My (late) father was a bank robber. But I never used that as an excuse.  

An interesting male role-model. Memories of Fathers Day in Long Bay Prison…as a little girl I looked on it as an adventure & a curiosity (why are they searching me for knives Mummy?).  I never chose to focus on how his violent behaviour & who I was exposed to would impact me in a negative way. I never used this as an excuse to not succeed. 

When I started in sales, I found it really hard to succeed.  I made a lot of excuses.  The economy.  The state of world politics.  The internet as a competitor.  I became the expert self-sabotager.  I was broke, frustrated and depressed. 

It was a pretty dismal time for me, especially since I had left a high-flying, high-paying National HR role…to join a sales team.  It was the most Peter-Pan job I could find.  Selling Travel. 

And I couldn’t even succeed at that!  But it wasn’t my fault.   It was the economy, the state of world politics and the internet as a competitor.  And the fact that my company only provided 3 hours of sales training! 

It wasn’t until I started taking responsibility for my success in selling travel that things started to turn around for me.  There was lots I didn’t know and I needed to learn.  Sales is anything but natural. 

Ironically, it was a conversation with my Father that triggered this change in mindset.   

I was visiting my Aunt (on my fathers side) in Bathurst and learned my father was only a 20min drive away in the next town – Blayney.  I had spent a lot of my childhood playing with my cousins in Blayney and I have very fond memories of them.  But there’s not much to Blayney and I really wasn’t that keen to visit Dad, but my Aunt was very insistent I should so…dutifully, I obeyed. 

It was good to see him though.  Mostly I choose to focus on what was good about him. Yes, there was good! (When he wasn’t a criminal) he was intensely charismatic and highly intelligent. We had wonderful, stimulating conversations and debates about life, the universe and everything.  And he was very funny! Yup.  

But also, very much a victim.  What followed was a conversation about his life’s journey and the choices he made.  Although he will tell you he didn’t have choices…it was growing up on the ‘wrong side of the tracks’ a violent father, a distant step-father…my mother.  The System. 

I walked away from that night disappointed for him.   I got the distinct impression he wanted to explain/justify or excuse why he hadn’t ever ‘turned up’ for me.  He wasn’t at my Wedding, my graduation, my first home, first broken heart….I never expected this from him mind, but I could tell he wanted to be understood. 

But I just couldn’t.  I didn’t.  I don’t.  I fundamentally and unshakably believe that we are masters of our own destiny.  It’s not what happens to us, it’s how we respond to it.  What we make it mean. 

I haven’t ever shared this story publically before.  I do so because sometimes we need a reminder on how to live our best life.  He reminded me that night that I should take responsibility for EVERYTHING that happens in my life.  The good, the bad, the ugly. 

If it is to be, it is up to me. 

I soon started to achieve significant results in sales, I worked hard at learning and applying myself.  I was uncomfortable most of the time, but soon enough I started to get amazing results. It became easier and more fun, and now I have the best job in the world helping others achieve significant results for themselves. 

I trust you are inspired to make reasons to succeed, not excuses to fail.  If you feel inspired, you are welcome to reach out and share your personal story too, I’d love to hear from you (if I haven’t already). 

To your success, my friend. 

Sharon x 

CONFESSION: I am most likely the least tech-savvy person you know. I really do get overwhelmed with the whole website/leadmagnet/pixel/SEO THANG. Do you relate?

So when my client charged me with the responsibility of optimizing his website, I nearly LOL’d…BUT instead – being the consummate professional I am, I said YES, I’ve got this!

And THEN I had a little meltdown to myself just like every other normal person.

But I’m resourceful, so I found a couple of genius humans who’d be able to help me with design & technical aspects I’m useless at. YAY for outsourcing! And then I set about doing what I’m great at – language products in an appealing way AKA – SALES!

The result is…

Time On Site went from 0.37s…to 2.04mins

HOW DID I DO IT?

I turned language up-side down…

You see, lots of people make the mistake of WHAT-ing all over the place. On the home page originally was a list of WHAT they do…it looked like this….

Managed Services | Managed Voice | Managed IT | Managed Security | Managed Devices | Managed Networking | Testimonials

But who really cares about that? Except the IT Professional on the other side…most of their clients are not IT Professionals so…in fact…most of their clients don’t care about WHAT they do.

BUT Clients do care about the results they get from what you do…so I changed it to

Flexible Workforce

Increased Productivity

Peace of Mind

Fast. Transparent.

Cost Savings

Time Savings.

Our Client Experiences

And guess what – it worked! An immediate spike in the analytics from 0.37s to 2.04min…more than 3 times longer!

What does that tell me?

They are engaged with HOW my client can help them…they WANT to read more, they are curious and learning about my client. It is the beginning of a conversation!

There’s lot’s more to do to optimize the site. And thank-fully I have genius professionals working on the techy stuff. BUT you can have aalllll the techy stuff working, and still not engage your clients because you are not language your product or service in a way that inspires them to hang around and get to know you.

I’d love to know your thoughts and experiences with this – how is it working for you?

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To sell is human

Yet a lot of humans reject the idea that they are sales people.

This boggles me.

I think the best sales people in the world, are children.  Think about it…you’re at the shops…tommy says “mummy can I have an ice cream?  No.  Why.  Because I said so.  5 minutes later…Mummy can I have an ice-cream?  Etc..  Cut to the next scene – there’s the kid with an ice cream

You were born with the ability to sell.  It is just human.

So why do we reject this idea so passionately?  Why do we even take a little bit of pride in the idea that we are not sales people?  Why is it that I hear people bragging about how much they suck at sales?

I believe selling is finding out what the problem is and offering an appropriate solution.  You can’t get more human than that.  We are here to help others.  We’re h ere to serve other humans.  So really what I hear when people say to me they are not great sales people, is that they are not great at serving others.

I’ll say that again.  When I hear people say to me, they are not great sales people, I interpret that to mean, they don’t believe they are great at serving others.  Too harsh?

You see, I believe every human is doing the best they can with the resources available to them.  I believe every human wants to be able to affect the lives of those around them in a positive way and leave this world a better place.

I also believe, that unless you are a good sales person, you won’t be able to really make a difference to those around you.

I’ll give you an example…

When I first started in the travel industry – 10++ years ago, I believed:

• I ‘wasn’t a salesperson’ – not good at sales – does anyone resonate with that?
• Customers should be able to articulate to me what the problem is and what they need to solve it.
• If they want something they will tell me . Who thinks that?
• Talking to customers is fun, sales is not. Who relates to that?
• Ordinary results are an indicator of the current state of the economy, trends in the industry etc.
• Good results were because of me.

I got OK results.  Which means, I was able to affect some lives in a positive way.  I wasn’t that great at sales, and so my capacity to help others was diminished.  I had a love/hate relationship with my job.  It wasn’t until I stopped focussing on myself and what I wanted, and started focussing truly on getting others what they wanted, that I really started to get great results in sales.  Zig Ziglar: You get all you want out of life if you help enough other people get what they want.

Then I loved my customer, I loved sales and I loved my job.  I got great results MUCH more often than ordinary results.  Either way, it was because of me.

Results were an indicator of whether I was having the effect on humanity I wanted.  I wanted to make a difference to the lives of the customers that came to my store.  Customers needed me to make their dreams come true.  The problem I was solving was important: it was recharge time, time to reconnect to a loved one, time to grow, for lives to change.  Being a great sales person meant that I could help more people.

I love sales.  In fact, I take great pride in being an outstanding sales professional.  There are so many things that I love about sales, and I believe it is my greatest privilege to dedicate my life to being the greatest sales professional I can be.

I have pondered many times, why so many people hate sales.  I have come up with 3 things

1. They have had a bad sales experience.  There are bad sales people out there.  Just as there are bad lawyers, doctors, nurses, teachers.  I had a bad teacher at school.  Yet I did not discontinue learning for the rest of my life.  I also had good teachers.  So I actually believe that this an excuse that hides a deeper discomfort.
2. They don’t see it as relevant to them, and;
3. It is what they make sales mean – they have associated the word sales with being pushy, manipulative, money grabbing and forcing people into something they don’t want.

In fact, I believe that people who are pushy, manipulative, money grabbing and forcing people are not being sales-people.  They are being bad people, and it has nothing to do with sales.

What is sales, except an exchange of goods or services for money?  Every single one of you in this room, either at some point in the past or currently exchanges your time for money – called a job -  so you had to sell at some-point.  And you had to be good at it to get where you are.  In your job, with your family and friends, you are selling ideas to prompt action.  It might be to have a colleague pull their weight, or for tommy – now grown into a teenager to clean his room.  Sales is relevant to everyone.  Think about it.  How many of you in this room, have desired a particular outcome at work or in your family life and needed other humans buy-in/consent whatever you call it, in order to make it happen.  Keep your hands up.  To sell is human.  You can’t get more human than that.

Would love to know your thoughts! Agree? Disagree? Like, share & comment!

On the whole I dislike mail-drop flyers. In todays day and age, I find them a wasteful and outdated method of promoting your products. Don’t you agree?

BUT THEN THIS HAPPENED

Live the life you love…yes please.

Would you ever have thought this was for a cleaning service? I was totally struck…and then it got even better…

I totally geeked out and had to share what an AWESOME sales approach these guys had!!

They do not sell the product, they sell the solution

You don’t NEED clean floors, you WANT more time. You want to…Live The Life You Love. Right?

I just got chills. Over a cleaning service!!! There’s hardly any space on that promotional flyer that is devoted to talking about the product, it is almost entirely dedicated to engaging your emotions with colour, imagry and language.

Let’s break it down – and make note on how you can learn & apply these techniques…

Page 1:

Live the life you love: I don’t love cleaning. So yeah, I’d rather live the life I love than clean that’s for sure. You’ve got my attention. Good solution!

Maintain Me. Yup, that’s a good solution. I’d like my home to be maintained. I’d like someone else to do it for me. This is all implicit in the language. Solution. Love. It.

Page 2:

Time is Precious: This is very powerful. Suddenly this flyer is speaking directly to me. Take the stress out…spend time on things that really matter…life just got a little easier (OMG!!!!).

Affordable, flexible, simple. Yup Yup Yup. Again…no mention of mopping my floors.

How it works: Proof they a simple and easier to use. I’m loving it already.

Loving it!

Let’s review another similar flyer…

FRONT

BACK

It’s entirely product. There is nothing to engage me. Although the tiles, sponge and bucket are cool…I don’t want my kitchen swept…I want time, security, freedom…

And’ it’s even more than that…compare the call to action

O&Jin Cleaning Services

MaintainMe.com.au

O&Jin don’t believe in themselves enough to ask you to do business with them, no. They’ve made their mind up that you need to quote. AND they want me to wait for a phone call or email back presumably when it suits THEM not me. No thanks. I’ve played that game before and all it does is chew up my time and add to my stress.

And I want time, flexibility and simplicity. I want to do what I love.

Sell the solution, not the product.

Now it’s your turn – how are you going to change your language, or enhance your language in your promotional material?

I know a lot of people who really dislike Multi-Level Marketing of any kind (whatever you call it – direct/pyramid selling/scheme, referral/network marketing etc I challenge you to outline the difference). In fact they hate it. These haters – whose sole exposure is limited to an overzealous distributor in my experience – have picked up on the fundamental problem with MLM.

Inelegant sales.

Let me preface my argument with a disclaimer that I am no longer actively using MLM as a vehicle for wealth creation. Many years ago, I joined Amway& Network 21 and reached a certain level where I was making a small income. Like many a distributor before, and after me – I gave up. The reasons are not so relevant to this article, so if you feel inclined let’s have a beer or wine one day and discuss.

But why do I still think MLM is awesome? When combined with an excellent training & development program, I’m yet to find one that sucks!

They have great products

I purchase many products via MLM, simply because they are awesome!

The business model is a sound one

I love the idea that your average Joe, with limited resources and skills can enjoy the self actualisation of running a business, without the exorbitant costs and risk in time & money of setting up product development, distribution etc etc.

You purchase from the little guy

Yeah sure Amway et al are big businesses. Now. They got that way by starting small, just like every other big business today. What makes them different is that they redistribute the profits in a much fairer way. At the end of the day, your purchasing from a mum/dad with bills to pay just like you.

The people are fundamentally good

Like I said – mum/dad just like you. Trying to have a ‘fair go’ – so how Un-Australian of others to rubbish them.

Having said all that, lot’s of people hate them, and I kinda get that too.

Which leads me to why I think lot’s of MLM distributors fail. Yes, it’s inelegant sales, most haven’t had sales training, a lot like to think they don’t have to or want to sell, which is a recipe for failure.

It really comes down to purpose, vision, mission, values.

Many MLM’s have the purpose, among other things, to help others, reach financial freedom, avoid pain of mundane, distribute great products, retire early etc. And many subscribe to the values of these MLMs many are creating a healthier, wealthier community. Collaboration where individuals come together for a common cause. Helping and serving others. When you break it down, these are all great values and many people who hate MLM share these common values.

The problem exists in the mission of MLM, the vehicle used, HOW the purpose is realised and values experienced. Crudely put, MLM works when people sell and buy product, not when they join you on the road to financial freedom and help others come with you.

Ill give you an example. I was approached (again) recently by a distributor to join him on the way to helping others and financial freedom.

When I said I wasn’t passionate or interested in the product, he sarcastically remarked – “what, you don’t like helping people?”

Aside from the desire to smack some sales sense into the guy, I responded thusly (I’m paraphrasing)…

“Yes, I do. And I do. Of course. But that is not HOW an MLM works. An MLM works when you sell the product, and I know, that if you are not 1st and foremost passionate and believe in the product your selling you will most likely fail. 15 years of sales, and I am yet to see a successful person who is not aligned with the product they’re selling.”

The problem with MLM is recruiting of distributors who are aligned with the purpose, the vision and values, but not the mission. The mission is to move product. You are not selling “the dream”. You don’t realise the dream by getting people to join you – you realise the dream when others buy & sell product, and they recruit other people who buy & sell the product. It’s a great way to do business.

But stop kidding yourself, that it isn’t about sales. When you get an objection about the product, don’t answer it by talking about the dream. Even if you recruit them, they are going to fail cos their under the illusion they can just spread the word and all is well. You gotta sell the product. As well as the dream, but most people will buy that baby!

So. Message to that guy if you’re listening. Learn how to sell elegantly will you? Cos it’s an awesome business system and you’ve probably got a great product as well. So get good at sales. And just be cool will ya?

I was asked the other night –which one is better?  I honestly think both approaches have merit so it depends on which one is better for you. 

As a result, I felt the discussion was worthwhile exploring deeper – are you ready? 

There’s a reason why I’m an advocate for both… 

When I first started in sales, I only booked with people I liked.  Which represented about 25% of my total enquiry.  That’s a very shit conversion rate.  I didn’t earn much commission from that, it was difficult financially, mentally & emotionally exhausting.  Fast forward 18months and I had learned how to book just about everyone, and my conversion rate went up to 90%.  I earned a lot of commission from that, it was easier financially, mentally & emotionally exhilarating.  I experienced some very cool rewards also – free travel etc – which was a very excellent bonus!! 

So, should you sell to everyone and anyone?   

Is lead generation being done for you? 

It’s much easier to focus on booking everyone and anyone when the lead generation is being done for you.  The reason I say this, is that I am presupposing that whoever is doing the lead gen for you, is targeting the right clients already.  So you should already have fairly well qualified leads in the sense that they are looking for a product like yours.  If this is the case, then your conversation rate should be healthy – the % will depend on your product & industry (can be as low as 10%) but from my experience a conversion rate of 40% would be a minimum standard.  A healthy conversion would be around 70-80%.  Yes.  Book everyone! 

It’s a lot harder to attract leads when you are trying to attract everyone.  Marketers know this fact very well, and this is where a lot of people fall down – messaging needs to be clear, specific and targeted, or it won’t work.  I extend this philosophy to networking and selling as well. 

In my experience, a healthy networking strategy would be 

1. Meet as many people as possible (that’s right, get in there and start saying Hi!!) 
2. Approximately 10-15 mins friendly chat   (no more, find out who their ideal client is) 
3.  Next steps  (business cards & linkedin connection as a minimum & maybe coffee meeting).   

That may mean that in an hour half networking, I’ve met as many as 10 people.  Feel free to comment on this strategy – I’d love to know what others do that works too! 

I choose not to ask for/agree to a coffee meeting with everyone. 

Here’s why 

Reason for networking # 1 Collaboration & Endorsement – helping others 🙂  

When it comes to collaboration, I’m not interested in collaborating with everyone.  I’m particular about protecting my brand, so anyone I endorse and associate with has the Shazzle stamp of approval.  So meeting with everyone would be a waste of both our times.  This strategy benefits everyone.  It protects the integrity of my brand, and it lets my network know that if there is someone I endorse, then they are worth paying attention to.  When you’re establishing your brand, there is benefit in exploring this as you’ll learn who to /who not to collaborate with. 

Reason for networking # 2 Conversion & Making Sales – helping myself   

When I meet with a potential client, it almost always results in us doing business together.  I rarely don’t convert because if we meet for a coffee, they are people I know fit the criteria of an ideal client.  They are serious about taking their business to the next level, they know they need help and they are open to learning.  Plus, I’m a great sales person so they almost always buy 🙂.  I’m humble enough to know that I may be missing opportunities cos sometimes a sale will come from no-where! 

Reason for networking # 3 Meeting friends, surrounding myself with awesome people – helping myself  & others 

If there is someone I really gel with then I will meet with them, regardless of whether I think there is benefit in business specifically.    I know myself well enough that I’m good at helping people I’m passionate about.  I also want to connect with great quality people and I’m protective about who my friends are.  I like to surround myself with people who are ‘my tribe’.  This is more from a pleasure state for me than anything else, so it feels good.  Not everyone has time for that. 

Here’s why you should meet with anyone and  everyone 

Reason for coffee meeting #1 Learning 

You’re new to an industry and meeting with anyone and everyone will fast track your ability to speak the language, and instinctively know your markets needs and build your network.   I will target a coffee meeting with someone I can learn from, and sometimes, you don’t know what gifts people have to share with you! 

Reason for coffee meeting #2 You need to grow your network, fast 

Personally, I think there are better ways to do this than 1:1, but the premise is that if you are able to solve a need for them, they’ll solve a need for you – sometimes it’s hard to find that out in the 10-15mins and you won’t know that until you meet further, and discuss in detail.  If you have the time for this, it’s worthwhile! 

Reason for coffee meeting #3 Perception you are a great networker 

People are attracted to people with big networks, so if you are consistently seen out and about, meeting with people then people will begin to talk about you.  You’ll get a reputation for being a “great networker” and that’s a very good thing! 

So there are definite benefits to both approaches, and definite cons as well.  Which one is right for you? 

I think it depends on your goals – what are your thoughts?  

I always get asked what’s the 1 thing all great salespeople do….what’s their secret?

I never get asked – what’s the one thing that will undo a salesperson?

Isn’t that interesting?

In my experience I have found that there are so many things that work and what I love about sales is that I am always learning something new about why people buy, and how I can compel others to buy from me. My favourite past-time is sharing these insights with my clients. I’m forever convinced there’s no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ only contexts in which some things are great, and some things not so great. And so the quest to learn and do it all began.

And in the many & varied skills and techniques available to us to sell elegantly…I have found, there’s really only 1 Kryptonite.

And it isn’t what you think…I bet you’re going to “being too pushy”.

Yeah nah…not. It’s even more than that.

It’s not managing their ‘shit’.

Now, here’s the controversy. In all the 100’s of hours of sales training, study, implementation, webinars, application, conferences, doing stuff…I rarely hear about this form of Kriptonite. And if I do, it’s delivered in some shallow way that only addresses that I need to believe in myself.

Do you relate?

“Just believe you can, man”

Yeah, OK. Where do I buy a pill for that?

It’s B.S.

Cos quite honestly, I can attest that in all the techniques I have, one day of not managing my ‘shit’, and my conversion takes a nose-dive. And by managing my shit I mean, not being a cool human. You know you’re eating Kriptonite when you miss obvious signs your clients want to buy, or why they want to buy, or how you can serve in one way or another. You can tell you’re not ‘in the zone’. I remember receiving advice for this; go for a walk, meditate, put on some inspirational music…

Enough with the pill already.

Why not have deep conversations about how to be a really cool human? 99% of successful sales happens in the head. Don’t you think? It doesn’t matter how cool the widget is, if we’re having a bad day, then we’re shot. The key here is to develop a muscle where bad days rarely happen. It looks like this…

We approach every opportunity with an open mind, ready to serve

We make it about how the client will be better off, not how we can meet our target

We feel like we’re having a cool exchange with another human

We’re on purpose, aligned and the little voice inside our head is championing us

It sounds utopian, but it really isn’t. Does it require effort and commitment? Sure. Is it easy? Not always. but it is simple.

http://bemoreawesome.com.au/uncategorized/516

I personally have had a beef with the idea of “Customer Service” for years now.  In the past, I’ve been known to argue that we should be “selling” not “servicing” our customers. 

Now before you close your browser, hang out and get curious for a bit… 

As a customer, I would like to think that I know less about the solution than you do.  I would also like to think you know more about the problem than I do.   

Customer Service is; Solving the problem the customer thinks they have 

Customer Sales is; Solving the problem the customer thinks they have, as well as the one they didn’t know they had 

If you really want to add value, you don’t simply “serve” the customer.  That particular function I believe is reserved for McDonalds…or the Coles Checkout. 

You educate, inspire and compel your customer to solve their problem with your product or service. 

That requires an intelligent, curious, heart felt experience. 

The good news is that far too many organisations are focused on customer service (still) and this leaves an awesome opportunity for the rest of us who are far more pro-active to win the hearts and minds of our customers for life 🙂 

HOW? 

Begin with the Brand – what does your brand say about you?  This is the very first experience a client will have…how does it make them feel? 

Next – your Marketing & Sales.  What message does your sales & marketing strategy portray?  Is it aligned with your customers needs?  Or is it about you? 

Then – Delivery.  Are you delivering an AMAZING customer EXPERIENCE? 

AND – Nuturing.  How do you continue to engage with your customer to ensure they come back again and again? 

Beginning with the Brand in mind….for business turning over less than $2mil it’s very much about Brand YOU.  Your personal brand, styling and ability to sell yourself. 

Would you like to gain clarity and direction on your personal brand and be able to sell yourself with confidence? 

Come to Sydney Sales Meet-up – Personal Brand and How To Sell Yourself Click HERE to reserve your FREE spot