This is a Guest post by Art Sobzcak.

When I review opening statements for seminar attendees, clients at in-house training sessions, or for buyers of my Opening Statement Teleseminar on CD, I hear lots of openings that need assistance. Most of them, actually. And don’t even get me started about the openings that I hear when sales reps call me to sell. Many of these openings are destined to create resistance.

I am very picky about openings. That’s because we have so little time to create interest. Yet, most openings flat out elicit resistance, or don’t move towards interest fast enough, therefore giving the listener time to let the resistance build.

And the little things can do it. A couple of words here or there. Perhaps a question that doesn’t belong…too many unnecessary words that ramble like a congressman on C-SPAN late at night.

Sad part is, some of the things I hear are actually taught by sales “gurus” in seminars, books, tapes, e-books …whatever. I have to wonder if some of these experts have ever actually been on the phone.

I’ve decided to not be shy about dispelling some of the myths and bad suggestions being perpetuated out there—things that are causing salespeople to run into brick walls. I’ve been a bit hesitant to focus on this stuff too much, since occasionally I’ll get an email saying, “Don’t write about negative things. Don’t tell us about what to avoid. Tell us what to do.”

Well, I feel that one of the best ways to improve is to first cut out the mistakes. Let’s take this one: Finally getting a decision maker on the phone and then starting a prospecting call with,

“Hi, I’m Pat Seller with ABC Company. Are you the person there who would handle the decisions regarding your____?” Or, “…and I understand you are the person there who…”

I can hear the reactions now from some readers: “So what’s wrong with that?”

Here’s what’s wrong: You might as well start off the call with,

“I’m selling something. Are you the person I should be pitching it to?”

And again, I know that most of you see the problem with that, but yet someone might still be asking,
OK, we ARE trying to sell something and we want to be sure that this is the person we should be talking to, right?”

Right. But that IS NOT the way to do it. Here’s why:

• people would rather not talk to salespeople they don’t know. It’s natural, like the way we typically avoid the salespeople in retail stores who stalk after us and ask, “May I help you?” People like to buy, but don’t want to be sold. This announces your sales intentions, triggering the defensive posture.

• you have about five seconds to move a person into a positive, receptive frame of mind on a prospecting call. If you’re not doing that, they’re creeping into a negative frame of mind, moving into the mode of “How do I get rid of this salesperson?” Again the question about  “Are you the person…?” solidifies that before you have even begun to create interest.

• you should already KNOW that they are the decision maker for what you sell, BEFORE you ever hear their voice. That comes with good preparation and asking questions of other people within the organization. Even if you don’t know for sure, after delivering your opening—without this question— if you’re not in the right spot, they’ll let you know. And if you are in the right place, you haven’t jeopardized the success of what you want to accomplish: getting them into a positive frame of mind, and moving them to the questions.

OK, so what should you do? When the decision maker answers, go directly into your opening:

“Hi Pat, I’m ___with _____. We work with ____,  helping them ___. I understand that you’re now in the process of ____, and there’s a possibility we may have an option that could help you to ____. I’d like to ask a few questions to see if we should talk further.”

That’s very generic, and I always suggest that you tailor and customize your opening with information you collect before the call, and on the phone by speaking with others in their company so that you touch on results they would have interest in. And you can see that after that opening example, if you indeed were not in the right spot, they’d let you know.

Plus, if you still want to ask, “Am I in the right spot for what I just explained?”, you could do it after you’ve piqued their curiosity, since you’ve presented a possible benefit.

Sure, we need to find out if they are a decision maker. We just do not ask THEM in the opening.

Art Sobczak has helped sales pros say the right things by phone for over 27 years.  Get a free ebook of tips at http://www.BusinessByPhone.com, and see more free sales and prospecting tips, hear recorded calls, and watch videos at http://www.TelesalesBlog.com

This is a Guest post by Jill Konrath of Selling To Big Companies.

Thinking of steering your business into a new direction? Your biggest concern will be credibility. Companies don’t want to be your first client in a vertical market. They don’t want to waste their time showing you the ropes, training and teaching you. Despite being a good company, being inexperienced will increase the possibility of committing mistakes.

Here are a few things to remember:

1. Slowly but surely.

Study the industry that you’re joining. Do your homework and research important information such as industry terminology, rival companies, salable products and services, target clients and specific business processes and operations. Test the waters first. Don’t be too eager to move into the market.

2. Observe carefully.

Determine how they do things in relation to your business offering. Is there any difficulty in achieving certain business goals? What solutions can be suggested? What are the financial consequences of these problems?

Inform your prospective clients of the benefits and value of your products and services. Impart the business outcomes and results when using your offering.

3. Establish connections.

The more contacts you have, the easier it will be to make transactions. It is also better to establish connections between your present customers and your new ones.

4. Start with smaller opportunities first.

Smaller opportunities are easier to manage and the risks are lesser. Deliver an excellent performance on the tasks and assignments that you promised. Then start pursuing other available opportunities to expand your mark.

5. Train your employees on all of the above.

Teach your salespeople to do all these. They will fail if they don’t know how to apply these. Showing them powerpoint presentations aren’t enough. Not only do they have to learn the product/service details, they also need to be able to initiate smart business conversations with companies.

6. Equip your salespeople with easy-to-use and easy-to-understand tools.

Teach your salespeople how to leave effective phone calls, voicemails and emails. Then you can train them in setting up meetings with clients. Provide relevant papers, charts and studies that can be useful when they’re discussing your company’s products and services to prospective clients. Provide a “question matrix” that will serve as guide when making calls. Create customer-focused powerpoint presentations to be used on meetings.

7. Have faith.

Apply the suggestions above to increase your chances of success. Don’t be too eager to succeed. Plan things carefully before making business decisions.

Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies, helps sellers crack into corporate accounts, shorten sales cycles and win big contracts. She’s a frequent speaker at annual sales meetings, kick-off events and professional conferences. For timely and provocative sales advice, visit www.SellingtoBigCompanies.com.

This is a Guest post by Alen Majer, CEO of The Science and Art of Selling.

Your mission as a sales person should be to find companies that have immediate wants and needs. This means that something happened or is happening to them – a move, a merger, new investors, etc. You have to look for any event that might create the opportunity for you, or better said you are looking for event that can trigger the sales for you.

It could be something internal or inside the company, like a new direction from management, a merger or an acquisition, rapid growth, or maybe a new product introduction. And it could mean the company is turning “Green” and needs new and different supplies and services.

It could be external or outside the company, like the new strategies of their competition or new legislation (Sarbanes- Oxley Act). Maybe even a natural disaster, which is a well-known external trigger for many customers.

Generally speaking, trigger events have effects inside the whole company. Suddenly new needs are recognized; previous decisions need to be revisited. Very often, management becomes aware of new priorities and changes the direction of the company.

Trigger events are extremely important when we are in the search mode, looking for our next customer, and when we need to identify our sales opportunities at a particular company from our target list.

Every company has something new happening. Maybe they improved or reintroduced their products or service. There could be new faces in the boardroom or on the sales floor. A new office may have opened up in the Midwest. A new vendor or strategic partner could have been added. Even new money or investor may come into the company.

Most important for a buyer is that the provider understands the buyer’s situation, needs and business.

Every change in the business environment causes a search for new suppliers or new service providers, and your main goal is to be in front of qualified buyers when they are ready to buy.

In these situations, I would say this is almost the perfect position for every sales person. You know there is something happening with the accounts from your list of targeted accounts and you know that as it happens – perfect timing is a key of success many times. This is equally true no matter if it is with small or large companies.

An example of the above is a situation where through your trigger event research you determine that your customer is planning to switch its ordering system to one of the new software solutions. So you know there is something going to happen. Whether the company is large or small, it can be perfect timing for you to be able to provide products and services to them using that kind of ordering/sales process.

How to use that information?

When you get the information related to a trigger event, you need to adjust your approach so the benefits of your products (or services) are closely related to the trigger event, and you are able to show your customers that you can create a value for them early in the buying process.

This is a good way to start working on the relationship and developing the customer’s perception of your value to them. This means when you speak with the decision maker and if you know exactly what this trigger event is about, you will be able to tailor your story and the benefits of your product in a way that sounds appealing and is related to the customers’ growth trigger event.

You need to adjust your presentation in the way to recognize that event and to present your offering in the most effective way.

Questions you will ask on your calls or meetings with prospects will be targeted towards their needs and you will be able to demonstrate your understanding of business situation. That should bring you a step closer to get the deal done.

You definitely want to discover their hot buttons and why they could be on the market now for your products or services. Also, you should find out why they are qualified now, at this particular moment, and why you should be very active with this prospect.

It is actually very simple – when you show your prospects that you actually care and you have done your homework and you know about trigger events happening inside their company (new CFO, merger and acquisition, bad 3rd quarter…) you also show them that you are interested about their issues, and most importantly concerned about their wants and needs.

You will create interest in their eyes because you are different than anyone else who contacts them, who is simply trying to sell something without really understanding their needs.

When you know about different trigger events it will be much easier for you to ask questions that lead to uncover customer’s needs and buying motives, and to put them in the market even if they feel they are not buying anything now.

If you try to make a sale without necessary information about your customers, you are just shooting blanks in the air, hoping to hit something. With full information about your prospect’s situation, you will be able to sell easier, and that is the main purpose of this article (and my blog) – to help you find your next customer in a much easier way for you, and yet maintain a professional, knowledgeable approach.

All needs are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.

Alen Majer consults and trains entrepreneurs and salespeople how to harness their (sex) energy and use it for the success of selling. He is the founder and CEO of The Science and Art of Selling – a sales training, coaching and consulting company in Toronto, Canada; co-founder of Sales Academy – Croatia and Sales Institute of Croatia. Visit his blog at http://www.alenmajer.com.

This is a Guest post by Art Sobzcak.

“Show me the money Jerry!”
Rod Tidwell, character in “Jerry MaGuire”

Once into his questioning, the sales rep asked, “So you’re finding that the last stage of the manufacturing process is a challenge.”

Prospect: “Well, yeah, we’re having to do a few repetitive tasks to get it done.”

Rep: “We have software that can make that job easier and it’s only $5,000.”

Prospect: “$5000 just for making that part easier. That’s crazy.”

So what happened here?

The sales rep uncovered a problem. However, he was so eager to talk about how his product solves that problem, he failed to continue walking the prospect down the path to realizing what the problem was costing him. He didn’t see the problem as being painful enough in the short- or long term.

For most business-to-business transactions, it’s all about the money. The return on investment.

It’s pretty simple: you will always sell more when you help the prospect or customer understand the cost of the problem or potential problem, and then the payoff of the solution and/or the result of taking action

Dollarize the Situation

In his great book, “How to Become a Rainmaker,” Jeffrey Fox calls it “Dollarizing.” He says, “Rainmakers don’t sell fasteners or valves or washing machines or double-paned windows or tax audits or irrigation systems or training programs or golf clubs. Rainmakers sell money! The sell reduced downtime, fewer repairs, better gas mileage, higher deposit interest, increased output, decreased energy usage, more wheat per acre, more yardage per swing.”

When you analyze it, we buy thins because the price we pay for something is perceived as being less than dollar value we attach to the result. Our job, then, is to be sure they realize that the value of the result is high and the price is low.

The classic book, “SPIN Selling” uses the term, “Implication Questions.” It’s taking a problem that a buyer perceives to be small (or nonexistent in some cases) and building it up in a problem large enough to justify action.

Using the earlier example and dollarizing with implication questions we could get a different result.

Prospect: “Well, yeah, we’re having to do a few repetitive tasks to get it done.”

Rep: “What do you have to do?”

Prospect: “In the final stage, one of the operators has to go back and re-input the command codes to keep the line moving.”

Rep: “Please explain.”

Prospect: “He has to leave his main station, move over to the other console, input the codes he already put in, and then go back to his position.”

Rep: “How often is that happening?”

Prospect: “Geesh, over a hundred times a day?”

Rep: “Isn’t that slowing up the line and cutting down production?”

Without belaboring this, you can see where the rep is going with this, and ultimately would get the prospect to tell him exactly how much lost production is costing the company every day! Extrapolating that out over the course of a year might mean hundreds of thousands in lost profits. Now then, wouldn’t that $5000 software be a no-brainer?

Monetize and Quantify

Whenever you uncover a problem, a pain, or a desire, attach numbers and dollars to it. For example,

“How much is that costing?”

“How many?”

“How often does it happen”?

“What are the other expenses involved?”

There are hundreds of questions that could apply. Matter of fact, you should define them for yourself.

Your Action Item

Pull out a legal pad. At the top of the first page, describe a result of your product or service, such as, “High quality plastic, meaning fewer returns due to defects.” Then, list all the possible costs of returns due to defects for a customer, such as customer service phone time to take the call, cost of replacement part, all shipping costs, return of defective part, possible lost sales because of poor quality, and more. Finally, develop questions designed to get your prospects and customers talking about the problem. Take if further and brainstorm for their possible answers, then your next questions to keep them talking, and attaching costs to the problem, and the payoff for a solution. Rinse and repeat. Start new pages for each of your results.

Just think of what lost sales might be costing you now, and how much more you could make by doing this.

Art Sobczak has helped sales pros say the right things by phone for over 27 years.  Get a free ebook of tips at http://www.BusinessByPhone.com, and see more free sales and prospecting tips, hear recorded calls, and watch videos at http://www.TelesalesBlog.com

This is a Guest post by Jill Konrath of Selling To Big Companies.

Here are Top 5 tips that a new sales person should learn:

1. Be different.

Sellers find it hard to realize that customers don’t care about the product or service. Customers care about the difference that the seller can make for their company.

I sell sales training. If I will approach a company and speak to the VP of Sales and tell them that, the company will not be interested with my offer. But if I change my approach and focus on the substantial results that they will get from the service that I offer, doors will open wide.

2. Take one step at  a time.

When I first started selling, I immediately wanted to become successful. I was eager to close early and impressed my prospects with my immense product knowledge. But the more I rushed things, my prospects became more resistant to moving forward. They would trash problems and complaints that I could not solve. But when I started to slow down, plan carefully and disseminate information over multiple discussions, my sales suddenly increased.

3. Research before making the call.

Personalized messages based on your research about their company will get the attention of corporate decision makers. Standard messages sent to everyone are deleted instantly. Take the time to do your homework and do some research. Companies will listen to voicemails that are made especially for them.

4. Plan different modes of entry.

If you want to set up a meeting with a corporate decision maker, plan different modes of entry. Use multiple formats in your campaign— try voicemail, email, direct mail, invitations to teleseminars, conferences and etc.  Establish at least 7-10 contacts to crack into corporate accounts.

5. In your cutsomer’s shoes.

It doesn’t matter what you say. What matters is what your customer’s hear. Before leaving a message on your prospect’s voicemail, try leaving it on yours. Listen to it and evaluate how you sounded. Put yourself in your prospect’s shoes. Would you listen to that message? Would you take the time to call back and respond to that message? Rework your script until you finally created something worth hearing and worth responding to.

How about you? What tips can you suggest to new sellers?

Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies, helps sellers crack into corporate accounts, shorten sales cycles and win big contracts. She’s a frequent speaker at annual sales meetings, kick-off events and professional conferences. For timely and provocative sales advice, visit www.SellingtoBigCompanies.com.

This is a Guest Post from Peter O’Donoghue of  Sales DNA.

If you are using the telephone to book meetings and you are not as successful as you would like to be, then ask yourself:  Is it the other person’s fault? Or yours?

Quite frankly, when I first start working with some of my clients, I wouldn’t give them a meeting either. The first 30 seconds of a call are vital. The colder the contact, the more important it is to demonstrate value early on and to capture the other person’s attention.

Weak lines such as “I would like to come in and get to know your business better” just won’t cut it. Personally, I also hate the old standard “I was wondering if we could get together for a chat.” If someone rings me up and demonstrates they understand my business, can help me solve a problem, help increase turnover or profitability and can articulate that succinctly then I will always agree to a meeting to find out more. If someone wants to come in for a chat, then they can take a run and jump. They might have time to spare for a chat but I don’t!

One of the key concepts I train people to use is the ability to add value to your meeting so the other person wants to meet you. Think of it like this: If you were to take the words you use to open a call and ask for a meeting, and posted them on eBay, how much would you be able to sell it for?

If you could design your meeting and then describe it in such a way that you would be happy to sell it, then your ability to make new business meetings will shoot through the roof.

The key element here is designing your meeting to add value because it’s not about the words you use. It’s about the item you are describing. What value do you add in a meeting?

If you were selling to a professional person that was charging out their time at £250 per hour and you wanted an hour of their time, how would you demonstrate that it would be well worth their trade off in time?

If you would like some ideas as to how I help train organizations develop so much value in a meeting, read the next blog post available here on this site. I will share some of the best secrets in doing this…

Peter O’Donoghue is the Director of Sales DNA who help Business To Business Sales Professionals increase sales profitability with Sales Training and Telesales Training.  Sales DNA work with clients in Europe and Worldwide through their Online Sales Training.  Visit his blog at  www.salesdnaltd.com/blog.

The following is a Guest post by Mike Brooks, AKA Mr. Inside Sales.

Let’s face it — today’s business world is competitive.  Besides the normal objections you get (no money, price too high, need to talk to, etc.) a common objection that blows out 80% of your competition is, “I can get a better deal elsewhere.”  This frustrates a lot of sales reps and takes thousands of dollars of commission out of their pockets.

The top 20% also get this objection but are prepared for it and know how to overcome it.  Here’s what they do:

First, they recognize that if someone says that they can get a better deal elsewhere, it means one of three things:

1 — They’re wrong (in other words, they think they are getting the same thing you’re offering, but they’re not).

2 — They’re just putting you off and using this objection as a smokescreen.

3 — They really can get a better deal.

In order to find out what your prospect means, offer to help them determine if they really are getting a better deal by questioning and comparing every component of it.  Use this script:

“ __________ my customers tell me this all the time, and sometimes they genuinely can get a better deal, but a lot of times they can’t.  I’ll tell you what I’ll do.  I’ll go over each item you’ve been quoted by this other company, in other words we will compare apples to apples, and if everything is equal, I’ll see if I can do even better on that.  If I can, you’ll get an even better deal and if I can’t, I’ll tell you so.  Either way, you’ll win.  Now, do you have that other quote in front of you?”

Then simply go over each item to make sure everything is equal.  Often times it’s not and you can point this out.  And if it is, you still have a chance to win the deal.  If they do have a better deal, then build the value of having you as their sales rep and try to close the sale anyway.

Either way, you’ll win.

If you want to Double Your Income Selling Over the Phone, then check out Mike’s Award Winning 5-CD Series and learn the techniques and strategies of Top 20% producers.  Visit:  http://www.mrinsidesales.com/cd_page.htm

Order now and receive a FREE copy of Mike’s “The Complete Book of Phone Scripts,” which is packed with word for word scripts and techniques that you can begin using today to make more appointments and more sales – a $49 Value FREE!

This is a Guest Post by Mark Hunter.

It may sound odd to mention “phone sales tips” and “body language” in the same sentence. Do the two go together? Yes! In fact, you can even say when you add the two together, you get a third phenomenon:  Increased sales motivation. Your body language comes through loud and clear with every phone call you make.

I often tell salespeople to make sure they are standing up anytime they make an important phone call. In the instances when you do have to be sitting for a phone call, make sure you have good posture. It’s amazing how much stronger your voice will be when you’re standing up and/or maintaining good posture when you make a call. It is no surprise that when your voice is stronger, your confidence is stronger too.

Another reminder I offer is this: Make sure when you are on the phone, you are free of visual distractions. What are some common visual distractions? Email would possibly be the biggest one if you are at your computer. Other distractions include television, miscellaneous papers on your desk or anything else that can take away your focus. When you’re having a conversation with someone on the phone, it’s no different than speaking to them in person. They deserve your complete and undivided attention. If you have something else that may take away your focus, you are doing your customer a disservice. Simply move it out of site.

Finally, an item I love to do when talking to clients on the phone is to have something on my desk to remind me who I am talking to, including their name and their company. There is nothing more embarrassing than to suddenly forget who you’re talking to. No matter how good you think your memory is, this will happen to you at least a couple of times.  That’s all it takes for you to realize how important it is to have the person’s name and company in writing in front of you.

Selling on the telephone is a key part of anyone’s job, whether it be using the phone to establish an initial contact or using it to stay in touch with a loyal customer. Use extraordinary phone skills each time and you will see a positive difference in your results.

Mark Hunter, “The Sales Hunter,” helps individuals and companies identify better prospects, close more sales, and profitably build more long-term customer relationships. He is a consultative selling expert, specializing in custom-tailored sales programs. You can read his blog at http://thesaleshunter.com/blog.

This is a Guest post by Alen Majer, CEO of The Science and Art of Selling.

If your prospect does not see the value in your product or service, and if the only difference between you and the competitors is in pricing, you didn’t do a good job as a sales person. The main description of your position inside the company is to create the value, not just to show your price list. Teaching and educating customers is no longer enough, giving them information about your products or services is no longer necessary. They can get them by themselves, without ever talking to you or your company, and know more about your product and positioning on the market than you.

If they know so much about you, how can you try to sell them the same product without knowing their business situation or their needs?

Remember that customers are sophisticated; they either have or believe they can get product information more reliably on their own. Information is readily available through many different sources, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Internet is full of different forums, blogs, and review or research websites where they can get information about your product easily.

Customers don’t just want a specific product; most of the times they want to solve their pain point or business issues. A customer in today’s competitive sales environment does not expect to educate the sales professional about their business.  Therefore, you must already possess a solid understanding of the customer’s industry, competitors, and business direction.

Developing such a comprehensive view of the customer is a task that requires extensive researching and education to get an overall picture of the customer’s business industry. The modern sales person needs to focus on understanding the customer’s business initiatives, strategic plans, IT environment, and key customer preferences.

If you are still seeing yourself as someone who is there to educate customers, you are living in the past. The time of product-centric sales is gone. Welcome to customer-centric approach in sales.

You need to move away from the focus on presenting your products. Instead, a customer-centric approach shows that you recognize and understand your customers’ needs, which is necessary if you want to survive in a 21st Century sales environment.

Your customers are tired of salespeople who come in and are unable to address real business needs, but talk about their company and the hottest feature, or unique one that nobody else has. There are many dimensions that you are selling, and price is only one of them.

Alen Majer consults and trains entrepreneurs and salespeople how to harness their (sex) energy and use it for the success of selling. He is the founder and CEO of The Science and Art of Selling – a sales training, coaching and consulting company in Toronto, Canada; co-founder of Sales Academy – Croatia and Sales Institute of Croatia. Visit his blog at http://www.alenmajer.com.

This is a Guest Post by Mark Hunter.

Many times when I’m working with inside salespeople, I hear the common complaint how they don’t feel they’re at their best until later in the day. The first few people to whom they talk on the telephone wind up being disastrous calls. What makes this painful is these same salespeople are usually the ones who are not making their numbers. These are the same salespeople who spend way too much of their time – and the time of their fellow salespeople – complaining about how screwed up things are.

Rather than wasting the first several calls on customers you know are going to answer, take the first 10 minutes of each day calling people you know won’t be there. In other words, their voice mail will pick up. In fact, go one step farther and make the first call to yourself – yes, yourself. Here is why: By calling yourself first, you have the opportunity to engage your mouth, to get your brain working and to warm up. Consider it similar to the way an athlete warms up before a game.

Make the first call to yourself as if you were a prospect and leave a voice mail. But don’t just leave a quick voice mail to yourself. Go ahead and share with yourself one key benefit as to why you should buy from yourself. By leaving the message to yourself, you’ll get a chance to hear yourself later when you get the message. More importantly, you’ll start warming yourself up by sharing a benefit of what makes you different.

After you have left yourself a message, then call 2- 3 people who you know will not answer their phone. Leave your normal voice mail message.

Using voice mail as a way to warm up will help you be more focused and engaged when you do talk to somebody live. It will prevent you from stumbling through your first several live calls. Only after you’ve had several live conversations and you’re fully engaged should you then even think about sitting down.  Yes, that’s another tip: Standing up when making a phone call will always increase the strength of your voice and help you be focused. It gets your energy going!

Mark Hunter, “The Sales Hunter,” helps individuals and companies identify better prospects, close more sales, and profitably build more long-term customer relationships. He is a consultative selling expert, specializing in custom-tailored sales programs. You can read his blog at http://thesaleshunter.com/blog.