Leigh Ashton
sales training in london
Beware of RSS – Reluctant Seller Syndrome
Was it Burt Lancaster who came out with those immortal words “If you build it they will come” in that excellent film ‘Field of Dreams’?
But in business it’s increasingly clear that if you build it they probably won’t come. Apart from those who would have shown up anyway – and they are often not that many.
It often starts like this; A business idea is born – through a fabulous sounding idea, or because the timing is right to realise that life dream. Perhaps the money is there at last. Maybe a redundancy or other life changing event has forced the issue. Or a combination of all of the above.
The passion is there. Unbridled enthusiasm is unleashed as the new entrepreneurs start to ‘live the dream’.
Then suddenly it dawns – they need more sales to survive! And increasing sales is certainly not their speciality.
I’ve met some brilliant people in my line of work. Name a business sector and I’ve probably had the joy of meeting brilliant people within it.
That’s brilliant at ‘what they do’. But, sooner or later they have to get good at what they don’t do – Sell.
That’s when many develop that well known condition RSS – Reluctant Seller’s Syndrome. Sometimes I think it’s catching!
The symptoms?
- They associate the word “selling” with those nasty high pressure sales tactics you hear about. This belief embeds itself over time – and ultimately inhibits their sales performance.
- They view selling as “persuading people to have something they don’t need” (it certainly isn’t by the way) – so they shun practising this sordid discipline!
- They freeze at networking events – speaking only to those they know and staying much too long talking to the friendly person next to them. They avoid breaking the circle and ‘interrupting’ a group nearby.
- They end up heavily discounting their services because deep down they didn’t believe their product or service was worth the initial price – and it showed.
These are the common symptoms – there are others too.
What to do if you’re exhibiting ‘Reluctant Seller Syndrome’?
CELEBRATE!
Because there are lots like you. It’s a big club.
Then what? Grab the nearest pen and paper.
Ask yourself “What Stops You?”
Dig deep. What REALLY stops you? And be very honest with the answers. Write down everything that comes into your head – even if it makes no sense. When you’ve written everything you can, WAIT. There will be more to come. That first gap was called a blank spot. Go past two blank spots and when you’ve finished writing the third time, then you probably are finished.
Now I don’t know what your answers will tell you – but you will. There will be some true nuggets in there. Nuggets which will, with a little thought, tell you exactly what you need to do next.
It’s all about the psychology of selling!
Until next time…
Leigh Ashton
PS: Download my complimentary report “The 9 Biggest Sales Mistakes” here
“Thinking puts boundary conditions around the limitless boundlessness that is you”
No doubt about it – your ‘inner state’ affects your outer behaviour and therefore your results.
What could affect your inner state? Maybe something happened – say a customer was rude to you?
Or something that hasn’t happened – that massive potential customer awarded someone else the contract?
Maybe your inner state is in turmoil over something that’s about to happen – a big presentation or networking opportunity?
Hey where’s my confidence disappeared to?
I love how the mind works in this situation. You can be the most confident person most of the time and yet your confidence has the ability to run and hide in the darkest corners of your mind when situations like these arise.
Einstein was spot on when he said…
“Thinking puts boundary conditions around the limitless boundlessness that is you”
You might need to read that again!
Yet it’s so true.
Add some thinking to a situation and sometimes the uncertainty, then the nerves will come and before long you really can paralyse yourself – and in that state you’re no good to anyone!
Changing your inner state
Take heart because you can give yourself any resource you want…in a heartbeat!
You may have come across the concept of ‘anchoring’ before. It’s a technique that allows you to take the confidence you feel when you’re at your best – and replicate it when you are not. Not just confidence either – any state, any situation.
Anchors are really powerful and you’ll already have them. Those food smells from your childhood, those memorable songs that transport you back in time. Your embarrassing moments – and of course your biggest sales successes.
When you really associate into those events, it’s like you are back there…experiencing those emotions all over again.
You have the potential to transfer this ability into the world of sales and your individual selling skills. Imagine being able to conjure up confidence, determination, calmness or anything else you need… whenever you need it.
Your turn
Anchoring allows you to access your inner resources at will! So when you find yourself not in a great state of mind and you need to change and quickly – rest assured that you can do exactly that!
My preferred anchoring technique is “The Circle of Excellence” – which is covered in detail in my book “iSell” (page 65 if you have it).
Or click here to go to a previous newsletter where I take you through the “Circle of Excellence” technique.
It’s all about the psychology of selling! Getting the edge…and getting those extra sales that make the difference. That’s why your inner state matters!
Let me know how you get on!
Until next time
Leigh
PS: Download my complimentary report “The 9 Biggest Sales Mistakes” here
Are You Doing Enough IPA?
Doing the Right Thing?
Cast your mind back a few days.
You started back at your desk after the Christmas break 100% recharged and ready for action. “Increasing Sales” as your full intent.
You were ready to concentrate on the big stuff and not get bogged down in detail. You’d made some lofty 2013 goals and were ready to conquer the world.
Then reality took over.
Too many emails. Too many projects. Too much work – not enough time.
No doubt about it, choosing work priorities over a given day, week, month can be challenging.
Let me introduce you to a couple of concepts that really help me and I think they’ll help you too.
1) “Income…Producing…Activity” (IPA)
I’ll define IPA in a moment but firstly I suggest you should be doing IPA for an average of at least 1- 3 hours per day. If you’re serious about generating tomorrow’s sales, and the next day and beyond, ring fence that time in your diary.
IPA – activities that have a direct impact on creating sales opportunities. By this I mean sales and promotional activity prior to a sale being made. This could be prospect meetings, creating email campaigns, generating referrals… anything that starts or develops new relationships with prospective customers.
What you do with your client after the deal has been done is around customer service and quality… and is not IPA.
How much of your time is actually spent on IPA? Go on – be honest.
1) “Fastest…Business…Impact” (FBI)
Many years ago I came across the acronym FBI and I have used it ever since. It’s simple – and very effective.
When I’ve chosen my IPA for any given period, I usually go on to challenge myself and ask “what’s the FBI here”? What’s going to have the FastestBusiness Impact on my business?
This really helps me prioritise what’s going to create the biggest impact on my sales… then I do that first.
When I’ve completed that activity I ask myself again and do the next most important activity. The concept is that simple. But many many people I meet don’t apply it – It’s just so easy to get caught up with doing stuff that doesn’t create sales for you… especially when you’re busy.
So – keep checking in if you want your sales success…
“Am I doing enough IPA”
“What’s the FBI”
Until next time…
Leigh
PS: Download my complimentary report “The 9 Biggest Sales Mistakes” here
Designing Your 2013
2013? Excited? Daunted?
Well it’s time to take responsibility for shaping a 2013 that would suit YOU down to the ground.
Yes it’s the ‘G’ Word! Goals. What do you want from 2013? When it comes to December 2013 and you’re reflecting back on the year, what must have happened for you to say: “Wow, it’s been a fantastic year”?
Enjoy the process below. Find yourself a quiet and inspiring place and get to work! Whether your aims are financial, personal, social or business, write them down. Get in touch if you want help with your goal setting…we’re here to help.
Goal Setting for 2013 Well-defined goals are vital in all elements of business and sales success. The following process is one I use in business and personally. Work through the questions and remember that your initial response is normally the most useful.
State in the positive (i.e. what you want, not what you don’t want)
What specifically do I want in 2013?
The evidence
What would be my evidence that I have achieved my goal?
How would I know if I were getting my goal?
What would I be doing to get it?
What would I be seeing/hearing/feeling?
What would be a demonstration of it?
The specifics
Where do I want this goal?
Where do I not want this goal?
When do I want this goal?
When do I not want this goal?
With whom do I want this goal?
With whom do I not want this goal?
The actions
What resources can I activate to get this goal?
What resources can I acquire to get this goal?
What can I do?
What can I continue doing?
The future
What will happen if I get this goal?
How will getting this goal affect other aspects of my life?
How does getting this goal benefit me?
What might I lose if it happens?
These questions will really help you define your goals and give you the motivation and a framework to achieve them.
Good luck with your 2013 goal setting.
Bear in mind research on goal setting which concludes that your goal setting will be more effective if you;
1) Take action immediately and often to achieve them (obvious but…)
2) Tell a supportive friend/colleague/mentor what those goals are
3) Regularly update this person on the progress to achieving your goals
Wishing you a happy, healthy and very successful 2013!
Let me know how you get on.
Until next time
Leigh
PS: Download my complimentary report “The 9 Biggest Sales Mistakes” here
MODELLING SALES SUCCESS
According to Statistic Brain.com, The iPhone 5 quickly broke all first day sales records- the Number of iPhone 5 pre-orders in the first 24 hours was an astounding 2,000,000!
Looking back a few weeks later it’s clear that the team at Apple followed a tried and tested sales strategy – they modelled previous winning sales strategies and selling skills to get their team to a place they haven’t been!
By the way, did you think the leaders at Apple are overly concerned about the state of the world economy when they launch new products? I doubt it. They just go out with the words ‘increasing sales’ in mind and develop a set of products that people want that badly they find the money!
Be inspired to want a piece of the action! You can get there as well, by modelling sales success.
Modelling Sales Success is an absolute must for you to incorporate. If you can elicit the strategy of the most successful member in your team… you can replicate it in the others. If you don’t have a team and it’s down to you to sell, whose detailed sales strategy could you elicit? Who do you know that has a selling record that you want?
You may already have a rough idea of their sales tactics. You need to go beyond what you initially see and draw out the detailed inner workings of the individual to really understand strategy. How do they think during the sales process? What do they tell themselves? What do they do first? What do they do next? What don’t they do? If it’s one of your team members, great. If it’s someone outside of your company then get in touch and offer them a lunch in return for you picking their brains on their detailed selling strategy. My experience tells me they will be pleased to hear from you and be only too willing to share their experiences.
It’s time to focus on how YOU can develop yourself and your team by modelling fantastic sales success. Then one day it will be your statistics that others are inspired by!
Until next time…
Leigh Ashton
PS: Download my complimentary report “The 9 Biggest Sales Mistakes” here
020 7903 5426
Selling Skills: Communication is Key
Having excellent communication skills is vital if you are going to achieve sales success.
When you communicate with others you are creating an experience for the other person. Everything you say has an impact… even the smallest things. What’s interesting is that every word you use will have unique interpretation for the person you are communicating with.
When working with groups I often ask people the first thought that pops into their head when I say the word ‘success.’ Interestingly, no two people have ever come back with exactly the same response. Some say ‘promotion’, some say ‘sitting on a beach’, some say ‘loving family’, some say ‘money’. And even if people say they thought of money… when questioned, one may have seen a big house, the other the actual word came to mind or ,maybe a £ or $ image.
So imagine a string of words in a sentence and a string of sentences in a conversation and you begin to realise how easy it is to create confusion or misunderstanding.
We are all unique and different in our personalities and traits, so the way in which we communicate with others or are communicated to by others will make more of an effect then we may realise.
So whatever your objective is when you communicate with prospective clients (and colleagues too!) it will impact on your expectation and if that’s low or non- existent you may find yourself creating the very lack of great results that you crave.
So expect positive outcomes through your communication and you’re more likely to get them!
Until next time…
Leigh Ashton
PS: Download my complimentary report “The 9 Biggest Sales Mistakes” here
020 7903 5426
What do you REALLY believe?
Your beliefs are at the core of who you are.
Beliefs guide your decisions and behaviour in all areas of your life. They determine what you think is or is not possible. More often than not they prove to be self-fulfilling prophecies.
Henry Ford once said, “Whether you believe you can or believe you can’t, you’re probably right”.
Some of our beliefs are not our own, but rather blindly taken on from others. Once a belief is formed, we work overtime to prove it right, even if the belief is something negative like “Nobody likes me” or “I’ve never been very good at that”.
Do we have to let our beliefs govern us, even if they are harmful to others and ourselves? Can we consciously make changes to what we believe?
In the first half of the 20th century the world believed that it was impossible to run a mile under four minutes. When, on May 6th 1954, Roger Bannister ran a mile in 3.59 minutes, everyone was in awe.
Yet within a year many other runners ran the mile under four minutes. It was as if a spell had been broken.
Some beliefs can be helpful and empowering. Studies show that people who believe they are healthy live 7 years longer than those who think they are unhealthy, regardless of their actual health condition at the time of the survey.
Some beliefs can be unhelpful and disempowering. It is said that we cannot achieve our goals or that we are not worthy of other people’s acceptance.
Those kinds of beliefs are called ‘Limiting Beliefs’. They typically sound like “I am ugly”, “I will never be successful”, “I can’t work with those kind of people”, etc.
Limiting Beliefs fall into three categories:
Hopelessness: My goal cannot be achieved under any circumstances.
Helplessness: My goal can be achieved, but I lack the ability to achieve it.
Worthlessness: I don’t deserve to achieve this goal, because of something I am/am not or have/have not done.
Limiting beliefs can be a result of significant experiences in our lives, usually when we’re much younger.
Consider the story about the man who, as a nine-year-old, killed his friend’s three-year-old brother, while playing cricket. He was focusing so hard on the ball that he did not notice the young boy running behind him. As a result he formed the belief “If I go after my goal, I end up hurting others.” This belief made it very difficult for him to succeed in his adult life.
When attempting to overcome limiting beliefs the first step is to become aware of them. This can be challenging, since our limiting beliefs are often unconscious. Becoming aware of unconscious limiting beliefs can sometimes be all that is needed. At other times we may need to question our beliefs or act as if something else were true.
So what do you believe about you?
Find out more at the upcoming webinar “The Five Golden Rules for Personal Success” on June 13th. To register or find out more click here.
Leigh Ashton
020 7903 5426
What does the word “Selling” mean to you?
Business owners continue to astound me with their enthusiasm for their business. They are massively passionate about what they do and they work mighty hard to build or maintain their business. Whether it’s a brilliant new concept, or they’ve bought a franchise, or inherited the family firm, generally they love it and throw themselves into it.
Apart from one bit.
The selling bit! What is it about selling?
Many businesses owners and entrepreneurs have the most wonderful 3 year business plans. I’ve been shown some superb brochures. I’ve witnessed some incredible inventions. But their businesses are reaching nowhere near their potential – because of a reluctance to go out and sell.
The result being I’ve also seen the tidiest desks. And lots of social media activity. And some of the most thorough research on the planet.
But if you’re a business owner you have to master the necessary selling skills – or you won’t be owning a business for all that long. And if you’re responsible for increasing sales at a larger company, you have to sell too, or you’ll soon be selling yourself to an HR manager at a future job interview.
Many sell but their heart is not really in it. And how will this come across to the buyers they deal with? We all know any lack of enthusiasm for selling will show.
Why do people dislike selling? Why the reluctance to approach and engage?
Let me explain that there are two main underlying reasons why people don’t achieve the sales results they need.
Firstly – they are living in “The Valley of Reasons and Excuses”. That means blaming something or someone else for where they find themselves. Not taking responsibility. It’s the economy, nobody is spending etc etc etc. This is a massive subject in its own right but one for another day – as the thing I want to home in on today is the other reason people don’t sell well…
Secondly…what you believe about yourself – and your ability to sell, will severely impact on your results.
So what do you believe about your selling ability? What do you believe about yourself? What ‘sales’ language are you using to yourself? What do you believe about the sales profession?
If you’re a reluctant seller the odds are that you’ll display negative language when thinking or talking about your sales ability or the sales profession in general (“I’m rubbish at cold calling”, “ I hate following up quotes”, “selling is hard”, “sales people are snakes”, “sales success is impossible” )
No one thinking or talking like this is likely to jump into selling. Why would they? It sounds so scary.
The issue here is that many, no most, of your thoughts are unconscious, so your unconscious thinking has a major effect on your beliefs and actions. Your unconscious mind backs up your belief that you aren’t very hot at selling by thrusting the negative examples at you where you weren’t too hot.
But – if you dig deeper, you’ll find examples where you were great at selling – you’ve just previously dismissed them as your unconscious mind backs up your embedded beliefs.
These embedded beliefs go back a long time – probably your early childhood! An example comes to mind where someone I have worked with had extremely negative thoughts about selling. These beliefs went back to her own childhood when any doorstep salesmen were ritually abused by her mother. Sales people were slated long after each short sales visit. No wonder she developed these unconscious beliefs that all sales people were bad – which didn’t serve her well when it came to doing her own selling years later.
So what seeds have you – or others planted about sales? What are you allowing to impact your beliefs and actions? How are selling terms like ‘cold calling’ ‘objection handling’, ‘sales presentation’, ‘closing’ affecting your beliefs. One person at a recent workshop I presented suggested that every time she heard the word ‘closing’ in a sales context she felt a lump in her throat that was choking her! – such was her unease surrounding that word.
Everyone can be outstanding at selling. Sales people are not born. Selling is a set of learned behaviours and learned thinking – once you know the necessary successful behaviours and thinking you can emulate it.
So think about those limiting beliefs that are stopping you being outstanding at selling. Bring them into your consciousness and choose to accept them or reject them. For the ones you want to reject, a quick way is to think of three powerful examples where the opposite of this limiting belief was true. You’ll start to de-stabilise that negative belief and pave the way for an empowering belief in its wake.
I’m on a mission to crack this fear of selling and reluctance to sell. Hence my thoughts here and my event on 19th April where we’ll be identifying conscious and unconscious beliefs around selling – and banishing them to the ‘deleted bin’.
More details of my event “Love Your Business…Hate Selling?” here
How to Make an Exhibition of Yourself
Exhibitions. Brilliant networking opportunity or one long coffee binge? A goldmine of vital information or, as someone once remarked about golf, ‘a good walk ruined’?
Well, being firmly of the ‘glass half full’ side of the attitude spectrum I can report I had a great time at ‘Business 2012’ earlier this week. I met lots of old friends, many new contacts, had a good look round and generally a fabulous time was had.
I know, you feel there’s a but coming on don’t you? And you’d be right.
No I’m not going to comment on the organisation of the event, which I know some were less than complimentary about. I’m not going to comment either on the sub zero temperatures at the O2 where ice would form on any coffee not consumed within three minutes.
Actually I found myself comparing the selling skills, techniques and overall effectiveness of those manning the exhibition stands – and indeed some of the stands themselves. Yes I know, I should get out more – but there was plenty to observe here.
Firstly, let’s cut to the chase. Open questions. First rule of sales success. Ask open questions and then listen. Several of those staffing the stands were good at this – but sadly many launched in to their pre-prepared patter without a clue as to who I was and what brought me anywhere near their ‘manor’. This talking without drawing breath is one of my great bugbears and sadly it appears that many still just don’t get it.
And call me a prude but speaking to someone on duty whose breath smells of alcohol, well, is this professional? I’m not sure. Maybe if it was still 1983 but I’m not sure in 2012. If you’re on duty and going to have a drink during your break, use some strong mints!
Several stands were quite intimidating as they had three or more staff on duty and no visitors. In my exhibition days if this happened one or two would have made themselves scarce and maybe watched their own stand from a short distance away ready to move back in to position as the visitors increased. My observations from Monday were that people were more likely to move right past a stand with three staff and no other visitors. Especially when the three staff are lined up like a defensive wall facing a free kick in a football match, hands protecting their vitals. Stopping unruly kids getting into a club is one thing, having fully qualified bouncers discouraging entry to your exhibition stand doesn’t count for potential sales success in my world.
The large stands held my interest too – or rather didn’t. Some of these seemed designed to prevent people from visiting the stand. Maybe this is a new marketing tactic in 2012 that I’ve missed but I will always argue that an exhibition stand should be designed to create a real buzz by allowing the maximum flow of visitors through – not look like a wake with added name badges.
There was a well known business lounge brand which had a large refreshments area which housed seating areas alongside a formal exhibition stand. My message to this company is I hope you keep your prestigious business lounges in better nick than this area looked most of the day. Used coffee cups, flyers, discarded newspapers and general litter were the order of the day. Nearby staff seemed oblivious to the mess. Potentially increasing sales? No.
Reading this makes me feel like a doom monger! I should redress the balance and say again what a fabulous day I had. I met some wonderful people, old friends and new, and met many very professional staff on many stands. These people were working hard in arctic conditions.
I felt though that I saw the past and future exhibition selling skills on Monday. I’ve described the past here in the hope that things can be improved next time round. There are a lot of people throwing a lot of mud at the organisers of Business 2012. My message to those is, yes by all means give the organisers the feedback they need to make the next show better – but take a look at what you can do better too.
Leigh Ashton
www.sales-consultancy.com
020 7903 5426
results@sales-consultancy.com
Grab your free report “The 9 Biggest Sales Mistakes (you see others making)” here
Take the Cappuccino Challenge for Sales Success
It seems to me there’s no lack of effort going into ensuring businesses are surviving and prospering in these challenging times. Could it be that you are working TOO hard, working TOO long?. You’re on a mission. Increasing sales is your goal. You’ve got your head down and are relentless in your desire to make and beat your targets.
BUT…
…as the old saying goes, you may be working hard, but are you working SMART? Put another way – you might be efficient, but how effective is your activity?
If you’re crazy busy you might find it strange to hear me recommend time away from your desks! Yet in my experience, occasional time outs from the normal working environment are a brilliant way to assess where you are – and acquire valuable insights into what needs to happen going forward.
So be kind to you, take a little time out now – and reap the benefits later. Do this once a month and you’ll increase your sales success rate.
Check out my time out exercise below.
The Cappuccino Challenge for Sales Success
Spend a couple of hours away from your normal working environment, maybe at a cafe or coffee shop. Switch the phone off, no interruptions. All you need is something to write with, something to write on, your utmost honesty – and a large cup of your favourite coffee!
Consider…
Is your performance all it can be?
How are you with your own performance?
When was the last time you received honest feedback on your performance?
When did you last give yourself a self appraisal session?
What do you feel pleased with in your personal progress?
What worries you?
What can you do about it?
Are you setting the right standards?
Are you setting the right standards for your organisation and those around you?
Are you proud of those standards?
Where might things be clarified or improved?
Does everyone around you understand what those standards are – and work by them?
Acid Test
What issues really need to be addressed?
What’s getting in the way?
What’s the single biggest obstacle that’s holding things back?
Where can calm and thoughtfulness help to make things better?
Do you have the courage of your convictions?
Blame Audit
Has laying blame crept into your organisation?
What or who is suffering because of this?
Are you tending to lay blame?
Are you taking responsibility?
How can you turn things around?
You
How can things be better for you at work?
How can things be better at home?
What’s really going on right now?
When did you last review your personal mission and vision?
Have you got a personal mission and vision?
How does this fit with your business or career mission?
Let’s be clear – this is not an afternoon off! On the contrary, it can be one of the biggest contributions you will make to your sales, your business, career and personal success.
Clients have tried this when they least thought they could spare the time. Afterwards they felt so much more energised and ready to focus on making the RIGHT things happen.
Friday afternoon is the best time – so you can return to work on Monday feeling fresh and absolutely clear on what’s to be done.
Until next time.
Leigh Ashton
PS: Download my complimentary report “The 9 Biggest Sales Mistakes” here
www.sales-consultancy.com
020 7903 5426
results@sales-consultancy.com
Leigh Ashton 