Words influence the outcome of a sales presentation. Words can change minds. People judge you by the words you use. Become word smart.

Words and Phrases people like:   I couldn’t agree more. – Protected – Fully protected. – Safe. – I respect that.- I understand how you feel. - Statistics show. – Makes sense. – Time is money. – Options. – Fair enough? – Risk management. – Right on. – You’re ahead of the game. – It pays for itself. – Invest – Investment ( instead of “buy”), -  I need your approval. – Can I make a suggestion please? – I appreciate that. – Please work with me on this. – Seems logical. – It’s easy. – You can do it. – It works. – You’re the boss. – Let me tell you a story. – Guarentee. – Please allow me. – Thank you. 

Excerpts taken from the book, THE DNA OF SELLING.  Author: Gerry Shaltz 

GREAT MINDS discuss ideas,

average minds discuss events,

small minds discuss people.

ADMIRAL HYMAN RICKOVER  (1900-1986) U.S. Navy

Unless you can accomplish one of the three following objectives early in your presentation, you probably won’t close the deal! The same holds true for appointment setting.  I always try to incorporate all three objectives into the front end of my presentations. This takes some pre-approach planning that will pay off in hugh dividends.

1. Spark their curiosity. If people are curious, they are going to pay attention. 2. The promise of gain. People will pay attention when they believe that you will reward them.   3. Amplify the fear of loss. If people are afraid that they could lose something, they’re going to pay attention. You need to keep these three rules in the forefront of your selling: CURIOSITY, GAIN, LOSS.            

The fear of rejection and the fear of failure are closely related. In either case, they are the major impediments to successful selling. Most of us do not like the sound of the word “no”. It’s one of the first negative words we hear during our young, fomative years. Often it robs us from what we want to do. It can make us feel ashamed and/or embarrassed. Thus, we avoid the risk of hearing “no” which has become a trigger for feeling badly. Yet the word “no” is part of the sales arena. Just accept it. There are numerous things that happen to peoplet that damage their self-esteem; i.e., childhood abuse, parental abondonment, , other traumas.

Low self esteem is a first cousin to the fear of rejection. Consider the messages we receive from the media. Most of those messages come from advertisers who tell us we don’t wear the right clothes, don’t smell right, don’t eat the right foods, need to lose weight, don’t drive the right car. The message is, of course, “you can feel good about yourself if you buy our product.” All of these things – trauma, abondonment, the constant drum-beat that we’re not alright and the contradictions just learning to navigate the culture – combine to inform the way we think about ourselves.  It’s easy to internalize messages like: I am a failure, there’s something wrong with me, I’m doing my life wrong, I’m not competent, etc….

But, what if it turns out that our assumptions about ourselves are incorrect? The thought stream can be a major contributor  to our suffering if we let it decide how we should see ourselves and the world.  A thoughtful quote from Buddist  teacher Pema Chodron, “We do not suffer because of events. We suffer because of what we tell ourselves about events.” We can change our thoughts at any time. It just takes practice. A daily meditation practice can help tame the thought stream to distance ourselves from it. There is a simple, easy-to-do breathing exercise that many utilize to clear and quiet the mind.  Daily affirmations are als0 helpful. Take a few minutes every day to affirm in your own mind that you are safe and well and okay. When feeling anxious, you can also say to youself, “I am safe in the present moment”, three or four times. Or, you can just say, “I’m okay, I’m okay” a few times until you are feeling better. It also helps to bring your attention to your breathing. Try taking ten slow breaths. This will help slow your mind. Let‘s start by being kind to ourselves, by remembering that we are good people. Perhaps we’ve been wounded somehow. That is not a referandum on our character, or ouselves as human beings. We can train our ourselves, train our minds to remember we are good  and whole and well, even when we don’t feel that way. We can start by directing our thoughts to our wellness and affirm that we are good people.

Most everyone has a fear of rejection and/or failure. The most succesful sales people I know have found a way to reduce the fear even if means walking through it.   ”The closer you get to your fears, the smaller they become.” Fear hides behind indecision.

Most of the content in this blog was taken from the April, 2011 edition of, The Wellnes Letter,  written and published by Ken Siegman MA, Marraige and Family Therapist . Ken@insight-counseling.org

I sat next  to the CEO of  a very large company several years ago while flying back from New York to Los Angeles. I had conducted a three day sales seminar for a long distance company. The training session had gone particularly well. I was full of myself, feeling a bit cocky.

Because we had both come up through the sales ranks, our conversation was focused on the importance of selling. The discussion lasted throughout most of the flight. As we were making our final approach, he asked me this question, “How many years of sales experience do you have?”  “About forty years”, I replied. Then, he asked, “Are you sure it’s forty years of experience.”  I simply replied, “Yes, I’m sure.” Thinking to myself, “I can do the math.” He added, “Are you sure you have forty years of experience, or just one year repeated forty times?” A short pause in the conversation ensued as I considered  his question. I smiled at him knowingly and said, “Yes I’m sure.” Point well taken: grow or perish.

I have come to reaize, since that conversation, that standing still in life, floating, is an illusion. We are either growing or dying. The same holds true for a business, growing or dying. Everything in life is ever changing, constantly in motion.  In which direction  are you headed?

Excerpts taken from: “ THE DNA OF SELLING   What You Won’t Learn in Business School” – autthor, Gerry Shaltz

Some emails are well worth sharing. Words that cause crtical thinking. Words that remind us of what’s important. A new twist on something we already knew and, perhaps, haven’t considered lately. The following two emails fit that description:  “The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go onto victories you never dreamed of.”   – C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), Irish writer and scholar. A partial email from: justsell@justsell.com

“In my own parlance, I learned a long time ago in life you really need to buy lunch. That was the thing I did even when I was dead broke; I always bought lunch – for myself and whomever I was eating with. I did it for my clients; I did it for anyone I asked out to eat  I ended up buying dinner also. And, I did it no matter what. I still do it today. It changed my life.”   This is an email from my dear friend, Mark Hamilton. Mark is a partner in Hamilton Zanze, an established, successful San  Francisco based real estate investment company with many loyal investors.

Each of us lives in our own cocoon of habits and beliefs. It’s warm, comfortable and safe in there. We’re familiar with the boundaries. We don’t want to leave. The thought of giving up the cocoon is scary. We’re not likely to be rejected or made to feel ashamed  in there. We seldom, if ever, hear the word “no” inside those walls. “No” is one of the first negative words we hear during our early formative years. It robs us of what we want to do. It may have made us feel chastised, embarrassed, or just plain no good. We want to avoid the “no” word because it brings back bad feelings. We are loathe to step outside the comfort zone of our cocoon. The thought of it scares us.  We could get caught under the spot light in front of others. They may laugh at us. They may think we’re stupid. We may fail. However, we must step outside of that comfort zone and take a perceived risk if we want to grow. Once outside, we can directly ask the prospect for the order. He/she may say “no”. We may find that it wasn’t as bad as we thought. We may get a “yes”. Hooray!  We’ve grown a bigger and better cocoon in either case.  We’ve learned that we can walk through our fears. We can grow by doing so. We’ve learned that the closer we get to our fears the smaller they become. We’ve learned that fear hides behind indecision. Choose to grow.

To contact Gerry: gerry@gerryshaltz.com  website: thednaofselling.com

“I find it useful to remember that everyone lives by selling something” – Robert Louis Stevenson

Each year, business schools across America send thousands of MBA graduates out into the business community without having offered a single course in selling. Selling doesn’t exsist in the curriculum. These grads set out on an expidition into an unknown terrain. The one true certainty is that they will need selling skills to increase their chances for success. They are enthusiastic, filled with information and confidence.  They feel certain that their education has given them what they need to be successful in the business arena. Many succeed despite this lack of instruction: others fail because of it.

“Most business school full professors have never been businessmen. They got their master’s, PhD, then taught and wrote their way up the ladder to tenure. There is no tenure in business. If you can’t sell, (your product, your service, yourself) your are gone. Sadly, most business school professors feel that teaching selling is “beneath” them. You might succeed in business school without selling. But, you can’t succeed in the business world without it. Imagine a  medical school where the teaching staff has never performed a surgery themselves, yet they are instructing the interns and residents. That’s what you have at business schools”  Bob Zider, President, The Beta Group.   Excerpts taken from THE DNA OF SELLING – What you won’t Learn in Business School. Author, Gerry Shaltz

If you really knew how powerful your mind is, you wouldn’t entertain negative thoughts. The most successful people I know hold one overridding mind-set: How can I serve others; how can I best serve my prospects, my clients? When we exam our daily activities, it easy to conclude that we exist for others. Accept it. 

Focusing on how we can conntribute to the betterment of our prospects will open doors to building rapport, hence building relationships of trust and friendship. The best advice I can give you is this: Develop an unbreakable mind- set that you are going to do your your level best to serve everywhere you can and everyone you touch in some way. This will open opportunities that you never dreamed were available. Sometimes there is nothing more we can offer but a loving smile. Then, give a loving smile. If nothing else, it will improve your looks. SET YOUR MIND TO SERVE! SUCCESS WILL FOLLOW.

                                          SEVEN BEST SALES IDEAS WORTH A FORTUNE  

 1.     ACTIVITY – Jay Douglas Edwards said, “You can’t control results. But, you can control activity. If the activity is right, the results are automatic.” You must define the activity necessary to be successful and deploy. “Happiness is activity with purpose.”   –  Jim Rohn

2.TWO SECONDS – WIN OR LOSE – Over 50% of buyers surveyed indicated that they have a strong preference to do business with people they LIKE.  First impressions are CRITICAL.  An immediate SMILE with your eyes and a firm handshake will do wonders for opening the gateway to rapport. You have two seconds to create a positive or negative first impression. People are far more interested in themselves than they’re interested in you. Ask open ended questions that are pertinent to both of you.  LISTEN more than you talk.

3. NON NEGOTIABLE TIME – Set aside sufficient time early each week to make appointments with prospects for next week. This is the most effective way to keep your pipeline full of activity. Do not waiver from this routine. Do not allow others to interfere with your efforts. “DO NOT DISTURB ME!” 

4. GOALS – “If you don’t know where you’re going you’ll wind up somewhere else,” – Yogi Berra.

Rules:  1. Set your own goals. 2. Write them down. 3. Discuss them with someone you respect. 4. Keep them handy and review frequently.

5. FOLLOW UP – 30% of prospects will do business with you if you follow up. Additional meetings, send hand written notes, keep closing.

6. VISUALIZE – MATERIALIZE – Create a one page scene of you successfully achieving your goal. Close your eyes several times a day and visualize that scene. You will begin to execute the activity necessary to achieve the goal. It’s easy. It works. You can do it.

7. A SIMPLE, POWERFUL CLOSE – “I’m very interested in doing business with you. What’s it going to take to make that happen?” (SHUT UP AND WAIT FOR THE ANSWER)

“Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, make me feel important. Not only will you succeed in sales. You will succeed in life.” – Mary Kay Ash

                                                                          gerry@gerryshaltz.com