The First Rule of Negotiation – never accept the first offer.

“Hang on,” I hear you say. “What if they offer me what I want?” But is it what you want? Is it what they want?

Before you get into the 'make the deal no matter what' mind-set, there are a few things for you to consider before getting the clients signature on the order form. And it's the order form itself that is the problem. Most forms of sales training concentrated on getting to the close and gloss over the importance of the negotiation.

This key point is the difference between being an order-taker and a professional negotiator. An order taker will take the deal in front of him, generally has little scope for negotiation and will not necessarily be rewarded (or thanked) for getting a better deal. Therefore, they will sign up the order and move on to the next customer. And that's fine if that's the environment you're working in. A negotiator will look for the best deal or him or his company.

If you take the first offer, how may you feel and how will that leave your client feeling?

Have you ever been in a situation when your first offer was accepted? How did that make your feel? Did you feel that the seller was too keen to accept your offer? Did you walk away feeling there may have been a better deal to be made? Did you feel cheated?

Any deal feels better for both parties if they have to work at it or have earned it. This is not negotiation for the sake of it (that would be a waste of time.) But its about creating a deal and arriving at a price where both sides believe they've done a good job.

So don't accept the first offer. You owe it to your client.

Prospecting - What's Your Number

How to Sell Coach

Almost every book I've read on selling quotes the following;

• 2% of sales are made on the first contact
• 3% of sales are made on the second contact
• 5% on the third contact
• 10% on the fourth contact
• and 80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact.

Isn't that interesting. Another interesting fact is that 0% of the sales books quote a reference for the research behind these figures. (If you know it, please let me know)
Let's assume for a moment that these figures are true. That would mean that if you are persistent and get to the fifth call, you'll be knocking the vast majority of your competitors clean out of the picture.

That's one heck of a statistic. My own research and experience would suggest that undoubtedly, if you keep communicating with a potential customer in a meaningful way, your likelihood of getting a sale are significantly increased.

I feel that where people get confused with this is that the sales call series must have a clear progression for this to be successful. If you make twelve sales calls saying exactly the same thing, you are unlikely to move forward. But if you take something from each call, add to your knowledge of the customers needs and wants and tailor you next call based on your increased knowledge, then the statistics begin to make more sense.

The other factor however is what is the value of the sale and how much time you can realistically put in to getting it. There is a big difference between selling a low volume, low unit cost product against a multi million capital item. Having sold both, I can tell you my first sales manager would not have thanked me for making twelve calls for an item with was only ever going to make the company a couple of hundred. The flip side of that is one that will make the company a few million. For that I would be available 24/7 and make as many calls as I needed to to clinch the deal.

So there does have to be some rational thinking behind the number of calls to make. The simple truth is - at least one more that your competitors.

Cold Calling - 10 Do's and Don'ts

How To Sell Coach

So, you need to get some new business in and Cold Calling is on your list of things to do. Great! But are you feeling 'great' about it? Perhaps not. But why? What is it about Cold Calling that fills salespeople with dread, horror and fear?

• Fear of failure?
• Fear of rejection?
• Fear of making a fool of yourself?
• Fear of people being aggressive or abusive towards you?

First off, none of these feelings are unnatural. We all feel them from time to time at some point of our lives. It's how we deal with these fears that makes the difference. Will every cold call be positive and have a good outcome. Well no. But when you do make a sale how will that make you feel? What difference will it make to your life and the lives of those around you? How much closer will it take you to achieving your goals?

My first 'proper' job was running a team of canvassers selling subscriptions for publications. We knocked around 400 doors every night. And yes, I had doors slammed in my face, and not answered when I could hear the T.V. on and chased by big dogs more than once but hey..............I was developing my selling skills, coping with rejection and most importantly, learning a lot about myself.

So what kept me going? Well I was young, hungry for success, wanted to make my bonus and keen to be the front runner for the next promotion. And in those days, that's all I needed. I very much had a 'no-next' attitude to an extent but I also wanted to have the best conversion figures of any of the teams. Soon I began to understand the approaches that worked best for me.

But what about all those people who said 'no'? Well, I can't remember them and likely they don't remember me. Nobody's ever stopped me in the street and asked, "Hey were you that guy that knocked on my door?"

Business to business Cold Calling is different of course. But if you're polite, professional and prepared - what's the problem. You're doing your job and a good business person will understand that. More importantly, many of your competitors won't be doing it well if at all so there are sales to be made and business to be done. Right, here are the How To Sell Coach Top Ten Do's and Don'ts of Cold Calling:

1. Attitude - keep you goal's at the front of your mind. Why are you doing this? What's you goal or objective? What is your desired outcome? What will success bring you and your family? What is the life you are working to create. Focus on these things and understand your motivations.  

2. Prepare, Prepare, Prepare. Prepare yourself, prepare your research, prepare your presentation.

Why would you ever call a potential customer without finding out at least some basic information about their company, their business and better still, them?

"Hello, can I speak to the owner of the business." I still get calls like this every week and I'll tell you straight - I will NEVER buy from any company who opens a sales call in that way. If you can't be bothered to find out who you're calling, I don't have the time to explain my business to you. Not a chance.

3. Making the Call About You.  The call is not about you, it's about what you can do for your customer. " Hi, I'm calling from Big Boss Products, we're the largest supplier of stuff in our industry sector." So what. In what way would that make someone buy from you? What the customer wants to know is what your product can do or them. You need to establish a need for your product. Research, prepare and establish the need.

4. Respect the Gatekeeper.
"Hi, I would like to speak to Mr. Jones in your Buying Department."
"Can I ask who's calling?"
You sigh, "It's Chuck Faber from Acme Products."
"Can I ask what it's in connection with?"
"Well it's quite complex, it would be better if you put me through to Mr. Jones."
"Have you spoken to Mr. Jones before?
"No, but he'll want to take my call."
"Mr Jones is busy right now................................"

Your dead. Create a rapport with the Gatekeeper. It's the difference between, "He's busy" and "I'll put you straight through." Treat them as you would the decision maker.

5. Nail Your Opening Statement. Work on this, fine tune it until you get it right. Your opening statement in a Cold Call is just about the most important part of the sale. Get it wrong and you'll be on to the next call in less than 20 seconds.

"I'm calling to introduce myself to you." Hang on, this isn't a networking event. You're not at the Captain's Dinner of a cruise ship. The customer has got to see that there is some value in continuing the conversation so make you opening statement value driven.

6. If you go to Voice Mail - leave a message. Why wouldn't you? You've made the call and paid for it so use it. OK, you may believe that this will just be a heads up for the customer to avoid future calls - and it may be but equally they may call you back which suggest that you would then have a warm lead. Leave your killer opening statement then tell them when you will call back, leaving a contact number so they can get back to you.

7. Focus. Set a specific time aside for cold calling and make it the focus of that time. Clear the clutter from your desk, switch off you email alert, even tell others that you have set that time for cold calling so you don't get any interruptions. Don't try to fit them in between other jobs. You can't do this piece meal. When cold calling, you will get into a flow so stay with it.

8. Tone, don't become a robot. Make every call as if it was the first one you did that day. There is a right 'pitch' for a call. You don't want to sound like this is just another one of the many calls you are making that day as the customer will hear that over the phone. Equally you don't want to sound annoyingly enthusiastic. Remembers selling is just a conversation, so normal is good.

9. Avoid meaningless statements. They're a waste of time and don't move you forward.
" Our aim is to provide a quality service." Of course it is - move on.
" We're the biggest in the business." And this helps me how?
" We always put the customer first." And so you should, next.

Stick to the point and what the benefits are to the customer.

10. Reject rejection. Ah now this is the difficult one for many of us. No, No, No. As Jim Rohn suggests every no takes you closer to a yes. And that is true but sometimes difficult to keep at the front of your mind. It is a discipline and one that has to be practised. When I look at the top pro tennis players. DO they hit the perfect shot every time. No. Often they will shout or stamp around but when they're ready to receive the next serve, it's forgotten. Their are down, ready and focused on making the next shot.

Sure learn from the last call but don't dwell on it. Re-focus and move on.

Pick A Direction And GO - 5 Top Tips

Most salespeople are avid readers of self-help books. Many buy CD's by the guru's and listen to them in the car between sales calls and that's good use of time. I have collected quite a library of books over the years and although many of them share the same or similar themes, they are all worth reading and re-reading - or are they?

I have a friend with a more extensive library than mine and he can quote you chapter and verse from all of them. So he should be the most successful person I know. Right? Well no, he's not. But how can that be? He's read the books, understood the messages and agrees with the philosophies so what's not working?

Well we had a chat about it and arrived at the following conclusion - his head was so full of information, theories and strategies that he didn't know which to use and therefore which direction to go in. Now that may seen quite strange but think about it. How many of us have some well thumbed books on the shelf. We may love and appreciate them. read certain sections over and over until the book becomes quite worn but are we putting this good advice into action.

Many year ago I read something which stuck with me. R.S.V.P - READ. STUDY. VISUALISE. PERFORM.
(I'll credit the author when his name comes to me) That was my friends problem. The first three parts he absolutely nailed but the PERFORM bit wasn't happening.


5 Top Tips on Making Self-help Books Work for YOU

1. Pick one author, and only one. To an extent it doesn't matter which one whether it's Jack Canfield, Tony Robbins, Jim Rohn or whoever you choose. Pick the author with  message and teaching that strikes a cord with you right now, at this moment in time.
2. Read the book or programme all the way through as a first reading. Make some notes perhaps but the aim here is to get a feel for it.
3. Happy? Good. Right, back to the first chapter and work on it until you really have a grasp on the message and are performing all the actions - fully and completely. Don't skip anything or float around other parts of the programme. Just stick with it and complete it - one thing at a time, one chapter at a time.
4. Measure your success. Keep a record of what you have completed and your achievements. At the end of the exercise you want to know and understand what difference it has made to you
5. Don't stop making progress. When you have completed the first one, why not move on to the next. Can you imaging where you would be if you put all the great teaching from all the great teachers in to action. Outstanding.

Inspiration comes from unlikely places sometimes. I found this video quite inspirational. Enjoy.

Take Control - Top 10 Ways to Get You Moving.

Wouldn't life be great if we were in a state of continual high motivation. Every day when you get out of bed you feel alert, ready to face the day and excited about what that day will bring.

How To Sell Coach

Perhaps this describes you but more likely you will have good days and bad days. That's life - we all have good days and bad days. The difference between high achievers and non-achievers however is that high achievers recognise this and have processes in place to get then through a slump.

The first thing to understand that bad days happen - they just do and you level of motivation can ebb and flow. So don't beat yourself up about it. Where it really get to being a problem is when a down day becomes a down week which becomes a down month. Then you have a problem.

And guess what - that can happen too and it can be a struggle to get yourself back on track. You can feel overwhelmed, that things are getting on top of you and it can be hard to get moving again. So here are the How To Sell Coach Top 10 ways to Get You Moving again:

1. Write It Down - There is no point keeping stuff in your head. Yes, you brain will desperately try to sort it all out but give it some help! Write it down. All the things that you need to do, that are troubling you, that you're worried about. Do it now. In fact don't read any more of this. Get a pen and a pad and take 20 minutes to get it all on paper. Just one line per point. Don't get into the detail just get them out of your head and on paper. Once they are all down, you can begin the process of truly understanding what you need to do. This is now you tasks lists.

2. Focus On Your Goals - If you have a list of goals, great. Get your goals in front of you and spend 20 minutes reviewing them. If you haven't got a list of goals, now is a good time. Do it now. On a separate sheet of paper list down your goals. Take 20 minutes to do this.

3. Prioritise - Now you have the two most important lists in your life - your list of Tasks (where you are now) and your list of Goals (where you want to be.) When you see the two list in front of you, this may seem like a fairly daunting. That's all good but the really interesting thing is now that you have committed them to paper, your brain can begin to make sense of it all. It's no longer a confusion of random thoughts - everything is now clearly in front of you. How To Prioritise? I use a method that I call "Stoppers and Movers."

• Highlight you Top 5 Goals, the ones that are most important in terms of achieving the success that you want in life.
• Now take your Tasks list and mark beside each one whether it 'Stops' you from achieving your goals or by completing this task, it 'Moves' your towards achieving your goals.
• Take you Top 5 Stoppers and your Top 5 Movers and put them in order, the most important at the top of the list.  

    4.  The Power of One - doing one thing at a time to completion is key to achieving results. It may seem    that we're really busy and multi tasking but what are you really achieving. How well are you competing these tasks and are the the right ones - the ones that are moving you towards your goals? So pick one from either your list of Stoppers or Movers and work on it until you have completed the task fully. Then go onto the next one. But, one at a time. Don't fall into the trap of trying to do too much. That's likely how to got here!

5. Break It Down - OK, you have picked a task and it's a whooper! "Where do I start? How am I going to get this done. The best way is to break a big task down into smaller more manageable tasks. Write down all you know about it, what you need to know about it and from that create a list of what you need to do to complete the task. It's about taking small steps but steps that always take you towards your goal. Stick at it no matter what.

6. Ask - don't be afraid to ask for help. There may be someone you know who already has the answer or has faced and overcome this problem before. Ask. By ask, this does not mean delegate. You have to get it done ultimately. Also don't ask until you have considered the problem fully and you have at least an idea of what the best outcome may be. There is nothing worst than someone who burdens someone else with their problems. That's a sure fire way to not being offered help in the future. Surely it's better to say, "I've been working on this problem and I have some ideas as to how to over come it. But, I'd really value your opinion. Would you mind having a look at this for me?"

7. Take Action - There is no point doing the hard bit, working out the solution, and not seeing it through. Guess what, the problem will still be there and it will eventually work its way round again so get it done. Strike it off your list of things to do. Even if you are not 100% sure that it is absolutely the right way forward, move in that direction. You will be amazed that by taking action and starting the process how often a better solution will present itself.

8. Set A Time Line - You have to set a time line for the completion of the task. Now that you have considered it fully, you will have a clear vision of what needs to be done. So break it down and work through it. Don't set some fuzzy time in the future, be absolutely precise. Write a mini mission statement to really plant this in your mind. " By 12 noon of the 23rd of February I have completed this task fully and by doing so I have moved closer to achieving my goals." Share this with people close to you to help you focus on achieving the completion of this task.

9. Reward Yourself - Don't wait for people to say, "Good job." Take to time to enjoy the fact that you have done a good job. Reflect on it, take the good points from it and use what you have learned from the process to motivate you towards completing the next task.

10. Consistency - this is key. Don't let up on the completion of your tasks. Once you're on a roll, keep the momentum going. Set time aside every day to work on the completion of your tasks. Getting out of a slump or dip in you motivation or performance is not about completing the big tasks in one go but consistently working on the small tasks that take you toward your goals. This is a journey and as they say, every journey starts with the first step. But it is completed by taking one step then another then another until you get to where you want to be. By working through this 10 point plan, you will get to where you want to be sooner than you think or every thought possible.

Next 5 please!

Don't Telegraph Your Technique

People like dealing with people. True? I think so and more importantly people are more likely to buy from people they like. Putting them up against a sales system and they become nervous or resist being sold to.

That's why you sales presentation should be practiced to the extent that it becomes natural and that your training is not too obvious.

The time to make you training obvious is in the classroom. Your sales trainer will want to see that you understand and can use the techniques you've been given. It's like sitting your driving test when your trainer will suggest that you off-set your rear view mirror to ensure that it is obvious to the instructor that you are using it. Once you've passed your driving test, you'll put the mirror to a position that you only need to glance at it.

The same is true in the classroom. The sales trainer will want to see you use the techniques in an obvious way but.......that won't necessarily work for you in the real world. The secret is to understand and be able to use the sale training you have been given but to fine tune and introduce you own style to make it natural. So you don't become a script-reader or selling robort. No customer will feel comfortable with that.

In fact this 'selling by numbers' approach is like a red light to a customer. "Hang on, I know where this is going!" And the barriers go up. Keep it real.

Hand-outs - Fuel Up!

How To Sell Coach

Hand-outs, company or product literature are rarely written by sales people. Generally they are given to the marketing department and sometimes the junior person in that department. They can be very good but they can also be very bad. Sometimes they can be sent out late, or not at all.

But here's a question - who will be responsible for the lost sale? More often than not, the sales person. Presenters and electronic sales presentations are the same - they need to be right too.. I remember being given a presenter for my first field sales job. It was rubbish. The images looked like a school scrap book, the figures were out of date it even had spelling mistakes.

I know it is easier to say than to do, but don't tolerate poor promotional or sales literature. If you are in the fortunate position of writing its or influence who does, why wouldn't you make it the best it can be. Make it sales effective but not salesy.

It may be that you are working for a company who have spent thousands on producing what they believe to be outstanding sales literature. A masterpiece. But in truth, it it affects you job, it affects you!. Therefore do what you can to change it. The use of visuals in any form undoubtedly helps in you customer understanding and retaining information from your presentation so it must work for you.

Stupidly, in that first job, I decided to make my own and was royally roasted by the sales trainer for doing so. (And here was me thinking I would be rewarded for showing initiative. Well you live and learn.) But I went about it all the wrong way. I should have taken the opportunity to present some idea's and when I did take this approach, it was well received. Better than that, it was decided to have a brainstorming session after the next sales meeting and some of the team were sitting on much better ideas than mine. All to the good.

Little point going into a presentation without as much as you can have with you to achieve a successful outcome. It's like trying to drive you car with not fuel. Even if you're making the noises - you're still going nowhere!

Keep Your Goals In Front of You

How To Sell Coach

Isn't is strange that when you least expect it, life can give you lessons. Just little things, seemingly insignificant. Sometimes we miss the message and other times they can serve as a reminder that we need to do something, re-focus or take action. This week I had a moment like that.

I decided I needed a change. Nothing big, I just wanted to move my office around - make it work better for me. Make sure I had everything at hand. So that's what I did and spent Sunday morning moving furniture, filing cabinets and equipment so that everything was just right. When it was all done and looking good I sat back admiring my efforts and looking forward to how much better I was going to feel when I sat down to work the next day.

Monday, I was full of enthusiasm - good to go. As the day progressed something didn't feel right, but I decided to work on anyway. By the evening (not having had my most productive day I have to say) I decided to take a couple of minutes to reflect on this. I looked round at my newly laid out office. Everything was where it should be - in it's place.

Then it hit me. My Goals Board! I have a big white board on the wall. On one side I have my Goals and on the other, I write my daily actions. In my 'old' office, my desk was right in front of the Goals Board so every time I looked up, my Goals were in front of me. When I moved stuff around, my Goals Board was behind me. I had turned my back (literally) on my Goals!

It just didn't feel right. I had re-positioned everything apart from the one thing that was the most important. And it was in the perfect place. What to do? Simple - move it all back. But there was a clear message for me here. Keep your Goals in front of you at all times. Focus on them. Work on them. Make it a habit to study them every day.

This simple act of turning my back on my Goals in itself made me focus on them and I ended up re-writing them. All is good again.

Selling - Trust Your Swing

How To Sell Coach

Recently I read and article about Jack Nicklaus, undoubtedly one of the greatest golfers of all time. It explained that before every shot, Jack takes a few seconds to visualise the shot, more importantly, the successful outcome of the shot.

In his mind he would see and hear the club head making perfect contact with the ball.
He would watch the ball make a perfect flight down the centre of the fairway, resting in the exact position to make the ideal approach to the green. Guess what, no doubt he had the perfect lie as well!

Now that's visualisation and the success it can help bring. A valuable lesson we can all learn from.

It also reminded me of a guy I used to work with, Pete. He too believed (as I do) in the power of visualisation. A couple of times a year we used to have a company golf outing and this year I was partnered with Pete. I agreed to pick him up early so we could get to the event in plenty of time.

He loaded his gleaming clubs into my car but before taking a seat he took a half shaft of a golf club from his bag. I was puzzled. It just had a grip and part of the shaft - no club head! Odd I thought so I asked, "What's that for Pete?" To which he told me that he liked to practice his grip before playing and would use the time in the car to work on it before we arrived at the course.

Wow, I thought. That's dedication! Anyway, we were standing on the tee and Pete was up. Approaching the ball, he took three practice swings and then stood back. Like the great Jack Nicklaus he began to visualise the shot, it's perfect flight and exactly where it would land. After three more practice swings and a slight adjustment of his grip - Pete was ready.

Whack!! 50 yards straight into the trees! He did the same thing for 18 holes! Having spent more time looking for his ball than concentrating on my game, by hole 7 my round and nerves were in tatters. On the tee of hole 8, I asked Pete, "Pete, had much golf this year?" Turned out that the last time he had played was the same event last year!

Ah, so may we be beginning to see the potential problem here? Perhaps. While we would all agree that visualisation works in any walk of life including selling, it will not work if you don't practice your skills. Make the calls. Make mistakes, learn from them, make corrections and improve.

How many practice balls do you think Jack Nicklaus has hit in his career? Millions. So he didn't become successful by chance. Gary player once said, " The more I practice, the luckier I get." And that is also true for sales. You have got to make the calls, practice you skills, then make them better. As you practice the skills will come more naturally. You'll be able to trust your swing.

If visualisation we all you needed to be successful - I'd have the perfect six-pack!

Cold Calling - Don't be pushed off the ball

How To Sell Coach

I was speaking with a friend the other day who recently started his own business. When he opened the door of his new venture, he full of enthusiasm for the future and ready to take on the world but the person I was speaking to now was quite different.

Clearly something had changed. The conversation went on and from previous discussion I knew that he was planning a mailshot and follow-up phone call to prospective customers to drum up some business - so I asked how that went.

Ah, now the problem became clear. The mailshot went out and even without a telephone follow-up, he immediately had two enquiries which he converted to sales. Outstanding! Particularly as it wasn't a large mail out.

"That's great," I said. "You must be really happy with that. The mailer has paid for itself many times over and it is clear that people want what you're offering."

"Yeah, I am pleased with it," he replied "and I got some more business from the telephone calls - which was good."

"So, what's the problem?" I asked "Why are you not happy?"

"Well, it's the cold calling bit that I struggled with. Just picking up the phone and dialling the number was a real challenge - so much so, that I haven't done any calls for ages and didn't complete the follow-up calls from the mailer."

"OK, I totally understand the difficulties of cold calling, believe me but you had had some success. What pushed you off the ball?" I asked - and that was the killer question!

My friend then told me that he had been called by a person who had received the mailer. It appears that they went ballistic.
Where did you get my contact details from?
Why are you writing to me?
I want to be removed from your mailing list right now or I'll call my lawyer and write to the data protection people.

Woah! I asked my friend how he handled the call as clearly he had been quite shaken by such a reaction. He handled it perfectly. He apologised for any inconvenience receiving the letter had caused, told him that his contact details were publically available and confirmed that he would be immediately removed from his mailing list.

Better than that, my friend asked for his contact details to be passed to the customers lawyer and that he would be happy to speak to him and offered to buy the complainant lunch when next he was in town by way of an apology. ( I particularly like that the lunch offer. Many people are what I call 'Brave by Telephone.' You also get 'Brave by Email')

How to Sell Coach Top Tip - If you get a complaint by email, clearly try to resolve it there and then. But if it becomes clear that the complainant wants to play email tennis, offer to meet with them. I have found that even by just doing that, you can change their attitude quickly.


Anyway, back to my friend. "That all sounds good. You handled it well and did all you could." But the problem was that the call had 'pushed him off the ball.' Stopped him making further call because he didn't want that type of reaction again. In truth, one call was seriously affecting his business!


Let's get this into prospective. I said to my friend:

1. You run a good, ethical and professional business. I have no doubt that this person would have benefited from the services you offer but it's his choice not to and that's OK.
2. Very likely if he handles himself in this way, you wouldn't want him as a client.
3. You dealt with him in a professional manner.

And that's all good but lets get on to the important stuff:

1. You are letting him effect you.
2. Your are letting him effect your business.
3. You are letting him effect your ability to make money.

And trust me, he's not that important! You're making him important by allowing yourself to feel this way.

So if you're Cold Calling, yes you will get some negative reactions and some extreme reactions but you can't let that push you off the ball. In years to come, when you have made your money and achieved success - will you even remember this call (as they likely will not remember you) so why let it effect you in this way.

And while you are enjoying the fruits of your success, walking along the beach at you favourite holiday destination - what's the chances of you meeting this person? Slim to none. And what would it matter if you did?

"Come on," I said, "let's make some calls!" We did, there and then and got two further appointments, both were converted to sales later that week. 

So, keep you goals right in front of you. They are the only things that are important.