Recent Articles From EvanCarmichael.com http://www.evancarmichael.com/ http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/409/Selling-Value.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/409/Selling-Value.html Selling has its own set of challenges and getting objections from your prospect rates right up there at the top. One particular and all too frequent objection you may here is the one about pricing. We’ve all heard it, “I’m afraid your price is a little high.” Keep in mind that people don’t buy Price, they buy Value, even though they won’t always admit it. This objection means that they don’t fully appreciate the “Value” of what you are selling. However, if this objection keeps coming up in your discussions, then it’s a good indication that they are interested. So don’t view this as a negative objection since it could simply be a buying sign. Unfortunately, many sales people start to discount their product in order to overcome this objection, which is the wrong way to go. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/409/How-Am-I-Doing.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/409/How-Am-I-Doing.html “How am I doing?” was a question former New York City mayor Ed Koch often asked his constituents. In an effort to make sure he was meeting their needs, he surveyed their opinions constantly. Not a bad idea since it not only gave him valuable feedback to consider but also showed everyone that he was open to getting their honest opinions so he can improve his performance. Do you do this with your customers? Chances are that you don’t, or perhaps you do it in a somewhat ineffective manner. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/409/Sales-Values.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/409/Sales-Values.html I just finished reading an excellent book about the history of Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Interestingly enough, it’s simply called “Harley-Davidson.” This is an unusual read for me since I am not a Harley owner nor do I own or even ride motorcycles. But I am interested in learning about how successful companies got their start and grew over the years, and this book was very interesting and educational, and loaded with the most beautiful pictures of motorcycles that one could imagine. At one point there was a picture of the company’s value statements. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/409/Defining-a-Great-Customer-Experience.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/409/Defining-a-Great-Customer-Experience.html While consulting with a client of mine who was Vice President of Sales for a financial services company, I asked him what he believed his customers thought of his company and how they liked doing business with him. His answer was that his customers loved his company and their experiences were very positive. I then spoke to his sales people to learn more about their existing sales processes as well as other sales-related issues. The sales reps’ feelings were similar to their vice president, although not quite as over-confident and smug. Where they differed related to the fact that they did get some complaints from customers, but not enough for them to believe the customers had anything but excellent experiences with their company. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/409/Anger-Can-Hurt-Your-Sales.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/409/Anger-Can-Hurt-Your-Sales.html As an avid and competitive racquetball player, I get into some very heated matches with opponents from time to time. Racquetball is a very fast-paced and intense game and if you aren’t careful, your emotions can get carried away and override your ability to play smartly. How your opponent plays can have a direct affect on your emotional state. For instance, if he consistently gets in the way of your shot, you either have to take an alternate and less effective shot or call a hinder which results in a do over. If this continues throughout the game, it can get very frustrating. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/409/Dealing-with-Difficult-Customers.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/409/Dealing-with-Difficult-Customers.html Customers – Some times ya love ‘em. Some times ya have to kill em’. We’ve all dealt with difficult customers before. I’m not talking about just the complainer or the “problem child”. I’m talking about the one who keeps making unreasonable requests of you and your company or has unrealistic expectations about what you should do for them. And no matter what you do for them, they don’t seem to be happy about it. How do you deal with these difficult customers? I will discuss six tips for handling these customers and their unreasonable requests. They may not work all the time, but I know they will help you most of the time, and at least help you to keep your sanity while not harming your business. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/409/Selling-Is-About-Helping-People.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/409/Selling-Is-About-Helping-People.html When you were a young child do you remember people asking you what you wanted to be when you grew up? Do you remember what you said? If you have your own children and ask them this same question, what will they say? The typical answer from an average kid is something like doctor, lawyer, teacher, policeman, fireman, and the like. What do these professions have in common? They all help people. A child might even say an athlete, who helps people by entertaining them. Or even an astronaut, who helps people by furthering the progress of mankind as a whole. Although in the latest news, I’m not sure that animal-abusing athletes and drunken astronauts are good role models these days, but I digress. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/409/The-Changing-Face-of-Sales.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/409/The-Changing-Face-of-Sales.html Over the past few years the sales environment has changed in a number of ways. The reasons are vast but typically relate to the changes in our society, economy, business models, technology and more. When it comes right down to the actual selling environment, there are a few distinct attributes that stand out today that didn’t seem to be as noticeable, or even a factor, just five or six years ago. The key for all sales organizations and individual sales professionals alike is to understand and adapt to these changes. Few organizations today still live through the experience of the ‘90s where prospects would actually call them and buy something without having to work hard at finding and acquiring these leads. Back then, even poor sales performance was rewarded with revenue and quota achievement, in spite of a lack of skills and hard work. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/409/Sell-Me-This-Pencil.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/409/Sell-Me-This-Pencil.html Were you ever being interviewed for a job when the interviewer said to you, “Sell me this pencil?” What did you say? What was he looking for? Why do people still do this? Without pondering the sociological rational of the interview process, quite simply he or she was just trying to find out how well you can sell, how you present yourself and/or how well you think on your feet. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/409/Just-One-More-Time--Breaking-Rocks-to-Make-a-Sale.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/409/Just-One-More-Time--Breaking-Rocks-to-Make-a-Sale.html Several years ago when we had our new home built in Las Vegas, we immediately put in a pool and hot tub. Of course the pool company convinced us that we needed a waterfall as an added design element for the pool. Several more thousands of dollars later, we agreed. When they got to the point when they started to build the waterfall, a very large crane showed up in the street adjacent to our house, along with a flatbed truck with these gigantic red boulders. I asked the project manager what that was all about, and he said, “That’s your waterfall.” I said, “No way do we want a giant pile of rocks,” in which he replied, “Just be patient and you’ll see.” So the crane lowered these small mountains into our yard and shortly afterward a crew of waterfall builders showed up.