ranger (Gus from Lonesome Dove) said it best “it’s not dying I’m talking about . . . it's living”.  So accept the journey, the challenge, life has offered you.  Don’t be scared of how hard you may get knocked down.  Get back up, get your mind right and move on.  That’s how winning is done. By the way, Gus knew how to live; in fact his final words on his death bed were “it was quite a party”.  I encourage you to live your life in manner that your final words would have similar meaning.

A Paradigm Shift That Will Ignite Your Sales

Imagine that you change jobs tomorrow and go to work for your largest client.  Remember the first day at any place new?  First day of high school, first day of practice with a new athletic team, and of course; the first day of work for a new company . . .  and this company is or was your largest customer.  Can you recall a heightened sense of anticipation . . . you want to make such a great impression.

Why do you think they hired you?  Well, certainly one of the reasons is they think you will bring value to their organization.  So, what’s the first thing you will do to help this company?  What is the one biggest thing they could do to improve their performance?  You know what that is, right?  Remember, this is not just any company this is YOUR largest client.  What is the biggest challenge they are facing?  What are the major industry trends?  What’s happening with their profile clients?  Do you know what the competitors are doing and is it working? 

If you don’t know the answers to these obvious questions you would probably start working your tail off to find out.  Well, here is the paradigm shift . . . you DO work for your largest client!  It is not only your responsibility to understand their business, but to understand it from their perspective. 

When you begin to behave in a fashion consistent with having ownership in all your clients’ best interest, you begin to move out of the “salesperson stereotype” and into a trusted advisor.

Close More Sales over Business Meals with Proper Etiquette

Peter Drucker once commented "so many business decisions are made over lunch & dinner meetings, yet even the business schools do little to no training here".  We infer a lot about each other in the most common of social settings for business deals. . . lunch, Starbucks, and dinner.  Others intuitively make decisions about whether or not they want to do business with us based on our character, the real person underneath the cloak of the boardroom, office or shop.  That venue is most commonly the restaurant or the coffee shop.

We need to let people in, let them get to know who we really are, but that does not mean that we forget our manners or do not know proper business etiquette.  Remember, others are constantly evaluating whether or not we are the type person they want to partner with.  Listed below are some etiquette tips for a nicer restaurant, if you know these, Starbucks & Outback will be a breeze:

1. The Invitation:  provide choices of 2-3 locations and the opportunity for the client to suggest their favorite (don't leave it up to the client to do all the work of deciding).
2. The Reservation:  you should make the reservation in your name & if you know the restaurant well, request a table with little noise and traffic.  If you have never been to the restaurant, it would be a good idea to drop-in and meet the maitre d' or owner prior to your reservation.
3. Arrive at least 10 minutes early:  you do not want to keep your client in the waiting area too long, so get there early and get things moving.
4. Seating Arrangements:  always offer the preferred seat (best view or most comfortable) to the client.  If there are several in the party, assign seating to members of your team & have your team wait until all the guests are seated before ya'll sit down.
5. The Napkin:  should go in your lap as soon as you sit down & stays in your lap the entire time you are in the restaurant.  If you need to get up, for any reason, place the napkin to the left of your plate (do not refold it or place it in your chair).
6. Ordering Drinks:  let the client order first and follow his lead.  If he does not order you should also decline, "no thank you or just the water" is all you have to say.  If the client orders a drink, you should too.  If she orders an alcoholic beverage and you prefer not to drink, order a club soda or non-alcoholic drink.
7. When to Talk business:  it is good manners not to talk business until the meal has been ordered.  Limit your business conversation to 1-2 topics.  It is your responsibility, as the host, to insure that everyone is being serviced properly by the waiter.
8. The Table Setting:  forks should be to the left and knives to the right.  There should never be more than 3 of each.  Forks & knives from the outside-in should be: fish, meat & salad (closest to the plate).  Sometimes the salad fork is on the outside (it can recognized as the smallest fork, unless there is an oyster fork).  The water goblet (should be the largest glass on the table) will be to your right.  Your bread & butter plate will be to your left.  HINT:  if you can't remember which bread or water is yours, rest each of your hands on your thighs & make the universal sign for "ok"; your left hand will form the letter "b" and your right the letter "d". . . "b" is for bread and "d" is for drink.
9. Signaling the Waiter Silently:  the position of your utensils is the silent code in the nicer restaurants.  Resting your fork across your knife (forming an "A" shape), tines down, on your plate when you are speaking (and not chewing) lets the waiter know that your are not finished eating (no need to interrupt your conversation to ask).  Conversely, when you are finished and want the waiter to take your plate, the signal is: place your knife & fork together (side-by-side), tines down, in your plate with the handles at 4 o'clock and the tines at 10 o'clock.
10. Closing the Meal:  you should encourage your guest to have desert and/or coffee.  Again, follow their lead, if they order, so should you.
11. Paying the Bill:  settle the bill quietly at the table.  If there are billing mistakes,do not challenge them at the table, settle them at the front desk.

4 Quick Questions to Determine Your Sales Professionalism

Four Quick Questions For You:

1. Who are your top 10 prospects?  
2. If you were introduced to the perfect prospect right now, what exactly would you say?  
3. What are your best responses to the 5 most common prospect objections?  
4. When your top prospects stall or decide not to respond to your call-to-action, what is your next move? 

If you cannot answer these 4 simple questions with 100% confidence and clarity, you are not prepared to give your best.  Your prospects are your targets, they give you direction and purpose and you must know where you are aiming.  Football teams have scripted each and every play and exactly how to execute dependent on the defensive scheme.  When sales people have not developed “their compelling story”, which 99% have not, they have not committed themselves to excellence.  Everyone has at least 5 common objections to doing business with them, it’s called negative buying criteria.  When your compelling story does not preempt these objections, you are at a huge disadvantage of having to react to a negative buyer emotion.  Studies have proven that 60% of prospects buy only after they give 5 “no’s”.  80% of sales people give up after 3 “no’s”. 

In his best-selling book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell makes the case that it takes 10,000 hours of repetition before one becomes a great achiever.  The champions of any industry or sport are those that master their skill.  Preparation and rehearsal are the keys to becoming great in your profession.  Champions don’t like to do the preparation and repetition anymore than the rest, they do it anyway . . . and that is what makes them champions.  First, identify the key skills that you must develop before you waste your time and lose your momentum.  Once you have a clear understanding of the basics . . . master the basics.  The great ones figure out the basics then work hard to develop those skills until they can do them better than anyone. 

To be a champion, master the answers to the 4 questions listed above.

Invest In Sales Training Now, or NOT?

Jim Collins, in his best-selling book Good To Great, distinguishes the Great companies from the Good in that the Great have an understanding of what they can be the best at.  He is not describing a competency.  Collins informs us that the Great understood what they could be the best at then pinned their futures by allocating the proper resources.  If you are in a sector that employees a sales force, it is critical to note that the most important criteria in supplier selection, by B2B customers, is the effectiveness of the sales person (HR Chally research).  Therefore, if customers chose the most effective sales person, it seems essential that the organization insure that they have the best sales force. 

The best sales people attract people to them largely in part because of their positive energy.  Customers feed off it and sales people must sustain it.  Whether it's referred to as body language, karma or energy; customers feel it when they see it and sales people are fueled by it.  Joe Paterno once said "you are either getting better or you are getting worse, there is no staying the same".  Investing in getting better is part of building the momentum and maintaining a wet edge on the positive energy. 

This economy will produce fewer players, weak survivors, and a few that seized the opportunity to invest in that which they can be the best at.  Some organizations will emerge as the new Great and others will extend their lead.  Some leaders will try to "time the recovery" and pray it saves them before they run out of customers, perpetuating mediocrity at its core.  Great leaders will improve their organizations now and in the future by gaining more customers by giving customers what they want . . .  the most effective sales person!  The sales force receiving the growth hormone, sales training, will be further energized and gain ground.

Remember This One Thing To Conquer Your Fear

 
He didn't fall on top of Mt Everest . . . he climbed it!  Great achievements are great because of the trials and setbacks overcome to reach them.  What is the greatest accomplishment in your life thus-far?  The "one thing" for which your are most proud & makes you feel the best about yourself? 

What, specifically, about your greatest achievement makes it worthy of the emotion it elicits within you?  Is it the fact that deep down, in places you did not want to talk about,it truly tested you, that there were times when you really did not know if you had what it takes?  When the all-encompassing emotion of fear had its grip on you? 

Many heroes would not have achieved had they not been forced into the "unknown" and out of their comfort zone by the termination from a great job or becoming a single-parent due to the leaving of a spouse.  Greatest comes from the precipice.  It seems we must walk in or near the brink of disaster in order to extract the best of ourselves.  Perhaps that is true of you or perhaps you willfully took the risk to pursue your life's purpose.  Either way, it seems that only when pressed did we realize something we did not know before . . . we did have what it takes!

The comfort zone is the biggest obstacle, for most of us, of achieving our heart's desire.  Our desire reveals our design, and our design our destiny.  We deny our God-given destiny when we succumb to the familiarity of the comfort zone.  It's not that the comfort zone is all that comfortable, it's just familiar & stepping outside of it is "unknown" and scary.  So here it is, the one thing I want you to remember the next time you are flushed with fear . . . you do have it takes, you have reached greatness before, & now you will again, because you have no other choice, but to reach down & find what it takes for you to get up & move forward right in the face of your friend . . . fear.  Fear is familiar, you know fear.  Fear has always helped get the best from you.  Feel the fear, but don't quit, the fear will help you reach something you knew not possible.  Embrace the fear & something magical happens . . . it disappears.  Some choose to risk it all in order to reach levels previously unattainable & some have fear cast upon them, either way, if you keep getting up & moving forward you will never fail, eventually you will find yourself on top of your own Mt Everest.

How To Be More Persuasive Using Body Language

In order to be most persuasive with our target audience, we need to communicate powerfully with our body language.  Our objective should be to amplify our words by expressing consistency of our message with our non-verbal gestures.  When our verbal is congruent with our non-verbal, our audience is much more likely to feel understood & believe in our message.

Tips to consider:

1. Genuinely smile when meeting the other person.  An authentic smile is the most universally- powerful, positive gesture.  It says that we are relaxed, happy, and glad to be in the other's company.
2. The tilting of our head telegraphs that we are receptive to the other's comments.  Consistent eye-contact (avoid a stare-off) and the appropriate head nod along with the raising of the eye brow(s) affirms to the other that we are actively engaged and understand that which they are communicating.
3. When delivering our solution any movements that defy gravity (i.e. the raising of our arms or raising up on our toes) expresses that we are positively excited and exudes confidence.
4. Talk with your hands.  People want to see our hands.  Although it is usually non-conscious, people put a strong measure of trust in whether our hands are saying the same thing our words are.  Palms-up is a pleading posture or supplication for the other to believe.  While palms-down, when emphasizing a point, is perceived as demonstrating more confidence in our position.
5. Our torso is the billboard of our body language.  The front, or ventral-side, when fully exposed signals an openness of honesty and transparency.  While the back, or dorsal-side, sends the message that we are closing ourselves off.  Turning our back on someone, as the saying goes, comes from this actual gesture and can be one of the most disrespectful and non-supportive postures we can take.

Here is a challenge to you . . . the next time you engage someone in conversation become aware of the message your body language is communicating.  It is usually a good idea (although not always) to let your natural gestures accompany your verbal message.  Take the time to notice if your body language is consistent with your verbal communication.

Beyond Goal Setting: Steps To Goal Achievement

For years we have been taught that writing down our goals greatly increases our chances of reaching them . . . & it's true . . . but there is more . . . much more.  Our ability to achieve is limited primarily by our imagination and our beliefs.  Einstein stated that imagination was more important than intelligence & Brian Tracy said that "our imagination is unlimited & therefore so is our ability to achieve".  That leaves our beliefs - we can only achieve to the degree that we believe.  We will forever behave in a manner that is consistent with our beliefs.  The heights to which we have risen, thus far in our lives, have been congruent to that which we believe.  If we desire to reach more noble aspirations, we must enhance upon our beliefs.  We must change our beliefs.

Our beliefs reside in that "unaware" portion of our brain referred to as the non-conscious or subconscious.  This is the power center of the mind - working 24/7 to bring into reality that which we have programmed it to.  Experts tell us that 96% -98% of our behavior is controlled by the subconscious.  Our beliefs and our habits reside within the subconscious.  We will always behave in a manner consistent with our beliefs and our habits because our beliefs and habits are thousands of times more powerful than our discipline and desire.  Therefore, in order to change our behavior consistently, we must reprogram our subconscious.  

We program our subconscious with our thoughts.  Our thoughts are the conscious, deliberate seeds to which we plant into the fertile soil of the subconscious mind.  That which we think creates the beliefs we hold.  Therefore, we must master the ability to control our thoughts.  Consistent thoughts create neural pathways.  In the same way that a path gets beaten down & easier to travel, so to do our consistent thoughts create new, powerful patterns of thoughts . . . habits of thoughts become beliefs.  Prayer, meditation, affirmation, and visualization talk directly to the subconscious.  Lee Pulos, in his book The Power of Visualization, does an outstanding job teaching several of these techniques.

For those of you that want to achieve your greatest year ever in 2010, please join Dave Carpenter on Twitter @ #2010Plan.  Dave is helping people like you and me, his goal is 10,000 people, plan for their best year ever.