Thomas A. Freese's Blog, page 19

Tom's New Book is Now Available!

"Brilliant! Selling yourself is indeed the most critical element in every sales effort."                  —Simon Leslie, Founder and Publishing Director, Ink Publishing

"When one of our strategic partners recently introduced us to Tom Freese and the Question Based Selling Methodology, the feedback from my entire team was literally 'off the charts' positive. Tom's philosophy and strategies for selling are right on the money!"                            —Shane McNamera, General Manager, CDW

"Customers build relationships with people, not companies. Sell Yourself First cracks the code on how to convey maximum value in today's highly competitive business environment. This book is a must read for anyone who sells competitive products or services!"                      —R. Barry Jones, VP of Investments, Merrill Lynch

When Penguin Publishing offered up a $50K advance to publish my new book, "Sell Yourself First", my first thought was, "Cool enough!" The past nine months have since been hectic in preparation for the release of what essentially is a counter-cultural examination of how one's selling effectiveness is more dependent on the individual salesperson than ever before.

In short, the customer's perception of one salesperson's value over another's will likely be the tiebreaker in highly competitive markets moving forward.

Let's say you represent a viable company. So do your competitors. I'm guessing you also represent leading products and services. If you sell in a competitive environment, it should be assumed that your competition can produce similarly impressive marketing materials about the value of their offerings.

Hence, the thing your competition really lacks is YOU!

The new playing field in sales is your ability to demonstrate a host of highly intangible qualities like integrity, experience, thought leadership, vision, creativity, responsiveness, being forthright, clarity, helpfulness, competence, confidence, industry knowledge, understanding of the customer's goals and objectives, superior communication (questioning) skills, consistency, quality work, and mutual respect.

Just having good intentions is no longer enough in the competitive selling arena. Your ability to demonstrate these intangible qualities, more than the competition will likely determine your success moving forward.

To illustrate, chapter one in the book is appropriately titled, "The Elephant in the Room." What does that mean? In sales, the elephant in the room is customer skepticism. Most sellers just pretend it doesn't exist, and then gleefully proceed with some version of their sales pitch. However, if we inject even just a dose of reality into the equation, the salesperson's job becomes so much easier if they simply acknowledge what the customer is already thinking.

For example, a salesperson might say: "Mister customer, I know there are a number of other providers running around pitching various solutions, to the point where the industry has become a little 'used-car-ish'. What these folks are NOT talking about, however, is the fact that there is a problem in the world of (insert your industry). With so many vendors making contradictory claims, it has become very difficult for customers to know what their options really are, how their business would be impacted, and the associated costs. Would it be valuable for me to pull back the curtains and give you the straight scoop on this?"

Verbally acknowledging the 'elephant in the room' is very different than just being another walking, talking billboard, schilling a product or service, don't you think?

"Tom Freese has the ability to cut through all the distractions to identify the real value proposition in the customer's mind. In doing so, he helped us turn a commodity service into an unmatched personal experience. The effect on sales has been spectacular."                         —Robert M. Pirnie, President and CEO, Conference America, Inc.

"Tom's logical approach to the strategic sale quickly helped my team overcome the ingrained skepticism veteran salespeople often have toward standard training courses. Our return on investment was just what I expected—more pipeline, more in-depth client interactions and bigger deals."    —Chuck Harris, Global Productivity Manager, EMC

Look for Tom's New Book, Just Released & Now Available!

"Brilliant! Selling yourself is indeed the most critical element in every sales effort."                  —Simon Leslie, Founder and Publishing Director, Ink Publishing

"When one of our strategic partners recently introduced us to Tom Freese and the Question Based Selling Methodology, the feedback from my entire team was literally 'off the charts' positive. Tom's philosophy and strategies for selling are right on the money!"                            —Shane McNamera, General Manager, CDW

"Customers build relationships with people, not companies. Sell Yourself First cracks the code on how to convey maximum value in today's highly competitive business environment. This book is a must read for anyone who sells competitive products or services!"                      —R. Barry Jones, VP of Investments, Merrill Lynch

When Penguin Publishing offered up a $50K advance to publish my new book, "Sell Yourself First", my first thought was, "Cool enough!" The past nine months have since been hectic in preparation for the release of what essentially is a counter-cultural examination of how one's selling effectiveness is more dependent on the individual salesperson than ever before.

In short, the customer's perception of one salesperson's value over another's will likely be the tiebreaker in highly competitive markets moving forward.

Let's say you represent a viable company. So do your competitors. I'm guessing you also represent leading products and services. If you sell in a competitive environment, it should be assumed that your competition can produce similarly impressive marketing materials about the value of their offerings.

Hence, the thing your competition really lacks is YOU!

The new playing field in sales is your ability to demonstrate a host of highly intangible qualities like integrity, experience, thought leadership, vision, creativity, responsiveness, being forthright, clarity, helpfulness, competence, confidence, industry knowledge, understanding of the customer's goals and objectives, superior communication (questioning) skills, consistency, quality work, and mutual respect.

Just having good intentions is no longer enough in the competitive selling arena. Your ability to demonstrate these intangible qualities, more than the competition will likely determine your success moving forward.

To illustrate, chapter one in the book is appropriately titled, "The Elephant in the Room." What does that mean? In sales, the elephant in the room is customer skepticism. Most sellers just pretend it doesn't exist, and then gleefully proceed with some version of their sales pitch. However, if we inject even just a dose of reality into the equation, the salesperson's job becomes so much easier if they simply acknowledge what the customer is already thinking.

For example, a salesperson might say: "Mister customer, I know there are a number of other providers running around pitching various solutions, to the point where the industry has become a little 'used-car-ish'. What these folks are NOT talking about, however, is the fact that there is a problem in the world of (insert your industry). With so many vendors making contradictory claims, it has become very difficult for customers to know what their options really are, how their business would be impacted, and the associated costs. Would it be valuable for me to pull back the curtains and give you the straight scoop on this?"

Verbally acknowledging the 'elephant in the room' is very different than just being another walking, talking billboard, schilling a product or service, don't you think?

"Tom Freese has the ability to cut through all the distractions to identify the real value proposition in the customer's mind. In doing so, he helped us turn a commodity service into an unmatched personal experience. The effect on sales has been spectacular."                         —Robert M. Pirnie, President and CEO, Conference America, Inc.

"Tom's logical approach to the strategic sale quickly helped my team overcome the ingrained skepticism veteran salespeople often have toward standard training courses. Our return on investment was just what I expected—more pipeline, more in-depth client interactions and bigger deals."    —Chuck Harris, Global Productivity Manager, EMC

"Your Next Job Interview"

Chapter 2 in my new book, Sell Yourself First, is appropriately entitled, "Your Next Job Interview." I know for a fact after teaching this material for the last 8 months that it has already helped countless people who are in the job market, but that's not really the purpose of the chapter.

Can we agree that a job interview is a sales situation, where qualified candidates will ultimately be trying to sell themselves to prospective employers? Well, it turns out that every sales call is also a job interview, where the prospect or customer is not only evaluating your products and services, they're also evaluating you. You are indeed selling yourself…all the time!

That said, what if we discovered that how most people sell naturally is upside down and backward from how most customers make purchase decisions? That's right! The natural tendency during a job interview (or on a sales call) is to try and put your best foot forward, right?

Well, at some point in the job interview scenario, the hiring manager is going to say, "Tell me about yourself." During a sales call, the customer may say, "Tell me about your product." Basically, it's the same request, because even if you are selling a product or service, you are also selling yourself…FIRST!

Thus, the job interview scenario becomes the perfect metaphor for selling (anything) because it's the pure sale. In essence, a qualified candidate is solely responsible for selling themselves, and they are also the product that's being offered. At that point, your success is completely up to you.

Most people respond to this initial request to, "Tell me about yourself," by basically throwing up on the customer. Unfortunately, the natural tendency is to rattle off and/or reiterate many of the key points already listed on the resume in the hopes of saying something that will connect with the decision maker.

What employers really want to know about you, however, is all of the things that are not actually listed on your resume. For example, are you a competent, confident, creative, easy to work with, respectful, experienced, thought leader in your chosen field?

That's the trick—these qualities cannot be claimed by you without sounding arrogant. Instead, they have to be demonstrated, which is a function of simply implementing the techniques outlined in Sell Yourself First.

Truth be known, you're probably not the only candidate (or vendor) who's competing for the opportunity to sell yourself to the interviewer (i.e. customer). It's more likely that you are competing against a handful of equally qualified candidates who will also be quick to highlight all their accomplishments as well.

That's why the tradition approach to interviewing (or selling a product) actually put you at a competitive disadvantage. If you sound the same as everyone else, you forfeit your competitive edge.

Now that you've invested four years and thousands of dollars to earn a college degree, are you willing to spend less than the cost of a half tank of gasoline, and invest a couple hours of study and comprehension to give yourself an 'unfair' competitive advantage and transform the entire rest of your professional career?

Think about it this way: The employer is going to hire someone, it might as well me you. Your resume' (or product information) just gets you in the door. Your ability to more effectively position yourself than the competition is ultimately how you will win the opportunity! At that point, it all comes down to superior technique and a sound positioning strategy. This book will change the way you communicate with others, and more importantly, it will change the way others perceive and deal with you!

Tom Freese vs. Zig Ziglar & Other Motivational Speakers

Check out this video excerpt where Tom speaks about the difference between motivational speakers, and instead, actually teaching salespeople how to be exponentially more effective.

Sales organizations used to try and motivate salespeople as a way to increase productivity. Today, the opposite is true. If you take the time to show salespeople how to be exponentially more effective, they will absolutely be motivated to repeat their successes. There's nothing more fun or rewarding that having an 'unfair' advantage throughout the sales process.

"Zig Ziglar is the king of the podium, and he is by far he is the best motivational speaker I have ever experienced. The problem is, after I went back out into my territory all excited and ready to conquer the world, when I basically reverted to using the same approach, I got the same results. Thus, my newfound levels of enthusiasm tended to dissipate very quickly."    - T. Freese

Tom Freese vs. Zig Ziglar and Other Motivational Speakers

Listen in to this excerpt from QBS LIVE as Tom speaks about the difference between himself and motivational speakers like Zig Ziggler, Brian Tracy and Tony Robbins.

QBS Research vs. Zig Ziggler and Other Motivational Speakers

Listen in to this excerpt from QBS LIVE as Tom speaks about the difference between himself and motivational speakers like Zig Ziggler, Brian Tracy and Tony Robbins.

Question Based Selling vs. Traditional Sales Approaches

This QBS LIVE clip features Tom explaining the differences between Question Based Selling and traditional sales training, including some of the more well known programs like Solution Selling, Strategic Selling, Power Based Selling, SPIN Selling, and Target Account Selling.

Having a defined internal sales process is fine. But just having a process in place no longer gives you a competitive edge. I bet your competitors have a sales process in place too, and it's probably strikingly similar to yours. 

"If you look around any sales organization you will quickly notices that some salespeople are significantly more effective than others, using the exact same process. This enables us to conclude that just following the steps of the sales process isn't want defines success in sales. Rather, it's HOW you execute each of the phases of the sales process that will ultimately determine whether you are chosen as the selected vendor, or you are consistently coming in second place."   - T. Freese

QBS vs. Solution Selling

This QBS LIVE clip features Tom's explanation on the differences between Question Based Selling and sales process training programs like Solution Selling, Strategic Selling, PowerBased Selling, Spin Selling, Target Account Selling and the like.

Question Based Selling vs. Sales Process Training

This QBS LIVE clip features Tom's explanation on the differences between Question Based Selling and sales process training programs like Solution Selling, Strategic Selling, PowerBased Selling, Spin Selling, Target Account Selling and the like.

Look for Tom's New Book, Coming January 2011

"Brilliant! Selling yourself is indeed the most critical element in every sales effort."                  —Simon Leslie, Founder and Publishing Director, Ink Publishing

"When one of our strategic partners recently introduced us to Tom Freese and the Question Based Selling Methodology, the feedback from my entire team was literally 'off the charts' positive. Tom's philosophy and strategies for selling are right on the money!"                            —Shane McNamera, General Manager, CDW

"Customers build relationships with people, not companies. Sell Yourself First cracks the code on how to convey maximum value in today's highly competitive business environment. This book is a must read for anyone who sells competitive products or services!"                      —R. Barry Jones, VP of Investments, Merrill Lynch

When Penguin Publishing offered up a $50K advance to publish my new book, "Sell Yourself First", my first thought was, "Cool enough!" The past nine months have since been hectic in preparation for the release of what essentially is a counter-cultural examination of how one's selling effectiveness is more dependent on the individual salesperson than ever before.

In short, the customer's perception of one salesperson's value over another's will likely be the tiebreaker in highly competitive markets moving forward.

Let's say you represent a viable company. So do your competitors. I'm guessing you also represent leading products and services. If you sell in a competitive environment, it should be assumed that your competition can produce similarly impressive marketing materials about the value of their offerings.

Hence, the thing your competition really lacks is YOU!

The new playing field in sales is your ability to demonstrate a host of highly intangible qualities like integrity, experience, thought leadership, vision, creativity, responsiveness, being forthright, clarity, helpfulness, competence, confidence, industry knowledge, understanding of the customer's goals and objectives, superior communication (questioning) skills, consistency, quality work, and mutual respect.

Just having good intentions is no longer enough in the competitive selling arena. Your ability to demonstrate these intangible qualities, more than the competition will likely determine your success moving forward.

To illustrate, chapter one in the book is appropriately titled, "The Elephant in the Room." What does that mean? In sales, the elephant in the room is customer skepticism. Most sellers just pretend it doesn't exist, and then gleefully proceed with some version of their sales pitch. However, if we inject even just a dose of reality into the equation, the salesperson's job becomes so much easier if they simply acknowledge what the customer is already thinking.

For example, a salesperson might say: "Mister customer, I know there are a number of other providers running around pitching various solutions, to the point where the industry has become a little 'used-car-ish'. What these folks are NOT talking about, however, is the fact that there is a problem in the world of (insert your industry). With so many vendors making contradictory claims, it has become very difficult for customers to know what their options really are, how their business would be impacted, and the associated costs. Would it be valuable for me to pull back the curtains and give you the straight scoop on this?"

Verbally acknowledging the 'elephant in the room' is very different than just being another walking, talking billboard, schilling a product or service, don't you think?

"Tom Freese has the ability to cut through all the distractions to identify the real value proposition in the customer's mind. In doing so, he helped us turn a commodity service into an unmatched personal experience. The effect on sales has been spectacular."                         —Robert M. Pirnie, President and CEO, Conference America, Inc.

"Tom's logical approach to the strategic sale quickly helped my team overcome the ingrained skepticism veteran salespeople often have toward standard training courses. Our return on investment was just what I expected—more pipeline, more in-depth client interactions and bigger deals."    —Chuck Harris, Global Productivity Manager, EMC