Networking: Fear of Networking
How is it that most sales people have no problems cold calling yet many break out in a sweat when they attend networking functions?
For 16 years in the industrial packaging business, I have worked strictly off of a referral basis–never cold calling. I rely solely upon my networking partners for “warm referrals.”
To be successful at networking, here are a few pointers that will help build confidence:
- Create a Plan / a Roadmap–as any good business person will tell you, you must have some sort of plan established so that you know where you are going.
- Outline an agenda for each meeting – Decide beforehand 2-3 key things that you want to accomplish at each event.
- Craft 3-4 interchangeable commercials – once you have drafted several different commercials, practice, practice, and practice!
To overcome the fear of networking, get prepared, have a plan of attack and then make connections–seize opportunities.
Peggy P. Edge. (c) 2014
Sales: A Winning Mindset
Think about professional athletes for a moment. Do you think they ever enter the field or run out on the court expecting to lose the game?
A resounding NO! Why? The reason is because they have a Winning Mindset and expect to be Victorious each and every time.
How do they do this? Practice! Practice! Practice!
Why then, as salesmen do we get sometimes develop a defeatist attitude? Managers are notorious at requiring their sales executives to assign a percentage to the likelihood of closing the sale.
If you don’t believe that you expect to have 100% chance to win the business, what can put you in that win-win mode?
To be successful in sales, we must all set out to believe that:
- 100% of the time when we call for an appointment we get it.
- 100% of the time we meet with a prospect that we are granted the opportunity to present out offerings.
- 100% of the time that we have made our presentation that we close the sale.
However, before anyone can be 100% sure of a pending sales, we must be totally prepared. Therefore to get that Winning Mindset, it always requires some work on the front end to accomplish our goals.
Again, when you prepare and are ready for the game, then is when you have “the Edge” over your competition!
Peggy P. Edge (c) 2014
Sales: Engage the Prospect First
Engage the prospect first? Absolutely!
If you lead the sales presentation by telling Mr. Prospect how wonderful your company is; that your products/services are so superior to the competition; and start trying to close without identifying his needs, you have lost any opportunity to move the sale forward. You have yet to focus on him or his needs.
What is wrong with this picture? You know the saying that when you meet someone for the first time, within 5 minutes you have made your lasting impression on the other party. Well, within those first 5 minutes, Mr. Prospect has already tuned you out because you have not made any attempt to include him in this sales process.
How do you engage, include or elicit participation from a first time prospect?
- Ask probing questions. Get him to tell you about how his company operates, what they do, and how they do that. Don’t be afraid to ask anything that you believe will help you understand their needs.
- Decipher the problems. Again, you must ask. You cannot assume anything even though you might have some prior experience in the industry, don’t get caught categorizing what you are hearing into a pat solution. Be open-minded.
- Figure out why the issues are important. You absolutely must get details here so that you understand exactly what is going on within this organization.
I learned in my senior Marketing Problems class in college, first you must identify the facts and determine the issues had hand. As professional salesmen, you must engage the client first and foremost.
Only after you have accomplished this investigative portion of your visit, then you can move forward to the next steps:
- Conceive possible solutions (figuring out what products/services will be the best fit for the application)
- Make suggestions that are client based–not what you want to sell them today (Forget that you are going to make a $100 bonus to sell the newest widget right off the production line)
- Create recommendations (if these do not match the problems, you do not have a potential solution)
- Justify each recommendation for each solution proposed. (This is a requirement…each recommendation must have a corresponding justification.)
In that marketing class, the groundwork was laid with us as potential salesmen–before you can expect to be successful in sales, you must always apply one of the Rules of Sales–Engage the Prospect!
Peggy P. Edge (c) 2014
