7 Habits of Successful Selling Professionals

In my many years of training and consulting many sales professionals will ask me about how to get over a slump. And, many sales managers ask me how to tell good sales people from average.

I believe in the 80/20 rule. My clients tell me that 20 percent of their sales professionals are getting 80 percent of the business. And, when I survey sales people they are concerned that they are not getting their share of business. They want more and are perplexed about what separates the good from the high achiever.

We all strive to be the best. Sales managers clearly want the best and CEO's clamor it. So what then is the correct formula for bringing in more business?

In 18 years of sales experience and training I have narrowed it down to something I call 7 Habits of Highly Effective Sales professionals."

1. Customer Knowledge

One of the many pet peeves that sales managers have with their sales professionals is a person that lacks understanding of their client. In today's very fast and competitive world a sales professional must understand who their client is.

Recently, I watched a review a sales professional's performance for the past year. When the sales manager queried the person about specific account information, the sales person became flustered. Unfortunately, other than saying the client is a multinational pharmaceutical company, the sales person knew little else.

The customer requests that you understand their business. A client is looking for solutions to business issues and they are looking to you as the sales person and account person to have the answers. Without understanding the client how can you understand how you might help them?

You are probably asking yourself, must I need to do in order to understand the client. First you must get a copy of the annual report. Read the information to determine what type of products the client is developing. Understand the competitive landscape and how your product or service can thwart competition. Learn about the competitors for new business opportunities.

When you obtain the report, read the president's message, the financial information and lines of business, Try to understand where your products fit within the organization's umbrella. Finally, look at the firm's WEB site and review it for updates to the annual report, look for business climate changes. And, look for the anomalies in business so that your product or service can resolve the issues.

Second, read the newspapers and press releases for the most current customer information. Determine from your readings how your service or product can assist your customer during good times and bad.

Third, it is imperative to use the most widely accessible resource at your fingertips-the Internet. There are voluminous resources available such as http://www.factiva.com, http://interactive.wsj.com/, and http://www.nytimes.com. And the numerous portals such as Excite and Yahoo are constantly providing real time business content. Review any of these sites to gain quick and up to the moment access on your customers.

The sales person that does their homework and studies the customer and the changing landscape will learn how to quickly adapt to market conditions by finding solutions to customer issues. By becoming one with the customer and understanding their respective business you become a reliable business partner for today, tomorrow and well into the foreseeable future.

2. Questioning Aptitude

You get home in the evening, you are ready to sit down to a hot, cozy and comfortable dinner and the telephone rings. Don't you hate that! Feeling obliged you pick up the telephone only to hear a sales person hawking a product or service. They talk and talk and talk. The person reads from a script and does not ask us one question. He or she does not qualify the opportunity. Moreover, he or she speaks so much that we quickly become disturbed and terminate the call.

The best sales professionals learn to engage their audience. The first task of the sales professional during an appointment whether direct, telephone or cold, must be to question the customer. Questions are a sales rule. Questions assist in uncovering useful information such as buyer behavior, decision criteria, budgets, time frame, competition, etc. These are issues they typically are not presented by the customer so it is imperative for a sales professional to ask them.

Most important, questions asked by sales professional must be open ended. A question such as "Do you have a budget for this project?" will give you a "yes" or "no" response. I mentioned that the purpose of questioning is to engage the customer in conversation. An effective sales professional will ask the customer an open ended question such as, "If you had a budget for this product what might it look like and when might you decide to make a purchase?" The revision entitles the client to think through the possibility of using this product and requesting purchase money. By revising the question, the client provides more information and sets the stage for the effective sales professional to ask more qualifying questions and perhaps uncovering any and all sales objections.
Finally, the sales person is able to discover more about the next habit, uncovering the wants and needs of the buyer.

3. Interpretation of Consumer Wants and Needs

There are several paths and processes to follow during a sales presentation; however the most important one understands buyer's wants and needs. In order to sell anything to anyone, an effective sales professional most question the customer to understand why they want or why they might need the product.

Many of my clients tell me that they have exuberant sales forces, yet they are not effective in closing business. With analysis we discover that representatives are excited but they are so busy telling about product that they fail to ask questions. This communication breakdown takes the focus not only off of the customer but off the customer wants and needs. Without uncovering need, what can you possibly sell?

The solution here is to ask so many open ended questions, that your presentations become conversational. This will take some time but once you master the art of solid questioning, you can then formulate questions that hone in on wants and needs. When you do this you will notice your sales increase.

One final word on wants and needs- customers will also purchase from you for personal and/or professional reasons. Remember to ask yourself, what is in it for the customer? Are they looking for job recognition, cost effectiveness, or perhaps personal happiness with your product? As you progress with your line of questions, try to uncover what I call the "Truth of Purchase."

4. Ability to establish client rapport

Without question, building a relationship with your customer is vital. People want to have relationships with people. They won't buy large quantities of product from the Internet because they want to trust a live human being. If you have good relationships with clients, you will be able to sell to them five, ten, and 15 years down the road. Think of a client relationship as a lifetime investment. This portion of the process fits in with my earlier thoughts of becoming a consultant not just a sales professional.

5. Uncanny ability to ride the Sales Roller coaster

Sales are volatile process. One day is favorable, the next sullen, the next euphoric and so on. Each day brings a new experience and new challenge and a new adventure. In order to be an effective sales professional one must be flexible, and adaptable to change. Each opportunity, call and presentation brings a new question or perhaps education.

For years, I tell my clients to become a chameleon and adjust to the changing topology. You must because the instant you become frustrated the customers see this. Think of the customer as a mirror-they will mimic your behavior. If you are happy, they will be, you are sad they are too.

Since my first days on the job I have carried a small pocket mirror to every sales appointment. I look at the mirror prior to my call, I ensure myself that I am either happy or neutral. I look for my facial expressions and if possible body posture. By instilling a positive attitude and a neutral posture, I enable customers to feel at ease and do not allow them to understand some of the personal and professional trials and tribulations. I focus on them, their wants and needs and their contentment with my product and personal service.

6. Understands the Know's Principle

The customer; the prospect; the product; the topic you are going to speak about when you meet with the prospect or client; the competitors, the marketplace and the issues that surround them; the questions you want to ask; the possible objections; the closing technique; the hot buttons factors which allow the client to say yes to you; and finally, your own limitations. You must know what you can and cannot commit to. Never lie, never cheat and never ever over-commit. In order to succeed your must KNOW how far you can go, based on how much you KNOW about your product and customer. If you never KNOW, the only sound you will ever here is NO!

7. Honest and Enthusiastic

Love what you do, love the product you are selling and love the people you sell with. If you don't, then get out. If you don't like what you sell, prospects will read right through you and think, "Why should I buy from someone who is not passionate about what they say or do?" Your energy and enthusiasm come through on each and every call, if you are dispassionate, you will not ask the right questions, you will not read the buying signs, hear objections and importantly will not make any money.

What you can do today to improve!

Commit to your boss, to your job, and to being the best you can be. Identify with the client, determine their wants and needs and then develop a plan to help them. If you do this, the client will trust you now and forever! Also, commit to everlasting improvement for yourself-set bigger and better goals, think of new ways to deliver better customer service, determine how to augment daily challenges.

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How to Become a Successful Author

Q: What would you tell other authors about how to be a successful bookseller?

A: Through an online opt-in email blast strategy, I brought my book to the #1 spot in Wedding Showers, on Amazon.com. And that, I must say, was a fundamental factor that afforded my book an essential credibility boost. Indeed I was elated to add the bestseller distinction to my name-and I was thrilled to sell a few hundred books in one day! However... I soon realized that bestseller day was exactly that-a launch-a jumping off point. Now, how to effectively leverage my new Bestseller Status to it's utmost advantage? How to use this distinction to catapult from selling a few hundred books on Amazon to becoming a true, 6 figure-income author? Back to the drawing board.

I embarked on a journey to learn as much as I could about selling through non-traditional methods that had little to do with bookstore sales. I learned that corporations are often interested in using books as premium incentives to give to their customers or simply as gifts to their employees. I got 1-800-flowers to give me a coupon code via a full page add in the back of the book. I contacted several corporations and currently have interest from major players such as David's Bridal, JC Penney and Bed Bath & Beyond.

By this time, I was getting more and more interested in [cough] [obsessed with] book marketing, so I decided to take a leap of faith, and signed up to attend a publicity event in New York City. However, at this event, I met producers from over 100 national TV and radio shows, and over 50 book marketing agents, distributors and publishers. Here's what I learned at the conference:

The biggest hurtle is not writing a book-it's what you do after the book that is what is the most significant.

Q: So, what are some other ways can an authors use their books to create income?

Here are just a few things that an author can do to leverage authorship and create great wealth:

· You can use your Book as a networking tool ( a book is more powerful than any business card you could create)

· You can sell your book to organizations and corporations in bulk.

· You can use a book to brand your business. It will help you acquire customers, and create hi-favorability among them. You are now perceived as an expert.

· It will make you a darling of the media. Whenever there is a high profile story going on, you can pitch yourself and you can provide your expertise

· You can publish a newsletter and turn your computer into an ATM machine! You can send out one email, and if you have something of value to offer them, you can instantly generate thousands of dollars in sales. You will become a trusted guest, not an unwanted pest! An ezine and a book can do that and you can build a list of trusted followers that love you.

· You can become a speaker! There are countless organizations who are looking for speakers everyday. You can speak at seminars, workshops, on cruise ships, conventions, churches, universities, etc. Having a book gives you expert status. Speaker fees range from free, to the average of $2-5,000/speech, and the higher paid speakers make upwards of $50-100,000 for a keynote speech. (Of course you need to understand that you really want to have a desire to give and to teach and not just sell.)

· You can use your book to develop a product line. (For example, Robert Kiyosaki wrote the book Rich Dad Poor Dad to sell his game, Cash Flow. He made about $40,000 on the book in the first year, but over 1 million dollars selling the game which retails at $195. He also sells coaching programs and a mentoring program.)

· You can write articles and create lots of traffic to your site. As you are positioning yourself as an expert, you can submit articles to countless places on the web and gain a buzz about your biz.

As an author, you are now in the business of marketing. However, you have to have a clear vision and a strong desire to genuinely help people. For example, my vision is to create more harmony among mothers and daughters-in-law world-wide, as well as inspire others to follow their dreams through writing and self-publishing a book.

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Successful Methods For Selling Your Book Online at Amazon

So you want to promote your new book. Would you believe I can help you take one giant leap in that direction with one simple word? That word is Amazon.com. Yep, it's the internet behemoth that dwarfs most other such companies. And I'm going to offer you ten quick, fairly easy ways to promote your book on Amazon.

1) First, if you aren't registered on Amazon, do so---then set up your profile. You can place your photo, your interests, your background, and, of course, your book title and an attractive, concise description of the book. You're off to a great start.

2) I'm assuming that your publisher has placed your book for sale on the site. Nowadays, even most self-publishers or print-on-demand publishers include this in their sales package. Most publishers also include the book detail page. This tells readers the book price, number of pages, publisher name, book summary, and reviews/endorsements if you've received any. However, ask your publisher to also include the Search Inside option. This allows interested parties to check your back cover, your table of contents, etc. If your publisher doesn't do this, you will have to mail Amazon a copy of your book so they can copy some pages out of it for the Search Inside option.

3) Amazon has a feature called Listmania. This offers individuals like yourself the opportunity to put together a list of some of your favorite books on different subjects or genres. For example, you might make a list of some of your favorite novels. If your own book is a novel, you would want to place your book somewhere on the list. That way, when readers read through your list, they will see your title and maybe order a copy. How's that for crass self-promotion?

4) Fill out some So You'd Like to...Guides. On your profile page you'll see a place to do this. On Amazon, people write brief articles like: So You'd Like To Be More Popular or So You'd Like to Learn How to do Plumbing or whatever. If your book is about becoming more popular, you'll write a short article about popularity, including your book title and some other book titles about the same subject. When interested parties see your So You'd Like To... page, they'll click on it and read it. Then there's a fairly good chance they may click on your book title. Then, wonder of wonders, they may even buy your book so they can learn how to be more popular! Cool, huh?

5) You will get a lot more attention and action on Amazon if you review books. You can write a review for any book. One hundred book reviews seems to be a magic number for grabbing significant attention on the site. Don't be overwhelmed by that number. Just set a goal of, say, reviewing 5-10 books per week and you'll soon reach the 100 mark.

6) Again, this may seem like embarrassing self-promotion, but you might want to ask friends and relatives to write a positive review about your book and give it a five-star rating. You should probably just ask them to write a review of your book on Amazon but, hopefully, it will be understood that you expect a good review and a decent star rating.

7) There is a wiki or dynamic book encyclopedia on Amazon too. The Amazon people call it Amapedia. You can use this to describe your book. Remember, this is not a review where you express opinions---just the facts, maam (or sir). It's a dictionary-type description of your book and its contents. This is another way to get your book out there for people to see.

8) Amazon also has a blog and here you can say almost anything about your book or what you've been reading. Just make sure it's in good taste and doesn't contain inappropriate language. Maybe you'll pick up some bloggers who are interested in what you write.

9) A major objective of your profile, your book reviews, your listmania lists, your blogging is to build a reputation as an expert in some area or areas. Once people begin to see you as an expert, they're more likely to buy your book. Don't expect to be tagged an expert within a few weeks. It will likely take some hard work and some time, but it's worth it in the end.

10) The last suggestion can really result in some sales but you've got to shell out some fairly serious money. It's called BXGY. What it does is pair your book with a top selling book. Customers are told, "If you buy this popular book, you should also consider buying this one too" (your book). The catch is that pairing your book with a winner costs $1000 per month. If you've got the extra money and believe your book has enough merit to sell well with a companion book, then try it out for a month. Who knows? You may earn more than the $1000 in royalties on your book sales. (Remember that you won't see this royalty money until your publisher pays you for that quarter).

So dive into the Amazon site and begin learning the ropes. It will take some time to navigate the site and find the various opportunities described above, but it will be worth your time. I wish you the best in selling your book. It may not be a New York Times bestseller, but if you can sell a fair number of copies you can be proud as an author and gain some financial profit along the way. I wish you the best.

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How to Create a Successful Amazon Bestseller Campaign

What is the Amazon Bestseller Campaign:

The Bestseller Campaign is a marketing campaign where you prompt everyone in your database to buy your book during the same timeframe, which will, in turn, boost your book sales and create a high ranking. Your goal should be to shoot for the top 10, or preferably the #1 spot.

How does it work:

You ask everyone in your database to buy your book during a certain time and in exchange you offer them some type of incentive in the way of a valuable product or service (such as, ebooks, teleclasses, discounts on coaching, services, or products). The offering should be related to the book topic and provide something of value.

What you need to do:

Preparing an Amazon campaign takes a great deal of planning that will include: signing up affiliates, or partners, creating the offer and follow up emails, creating new web pages, figuring out the best way to get proof of purchase from your buyers that they did purchase on the right day and at the right timeframe.

Here is a checklist to help ensure your campaign will be successful: 1. Make sure your listing is detailed and complete, including an author blog, a full profile description, and Inside the Book.

2. Try to gather as many five-star reviews and/or testimonials as possible. You'll have an easier time convincing other people to sign up for your campaign if you appear to have a must-read book.

3. Set a date for the campaign. Mid-morning weekdays are best, before people get distracted with their day, or if this is a gift idea, set the date 2-3 weeks prior to a major holiday.

4. Research and connect with affiliates, or partners, who can provide valuable bonuses that complement your book (ideally 10 or more). These should be items that will be interesting to the same audience as your book. The best bonuses are downloads such as ebooks, seminar transcripts, audios, free memberships, teleclasses, and dollars-off coupons.

5. Create a web page that showcases the offer with photos of partners and partner's products and include links to your Amazon.com page. This page should also give detailed instructions on where to send their email confirmation of purchase and how they will receive their downloadable bonuses.

6. Create another web page that will serve as the download page where buyers can get their bonuses, or that has links to the bonuses if they appear on your partners' web pages.

7. Send out an announcement to bloggers and ezines that match your topic asking them to promote your campaign.

8. Announce your campaign to your social networking groups/friends.

9. Build your database by accumulating as many email addresses and commitments from others as you can. Specifically, those that have agreed to help you with your campaign.

10. Send a reminder email blast to all accumulated lists two weeks before the event, another email a day before the event, and a final email early morning of the event.

11. Double check your web pages to make sure your links are active and working.

12. Be prepared to answer email and telephone questions the day of the campaign. You may want to hire an author's assistant to help with this task.

13. After the campaign: Send thank you notes to all your partners.

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