Mark Hunter's Blog, page 59

Sales Motivation Video: Ask One More Question

Next time you’re about to get off the phone with a customer, ask them one more question. That might just be your ticket to closing the deal and getting the sale. There is value in asking questions. It helps you gain knowledge and insight into the customer you’re talking to and the product they’re selling. Asking questions shows that you care about them and their product(s). Always finish a conversation by asking one more question, because that could be the beginning of another great sale!

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

Am I Still a Leader If I Fail?

How would you answer that question? My response would be that there’s nothing wrong with failure. It doesn’t hinder your ability to be a leader. I would like to go even one step further and congratulate you for failing, because that shows that you tried. Life is not about avoiding risk. Life is about optimizing risk.

CBInsights recently published a great article that highlights nearly 150 failures businesses have made. I’d love for you to take a few minutes and read it for yourself. Then, come on back to this article. Read it here!

Now, what stood out to you as you reviewed that list of failures? For me, it was the number of failures some of the biggest and best corporations have had. The list is littered with products created by Amazon, Google, Apple and Microsoft. This is interesting, because each of these companies has been highly successful. Often, these companies have created a well-known product or service that has truly changed how we live. If you were to ask an employee of any of these companies about failing, I’m sure you would get a similar response. They would say something about how failing is a step in achieving success.

Failing is not an issue. It’s a given, because we need to fail if we want to achieve all that we can be. The only problem with failure is not learning something from it or using what we learn to help us do something better.

Failing is nothing more than risk management. If you’re not willing to take a risk, you’re probably not going to become any better than those around you. On the other hand, if you’re willing to embrace risk or as I like to say “optimize risk,” then you have the potential to be much better.

Amazon would never have outdone Barnes & Noble if they had chosen to only sell books in bookstores. Google would have never become so big if they had embraced the same strategies AOL used when they first began. Apple would have never become the massive consumer tech brand if they not taken a chance on iTunes and the iPhone. Microsoft raced to success early on with Windows only to fail miserably when they wanted to play it safe and just copy others. Today, Microsoft is racing forward because of a CEO that chooses to embrace risk and change.

So, ask yourself this question again: am I still a leader if I fail? Yes, you are. I would say you’re actually an even better leader as long as your failure isn’t illegal, immoral, unethical or seen as a physical threat to others. That said and after looking at a long list of failures, what is holding you back? You can’t afford not to fail. Just try to fail fast and learn from each failure even faster.

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

Truths 11-20: Your Prospecting Plan

Quit thinking prospecting is someone else’s job. It’s your job, and that means you need to have a plan. You don’t have to overcomplicate things. Trust me, it’s easy to screw up a two-car funeral pretty quick with some of the sales plans I’ve seen people try to execute.

Sales is about connecting with people but not just random people. It’s going to require some planning for you to connect with the people that you need to. To help you do this, I would like to give you my next 10 sales truths as part of “50 Prospecting Truths”. I’ve titled this list: “Your Prospecting Plan.”

If you missed last week’s post with sales truths 1-10, check it out and stay tuned for sales truths 21-30 next week! I’ll talk about social media, email and prospecting with truths 31-40 the week after that.

Part 1 of Your Prospecting Plan:

11. Divide your prospecting pipeline into three parts: top, middle and bottom. Place more value on the bottom than on the top.

12. Establish an accountability process.

13. Remember that tomorrow begins today. Never end a day without knowing exactly who you will prospect tomorrow and what your objectives are for each call.

14. Break your day into five, 90-minute segments. Dedicate at least one segment to prospecting. Keep in mind that new salespeople will probably need to dedicate up to three of those segments to prospecting each day.

15. At the start of each prospecting segment, know what your overall goal is and how you will measure it. The best person to hold you accountable for your activity is you.

16. Spend 5 minutes after each prospecting segment to congratulate yourself and evaluate your performance.

17. When prospecting, know what your cadence is for follow-up messages, process, etc.

18. Leverage your systems including the basics when it comes to keeping scripts, questions, etc. that you can use daily.

19. Prospect by industry or segment type to allow for more effective use of your time and help build confidence.

20. Focus and discipline in executing your prospecting plan is the key to successful prospecting.

Just like last week, you owe it to yourself to begin thinking about how you can apply these to make your process more effective. Do these truths hold the answer? No. They are simply designed to steer you in the right direction. If you’re looking for more guidance, check out my coaching program. This program is a worthwhile investment for anybody wanting to gain more prospects and improve sales.

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

50 Prospecting Truths- Your Prospecting Plan: Truths 11-20

Quit thinking prospecting is someone else’s job. It’s your job, and that means you need to have a plan. You don’t have to overcomplicate things. Trust me, it’s easy to screw up a two-car funeral pretty quick with some of the sales plans I’ve seen people try to execute.

Sales is about connecting with people but not just random people. It’s going to require some planning for you to connect with the people that you need to. To help you do this, I would like to give you my next 10 sales truths. I’ve titled this list: “Your Prospecting Plan.”

If you missed last week’s post with sales truths 1 – 10 that deal with your job, check out my post here. Stay tuned for sales truths 21 – 30 next week!

Part 1 – Your Prospecting Plan:

11. Divide your prospecting pipeline into three parts: top, middle and bottom. Place more value on the bottom than on the top.

12. Establish an accountability process: CRM>PEERS>TEAM>LEADER.

13. Remember that tomorrow begins today. Never end a day without knowing exactly who you will prospect tomorrow and what your objectives are for each call.

14. Break your day into five, 90-minute segments. Dedicate at least one segment to prospecting. Keep in mind that new salespeople will probably need to dedicate up to three of those segments to prospecting each day.

15. At the start of each prospecting segment, know what your overall goal is and how you will measure it. The best person to hold you accountable for your activity is you.

16. Spend 5 minutes after each prospecting segment to congratulate yourself and evaluate your performance.

17. When prospecting, know what your cadence is for follow-up messages, process, etc.

18. Leverage your systems including the basics when it comes to keeping scripts, questions, etc. that you can use daily.

19. Prospect by industry or segment type to allow for more effective use of your time and help build confidence.

20. Focus and discipline in executing your prospecting plan is the key to successful prospecting.

Just like last week, you owe it to yourself to begin thinking about how you can apply these to make your process more effective. Do these truths hold the answer? No. They are simply designed to steer you in the right direction. If you’re looking for more guidance, check out my coaching program. This program is a worthwhile investment for anybody wanting to gain more prospects and improve sales.

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

Sales Motivation Video: Don’t Allow Negative Thinking to Control You

Who do you think is your number one competitor? Believe it or not, your number one competitor is your own mind! Rid your mind of all doubt and negativity, because those thoughts will only limit what you can do. Instead, fill your mind with positive “can do” statements often. If you constantly check your mind and make sure your thoughts are upbeat, you’ll have the best week ever. Let positive thinking control you, and I promise you’ll be successful!

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

Integrity + Influence = Impact

Who are your best customers? Why are they your best customers? I will say they are probably your best customers, because you’ve been able to have a positive influence on them. Your positive influence has resulted in a positive impact and this profound impact has carried over into what they do and how they do it.

Your level of impact is a direct result of the integrity you live your life with. The person who thinks they can influence people without demonstrating integrity will find themselves with just a shallow, temporal influence. If integrity is what your influence and impact is built upon, you’ll need to first understand what integrity is and is not.

First off, integrity is framed around time but in how it is earned and how it is lost. Integrity is found in the reputation that precedes you into your next sales call. Integrity precedes you into the planning process you take when building out your next major presentation. Integrity precedes you when dealing with a customer issue no matter what the size.

Let’s put integrity into perspective. You should view integrity as having the same role in sales as motor oil has in an engine. An engine that is not lubricated will quickly stop running. The same concept applies to a salesperson who fails to live a life of integrity.

Customers are craving for integrity centered relationships. The automated, robot driven artificial intelligence kind of world we now live in is making deep relationships much harder to find. As a result, they are much more meaningful once they are found. So, what does it take to live a life of integrity? Here are 5 simple things you can do today and everyday to demonstrate integrity:

1. Do what you say you’re going to do not only to those you’ve made commitments to but also to yourself. If you tell yourself you’re going to do it, then do it.

2. Do what’s right in both good times and bad. Yes, even do what’s right when you feel like it doesn’t matter or when you think nobody is watching.

3. Place the interests and concerns of others at the forefront of your mind with every decision you make. This doesn’t necessarily mean you just do what they say you should do; you do what is right.

4. Play the long-game in your thinking and in your planning. Anybody can play the short-game, but it takes vision and strength to make a decision that’s counter to short-term needs in order to satisfy a long-term objective.

5. Never forget that your role is to positively influence and ultimately impact each person you encounter.

Sales is not a process only done by a salesperson. Sales is communication involving multiple people. The one who communicates from a foundation of integrity will be the one who has the most influence and in turn makes the biggest impact.

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

50 Prospecting Truths- It’s Your Job: Truths 1-10

Prospecting is not an afterthought. Prospecting is the foundation sales should be built upon. Furthermore, sales is what business is built on, and business is what drives the economy. If you remove prospecting from the equation, business and in turn the economy will be affected very quickly.

Several years ago, I created a list titled “20 Sales Truths: The Guide to Sales Freedom.” I have now expanded that document to a list of “50 Prospecting Truths”. Starting today, I will share 10 of those truths with you. Next week, I will share 10 more and so on. This week’s list of truths 1-10 is called “It’s Your Job!”

To be successful, you cannot rely solely on others, however, when it comes to prospecting, many salespeople do. They tend to rely on others to do what they should do. I believe salespeople are doing this for one of two reasons: first, they feel it is beneath them to do it, like it’s a task that either marketing or new salespeople should be handling for them. In fact, when salespeople do this, I think they are doing it so they have someone to blame when they miss quota. The second reason people are relying on others in prospecting is because they are simply afraid of rejection. Studies consistently show that number one reason why salespeople quit the profession is their inability to generate enough leads that they can close to be successful.

Here is part one of “It’s YOUR Job!” and the 10 prospecting truths centered around you:

1. Accept reality: It’s your responsibility to prospect. Do not rely on others for your leads.

2. Prospecting is not something you do when you have time or don’t have enough business. Prospecting should be a daily activity, just like showering.

3. Prospecting is a muscle. Like any muscle, it must be regularly worked to remain healthy.

4. Thinking about prospecting is not prospecting. You might be thinking of your prospects, but they are probably not thinking about you.

5. Networking is not prospecting.

6. The perception of bad leads is just that, a perception. Bad leads are a result of a bad process or mindset. Fix the mindset and the process, and you’ll fix the leads.

7. Be thankful that sales is not easy. It’s the reason why there is so much money to be made in sales. Let’s face it, if sales was easy, it wouldn’t pay well.

8. Always know that it will probably take you at least twice as many attempts as you think to engage a prospect.

9. Don’t start what you can’t finish. Follow-up is the norm, not the exception.

10. Prospecting is not about you. Prospecting is about the prospect.

There you go! That is the first 10 as part of “50 Prospecting Truths”. Chew on them for a while and then get serious about the one that most speaks to you. Honestly, my goal is to make you feel uncomfortable with these 50 truths, but that’s the best way for me to help you.

I would love to hear your thoughts. Let me know what you’re going to do differently after reading these 10. See you next week with truths 11 – 20.

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

Sales Motivation Video: Say “No” to Allow Yourself to Say “Yes!”

Instead of adding appointments, meetings, or projects to your calendar this week, go ahead and take stuff off! Why? So you have room to say “yes” to the bigger, better appointments, meetings and projects. If you say “no” now, you’ll be able to say “yes” later. Stop adding things to your plate, because then you won’t have any margin leftover for what could be the biggest and best opportunities. Say “no” to allow yourself to say “yes!”

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

What’s The Value Of Your Name?

What company do you work for? The name of your company is seen in your email address, email signature, business card and many other places. I can even look at your profile on social media and see the name of the company you work for.

This begs the question: what’s the value of your name? I am not talking about the name of the company you work for. I am referring to your individual name. What do people think of when they see your name? The company or who we work for might change, but our personal name will always remain the same.

The value of your name is a reflection of who you are. It says a lot about you. I suspect you’ve all heard the name Nordstrom, the name of a very up-scale clothing store. Although it’s publicly traded, it’s actually run by the Nordstrom family. If you know anything about Nordstrom, you know that they’re all about service. I’m talking about real, personal customer service. The Nordstrom store personnel are famous for sending out personal notes to customers, calling them by name and remaining connected with them for years. This culture of service is a direct reflection of the culture established by the Nordstrom family. Probably when you hear the word Nordstrom, you can’t help but smile and think great service.

A few weeks ago, one of the three brothers who ran the company passed away. Blake Nordstrom was just 58 years of age and until just a few weeks before his death was very much an active part of the business. I’ve been struck by the amount of attention his passing has created on social media. The outpouring of comments from customers, employees and others about Blake’s individually profound impact is a testament to the person he was. He lived up to the expectations of the Nordstrom name even though it was his great-grandfather who began the company. Even more so, he added to the value of the Nordstrom name by helping people and that is what really made a lasting impact on the company and its customers.

If the name Nordstrom represents service, what does your name represent? What are you doing to add to the value of your name? Everyday you get to encounter numerous individuals, but what impact are you making on them? My son works for Nordstrom and he’s mentioned that every time he was with Blake or any of the other family members, they never viewed themselves as being bigger or more valuable than others. For them, it was always about the other person. They put others ahead of themselves. How do you view yourself in the midst of other people?

Make it your primary goal to put others first this week and every week. Demonstrate service that helps those around you. It’s true that your name has value, but how much value?

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

Is the Telephone Still Effective for Prospecting?

It’s time we put this question to rest once and for all! I can’t even begin to tell you the number of times people ask me this question either when I’m speaking or via email.

Whenever I’m asked this question, I always ask the other person for their answer to the question before I answer it. At least 95% of the time, the response I get is “no” followed by some explanation about how they’ve never been able to make the telephone work. Once they finish talking, I ask them if they like getting phone calls. I get the same answer about 95% of the time: “no”. Let’s cut to the chase and call out the ugly duck: the person who says the telephone doesn’t work for prospecting is the person who doesn’t like talking on the telephone. These are the people that would rather curl up in a corner and spend all day scrolling through Facebook or Instagram and somehow think they are doing their job.

These same people who shun the telephone and rely solely on social media to prospect are the same ones who keep missing their quotas. These are the people who create the turnover in the sales community.

Here are 4 reasons why the telephone still works:

The level of information you can exchange with a person in just a two minute phone call will be far greater than what could be exchanged in a series of emails with the same person. Not only do you get to exchange information faster, but you also have the opportunity to make sure it’s being understood properly. There’s nothing worse than an email trail that goes sideways because something is misunderstood.
The telephone allows your personality to come through. We’ve all been given a great personality (except maybe for the crazy uncle or bizarre aunt lurking in everyone’s family!) and the telephone is the perfect place to let it come through. Think about the time you were on a call where it just clicked because the two of you had personalities that played well with one another. Most likely, you’re not going to get that with an email, unless you throw in a dozen stupid emojis.
The telephone has immediacy. The other person asks you a question and boom, you can answer it immediately. No need to wait for an email response. Wow! That almost seems surreal to say that an answer on the telephone can come faster than via the Internet.
You can move the conversation in a different direction by speeding it up or slowing it down based upon what you’re hearing. I don’t care how fast you respond to emails; your ability to talk on the phone and move immediately is a huge benefit.

There’s zero reason to shun the telephone. Of course a lot of calls go unanswered or not returned, but stop and ask yourself: is that any different than emails you send? The answer is no! The telephone works. Give it a shot, and you’ll be amazed at what you hear.

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