Get Visible : You Have to Be Seen to Sell

THINK BIGGER: BEING SEEN DOESN’T ALWAYS MEAN IN PERSON

One of the fastest ways to become a resource in your industry is to teach people something that they need to know. Teleseminars and Webinars are two of the best ways to expand your expertise to your clients and prospective customers.

A teleseminar is just what it sounds like—a seminar that is delivered via the phone in a large conference call. You let your prospects know that you’ll be teaching them something important in 30–60 minutes and make it worth their while.

For example, let’s say that I’m selling point-of-sale (POS) software or hardware solutions in the wine industry. Most of the people who buy POS solutions in that industry are responsible for the winery tasting rooms, which are also retail stores. If I call them or walk in prospecting, they are very unlikely to take my call. If they haven’t considered yet whether or not they need a new POS system, they are also unlikely to spend much time talking to me. However, if I give them an opportunity to learn something of value with no expectation of having to buy anything, they become more interested.

So, what I would do is line up an interview with Gary V. of www.winelibrary.tv and ask him if I could interview him for a program I’m doing for my clients. I’d choose Gary because I know he is aggressive about spreading his message and he has high credibility in the wine industry. The first thing I’d talk to him about is profitability in his tasting room and how he made the decision to focus online and where the profitability was there. Then I’d ask him about how he used technology to increase profitability in his tasting room and what areas were most important to him. I’d ask him if the best benefits of my POS product would serve him. Now, at this point I don’t care if he already has a system in place—I only want to hear him say how important that feature and the resultant benefit are.

The result would be a 30- to 60-minute interview with Gary that I’ll have recorded and that everyone can dial in and listen to and even ask a few questions at the end. It is a win for both of us—Gary gets to further expose winelibrary.tv and gets to connect with real fans, and I get a teaching tool I can use again and again to incent prospects. Reusing content like this is the most effective way to get the most from it. I’ll put it on a CD and send it to prospects or give it to them as a gift for seeing me. I’d also make it available on my personal web site, to reinforce the value of what I can do and what I bring to the table.

There is a powerful sales lesson here, too: Using this kind of tool allows you to build trust and credibility in advance. It demonstrates that you are connected and that you are working with people of the highest caliber. It has a very subliminal effect on the person with whom you are interacting.

RESOURCES

Get a free conference bridge that will hold a minimum of 96 people at one of these two places; both give you recording functionality through the phone: www.freeconferencecall.com / www.conferencetown.com

For Webinar service go to www.gotowebinar.com, a paid service that allows you to record both voice and video for replay. If you want to automate the reproduction and shipping of your CD, I recommend using www.kunaki.com. Or you can always simply copy, print, label, and ship them yourself using inkjet or laser labels available from an office supply store.

Being seen to sell doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to spend more time face to face with your customer (though that is often a good choice); it means that you need to spend more time being visible. Your potential clients will buy from the person they see as the most visible and whom they see as having the most expertise in any given market.

DEVELOP YOUR PERSONA

Pretty people make more money than ugly people. Skinny people make more money than fat people. Tall people make more money than short people. Now, you can argue with me all you want, but it won’t change the fact that most humans have a built-in set of prejudices that they apply in any given situation. They are more likely to hire or give a raise to the taller person; it is a predictable pattern. I teach a program around the patterns of predictable people,™ and in the program we talk about what causes or cues people to make a certain decision or to say yes to your proposition. The single best way to get the yes is to show up as the person that they expect or desire to do business with. Well-spoken, well-dressed salespeople instill a sense of confidence without saying a word. When people see you, they judge you before you speak, and when listening to you on the phone, they judge you by the quality of your voice and words. If you want to sell more when sales are difficult, focus on showing up as the person your client expects.

DRESS TO LEAD

Most salespeople dress far too casually or haphazardly to fully meet the expectation of their audience. They feel that business casual is good enough, and it simply isn’t. When I’m dressed better than my peers, better than my competition, and when I do it consistently, I stand out in a crowd. I look like the leader, and your clients want to buy from people who meet their expectation of trust. When you see CEOs on television and when you meet them in person, they are wearing the uniform of a CEO—a suit. Uniforms cause an unconscious response in us. We’ve been conditioned to respond in a certain way to each kind of uniform; a suit gets a completely different reaction than jeans and a polo shirt. Set yourself up to succeed, dress better, and you’ll sell more. Oh, and while you’re at it, upgrade your accessories—get a very nice high-quality pen to write with, something that makes an impact and makes you feel good writing with it. Buy a Moleskine notebook (Google it) to keep notes in, or get a very nice leather legal pad holder or attaché.

All these rules apply equally to men or women. Look the part and get the sale.

SPEAK TO THEIR LISTENING

Improve your voice and your vocabulary and you’ll increase your sales as well. Well-spoken people appear more intelligent than those who are not well spoken. You don’t need to use a whole dictionary of 50-dollar words, but you do need a vocab- ulary that gives you the ability to use language that is precise and clear. Spend five minutes a day learning a new word of the day and watch what happens to your income in the coming year. Subscribe to the free word of the day e-mail at www.dictionary.com. The best way to integrate the new word into your vocabulary is to say it out loud several times, then use it in a sentence, write it down in a sentence, and finally, commit to using it at least 10 times in your conversation during the day. Also, write it down on a Post-it note and put it somewhere you can see it the rest of the day. Then, before you go to sleep, repeat the word 10 more times and say it in five different sentences before drifting off. You’ll find yourself experiencing tremendous recall and a rapid increase in your vocabulary.

SAY WHAT THEY WANT TO HEAR

Learning how to speak, how to use your voice without a lot of filler words, and improving the quality of your voice will also enhance trust and improve people’s experience with you on the phone. If you’ll just spend a few moments with a voice-coaching CD each week for 90 days, you’ll be amazed at what you can do with your voice and how it changes how people react to you. You can create instant confidence with your voice. Dr. Carol Fleming has the best, fastest, easiest-to-use program I’ve seen and it is only $21; grab it today and see for yourself what hapens. You can find the CD here: http://budurl.com/myvoice.

I can’t tell you how many times I get called back because people want to tell me that I have a voice for radio or they want to know if I do radio. My voice only sounds that way because I invested the time necessary to make me stand out from my peers. I’m in my forties now and I still invest in my wardrobe, my vocabulary, and my voice, and I’ve been the top salesperson in every organization I’ve ever sold in. You will be, too. Before you get started, I’ve heard all the arguments about how to dress, about “wasting time” on things like voice training. And I’m going to tell you something: You are reading this book because you want an incremental edge, you want something that will help you when everyone is struggling. This book is a tool kit and these are your tools. I promise you one thing for sure-these tools won’t work if you don’t try them. And by the way, all this information is based on sound psychological research. I’ll always choose to give myself the edge and appeal to people’s unconscious expectations. You have to choose: Do you want more of what you’ve been getting, or do you want more sales?

GET FACE TO FACE

Prospects and clients like to put a face to a name. They also like to see you so that the communication feels more complete. There are two fast tools that I use to get face to face with clients who are distant. The first is Skype (www.skype.com). Skype is an Internet-based phone and video conferencing system that allows you to have a two way video conversation with your prospect or client. Just like dialing a phone, you call the client, enable video, and have a conversation—except that you are able to see each other and engage the visual aspect of communication missing over the phone alone. There is great persuasive value in leveraging two-way video communication because it encourages trust by allowing people to take in the nonverbal portion of the communication that is typically missing when you are not face to face.

The next technique to give that personal feel and to increase your personal brand equity is to use prerecorded video. If you have or are using the video camera I spoke of earlier, it is very easy to create video on the fly, but any digital video camera will work. You simply fire up your camera wherever you are, make sure you have a good light source and clutter-free background, and then start filming yourself speaking to your client or prospect. The purpose of the video is to create a very succinct, to-the-point video that deeply engages the viewer. Make the message personal and memorable. Video messages break through the clutter because people still don’t use them very often. Video messages also improve your brand identity; people begin to associate you as being different and memorable. But that’s not all—customers want to develop relationships with people they trust, have confidence in, and like. It is your responsibility to properly develop that trust with your customers.

POSITIONING PLUS PACKAGING EQUALS DESIRE—AND A DESIRE IS A BUYER

You already know that people don’t buy what they need, they buy what they want. All purchase decisions are based on meeting the emotional needs of the person making the decision. To be successful in tough times, it is necessary to differentiate yourself and your offering from those of the competition. The best way to do that is to first identify the prospect’s real need. If you are selling automobiles and believe you are in the transportation business, then any old vehicle will do. If, on the other hand, you realize that your single biggest job as a salesperson is to identify and amplify the desire of a customer, you’ll look deeper. You’ll realize that transportation is a very base expectation. In reality, a car is more than that; a car represents freedom and independence, it represents status, and it often represents an extension of the identity of the person driving it. People buying cars are looking for people to sell them cars that enhance their freedom and independence, their status, or their identity. Knowing what your clients want and what desire they are fulfilling allows you to present perfect and irresistible choices.

You enhance desire by allowing people to experience as many of the results of having your product or service in advance as you can. In the example of the car, if you know that freedom and independence is what people want from the car, you may arrange for them to drive the car overnight, giving them the ability to really have an experience. Then the next morning, you show up and offer to take their freedom and independence away . . . or fill out the paperwork to extend it. No one wants to lose what they desire.

MAKE YOUR EXPERTISE KNOWN

The most effective way to create new sales is to create desire and trust. Developing and demonstrating your expertise allows you to position yourself ahead of your competitors. There are many ways you can demonstrate your expertise to your clients and prospects and leverage your expert status to develop new leads. Let’s look at a few of the highest-value, highest-visibility tactics.

• Write articles and distribute them online. Writing articles demonstrates your knowledge of your industry, product, or service. Start out by writing 1000-word articles and post them online at www.ezine.com as well as submitting them to your industry trade journals and to your trade journal’s blogs. Published articles give you strong credibility and increase lead flow.
• Create white papers. Like articles, white papers give you expert status and increase visibility. Distribute them on your company web site, through industry organizations, and directly to your prospects and customers. Pick a significant problem they have for which you can provide the best solution and create your first white paper.
• Get nominated. Get nominated for an American Business Award. Go to www.stevieawards.com and nominate yourself for an American Business Award in the category of Sales Executive of the Year. You could very well win, and even if you don’t you can forever say you were nominated for an American Business Award for Sales Executive of the Year. Be sure you put your nomination in all your correspondence. Search for other industry awards to which you can submit your name and your products. The only way to win awards is to fill out the forms and submit them; you’ve got everything to gain by trying. Or, as Hunter S. Thompson used to say, “Buy the ticket, take the ride.”
• Blog. Remember that web site with a blog that you built (you did build it . . . right)? Start creating blog posts around your areas of expertise. When you talk to clients about things you’ve written about, be sure to direct them to your blog so that they can read more about you and experience your expertise more deeply.

Building your personal brand, developing your expertise, and telling the world about both takes some effort on your part, but the payoff is tremendous. This is a short-term effort that will lead to very long-term gain and allow you to write your ticket no matter where you are. I know that some of these ideas are unconventional, and they are supposed to be. Do one different thing today and see what happens.

People want someone to care about, an idea they can care about; they want those things from someone they can believe in. You have to be visible to sell all that. You have to focus on being the best in the world at what you do and letting people know about it. No one wants to buy from the third best person in the industry.

Sumber : How To Sell When Nobody’s Buying – Dave Lakhani