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Episode #4: Consolidated versus Partitioning Price Options

By Victor Antonio, Sales Influence 

If you're submitting a proposal to a client with multiple items, should you 'consolidate' the pricing or should you 'partition' them (i.e., item by item)?   The answer may surprise you!

Episode #3: Using Price Options to Sell More

By Victor Antonio, Sales Influence 

Here's a simple, yet powerful way of getting the buyer to buy a more expensive product or service without resorting to any type of arm-twisting.  This technique is powerful and effective and requires little effort to implement.  Let me know what you think?

A Quick Picture Tour of Past Events

By Victor Antonio, Sales Influence  

I've been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel around the world and across the United States.  I wanted to share some of those images with you...hope you enjoy them.

Episode #2: Using Time to Setup an Appointment

By Victor Antonio, Sales Influence 

Next time you're trying to setup a meeting with a client, use this strategy...I think you'll find it works quite effectively.  Let me know what you think?

Book Review: The E-Myth Revisited

By Victor Antonio, Sales Influence 

For more than a few years now people have been recommending that I read the E-Myth by Michael Gerber.   Based on title, I thought the book was another over-hyped manifesto on how to make a million dollars on the Internet in 24 hours or less.   Reading the first few pages I quickly learned that the ‘E’ in E-Myth doesn’t stand for Ecommerce but for Entrepreneur.  The book was originally written in 1980.  The book I read was “The E-Myth Revisited” published in 1995.

The first 70 plus pages are the preamble leading up to what Gerber defines as “The Turn-Key Revolution”; the heart of this new way of thinking.  Gerber’s model for this new revolution is Ray Kroc’s franchise model for the restaurant chain McDonalds.   Citing statistics from the U.S. Commerce Department he draws an inversely proportional correlation between small business start-ups and franchise companies.  Almo st 80 percent of all new businesses fail within the first 5 years compared to 75 percent of all franchise companies that survive during that same time period.   Using a proven system,  Gerber argues that this new business model, “…provides the franchisee with an entire system of doing business.”

In a nutshell, Gerber’s book is about how to apply the philosophy behind what’s made the most successful franchises successful to one’s own business.  Gerber brings to mind a movie I saw many years ago called 'Multiplicity' featuring Michael Keaton.  In the movie the overworked Keaton decides to take advantage of a new cloning breakthrough that allowed him to create 'multiples' of himself to do his job and chores so he could have time to relax and enjoy life.  To some extent Gerber is suggesting the same but with more 'predictable' success, less the unforeseen and unintended consequences Keaton failed to consider.

Gerber constantly reminds the reader that you shouldn’t work ‘in’ your business but rather ‘on’ your business.  The entrepreneur must see himself as something that stands apart from the actually daily grind of running a business with the end purpose of creating a model that can be duplicated and repeated model that anyone should be able to run, regardless of their level of experience.

Gerber lays out the tenets for a successful franchise model:

1.     The model will provide consistent value to your customers, employees, suppliers, and lenders beyond what they expect.

2.     The model will be operated by people with the lowest possible level of skill.

3.     The model will stand out as a place of impeccable order.

4.     All work in the model will be documented in Operations Manuals.

5.     The model will provide a uniformly predictable service to the customer.

6.     The model will utilize a uniform color, dress and facilities code.

Now let me take a step back and make one point absolutely clear; the E-Myth is not just for future franchise owners.  The book provides an interesting point of view in how to setup a business based on client-centric consistency using proven methodologies.  He also allows for change by admitting that everything, even a well planned out business model, like a franchise, still requires to some degree, a ‘kaizen’ (i.e., continuous improvement) mindset.  

For anyone interested in starting a business I highly recommend this book.  Again, it’s not about building a franchise, but about a paradigm shift for how you should view your business before you decide to build it.   Even if you’re a business owner already, this book offers an objective, self-removed analysis that will allow you to rethink how you spend your time and efforts in running the business.  Gerber’s goal is to get you to think about how you can build (or run) a business that requires minimal intervention allowing you to enjoy more of your business.  

Victor Antonio, Sales Influence

"Finding the Why in (How People) Buy"

Copyright © 2010 by Victor Antonio.   All rights reserved.  Author, speaker and sales trainer Victor Antonio has a BSEE, MBA and over 20 years of executive sales experience and has shared the stage with top national speakers like Zig Ziglar, Dr. Robert Schuller, Rudy Giuliani and other top business experts.  This post MAY be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, as long as the author’s name, website and email address are included as part of the article’s body.  All inquiries, including information on electronic licensing, should be directed to Victor Antonio at info@victorantonio.com 

Sales Influence Workshop Results

By Victor Antonio, Sales Influence 

This Thursday I held my first official Sales Influence Training Workshop of 2010.  The results were better than I expected with 25+ eager to learn participants. The first part of my workshop demonstrates how influence or the effects of influence are all around us.  I go over specific studies and then go on to give everyday examples.  The second part of the workshop then gets into the specifics strategies for using influence to get people to do or behave in a predictable way.  

The first two sections then setup the group for the crowing moment in the sales influence program, how to "block objections" before they're raised and how to close more deals without having to pressure the prospect. Yes, I said without having to pressure the prospects.  The results of the training?  Here's a sample of the feedback I received:

"Humor makes learning easy!!!  This is one guy who puts humor into every sequence of the seminar.  Creates great interaction with participants; 3.5 hours passed by too quickly!!"   

Barboura Mindel

"Great workshop!  Lots of energy!  Refreshing and non-predictable!"

Stephanie Whitaker

"Victor forces you to put his teaching into use right in fro of him, pointing out your sales problems and walking you through the solutions."

Mike Marshall

"Great investment of TIME and MONEY!  Leaned a lot in a short period of time.  All the information can be applied to anyone's business.  Products may vary but the techniques (Response Blocking) remains the same."

Brenda May

"The Howie Mandell of Sales - worth every cent I paid!"  (Victor's Note: I don't know how to take this one ;-)

John McLaughlin

"This (Sales Influence workshop) was a very good presentation.  I came away with numerous ideas; very practical and real." 

Mark Selman

"Victor, you ARE a great speaker!  I have enjoyed listening to you speak twice in the past week.  You did a great job of involving everyone.  As a new/young salesperson I value all the information you gave me.  Keep up the good work!"

Hank Dunn

"Great presentation!  Thanks for keeping the (Sales Influence) seminar moving!  Time IS money!"

Reeves Carter

"Victor delivers powerful and timely information that will enhance any sales career!"

Chris Jackson

"I have had all the old school sales training.  I have seen Zig, Tommy, Harvey, Bob Berg, and my favorite teacher & mentor was Jim Rohn and others.  I’m telling you this to let you know that I know a little about the topic of seminars.  I say – you are good, very good!  I’m proud to know you."

Joe Sweigart

Feedback like this is what makes training and helping people succeed in sales worth doing, more importantly, worth doing right.  If you're struggling with sales, the next workshop is on February 25th, 2010...I hope you can make it!

Book Review: STEP UP - How to Win More and Lose Less in Business

By Victor Antonio, Sales Influence 

This weekend I read a book titled, “Step Up – How to Win More and Lose Less in Business” by Daniel Grissom.  The book focuses in on one thing, performance.  It analyzes, through facts, metaphors and real world examples, why some people outperform others and why some companies operate at a higher level of efficiency.  The book challenges us to ask questions to uncover why some folks remain ordinary while others achieve extraordinary results.

Grissom’s book is a manifesto for performance.   What I admire most is the courage the author shows in its indictment of procrastination and self-doubt as the perpetrators of many failed careers and/or failed companies.  He doesn’t back down from pointing the finger at ourselves for our own inability to achieve desired results.

Grissom’s model for stepping up your personal results is em bedded in the acronym, STEP UP, which stands for: Standards, Talents, Evaluation, Preparation and Unleash Potential.  Here’s a summary:

Standards – In the book Grissom challenges you to raise your standards if you want to raise your standard of living; personally and financially.  In whatever role you play in corporate America (e.g., sales, manager, employee, etc.) you need to improve on what you’re doing.  Complacency is not acceptable and will not increase your performance.  The book provides plenty of stories and examples to make the case that in order to grow we have to demand more of ourselves.  He quotes Earl Schoff, “Your results are directly related to your philosophy not the economy”

Talents- People have to develop a skill set, talent based on doing something they enjoy doing.  If you’re unhappy with what you’re doing the chances are you’re not going to be a top performer.   Understand and self-assess your hidden talents and focus in on what you’re passionate about.  From a company standpoint Grissom makes the case that you need to hire the right people for the right job (i.e., a good fit).  Which leads into his next step.

Evaluation – The cornerstone of this step in the STEP UP process is that you have to know where you are.  Much like pointing to a map on wall, knowing your location (situation) will allow you to make the necessary plans to get to where you want to be.  The best way of doing this is by first being truthful and objective about your current situation.  Asking yourself tough questions is the key here and Grissom helps you out with a key list of self-evaluation questions.   In this section he quotes his late mother Dr. Pauline Grissom to whom he dedicates the book, “Average is being at the top of the bottom.”  

Preparation: This section is reminiscent of Sun Tzu’s Art of War.   Grissom challenges the reader to come up with a tangible and measurable battle plan for achieving your desired outcome.   He challenges the reader not to simply set goals, but to set demanding and exacting goals beyond their present scope of what they think possible.  

Unleash Potential:  The philosopher Aristotle wrote, “To know and not do is the same as not knowing.”  In this section Grissom talks about the mental toughness required to take action in order to reach your personal or financial goals.  He points to three reason why many people don’t take action: Fear, Lack of Structure and, (very insightful in my opinion,) Not mentally wired for action.    People who are afraid to take action fail to do so because they don’t want to measure by their actions.  People who lack structure and lack focus will lack the initiative to take action.  Lastly, when people prefer thinking over doing then nothing ever happens.  What Grissom drives home is that inaction is the killer of achievement in all respects...nobody could argue with that! 

Grissom closes out the book by emphasizing how important continuous improvement is in maintaining a high-level of performance of individuals through coaching.  Towards the end of the book Grissom uses a Gaussian Distribution Curve to divide up performance within an organization as follows: 20% lagging tail (Move Talent- low performers), 60% center (Average Talent) and the leading tail 20% (Top Talent).  He emphasizes the benefits of investing in coaching but then highlights something quite insightful.  He encourages companies not to invest coaching in the bottom 20% (Move Talent) but instead in the top third of the 60% of average talent essentially shifting upwards another 20% into the leading tail of performance (i.e., move more Average Talent into the Top Talent increasing it from 20% to 40%).  Whether you agree with this approach or not, it merits strong consideration especially in a tight economy or if you're in a hyper-competitive environment and the utilization of resources and training is critical.

The book is a great read for managers not only in sales, but every aspect of management in a corporation.  Again, the book is a manifesto aimed at enhancing individual performance and as a consequence a company’s performance as well.  Let me humbly suggest you STEP UP and get your copy today!

Click Here for other book reviews.

Here's What You Can Do With $5

By Victor Antonio, Sales Influence 

(I read a great article in Psychology Today (Nov/Dec 2009) which I thought was worth sharing.  The article references studies done by Tina Seelig, author of “”What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20” and “Creativity Rulz”.)

A group of students were challenged to earn money in one weekend with a measly $5.  On the following Monday the students were required to do a three minute presentation on their results. 

Group 1:  One group of students took advantage of what they knew about their environment (i.e., college town).  They knew certain restaurants were highly patronized so it was hard to get a reservation.  So they decided to make reservations for time slots that were high in demand at key hot spots.  Once the reservations were made, the students would then go to the restaurants at the corresponding times and sell their reservations to patrons who were wa iting in line to get in.  

This is isn’t illegal although one could question the moral component of fair play for those who couldn’t afford to buy a reservation and pay for a meal at the expensive restaurant.  Nonetheless, moral dilemma aside, the students raise $200.  Not bad!

Group 2:  Another group was even more clever in their approach to earning money.  Knowing that companies like to get their name and brand in front of their target market (i.e., young college adults), they figured they’d solicit companies who catered to the college demographic.   They then offered these companies an opportunity to bid on having the students do a three minutes presentation about their company in front of the class.   The students would prepare and present the company’s message.  The winning bid?  $650.

As I read this, two often cited quotes came immediately to mind that encapsulates the hidden lessons embedded in these two experiments:

1)   “The opportunity to make money are all around you, all you have to do is see them.”

2)   “It’s not what you do with what you don’t have, it’s what you do with what you DO have that matters.” 

No truer words were ever spoken in the realm of creativity, innovation and opportunity.  

Copyright © 2010 by Victor Antonio.   All rights reserved.  Author, speaker and sales trainer Victor Antonio has a BSEE, MBA and over 20 years of executive sales experience.  This post MAY be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, as long as the author’s name, website and email address are included as part of the article’s body.  All inquiries, including information on electronic licensing, should be directed to Victor Antonio at info@victorantonio.com. 

Clients Who Lie - Part 5

By Victor Antonio, Sales Influence 

One question we should ask ourselves about clients who lie is why the need to do so in the first place.  Why lie when they, the client, is in control of the buying decision (i.e., they decide to buy or not)?   We can come up with many reasons but in general there are three broad categories or motivations clients have for lying.

Motivation for Lying #1 - Save Face: Rather than tell you the real reason for not buying, a client will lie in order to not look foolish, embarrassed or uninformed.   A client who can’t afford your product may choose not to tell you in order to avoid embarrassment.  A client who can’t a get a proposal approved would rather tell you the project has been cancelled than the truth of their impotence. 

There may be a legitimate reason for lying but the client is too embarrassed to say so.  For example, something unexpected happened that caused the funding for a particular project to be delayed or worse, go away.  The client may have known all along that this was highly probable but didn’t disclose it early on in the sales process or to the salesperson and feels a sense of guilt for not doing so.  Rather than being viewed as incompetent, the client may opt for some lame excuse or simply feign ignorance by saying he doesn’t understand what or why it happened.

Suggested Tactic:  The key to preventing this type of lying behavior lies in your ability to build rapport with the client beyond the business by always showing or verbalizing that you understand that business is an ever changing and dynamic environment.  Emphasizing the friendship over the business here is key since most people are more likely to admit embarrassing situations to a friend then to a stranger (or business acquaintance).  Be a friend; demonstrate flexibility and understanding.

Motivation for Lying #2 - Appearance of Importance: Sometimes a buyer has oversold their decision making power and doesn’t know how to get out of the situation.   For example, a client may have told you they can approve any project under $50,000, but when it comes down to it he still needs his boss’ approval.  Rather than admit that he lied or exaggerate his prominence will cause him to lie.

Suggested Tactic: Ask the tough questions upfront and also double-check your answers.  If a person tells you they make all the decisions, find a way to connect with others in the company and gently ask and confirm what you’ve been told by your point of contact.  The mantra, ‘Trust but very’ comes to mind here. 

Motivation for Lying #3 - Conflict Avoidance: When a client doesn’t want to buy but has a conflict avoidance personality type, the client will usually come up with some reason not to buy but will also invent a reason for not doing so.  The reasons itself doesn’t matter.  What does matter as that any excuse he uses will allow him to walk away from the sales situation without having to defend himself for not buying.  This is especially true if the salesperson he’s dealing with is an aggressive, high-pressuring type.  Another reason may be that the contract was already award to another company and the client doesn’t want to have to defend their decision to go with someone else. 

The best way to deal with face-saving strategies is to make the client feel comfortable with your selling style; which should be one that’s caring, flexible and understanding.  Most people lie because they don’t know how the other person will react and think that it’s much easier to invent a lie than to deal with the facts. 

Suggested Tactic: If you’re an admitted aggressive salesperson you may want to re-think the amount of pressure you apply to a client.  Some clients aren’t affected by the salesperson’s aggressiveness or frankness and may even find it refreshing.  While others, whose personality types not as strong may shy away from being forthright.  The salesperson has to be aware of where they lie on the personality spectrum and be able to gauge the client’s personality type as well.    For example, people on the East coast (more aggressive and upfront) do business differently than those in the Mid-West (slower and more deliberate).   One style of selling isn’t better than the other; they’re just different.   Understanding these differences will help you connect better and reduce the client’s anxiety when dealing with you.  For the East coast client you can say, “Look, I hate being blindsided.  If things change I won’t be mad, but I will be upset if I’m caught with my pants down.”  When dealing with an Mid-westerner you may want to phrase it differently, “I know things can change from one moment to another.  If they do, out of courtesy, would you please let me know; good, bad or indifferent because I value our relationship.”

Whatever the reason for lying, here are some great questions to incorporate into your sales process to reduce any anxiety the client may have about being truthful:

• Is the budget for this project approved? 
• Who has to approve this project besides yourself?
• When will a decision be made?  Who else will be involved in making that decision? 
• Would you mind walking me through the decision-making process?
• I know things can change on the dime, based on what you know today, how do you see this playing out (happening)? 
• If things change, will you let me know? 
• Last month we were getting close to finalizing this deal, do you still see that happening or is there anything on the horizon I should be aware of?
• If you feel we aren’t the right company for you, I want you to know I’m more concerned about you growing your business than me making a sale.   You do understand that don’t you?
• I don’t believe ignorance is bliss.  I’m the type of person that prefers to hear news, good or bad so if there’s anything I should be aware of concerning our bid?

Clients lie to: save face (i.e., avoid embarrassment), protect their image (i.e., their sense of importance) and to avoid conflict (i.e., avoid confrontation an aggressive sales type).  Asking great questions throughout the sales process will alleviate any mistrust or hesitation on the client’s part.

Victor Antonio, Sales Influence

Copyright © 2010 by Victor Antonio.   All rights reserved.  Author, speaker and sales trainer Victor Antonio has a BSEE, MBA and over 20 years of executive sales experience.  This post MAY be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, as long as the author’s name, website and email address are included as part of the article’s body.  All inquiries, including information on electronic licensing, should be directed to Victor Antonio at info@victorantonio.com.

Clients Who Lie - Part 4

By Victor Antonio, Sales Influence 

Have you ever had to ask the following questions to a prospect: 

• When do you think you’ll be making a buying decision? 
• How much money do you think will be in your budget for next year? 

Have you ever had to ask these questions of your salespeople: 

• So when do you think we’ll close on that big order? 
• What do you think you can sell next quarter (or next year)? 

Have you ever had to ask a subordinate these questions: 

• When do you think that project will be done? 
• How long will it take you to complete (fill in the blank) task? 

And when you did get the answer (i.e., the prediction), for some reason you didn’t feel quite confident that you were getting an accurate answer.  In fact, more often than not the answer you received was either highly optimistic or pessimistic and far from accurate.  Well a recent study done by Robin Tanner and Kurt Carlson will help you increase the accuracy of a person’s prediction by simply applying one simple step.  

Tanner and Carlson tested out an interesting approach to getting more accurate or real ://www.storesonlinepro.com/tinyMCE/themes/advanced/langs/en.js?version=3.2.3.1" type="text/javascript"> istic information out of a person.  Instead of asking a ‘focus question’ (e.g., similar to those listed above), the study showed that by asking an ‘ideal question’ first followed by a focus question produced more realistic results.  

In one study, Tanner and Carlson first posed the focus question to one group (Group 1) and then posed the ideal question first and followed by the focus question to a second group (Group 2):  

Group 1 was asked:

"How many songs would be loaded on your iPod at any time?"

Group 2 was asked:

"In an ideal world, how many songs would be loaded on your iPod at any time?"

Followed by:

"How many songs would be loaded on your iPod at any time?"

In the study, Group 1 estimates were higher (i.e., how many songs they would put on their iPod ) when compared to Group 2.  In other words, when Group 2 was first ask the ideal question followed then by the focused question, the respondents tended to give more realistic answers.  Three other studies further substantiated the premise that by first asking the ‘ideal question’ before the ‘focus question’ produced lower numbers (i.e., more reasonable estimates) then when simply asking the focus question alone.  

Sales Truth Serum

Now let’s use a sales example to see how you would use this in your sales process.  Let’s say you’re meeting with a prospect name Bob and you’re trying to get a realistic timeframe for when a buying decision will be made.   

Option 1:  Ask the focus question.  

Salesperson: “When do you think you’ll be making a buying decision?”

Bob: “Well, I don’t rightly know could be within a week or two."

Option 2:  Asked the ideal question first then focus question (i.e., ideal – focus sequence):

Salesperson: “So Bob, if conditions were ideal, when do you think you’ll be making a buying decision?” 

Bob: “Well if everything goes according to plan, I’d say two weeks.”

Salesperson: “When do you personally think you’ll be making a buying decision?”

Bob: “Well, I’d say more like three weeks.”

If you believe the Tanner-Carlson study (and I do), then the best approach would be to use Option 2.  Using the ideal-focus sequence forces the respondent to really think about the answer they’re giving you.  It works almost like truth serum for selling.  This is a relatively simple and painless technique that you can incorporate into the information gathering phase of your sales process.

How to Double Your Lemonade Sales

By Victor Antonio, Sales Influence 

(author's note: I wrote this article late last year and thought it was worth posting on this blog)

I'd like you to read the following two phrases and mentally note how each one makes you feel.

• Spend Time
• Waste Money

• Would you rather ‘waste’ time with your family or ‘spend’ money with your family?

If you’re like most, you chose to ‘waste time with your family’.  Whoa!  Now it seems that spend has a negative connotation.  What happened here?  Why did the word ‘waste’ all of a sudden become more positive then ‘spend’?  The answer it seems has nothing to do with ‘waste or spend’ but it has everything to do with the words ‘time and money’.  How we choose to use either of these words will dictate a person’s attitude toward a product.

Lemonade Sold Here
Let me give you a concrete example.  Two Stanford professors decided to do a study on how time versus money affects our attitude towards a product.  In one of their studies they setup two young boys (C & D) with a lemonade stand.  They created the following sign to attract attention, “Spend a little Time and enjoy C&D’s lemonade”.   

As an incentive, the buyers were allowed to determine what price, from $1 to $3, they were willing to pay for a tasty glass of lemonade.  The studied monitored the number of buyers, recorded the average price paid and lastly, they asked buyer to rate, on a scale of 1 (low) to 7 (high), their satisfaction with the lemonade. 
 
After the study was completed, the researchers decided to swap the word ‘time’ for ‘money’ and study the same parameters above.  The sign read, “Spend a little Money and enjoy C&D’s lemonade”.  Same rules on pricing applied and a survey was conducted after the purchase.  

So in both studies, the researchers recorded the:

• Number of Buyers: How many people stopped by to buy a glass of lemonade
• Average Price Paid: The average price buyers were willing to pay, and
• Satisfaction: How satisfied they were with the lemonade on a scale of 1-7

The results?

                                    Time Sign                    Money Sign
Percent of Buyers          14%                             7%

Average Price:              $2.50                           $1.38

Satisfaction (1-7)            6.71                             5.74

The results above confirm that mentioning ‘time’ activates a favorable shift in product attitude, decision to consume and increases the focus on the product experience.  Using ‘money’ on the other hand seems to activate the focus on product possession or ownership.  In the researchers own words:

 “Our basic premise is that activating the construct of time (vs. money) tends to encourage personal connection with products…”

Impact on Marketing
More people stopped by to buy lemonade when ‘time’ (versus money) was used which tells us people are more attracted to the concept of spending time rather than spending money.  Activating the time effect focused the consumption experience on joy of drinking lemonade.  Interesting enough that folks who stopped by with the ‘time’ sign rated the product higher which reinforces the fact that ‘spending time’ implies a relationship where ‘spending money’ implies a cold exchange of cash for lemonade.

Simply using or mentioning time (as opposed to money) created more traffic, higher willingness to pay and greater customer satisfaction.

Impact on Selling
How can we use this new knowledge in selling?  The study shows that mentioning money has a negative connotation while mentioning time has a positive 'communal' connotation.  In a sales situation, one way of using this knowledge would be during the "investigative stage" of the sales process (i.e., when asking questions and uncovering needs).   Here's how you can use it.  When asking the client about their current supplier, I suggest 'loading' the questions with "Money-based" (negative) attributes:

• Mr. Prospect, how much money would you say you've spent replacing those worn out widgets?
• Mr. Prospect, how much money would you say you've lost in the last year by not using X ?
• Mr. Prospect, when you look at the Total Cost of Ownership, how much money do you think you could've save if you had chosen brand B?

When you want your product to shine, ask 'Time-based' questions that puts your product in a positive light.  For example:

• How much time do you think you would save if you had a widget that did X?
• Our products require little maintenance which means that you minimize downtime.
• As the economy tightens we have to do more with less, so being able to do more in less time is what we do best.

My oversimplification of this study comes down to this; when you talk about taking the time you’re talking about community and when you mention money, things become more impersonal (i.e., an exchange, a transaction).  Time has more of a familial feel where the money sounds obtuse and impersonal.

What does this mean for you?  Go back and take a look at your own marketing materials or sales process and ask yourself, “Knowing what I know now, where can I incorporate the aspect of time into my promotional materials or sales pitch in order to activate that sense of community?  And remember, selling ain't hard, when you know how!

Victor Antonio, Sales Influence
'Finding the Why in Buy"

Copyright © 2009 by Victor Antonio.   All rights reserved.  Author, speaker and sales trainer Victor Antonio has a BSEE, MBA and over 20 years of executive sales experience.  This post MAY be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, as long as the author’s name, website and email address are included as part of the article’s body.  All inquiries, including information on electronic licensing, should be directed to Victor Antonio at info@victorantonio.com.

Clients Who Lie - Part 3

By Victor Antonio, Sales Influence 

Like many of you, once in a while I venture out into the world and attend networking functions.  Let me state up front that I DO NOT like to go to these events for a good many reasons that I'll outline in a bit. 
While attending a recent event, I decided to take some mental notes on how people 'sell themselves' at these events.  It was sort of a sociological experiment on the networking habits of the advanced Homo Sapiens we call Humans.  

If you go to Wikipedia and look up the term Humans, you'll find this definition:

Humans are bipedal primates belonging to the mammalian species Homo sapiens (Latin for "wise man" or "knowing man") under the family Hominidae (known as the great apes).  Humans have a highly developed brain capable of abstract reasoning, language and introspection.  This, combined with an erect body carriage that frees their upper limbs for manipulating objects, has allowed humans to make greater use of tools than any other species. 


Clients Who Lie - Part 2

By Victor Antonio, Sales Influence 

In order to catch someone lying, let's first understand how a polygraph test works and then see how we can apply the concept of lie detection to our everyday exchanges with our clients.  In truth, a polygraph machine cannot really detect if someone is lying, it can only detect a change in the emotional state of the person being questioned.  

If you've recently watched a police show on television you may have seen interrogators hook a suspect onto a polygraph.  Most notable is the band around the chest to detect a change in breathing and the pads that are taped to the hands and arms to detect perspiration.  In general, the polygraph machine is testing for changes in: the amount of sweat or perspiration, breathing or respiration patterns and blood pressure.  

Polygraph tests are not 100% reliable because not everyone who sweats excessively during an interrogation (interview) is lying; they may just be uncontrollably nervous even if they're innocent to begin with.  Similarly, not everyone whose blood pressure rises is lying.

Before interrogators begin asking the real questions, they have to establish a reference point or baseline for when a person is lying or telling the truth.  For example, the polygraph expert will ask the suspect (i.e., the client) to pick a card from a deck.  The expert will then ask the suspect to continuously say "no" to guesses, even when the interrogator guesses the right card.  The goal here is to get a baseline of when the suspect is telling the truth (interrogator guessed the wrong card) and when they lied (interrogator guessed the right card).  

The underlying objective of this preliminary test, aside from getting a baseline, is to convince the suspect psychologically that the machine can detect lies. If the person is innocent, then he has nothing to worry about.  If he's guilty, then he should be worried.  

Worried equals Anxiety equals Increased sweating, faster breathing and increased blood pressure.  

This is important!  If the suspect truly believes the machine is infallible, he is more likely to tell the truth.  If he believes he can 'beat' the machine (i.e., no fear of being caught), then he won't have symptoms of anxiety.  So the key to success using a polygraph machine is based on whether or not the suspect believes (or doesn't believe) that the machine can detect lying.

If a client believes that his chances for getting caught in a lie during your interview phase are low, they will be more likely to conceal, mislead or falsify the truth.  

In this case the client used the trifecta of lying:

• Concealed they had other motives for requesting proposals
• Mislead us into believing a winner would be chosen
• Falsified that they would be selecting a winner

Yet, it is we the salespeople who are repeatedly of ridiculed and accused of taking advantage of our clients.  Ha!  As you can see, the knife cuts both ways.

Now, when interviewing a client during the 'investigative phase' of selling, I usually ask a lot of questions.  If I feel like I'm getting the run-around (see Part 1 for concealment and mis-leading), what I will then do is ask more precise questions.  In other words, I switch from being a kind and gentle questioner to a kind and more demanding questioner.  As salespeople you have to learn to ask the tough questions.  

Too often salespeople ask 'softball' questions because they don't want to seem too pushy or overbearing.  The reality is, you can be demanding of the client without being pushy.  Tough questions signal to the client that you're not their to play 20 questions. Like in the polygraph test, you have to let the client know you their to do business and you there to find out whether or not their serious about doing business with you.  Let the client know that you're time is too valuable to be wasting chasing phantom projects.

Here are some hard-hitting, don't-waste-my-time questions that will force the client to take you seriously:

• Is there a budget for this project?
• When is the target date for getting started?
• Who else will be making the decision?
• How many other competitors are bidding?
• How does the decision-making process work?

These types of questions transmit to the client that you are there to do business and, as a byproduct of your investigative questioning, instills a healthy bit of fear in them so you can avoid being used as a 'patsy'.  If they're lying in any way about the validity of the project, you should be able to gauge by how they answer the questions.  It would be nice if we could just walk into a meeting with a client armed with a polygraph machine and expect the client to be okay with the idea of asking these questions while we monitor their vitals in order to get a baseline, but that wouldn't do!

Note: Many salespeople don't think they have the right to ask these types of tough questions.  To them I say, "Good Luck!"  I've gotten kicked in the head so many times by clients who've used me as a patsy (see my example above).  I know now that I have every right to be as demanding in my questions because it's my time and I have to decide how best to invest it. 

Clients Who Lie - Part 1

By Victor Antonio, Sales Influence 

I've decided to dedicate the next blog posts to discussing the art of lying.  More specifically, the art of lying as it pertains to our clients.  Every salesperson should study the art of lying.  Why?  Think of it in terms of time management.  The better you are at detecting clients who are lying, the faster you'll be able to qualify whether or not they're going to buy from you.

In selling, part of our job as sales professionals is to detect deceit in order to further our chances of closing a sale. For example, if a client says, 'We don't have that type of budget for what you're proposing.', I need to know if the statement is true or false (i.e., misleading).  

At times it may be true that the client doesn't have the budget. But to be absolutely sure I would follow-up with a more precise question and ask if the budget might be available in another month (or year).  What I've just done is to re-contextualized the question.  Instead of asking if they had the budget today, I'm asking if the statement was a statement of the moment or could it change in the future (i.e., a budget be available in another month or year).

A client who lies has three options: concealment, falsification or misleading.  Using the above example, here are three possible scenarios.

1. Concealment: The client conveniently forgets to mention that the project you're discussing has been dumped by the main decision-maker regardless of cost
2. Falsification: The client tells you there is no budget, today or a year from now, for the project being discussed
3. Mis-leading: The client doesn't tell you that although there is no budget today, a new round of budgets will be approved next month.

It has been my experience that clients will use concealment and mis-leading more often then they would falsification.  The reason?  The fear of being caught or the more formal name, apprehension detection. Concealment and misleading have more 'wiggle room' if the liar is confronted with the truth.  

A true liar will use all three of the above tactics to conceal the truth from the salesperson.  The motives for lying can vary from (a) we've already selected another company to (z) I don't like your company and I will never buy from you.  Whatever the motive, the liar purposely lies to the salesperson and feels little, if any, remorse at all about doing so.

That said, we as salespeople have to become human polygraph machines.  Although we won't be able to calculate the sweatiness factor, respiratory change or increased blood pressure of a client who lies, there are other ways of detecting whether or not they're lying.

Victor Antonio, Sales Influence

Copyright © 2010 by Victor Antonio.   All rights reserved.  Author, speaker and sales trainer Victor Antonio has a BSEE, MBA and over 20 years of executive sales experience.  This post MAY be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, as long as the author’s name, website and email address are included as part of the article’s body.  All inquiries, including information on electronic licensing, should be directed to Victor Antonio at info@victorantonio.com..

Original Selling - Stick to Who You Are!

by Victor Antonio

When I first began my coaching sessions with my clients, one of the fears I had to help them overcome was that they didn't have to speak or sell the way I did.  Some clients were immediately intimidated when they saw me speak and would say things like, "Victor, I can't do it (or say it) like that!" or "I'll never be able to sell as well as you do."  I immediately responded with, "I don't expect you to nor should you expect that of yourself."   When I make this comment I usually get a momentary blank stare.

You see, unlike many other coaches, my goal is NOT to get you to speak like me.  My goal is not to get you to change your style or how you speak.  My goal is to get you to:

1) Structure a sales pitch (presentation) in a sequential and effective way as to reduce sales resistance.

2) Next, practice getting comfortable with the material using 'your wording or phrasing' so that it sounds natural and not forced.  Audiences can sense a forced pitch.

3) I then help you bring it all together by incorporating the right pacing, gestures and proper use of body lan guage so it flows naturally and is more effective.

You can see that my goal as a coach is to take what you have to offer and use that as the raw material for building a sales presentation that sells!  I never try to change a person's style, I just work to enhance the strong points and minimize the weaknesses.  If done correctly, the client will have a high-power sales pitch that they feel comfortable with but more importantly closes more deals or changes more minds. 

There's an adage that says, it's easier to tailor the suit then to get the person to lose weight!  How true!  I'm a strong believer of you have to stick to who you are if you're going to be successful in selling.  And, if I want to help you be successful, I have to be in-tune with what you have to offer, embrace it and bring out the best of what YOU have to offer.  

So remember, sell like an original because you are one!

Victor Antonio, Sales Influence

Copyright © 2010 by Victor Antonio.   All rights reserved.  Author, speaker and sales trainer Victor Antonio has a BSEE, MBA and over 20 years of executive sales experience.  This article MAY be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, as long as the author’s name, website and email address are included as part of the article’s body.  All inquiries, including information on electronic licensing, should be directed to Victor Antonio at info@victorantonio.com.  

Seven Words that Will Change Your Life

By Victor Antonio

I’m often asked the question, “Why are you successful?  What made you successful?  If you could sum up your success in a few words what would they be?” 

Well, I’m going to answer those questions.  To be just, I’m going to summarize for you in a few words why things always go well for me.  Keep in mind that I’m going to share with you the seven key words that I will personally guarantee will change your life forever.

In fact, if you use these seven words I’m about to share with you, I will further guarantee that it will make you more money and bring you more happiness than you’ve ever imagined in your life up to this point.  Asking me to share this with you makes our relationship personal because I only share these seven words with people I admire and trust. 

You can ask anyone who has used these six words as they’re guiding philosophy and they will testify to what I’m claiming.   These seven words I’m about to share with you are my guiding philosophy for success.  Until now, I’ ve never really thought about how simple and enlightening these words are.  These seven words transformed how I approached my business and especially my sales career to make the transformation you see before you.

Now these seven words that I’m about to share with you are not just words.  No!  When I first came up with the seven word philosophy I actually went out and practice them.  Someone once asked me, “ Do you really believe in these seven words?”  I responded with a thunderous ‘Yes, with all my heart.’   Not only do I believe in them, I put these seven words to the test.   This is not just some fanciful idea strung together by seven words. 

I put my thoughts into action to see if these seven words would really change my life.  The results have been beyond my wildest imagination.  If someone says they don’t work it’s because they’re not living by these seven words truthfully.  Using these seven words as my guiding philosophy even helped transform how I approach all matters as they relate to my business or personal life.  And guess what?  It works!

In fact, if you were to share these seven words with the greatest business minds in the world like Warren Buffet, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates and so on they would probably say, “Yes!  I never looked at that way, but those seven simple words capture the essence of success in any endeavor.”   In fact, if Napoleon Hill the man who wrote ‘Think in Grow Rich’, Earl Nightengale author of ‘The Greatest Secret’, Og Mandino author of ‘The Greatest Salesman in the World’ all were here today, I am beyond convinced that they would put their stamp of approval on these powerful seven words.

What are these seven words?  Well I’ve underlined them in each of the above paragraphs in their proper order.  These seven words are transformational in terms of how you think about rejection.  No longer should you view rejection as an obstacle to success but rather as being one step closer to achieving your objection.

I think it necessary for you to understand that I didn’t arrive at these words casually.  Implement these seven words as part of your philosophy and I guarantee you'll prosper in business and in your personal life…guaranteed!

Copyright © 2010 by Victor Antonio.   All rights reserved.  Author, speaker and sales trainer Victor Antonio has a BSEE, MBA and over 20 years of executive sales experience.  This article MAY be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, as long as the author’s name, website and email address are included as part of the article’s body.  All inquiries, including information on electronic licensing, should be directed to Victor Antonio at info@victorantonio.com.   

2009 in Review

As the year draws to a close, I'm compelled to look back, like many of you I'm sure, on what exactly happen in 2009 that I can be proud of.  There were so many little things that happenned in 2009 that are a prelude of great things to come in 2010.  But when I review the major milestones for 2009, this is my top 10 list:

1. First keynote speech in Spanish in Puerto Rico in front of 2,000+ people
2. Shared the stage with Zig Ziglar and Rudy Giuliani in Jackson, MS
3. Published "Response Block Seling"; the core piece to my Sales Influence program
4. Launched my 1-on-1 coaching program
5. Signed my first large, multi-city speaking contract for 10 dates with one company
6. Held my first Sales Influence monthly 1 hour workshops
7. The year I dumped a PC for a Mac
8. Published my book "99 things You Wish You Knew Before Going into Sales"
9. Published my book "S.T.A.R.T. Selling"
10. And last, but certainly not least, I continue to have a wonderful family life!
    

What's in store for 2010?  Well, my personal goal is to grow my business through helping others achieve the sales results they desire. 

Victor Antonio, Sales Influence

Rodeo Tickets and the Pulling Effects of a Gift

The other day I attended a networking event; a rare outing for me as I dislike going to these social gatherings.  As a new attendee I had a chance to tell the group who I was in 60 seconds or less.  No pressure!  After every newbie took their turn, we all returned to our social networking ritual of asking strangers questions like:  "What do you do?"  "How long have you been doing it?" "Why did you decide to do that?"  "Do you like your job/career?" and so on.  

An hour and a half later, a raffle was held where the Master of Ceremony pulled random business cards from a fish bowl where we deposited them when I arrived at the event.  The most dominant thought in any gathering where a raffle is about to held is, "I never win everything".  I'm one of the few who always seems to win something.  My biggest gripe is, "I always win something I don't want."  That day was no different from any other time when I was a raffle winner.  I won...again!  My name was called and in no time I was the proud owner of a 4 primo tickets to a rodeo event to take place 3 days later.  I would NEVER go to a rodeo event if it were up to me.  Nonetheless, I accepted my prize with all the graciousness and enth usias m I could muster up.

The Pulling Effect

When I got home I told my wife about my winnings and asked, quite sheepishly mind you, if she was remotely interested in going to a rodeo event.  From her sideway stare and silence my question was answered.  I retreated to my home office and lay the tickets on my desk off to the side and I got back to answering emails and listening to voicemail.  As I did, I kept looking at the tickets and asking myself, "Who could I give these away to?"  I had to find somebody.  I couldn't just let $300 worth of tickets sitting on my desk when I knew they were only good for the upcoming event in three days.

Luckily, from the office of my window I saw my neighbor Harold pulling up to his driveway.  I grabbed the tickets, walked over to his place and asked him if he could use the tickets; no charge.  He was ecstatic!  He has a 7 year old grandson who would love it.  I handed him the tickets, and walked back to my office satisfied and content.  Mission accomplished!

What Happened?

Later on that night I reflected on those rodeo tickets and my anxiety to find someone to use them.  I mean, why did I care if anyone use them, they didn't cost me a penny?  Why couldn't I have simply trash them and be done with it?

It was at that moment that I realized the effects or influence of a gift.  I couldn't just let the tickets go to waste, I felt this need, this compulsion, this pull to find someone who could use them.  If the tickets has $0 value maybe I could've dumped them, but $300 was something my conscious couldn't bear tossing away.  I find it fascinating that a gift, given without condition, can come attached with a such a strong sense of obligation which compelled me to find a user.

The Sales Lesson 

What can we learn from my experience?  How can we create the same sense of obligation to generate business?  The answer came to me a few weeks later.  In the mail I received a "free" Happy Birthday gift from a restaurant called J. Christopher's.  I had 30 days in which to exercise this $10 gift.  Now I had never heard of J. Christopher's until that moment.  Yet, just like the rodeo tickets, I couldn't just toss the $10 gift certificate away.  Like before, I felt this sense of obligation to use it.  

Now, you know what's going to happen when I finally do use the $10 gift certificate.  Since I don't want to go eat by myself, I'll most likely bring the family along.  By the time all is said and done, and the meals have been eaten, I'll probably get stuck with a $50 - $80 bill.  Sure, I'll get $10 off but I would'n't spent that money in the first place (or at least J. Christopher's) if I hadn't gotten the 'free' gift certificate.  

This 'free' certificate strategy is brilliant when you really break down how it works, especially on the human psyche.  By merely mailing me a piece of paper 'gifting' me $10, they are attempting to influence my dining decision.  How powerful is that?  What also makes it a powerful strategy is the fact that the tickets had "expiration dates" on them.  I had three days before the rodeo tickets would be worthless and 30 days before my $10 gift certificate expired.  So what's the equation for success here?

Pulling Effect = Free Gift + Dollar Value + Time Limit 

Knowing this, how can you use this strategy to increase "traffic" to your business?

Victor Antonio, Sales Influence

Copyright © 2009 by Victor Antonio.   All rights reserved.  Author, speaker and sales trainer Victor Antonio has a BSEE, MBA and over 20 years of executive sales experience.  This article MAY be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, as long as the author’s name, website and email address are included as part of the article’s body.  All inquiries, including information on electronic licensing, should be directed to Victor Antonio at info@victorantonio.com.

Sales Anonymous - Step 1

Step 1: Admit that your sales numbers are not where you’d like them to be

The first step in the sales recovery process begins with a personal admission to oneself that your sales numbers or goals are not where they should be.  This begs the question of whether or not you ever had a sales number or goal to begin with?  Success in any endeavor, including sales, begins with the end in mind.  I’d like to you to take a moment now and think about how much money you would like to make over the next year starting from this date.


$ ___________________________
(My personal financial goal)


There’s nothing like a writing a number down that gives one a sense of the realness of selling.  As you wrote the number down you may have had these thoughts running through your mind:

“This is a dumb exercise?”

“Let me skip this step, I’ll come back to it later?”

“What’s a good number?”

“That’s what I’d like to make but I don’t know if that’s realistic?”

“I don’t want to write something that’s ridiculously low (or high)?”

“Can I really make that much money?”

“Is that number too high?  Does it make sense?”

If these questions sound familiar, than guess what, you’re a normal human being!  Writing down our personal goals may at times seem like a dumb and futile exercise.  You can claim that you know how much you want to make a year in your head so there’s no need to write it down.  But on the contrary, there is a very important psychological need for writing down your financial goal.  Seeing the number written down and committed to paper gives the goal a more tangible feel creating a ‘pull’ effect on your abilities to fulfill that number.  Your conscious and subconscious minds are now fully aware of what you need to make happen.

Most of us resist the need to write down a financial goal convincing ourselves that it isn't necessary.  The reality is that we resist because we are afraid of running the risk of being held accountable.  When a number is written, a financial goal, the shades of success or failure retreat into black or white.  You either hit your number or you didn’t!  There’s no escaping the clarity of the obvious.  You hold yourself accountable!

Working the Numbers Backwards
Now that you have a financial goal, do some math to figure out how you’re going to achieve that number.  Start by noting how much you’ll make, in terms of commission, on an average sale. 

For example, if you sell a gizmo that cost $2,000 and per sale your commission is 25 percent, then your commission is $500 per sales (.25 x $2,000).  If your annual financial goal is $60,000 then you now know you need to make 120 sales ($60,000/$500) to hit your goal. 

A hundred sales in year seems intimidating at first until you break it down into more palatable and reasonable sub-goals.  Instead of 120 sales a year, break it down into monthly sales.  A hundred and twenty sales a year divided by 12 months gives you 10 sales per month that you’d have to achieve to meet your annual goal.  Ten sales a month comes out about to roughly two to three sales a week.

 
Now it’s your turn.  Run your numbers:

(1) Annual financial goal:  __________

(2) Average commission per sale:  __________

(3) Number of sales per year needed (1) divided (2):  __________

(4) Number of sales per month needed (3) divided by 12:  __________

Having no financial goal in selling is the equivalent have flying a plane with no navigation system.  Yes, you’re moving, but towards what?   The often-cited dictum of ignorance is bliss is absurdly wrong!  The saying should be rewritten to more accurately reflect its meaning, “Bliss is ignorance”.  Not knowing is not the answer or solution to a problem. 

Only through knowing can you correct your own course of action.  Imagine for a moment a airline pilot saying, “I don’t want to know if we’re headed in the right direction or not.”  Absurd?  Yes!  You not having a financial goal is equally as absurd!  Run your numbers!

Sales Anonymous: A 12 Step Program for Better Selling

In January 2010 I will be publishing my new book, "Sales Anonymous: A 12 Step Program for Better Selling".  The book is aimed at kickstarting your sales.  If you find yourself in a position where you're just not reaching your sales goals, this book is for you!  Here are the twelve tenets explored in the book:
 
1. Admit that your sales numbers are not where they should be
 
2. Embrace the concept that selling is about sharing and helping (others achieve an end)
 
3. Acknowledge that you don’t know everything about selling
 
4. Learn the 6 phases of the sales process
 
5. Take inventory of your personal weaknesses
 
6. Commit to becoming a better listener
 
7. Commit to knowing your product (or service)
 
8. Accept that you cannot control the outcome of a sale
 
9. Study our competition and create value
 
10. Consult with a sales coach or mentor
 
11. Manage your time effectively and wisely in the pursuit of sales and personal growth
 
12. Helping others that suffer from the fear and intimidation of selling.