Salesopedia Blog

Barry Siskind discusses trade shows survival tips you might consider in this tough economy. Find out how you can scale down without impacting your image. If you find it difficult to measure R.O.I. then you should be tracking R.O.O. (yes he explains what that is). He offers get advice on balancing the strategic and tactic considerations of exhibiting and gives some compelling arguments why maintaining your presence is the right thing to do.

Barry Siskind is the author of Powerful Exhibit Marketing. Barry helps companies around the world improve their return on their trade and consumer show investment.

Clayton Shold
Salesopedia

 

 Trade Show Survival Tips - Barry Siskind [11:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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“Rhett, Rhett … Rhett, if you go, where shall I go? What shall I do?”

“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler in conversation in the novel Gone With the Wind written by Margaret Mitchell and published 73 years ago today. The film came out two years later and remains my wife’s number one favorite which means I’ve sat through it more times than I care to remember.

I wonder if Margaret would have ever guessed that the response she gave Rhett would stand the test of time. Now remember back in 1936 it was pretty edgy to use that kind of language in a novel, clearly damn was considered by many as a swear word, but she did and it stuck.

What about your marketing message? Is it edgy, is it clear, and is it sticky?

Look at your marketing material, which for many today consists almost entirely of a web presence. I don’t see many individual professionals or companies producing brochures like they used to, or sending as much on letterhead emblazed snail mail as did even five years ago.

Part of what I do with Salesopedia is visit a lot of websites, mostly from contributing authors or sales related companies with a product or service to sell. I am galled at what I see. Granted the bigger firms have bigger budgets and can pull together the resources to create a hum-dinger (technical talk) of a website. This doesn’t mean individuals and smaller companies can’t have a great looking and functional site for not a huge investment. Certainly if you think what you used to pay for a couple of thousand three-panel glossy brochures and compare that to the money you need to spend on a website (which is more permanent, flexible and has great reach), the decision should be relatively easy.

Quite a number of professionals (speakers, consultants, trainers) might have got on the bandwagon four or five years ago and paid someone to build them a website. Probably created in such a way there is a needed ongoing maintenance fee to have the webmaster on retainer to make any changes for which you pay, each and every time. This compounds the issue as many get tired of paying and paying for changes, so they stop updating the site and guess what; it gets static.

When someone visits your site to “check you out” (which you can bet they will if they are going to do business with you) that prospect doesn’t get the favorable first impression you want them to receive.

If your site isn’t a tad edgy, clear in purpose and sticky enough to keep the viewer engaged at least long enough to discover what you selling and why they should be buying; you are missing opportunities, “and frankly, my dear, you should give a damn.”

Clayton Shold
Salesopedia

Breaking news …

On June 19th Tomoji Tanabe, the world’s oldest man, died in his sleep at his home in Japan. He was 113. He drank milk every day and read a newspaper. He avoided alcohol and he did not smoke.

Henry Allingham, 113, the oldest surviving veteran of the First World War, has been declared the world’s oldest man (pictured). Living in the United Kingdom he attributes his longevity to “cigarettes, whisky and wild, wild women.”

When I read these news items my first reaction was to smile. I find it amazing they got to 113 no matter which path they took.

The question that begs to be asked is how can two centenarians have such contrarian lifestyles yet live to such a ripe old age?

The oldest man in the U.S., and second oldest anywhere, is a fellow by the name of Walter Breuning of Great Falls Montana. He turns 113 in September. He says the secret to long life is being active, “(if) you keep your mind busy and keep your body busy, you’re going to be around a long time.”

Walter understands, I suspect Tomoji did too, and guess Henry might as well, that is, keeping busy albeit each in their own particular way is the ticket to more candles on the birthday cake.

I believe mindset (some call it attitude) is more important than nurturing and conditioning the body.

We all know people who aged too quickly when they gave up their zeal for life. We know others like “Hurricane Hazel” who at 85 is Canada’s best known and longest serving mayor with 31 years under her belt. Mrs. McCallion says “Having a life filled with purpose and meaning and living my life in a Christian-like manner helps to motivate me and keep me energized.”

It could have been the whisky, it could have been the milk, but I suspect it is something they believed in.

What is your mindset? What do you believe in? Don’t worry so much about which path you take; worry more what you are thinking travelling down the path.

Clayton Shold
Salesopedia

The “price question” a.k.a. “price objection” can come up anytime and has always been an issue, but perhaps more so during the current challenging economy. Are you aware salespeople can actually create this objection unwittingly? Art Sobczak shares practical advice on how to avoid the price question, avoid negotiating on price and what you can do to effectively move away from the price questions should it come up.

Art Sobczak is the President of Business By Phone Inc. He specializes in one area only: working with business-to-business salespeople who make their living in sales … on the phone. Art provides real world, how-to ideas and techniques that help salespeople use the phone more effectively to prospect, sell, and service, without morale-killing “rejection.” He has written three books, developed world class training programs, and for the past 23 years has written and published a how-to tips newsletter.

Clayton Shold
Salesopedia

 

 The Price Question - Art Sobczak [8:03m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

From time to time I feature a guest post when I read something that jumps out and grabs me. Such was the case with Anne Miller’s (Author of Metaphorically Selling and blog Make What You Say, Pay!) recent blog post which she has graciously permitted me to reproduce below. It’s a great piece; I trust you will enjoy it as much as I did.

Make “You-Turns”

Which would you rather look at: pictures of my friends and family, or pictures of your friends and family?

Let me take a wild guess — you would prefer to see the latter. You know your friends and family. You relate to them. You have feelings about them. You “see” yourself with them. You have none of these reactions or connections to pictures of the people in my world.

In selling or presenting an argument, every time you say, “I/We have…” “I/We do…” “I/We can…” or “I/We think…” you are, in effect, forcing your listeners to “look at your pictures” – which creates no particular emotional reaction in them and little inclination to buy what you are selling. Presenting everything from your point of view makes you guilty of “I-Strain.”

Make “You-Turns” People care about what they get, not what you have. They get excited by the pictures they see in their minds, not the pictures you see in yours.

Next time you present, change your pronouns from a speaker to a listener focus. Examples: “You’ll like how easy it is to implement” vs “Our programs are easy to implement.”

“When you work with us, you’ll be able to customize the software to your needs. For example, you can…” vs. “We have software that is easily customizable. We can…”

“As you look at the chart, [you] notice how consistent the growth has been in all markets.” Vs. “I want to point out how consistent the growth…”

“Something you’ll find particularly interesting is how you will be able to… vs. “I think it is particularly interesting that our process lets people…”

“Clients [implied is like you] are able to double their…” vs “We produce very good ROI on…”

“You may be wondering, how does this work?” vs. “Let me tell you how this works.

“In summary, working with ABC, “you’ll get…, and… to meet your objectives.” Vs “In summary, WYZ (my firm) has …, and … which makes us your best choice.”

The Power of “You”

Pronouns matter. “You” draws people into what you’re saying. It gets them seeing themselves using your product or service. It fires up their imagination as to the possibilities of your offer. Bottom-line, the pronoun “you” makes a huge difference in how your buyers receive what you are saying.

At first, making “you-turns” may feel a bit unnatural as you are no doubt very proud of your product or service to help clients and you want to share that enthusiasm. However, like anything else, the more you practice it, the easier it gets, until it becomes totally automatic.

Try It

On your next phone or in-person call, make more “you-turns.” You’ll notice how much more receptive your listener will be. You’ll feel more connected to your listener. You’ll have a much easier time moving forward in the sale cycle.

Great advice Anne, thank you!

Clayton Shold
Salesopedia

Jim Cathcart explains how you too can excel at anything you choose. He addresses the polarity of optimism and pessimism in today’s new environment. Jim suggests in every situation there is a way to make it better. He discusses the upside of subscribing to intelligent motivation. He says it’s all about getting outcomes not emotional impulses. Hear the key steps to achieving your desired results.

Jim Cathcart is a motivation expert, founder and president of Cathcart Institute, Inc., Advisor to the Schools of Business at Pepperdine University and California Lutheran University and one of the most widely recognized professional speakers in the world. As the author of 15 books and scores of recorded programs, his students number in the hundreds of thousands.

Clayton Shold
Salesopedia

 

 Intelligent Motivation - Jim Cathcart [14:05m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Looking for a great summer read? Look no further.

The Top Sales Experts have compiled a 150 page eBook chalked full of great articles.

This is available to the general public for $19.95 … BUT because I’m a Top Sales Expert I am able to offer it to you, as a visitor to my site, absolutely free! No catches, no small print, no salesperson will call!

Click on the lawn chair or the umbrella to download your own copy. Then find a shady spot to enjoy all of the articles.

Clayton Shold
Salesopedia

Convocation (also known as Graduation) is the conferral of an award (for example a Bachelors degree or Diploma) upon the student (known as a graduand at this time) in recognition for the completion of prescribed study, assignments and examinations. The term Convocation comes from the Latin ‘calling together’, and describes a group of people formally assembled for a special purpose.

Yesterday was very special for my wife and me. We attended our oldest son’s Convocation. It was a special day for my mother as well who flew across the country to join the celebration and watch her first grandchild graduate from university.

I’m proud to say Taylor received his Bachelor or Arts degree (Radio and Television) from Ryerson University.

We moved to Oakville Ontario from the west coast in 1994. One of the priority items on our “to do” list once we were settled was to visit the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, about 35 minutes down the highway. As a family of hockey buffs we couldn’t wait. One of the exhibits allowed you to push a button, listen to a play by play description of a hockey game, then record your own description of the same clip, and then listen to it. At that moment, 15 years ago Taylor decided he wanted to be a sports broadcaster. As a hockey player who loves the game he could think of nothing he would rather do.

His passion saw him create his own 60 minute sports show on the Ryerson TV website which he hosted for three years. He successfully obtained the single (much coveted) internship position at Hockey Night In Canada with CBC TV in his last year which was a fantastic experience.

He like many others in the Class of 2009, is trying to start a career at a very tough time. The broadcasting industry has been hit hard. Reduced advertising revenue has resulted in layoffs and station closings.

To his credit Taylor, continues to network, send out resumes and do volunteer work. He is co-hosting a sports show on a local community channel and doing televised player interviews at games. He is not making any money, but he is in front of the camera and that is where he wants to be. His time will come.

To my son, and all the others in the Class of 2009 who are writing a new chapter in your lives, I say this;

Assertively pursue your dreams, optimistic trumps pessimistic, the economy will improve, life is what you make of it, if you love what you do it will never seem like work and lastly, get out there and change the world!

Clayton Shold
Proud Father

PS - Did I mention how proud I was of Taylor?!

Patricia Fripp is on leading expert on communications. She helps sales professionals improve how they speak. In this podcast you will hear the biggest communications mistake sales people and how you can avoid it. You will discover the one word even Barack Obama uses that can kill your sales opportunity. You will hear tips on how to be more persuasive and finally the one thing you must do to improve your sales presentations.

Patricia Fripp was the first female President of the National Speakers Association, a Hall of Fame keynote speaker, an in-demand executive speech coach and sales presentation skills trainer. Meetings and Conventions magazine calls Patricia “One of America’s 10 most electrifying speakers.”

Clayton Shold
Salesopedia

 

 Traps to Avoid When You Speak - Patricia Fripp [10:45m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tim Wackel is big believer that you have to follow-up or you will fail. Once you hear the statistics he presents you will be compelled to listen to the full podcast. He suggests the “why” you need to follow-up is more the science; the “how” of follow-up is more the art. Tim who goes on to paint a picture of what you need to do and provides a number of suggestions to help you become more effective at following up.

Tim Wackel is a professional speaker who has the knack of making information entertaining, memorable and easy to understand. He combines 20 plus years of sales leadership experience with client research to create high-impact programs that go beyond today’s best practices. With clients like Allstate, Cisco, Hewlett Packard, and Philips Medical Systems you know he plays in the big leagues.

Clayton Shold
Salesopedia

 

 The Art of Effective Follow-up - Tim Wackel [13:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download