Mark Hunter's Blog, page 64

Want to Learn How to Prospect Better Leads to Generate Massive Revenue Growth?

I am looking forward to the upcoming prospecting webinar, and I hope you are too!

How to Prospect Better Leads to Drive Breakthrough Sales Results

Thursday, Nov 8, 2018 | 10 AM PDT / 1 PM EDT

Save Your Seat!

In this webinar, I’ll be sharing my actionable, road-tested tips and tricks to help optimize your engagement efforts and prospect outreach.

Register Now To Learn How To:

Find better leads and qualify them quickly
Trade cold calling for informed calling
Tailor your timing and message and leave a great voicemail
Craft compelling emails and use social media effectively
Leverage referrals and get past gatekeepers and open new doors

Hosted by Nimble CEO Jon Ferrara, this webinar has limited seating, so reserve your seat today!

Can’t Attend in Person? If you can’t attend the live webinar, sign up to receive an emailed recording after the live session takes place.

Copyright 2018, 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 Your Customers Have to Say About Your Sales Leadership?

You might be one who walks around saying how good of a sales leader you are, but it’s totally worthless if your customers don’t think the same about you.  When somebody tells me they don’t have great customers and they would like to get rid of most of them, I have to wonder if maybe the salesperson has it all backwards.

Maybe it’s not the customer who needs to be fired. Maybe it’s the salesperson.

Harsh thinking?  Yes, but I’ve seen far too many salespeople running around saying how good they are in one sentence and then in the next sentence ripping on their customers.

Check out this 35-second video on lousy customers:

Our actions, our behavior and our words all become part of the image the customer paints of us.  Maybe the painting the customer has is anything but a Monet or Rembrandt.  Maybe it’s a piece of junk ready to be discarded in Tuesday’s trash.

Our behavior will quickly be mirrored by our customers.  It happens in B2C and yes even B2B.  Recently I got an Uber.  The driver had his radio on talk radio.  Interestingly, some of the rants on the radio were about how Uber couldn’t be trusted, but the driver went on and on about how that’s not true and how Uber provides excellent service.

All of this came after the driver didn’t bother to get out of his car to help put my luggage into the trunk.  He lived up to it on the other end too by not getting out of the car to help me retrieve my luggage from the trunk.  Put bluntly, all his talk of how great Uber is didn’t come close to his actions.    I followed through on my end by not rating him and certainly not giving him a tip.  My actions toward him were a reflection not of his “perfect talk” but of his imperfect actions.

Think about this in context of your customer conversations and how you deal with customers.  Are your words and actions matching?  Do they represent the definition of “sales leadership?”

Look at the customers you think are lousy and ask yourself truthfully if you made them lousy?  Were their actions, words and behavior simply a reflection of your poor leadership and service?

Sales leadership is what we all need to be doing, but we have to continually challenge and question how others see it.  Success is not what others do to us. Success is what we do to ourselves and it starts with our own sales leadership.

And don’t forget that a coach can help you excel in your sales career! Invest in yourself by checking out my coaching program today!

Copyright 2018, 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 Does it Mean to Prospect with Integrity?

Does prospecting with integrity even matter?  I contend it does, and I believe prospecting with integrity is not something that is even an option, but it is mandatory considering the chaos going on around us.

Prospecting with integrity is not something you talk about. It’s something you do, and it’s something others see in you.  They see it not just because of what you do, but also because of what you do not do.

Check this 34-second video out where I talk passionately about this issue:

A salesperson who prospects and sells with integrity is one who does not make claims that are unsustainable.  They don’t talk about others in anything but a positive light, and most of all, they hold themselves to a higher standard.

When you present yourself with complete integrity in everything you do and say, it is amazing how you will attract prospects who have integrity.  Would you prefer to build a business around customers you can’t trust or would you prefer to build it around customers who have integrity?  The answer to that question is simple.

The reason you will attract customers who have integrity starts with your approach to analyzing prospects.  Keeping your integrity high means you won’t compromise your standards and, in particular, your ethics, and as a result you’ll spot ethically-challenged prospects and steer away from them.

Customers who are used to compromising on business standards or lack a moral compass will become exposed quickly.  Light exposes darkness. In much the same way, integrity exposes moral weakness.

You can’t afford to be spend any amount of time with people who don’t approach relationships with integrity.  Regardless of how much you feel you might need a particular deal to close, if the customer doesn’t exhibit integrity, you must run.

Compromising is not something you can do once and never again.  Compromise once and you’ll do it again and again. Integrity is not something you turn on or off. Doing so will only achieve one thing — ensuring you do not have any.

If you’re a sales leader and this is a message your team needs to hear, call me. We need to talk. I’ll be happy to share with you how I can incorporate the concept of selling with integrity into your 2019 sales kick-off meeting.  There are still a few dates open on my calendar, but we need to talk now to make it happen. Call me at 402-445-2110 or email me at mark@thesaleshunter.com.

And don’t forget that a coach can help you excel in your sales career! Invest in yourself by checking out my coaching program today!

Copyright 2018, 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: Great Salespeople Don’t Stop at the End of the Day

Great salespeople seize opportunities and are always looking for ways to improve. Do you know why? I do!

Check out the video to see what I mean:

And don’t forget that a coach can help you excel in your sales career! Invest in yourself by checking out my coaching program today!

Copyright 2018, 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 Leadership: Lessons from Sears

It’s been said a thousand times we learn more from doing something wrong than we do from doing something right.  In my own life, I’ve found this to be true far too often. With success can come complacency, and with complacency can come erosion.

What can we learn from watching failures around us?  Life is a laboratory. Everything we observe is a test from which we can learn, and the bankruptcy filing by Sears is no exception.

We all knew it was coming. The only thing that was uncertain was exactly when it would occur. Looking at the Sears situation, I’ve come away with several observations that I’m using in my own life and I will encourage you to do the same.

Leadership and sales is about learning from others and using the learning to better ourselves.  When we better ourselves, we are in a better position to both lead others and sell to others more effectively.

Lessons we can all take from the fall of Sears:

Never stop investing in yourself.
Focus, focus, focus. Know your strength and leverage it.
Recognize that the best asset you will ever have are the people with whom you surround yourself.
Remember — just because it worked yesterday for you doesn’t mean it will work today.
Don’t underestimate the number of competitors you have.
Humbly realize that big and strong are never guarantees.
Don’t try to be all things to all people.

Which point resonates with you?  As I was developing this list, I kept asking myself that question.  For me I think it’s the first one — Never stop investing in yourself.  The ability to have clarity in how I see things and how I process knowledge drives each of the other points.

You may select a different point and that’s fine. The key is to be aware.  We can never stop learning. We can never stop impacting others.

Sales and leadership are two things I’m passionate about. The more I write, talk and live out these two activities, the more passionate I become.  Join me on this journey of continuous learning and of continually observing what is going on around you.

And don’t forget that a coach can help you excel in your sales career! Invest in yourself by checking out my coaching program today!

Copyright 2018, 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

Two Words Guaranteed to Turn Buyers Off

Today’s guest post comes from Lee B. Salz, who recently wrote the book Sales Differentiation. I encourage you to check out the book, as well as my two interviews with Lee at the end of this post.

The most powerful sales differentiation tool in a salesperson’s toolbox is the words used, and not used, with buyers. Some expressions excite buyers and compel them to want to do business with you. There are also expressions that quickly turn buyers off.

That means that salespeople need a moment of pause when planning buyer communication, so they use words that positively differentiate them.

Let’s first look at an expression that is deeply ingrained in our communication style. These two words are pervasive in the sales profession. This sentence starter is guaranteed to repel buyers. It makes them want to do business with your competitor instead of you. Those two words are “I want.”

Many sales training courses teach salespeople to begin calls and buyer meetings with “What I want to do today is…”  The concept behind this is that it sets an agenda for the meeting. Agenda setting is certainly a best practice, but this approach tells the buyer that the salesperson is there for his purposes, not theirs, because of the use of “I want.”

In sales, this expression is commonly used in these fashions:

“I want to meet with you.”
“I want to tell you about our products.”
“I want to meet your colleagues.”

Salespeople don’t always realize it, but when they use the expression “I want,” their buyers give them a virtual eye roll. “Of course, you want _______. You want to sell me something and get a commission.”

There is only one person in the world who cares what you want. It’s Mom! No one else cares what you want. When communicating with buyers, you need to put their interests at the forefront. What buyers want to know is:

Why should I meet with you?
Why should I learn about your products?
Why should I introduce you to my colleagues?

Because this way of thinking doesn’t come naturally for all salespeople, care and planning are needed for effective, differentiated buyer communication. What is the benefit to them to meet with you, to learn about your products, and to introduce you to their colleagues? The answer to those questions is needed to differentiate yourself by showing care for your buyers.

The last question (having buyers introduce them to colleagues) is a sales challenge that is often posed to me by salespeople.

“I’m stuck. How do I get buyers to introduce me to others in the account?”  The answer I always give in return is a question. “Why should they introduce you to their colleagues?” If they struggle to come up with the reason, they now know why they have been unable to expand account relationships.

The words salespeople use, and don’t use, differentiate them. This is just one of nineteen sales differentiation concepts you learn in the book Sales Differentiation. Order your copy today on Amazon!

And check out my videos with Lee below:

Learn how to win more deals at the prices you want! Get your copy of Sales Differentiation now.Whether you have been selling for twenty years or are new to sales, the tools you will learn in Sales Differentiation will help you knock-out the competition, build profitable new relationships, and win deals at the prices you want.

When you order today, you’ll gainaccess to Lee’s “Sales Differentiation Minute” video series (a $1,495 value). For 20 weeks, you will receive an email with a video link in which Lee brings Sales Differentiation strategies to life helping you put them into practice. Learn more here.

How Do I Overcome the Fear of Prospecting?

You’re sitting there staring at your computer looking at a number — the number is your total sales to date, and with each minute that passes, the number is turning your stomach.

The number is not going to change on its own. It’s only going to change when you make it happen and that means prospecting. When having to decide between the need to prospect or eating a plate of liver and onions, you choose the plate, with an extra helping.  No wonder your stomach is turning!

Prospecting does not have to be the activity you dread.  It doesn’t have to be the activity you try to avoid the same way you avoided cleaning your bedroom as a child.

Prospecting is not going to occur until YOU make the first move, and don’t go thinking throwing 3 more posts out on social media and clicking “like” on 4 other posts is prospecting.  Prospecting is engaging with prospects in real time!

You engage with prospects by first believing 100% in how you can help them.  Don’t hide behind an excuse what you sell is inferior to your competitors.  Don’t hide behind you think your price is too high and don’t hide behind the idea you don’t have any leads.  Prospecting begins with believing in yourself and your ability to help others.

Check out my comments on this issue in this video:

 

You will start believing in yourself when you realize how much you’ve helped people already.  Take 10 minutes and write out all of the ways you’ve helped others. It’s about recognizing the outcomes they’ve gained.

When you begin to see ways you’ve helped customers, you’ll begin to see the value you bring.  The value you bring to others is powerful. It’s the reason you sell and it’s the reason you need to prospect.  Prospecting is the first step in you being able to help others.

When you believe you can help others, you’ll very quickly find you believe in yourself.  View prospecting as your first step in being able to help others, and helping others starts with merely a conversation.  It’s one person conversing with another. It’s not about creating world peace.  View prospecting as what it is — a conversation.

It’s your turn. Go out and have that conversation and let me know how it goes.  Prospecting is what I love, and I love it for one reason — it’s a conversation with another person who I hope to be able to help.

And don’t forget that a coach can help you excel in your sales career! Invest in yourself by checking out my coaching program today!

Copyright 2018, 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: Great Salespeople Own the Process

If you want to be great in sales, you have to own the process.  Don’t pass the buck.

When you take responsibility, the customer knows it.  This is why it is vitally important that you own the process.

Check out the video to see what I mean:

And don’t forget that a coach can help you excel in your sales career! Invest in yourself by checking out my coaching program today!

Copyright 2018, 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 Seller’s Challenge

How many books do you read a year?  Recently I took the time to read three books over a two-day period, and one of those books really grabbed me.  The Seller’s Challenge by Tom Williams and Tom Saine tackles straight on the issue of the complex sale from an account manager perspective.

Authors Williams and Saine have a unique perspective, as both of them have held very senior level sales positions and more.  Williams has been a CEO and has sat on both sides of the desk, buying and selling. Saine has a Ph.D. from Northwestern University.  This means these two people have a level of expertise few others in the industry can touch.

The elephant in the room they call out is procurement.  I see too many people dodging procurement, and as a result, they’re never successful when faced with having to sell to them.   This book frames procurement up as what they are — masters of the supply-chain — and the book details their role in business.

To help share with others the value of the book, I interviewed via video Williams and here is one of the links:

Do I recommend the book? Yes!  I recommend it for any salesperson, but in particular for account managers.  I know I have a number of procurement people who read this blog and my suggestion is to pick it up, too.  You’ll read strategies I’m sure you’ve seen, but I think you’ll also read about others you’ve never seen. No need for anyone to panic about being thrown under the bus. Williams and Saine are too classy to do that.

Summary from Williams and Saine of what you will find in the book:

The Seller’s Challenge identifies 10 of the most frequently cited deal-killing obstacles sellers encounter.   

Chapter 1: Selling to Multiple Buyers: Discovering Who Buys, Who Cares & What Matters
Chapter 2: Blocking & Tackling: Planning & Executing Buyer Centered Conversations
Chapter 3: Selling to Resistant Buyers: The Power of Insight Driven Conversations
Chapter 4: Road Blocks, Potholes & Speed Bumps: Why Sales Calls Fail
Chapter 5: From Gatekeeper & Blocker to Map Maker & Guide
Chapter 6: Better Eat Your Wheaties: Selling Against the Status Quo
Chapter 7: Surviving & Winning Beauty Contests (RFPs)
Chapter 8: Inside the Black Box: Harsh Realities of Selling to a Committee
Chapter 9: Frenemies: Partnering with Procurement
Chapter 10: The Price is Never Right. Managing Discount Demands

Each chapter is designed to be read on its own. Readers can read the entire book or just pick the chapters that interest them the most.

The Seller’s Challenge is a “tactical field manual” that taps current research, best practices and real-life examples to help sellers craft action plans that optimize productivity and drive success.  It’s all about what top performing sellers do – how they research, plan and implement activities that maximize their chances of winning.

In the book we share the harsh realities, myths, data, best practices, game changing approaches and guerrilla tactics that will elevate a seller’s prospects of winning good business.  The book includes many addendums in the form of checklists and worksheets that simplify the content.  

Definitely grab yourself a copy today!

And don’t forget that a coach can help you excel in your sales career! Invest in yourself by checking out my coaching program today!

Copyright 2018, 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

Are You a Sales Leader? 9 Traits Sales Leaders Have

You think you’re a sales leader? Congratulations! You will never become one without first seeing yourself as one.  Thinking you’re a sales leader is not enough, though. You have to walk the talk, not merely talk the talk.

The number of sales managers who are despised by those they lead is probably a number with at least 7 digits.  Salespeople are smart and they don’t have time to be led by the village idiot.  What does it take to be a sales leader? Sales leadership is centered around 9 traits.  Each trait is essential. It’s not about 2 or 3. It’s about all nine.

1. Demonstrates trust

2. Creates a motivating environment

3. Sets and communicates clear objectives and goals

4. Supports and empowers others

5. Commits to follow-through and completion

6. Listens attentively

7. Remains vision-oriented

8. Fosters team environment

9. Focuses on people, not tasks

Download the infographic showing these 9 at this link.  If you’re a sales leader keep it in front of you.  If you’re a salesperson, download it and get it in front of your manager.

Sales is not a solo activity. Sales is a team sport and that means everyone has to be on the same team — salespeople and sales manager! Everyone!

And don’t forget that a coach can help you excel in your sales career! Invest in yourself by checking out my coaching program today!

Copyright 2018, 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