Selling - A Trick Or Treating Adventure!

Happy Halloween!
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Do any of you get scared about selling?  Is asking someone to buy what you offer right up there with public speaking?  

Put your fears away.  Start looking at the entire selling process as an adventure, just like "trick or treating!"  How does that work?  Very basically.

Business is all about people with needs finding solutions and people with solutions finding needs.  So it's all about matchmaking.  The adventure is the process of finding the right matches.  So embrace the adventure. Here are four tips:

• TIP #1.  Stop thinking you have to do the talking!  You only need to be listening!
  Your first meeting with a prospect should just be about them telling you their pain.
  Ask questions to deepen your understanding and find your matches!  Explore, be curious, find the unique ways your solutions will heal their pain ... how "magical" is that!
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• TIP #2.  Think of yourself as the hero in an adventure!
  You are the provider of what someone needs!  Isn't that the definition of a hero?  A life-saver?  Yes, that's you.   No more feeling  icky cause you sell something. Think of yourself as being of service!
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• TIP #3.  Be full of fun & love  .. Fun of exploring & adventure - Love of helping people!
  You are the solution so desperately searched for and now found by a lucky prospect. How cool?
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• TIP #4. Start thinking of yourself as the TREAT!  Not the TRICK!
  It's sad that "tricking" is so often associated with selling and why we don't like it. 
  Time to apply some hocus pocus to that way of thinking.

Feeling a bit different about selling now?  Hope so!!

Happy Halloween everyone!
Keep Your Business Garden Growing ...
margie
310-306-1453

Have You Heard About SQUARE?

Hi everyone ....

Have you heard about SQUARE? It enables anyone in the US with an iPhone, iPad or Android device to sign up and accept credit cards in minutes. The app is free, the card reader is free, and the only fee is per transaction. It's true!

• Have you ever been at a meeting where someone wanted to order something right there on the spot without a check or money and you had no way to accept their credit card?
  
  
• Do you ever go to a trade show or expo and have no way to accept credit cards?
  
  
• Do you have a seasonal business and refuse to pay monthly year round cc fees?
  
  
• Has the length of a cc company's application turned you off to accepting credit cards?
  
  
• Are you on the move all the time and need your phone to be your office?
  
  

SQUARE is for you if any of the above hit home. It takes about 10 minutes to sign up. All you need is a US Bank Account, a physical mailing address in the U.S. and a social security number. You may use a Tax ID number but they will still ask for your social security number.
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Security is high and the only cost is a transaction fee! Can't beat it. I ordered mine. Would love to know if anyone out there has experience using it? Is there anything we should know??
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For more details check out my weekly mailing:
http://www.todaysway.net/weekly/2011may03_square.htm
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Keep your garden growing .....
margie

Who? What? Which? When? How? Got Online Overwhelm?

Ever find yourself looking at a new online resource and asking ... Who? What? Which? When? How? Happens to a lot of people as they get introduced to yet one more online resource that will solve all their online marketing problems.

The good news is that online overwhelm can be easy to solve. Believe it or not the core elements for marketing and selling online are the same as the traditional roles we all know so well - client, product, store/office, advertising, training, service, staff, sales, mail, phone, networking. No different, just different players! You just need to "breathe" ... and create a map.

A map allows you to assign a defined purpose to each of your online resources. It helps eliminate duplication, (the cause of much wasted time & confusion) and makes sure you have all your "crucial' bases covered! It also makes it easier to develop a strategy for all your resources.... making them work together with a goal of maximizing your results from the least amount of resources.

Give it a try. If you need an example, go to my weekly mailing, that I just sent out, where I outlined some of the basic assignments of the more popular resources. It will give you an idea of a basic map. You can access it by clicking here:

What I would love to know in this posting is what is "your" confusion? What makes you get online overwhelm OR how do you prevent it from happening?? Please share with us .... cause as this year evolves with web3.0 and more and more video and more and more mobile interactions, we all need to get control of ourselves and our businesses!

And also ... let me invite you to participate in my weekly special. Be one of the first two to contact me via phone or email and tell me you found out about the special via my blog. The special is any of my trainings listed here at 1/2 off. I'm feeling really good tonight so take advantage!


In the mean time ....
Keep your business growing!
margie

Selling Without "Selling"

Hi everyone ...

Does the idea of selling make you uncomfortable? I used to feel that way. What was really funny was that after someone would give me an appointment and spend an hour or more with me, I would still feel uncomfortable asking them if they wanted to buy my goods! Why was I there .. of course they planned to buy something! What was my problem?!

Now many years later I use a process I put together based upon primarily the Max Sacks training program and my own observations on "polite" communications. The end result is a sales process that I enjoy. I feel like a matchmaker and the best part is that the sales tend to close themselves!

Having been asked many time to share my sales process, I have finally created a 1-on-1 telephone training that I believe will change not only your selling success, but your life! At its completion you will be able to sell without selling! How great is that?

Check it out here and let me know your thoughts! http://bit.ly/cYUJ3d

Meanwhile ..


Keep your business growing ...
margie

Do You Like Facebook's New LIKE Button?

Hello to all ..

Just did a mailing all about the facebook's new LIKE button! I like it .. what about you?
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Need to find a moment or two to add it to my pages but if your website gets visitors and traffic it is the way to go for sure.
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Basically you can have people "LIKE" your business page the very same way you did it before when the pages were FAN pages. BUT now in addition, there are plugins that you can put on your website pages, blog, articles that you write, etc. The plugins allow your webpages to operate like a facebook business page without being one. Visitors can share them, recommend them, and what I like the most is visitors can write a comment that will go their live feeds ...i.e. taking your webpage to live feeds that stretch way beyond your own. How much visibility is that????
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If you are not on my mailing list you may want to join. I go over all in easy to understand detail .. http://www.todaysway.net/weekly/gardengrowingmay242010_facebook.htm PLUS ..my weekly special is a 90 minute facebook training and coaching session for $60 to the first 4 callers! Can't beat that!
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If you already know about the plugins, please share with me what your thoughts might be about the LIKE button. Would love to hear from outsiders just what you think facebook is up to!!
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Keep your business growing,
margie

Securing Business Connections ... 6 Easy Natural Steps!

"Securing business connections" is a new term I am using for selling and/or closing business. Now that sales is a dirty word, I am thinking that our mindsets need to have a new perspective ... because we all must sell, right?

Securing a connection makes perfect logical sense and should be a more natural process for many who have made sales "seem" like a difficult feat. Take the steps found below and see what you think! Let me know what you come up with.

First lets go back to yesterday's posting where we talked about not forcing a connection to your service and/or product. There are matches out there for what you do that "fit" perfectly. You have the exact solution! That doesn't mean you will automatically get the sale because you will most likely also have some type of competition (good and bad) to deal with and your buyer may not even realize you are the perfect solution. So, what do you do?

Here are 6 steps to take upon identifying a quality "connection" for your product and/or service. Take special note that steps 1 and 2 are excellent for your use on social networks, The "securing" process starts within your prospecting activities online, in a 1-to-1 meeting, in a bar! Anywhere you find a "connection" you can begin to "secure" that connection ... very important to know!

1. Start asking questions.... making your questions be about the buyer.
   Gentle questions that allow you further explore the buyer's needs. Simply ask them, from all angles, what they are looking for. Look to all the "whys" and potential benefits.
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   The beginning of the "securing" process.
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2. Ask for agreement that your buyer sees that you have the perfect solution.
   After several exploring questions from step #1 stop and "simply" ask your buyer, "would you agree that so far you've found in these last few items we've discussed what you need?" Notice that I say, "you've found" NOT "I've got!" Keep the focus on your buyer, not yourself.
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   You have now "secured" some of the pieces.
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3. Summarize and ask for a final confirmation or "yes!"
   After covering multiple "whys" and receiving agreements, as you walk through what the buyer is looking for, summarize and conclude. "Looks like everything we have talked about is here ... would you agree with that?"
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   This step "secures" they want what you have!
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4. The Natural Close
   Now you say, " If everything looks good, what do we need to do to put this together for you?" Or, "what do we need to do to get this for you?" Or ... some similar wording that you are comfortable with. This allows room for all the other issues that might prevent a sale from happening to be put on the table, up front! Price, decision maker, timing, payment process, etc. If there are none, you are done! Congratulations.
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   You either secured a done deal at this step OR you have secured a process that serves as a check list of "to do's" in completing the deal. It works well especially if any objections occur along the way. At any point you can refer back to your plan that you "both" agreed to and explore the new objections or any new issues more "securely!"
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5. Solving Additional Issues With A Plan
   Work with the buyer on any additional issues. The buyer has at this point said they want what you have. Start helping "them" get it! Become a consultant and together figure out a plan to tackle the remaining issues. Get final agreement on the plan so you can both reference it should any surprises occur.
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   Now you are securing your relationship. Trust and loyalty is building!
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6. Celebrate A New Client
   Plan completed ... you are done! You have a sale but also you have given birth to a new business relationship because you helped "them." Congratulations.
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   You have now secured new business that is good for your client and good for you. Well done!
   

The great part of this process is when you receive the final sale you do feel as though your buyer did all the work! You simply facilitated the process. It's that easy and that fulfilling.

Hope you see how each step "secured" the final sale. The more agreement and confirmation of that agreement. the more secure you can be in getting that final "yes." It is also an easy way to make sure you are providing what the buyer wants.

Securing the sale continues after the first sale. How you provide follow-up, service, etc. or how you continue to build a relationship with this buyer is "securing' future new, repeat and referral business from this buyer. Something we all want!

I hope this new "mindset" can help you. Sales doesn't have to be a dirty word. We all would not exist without sales. As always, let me know your thoughts.

Keep Your Business Growing ...
margie

You Can't Force Connections!

"You can't force connections." .... I heard this on The Bachelor last night and it stuck with me because it is so true of what happens in the world of sales. Do you see the parallel?

Sales is, in its most basic form, a series of connections. A person has a need or want and a business "connects" their product or service to that need or want as a solution. The goal is to make good connections, of course!

So if selling is so easy and good ... why does selling have such a evil image? Because people/businesses try to "force" connections - in so many ways!

Here are just a few examples of what some salespeople do that produce what we refer to as "buyer's remorse:" How many have you experienced?

• Tell you that you can't live without their product.
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  Once you've bought it and get it home, you realize it isn't really what you wanted and you resent the product and the business that sold you!
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• Bury you in the features of a product - while not paying any attention to "why" you are looking to buy something.
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  You get it home and perfect as it is in many ways ... it isn't answering your "why." An example would be buying a sweater because you need to be warm. You go shopping and a salesperson sells you on all the features of a sweater (what you are basically looking for), you love it, bring it home and realize it is a sweater but not one that will keep you warm!
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• False lures ... price deals, bonus gifts, etc.
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  I think we've all been here. You see a "two-for-one" special. Gotta have it! You get home and never use either one of the two items. You say, "but it was a good deal!"
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• You fill in the rest! I think the list can go on and on. No wonder "sales" is considered a dirty word.
  

What can be equally as bad is something I read just yesterday online. It is almost right-on but still misses! There was a posting that was telling people not to push their product in front of people as it is not appreciated and would not create good relationships. This part I agree with totally. However, they went on to say that people like to buy from people (leaders), and that you should just go after making yourself a star within your industry and create personal connections.All they need and/or want to know is "you."

Well, personal connections are great and buyers do need to like (in most cases) and trust who they are buying from. But you still need to have a quality connection with what you need. You can't take the product and your "why" out of the package! If you do ... it is just another way of "forcing a connection" and it won't work in the long run or often even in the short run.

Start, or if you are already doing it, continue to "secure" your connections. Selling can be so much fun if you seek out where your good connections might be, identify people with the need you satisfy and again, work on the "securing" of quality connections. Simply find ways to "engage" and simply get enough agreement from your prospects so that they can "buy" with confidence. Your job is make sure the buyer is getting what "they" want ... NOT what "you" want. I will talk more about ways of "securing" your connections tomorrow!

Meanwhile, just remember ... "You can't force connections" ... true in love and business!

What are your thoughts on this? How do you look at selling? Are you having fun? Let me know!

Keep your business growing ...
margie