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Tuition or Commission?

Tuition or Commission?

It’s that simple…

Either you write it up now and get commission…or you make an appointment to sell it later.

Those are commission producing actions and results.

OR you DON’T get the sale or the appointment…and you LEARN something from it.

You learn something about yourself. You learn what you could have done or done differently.

For that outcome you need to want to get something from this interaction with…

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The Final PR Word

P R
For Sales Professionals, everywhere…..
This is the last of four blogs in the series on PR words. How did the last blog about the buyer’s PRocess impact what you know about where your client/customer is in their decision making…and what you are able to complete and achieve with them today? Our final P R word is….

PRoduct(s)
  • Based on what we have learned about their problem, what matters most to them, and where they are in their process, what are the best product solutions for them?
  • H…

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The 4 PR Words

Nope, it’s not about public relations. This is the first in a series of four words beginning with P R that are critical to ask and to know. 
P and R are the first two letters of FOUR words that impact the sales interaction and the outcome. These are questions we should be asking them and ourselves about what is in the mind of the customer/client and what is driving their decision-making. Let’s look….

PRoblem
  • What is behind this purchase and decision?
  • What is the ‘current reality’ that th…

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Managing Distractions and Interruptions

We can do a fine job of organizing and planning our own actions and involving others when we schedule appointments with them. And even with all that, our best-scheduled actions can be derailed by the actions of others.

Take a look at how your time unfolds. Are your actions taken as you plan them…or do they get pushed back to accommodate the requests of others? Does this happen frequently? Do others interrupt you because you allow or encourage it or because you have a skill that they often nee…

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Respecting Time by Making Appointments

As part of organizing actions in time, establish pre-arranged appointment times for when they work best for YOU (scheduled at lower opportunity times for other, harder-to-control actions). Use the repeat feature on your calendar so that you hold those times week after week. When you offer an appointment time that is agreed to, send a calendar invitation that can be accepted and ‘saved for this event only’ from the series…leaving that spot open next week at the same time. Increase the opportuni…

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Costly Conspirators

Our first foray into Imperfections this month was to consider them as Charming Idiosyncrasies, which they surely can be.
 
Another point of view is that imperfections are not so charming or amusing. And those imperfections that impact our own efforts and those of others are particularly troublesome. We may look away from these and hope that others don’t notice, but they do notice. 

Imperfections that impact others, like chronic tardiness or inability to complete a task on time, begin to w…

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Calling Unsold Opportunities

If you have neither closed the sale nor scheduled an appointment to meet or speak again with a prospect, calling to see how their process is unfolding IS the next action to take. Always.

It’s a judgment call as to WHEN to reach out, and I invite everyone to examine their follow-up on unsold opportunities to see if you have a process in place (such as reaching out 48 hours after contact unless otherwise noted). At the very least, start by reaching out with a ‘great to meet you!’ email or text……

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Guardrails #2

To continue with the guardrail conversation… setting boundaries.
A boundary that helps guide the conversation is the ability to say “No.”

Say NO when the client/customer asks for things that cannot be done – either within the current budget or timeframe.
Say NO when the client/customer asks for additions without adding to what they are paying for it. 
Say NO when the client/customer asks you to ‘take it out of your commission’.
Say NO when the client/customer asks you to do something that you know is…

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Guardrails #1

In the very simplest of terms, as a sales professional, our job is to make it easy for our customers/clients to say yes… and to buy from us. 
To do that, we need to truly be responsible for the entire sales interaction and how it goes, and where it ends up.
Guardrails help that. 

By guardrails, I mean guiding the conversation so that it doesn’t veer off course and stays in the lane for the intended outcome. Guardrails include asking questions that will direct the discussion and get the answer…

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GRATEFUL SOLUTIONS

Consider the skill it takes to collaborate with a client/customer to find a solution that they can say ‘yes’ to. That skill takes practice to develop and a belief that the practice will enhance the interaction and the outcome. And that the practice of collaboration and problem-solving will lead to more effective outcomes.

If you are achieving that, it is because you chose to try something different… and were willing to be uncomfortable with the process (and yet trust it!) so that you could produc…

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