Mark Hunter's Blog, page 30

Sales Resolutions

I’d like to share my 11 sales resolutions with you. I think sales is an absolutely unbelievably amazing profession, but really, I don’t like to call it a job. I see it as a lifestyle that is a privilege to live. As we approach the New Year – 2021, here are the 11 sales resolutions that I have set for myself and I hope you’ll do the same.

1. I will own my destiny.

I am not going to let others control my life, only me. Every great salesperson takes control and does not allow others to control it for him/her. That is how That’s what every great purchase control your destiny.

2. I will own my time.

Our time is our most valuable asset. It’s the only thing that you cannot make more of, no matter how hard you try. Every moment of the day must be used as efficiently as possible. You can’t afford to waste it doing things that really don’t need to be done, or things that don’t help the customer. You are in charge of your time. It’s yours to own.

3. I will be a rain maker.

It’s easy to be a rain barrel where you just set it out there and let water fall in; however, it doesn’t ever catch anything from the side. A rainmaker, on the other hand, is one who goes out and creates incremental opportunities for their customers. That is what you want to strive to do – everyday. Focus on being a rainmaker.

4. I will create more value.

This is key if you’re going to be a rainmaker. You must create more value for your customers, prospects, and every person you come in contact with. That’s how you really measure up to be a top-performing salesperson.

5. I’m going to appreciate every customer.

This may sound simple and easy, but take a moment to stop and really think. How many times have you had difficult customers? How many times have you struggled to be grateful for those hard people you come in contact with? I know you’ve been through this, but really try to appreciate every customer. When you begin to appreciate each and every one of your customers, you’ll begin to really understand where they’re coming from.

I’ve also learned that when I set my mind on appreciating those around me, I am a better listener. It’s amazing how much better I hear people.

6. I will stay focused.

I know what my goals are, and I will stay absolutely dialed in on each one of them. In order to do so, I have to stay focused. If you look back on the last five things I have shared in this list, what do each and every one of them require? Focus. Great salespeople don’t get caught up with squirrel, squirrel, shiny object. They don’t get distracted but remain focused on the mission at hand.

7. I will give more referrals.

It’s easy to sit there and say that you want more referrals, because referrals are a great way to grow your business. If you spend more time giving referrals, you’ll feel a lot better about yourself. In doing so, you’re helping other people. And isn’t that what sales is all about?

8. I will listen better and ask better questions.

Believe it or not, salespeople don’t have the answers. All of us like to think that we do, but how do we know the answers when we don’t know the questions. We don’t even know what to say. We must just shut up and listen. I know I need to listen more and ask better questions.

Sometimes I get into trouble when I rush to the solution or rush to what I think the customer is looking for in the outcome. We are all better off if we stop, wait, and listen.

9. I will always be a positive voice

Now more than even, this is so important. I will always try to be a positive voice. What does that mean?

It means that when everyone around me is a naysayer, when it’s easy to complain and get upset, I will strive to be the positive voice. Why? Because I think the positive voice remains calm, listens better and in general, just attracts more attention. I don’t say this from an ego standpoint, but in terms of simply bringing calm and a sense of peace.

When I am the positive voice, I become the light on the hill that people gravitate towards. My desire is to be the light that shines helping my customers grow and also helps me grow.

10. I will stop making excuses.

I don’t have time for excuses. You don’t have time for excuses. Sure, I understand that not everything is going to go right, but I’m not going to make excuses for it. I just move on. Making excuses is a quick way to blame other people for everything that’s going on, and that doesn’t help anyone. We see that far too much in society in our world today. I’m not going to participate in that.

11. I will never stop learning.

This coming year, I will focus on learning more every day. I want to challenge myself to learn something new. When I do so, the results are amazing, because learning has an ability to compound. Knowledge is one of the greatest assets we can bring to our customers and one of the greatest assets we bring to ourselves.

Those are my 11 sales resolutions. What are yours? Sales is without a doubt an unbelievable way to make a living. I love it, because I get to help people every day.

Copyright 2020, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog.  Mark Hunter is the author of A Mind for Sales and High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results.

 

The post Sales Resolutions first appeared on The Sales Hunter.

How to Be Seen As an Expert by Your Customers

Every week, I share new ideas and strategies on how you can be a more effective salesperson. Today, I want to share how you can and should become a subject matter expert to your customers. Hit subscribe so you get all the new videos I release every week. I want you to engage and immerse yourself in this content, so you can be more successful.

I feel like I could be a subject matter expert to you, and you could then be a subject matter expert to your customers, so here’s 10 ways to be seen as an expert by your customers:

1. Ten Burning Questions

What do I mean by this? What ten burning questions do your customers most likely need answers to?

If you want to be a subject matter expert, you have to be able to bring answers to their ten burning questions. It takes time. I also want you to write down ten burning questions. What ten burning questions do your customers have? Create answers to them as you also answer their ten burning questions. You’ll see how much that increases your level of knowledge and enables you to share that with them. That takes me to number two…

2. Create Key Lists

One of the things I do each week is put out a video of ten key things that you can do to become a better salesperson. I put these lists out there as a way to be seen as a subject matter expert in sales. You can do the same thing and be seen in the same way. Create key lists.

You’re probably saying that you just can’t share them with your customer. That’s not true. Yes, you can share it with them. Put together a document and then email it to them. Ask if you can share it with them. You’ll be surprised at how quickly they will start to see you in a different light. Also, put it out on LinkedIn, social media, a blog if you have one, whatever it might be. Create a key list so people can understand your expertise.

3. Ask Tough Questions

Subject matter experts are not shy to ask difficult questions. Don’t be afraid to ask the kinds of questions that a lot of people don’t even think about. The customer may respond with “Wow, I hadn’t thought about that.”

Subject matter experts are always willing to ask questions that the customer does not have the answer to nor do they have the answer to, but that’s exactly how they become a subject matter expert. Why? Because those kinds of questions push them, they push them to go further.

4. Share Insights

Pick up a piece of information and share it. I will routinely email or copy. It could be something you just saw in a book or online, in an article or something. Routinely, I try to share information that’s valuable and insightful.

5. 30 Minutes / Day

Discipline yourself to spend 30 minutes every day learning about your industry, your niche. Learn what you need. Commit to doing this for 30 minutes each day, and in six months, you’ll be a subject matter expert. This will give you a deep dive into your industry consistently. Now, you’re not going to know everything. However, you’ll know more than 95% percent than everyone else.

6. SME Peers

Surround yourself with people that are also subject matter experts. Spend time with those that are experts in their field, in a variety of topics / subjects. Personally, I have certain people that I call when I need help on this or this, in this industry or that. I nurture these people, but I know who these people are, so I can call them. This allows me to expand my knowledge base to help me better serve my customers.

7. Multiple Contacts

Well, this takes SME contacts and blows it wide open. Not only do you want to associate with more subject matter experts, but you want to know as many people as possible. The more people who know you, the more people will call you. The more people call you, the more you’re able to share your insights. The more insights you share, the more you’ll be seen as a sales expert – knowing how it all works.

It doesn’t do you any good to be a subject matter expert who shares with no one. You always want to have multiple contacts. With every customer I work with, I want to have multiple people who I can reach out to. Keep in mind not every customer will have the same number of multiple contacts, though.

In a short time, you can be seen as a subject matter expert when you talk to so many different people in a variety of areas. I can’t tell you the number of times when I’ve lost out on business because I didn’t do that. I also can tell you the numerous times I have gained business because I have done that.

8. Industry Associations

Are you involved with them? Are you connected? Do you even know what industry associations are? Industry associations are all involved, all designed around expertise. If you want to be an expert in your field, you need to engage with these groups. Now, your schedule and time might not allow you to become super engaged, but you should still know what they’re doing. Be an active contributor. Be a helper. Subject matter experts are those who give rather than get.  

9. Social Media

So, are you sharing your insights on LinkedIn? Are you sharing insights on various blog posts? I know a gentleman known without a doubt as a subject matter expert. He has five sights that he regularly goes out to. One of them is LinkedIn and the other four are industry sites. He focuses on them, and that allows him to be seen as a subject matter expert.

Subject matters experts are not world matter experts. They are very tight on one subject and the people that deal with that subject on a regular basis.

10. Universities

These come into play very simply. Your stature, your level increases dramatically when you can say that you have shared with this class or helped this professor. Look for various institutions – I can think of four or five right now that I am engaged with on a daily basis. I thoroughly enjoy working with them and it helps raise my stature as a subject matter expert.

There you go! Those are the ten things you can do now to work towards becoming a subject matter expert. I hope I’m seen by you as a subject matter expert. That is why I wrote the books, High-Profit Prospecting and A Mind for Sales. Pick up a copy of both today.

 

Copyright 2020, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog.  Mark Hunter is the author of A Mind for Sales and High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results.

 

Saved By a Cup of Coffee

It’s a chilly December morning, and I can’t help but be reminded of an accident I had a while back. Thankfully, I was saved from that accident by a cup of coffee. Ok, I understand that may be confusing and I need to fill in the pieces. Yeah, I’ll share more details.

So, about 15 years ago, I had an accident. I remember it, because I didn’t have a cell phone with me. And yeah, the accident was my fault. Yep, it was my fault. I was cruising to work early one morning, trying to time the lights going through downtown Omaha. No big deal, right? As I timed the lights and hit them green and boom, boom, boom. Well, I jumped one light a little too early and the only other car out on the road coming through the cross street hit the front of my car, and I swerved. Anyways, he swerved as well and we hit each other.  

Yes, it was my fault. We pulled over to the side of the road. It was early in the morning still, and I remember how chilly the air was. As I got out of the car, I realized I didn’t have my cell phone. He also did not have his cell phone with him and neither one of us could find a payphone. I needed to call insurance. Thankfully, no one was hurt, no airbags went off.

As I looked around, I noticed a restaurant with a couple of cop cars parked out front. Hey, that’s great. We’ll just go there to get the cops, and they’ll take care of it for us. We walked into the restaurant and I immediately noticed some coffee right there by the front door. It was cold, and I really wanted some coffee. I needed coffee. So sure, I poured a cup of coffee for the guy I walked in with and one for myself. I dropped a few bucks in the box, whatever.

Before too long, we had introduced ourselves and we were chatting away. No big deal. Then, I walked up to the officers and said, “Excuse me, but I had an accident right over there.” They asked me where, and I pointed out the window at the exact spot. One of the officers noted that our cars were pulled over to the side of the road and nobody seemed to be hurt. He said, “you guys seem to be getting along just fine. Go and call your insurance companies and they’ll take care of it for you.” The two cops proceeded to finish their breakfast.

In that moment, I make a point to notice that I was holding a cup of coffee, the man I hit was holding a cup of coffee as well as both of the cops. The person who’s car I hit and the cop said, “no big deal!” What’s funny is that I was guilty. I was guilty of running a red light, and probably guilty of a few other infractions; yet I didn’t get a ticket. I really think that was the best cup of coffee I’ve ever bought for somebody else.

So, what’s the lesson? Well, the lesson is probably, regardless what happens, to relax, chill out. Boy, isn’t that the case right now. Everyone needs to just chill out and relax. Things will take care of themselves.

It’s amazing that neither of us got alarmed. We remained calm and collected. I immediately introduced myself and apologized to him. As we walked into the restaurant together, I was cordial and just offered him a cup of coffee. That saved me a ticket. Honestly, it’s a lesson long forgotten, but comes to mind every now and then to remind me.

Copyright 2020, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog.  Mark Hunter is the author of A Mind for Sales and High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results.

 

How to Fill the Prospecting Calendar

It’s time for you to fill your prospecting calendar. How full is yours? You know, I find it amazing that the vast majority of salespeople don’t even have a full prospecting calendar. They think it’s full, but it’s not. It’s not even close to being at capacity.

 Here are 10 things you can do right now to help fill your prospecting calendar, especially as we’re quickly approaching the first quarter of 2021.

1. Target your ICP

If you’ve read or heard me at all, you know that I talk about your ICP a lot. It’s one of the big reasons why I wrote the books, High-Profit Prospecting and A Mind for Sales. I want you to focus specifically on your ICP (ideal customer profile). Target this “person”. That is number one.

2. Strong CTA

You must have a strong CTA, so subscribe to my videos. Subscribe to my YouTube channel. I put a new video out every week. You’re probably asking what is “CTA”. It’s your call-to-action, and it must be clear.  With every prospecting message that you send, you’re putting a message out there. Many salespeople don’t really have a clear CTA. If you want the prospect / customer to see that you’re trying to sell something, you have to upfront about it.

Don’t hide behind the bushes. Have a clear call-to-action that moves them to the next step, which might just be a phone call. Or, the next step might be a discovery meeting, trial, getting them to open up and share information with you, whatever it is. Whatever you do, just make sure you have a clearly articulated CTA that takes them to the next step.

3. Clear Expectations

For both you and your customer, the expectations must be clear. What do I mean by clear? I’m referring to the customer actually knowing the process that you’re taking. A good question that I like to ask the prospect is: how do you normally make decisions like “x”? This helps me try to understand them better so I can have clearer expectations of how they’re going to make a decision. Expectations must be explicitly laid out.

Think about what you’re trying to do. What are you trying to help the prospect / customer with? Clear expectations cut both ways, and even more so now because of all the noise out there. When expectations are clearly stated from both parties, the customer is better able to understand who you are and what you stand for.

This is one of the reasons why I talk a lot about authenticity and transparency. Both are crucial right now when it comes to sales. I’ll come back and talk about this in another video. Remember to subscribe to my channel so you don’t miss it!

4. Multi-channel

This means that you just have to use every medium out there. For instance, you want to use video, text messaging, email, social media, and the list goes on and on. In our high-tech world today, there are a variety of channels available to us. However, keep in mind that not every medium works for every industry. You just have to be willing to push the envelope because what you think is comfortable to you may not feel comfortable to the other person.

For example, you may prefer to communicate via email. Your customer, on the other hand, may prefer WhatsApp. I had this happen with a customer just the other day actually. They said they prefer WhatsApp because they are in a different country, so I had to adjust to meet their preferences and needs.

You have to be able to adopt the preferred communication method of your prospect, so you have to be willing to use multiple channels of communication.

5. Be Their Solution

Right now, it’s so noisy out there. There are so many things happening in our world. You may think or feel like you can’t measure if you can’t be a part of your customers top one, two, or three problems. I get that, and that’s ok. You just have to clearly state how you meet their top three priorities. Your primary goal is to be seen as a subject matter expert.

Again, this is why I brought up authenticity and transparency earlier. You have to create a level of trust and confidence that goes beyond anything anyone has ever seen in the past.

6. Rinse and Repeat

If you’ve been around me for any amount of time, you know that I love to talk about the three simple words, “rinse and repeat” on every shampoo bottle. Yes, you have to keep coming back, although it doesn’t necessarily mean you should come back with the same message.

Every message must bring different value, a different message. You have to do this, because it’s how the prospect / customers sees you as standing apart from everyone else. It marks you as different. Don’t think for a moment about sitting there and being shady with them. No, don’t do that. Because you know what? That brings me to my next point…

7. Your Reputation Matters

This is a big one and a primary thing I call out on social media. Social media helps you establish your reputation. It helps you sell, because nobody can talk to anybody without first Googling and seeing what it has to say about that person.  

So, what does Google say about this person? What does Google say about you? Chances are it’ll take you to LinkedIn if you’re in a B2B environment. So, what does LinkedIn say about you?  If you’re in a B2C environment, it might take you to Facebook. So, what does Facebook say about you?

You have to ask yourself this question: would customers want to do business with me if they went out and saw what the Internet has to say about me?

8. Leverage Existing Contacts

Let me tell you that we can never do enough with our existing contacts. We just can’t. These contacts take on a number of different things besides just existing contacts. They also take on our customers, current customers, their past customers, or their leads that never materialized.

Existing contacts might be customers that left you or never chose to do business with you, but these are people that understand who you are. These are people with which your reputation has already arrived. So why would you not leverage existing contacts? Don’t feel like you need to spend all your time chasing new prospects when you already have a whole list that you haven’t focused in on.

9. Referrals

Oh, wow. The is hands down one of the easiest ways to fill a calendar, so reach out and ask your customers for them. You must be deliberate, though. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you didn’t do a good job so you can’t ask them. How do you know that until you ask them? You don’t know what your existing customers will say until you talk to them. Ask them who else would benefit from what you’ve done for them.

Reach out to people now and remember that referrals cut both ways. You have to be sure that you’re giving referrals, too. The more referrals you give, the better. No, it’s not necessarily like that but it is amazing what happens when you get into the habit of giving referrals. Often, you’ll end up receiving more referrals.   

10. Make the calls!

There’s no way you can fill your prospecting calendar by just saying, “well, here’s my plan. Now I’ll sit back and wait for it to happen.” No way! You have to pick up the phone and make the calls. You have to be deliberate. You have to be intentional. You have to stay focused. You have to schedule the time and follow through with it. When you do, it’s amazing what good things happen.

There you go! Now you have ten action items to help you fill your prospecting calendar as we soon wrap up 2020 and head into the first quarter of 2021. Check out my website, check out my YouTube channel. I want you to take advantage of everything I have for you, including my books.

Copyright 2020, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog.  Mark Hunter is the author of A Mind for Sales and High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results.

 

Is That a Cell Tower?

Have I told you about the time a cell tower saved me? Well, it didn’t really save me, but it sure made working with a client a lot easier. Let’s back up the bus a little bit. In February of this year, when the pandemic was really just coming onto the scene, I didn’t realize what was really happening – a pandemic. Ok, hold on. I’ll come back to that thought.

Here’s the deal… I was in a hotel room having to do a virtual event for a client. Wow. Now, that sounds pretty normal, right? Well, now it does – yes. Back in February, however, that was rather unusual and certainly not the norm like it is today. Anyways, as I get set up to this virtual event with a client. I had planned to do it from my hotel room so it would fit in my schedule. Everything was great. Then, about 15 minutes before it was scheduled to begin, the Internet goes out. Suddenly, no internet.

So, what was I supposed to do? How would I do this virtual event? I called the front desk. They told me that the Internet would be down for a couple hours, because they were doing work in the area. Oh, great. I look at my cell phone to see that I only have one bar – just one bar for service. I knew that wouldn’t do, so quickly, I jump into my rental car. There’s no place around, but I see a cell tower. I knew that I had AT&T as my service provider, so hopefully, this tower is an AT&T tower coaster.

I get closer to the tower, and now see two bars, three bars, four bars. Yes! I’m there, so I park as close as I can to the cell tower. I got four bars, 4G. I am able to do my event. I was so glad it worked. I just had to improvise at the last minute, but it worked!

Now, if only the client could have seen how much sweat I let off as I tried to make sure I would get connected online on time. Little did they realize that I was doing it from a rental car on my cell phone, too. But it all worked. In this current pandemic situation, we have to improvise a lot. I see the constant flexibility as a normal response; however, back in February, I thought the way that I had to improvise was crazy. I had to really hustle to make it work, but I did make it work.

 The lesson learned here is don’t ever think for a moment that you can’t make something work. You’ll figure out a way, just like I did in my situation. All the plans that I made right in my hotel room had to actually be right at a cell tower. I just had to get to it. Where are your cell towers that will help you with the next situation?

Copyright 2020, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog.  Mark Hunter is the author of A Mind for Sales and High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results.

 

How to Create a Sales Blitz in a Pandemic

Now more than ever, as we’re living in the middle of a pandemic, you need to have a sales blitz. I will walk you through the 10 ways of how to create a sales blitz during this time. Here is what you should be doing…

1. Target Your List

Now, you may have a wide range of lists. You have a lot of different prospects that you want to deal with involving different kinds of people; however, you really need to target your list. What do I mean? Focus where you’re going to spend your time. A sales blitz doesn’t mean that you do a little bit of everything everywhere. It means that you do a lot of something in a very tight, narrow area. Target your list as much as possible.

2. Keep Things Simple

Don’t make it complex. It’s easy for us to overcomplicate things, and in turn, make more work for ourselves. Often, we want to add this or that. No, don’t do that. Keep things simple, because if you make if complex in your mind, it’s going to be even more complex for your prospect – too complex, really.

Keep the product or service you’re selling as simple as possible. Stay zeroed in on the outcome you’re your customer is looking for. Don’t try to bring world peace. Work on solving the number one issue they currently have in their mind.

3. Clear Talking Points

When you keep things simple, you’re able to have clear talking points. If you overcomplicate, you’re not able to communicate as well. It’s the simplest things that are communicated the easiest and those things that are communicated the easiest are the simplest things. It works both ways. Pretty simple, huh?

So, you have to have clear talking points that your prospects can understand.

4. Power Questions

What are these kinds of questions? They are questions designed to get them talking to you. They should engage them. These types of questions are designed to reveal pain, so they share more with you to help you understand more of what they’re looking for. Power questions are not surface questions. They go deep. You need to go deep, because if you’re going to do a sales blitz in a pandemic, superficial won’t work; your customers in this are way beyond that.

5. Repetition

It’s always noisy out there…very noisy, especially right now. This means you have to be prepared to approach them, discuss with them, and talk with them multiple times. It has to be an ongoing conversation.

Repetition, repetition does not mean you do the same thing over and over. It just means you have to be prepared to share new information / new insights with them, numerous times. Keep it coming.

6. Build on Success

In the midst of a pandemic, things can be very difficult for us. On the sales end, because things are probably tougher than usual, you got to take whatever success you have and build on it. This is why I am telling every salesperson I talk to right now to, at the end of the day, look back on their day and write down the most successful thing that happened. It may be a very small thing – very minor – but I want you to write that down. You always have to play on your success.

Another way to build on success is start your day off doing something that you know you’re going to succeed in. Success creates success. The same things happens with your customers. Your customers are achieving success, so recognize them for that. Help them build on their success too.

7. Existing Customers

Don’t think you need to go into a country or a new world to find prospects and customers. You already have existing customers. It’s amazing how much more business you can probably get right out of them, not only in terms of addition business, but referrals, recommendations, and everything else.

Never look past the customers you already have when creating your sales blitz.

8. Stay Focused

Time and time again, you have to stay focused. It’s easy to suddenly see and start chasing shiny objects or somebody just called me with this chemical. Today, actually I got a call from someone saying, “Hey, you got to check out this guy!” It could’ve been very easy for me to go after that and get caught up in a new “shiny object.” But no, I knew I had to be here in the studio making videos for you. That is my focus, so I must constantly keep my mind fixed here. Stay focus on your plan. Don’t allow shiny objects to distract you.

9. Set Mini Goals

What are mini-goals? They are small goals set for short brackets of time. For example, you may set a goal for this two-hour, four-hour or even one-hour window ahead of you. That helps you create, and hopefully achieve, many goals over the course of the whole day. Again, you can go back and see what you accomplished and build on your success. It’s amazing how much better you become when you begin to use your time efficiently. That takes me to the final way you can create a sales blitz…

10. Protect Your Time

Your time is your most valuable asset. Don’t think for a moment that because we’re in the middle of a pandemic, nobody is buying anything and just not worry about it. No, your time is more valuable than ever. You want to make sure that you focus on activities that will generate revenue or lead you to generating revenue. If you can’t say that what you’re doing lines up to one of those two, then question why you’re doing it.

There you go! Those are the ten things to do in order to create a sales blitz in a pandemic. It all comes down to having a plan and executing it. If you haven’t, go pick up my book, A Mind for Sales. I hope you read it, because it will help you focus your mind and set you up with the right framework to be successful right now.

Copyright 2020, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog.  Mark Hunter is the author of A Mind for Sales and High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results.

 

Lessons from Running

It’s a beautiful fall day here in Nebraska. You bet, I went out for a run today. It was great! Let me share with you some lessons I’ve learned from running… and more. Actually, what I should say is lessons I’ve learned from not running. But let me tell you some lessons I’ve learned from running and more, I should say, lessons from not running. I enjoy running. I really enjoy running. I’ve been running for years. I used to get out and run five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten miles without batting an eye.

As I get older, I am down to running just a few miles and maybe three or four on a very good day. I feel good about that, though. I always feel really good when I finish a run. Running has taught me that it feels good to sweat and put in some pain. I just got back from a run and I’m sweating, even though it is 50 degrees today.

It’s windy, yes. But it feels good. Here are some lessons I have learned from not running. I’ve found that my running pace and mileage go deeper in the summer months, because I am out running more. Here in Nebraska, it can be hard to run in the winter. 

This past summer, in the middle of August, I hurt my achilles. Man, I was fearful that I was going to completely tear my Achilles tendon so it forced me to stop running. I had to stop running for several weeks. After not running for over 3 weeks, I came back and it really was just a walk. It took me a good week or so to get back up to running again. Wow, wow.

Has that still impacted me today? I’m still not back to my old pace. I lost focus for those 3 – 4 weeks, because I had to step away from it. One thing it taught me though is the power of repetition and the power of staying consistent. How many times do we find ourselves lacking consistency with things? We start something, but then we “see” a “squirrel” or “shiny object,” and get distracted.

Consistency is where we win the game. That’s where we win. That is where we make a difference. I can’t stress that enough. Boy, has this setback been painful in multiple ways. I tell myself that I wish I had stretched better before I ran and then maybe I never would had hurt my achilles. There’s another lesson on preparing before you do anything. I failed to prepare myself before my run.

What does it mean to prepare in business, in life? It’s about having a plan. It’s about having a plan and sticking with it. Think about that for a moment. I’ve learned so many lessons from this setback, and I am fortunate to have learned them. This was my first real significant issue, and honestly, as I look back on it, it wasn’t that significant. It was the most significant issue I’ve had with running in a long, long time.

I am grateful to have good knees, good ankles, and good legs. But wow, I learned some lessons. Plan, prepare, repeat, plan, prepare, repeat. Maybe we should take that to the bank every day with everything that we do. That’s what I’ve learned. Go out today and plan, prepare, and repeat.

Copyright 2020, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog.  Mark Hunter is the author of A Mind for Sales and High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results.

 

How to Start the Year Strong

How are you going to start the year? Are you going to be able to start it strong? Let me walk you through 10 things to help you end this year strong so you can begin next year off on the right foot. Often, people pack it in and say, “well, that’s it, I’m done” or “I’ll come back and deal with it after the first year.” Don’t make those mistakes, because you’ll wind up wasting the first couple weeks of the year. I talk a lot about how you make the most of each week by planning on Sunday. You have to do the same thing with the year. That’s one of the big reasons why I talk about planning on a weekly basis in my book, A Mind for Sales. Here, I’m talking about planning on a yearly basis. So, how do you start your year strong?

1. Pre-Schedule Meetings

You want to make sure that from day one, you have meetings set up. Don’t sit there and allow yourself to come into the new year and wait to prospect until the first week. If you wait until then, you won’t have meetings set up until the second or third week. You’ve already lost a couple of weeks. December – right now – is the time to be prospecting, so you have meetings set up for January.

There may be some business review with major accounts, and there may be other meetings that you want to do; get them all scheduled on the calendar now. That sets you up to actively sell the first week of January.

2. Build on Past Year’s Sales

Take a look at all of this year’s customers and ask yourself where you’re going to find additional business in early 2021. This is absolutely key. Jump on this and jump on it quick!

This is a great strategy, because once you get off to a fast start, the momentum will help you continue. That will keep you going. Take time right now to identify those accounts that you’re going to target early on and figure out how this year’s activity will bring sales early in 2021.

3. Don’t Stop Prospecting

One of the reasons why I think people wind up with an empty calendar is because they stop prospecting in December. Don’t stop prospecting. Every month of the year, you have to allocate “x” amount of time every day and every week to prospecting, especially in December. If you don’t, you’ll find yourself on the short end. Since January is typically a scramble month, it will just put you behind for the first quarter.

4. Evaluate Your Funnel

Look all the way through your sales pipeline and find where it’s plugged up. Where can you move? What do you need to shift around? Identify those opportunities where you can create another relationship. However, in order to get there, you need to tie in with something else.

Now is the time to begin planning those bigger moves. It’s not too early. If you start planning them now, you’ll be in a better position to take advantage of them in the first quarter. Even further, it will pay out for you all next calendar year.

5. Leverage the Calendar

What’s the difference between evaluating and leveraging your calendar? What do I mean by leveraging the calendar to your advantage? For example, encouraging people to get sales in early, because if you wait, there may not be any supply left.

From a shipping standpoint, you may not have as many weeks, so you want to play a little bit of urgency and importance in buying now. You choose how you want to say/play it that emphasizes why it’s important to get the orders in now. Typically, in the month of January, everybody starts gearing up in the second, third, fourth week as orders start coming in, and things back up. That’s why it’s important to leverage your calendar now so that you’re ready to close sales the first couple days of January. That’s the best way to bring in business in the new year.

6. Create Your Influencer List

I love having people who can help me and in turn, I can help them. This is why I create a list of those I can influence and vice versa. It’s made up of people who I have a great deal of respect for, and hopefully they have a great deal of respect for me.

These are people I want to create relationships with and share ongoing conversations. December is the time that I reach out to these people and have conversations. We have meaningful conversations, because typically, these people are strategic and bright minded. It’s amazing how often they’ll want to get together for breakfast, lunch, coffee, or whatever. Due to the pandemic, we may not be able to do that but hey, it’s possible to meet virtually during the last week or two of the year. Doing so leads to an opportunity early next year. Leverage your influences list this time of year. December is the month to have those in-depth conversations with those that can help you.

7. Know Your Goals

How do you know if you’re going to get somewhere if you don’t even know where you’re going? You don’t. Set your goals now and break them down accordingly. This involves having big opportunity customers and smaller opportunity customers. Many times, I see salespeople sit there with their goals and say, “I’ve got all year to land this customer,” but then, they wind up putting it off, putting it off, and putting it off. Since the goal is such a “big gorilla” customer, huge opportunity, it never gets closed.

Know your goals and know how you’re going to spend your time in order to reach them. This includes figuring out what your customers are going to get, what to focus on and when – what time of the month, quarter, etc. That way you don’t back yourself up.

8. Set Daily / Weekly January Goals

If you can get January off to a fast start, you’ll be amazed at how much more comfortable you’ll be for the rest of the year. Also, it’s amazing how much more you’re able to get done when you get into the groove right off the bat.

It’s just simply getting into the routine. It’s like going to the gym. If you only go to the gym once or twice, it doesn’t mean anything; however, if you go to the gym every day for three, four, or five weeks, suddenly it becomes a habit, and you’ll continue to go to the gym. It becomes part of your DNA. In the month of January, I want you to set daily and weekly goals. This will get you into a rhythm, to get you going. Don’t just sit there and say, “oh, it’s just the first week of the year. If I don’t get this until the second week, it’s ok.” No, it’s not ok.

9. Increase Communication

Work hard to increase the conversations with your customers during the month of December. Don’t sit there and back off. That can easily happen because of the lack of meetings, lack of routine. Yet, as a result, people are a little more receptive to read things and have conversations.

Increase your level of connection with prospects, customers, people in your funnel – no matter where they are. – during the month of December. This will build opportunities that you can start to capitalize on either at the end of the year or beginning of January.

10. Sell Speed / Urgency

I can’t stress speed and urgency enough. How does this vary? How is it different from everything else? A lot of times, we hear “call me back after the first of the year” in November, December. This is a common excuse. For all kinds of reasons, we need to work around that. If you just accept that response, they sit there and say, “well, ok, call me back.”

Then, the first of the year comes and they say, “give me a buzz at the end of January.” No. You want to sell speed, because when you get that order, they will understand how what you sell fits into everything else the customers are doing. They can’t get to everything else they’re doing until they buy from you, so you want to sell speed and urgency.

There are the ten things you need to do to start the year strong. I could go on and on for hours and share more but we’re out of time. Check out the Sales Hunter University. Check out my book, A Mind for Sales.

Copyright 2020, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog.  Mark Hunter is the author of A Mind for Sales and High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results.

 

How Are You Adapting to Move Forward?

Yes, things continue to change all around us. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you think there’s no way out? I bet you have. We’ve all been there. As I think back to the early days of COVID-19, we all had different perceptions, viewpoints, ideas, etc. It’s interesting that now about six months later, I’m sitting in the DFW airport. I’m travelling today. Yeah, it’s still pretty quiet, but there’s a lot of people out making it happen.

Social distancing, mask wearing, extra hand washing, protection, everything like that is in full effect. It’s interesting how we adapt to the environment around us and situations we find ourselves in. As humans, we’ve learned to adapt regardless the circumstances. We find a way to make it happen. We just do it, even when it may look tough.

Think back to when you were a kid, maybe in the third or fourth grade and you had a test coming up. You probably thought that the world the world was going to end. It was so traumatic, yet you made it through. Then, later in life, you’ve probably found yourself in different obstacles. I know I’ve had my share of hard things in my life, but you know what? The sun still comes up in the morning. Every day is a new day. I’m looking outside right now at the sun – yes, it did come up this morning.

As human beings, we find a way to adapt. We always do. It’s important to remain strong. Maintain your faith and stay focused. Believe you can and you will. Surround yourself with other people like you to help encourage you and keep you on the right track.

So, I stand here in the DFW airport, in a very quiet, isolated part of the building. They require masks here of course, but I’m not wearing one since I’m highly secluded from everyone. As soon as I get done with this video, though I will put my mask back on as I adapt to the rules of the environment currently in place around us. That is how we will all get through this. We will make it through COVID-19. I know there are just a couple of generations ahead of us that got through the Spanish flu – 1918 and 1920. They got through it.

There have been many other crises that we’ve endured. I am optimistic and confident that we make it through this one as well. Join me in looking for ways to adapt and build and go forward. 

Copyright 2020, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog.  Mark Hunter is the author of A Mind for Sales and High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results.

 

Why I Love Sales

I love sales. I absolutely love it. I hope you love sales too. At this time of the year, I want to share with you 10 reasons why I love sales:

1. It’s About Helping People

That’s what sales is all about. Salespeople help every day. We get to be out there helping others see and achieve what they didn’t think was possible. What could be more exciting? It’s our job day in and day out to help others!  and that then the ability to have a job where you could spend all day helping people.

2. It’s About Building Relationships

Sure, I hear “no” quite a bit. I get doors slammed in my face – figuratively and sometimes literally. But that’s ok. I get it. I’m still building relationships, because with each person I meet, I get to earn the right, the privilege, the honor, and respect to be able to talk to that person again. That’s a huge deal.

I’ve been able to create relationships with hundreds and even thousands of people that I never would have had a chance to meet if I had not been in sales.

3. It’s About Solving Problems

In helping people, I am helping through work through their problems and giving them a solution. Every time I sell something, that’s what I get to do. I help the customer be able to solve the problem. Think about that for a moment. Does that excite you? It sure brings me excitement every day, knowing that I am helping people reach answers.

4. It’s About Learning

Being in sales, I can’t go a day without learning something new. Every single day, I am learning. Again, I am so much smarter today than I was ten years ago, two years ago, and even just a few months ago. I can hardly wait to see how much smarter I’ll be five years from now, 10 years from now. The way I gain more knowledge is by talking with so many people. It’s because of the many relationships. It’s because of the interaction with varieties of people from all different walks of life. The learning is never-ending, and that’s one of the reasons why I love sales.

5. It’s About Being Challenged

Sales is a challenge at times. To me, I think that’s kind of cool. Everyday feels like a jigsaw puzzle that needs solving. Every week I face various oppositions. As I face them, I have to figure out how to fit the pieces together. When a customer has an issue, I ask myself lots of questions like: how do I make that fit, and how do I fit that together? I see being challenged as keeping me sharp. That absolutely keeps me on my toes and staying in the game. I love it.

6. It’s About Satisfaction

At the end of the day, I can be so satisfied when I’ve been able to help someone or a group of people. It’s satisfying to help someone accomplish a goal or reach one of my goals. That is the fun part, and it makes me feel good.

7. It’s About the Journey

It’s the journey, and it’s amazing. With each phone call, I don’t know what to expect. Every single one is different. Every day brings new opportunities, new things.

Now, you might be thinking that you sell the same thing all of the time so how can it be new every time?  Yes, that makes sense. However, each day brings different people. It’s a journey that we get to travel on and to me, that’s incredible.

8. It’s About Helping Others Succeed

This isn’t just about helping customers succeed, but also vendors and others that I come in contact with me. As a salesperson, there’s so many other people, besides the customer, that you get to help. When I do that job well, I create opportunities for people within my own company even. That’s another way I help others succeed. Wow, that’s a kick! That creates everything that I talked about earlier – satisfaction, helping people, building relationships – all of it, and that’s a big reason why I love sales.

9. It’s About Long-term Impact

No matter what you sell, you create a legacy in sales. We all do. I don’t care if you sell something to somebody and then go away to someplace else. That product or service still remains long after you leave. That is how you create long-term impact. Chances are there will be another decision and another decision and another decision to follow, so the long-term impact continues.

Also, I love to say that the only good sales are the ones that lead to the next sale. Well, that’s certainly a long-term impact when you can create one sale that in turn creates a whole host of other sales from that one sale. That’s having an influence for months and years to come. To me, that’s a big deal.

10. It’s About Just Being Me!

I get to be me. You get to be you. Your personality is one of your greatest assets. Of course I can make a joke that you’re that “crazy aunt” or “weird uncle,” but I don’t think you are.

Just be you. Let your personality shine through. I’ve found that when I let my personality come through, I’m a lot more confident and able to make a bigger impact on people. I love it!

So there you have the 10 reasons why I love sales. Now, you wouldn’t be reading or listening all the way to number 10 if you didn’t have a passion for sales and a desire to do each of the ten things above. I talk about all of these in my book, A Mind for Sales. I strongly recommend you pick it up. These 10 reasons are what give me a mind for sales.

Copyright 2020, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog.  Mark Hunter is the author of A Mind for Sales and High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results.