October 4, 2013

How to sell with a sales framework [don’t use this if you’re happy losing sales]

By JaneFrankland | business start ups, Established business, Sales, Selling | No Comments

How to sell vs. how to lose clients

Ok, so not only do you not know how to sell, but you don't feel good about selling either. There's a surprise!

Let me guess. It feels icky, sleazy and every single time you attempt to “sell” you're reminded of that pushy, manipulative car salesperson you once met in your nightmares! Euw!

And there's no way in hell you want to be like that. Being a salesperson is not something you've ever aspired to be. You're a creative or a techie [wink, wink].

Well I've got news for you sister (or brother)….I've yet to meet a top performing sales person who's ever aspired to be in sales. Yes, seriously. Most of them (me included) just fell into it somehow.

Here's the thing too. No one is born a sales person. No one! Sales is a learnt skill. There's an art to it, or if you want to get formulaic – a framework and methodology. All the pros use one, although you'd never be able to tell. Furthermore, when they sell to you, you'd never really realize you're being sold to. You see, sales is just a conversation. That's what I was taught many years ago and it's what I teach my students in my sales program, The Daily Wins, and when I coach.

So if you're struggling to find a way to sell that feels authentic and integral, whether on the phone, Skype or in person, don't despair. I've got a sales framework you can use to teach you how to sell. AND [insert nominated swear word] me, it works! 😉 You don't sell over 7-figures/ year, year-on-year, in services using something that doesn't!

The ‘how-to-sell' sales framework

Now I want to hear from you…

Tell me your how to sell to prospect stories. Do you use a framework or methodology? What's working for you? Share your stories and experience here and if you've got a question, just pop it down here.

Thanks for participating!

With love and gratitude – as always,

P.S.

Finally, if you know someone who'd LOVE the insight from this post, please send them a link. You’ll find solo entrepreneurs, consultants and yes, even sales and marketing managers who manage people who'll be interested to hear about this.

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P.P. S.

If you want to learn more about how to sell, then my brand new sales program, The Daily Wins is launching this month, 18th October. Get on the list if you want in on the action.

September 26, 2013

How to sell more [revealing the secret no one tells you about]

By JaneFrankland | business start ups, Established business, Sales, Selling | No Comments

How to sell more and high fives!

Last week I wrote about how to sell more by leveraging off your internal team and/ suppliers – how to sell more: the sales pitch everyone misses. High five if you've implemented that already. This week I've got another group for you to leverage off and once again you won't have to incentivize them or pay them commission. Gosh it sounds like I'm about to make the sales team redundant, but that's not the case!

Before I tell you more, I’ve got two questions for you.

Here’s the first. If you could make one simple tweak to your company that would give you an immediate sales increase would you do it?

Of course you would! Who doesn’t want to make more sales?

Ok, next question. When a buyer is on your website what do they want? This answer is really going to surprise you.

They want to discount you. They’re looking for reasons not to buy from you. They’re making a short-list of suppliers, whether that’s at a conscious or subconscious level. They’re looking for signs that will put them off from buying from you.

And no one teaches you this! I go into all these buying behaviour patterns in my sales program which is coming soon.

So how do you stop them leaving your website without contacting you? Well, there are many ways, but in this post I’m only going to concentrate on just one of them.

Do it the sizzle and steak way (story time)

Imagine you’re in a restaurant. You’ve never been there before and you’re wondering whether it’s any good. You’re looking for some reassurance, so you ask the waiter some questions. To your surprise he responds with a question. He asks you, “If you were eating here tonight what would you pick from the menu?” He hands you the menu. You see the steak and answer, “I’d pick the steak.” He continues the conversation by telling you how wonderful their steak is, how it’s sourced, and how it really sizzles. You’re interested but still not convinced. He then says, “Look, let me show you.” He then calls over a waiter who's about to deliver a sizzling steak to a customer. You can see it now for yourself and it really does look good. He then introduces you to several regular customers who tell you at first hand their experience of the restaurant. By now you’re convinced so you ask for a table and the transaction is made.

The moral of the story is this:

[box]”If you want to sell more don’t just talk about the sizzle, show the whole steak” – Jane Frankland TWEET THIS[/box]

When a buyer lands on your website, you’re obviously not there, so you can’t help influence their buying decision. You can’t allay their fears or convince them that you're the right supplier. So, that means you’ve got to go the extra mile.

And, that's where testimonials come in. They back up what you say or as Robert B. Cialdini (noted psychologist) calls social proof. You see testimonials hold strong persuasive powers as they touch on both fact-based and emotion-based motivators that drive people to buy things. They reaffirm that your claims are credible and that your services are the real deal. They validate the feelings that a prospective buyer has for you too, and when done right, the message that typically comes across is authentic, sincere and extremely convincing.

5 tips to make sure your testimonials sell for you

Watch the video, or skip if you prefer to read the text below.

Tip #1. Get result-orientated testimonials. These are the most effective of all. When you help your clients or customers achieve something then you must show the value. Show numbers, currency, amounts and percentages. This will get your prospects attention and dramatically increase their response. Here’s are 2 examples: A) “The Daily Wins program is a great sales training program.” B) “Thanks to the powerful strategies I learnt on The Daily Wins sales program I made $15,000 in 2 days. I’ll easily quadruple my revenues this year. Thank you.” Which one do you think is more compelling and converts more sales?

Tip #2. Include full information on the client or customer who’s giving your testimonial. The more information you provide, the more believable the testimonials are.

Tip #3. Use photos, written responses, screen shots of emails or social media messages that you’ve been sent. Remember that saying, ‘a picture paints a thousand words?’ Well it’s true. We think in pictures so we retain information better if it’s presented this way. So paint the picture – literally.

Tip #4. Use audio and video to add even more credibility.

Tip #5. Story tell. This really steps social proof up a gear. You can do this through video or via case studies, success stories or interviews.

The 3 B rule for getting testimonials

If you’ve trouble getting testimonials don’t get mad. Instead, adopt the 3 B rule – bug, then brag, then bribe!

Make a list of clients who’ve got great results. Ask if they can write up a testimonial. 99% of the time they’ll be delighted to do this. Unfortunately though, they’ll probably forget or be so busy that they won’t have time to do it and as a result you’ll not receive it. If this happens simply offer to write the testimonial for them and then send it to them for approval.

Sometimes as a last resort you’ll have to make this exciting to them. One way to do this is by offering an ethical bribe. For example you could run a contest and offer a free prize or discount to whoever writes the best testimonial for you.

If you’re just starting out and don’t have any success stories, approach leaders in your industry and ask them for endorsements. Send them an example of your work and remember to include a WIIFM (a what’s in it for me) statement or plea in your email.

Finally as an ideal, have a mixture of testimonials – some from industry leaders and some regular Joes. Prospects buy from those who they can either relate to or aspire to being.

Now I want to hear from you…

Tell me your how to sell more stories. Do you use testimonials and case studies to increase your sales. What's working for you? Share your stories and experience here and if you've got a question, just pop it down here.

Thanks for participating!

With love and gratitude – as always,

P.S.

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September 15, 2013

The sales pitch everyone misses [it makes you look dumb if you’re doing it]

By JaneFrankland | business start ups, Established business, New business, Sales, Selling | No Comments

Make the easiest sales pitch of your life

Yes, this is the sales pitch everyone misses. FAIL!

And, to make matters worse it is one prospect that’s probably your easiest sales to close. The prospect will become one of your most loyal clients and they’ll be in the relationship for the long haul. They’ll even sell for you too without you having to ask or incentivize them. And, no, it's not your mum!

Bet you’re desperate to find out who they are, aren’t you?

Ok. I’ll put you out of your misery as I can't bear to see you make this mistake. Your easiest sales pitch you're ever going to make is to your internal prospect i.e. those who work alongside you, but who aren’t involved in active business development or selling.

Think about it. Other than you, who can define the features, benefits and values of your product or service?

They may not have “sales” in their title or be paid commission, but this group should definitely be encouraged to promote your business, recognize opportunities and position the organization for growth.

And that’s why I teach all my students, who come through my sales program to view this group of prospects as ambassadors for their company. These people are your stealth sellers. They’ve the power to be an extension of your sales team and deserve the opportunity to buy into the company’s future and success.

Equally, their actions, attitudes, comments, or lack thereof have the potential to threaten a sale or lose a client.

So keep them happy, keep them motivated and train them up!

Story time

I remember the first event my business ever did. It was 2002 and my third child had just been born. She was actually 5 months old. The event was at one of the largest shows in Europe for our industry sector. Anyway, as we wanted and needed to make an impact we had the whole company actively selling. They all knew our vision and our mission as we’d (or more accurately I’d) indoctrinated them at their induction. I wanted to get their buy in from the get-go. They knew exactly how to approach prospects as I’d given them training before. They were hyped about it too and did so well. The team united and as a result the clients we brought on board from that event stayed with us for over a decade. The revenue generated accounted for millions. The team’s efforts and commitment to what we were trying to achieve were exemplary. They pulled together and made me proud.

And this is how it should work for you – even if you're a team of one! By selling yourself and your product or service to your internal client or team or even to your suppliers you’ll:

Increase your revenue more quickly
Increase your repeat business
Generate more leads or referrals
Leverage time and resources

Think about it. Who does the following?

Carries out the promise of the sale i.e. the deliverables?
Answers general inquiries?
Creates the product or completes the service?
Checks on the order status?
Handles complaints?
Delivers the products?
Explains the features?
Handles the billing questions?
Markets or packages the goods?
Collects the invoices?
Follows up on the procedures?

Throughout each day your consultants, and those staff in accounts, admin, human resources, operations, production, logistics and marketing all have countless interactions with your clients and prospects. Regardless of whether you own your business, run the department or sell a particular product line, you have the power to impact your own revenue growth by selling your value to the internal client.

Examine your current operating culture and assess the following:

Do all your employees know your vision and mission?
Do all your employees know exactly what you’re offering?
Are all your employees actively engaged in selling and promoting the product?
Have you defined what the organizational philosophy is that drives the employee/customer interaction?
Have you communicated that to everyone too?
Have you created an environment in which each and every connection brings value to your clients?
Do all your employees know what the value proposition is?
Do all your employees know why your market needs what you’re selling?
What benefits are received from your offering (savings, efficiencies etc)?
What makes your offering special and differentiates it from the rest?
Do all your employees know what opportunities look like?
Do you know what they do when they recognize opportunities?
Do all employees have the training and tools to convey your offerings (features, benefits and value)?

Figure out how you can impact each and every person in your organization. Do this at an individual and department level. Make the effort to include all staff as having a stake in the sales results and business success really helps to increase sales. If you’re a solo entrepreneur, and a team of one, think about your suppliers – those you outsource to. Treat them as an extension to your team. Get them buzzing about what you do.

Now I want to hear from you…

Tell me your stories. Have you ever tried to do a sales pitch to your internal team or even to one of your suppliers? If you've done or still do it, do you offer any rewards or incentives? Share your stories and experience here.

Thanks for participating!

With love and gratitude – as always,

P.S.

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September 7, 2013

If you’re converting 8:10 of your prospects don’t read this

By JaneFrankland | business start ups, Established business, Sales | No Comments

Speed prospecting

Speed prospecting is much like speed dating. It's fast, it's effective and as time is a prized commodity it's worth a look at. So tell me, are you practising it?

Ok let me explain. Let's establish this one thing – we're living in a digital era and when it comes to selling, you'd have to be a dumb wit if you weren't interested in social media to enable your sales. Am I right or am I right?! Anyway, this is where speed prospecting through social media comes into its own.

I call this social selling and I can't fluff this topic up any longer – sorry to offend!

So ask yourself are you ready to lead, follow or get left behind?

If it's the first, stay tuned. You know my rule – I only work with smart winners!

From my research and analysis of thousands of prospecting calls, I’ve found that the three biggest factors that super-charge your chances of getting into a busy prospect’s office are the:

Prospect's profile (who to call)
Triggers events (when to call)
Relationships (how to use your relationships to get in by referral)

Now I'm not sure about you but if I could take only one of these factors to a desert island I'd take relationships. BTW I'd have my laptop, phone and an Internet connection on the desert island, along with my man servant! 😉

Why? Well the answer is obvious (forget the man servant for a mo). When it comes to selling, relationships are the biggest factor of all. They equate to social capital and nothing beats this AND the fact that someone wants to help you. You can do the most bang up job of positioning your company and profiling your market down to the exact companies and individuals that should want to buy your product or service, but if those prospects don’t know you, or know someone who knows you, or can vouch for you, they don’t trust you. And when they don’t trust you you're in a pickle! The relationship will take months and years to nurture and so will your sales. Bummer!

So what's the solution? Easy – it's time to leverage off your connections. And, the good news is that in the digital era this is a synch!

[box]Studies show that the average conversion rate on a website shoots from 7% up to 71% when you're recommended via a social network. TWEET THIS[/box]

The first thing you can do is to prioritize and categorize your prospects in a different way. Instead of doing a pure profiling and target market exercise that includes what size companies (employees and turnover), what sectors, what locations etc. you need to refine things.

You need to review your prospect list with a much broader definition of target companies and then go straight to an overlay of your social graph – aka who do you know and who do they know. You can use many social tools like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest to do this and use all of the insight gained from them to develop further rapport when you're speaking to them.

You then need to make your prioritized prospect companies only the ones you can get into via referral or with some kind of common link.

Whilst it may seem awkward and somewhat ill-defined at first this is the fastest way to build your sales pipeline, convert your prospects into long-term clients and ultimately sell.

Now I want to hear from you…

Tell me your story. Are you using social media to prioritize your prospect list and to sell? If so, please share your stories and experience here and let us know what's working and what's not.

Thanks for participating!

With love and gratitude – as always,

P.S.

Finally, if you know someone who'd LOVE the insight from this post, please send them a link. You’ll find solo entrepreneurs, consultants and yes, even sales and marketing managers and directors from 8-figure corporations who'll be interested to hear about this.

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August 10, 2013

Six tips for increasing your social capital

By JaneFrankland | New business, Sales, Selling | No Comments

Social capital – game on!

In my last blog I wrote about having a social media detox. It was time. It was well needed. Now I'm clearer in thought than ever about its value when it comes to selling. Social selling and social capital is what it's all about!

I don't need to tell you that the game of sales has got harder….but I'm going to!

It has! We're living in a digital era now. Technology and social media have changed everything.

We like, we follow, we subscribe and we link up. We post, we tweet and share – day in day out! We're oblivious to what life was like pre social – before. We're all inundated with messages and distractions. We're more busy than ever and never have there been fewer hours in the day to get our jobs done.

Urgh!

We're being told to “listen” and to share content so we can know our prospects and clients better and improve the relationships. We're being told to get friendlier and to express our vulnerabilities – to aid connection. We're online telling our stories and the world is taking note.

Much has changed, but also … much has not.

So, I’ve got a CRAZY question for you…and it relates to social selling.

How often do you go on social media for prospecting and selling? I'm talking about the 3 biggies for social selling – Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn – not quite the full Monty, but not too far off.

I know you're active on there, and I'm guessing that you're on certain platforms more than others (as they're fun) for quite a lot of your day. Obviously you're on them to drive your business forward. I know you wouldn't dream of being on there just to see what everyone else's doing. Or, even to”socialize” in the hope that your connections might buy from you. That would be plain silly!

So give it a moment, and think about it…

How often do you go on your social platforms? My guess is that you're on there at least 3 times a day if not more, for about 30 minutes, right?

Social Capital

Now I'm going to tell you something that quite frankly blew my mind. IBM reported that each additional relationship to your network is worth $948 to you (i.e. 100 relationships are worth $95,000! Now that's not quite enough for an Aston (my favourite car) but that's enough to buy a Porche!)

This is your social capital. The value of your network. It's a bigger asset than it ever was!

So if this interests you, watch my latest video where I reveal 6 tips to help you build your social capital and put your social media efforts into a social selling context – even if you're selling B2B.

It's time to delight your prospects, clients and customers, but I'll reveal more in a mo.

Cue video

Now I want to hear from you…

Tell me your story. Are you using social media to sell? If so, please share your stories and experience here and let us know what's working and what's not.

Thanks for participating!

With love and gratitude – as always,

P.S.

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July 21, 2013

Social media addiction: ready for a detox?

By JaneFrankland | Marketing, Mindset, Sales | One Comment

Social media is the answer

Social media addiction and detoxing. I hope you're ready!

I'm going to start at the beginning and this means dealing with the statement ‘social media is the answer.'

Poppycock!

It's time to bust this myth wide open.

Social media is not the answer. [I bet you're thinking the answer to what.]

Social media is not the answer to growing your business. What's more … it's actually a threat to it. Why do I say this?

Well before I go into this, I want to ask you something. Do you refresh Facebook 10-15 times an hour to track likes, messages and general interaction? Do you check Twitter and do the same? I'm expecting a yes. Some of you may even go further and check YouTube, Pinterest Instagram and Linkedin! Some of you may even be having more interaction with fans and followers online than with those immediately around you.

Hands up if that's you?

I know I've been guilty of doing this. Yes, I'm fessing up!

Now I bet you've been told that social media is essential for your business. Well there's truth to this but only if it's used strategically. This is not my bug bear. This is what is….social media addiction!

Social media addiction

In some way or another many of you (including me) have become slightly obsessed with social media and the interaction and engagement it demands. Unlike email it's a tool that expects a very instant response. If you've implemented the advice of the “experts” that's what you'll have been taught along the way.

However, it's wrong.

What's happened is that many of you have become dependent on it, and habits (including bad habits) have formed. While it may seem like an innocent and essential tool to market your business, unintentionally it's reinforcing some deep rooted fears. You see there's a dark side to social media. Used incorrectly it nurtures insecurity – feelings of being liked and good enough.

Think about it. The more likes and interaction you get, the better you feel. Right?

Yes, and stroke that ego whilst you're at it!

Social media as a threat to your business

So what happens when you don't get the Likes, ReTweets or interaction? What happens when you're not feeling the social love? For most of you you'll genuinely feel unloved, unheard and rejected. Some of you may become depressed. Then you'll pick yourself up and work harder to obtain the “love” through subsequent posts, Tweets and so on.

And this is where the threat actually lies.

It's the feeling of inadequacy it brings up. And the feeling of dependency. A co dependent relationship with a tool – nice!

But there's more….

A recent study by Harvard University on social media addiction shows evidence as to why social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are so popular and highly addictive for many people. The study aimed to dig into the psyche of why people are eager to self disclose i.e. post their thoughts and actions on social media.

Through a series of experiments, the study revealed that the act of disclosing personal or opinionated information activates the same part of the brain that's associated with the sensation of pleasure – the same pleasure that you get from eating food, getting money or even having sex!

Oh la la!

Story time…

Ok so where's this all going. Well here's my story to illustrate the point I'm making. As you know by now, I too have struggled with the social media “love” loop. In all honesty I didn't actually realise I had a problem with it until the other day.

I became aware when I decided to get super focused and complete an online course. I knew it was time to get this course to you. 18 years worth of complex sales experience coupled with growing a 7-figure business had to be turned into IP and transferred into course format if I was going to help you.

I could also hear my mentor's words ringing in my head, “Jane if you don't have a product, then you don't have a business.”

Anyway, to do this meant hours of work and I knew that the only way I could achieve this was through mega discipline. I knew I had to switch off my social media networks for the bulk of the day. I had to get targeted and even more strategic with it.

I had to go on a social media detox!

I was a little scared. That sounds silly but I'm being honest.

I knew social media was the most powerful way to get exposure, increase my leads and deliver my message to the world. I'd worked hard on it and was seeing results. What if my likes, fans and followers didn't grow as much? What if my engagement levels fell? My business would surely suffer and all the hard work I'd done would be to no avail.

Well surprisingly none of this happened! My social media likes, re-tweets, fans and followers kept on growing. And what's more, I felt a lot better.

Result!

What's the alternative to social media?

There's no alternative to social media if you want to grow your business. You need to do it. However, you need to protect yourself and reduce your risk exposure to the threat of social media addiction. When it comes to entrepreneurship, mindset and mental health is so important.

So the only way you're going to crack this is not through avoidance, but by having a social media strategy devised and implemented. You need to know how it fits in to your overall marketing and sales plan and therefore what you want to achieve from it from the get-go. You need to be able to measure results. You need a schedule in place for posting, tweeting and interacting. And as if that's not enough, you're going to have to be disciplined. Super discipline in fact. You need to decide how much time you're going to spend on it. 30 minutes each day should do the trick.

Now I want to hear from you…

Tell me your story. Have you gone on a social media detox at any point in your business? If you did, what results did you see? Are you concerned about social media addiction or the feelings it brings up when you're on it? Share your stories and experience here.

Thanks for participating!

With love and gratitude – as always,

P.S.

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July 12, 2013

How to use color as a sales tool

By JaneFrankland | Sales, Selling | No Comments

Color psychology marketing

Call me weird (I'd argue smart) but when it comes to selling and business development, I love using color psychology or more accurately, color psychology marketing. Apologies once again to the Brits. You can see, a week on, I'm still sinning (that's a British joke that's related to spelling) 😉

Tomatoes – Tom-ate-oes…

Ah let's call the whole thing off!

Ok, back to business!

My last post was all about using color to categorize your prospects and communicate in “their language” but this week's post is all about using color psychology marketing or color as a sales tool to influence buyers. So, I'm going to be delving into its use from a brand and presentation perspective.

And I can tell you something… this is powerful, and it's going to be good.

The reason why…

Color is your silent sales tool. How? Well it's the language of our subconscious. We make decisions based on color all the time and by using it correctly you can literally get the edge on your competition at a very intuitive level.

You see, you need prospects, clients and customers to connect with you in order to grow your business. That's obvious, right? Well, color connects you to a person, brand, place or product. It sparks initial interest and draws you towards making a purchase.

Color psychology & consumer buying behavior

To illustrate this point quickly, I'd like you to think of the last time you bought some clothes. Were you not drawn initially to the colors of the clothes?

Yes?

I rest my case.

Whatever your business proposition, your prospects need to like, believe and feel your authenticity in order to respond to you. And that's why all of your promotional material needs to have a consistent message that resonates with your offering. Having an awareness of, and choosing to use the most appropriate colors will not only enhance the overall look of your brand but it will also help to communicate your message. I wrote about this a while ago: how to find your perfect brand color.

Research on consumer buying behavior, color psychology marketing and color consistently informs us of its importance in the way that we understand and interact with the world around us. Color really does matter. Color evokes a mood that affects an emotion, which in turn creates a reaction or response.

For example, did you know that we make a decision about how we feel about someone within 15 seconds based on color alone? That could be a decision on whether your customer picks up your product or not! Or, whether they stay on your website or not. Or, whether you come across as someone who's approachable at a networking event. It could be the difference between making a connection with you or leaving your product or service on the shelf.

Now to someone who's built a 7-figure multi-million dollar business from scratch before, and sold and bought in order to achieve this, this is profound for I had no “conscious” clue! However, their are reasons why I got it right and was able to instinctively build my business successfully using the power of color, but that's for another post.

Anyway, now that I understand the principles of using color as a sales tool this new found knowledge makes me smile. When you understand that color is emotive and that buying is an emotional decision then it's vital to use color in a way that appeals and communicates what you're offering.

Why would you want to get it wrong?

When you're selling and growing your business you need everything to line up. Color can help you do that. It's a powerful persuader; a visual communication aid. Through the design of your brand or the products that you sell, you have an opportunity to speak to your clients and customers at another level – at the subconscious.

Color at it's core, is a signalling system that influences mood and behavior. It works on our feelings and sends messages to the brain faster than words or shapes. It's a non-verbal language that persuades, and you can use this to influence your prospects, customers and clients to buy subconsciously. Get it right and your brand or product will look authentic, you'll build trust, increase loyalty and grow your sales. Get it wrong and you'll drive business away.

The creation of attractive packaging, branding or any graphic communication is the design alchemy between style, form, font and color. The aim of which is ultimately to appeal to our senses. Of all the different design elements, color is the ‘sensorial ingredient’ which we perceive as visual and yet it has the ability to alter mood.

Increasing our awareness of the effects of color and how we react and respond to it visually and emotionally, means we can then understand how to use it to influence the way we want others to feel and think about our product or brand.

As your ‘silent sales tool’ color offers you the opportunity to speak directly to the heart of your audience. If you get the colors right, you promote the most positive perception of your ‘proposition’ – and then the rest falls in to place!

So here are 3 tips to help you do that.

3 tips for using color in your brand

1. What do your brand colors tell your customer about your product? Select the 1 –3 key colours that best capture the core values of your business. These are your primary colors. Select secondary colors to support them. They may be either lighter or darker versions of your primary colors, or complementary to them (e.g. blue and orange). This can have the effect of intensifying the core colors and bringing a palette to life.

2. Don’t confuse your customer. So often I notice that brands may keep the same design style but change the colors across different media. Remember – using the same colors consistently in all of your communications will increase customer recognition and build trust.

3. Maintain the visual harmony. Select colors that belong in the same tonal group and so share the same characteristics. This will maintain the integrity of the brand and its message. Your designs will be more fluid and have a creative edge!

Now I want to hear from you…

Tell me do you use color psychology marketing in your brand? If you do, what impact have you seen on sales and business growth? Just share your wisdom here and let's help one another. If you don't use color psychology, let me know if you're interested to learn more on this by dropping me an email.

Thanks for participating!

With love and gratitude – as always,

P.S.

Finally, if you know someone who'd LOVE the insight from this post, please send them a link. You’ll find web designers, interior designers, consultants and yes, even sales and marketing managers who manage people who'll be interested to hear about this.

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July 4, 2013

What’s the first rule of sales? [my brother mustn’t answer this]

By JaneFrankland | business start ups, Established business, Sales | No Comments

Know me, like me, trust me…

Bless me father for I have sinned. I'm English and I'm using the American spelling for colour (color) throughout this post!

Ok, now that I've got that off my chest and before I even get into color personality types (or colour personality types if you're in the UK), I'm going to have to start with the basics: when it comes to sales and selling, people buy from people.

So I'm going to put it bluntly here. I know you wouldn't expect anything less of me.

If people don't like you when they meet you, you're not going to sell Jack diddly squat! FACT!

That's why your job, as a salesperson or someone who's heading up a sale, is to get your prospects to like you, and to keep on liking you! When they like you they feel safe. When you're seen as “friend” as oppose to “enemy” you're trusted, and when you're trusted they're more likely to buy.

You see we all buy from people we trust, and we keep on buying from those we keep on trusting. We buy from credible people and we make reference to those we find trustworthy. We also hang out with people who engage us and see them as leaders. They make us feel good.

And, this is key. For the first rule of sales is… people buy feelings not things.

Every step your prospects take along the sales path – every interaction they experience – gives them feelings and that is how you or your product, service or brand is judged. Make no mistake about this. Every single one of your buyers keeps a mental check-list of positive and negative feelings, and adjusts the scores as he or she goes.

Unfortunately we're not actually conscious of doing this. We're just wired that way. It's how our reptilian brains work.

So, how do you know whether to trust anyone as a credible leader or not?

Well I teach this in my coaching programmes but as you're being a good sport I'll tell you the answer now. It all boils down to how you communicate.

Story time

Example 1. Years ago, when I owned my IT company and we sold products, I used to have to deal with many suppliers. As an experienced buyer I soon realised that not only could I make a great profit in a sale, but I could also make double the profit if I bought well before. Now I vividly remember one meeting that I organised with a supplier. I happened to bring a member of my team into this and yes, you guessed it – he was male. The irony of this meeting was that the supplier decided to direct it (the sale) to my colleague. Big, rookie mistake. He didn't communicate with me – let alone in my language, and I was the buyer! Needless to say, he didn't make me feel great so he didn't get any more business from me or my company. That cost him millions.

Example 2. Recently I attended an event. A programme was being sold and a considerable investment was at stake. I was interested in the ROI. When I asked for this information, the answer I was given was that taking the course made you “feel good.” Now that's all well and good, but unfortunately I couldn't give a damn if it made you feel good. I was only interested in the tangible value it delivered to my bottom line. Once again the supplier hadn't communicated effectively so I walked away not buying.

Example 3. I was at another event a few months ago. Unfortunately I happened to sit next to a woman who decided she was going to snort back her snot (instead of blow her nose) throughout the whole presentation. I was naturally quite repulsed and couldn't wait to get away from her at the end of it. However, she approached me and asked for a meeting. She was interested in what I was selling. Now my initial thoughts were: was it a nervous twitch she had, had her mother not brought her up to blow her nose when she had a cold, and how the heck could I do business with someone like this? So I weighed it all up, made my excuses and walked away from the opportunity.

Always remember that sales is a two-way engagement. When you own your company you have the choice as to whether you work with someone or not.

Communicate according to color personality types

If you want the sale, you have to be able to communicate with your prospect in a language that resonates with them. How you interact determines whether you'll convert them into clients and customers.

You need them to understand what you're saying – to hear AND to listen. The only way you can do this is by speaking to them in a language that they understand. You need to speak “their language.” When you speak their language you can be more influential; you can build rapport more quickly, which in turn builds the trust.

And, yes you guessed it… when you build trust, the sales follow as a matter of course.

Whilst language is a highly complex matter as there are many forms of communication – verbal and non verbal, I'm only going to give you a guide on the words, sounds and body gestures that your prospect may use in order for you to be able to craft your sales message [communication] in a way that will be received and understood.

So, here are some tips to help you quickly identify your prospect's personality types. I've grouped them into color personality types as it's easier to remember.

Four color personality types

There are four color personality types and whilst we all have components of them, generally one dominant personality shows through.

Yellows – they make up 35% of the population and one of the best words to describe them is nurturing. ‘Yellows' are always looking out for others; they like to help. They're open, indirect in conversation, very sensitive and aren't particularly concerned about money. Instead they prefer relationships and teamwork. Often they don't have time for themselves as they give it to everyone else. They usually talk about how they like to help others and for them it's all about the cause. They're earthy and mellow; softly spoken, relaxed and casually dressed. Things that will turn them off are money, partying and material possessions. When you're interacting with a yellow be aware that these are color personality types that don't want to be sold to. They make decisions based on emotion, and very slowly. So, when you talk to a ‘yellow' color personality type talk about how you can help others (save money, spend time with their family) and make sure to lower the volume. Yellows don't like sudden change either so they often need assurance from another party. The good news is that once you've won them over they're loyal to the person they buy from and the brand.

Green – they too make up 35% of the population. ‘Green' color personality types are similar to the ‘yellow.' They too don't like to be sold to. They're self contained and indirect in conversation. They're quietly spoken, reserved and often pessimistic. They're conservative, formal and use minimal body gestures and facial expressions. They're the analysts; the data miners. They want all the facts and all the questions answered. They want to feel secure. They're risk averse and when it comes to making a decision they take their time and want to make informed decisions. When you're selling to a ‘green' color personality type stay away from emotional information – they just want the facts. Invite them to take a look.

Blue – they make up 15% of the population. They're easy to recognise as they stick out. ‘Blue' color personality types are flamboyant, gregarious, fun-loving, fast-paced and sociable. They're often the life and soul of the party, tell a good story and are enthusiastic. They smile and laugh a lot. This color personality type is a group that's loved by all. As they like to attract attention and are born entertainers, when you're interacting with a ‘blue' color personality type you may need to raise the volume. Motivate them by talking about recognition and incentives. They're risk takers so they don't want or need to see all the detail. They like succinct and they'll act more on feeling rather than logic. This is good news for you in terms of the sale as they'll make decisions fast.

Reds – make up 15% of the population. They're independent, dominant and risk takers. They're goal orientated, focused on results and fast thinkers. They're usually easy to spot as they wear power colours and designer clothes. They walk fast, talk fast and don't do chit chat. They're not interested in talking about their families; instead they're money motivated and focused on ROI. ‘Red' color personality types are driven by success and control. They're energetic, action taking, high powered performers. When you're interacting with them talk about the challenge of the success and get straight to the point. This is a color personality type with limited time or patience. Note too, that you can't close them. They'll make up their own minds.

So talk the language they understand.

Now I want to hear from you…

What methods do you use when it comes to selling in person or over the phone? Do you use a method such as color personality types to help you establish how to speak to your prospects? And, have you ever walked away from a sale? Share your stories and tell me all about it in the comments below.

Thanks for participating!

With love and gratitude – as always,

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