Success Ideas from IBD - Part Two

Here are the final six ideas from the newspaper Investor's Business Daily on the subject of success...

6. Learn to Analyze Details - Get all the facts, all the input. Learn from your mistakes. Many sales professionals have a challenge with the critical area of success. Taking the time to analyze data and LEARN from errors in judgment is critical. Plan and take accountability for mistakes.

7. Focus Your Time and Money - Don't let other people or things distract you. Daily planning is not a good thing... it's a GREAT thing. It is one of the disciplines that that is part of the foundation for all great business people.

8. Don't be Afraid to Innovate; Be Different - Following the herd is a sure way to mediocrity. Nothing great comes from doing the same thing for too long.

9. Deal and Communicate with People Effectively - No person is an island. Learn to understand and motivate others. Be straight with people. Telling people what they want to hear usually ends in disaster. Leading people happens outside of management. Be a Leader!

10. Be Honest and Dependable; Take Responsibility - Otherwise, Nos. 1-9 won't matter. Selling is a tough business and there are people that destroy the reputation of sales professionals because they are not honest, dependable and take no responsibility.

Good stuff? You bet. Look at these every day and do your best to become the type of person that follows these secrets of success.

TK

Success Ideas from IBD

If you've never heard of IBD - Investor's Business Daily - you should take a look at one.

This newspaper is great if you are investing in your financial future, especially so if you are taking an active roll in building your wealth. However it has great commentary and an even greater section devoted to success.

Every day the paper highlights one of "IBD's 10 Secrets to Success" Each of these ideas are PERFECT for anyone in professional selling. Check these out:

1. How You Think is Everything - Always be positive. Think Success, not failure. Beware of a negative environment. This is the foundation for every successful individual and entity!

2. Decide Upon your True Dreams and Goals - Write down your specific goals and develop a plan to reach them. Just as important... review your goals EVERYDAY.

3. Take Action - Goals are nothing without action. Don't be afraid to get started. Just do it. W. Clement Stone advised everyone to repeat the phrase... "do it now" three times whenever you feel like procrastinating anything!

4. Never Stop Learning - Go back to school or read books. Get training and acquire skills. Do whatever it takes to become an industry expert. It's what can set you apart from the competition.

5. Be Persistent and Work Hard - Success is a marathon, not a sprint. Never give up. Don't fall into the trap of thinking you don't need to work hard. Want to play hard? Never stop working hard.

To be continued...

TK

Behavioral Style Selling - The Concept

Learning to sell to different styles of buyers has been taught for a long time. There are all types of assessments that can be administered and all types of descriptions that come from the results. Labels describing members of the animal kingdom, colors of all kinds, letters describing deep psychological behaviors and the list goes on and on...

These are interesting concepts and they have a firm place in training and coaching. However the most important thing about this concept, is the concept itself.

You see, the fact that two totally different people, can buy the same product or service, for two totally different reasons, is huge. As soon as you realize that the way you approach each person depends on those differences, the sooner you will be closing more sales with less effort.

For example, let's say I was looking to purchase a new Lexus GS 430 and you were looking at a new Lexus GS 430. I have done my homework and built the car online dozens of times. I know what I want from the engine size to the color of the interior. Money is not an issue for me.

Let's say you walk onto a Lexus dealers lot just messing around on a Saturday afternoon. You see a GS 430 and you want it instantly. Money is not an issue for you.

If the same sales professional engages me, and two hours later approaches you, they better know how to determine what benefits are important to me and what benefits are important to you. Here's why... it's very possible I want the vehicle for different reasons than the other buyer and it's guaranteed that I will expect the sales experience to be different from the person that will walk into a dealership and drop 50K just because they were driving by and liked what they saw.

I highly recommend that if you haven't been trained in behavior style selling that you get trained. Now that you know of the "concept" you can begin to the learning process of identifying behavior styles and how they like to be persuaded.

TK

Ethics in Selling

John Maxwell wrote a great book on the subject of ethics. The title... Ethics 101. Sounds a bit basic to you? It should, because doing what is right is very basic.

When Mr. Maxwell was first approached about writing a book on ethics he was asked something along the line of "John, why don't you write a book on business ethics?" To which Mr. Maxwell replied, "there's no such thing." Not understanding his reply, his friend asked him to clarify at which point Maxwell made this statement:

"There's no such thing as business ethics, there's only ethics."

Simplicity is profound isn't it? So ethics in selling, or any other facet of business, is the same as non-business ethics and can be defined by simple (thus the 101) principles. Most notable by Mr. Maxwell - The Golden Rule. Treating people the way you would like them to treat you.

Maxwell writes, "Asking the question 'how would I like to be treated in this situation?' is an integrity guideline for any situation."

Now plug this concept into selling, and situations that arise in selling transactions, and you have some great questions to ask yourself... check this out:

1. How to do you treat individuals that don't say yes to your offering?
2. How do you treat gatekeepers that don't let you in?
3. How do you report your expenses on your expense report?
4. How do you speak about your competition?
5. Are you honest in all your dealings with your clients and your company?

Finally, if you were a client or you owned a company... how would like to be treated?

TK