TONGUE OF A GREAT SALESMAN

“It’s time!” You told yourself that morning when you were to buy your first car and the glee on your face couldn’t be wiped out even with bleach! “Today we become one!” you say to the portrait of your dream car that hangs on your bedroom wall. You have a look at the bucket list you’d hidden in your drawer…dream car…DONE!

You make your way to the showroom; your eyes see nothing but your dream car. You walk to the spot you had seen it parked a couple of months back. She’s new, shinny, she makes your heart race, you can swear by looking at her headlights she smiles at youJ You walk around her like a lioness would just before savoring on the fatty antelope she’d been eyeing for the last hour and now its on her plate!

The sales man then walks up to you. “Aaah…so you are back…” he says as he comes over to you. “Just give me a minute I finish up on this beauty I was testing on…”

“Sure”, you say as you watch him get into the driver seat of the car parked two rows behind yours. “WOW!”, is all you tell yourself as you have a look at the car he is getting into. You calmly ask, “Hey has this always been here?”

“No it is actually one of the newborns here two days old to be exact…Oh man what I would do to have her…I’d move out and live in it if I could just so that I could afford it”, he says.

“Oh yeah?” you ask affirmatively.

“In a heart beat! If I had her, I’d have no problem in the world! As in I’d donate my blood, sell my kidney and liver to have it! She is what road-trips and sunset drives were made for. The God’s must be smiling at the inventor of this for sure. I mean listen to her…” He turns on the vehicle. The roar of the engine just numbs your thoughts to nothing else but it sound. Its like heaven had opened its windows for a second for earthlings to hear what the angels sound like on a happy day singing.

“Oh my ghad!!!”, you whisper to yourself as you find your way to the co-driver seat. The scent of the new car from the inside, the feel of the interior leather, the dashboard, the navigators, the multi gear box, the inbuilt surround system….you are simply loosing your mind at this point!

“Lucky is the man who drives away with this car for his does happiness reside”, the salesman says sadly because he knows he doesn’t have a chance of walking away with it.

“Errrrrmmmm…could I have a test drive?” you ask trying to hid your anxiety.

“If you insist”, he tells you.

And with that curtains closes, he takes a bow, SALE CLOSED!

That day your dream car is not your dream car anymore. You drive home with a revised and probably improved dream car. Though it cost more, you are convinced it is for the better…I mean, happiness from this moment on resides with you right?

This is what many of us go through; we walk in knowing what we want but leave with what we are convinced we needed more. That is what I call the effect of the Tongue of a salesman.

Have you ever encountered a situation where the sales person who is pitching to you influences your buying decision so much that you actually buy what they are selling? I met a salesman who I believe if he told me buying a coffin for myself right now should be at the top of my priority list I would! I’d actually go to the extent of picking out the  colour and interior finishings J …the Tongue of a sales man.

Don’t you wish you could have such a tongue? Here are some lessons on how to be a great salespeople with the Tongue

Lesson 1: Build A Relationship

R.E.L.A.T.I.O.N.S.H.I.P. Small word yet it has such a deep meaning. A relationship is just not about knowing another person’s basic information like name, contacts etc and you proudly say that you know that person. To have a relationship of whichever kind both parties simply have to connect. The link that ties the two of you is what builds a relationship. However when selling, most people only have their sales targets in mind and not what level off connection they intend to have in order to win the prospective buyer over. Thus they tend to talk about my company, our product is this, its features are these…me me me ME! However if you took a connection perspective, sales people with the tongue try and find out who they are talking to, what problems they are facing, what their desires are and future plans…they simply engage in you you YOU conversation! By this, you are gaining an understanding of your customer and their way of thinking and this connection prepares you on what angle to engage from with your sales pitch…I mean not all size fits all right…

Lesson 2: Listen More, See More, Talk Less.

You only get to know what others need is you not only hear but listen to what they are saying. When you are hearing what your prospects are saying, you tend to generalize and make assumptions what they needs. On the contrary when you listen to them, you are paying attention to the details that are being conveyed to you. Thus by listening more and talking less you will get much further much faster when trying to persuade or influence your prospects.

Lesson 3: Be inquisitive

When great salespeople with the tongue want to find out their prospective’s or customer’s stand on their product or service offering, they make use of questions. And not just any questions. They ask only those that lead to them getting meaningful feedback. For instance, if you want to find out if a customer has ever tried your product, you don’t ask them, “Have you tried our new product?” This is because by asking them this they already jump into defense because it suggests that it’s a law they are breaking if they haven’t and it also leads to a closed ended answer such as a simple no or yes. However, if you instead ask them, “How did you find our new product when you tried it?”, you are already telling them that you hope and trust that they have tried it. Also their answer will be very open ended like, “In fact, I haven’t. Why is there something I am missing?” This will in turn lead into a dialogue in which you can also get to learn more about their needs, understand them better and build a relationship.

Lesson 4: Follow-up, Stand-out!

Being acquainted to a new prospect is not enough. This is because in the world of business, there are billions of salespeople selling trillions of products and services. Therefore in order to stand out from the crowd, you ought to continue what you have already begun. You have to follow up. Make the call, send the emails and schedule meetings, develop the relationship. It doesn’t necessarily have to be for business purposes, you can just call to find out how they are doing in their day to day lives, their interests…get to know them. By the time you do all this, you can bring up the proposal you had handed them or ask them how they find the product or service you sold to them. Eventually you can review together on what next step to take. Follow-up!

Lesson 5: See the future…Be Futuristic

Salesmen who are passionate about their career do not pitch for a one off sale so as to hit their day’s or month’s targets. Their end game is to pitch for future sales. Because realistically, not all prospects are today-and-now buyers, they always need time to think before buying and this is what is referred to as the buying behavior. So whoever they are trying to sell to, they do it to their best and hope that either they will have them buying even if its not today they will in the future or alternatively they will do viral marketing for them to their social and professional network…looking at the bigger picture.

Have a tasteful day :)

WOMAN'S WORTH...

When God created woman he was working late on the 6th day.
An angel came by and said: "Why spend so much time on that one?"

God: "Have you seen all the specifications I have to meet to shape her? She must be washable, but not made of plastic. Have more than 200 moving parts which all must be replaceable and she must function on all kinds of food. She must be able to embrace several kids at the same time, give a hug that can heal anything from a bruised knee to a broken heart; and she must do all this with only two hands."
Angel: " Just two hands.....IMPOSSIBLE!! And this is the standard model?! Too much work for one day...Wait until tomorrow and then complete her."
God: "I will not. I am so close to complete this creation which will be the favorite of my heart. She cures herself when sick and she can work 18 hours a day."

The angel came nearer and touched the woman.
Angel: "But you have made her so soft Lord."
God: "She is soft but i have also made her strong. You can't imagine what she can endure and overcome."
Angel: "Can she think?"
God: "Not only can she think, she can reason and negotiate."

Angel touched the woman's cheek...." Lord, it seems this creation is leaking! You have put too many burdens on her!"
God: "She is not leaking...it's a tear."
Angel: "What is it for?"
God: "Tears are her way of expressing grief, her doubts, her love, her loneliness, her suffering and her pride"

Angel: "Lord, you are a genius. You thought of everything. The woman is indeed marvelous!"
God: "Indeed she is! Woman has the strengths that amaze man...
She can handle trouble and carry heavy burdens.
She holds happiness, love and opinions.
She smiles :) when feeling like screaming.
She sings when she feels like crying.
Cries when she is happy and laughs when she is afraid.
She fights for what she believes in.
She stands up against injustice.
She doesn't take 'no' for an answer when she has a better solution.
She gives herself so her family can thrive.
She takes her friend to the doctor if she is afraid.

Her love is unconditional.
She cries when her kids are victorious.
She is happy when her friends do well.
She is glad when she hears of a birth or a wedding.
Her heart is broken when a next of kin or friend dies but she finds the strength to get on with life.
She knows that a kiss and a hug can heal a broken heart.....there's only one thing wrong with her…

SHE FORGETS HER WORTH!

The worth of a woman is priceless...To all the women in the world today...We celebrate you today...Happy international women's day :)

WHAT'S NOT HAPPENING!!!!

WHAT'S NOT HAPPENING!!!!!!

You play your first impression cards perfectly. It was all for the decision maker who is a prospect you were connected to through your social networks. You go home enthusiastic enough to even start budgeting ahead of the commissions you forecast you will be getting. The link up was so smooth that you scheduled a negotiation meeting to be held in a few days time. That night, as you lay your head to sleep, you literally feel your hands touching the sky…

YOU ARE UNSTOPPABLE! 

Comes morning the day of the negotiation meeting, you have a discussion with your Relationship Manager from the bank on how you will be taking the top-up loan; I mean you are just about to reel in a cash-cow under your name. You enter your car singing, swaying or whistling to your happy song playing in the background on your way to the meeting. You even hold the door for everyone entering the office on that day. Yes life is perfect!

Meeting goes on smoothly then without a warning sign, for some strange reason, you get turned down by the prospect. You get very disappointed, worked up and remember all the time, effort and resources you invested trying to secure this sales deal. You just can not understand why you failed to get that transaction...yet you were so close...

This is just but a case scenario of a typical sales cycle gone wrong and sadly it happens all the time. Some times its beyond the salesman’s control however under a magnifying glass sometimes it is the salesman’s fault. How??? Glad you asked. Here are some instances which you can avoid as all they do is place a salesman in a position where you are attending a gunfight only to realize you came equipped with a water gun or knife.

Talking too much 

Fine there is a lot you can say about your product in the name of having “passion” for it but not only does talking too much bore the prospects easily, it also tends to make them forget the vital information you passed on earlier. Cut to the chase and stop beating around the bush.

Not enough follow-throughs 

When proper follow-up isn’t done on prospects, it’s more likely that the competition would win them before you realize it. Never forget that your competition is always close-by. So, to really succeed in closing deals and turning prospects into clients, consistent follow-ups are a must.

Pitching to unqualified prospects

Truth be told, you would never allow yourself to go on a date with just about anyone. Everyone has a subconscious checklist of preferences and if the candidate doesn’t fit the criteria, you move on…swiftly. The same applies when it comes to sales, whatever you are selling is not a one size fits all...unless its salt and sugar. You have a certain profile for clients for each product you are selling. Thus selling a product to a prospect who does not fit in the target market criteria is pointless. This is because you end up chasing a person who has no, leave alone little, interest or desire to buy. As a result you end up wasting your time chasing your tail when you could have focused your attention on someone who was serious about making a purchase.

Not Listening

When selling to prospects, we always assume that we are trying to sell to prospects something they might need but are not aware about. Thus we always tend to focus more on what we are going to say next rather than listening to what the prospect is saying. Sadly, we end up being sleazy salesmen.

Getting Names Wrong

Yes you have just met and yes you have met tens or hundreds of people so far. It isn’t a mistake made literally when you call Christine Caroline or Peter Patrick. It also isn’t intentional when you misspell names in emails like Yugin instead of Eugene. Never the less it is human that everyone and I mean EVERYONE loves the sound of their own name. We as human can't help it as it is our sole source of identity and moreover it makes us feel important and valued. Thus Getting someone's name wrong is a sign of uncaring.

Being Funny (NOT!)

This is quite straight forward, you only tell certain personal jokes to your circle of friends, don’t stretch your boundaries to colleagues and customers. This is because if your sense of humor involves making someone else the brunt of your jokes, then you might leave the listener with the question in their mind of when they will become the next person to be made fun of.

Not respecting boundaries

"Pushy salesperson" -On-ground definition is that person who ignores your "no" and who can't hear you when you say that you need time to think. Need I say more….

Espousing strong religious or political beliefs to non-believers

Not everyone shares your beliefs. Whether what you saw, read or heard broke your heart and made you bitter about the political or religious situation in the world, it should not be a source of conversation with your prospects…it is not considered as a safe ice breaker. It actually is the surest way to put people off when you push your beliefs down others throats without their permission.

All mistakes can be avoided but in reality everyone has to make them...Franklin P Jones once said,"Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again." Lets learn from our mistakes shall we then :)

Stripper 101: 10 Sales Tips from Strippers

10 Sales and Marketing Tips I learned from Strippers

Written by WiseCamel.com

Like you, I like strippers.
However, I generally find myself leaving the strip club with an empty wallet. Any business that can get you to spend all of your money is a good one to be in.
But while walking out of a club one evening, I realized that a big reason they have such a good business is because strippers are such great salespeople. It is not simply due to the fact that they are selling to stupid, horny men like myself, but because they use a lot of highly effective sales and marketing techniques.
You too can achieve great success by applying sales and marketing techniques of strippers. Here are the 10 sales and marketing techniques I have learned from strippers:


Sales Technique #1 – Give them something for nothing
One of the first things a stripper will do is come up to you and flirt with you. She will likely sit on your lap or do something to raise your excitement level. For this, you have to do nothing. But you do get a sample of the service and if it is a good one, your chances of buying the service increases. This also applies to the dances they do on the stage.


Sales Technique #2 – Understand your customers
Strippers get to know their customers by asking questions. This allows them to develop a rapport and tailor the sales pitch?


Sales Technique #3 – Tailor the Sales Pitch
Strippers will try different sales pitches to different people based on what she thinks they like. “I like to get dirty” or “Have you seen my great ass?” or “My tits are real”. Each pitch may be the one thing that converts the potential customer into a buyer. (Pointing out a tight ass works well for me). And she revises her pitch based on experience.


Sales Technique #4 – Make sure you are selling a great product/service
She knows she has to have a great product. If she put on 30 pounds or hadn’t showered for the past 4 days, she would likely not get as many customers. Regardless of how great of a salesperson you are, you can’t do much with a crappy product/service.


Sales Technique #5 – Provide Good Customer Service
She will make sure you are happy on your first dance or she won’t get repeat business or won’t be able to do what she ultimately set out to do?Upsell.


Sales Technique #6 – Upsell
She sells the customer on a relatively cheap service, a lapdance, but then markets her other services to them. She tries to get them to the “champagne room” and sell an upgraded service, which is where the money is at. However, without the first sale, she would never get the larger sale. Customer acquisition is tough. Once she does it, she needs to get as much business as she can.


Sales Technique #7 – Closing Techniques
She will use a variety of closing techniques to get you to buy her services. There are a variety of closing techniques, but two popular ones used by strippers are the compliment close (usually flirting with you) and companion close(getting your buddies to push you into closing the deal).


Sales Technique #8 – Target your audience
Strippers market to individuals that are interested in her service. First, she works in a strip club where guys go specifically for her service, that is obvious. But she also knows which guys to go after within a group or which groups will likely spend the most money. Spending time with cheap-asses only wanting to pay a dollar for a dance will not be a wise use of he precious time.


Sales Technique #9 – Persistence
Even though the audience is qualified, she knows she will get rejections. Even so, she will go up to every guy and ask if they need a lap dance. She also knows that the more guys she asks, the more yes’s she will get.


Sales Technique #10 – Branding
I don’t know any strippers that are named Ethel, Mildred or Agnus. Instead, you will get the pleasure to do business with Cookie, Destiny, Candy, or Raven.

The Power of First Impression

Scenario: You are seated at your favourite restaurant, as usual, having the Bacon Double Cheesed Stuffed Burger, as usual, usually because you had a great day. But this day is not the same. It’s just different. The music seems to sounds a bit more harmonious, the cheese tastes just a bit creamier and Kamau, your usual waiter, is a bit nicer than usual. The conclusion you are about to make is that it’s going to be a nice night until you see her.

Your heart rate is now going crazy, a bit more than usual and suddenly you can’t make head or tails whether to send her a drink first or abandon your table and join hers or ask the waiter to secretly find out her name or send over a note “Your are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen or..

The possibilities of that first approach seem endless but the winning one would be the one that creates the perfect result…a chance to see her again. One that results in, a bit more.

The Power of the First Impression.

The art of romance and that of sales have never been that different. The end game has always been the close. The how? The when? The why?

When a sales person spots a potential buyer, their eyes immediately pop and their heart begins to race. They immediately remove their cards from their cardholders and like moths to a flame propel themselves to the potential buyer’s surrounding. There, they have forced the buyer to take their cards and what seems like given ‘themselves’ a meeting with the potential buyer.

Yes! You have The Meeting. The Meeting you have been hoping for all month. It’s time to hone that super presentation…or is it?

Do you think the CEO wants to hear someone talk about themselves and what they have to offer for 30minutes?

He already has your card, which believe me is not the best card that he has ever seen in his life, and whatever you are selling, he already knows about. The only other wowing factor would be that you can list all your products and prices and potential discounts without looking at the actual literature(Which we are all sure you had a week to make sure that you can actually do it).

So why be the average sales person and do the most cliché thing ever. Why give up your edge, your ‘wow’ just like that.

The answer to a powerful business introduction is simple…BE DIFFERENT.

Salespeople are looking to differentiate themselves. They are providing value beyond their products and services to the customer, something that will make the customer think they are superior to their competition.

What are you willing to change about the way you do business? So that when you get that CEO meeting he never forgets you. What will you do to ensure that great first impression, an impressive first impression that earns you a sale?

Here are some things that you can do

•  Change your title

Make it fun, but serious. For example a Profit Producer^Productivity Expert^Creator of Great Ideas…

Now try with yours.

•  Print your own card

It can’t be any worse than the one you are carrying. Use both cards- one for image and legitimacy and the other to prove creativity.

• Bring a fun idea

An idea that helps them, demonstrate value. 

• Bring a short classic book or a fun one

For example a small book about the wisdom of Dr. Seuss or a classic book that makes the CEO think about himself. The best source for such is www.executivebooks.com.

• Bring an idea for improving and enhancing THEIR business.

This might take time, research and creativity, but will get you in the door and keep you there.

These are just some of the things that you can do to create a lasting first impression and one that will get you a referral.

Have a good day (‘’,)

11 FOR THE GREAT 2011

First off HAPPY NEW YEAR:)

Yet another new year, with new expectations everywhere with predefined resolutions. Well here are 11 relevant resolutions that may help you to avoid dropping your 2011 ball :)

1. Network More.

In life no man is an island entire of itself. Everyone needs someone, we all need each other because it is people, flesh and blood men and women who make or break you. People are your primary business whether you are selling yourself or your products and services, people buy people. By networking therefore you increase your connectivity and sharing of ideas. Take the funnel for instance, the more you fill at the top the more you get at the end. In that line of thinking the more you network, the more connections you create and the more perspective you gain. Increase your flexibility, become more people oriented, simply network!

2.Learn something new everyday

Life is all about progression and better yet while you are busy hanging on to what you already know, discoveries are still being made. Knowledge is an evolving concept and as we all know, evolution doesn't come equipped with a stop or pause button. Keep your eyes open, your ears on the ground and your mind learning.

3.Review every so often your ambitions.

This will help you bring them back into perspective over the time. Don’t just make sales pitches about how great you want to be, work hard, talk less and learn to be and do what you want to be. Only you can push yourself into your own achievement range.

4.Invest In Me Time

The pivot point between your career life and your personal social life is ‘Me Time’. This is when you rejuvenate yourself from within, creating a balance between the thoughts in your mind, the emotions in your heart and the desires in your soul. Being in-sync with the 3 basic elements that make up the one thing you are perfect at doing, that is being you. The more stable you are physically, mentally,emotionally and spiritually, the more you can pursue the you that you want to be.

5.Learn to embrace the gift called Present.

Every new day should never find you in your yesterday's skin. Shed it off! You weren't put on this earth to be stuck in a limbo of your past, if you were you'd probably still be breastfeeding from your mother considering that was one of the most painful habits to let go of as a toddler! Every new day should present a new you if not, you are just putting yourself in quick sand of disaster. A poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once wrote, “All are architects of fate living in these walls of time.All are architects of fate...so look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again"

6. Live more.

James Dean (February 8, 1931 – September 30, 1955), for those with calculus disabilities he lived for exactly 24 years, probably would be the SI unit of Living Life. 24 YEARS! You are probably wondering why I'm making a big fuss out of his age yet 'its nothing but a number'. Well James Dean, if i was to summarize to you his biography,was an Actor in big time movies including East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant Dream and also had a racing career. In both careers he was excellent!In acting he was the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and remains the only actor to have had two posthumous acting nominations...further more in 1999 (4 decades after his death), and as a race car driver, he scooped several awards.His personal life...well lets just say he was quite a Casanova with every gossip column in the daily journals having some spicy stuff about what he was up to. He, all in all, was seen as a legend and had an iconic status in his society. He was simply living his life and he once said "Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." Right now in his grave you wouldn't doubt his corpse has a smile on the face :)

7. Plan your work and work your plan

It is the basics of any battle..which we are using it as metaphor for any task. Sun Tzu was the author of one of the worlds most translated reading...i mean there like thousands of translations as his book, The Art Of War, wasn't straight to the point. But one of the most simple basics he taught in his course on war literature is when he said; When going to battle, its all about knowing yourself and your surrounding. When you know:

0% of yourself + 0% of your surrounding = 0% wins and 100% defeats

50% of yourself + 50% of your surrounding= 50% wins and 50% defeats

100% of yourself + 100% of your surrounding=100% wins and 0% defeats

Take charge, you are the commander in chief of your own battles!

8. Help Others

Helping others brings good feelings to the giver and the receiver of the good deeds. Using your special gifts to help others can be a gift to yourself as you enjoy a self esteem boost for making others’ lives better, and make the world a better place :)

9.Become more cost-effective and save money

No matter the monetary value you make, you have to think of the future whether you have 10 zeros or one zero to your name, a shilling is a value. Saving has always been one of those things everyone says they will do. It is a present-future-ongoing-THOUGHT...very few people tend to actualize those thoughts. Well  there are many proposed constitutions of how to manage your finances according to financial gurus but it all trickles down to two SMART principles: Keep your spending in check and get the most for your money. A shilling today, a fortune tomorrow.

10. Buy and most importantly READ books.

For entertainment, inspiration, education, to pass time...whatever your reason read a book that is worth your time at least once in a while. This is because they are known to be beneficiary to humans for one sole purpose....to expand our sense of what is possible, that is, expand your creativity.

11.Get rid of what you don't need.

What worked for you before but is not working for you right now will never work for you then. Try get rid of all what is not of use to you now. For most people it is hard to do so because of the 'What If' demon that is subconscious in us. But all that these what if's do to you is make you have a cluttered way of living. Learn to sit down, sort what you need and don't need, what you don't, let loose of your grip on them and let them go looking forward to better things that will be more useful.

365 days...525,600 minutes...Time is money...

Here's to a great blessed year ahead.

Cheers (^^,)