Anne Miller | Selling

Monday, September 06, 2010

Shebang! The Power of Peers

What do you get when you take twenty-five amazing women entrepreneurs in the same industry from around the country and you put them in a hotel for a day and a half to share their best ideas, tips, strategies, and business problems?

Peer Power! Tons of ideas. Genuine help. Lots of laughter. And numerous new business alliances and friends. That's what happened to me just before Labor Day. The peerless Jill Konrath,author of Snap Selling and a long time advocate for women in business, organized this event which took place at O"hare airport. It was non-stop sharing, teaching, commiserating, applauding and laughing. We all left the meeting with pages and pages of To-Do lists, excited and energized, eager to stay in touch with each other and to implement what we had learned.

Unlike large conferences, which certainly have their place, the small size of our group made for lively, personal and meaningful conversations. The fact that we came from different cities and had different business models guaranteed fresh perspectives for all. Lori Richardson and Nancy Bleeke developed our agenda and the by-invitation-only participant list ensured the “simpatico” of the group.

Beyond Social Media Social media is great and I certainly participate in it, but nothing beats face to face conversation, live brainstorming, immediate feedback, spontaneous humor and real time serendipity. I encourage you to team up with three-five friends in the same industry, have each invite three-five people the others don’t know and then spend a day away from business (and all electronics) and focus on each other’s success. Include topics like: best high pay-off practices; current problems; future goals; sources of new business; quick tips; million dollar ideas; etc. It will be the best boost you can give to your business.

Here are some wonderful resources from the Shebang! www.smartsellingtools.com Get smart faster to have more meaningful conversations with clients www.scoremoresales.com Read Lori Richardson’s “360 Degrees of the Customer” www.marketinginteractions.com Everythingyou need to know for outstanding online content www.stopyourdrama.com Get back on track if you feel derailed www.goforno.com A great little book to help you deal positively with “No” www.wincourage.com Motivational boost to help you step up to leadership www.klagroup.com Experts in lead generation www.sharpenz.com Quick do-it-yourself management training exercises

And, of course, my new book and free download, “Make What You Say Pay! The language that opens minds, closes deals, and wows audiences” (Catch the video!)

Execution is everything: Make What You Say Pay!

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Thursday, August 19, 2010

New Book - Complimentary Download

The difference between the right words and just words is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug." Mark Twain

After many more months than I ever thought it would take, my new book “Make What You Say Pay! The Language That Opens Minds, Closes Deals & Wows Crowds” is finally here. And I want you to sample two chapters for free. Just go to www.makewhatyousaypay.com for the download.

50+ short stories and take-away tips demonstrate that you do not need to be famous nor particularly talented to be more persuasive, memorable, and effective in any situation. My goal in writing this book is to help transform the state of business conversations from fact and figure dumping grounds into whirlwind exchanges of ideas that escalate into action quickly.

Download the free chapters today and share this link with all your friends, clients, and colleagues as well. They will appreciate you for sending this really useful information,.(Don't miss the video.)

Available online $14.95

Available as pdf $14.95

Enjoy and thank you for spreading the word!

Execution is everything: Make What You Say Pay!

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Thursday, June 10, 2010

The Success Mirage

"Nothing succeeds like success.”

How many times have you heard this in business and, yet is this really true?..

Success is good. Success is what we strive for. Right? Yes, but there is a risk that comes with success. Bill Gates, no small success himself, explains the danger: “Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.” (Lehman, Goldman Sachs, the sub-prime mortgage lenders and British Petroleum are the obvious examples that immediately jump to mind.)

The questions to ask for your business, however, are: how seduced have you become by your success? What accounts might you be taking for granted? What business systems and models have become sacred cows for you that should be revisited and updated or revised? What language are you using in meetings with prospects and clients that needs to be strengthened to connect, build trust, and close business?

Can you answer in the affirmative for each of the following?

1. Are you following a sales process that matches how buyers buy today, not how they bought yesterday?

2. Do you engage in client centered ROI conversations or get lost in old feature/benefit laundry lists?

3. Do you communicate value in current partnering language or present in past pitchspeak?

Given a shaky economy, intense competition, and increased buyer sophistication, what succeeded for you in the past is unlikely to sustain you in the future. The winners in business for tomorrow will be those who ruthlessly re-examine their assumptions about how they are doing business, what clients want, how they are set up to deliver on those expectations, and, last but not least, how they frame the conversations they have with prospects and clients

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Tip Find the information you need for robust client conversations at the C-suite level at www.boardroominsiders.com Boardroom Insiders briefs you on senior executive business issues, personal likes and dislikes, key relationships and biographical history. Its executive profiles, relationship maps and custom research help increase your company’s relevance to the C-suite — and chart an engagement strategy to get you in the door.

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Under pressure to lower your prices? Find out how to protect your fees and your client relationships at my "Dealing With Price Pressure "Webinar: Thursday, June 17, 1-2PM Eastern Time. $99. Bonus: Save $20 with this Promotion Code 47fbc9f6. Sign up today

Time is limited: Make What You Say Pay!

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Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Persuasion Power

The Best Persuaders Do This

How versatile are you in persuasion strategies? If you are like most people, your default strategy is to convince through reason, a perfectly good strategy. However, if that is the only arrow in your influence quiver, you’re putting yourself at a disadvantage. Here are five additional ways to get others to take action...

1. Paint possibility pictures: Imagine what this will be like when you can access the data in less than a minute! All it will take for you to get that is a two-hour training session. When can you attend?

2. Ask questions: What is it costing you in terms of time and money with the slower service? Would you like to see faster response times? Would you be willing to try X?

3. Praise: You are so good at organizing projects. The job you did last week was brilliant. So, I would like to put you this project as well.

4. Authority: The guidelines say these are the forms that have to be filled out. Can you get them back to us by next week?

5. Trade: If you can increase your commitment to six programs then, we can give you your first choice of dates for the programs. Can you do that?

These are not either/or strategies. They can be used separately or together, depending on the situation. Observe your kids. They are natural born persuasion strategists! They use these approaches all the time and usually in combination to get what they want: "Imagine how good you'll feel when I go to the party looking so pretty in my new dress!" "Do you want me to be the only one at the party in last year's style?" "You are so understanding. You always help me. So, I know you'll understand why I need that new dress for the party." "All my friends are wearing this." "If you get me this dress just this once, I will clean up my room every day and be in bed by 10:30 every night."

Have an upcoming meeting with colleagues, clients, children, or spouses? Don’t be a one-note persuader. Take a tip from your kids and come armed with more than one strategy to get what you want.

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Check out: www.snappywords.com It’s a visual online interactive English dictionary and thesaurus that helps you find the meanings of words and draw connections to associated words. It’s fun. It’s free. It can help you get ideas to write content for your blog, an article, or proposal.

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Time is limited. Make What You Say Pay!

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Thursday, March 18, 2010

A New Way to Get Return Calls

Sometimes fortune lands on you when you least expect it. I had been periodically calling/emailing two companies to follow up on conversations about sales training they had said they wanted and I was getting no response. What finally got their attention was totally unexpected...

It was a date.

My family and I are leaving on vacation for Buenos Aires this weekend for two weeks. I sent a courtesy email to those prospects as well as to close clients saying, “Hi. FYI, I will be out of the country and pretty much out of touch from ... to.... If you are thinking of future training or coaching, please let me know by Friday of this week, even if times are tentative. Otherwise, I will respond to any inquiries when I return.”

To my surprise, everyone responded! My guess is that until they received that email with the specific dates in it, they had put me on the “when–I-get-to-that, I’ll-respond” priority list. The Friday deadline suddenly made responding urgent. It was an example of the evergrreen time management principle that "deadlines drive action."

So, what are the lessons here?

One, find a way to “go on vacation.” Find a logical deadline to put into your emails and phone message to spur faster returns.

Two, on a broader scale, put deadlines on all those things that you have been procrastinating doing:

-Contacting a set number of prospects a week

-Re-connecting with a set number of clients per week

-Learning whatever new skills you need to get you to that next level of sales success (I can help)

-Attending to key matters in your personal and family life

The list can go on indefinitely, depending on your situation, your objectives, and the pay-offs you are seeking. Regardless of the activity, to get it done, date it.

Announcing:

New Webinar: Dealing with Pressure to Lower Your Prices; How your team can hold price and protect protect profit margins, while maintaining strong client relationships.

Thursday, April 8th, 1PM EST. $99 For more details, go to Register Today

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Time is Limited: Make What You Say Pay

Back in April. Enjoy the weather.

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Thursday, March 04, 2010

Dazzle With Value

He stood there, very nondescript, sandy colored hair, hands in pocket, average looks, average height, somewhat overweight, no one special—and then he began to speak. Steve Stott, Founder of Tampa SEO Training Academy, delivered an amazing presentation to a Microsoft Partners meeting that I attended yesterday. It wasn’t the slides--too wordy. It wasn’t the topic--search engine optimization, very technical. It wasn’t his delivery style—though extremely energetic and engaging. It was the fact that he delivered so much more than we expected both in quantity and quality of information. In a 90 minute presentation, we felt like we had received hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars worth of useful information, delivered in an obviously thoughtful and entertaining way that was genuinely meant to help the audience.

Why is this impressive? We live in an age where many people on both the buy and sell sides are coming from a mental framework of scarcity: Buyers--Get more for less. Sellers--Give as little as possible to get as much as possible. Steve’s presentation reflected a mindset of abundance: Give as much value as possible and do it in a spirit of true desire to help listeners—whether they ultimately buy from you or not.

I encourage you to do the same with your clients. Give more value than they expect and do it with enthusiasm and professionalism. It pays off. Just look at this blog. Hundreds of people, who Steve could never reach on his own, will read this. He is now my number one referral for SEO work. And, if I ever need SEO help, he will be my first call. All that for just 90 minutes of work. And I was just one person in that audience.

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Just as Steve's "performance" carried lessons with it, if you loved watching the Olympics recently, lessons for business from the athletes are captured in this short article that appeared in Ad Age.

Time is limited: Make What You Say Pay

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Thursday, February 04, 2010

Reminder from Aristotle

I had an uncle who until he died was always telling great jokes, not one-liners, but stories that drew you in to the characters and situations until the story took an unexpected turn into punch lines that would double us over with laughter. Those stories were so much a part of who he was that at his funeral, appropriately, his sons each told one of his stories to honor their father.

My uncle relished telling those stories and, with each one, was always looking to improve his delivery—which leads me to a quote, given to me by a current coaching client: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle. What is one thing you do every day to ensure your continued excellence as a sales person, a manager, a parent, a friend or a spouse?

Must Read

The Cure for the Common Cold Call whitepaper (great title) one of several really useful whitepapers from The Nurture Institute, an excellent source for marketing effectively to your clients. If you don't know them, you should.

Time is limited: Make What You Say, Pay!

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Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Ants on the Picnic Table: What Buyers Know

Because of the internet, our clients are likely to be very well informed about an intended purchase before they ever see or talk to a salesperson. (Just think what you did over the vacation when you bought your holiday presents or your latest tech gadget.) Whether clients are looking for new financial software, marketing services, graphic designers, or tech equipment, you can bet they have been all over the web--like ants on a picnic table covered with spilled honey--comparing services, reading articles, and getting advice from chat groups and social media site friends. They do this to help them get smart about their intended purchase.

Pity the poor salesperson who thinks that he/she can then win business by simply identifying the buyer’s problem and wowing that buyer with a good solution-presentation. That approach is likely to generate tons of informed questions and objections from the buyer. Unanticipated by the salesperson, these questions and objections will cause a lot of embarrassing and counterproductive back-pedaling, ultimately lowering the chance of winning the business.

What to do?

Determine what your buyer knows about solving said problem before you even think of presenting your solution. Good questions to ask include:

What has brought this situation about?

Why are you interested in a change now?

What options have you looked at?

Which ones appeal to you? How do you see them helping address the situation?

What would an ideal solution look like? Why?

The answers to these questions will help you craft a more responsive solution to your client’s needs and increase your chances for winning business.

Happy New Year to all.

Remember, people have limited time: Make What You Say Pay!

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Friday, December 04, 2009

White Elephants in the Room

For or against the troop build-up, there was an important sales lesson to be learned from President Obamas’ speech at West Point Tuesday evening. Anticipate and address head on every objection or concern in your listener’s mind. The anticipated objections were many: why the delay in ti decision? Why should we focus on Afghanistan when our economy is a mess? Is this commitment worth it? Is there no end to the money we are spending there? Isn’t this just like Vietnam? Why can’t we keep the status quo? Etc. As with any sale, the concerns netted out to Why? Why now? How much? Is it worth it? Are there other better options? What’s involved? What will be our return on the investment?

You can’t wish away people’s objections, doubts, and concerns. They are the white elephants in the room that must be acknowledged. Your job is to turn those elephants into into mice that scamper away and shape the way your listeners think about those obstacles. To get acceptance for your ideas and recommendations, deal with them directly , which will pave the way for acceptance of your ideas and recommendations.

On a holiday note, if you are thinking of the perfect gift tech gift for someone, the NY Times had lots of wonderful suggestions in its Personal Tech section. My favorite: the new ebook readers. The most surprising: gifts for crafters.

Always remember: Your time with people is limited: Make What You Say, Pay!

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Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Out of Sight, Out of Mind, Out of Business

I had a professional wake-up call recently when I met with a client to discuss possible follow-up training to a negotiating seminar we had done for her team. She mentioned her need for presentation skills and when I said I could help her with that, she replied, “Oh, I am working with someone else for presentations training. I didn’t know you did that.” Didn't know? How could that be? I have written books on presenting, consulted on a zillion presentations across many industries, run hundreds of training and coaching sessions for people from groups of junior and seasoned reps to CEOs going out on road shows. And she didn’t know????

Well, shame on me. I reviewed all my materials from my business cards to my website and realized it was easy for her not to know the range of services I provide. I had obviously fallen down on marketing. So I changed everything, even my email signature, to explicitly describe the value I believe I bring to clients. Now, if someone doesn’t hire me, it won’t be because they didn’t know what I do.

Keeping clients aware of what you do is a real challenge. Eileen Sutton took this one step further and recently sent this email to her clients. I love it because it is brief, it is friendly, and it works.

Dear Anne,

Sometimes we don't let our inner circle know of our achievements.

So far this year, I've positioned a private-equity firm, a $20B asset-management firm, a Latin American investment bank, and a cash-management firm representing 300 banks nationally.

If you're aware of a financial firm that's in the market for a clearer, more profitable identity, perhaps I can help. My new brochure is attached, and consultations are complimentary. Thanks so much for your time.

Happy to help in any way in return. Let me know.

Very best,

Eileen

How are you reminding your clients and network about your current services?

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Friday, October 23, 2009

Remember This Coming Out of a Recession

When Steve Jobs was courting John Sculley, then CEO of Pepsi, to be CEO of Apple, Jobs won Sculley over by asking, "Do you want to sell sugared water the rest of your life or do you want a chance to transform the world?" With the way that question was framed, Sculley could not resist and the rest was history. I used this story in a recent seminar I did for AC Lion, the leading interactive sales search firm, to illustrate the importance of knowing your client, not just his business needs and situation, but how he thinks,feels, and what fires him (or her) up. As companies scramble to innovate products and develop new strategies and business models -- all of which are very important for future success - it is equally important to remember one business factor that does not change: the ability to read and respond to the variety of buyers that cross your path. John D. Rockefeller said, "I will pay more for the ability to get along with people than for any other skill." This new blog promises to focus on the people and process sides of doing business,. That means strategies, skills, and insights into the substantive and mission critical conversations that occur throughout a sales process that lead to results. I hope you will find this blog to be an evergreen guide to building business in all economic times. All comments welcome.

Recommendation: Think you know about selling? Think again when you read Sharon Drew Morgan's hot off the press book, "Dirty LIttle Secrets:Why Sellers Can't Sell and Buyers Can't Buy." .

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