Ko Sales Coach

Body Language is a Powerful Form of Communication I’m sure you’ve heard that the majority of your communication comes in the form of body language. If you google it you’ll find it’s between 70 and 90% (although 65% of the statistics you find on the web are only 29% accurate). Whatever the number is, a lot of communication takes place in the form of body language. On today's show discover: ... 5 simple ways to improve your body language; .. and how these changes can help you feel more confident, more happy and communicate better even over the phone! Subscribe to KO Sales Coach iTunes | Android | Email | RSS | More Subscribe Options Leave a Rating and Review in iTunes Body Language on the Phone When it comes to communication it’s not just about the words you use. You could be giving the best sales presentation of your life but if your tone of voice and body language aren’t in sync with the words you’re saying the whole thing can fall apart. So if I sell over the phone I should skip this episode right? Nope!

Momentum in Sales Momentum is a fascinating thing and you hear about it a lot in sports. “They’re on a winning streak, they’ve got momentum”. Now you might not hear about it as much in sales but it’s there. The question is how do you make it and more importantly how do you take advantage of it? On today's show discover: ... how to build momentum; ... how to sustain it, ... how to use momentum during your sale to maximize your opportunities. Subscribe to KO Sales Coach iTunes | Android | Email | RSS | More Subscribe Options Leave a Rating and Review in iTunes A long time ago people used to pump water directly out of the ground. Maybe you’ve seen those pumps I’m talking about. They had a long heavy handle on one side and a spout on the other side. To get the water you had to pump the handle and draw the water up from way down below and it took a lot of effort. Actually it was kind of ironic because in order to get the water to cool yourself down, you had to work up a real sweat to pump it out of the ground.

No One Can Afford It Have you ever had one of those days where it seems like every customer has a problem with the price? It’s like all of a sudden no one can afford it. It’s a nightmare! Did all the customers get together and conspire to make your job harder or is it possible there’s something you’re doing? What if you could sell something people would pay anything for? That would make it a lot easier right? On today's show discover: ... how to find out what’s priceless to your customer; ... how to position your product so your customer wants to have it at any price; ... how to stop selling your product and start selling the dream! Subscribe to KO Sales Coach iTunes | Android | Email | RSS | More Subscribe Options Leave a Rating and Review in iTunes Focus on The Product? I thought the best way to sell something was to tell the customer how awesome the product is...isn’t that what it takes? Not really, just hearing how great a product is isn’t enough.  Contrary to popular belief your customer isn’t buying

So Simple Yet Overlooked It’s one of the easiest yet most overlooked steps in sales and leaving it out could be costing you thousands of dollars in commission each year. On today's show discover: ... the best way to keep your customer in an agreeable state of mind; ... how to maintain and strengthen rapport even when your customer disagrees; ... how to avoid contradicting yourself and successfully overcome more objections. Objections are a normal part of the sales process and when they’re handled well they’re an opportunity to strengthen rapport and build value. However if you handle them poorly everything can go south FAST! The most important part of the rebuttal process is the agree step and there are three main reasons why: Agreeing with your customer helps reassure them that you’re on their side and working toward a mutually beneficial outcome. It acknowledges that their viewpoint matters and tells them you respect what they think, feel and value. It let’s them know you heard what they had to say and c

Do you remember when you learned to drive a car? For most of us it was a big deal! There were a lot of details to learn, and skills to develop. New drivers need to spend time developing good habits in order to be safe. Signal when you turn, look both ways before you pull out, check your rearview mirror and side mirrors regularly.   It’s the same in sales...there’s a lot to learn and over time you develop habits (good or bad) that become so ingrained you may not even realize what you’re doing. I mean, have you ever driven all the way home and realized you don’t remember details about the trip? (I know kind of scary but that’s an example of how ingrained habits can be) On today's show discover: ...why it’s important to develop good habits in sales; ...and seven easy steps to master any new sales habit. Habits are those funny little quirky things we all do without even thinking about it, Good habits are the foundation of success When you compare top salespeople to everyone else one of the most interesting t

Are You Sold? You spend all day helping educate your customers so they believe your product will help them...but are you sold? Do you believe? On today's show discover: ...why it’s so important to believe in what you’re selling; ...three ideas for strengthening your belief in your product and ... three ideas for strengthening your belief in yourself.   Risky Business You’re going to the movies and you’re really looking forward to it but there’s a risk. What if you buy that expensive movie ticket and the movie isn’t good? After the movie you decide to take your date to dinner and you head to a new restaurant in town. You look over the menu to decide what you want and this is risky too. What if you don’t like the entree you select? When you’re engaged in the buying process there can be an element of risk and the more risky it seems the less likely you’ll buy. As a salesperson you can either increase this feeling of risk or decrease it and a lot of that has to do with your belief in your product and yourself.

Keep Your Sales in Good Health For true long term sales success you need to keep your process healthy but just like in real-life, sometimes you find yourself “under the weather”. On today's show discover: ... common issues that can leave your best efforts weak and tired; ... and proven remedies to get back on your game and your sales back to good health Common Afflictions Tip of the Iceberg Syndrome It’s easy to come down with this syndrome if you’re not careful....(heck it’s even been responsible for sinking big ships!) As salespeople we sometimes have a tendency to place too much emphasis on the first thing our customers tell us. Sure, sometimes that, is in fact, the most important thing but not always. Many times there’s more below the surface, pain points that are even more important to your customer. When you latch on to the first thing they say without investigating further you might end up solving a low-priority problem and miss the sale altogether. The best way to steer clear of "Tip of the Iceberg

Unsubstantiated Claims James has a customer who’s on the fence and he knows his product will really help he just needs to convince them to say yes so he says... “look I know this is an important decision for you but I guarantee if you give this a try you’re going to lose that 10 pounds.” So what do you think? Did James go to far? Yes he did. That’s a claim and not only is it illegal it doesn’t help as much as you might think. On today's show discover: ...how exaggerating product claims can hurt your sales; ... if it’s ok to tell a customer you don’t know; ... why it’s always better to tell the truth. It's Too Good To Be True You’ve seen those “as seen on TV” products that guarantee defined abs by just sitting on the couch, right? You aren’t fooled because you know if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.Your customers know that too. They understand there is no magic bullet and no matter how good your product is, it won’t provide the same results for everyone who uses it, every-time. When you exagge

Prejudging Remember how Spiderman had that ability to sense when something was wrong...you know his "spider senses were tingling". Would that be handy in sales? Sure, but few salespeople (despite what you may have heard) actually have superpowers. Sometimes we think we have have "spider senses" when it comes to whether our customer is going to buy or not but relying on a superpower you don’t have, could cause you to miss big sales and big opportunities. On today's show discover: ... you really don’t have spider senses (at least not when it comes to sales); ... why focusing on “NO” is a good way to go; ... the simple technique top salespeople use to earn big commissions!   Subscribe to KO Sales Coach iTunes | Android | Email | RSS | More Subscribe Options Leave a Rating and Review in iTunes Sales is full of surprises! Like when you’re working with someone you thought for certain wasn’t going to buy and then all of a sudden they say “I’ll take it” If you’ve been in sales for any length of time, chances are r

Communication and Human Interaction Sales is all about communication and human interaction. When we buy something we need details and we need to know how we’ll benefit so we can make an informed decision. We want to get that information from someone we like and trust and much of that decision comes down to communication. On today's show discover: ...why it’s important to thoughtfully select words and phrases that support your customer interaction; ...how selecting the right words and style of communication helps you establish rapport and move toward a sale. Formal or Casual? The language, phrases and words you use can help you make the sale or cause you to talk your customer out of it. Sometimes there are really subtle differences that have a big impact on the outcome. To make a connection with your customer and build rapport the best interactions are professional but informal. It helps you build rapport, and make a more human connection. It’s not like you’re a police officer investigating a crime or anythi

What Customer's are Really Interested In Are you impressed when a salesperson just rattles off a bunch of facts and features using "industry language" that you don't even understand? No, me either. What most customers want to know about your product is...how will it benefit them? On today's show discover: ... how wowing the customer with your product knowledge can cost you sales; ... what customers really want to know;   ... and why customers are far more excited to buy the destination than the plane.   Do You Know Where Your Customer Wants to Go? Last week we talked about how discovering your customer’s hot button can help you build value in your product. If you missed that episode check out KOSalesCoach.net/41. Hot Buttons are where your customer wants to go. They want to be able to go for walks on the beach again, they want to be able to rekindle a relationship, or regain their independence. It’s a place they aren’t at now and it’s a place they want to get back to. You know, I listen to sales calls every

The Thing You Love The Most If you had the entire day off, paid and you could do anything what would you do? You know for fun, just for you? On today's show discover: ... that everyone has a hot button; ... why finding your customer’s hot button is so important; ...and how connecting with the emotional reason they want your product can make the entire sales process much easier! Subscribe to KO Sales Coach iTunes | Android | Email | RSS | More Subscribe Options Leave a Rating and Review in iTunes What Are Hot Buttons? Whenever I think about hot buttons I think of that Big Red EASY button you may have seen in some ads on TV. I think of that because hot buttons make the sales process much easier. Hot Buttons are the emotional reasons customers want your product and believe it or not, they are WAY more important than the logical reasons they want it. In fact, we did an entire episode on that called Why Mr Spock Was Wrong about Why People Buy. Don’t get me wrong, getting a hot button doesn’t guarantee a sale and

Learning Never Ends Once upon a time there was a very strong woodcutter name Woody and he applied for a job cutting down trees. He won the job and he  was determined to do his best. His boss, Forest,  gave him an ax and showed him where to cut down trees. On the first day, Woody began cutting and fell fifteen trees.Forest was impressed and praised Woody for doing such a great job. The next day, Woody was highly motivated by Forest’s praise, so he tried even harder but he could only bring down ten trees. The third day he took it up a notch  but was only able to bring down seven trees (half what he’d done the first day). Woody apologized to Forest saying "I must be losing my strength, I can’t understand what’s going on with me.” Forest thought for a moment and asked "When was the last time you sharpened your ax, Woody?"  Woody hadn’t had time to sharpen his ax he was too busy cutting down trees. You know most of us struggle to update our skills, and we assume that whatever we’ve learned so far is sufficient. Bu

Foolish Things Salespeople Do I thought in honor of April fools day it would be fun to do an episode about some of the amazingly foolish things salespeople do. Now, if you’ve done any of these don’t feel bad (most likely we’ve all done at least some of these before) and hopefully…you’re not doing them anymore…I mean if you were that would be pretty foolish! On today’s show discover: …can cause your customer to say no; …shake your confidence and … are avoided by top sales pros (who probably made these mistakes at one time or another too). 1 Providing Irrelevant Information You’ve studied your product knowledge and you’re eager to share what you know but raining down information that’s relevant to the product and irrelevant to your customer does more harm than good. Why is it foolish?   Well, when you provide too much information you could: Introduce an objection Seem like you’re not listening Look desperate (like you’re overselling and not confident)   And cause your customer to lose interest and excitement

The Roast Beef Story A mother was showing her daughter how to make pot roast. “First, we need to cut off both ends.” The little girl looked at her mother and said “Why?” To which her mother replied, “well that’s the way we’ve always done it but come to think of it I don’t know why either. Let’s call your grandmother and ask her.” The girl dialed the phone. “Hi Grandma, why do we cut the ends of the pot roast ?” Her grandmother thought and then said “Well, we’ve always done it that way, it’s how my mother taught me and how I taught your mother. Actually, I really don’t know why. Why don’t you call your great-grandmother and ask her.” The little girl hung up and dialed her great grandmother. “Hello great granny, why do we cut the ends off the pot roast?” The great grandmother thought and replied “Well, back when I taught your grandmother how to cook the oven was too small and it wouldn’t fit otherwise.” The point of the story? Just because you’ve always done it that way, doesn’t mean it’s the right way to do it

You’re Better at Sales than You Think Sometimes when people are new to sales you’ll hear them say things like “I’m not a salesperson” or ‘I’m not good at sales”. It’s probably the same thing skydiving instructors hear when they run into people who’ve never jumped out of a plane before. But if you’ve never done it before, how do you know you’re no good at it? Maybe, just maybe, you’re better at it than you think you are.   On today’s show discover: …that you have more sales experience than you think you have; …and three ways you may actually be better at sales than people who’ve been doing it for awhile. I’m Not a Salesperson Why do people like to say “I’m not a salesperson?” I think it’s because of what they imagine a salesperson to be. If your internal definition of a salesperson is a pushy, shady, tricky, fast talking, flim-flam artists that coerces people into buy things they don’t want…then I totally get where you’re coming from. I wouldn’t want to be that either. But is that really what a salesperson i

Lucky in Sales Have you ever met one of those people who just seems to be lucky. No matter what, they always seem to land on their feet. When no one else is making sales they “luck” into a customer that wants to buy. But if luck is so random....how can it be so consistent for some? On today's show you'll discover... ... if luck is a factor when it comes to sales success; ... why some salespeople seem to be luckier than others; ... and how you can provoke luck to increase your sales performance.  Subscribe to KO Sales Coach iTunes | Android | Email | RSS | More Subscribe Options Leave a Rating and Review in iTunes Luck by Definition If you google the word luck, you’ll find quite a few different definitions but one of my favorites is from the author Max Gunther who defines luck as "events that influence one's life and are seemingly beyond one's control" It’s an interesting definition, especially when you key in on the word “seemingly”. To me, it suggests that while luck may appear to be beyond your control yo

Start Your Day Off Right We’ve all been there, some days you’re just not into it and it’s hard to get motivated. But what separates top sales professionals for everyone else is there ability to rise to the challenge everyday, stay focused and make it happen. On today’s show discover: …8 tips for starting your day off right; … and how to get motivated for a great sales day, even when you don’t feel like it. Tip 1 – Take Care of Your Basic Needs No doubt you’ve heard of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. It says that until your basic needs are met you can’t move on to bigger and better things. Think about the last time you were REALLYhungry, at a certain point getting something to eat became your primary focus, even to the point where nothing else mattered! If you’re hungry, feel rushed, feel tired or drained it’s going to impact your sales ability. Sales is about transferring your enthusiasm to your customer and if you’re focused on other things you won’t be giving your customer your best. This tip starts even bef

Be More Aware and Be More Persuasive Ever wonder how an FBI negotiator can start a conversation that ends with a desperate, armed criminal giving up peacefully? That’s got to be one of the most challenging sales jobs ever! On today’s show discover: … how you can use FBI negotiation strategies to make better connections with your customers; … ways to communicate that help guide your customer to make the best decision … and how to be more persuasive on the sales floor. I recently read an interesting article about an ex-FBI agent, Mark Goulston, who is taking his experiences as a negoiator and applying proven techniques he’s learned to business….they also translate really well to sales! I wanted to share them with you today…so let’s get right into it.    Tip #1 Get them to talk.   So the first thing you need to do as an FBI negoiator is to get them to talk. (sound familiar?….it should because that’s critically important in sales too!) When your customer is talking they’re involved and more apt to self-discover

The sales process; it’s really just a map. You have a beginning point (you’re here) and an ending point (where you want to be). Sure the process is the same but the people you go through the process with are different every time. Some like to take you off track, others like to run ahead and if you’re not careful it’s pretty easy to get lost. Fortunately, you have a tool in your toolbox, a sort of GPS unit, that can tell you where you are. It’s called the Trial Close and it’s not only great for figuring out where you are but it’s the very best gauge you have for knowing when to close. On today’s show discover: …what a trial close is and how you’ll benefit from using it; …how to respond to the answers you get and keep your sale on track; …and how to incorporate the trial close into your interactions to close more sales Subscribe to KO Sales Coach iTunes | Android | Email | RSS | More Subscribe Options Leave a Rating and Review in iTunes What a Trial Close Is Now a trial close is really just an open ended ques