Mark Hunter's Blog, page 57

Monday Motivation Video: Motivation and Impact of Positive People

Start off Monday morning right by associating yourself with positive people. You may have a hard time finding positive influences in your workplace. Then, try to find someone positive at a coffee shop or the next restaurant you eat at. Every morning, set a goal to say something positive to at least three people. Congratulate them! This will bring positive thoughts and great success into their life and yours.

Customer Expectations and Sales Leadership

Customer expectations might be what the customer expects but that does not mean they have to own them. Customer expectations are not the property of the customer. They are your expectations, so you better take care of them.

Customers have expectations. It’s our job in sales to understand what those expectations are and ensure that they line up with what we’re able to deliver. It is our fault when we fail to meet the customer’s expectations, because we were the one that did not shape them appropriately.

Too often, customers become disenchanted with their purchase solely because it didn’t measure up to their expectations. Blaming the customer is not the solution; this only makes the matter worse. The solution falls on you as the salesperson. It is your job to ensure that your customer’s expectations remain aligned with what you’re selling before the purchase is even made.

I know that meeting customer expectations can become a major issue at the end of the quarter when you’re scrambling to make a number. This is when it becomes too easy to slide past a customer’s misperception. You want to just get the deal done. You tell yourself that you’ll come back later to resolve any issues that might have come up. Excuse me, but this is not sales leadership! Using the customer to make your number is just that- using the customer, and it is flat out wrong!

Sales leadership is about making sure customer expectations are met. You have the choice to bring them down or build them up in your sales process. Honestly, your expectations and perceptions don’t matter. It’s your customers expectations and perceptions that really count.

Think back to customers you’ve sold to and particularly those customers that were incredibly satisfied with you and your sale. Sometimes maybe everything didn’t measure up. In both situations, good and bad, it was all about the customer’s expectations.

We will decrease issues and increase repeat sales and referrals if we’re able to continually deliver in line with our customer’s expectations.

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 to Prospect Successfully? The 3 Issues Salespeople Deal With

Do you want to increase your effectiveness when it comes to prospecting? Are you concerned that you don’t have enough leads or are not closing enough sales? Are you just trying to figure out what to do? You probably are saying “yes” to at least one of these questions. These are real world issues that deserve real world solutions. Let me unpack each one for you.

Not having enough leads isn’t strictly about the number of leads you have. Rather, it is about where you got the leads and what you’re doing with them. Before you think about how to generate leads, first ask yourself who you’re trying to sell to. If you don’t establish a clear profile of who will most benefit from what you’re selling, you will just wander. This will happen because you’ll start to think everything is a lead. The key is not the number of leads you have but the quality of them and how you handle each one. Watch a short video on this topic from my keynote at the Zoominfo Conference:

Focus your efforts on those leads with similar traits as your best customers. The next key is making enough contacts and this is where most people fall short. Let’s say you make two or three calls or send a few emails, but you don’t get any response so you give up. The reason you need more leads is because you’re giving up too soon.

The lead that looks like a perfect fit is someone you can’t let go of because you know that you can help them. You’re certain that you could make a difference in their business and/or personal life if they would just give you a chance. If you truly believe that, you have an obligation to continue reaching out to them. This might mean you reach out over a dozen times! There is nothing wrong with that, as long as you are offering them new, valuable insights each and every time. Keep at it! If you give up, you’ll only be doing them a disservice.

When you focus on the right lead, you’ll be able to create more value for them and before long, they will see it too. All of this will result in closing more sales and even without having to discount. The reason so many discounts are given to close a sale is because the salesperson began with a bad prospect. Remember that not all prospects are created equal. You don’t have time to deal with those that don’t match your profile of a perfect customer.

If you’re reading this and you’re still confused, your mental state is probably still not zeroed in on helping others see and achieve what they didn’t think was possible. Keep in mind that helping people is our primary goal as salespeople.

To help you get in the zone, take 20 minutes and write down all of the outcomes and benefits you have helped your customers achieve. As you build that list, you’ll begin to see that what you do is making a difference. You will also notice how certain outcomes match up with certain customers. Look for patterns and indicators that you can begin to use to help you prospect. As you do this exercise, you’ll start to believe in yourself and your ability to help those around you.

Prospecting is just the beginning for you to help others. What else could be more satisfying?

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 to Prospect Successfully- The 3 Issues Salespeople Deal With

Do you want to increase your effectiveness when it comes to prospecting? Are you concerned that you don’t have enough leads or are not closing enough sales? Are you just trying to figure out what to do? You probably are saying “yes” to at least one of these questions. These are real world issues that deserve real world solutions. Let me unpack each one for you.

Not having enough leads isn’t strictly about the number of leads you have. Rather, it is about where you got the leads and what you’re doing with them. Before you think about how to generate leads, first ask yourself who you’re trying to sell to. If you don’t establish a clear profile of who will most benefit from what you’re selling, you will just wander. This will happen because you’ll start to think everything is a lead. The key is not the number of leads you have but the quality of them and how you handle each one. Watch a short video on this topic from my keynote at the Zoominfo Conference:

Focus your efforts on those leads with similar traits as your best customers. The next key is making enough contacts and this is where most people fall short. Let’s say you make two or three calls or send a few emails, but you don’t get any response so you give up. The reason you need more leads is because you’re giving up too soon.

The lead that looks like a perfect fit is someone you can’t let go of because you know that you can help them. You’re certain that you could make a difference in their business and/or personal life if they would just give you a chance. If you truly believe that, you have an obligation to continue reaching out to them. This might mean you reach out over a dozen times! There is nothing wrong with that, as long as you are offering them new, valuable insights each and every time. Keep at it! If you give up, you’ll only be doing them a disservice.

When you focus on the right lead, you’ll be able to create more value for them and before long, they will see it too. All of this will result in closing more sales and even without having to discount. The reason so many discounts are given to close a sale is because the salesperson began with a bad prospect. Remember that not all prospects are created equal. You don’t have time to deal with those that don’t match your profile of a perfect customer.

If you’re reading this and you’re still confused, your mental state is probably still not zeroed in on helping others see and achieve what they didn’t think was possible. Keep in mind that helping people is our primary goal as salespeople.

To help you get in the zone, take 20 minutes and write down all of the outcomes and benefits you have helped your customers achieve. As you build that list, you’ll begin to see that what you do is making a difference. You will also notice how certain outcomes match up with certain customers. Look for patterns and indicators that you can begin to use to help you prospect. As you do this exercise, you’ll start to believe in yourself and your ability to help those around you.

Prospecting is just the beginning for you to help others. What else could be more satisfying?

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: Why You Can’t Afford to Spend Time with Negative People

Want to start your week off on the right foot? Don’t spend time with negative people. They are only going to bring you down and set you back. A key to being successful is spending time with people that positively influence the world around them. Positivity builds people up and ultimately strengthens businesses. Do you want to be successful this week? Then, hang out with people that encourage you!

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

Is Sales About Helping People?

Many people would say sales is about taking advantage of people. It hurts me to hear people say that. I don’t think people would come to that conclusion without relating it to their own personal experience. This tells me that they have either had an unpleasant experience with salespeople or someone has shared with them their disappointing experience.

Sales is not about taking advantage of people. Sales is about helping people. It’s exactly the reason why I say sales is leadership and leadership is sales. A good salesperson is also a good leader. The two should go hand in hand.

Watch this very short video on sales leadership!

To me, sales is not a single event but a continuum of various activities. It’s about creating relationships that help build trust and confidence among every party involved in the sales process.  If you really think about it, sales is just the process of communication that people use to help one another. This is one the reasons why I’m not a big fan of the term “closing the sale.” I think we should be viewing it instead as the opening of a new relationship. We are creating the opportunity for the customer to benefit and to me, that’s truly helping people.

I’m sharing this with you, because it’s a struggle I hear about a lot. The struggle of someone not really knowing why they’re in sales. Often, it’s a struggle simply because they are not keeping people their focus. It’s impossible for every conversation to be perfect and it’s impossible for each day to be perfect. What’s possible though is for you as a sales leader to approach each day with an others-centered goal. That goal should be to earn the right, the privilege, the honor and the respect to be able to meet with that person again. I strongly believe that if you pair that goal with your sales skills, you will be successful. People must be of utmost importance to you.

There’s no reason to think less of yourself because you’re in sales. Honestly, you should think more highly of what you’ve been given the task to do: help people. Make it your job to be the best at earning the right, privilege, honor and respect with every person you meet. In doing so, you’ll build trust and confidence with others and success within yourself.

So, let’s ask the question again: is sales about helping people? Yes, indeed it is!

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

Use Your Time Smarter

How do you segment your leads and your prospects? If you’re like most salespeople, you don’t know how to or at least don’t know how to well. Next, how good are you at finding enough time to prospect? If this is a constant battle for you, you’ll need to learn how to use your time wisely in order to have enough time.

One very efficient way to improve how you use your time is to segment your leads by the level of value they’re able to immediately bring to you. This helps solve two big issues which are spending time with people who aren’t planning to do anything for a long period of time and not giving you enough time to spend on your best prospects.

I know you know how strongly I feel about having a sales pipeline that moves people through fast. The faster you move them through, the more efficient you are and the more value you’re most likely creating for them.

Your objective is to organize your leads / prospects into 3 categories: broad, target, and tight.

Watch this 2-minute video where I explain this process in more detail: “Sales Prospecting Success Secrets”

Your objective is to free up more time to spend with those in your “tight” segment. In order to do so, you must make your “tight” segment the smallest list. Take each lead, or as I like to say “suspect,” and view them as part of one of the following segments: broad or target.

The broad segment is any lead or suspect that has potential but not for a long period of time. It might be a stretch for them to buy from you for one reason or another. You don’t want to discard them, because you still feel like they have value or could possibly lead you to a future customer.  These are the contacts that belong on your marketing list, so only reach out to them through your automated campaigns. Every contact in the broad segment should get zero amount of your time! By reaching out to them periodically via marketing, you’re keeping a small level of awareness open. That way they don’t fall off your radar screen completely. In time, some of these leads will move into your target or tight segments, but that won’t happen until you see some indication of movement. Your total amount of time spent with this segment should never exceed 10%.

Target segment is the next category, and many of your leads will be in this group. This is made up of those that fit the profile of the great customer you like to serve. They may also be in the industry you sell to or they have some connection to an existing customer or person that you feel has value. The criteria for the target segment is that each lead or suspect within it has value and most likely within the next six months. Those contacts in your target segment are ones that you plan to reach out to anywhere between once a week and once a month. Specific frequency will vary based on the industry you’re selling to, what you’re selling, frequency of purchase, etc. It’s important to remember that although much of your communication is going to be via email, you should still use the telephone and other means to engage them occasionally. The amount of time you spend with this segment is about 30%.

The last and smallest group is your tight segment. This is where you should spend 60% of your time. The majority of the value and money for both you and the customer is found here. This list should have the least number of contacts. Keep in mind that the fewer the people, the more time you have to spend with each one individually. The more time you spend with them, the greater the value you’ll be able to give them.

By focusing 60% of your time on what could be as few as 20 contacts, you’ll have time to dig deep. This level of focus and intention will allow you to create relationships that go far beyond the initial close. Salespeople who subscribe to this strategy routinely achieve the following three successes: close at a higher percent, close at a higher level and create more lifetime value than their peers.

So, take a look at your prospecting list and ask yourself this important question: how am I spending my time? The more you are able to effectively segment, the better you will be able to use your time and in turn generate more sales.

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: How to Start the Week Strong

How can you start the week off strong? Set yourself a goal. Be sure it’s a goal that you can achieve, though. By accomplishing that goal, you will give yourself momentum and strength for the rest of the week. Monday makes up 20% of your week, so you can’t afford to lose it! Make a goal for yourself right now! Then, start taking steps towards reaching 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 Results

What Is Sales?

Sales leadership is nothing more than interacting with others to make a positive impact. We can break it down even further and say that sales leadership is just people connecting with people. Sales and leadership are one and the same.

Sales is only as complicated as we want to make it. I feel like we too often over complicate it and then wonder why our customers aren’t buying. We need to get back to seeing our role as simply impacting others in a positive manner.  That’s the gist of selling, and we need to get back to the basics.  When we do this, we will earn the right, privilege and honor to be able to meet with that person again, because we’ll have his/her respect.

Watch this 40-second video on the subject…

The number one issue I feel people struggle with in sales is understanding their purpose. Early on in my sales career, I was solely focused on my sales goal. Customers were just a tool to help me meet my quarterly number. Having a relationship with them was irrelevant to me. It wasn’t until I changed my perspective that I began to see sales for what it is. Sales is helping people. A funny thing happened when my mindset shifted: my numbers actually went up, and I was more successful. The reason for greater success was my better understanding of the customer. I was able to really connect with them and ultimately, that led to closing deals faster and for larger amounts.

Whenever I share this with sales teams whether in large meetings or one-on-one coaching sessions, I’m struck by how many people suddenly feel like a giant weight has been lifted from their shoulders. The weight was the quarterly number they have to achieve both to get paid and to keep their job. Many of you reading this probably feel similarly.

So, just because your mission is to interact and positively impact others, you cannot sit back and become passive. With relationships as the goal, you should be more aggressive, because you know there are people out there that you can impact. When you have the ability to change a person, whether it be B2B or B2C, you want to do it. There is something inside of you tugging at your emotions telling you to help that person.

Sales is still an aggressive activity, even when you’re 100% people focused. It’s aggressive, because there are so many salespeople out there spewing false information and taking advantage of customers. Also, not everyone you come in contact with will understand your purpose and how you want to help them. The big difference is when you’re aggressive in wanting to help people, you will do so with the right motive. Your motive is a desire to help others. That motive becomes your passion, and that is vastly different than the person who just wants to make their quarterly number.

Am I saying that making your quarterly number is unimportant? No, it’s essential! I’m saying that you will make the quarterly number more frequently and even blow past that number when you focus on the customer first.

This is an issue I’m very passionate about and one of the reasons I’m writing a new book scheduled to release later this year. It’s titled “Monday’s Are For Selling.” I trust that you’ll find this book to be a refreshing take on sales. It will probably even negate a number of myths you currently have about sales. Over the next couple months, I’ll be sharing portions of the book here in my blog and on social media. Send me all your thoughts, feedback and questions on the content. I look forward to helping you be more successful. Sales is leadership and leadership is sales.

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

Set Yourself Up for Successful Prospecting: Truths 41-50

Sales is not a destination; sales is a journey of continual learning. Throughout my many years of selling, I have been constantly gaining new insights and ideas. The discussion continues about whether sales is an art or a science. People are quick to point out the number of new sales tools created by advances in technology; however, all of this is just noise. It’s up to you to determine how you want to hear the noise. I do see technological advances helping us in sales, but sales is still about human interaction and emotional decisions. I don’t care what you sell or who you sell it to. Even if there is zero interaction with humans, somebody somewhere is still involved and somewhere along the way emotion entered into the process. This is where prospecting has to come in.

I want you to be successful, so my last 10 truths are to help you have success in your prospecting. Before you read them, be sure to go back and read the first 40. I’ve posted the links below to help make it easy on you. When you put all of the “50 Prospecting Truths” into action, I promise that you will achieve your sales goals and more!

Truths 1-10: It’s Your Job

Truths 11-20: Your Prospecting Plan

Truths 21-30: The Art of the Sales Call

Truths 31-40: Social Media & Email for Prospecting

Here are truths 41-50:

41. Prospecting is an omni-channel activity. It is not just email, the telephone, or social media. It is about using every tool in a deliberate manner.

42. Be ruthless in your follow through! Your objective is to work with customers, not to spend time with suspects who pretend to be prospects.

43. Never use the excuse of not having a tool as to why you’re not good at prospecting. Honestly, your best tools are your mind and your attitude.

44. Know the difference between prospects and suspects. Suspects do nothing but take up your time.

45. Your most valuable asset is time, so use it wisely. It’s not about being busy, it’s about being productive.

46. What and how you spend prospecting this month and this quarter will determine your outcome when closing next month and next quarter.

47. Prospecting is not an activity. Prospecting is a lifestyle.

48. Prospecting fuels sales. Sales fuels business. Business drives the economy.

49. Prospecting is freedom. When you prospect, you control your destiny and ultimately determine your level of success.

50. The only thing holding you back from success in sales is you!

Well, there you have it! That is the last ten of my “50 Prospecting Truths.” So, what’s the state of your emotions? I’m a firm believer in each one of these truths, but how could I not be? If I didn’t believe in each one of them, I wouldn’t be able to call them a truth. Among these final 10, two have always stood out to me. When I made these two part of the cornerstone in my business, amazing things began to happen. The two are: #47 and #50.

Out of all 50 truths, let me know which ones stand out to you! Also, share with me how you’re using them to shape how you prospect and sell.

If you’re serious about taking your sales game to the next level, I suggest you take this quick survey. Your answers might just change your future!

Don’t forget: A coach can help you excel in your sales career. Invest in yourself by checking out my coaching program today!

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