Mark Hunter's Blog, page 50

Monday Motivation Video: What Do I Need to Let Go Of?

You have too much on your plate. Think about giving up something. You’re probably wondering what that should be. It will take time, and you may not know until you feel so overloaded that you can’t think clearly. There is at least one thing on your plate right now that is not helping you reach success. Find out what that is, and get rid of it!

 

Copyright 2019, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Result

Do You Have Lousy Customers?

Do you have lousy customers? Ask yourself that question and be serious about your answer. If you’re saying yes, then why do you think your customers are lousy? Are your customers lousy because your sales process attracts the wrong customers?

Learn more in this 35-second video:

 

 

When you prospect, you’re not only helping the customer discover why they should buy from you, but you’re also validating if you should even sell to them in the first place. It’s not a good enough reason to get a customer just to help make your monthly or quarterly number.

If the prospect / customer is difficult to deal with during the sale process, stop and ask yourself what they’d be like as your customer. This is a major issue if all you sell is services. Sales is a two-way street, so regardless of what you sell or how much you think your sale is a one-time event, it is not. Every sale, no matter what the product or service and who you sell to, will always lead to the next sale. With each sale you make, you further demonstrate who you are and what you do. Your history in sales and the customers you have become your future reputation.

To put this plain and simple, you get the customers you deserve based on how you prospect. When you allow yourself to compromise a claim about your product to help close a deal, you might think you’re doing the right thing but you’re not. You’re doing the opposite! When red flags pop up early on with a prospect but you fail to press the brakes on the relationship, you’re setting yourself for having a bad customer. A sale is not a sale. A sale is only a sale if it is a good sale between two parties that have mutual respect and support for one another. Bad customers are the byproduct of bad salespeople. This is why I use this phrase often: “when you prospect with integrity you will get customers who have integrity.”

Copyright 2019, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Result

10 Key to Prospecting Success

Ask salespeople what their number one issue is and you’ll probably hear, “getting good prospects.” Here’s a simple fact: you can’t close a sale until you have someone to sell to.

So what does it take to successfully prospect? As I’ve worked with thousands of salespeople and written the book, High-Profit Prospecting, I have narrowed it down to what I like to call the “10 Keys to Prospecting”:

Check out the video where I discuss these 10 keys:

 

 

1. Have a dedicated time on your calendar to prospect. Don’t allow interruptions! This is absolutely essential! The most successful salespeople are those who commit their time to prospect and stick to it. Saying that you’ll start prospecting as soon as you’ve taken care of everything else is not a strategy but an escape tactic to avoid prospecting!

2. Never start what you can’t finish. Prospecting is about following up. Reaching out to a bunch of people without following up with repeat contacts will never result in any type of success.

3. Believe 110% that you can help others. If you don’t believe in you, why should anyone else believe in you? Top performing salespeople are successful regardless of what they sell, because they know their objective is to help others; what they sell is merely the means in which they do that.

4. Qualify quickly. There’s nothing worse than having “prospects” in your pipeline just taking up your time but never becoming your customers. I’m a firm believer in having a fast moving prospecting pipeline that allows you to spend more time with fewer prospects. Yes, I know that is the exact opposite of what many sales managers say. We have to think quality, not quantity!

5. Have a prospecting process and stick to it. You won’t know if your process works unless you’ve executed it for a period of time that is twice the length of your average buying cycle. This is my rule. Here’s an example: if it takes 3 months to move someone from a lead to a customer, then you need to run your process for at least 6 months before you’ll know if it is working. Too many salespeople give up on their plan far too soon.

6. Don’t rely on social media as your primary means to generate leads. Social media is great, but not 100% reliable all of the time. Use it as one of your sources. Social media has a long lead-time. Too often, salespeople starve to death because they’ve put such a strong emphasis on social media, thinking it’s all they have to do. Use it to create awareness and confidence. The leads you get are purely a bonus.

7. Follow up promptly. This sounds simple, but more opportunities are lost merely due to the salesperson failing to follow up quickly when leads/prospects indicate that they want to move forward. Countless opportunities are lost because the salesperson is afraid that they’ll be seen as a stalker. If stalking helps me close more deals, sign me up!

8. Use the telephone. Don’t fall for the myth: “the telephone doesn’t work because nobody answers it.” Sure, the telephone isn’t as effective as it used to be, but don’t give up on it. The telephone allows you to have conversations with leads and prospects which in turn allows you to qualify them faster and ultimately help them far beyond what they initially expected.

9. Do not only rely on the Marketing Department for leads. It’s always great to have leads supplied, but top performers know they have an obligation to get leads and prospects. Relying on the Marketing Department is merely an excuse for not taking control of yourself.

10. Make the prospecting process about the other person. It’s not what you sell, it’s the outcome that you can help the prospect reach. That is what will get you the high-value prospects you need. If all you do is tell others what you do and what your product features are, you’re destined to fail.

 

Copyright 2019, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results

Monday Motivation Video: What Are Your 5-Year Goals?

Set a course of action to achieve your long-term goals. That is the only way you’ll know if you got there and achieved something. Don’t wander through life and just take whatever falls in your lap. Go out and get it! Where do you want to be professionally and personally in 5 years? What do you need to start doing today to get you there? Success doesn’t happen by chance.

 

 

 

Copyright 2019, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results

“Your Price Is Too High.” How Do I Avoid That Question?

Your customer does not want to buy anything, but they want you to give them solutions. The biggest challenge for you is not knowing the solution that your customer is looking for. Often, the customer doesn’t know the answer either. The customer may think they know what they want, but because it’s the only thing they know. Your job is to them get to the next level.

You can tell a customer what they should buy; however, the customer won’t believe you until they know for certain that you have the right answer. They will just keep resisting. The best way to overcome this is to ask more questions, but I’m not talking about simple questions that anyone can answer. I am referring to questions that really get the customer thinking. Until we get the customer to think, there is little chance that we will get them to change their mind.

How do you get the customer thinking and get a higher price? Watch this video:

 

 

Sales is not about taking the easy route, it’s about doing what’s right and that means helping the customer even when they don’t initially see or know how you can help them. Your customer will always feel your price is too high and they will feel that way as long as they fail to see the full value of what you have to offer.

Your goal today and every day is to ask questions that get them thinking. When you ask thought-provoking questions, you build an ongoing conversation with your customer. The deeper your conversation goes, the higher the value you create.

Your price is not too high. It is only too high in your customer’s mind, because you have failed to create enough value to warrant the price. Customers do not buy, they invest. They invest in value to achieve an outcome, and it’s your job to help them achieve that outcome.

 

Copyright 2019, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results

What Do I Need to Do to Become Great at Prospecting?

Below is a list of 20 things I have found in common with the top 1% of all sales prospectors. Notice that each item on the list is an action. That’s right, they are things you can do! To be great at prospecting, you don’t have to be born with the “sales gene.” It simply means that you must make it happen day after day.

Check out my video where I talk more about what it takes to be in the top 1% of all sales prospectors:

As you go through the list, don’t just read it. Think through each item and see which ones pop out and demand your attention. You might assume your goal is to do each one of these things at super salesperson level. Yes, that’s the long-term goal but right now, focus in on one action and master it. After you have mastered one, take another and continue the process.

Sales is not a destination, sales is a journey. This list is a step forward in your sales journey.

1. Commit to prospecting, regardless of what else needs to be done.

2. Focus on quality leads, not just a list.

3. Persist beyond what anyone else will do.

4. Use multiple processes that fit each segment they prospect.

5. Don’t rely on marketing for your leads.

6. Embrace technology, but don’t let it control you or them.

7. Commit to help other people beyond their customers.

8. Know the most valuable asset they have is their own time.

9. Work consistently to improve their process and more quickly engaging the prospect.

10. Understand the real measurement of their ability to prospect is in their ability to close.

11. Never rely on one form of communication. Know what tool to use and when to use it.

12. Keep the pipeline clean by not allowing it to fill up with prospects that aren’t going anywhere.

13. Use the telephone heavily. Know the potential that a live conversation has in moving a prospect forward faster than anything else.

14. Have a social media presence but do not be overly dependent on it.

15. Be goal oriented to the point of being obsessed.

16. Commit to the customer and their needs, not just on what they sell.

17. Have a marketing plan to remain in touch with those people who aren’t active in the prospecting or buying cycle.

18. Own your prospect’s process.

19. Maintain an optimistic attitude.

20. View prospecting not as an activity, but rather as a lifestyle that you live.

Copyright 2019, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results

Monday Motivation Video: What Are Your 18-Month Sales Goals?

Start thinking about your goals with the next 18 months in mind. This will positively affect how you develop relationships with your customers now. It will change the questions you ask and how you look at things. Most of all, looking at your goals for the next 18 months will change how you allocate your time. Your biggest asset is your time, so maximize every minute now to reach your goals in the future.

Copyright 2019, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results

The Biggest Sale You Will Ever Make

The biggest sale you will ever make is very similar to the biggest sale I ever made. The biggest sale you will ever make is the one you make to yourself when you start believing 100% that you can make a difference because of what you sell and the outcomes you create.

Find out more about your biggest sale in this video:

When you make the firm commitment and truly jump the shark, cross the threshold and shift your mindset to helping others, you will begin selling to yourself. If you’re able to sell to yourself, the door will open for you to begin confidently selling to others.

No one goes into sales thinking they will fail, yet this is what I see happen with far too many people. When I talk with these people, their excuses for failing are typically, “the price was too high,” or they tell me, “my leads were bad,” or “nobody wanted what I was selling.” I could go on and on about the excuses I’ve heard.  Rarely, do I hear a salesperson call themselves out and their lack of action as the reason for their failures. You control far more than you realize, and more importantly, you control your mind which is the most important part of you. What you think and how you think impacts both you and your customers.

Success is never guaranteed, however, it certainly is more probable with people who believe in themselves and how they can help others. The biggest sale you will ever make is to the customer you see every single day. You actually live with that customer, and you know them better than anyone. This customer is you, so it’s your job and only your job to close the sale.

Close the biggest sale you’ll ever make, and you’ll begin opening up more relationships than you ever dreamed possible. This gives new meaning to a phrase I use, “we don’t close customers, we open relationships.” When we open relationships, we will naturally create the next sale, the next sale, and the next sale.

Copyright 2019, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results

How Do I Build a Prospecting Plan?

This is a question I get asked a lot. Here are 8 steps you can do right now:

Watch this 6-minute video to learn more about these 8 steps:

Do you know who your perfect client is? Take some time to write out a description of your perfect client.  Those who fit the description are the prospects on which you want to focus 100% of your effort.
Create a list of the outcomes you create. I’m not talking about features or benefits; I’m talking about how you help the customer with what you sell.
Build a list of 10 questions that will engage the prospect and allow them to share with you their critical need. You won’t ask all 10 questions.  No, the point is to have enough questions to build your confidence.  You may only ask one or two, but having more allows you to be ready.  The key is to make the questions relative to that particular prospect to create confidence.
Create a list of value-added statements/insights you can share with prospects during the prospecting phase. Having this will allow you to be prepared to stay engaged with the customer, because it will allow you to be ready to message the prospect multiple times and each time deliver a different message.
Block the necessary time on the calendar to be able to prospect knowing it may take up to 10-15 contacts using various means to get a prospect to acknowledge you. Don’t think you don’t have time.  You have to realize that this is as important as eating or using the restroom.  You schedule it and you stick to it.
With each prospecting block of time, be sure to have a goal. Keep it easy at first, remembering that you want to succeed.  Second, always evaluate what you learned and how it will help you improve.  Your goal is to be continually improving.
Your attitude is what will make or break your success.  This is far more important than anything else. It’s amazing how having the right attitude makes a dramatic difference in whether you prospect or simply blow it off.
Never give up!  Be persistent! When you believe you can make a difference in others, then it is your responsibility to reach out and connect.  They may not expect it, and they most likely will not think they need it, but because you know you can help them, you will continue to be persistent in making contact.

The biggest issue salespeople have is giving up too soon! The steps laid out above are designed to help you do one thing: to make it happen.  Prospecting is where sales begins.  When you prospect it’s amazing what will happen.

Prospecting does not have to be the dreaded activity that causes you to want to quit.  Take the time to create your plan, and then step back and really think about how what you sell can impact people.  When you believe in the outcomes you create, it is amazing how your attitude towards prospecting will change.

Copyright 2019, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results

Monday Motivation Video: Motivate Yourself by Encouraging Others

Who could you encourage this week? One of the best ways to encourage yourself is to encourage others. It changes your whole outlook! Start every day by encouraging someone around you, whether it’s your spouse, significant other, kids, neighbor or even the barista at your local coffee shop. You’ll be most encouraged and motivated when you encourage others.

Copyright 2019, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results