Imagine ... you need to meet your sales target at the end of the month. There are only 10 days left and you only achieved 45% of your sales so far. How are you going to attract and convince new buyers to buy your product/service?
I would like to share the 70 lessons that I learnt from Jeffrey Gitomer by reading his books, attending his course, watching his videos and reading his blog posts.
# 1 — BELIEVE in your heart (not just in your mind) that you work for the greatest company in the world. BELIEVE that your products/services are the greatest in the world. BELIEVE that you can differentiate yourself from your competitors, so that your customers will perceive YOU as more valuable. BELIEVE that you are the greatest salesperson in understanding your customers’ needs. BELIEVE that the customer is better off, by having bought from you!
# 2 — Start every sales meeting with an ”off-the-record” personal question that helps to build the relationship with your client. Afterwards, don’t walk off in a rush to your next client. That only shows that you are money hungry and value other people more than your current client.
# 3 — Ask your client straight “What can I do to help you to close the deal today?”
# 4 — Don’t use emails to network with your clients. Pick up the phone instead and meet them personally, or let it be.
# 5 — Give clients what they ask you for, and you will not lose any business.
# 6 — Moving the customer from a satisfied customer to a loyal customer should be your goal. Ask yourself: Will the customer buy again? Will the customer refer me? Turn him into a customer advocate.
# 7– Invest every week some hours in yourself to develop your digital, personal and professional presence.
# 8 — Today’s salesperson will be checked out on their social image and their Google image.
# 9 — Before you can sell any product or service, you need to sell yourself. Be aware of the fact that a client needs to buy YOU first (by trusting you) before buying your service or product!
# 10 — Be excited about helping others. If you are in sales just for the money, forget it. Have fun instead, otherwise what’s the point?
# 11 — Use “Thanksgiving Day” to send customer cards, with a personal note and your handwritten signature. Thank them for doing business with you. Be a profit-provider for them. Provide them with something that will be of value to them. Make it personalised for each client. Make them look at you like a partner, rather than a vendor.
# 12 — Have a contagious positive attitude at all times.
# 13 — Like other people, and get them to like you!
# 14 — Don’t be just book smart, but street smart.
# 15 — Be self-assured but not arrogant!
# 16 — Each time you are going to meet a new client, think of the success you had in the past! Relive the moment again, it will put you in the right frame of mind.
# 17 — The 2 most important words in sales are: 1) YOU (focusing on the customer, but it’s YOU that they buy the product/service from, so you need to make the client trust you first) and 2) WHY (asking why questions will lead to answers, you will tell them what they get out of it by buying from you).
# 18 — You need to master the art of asking powerful questions to get full engagement.
# 19 — The more provoking questions you ask your prospective client, the more you will be respected! The higher their respect level is, the more truthful they will be to you. They will give you insights into their key buying motives. They will share with you how decisions are being made.
# 20 — Start providing value and stop closing sales or lose to price.
# 21–5 ways on creating value are: 1) Ease of doing business with you, 2) ease of contacting you or someone from the company, 3) ease of purchase, 4) increased productivity for the client, 5) availability of service for customers when they need you, 6) boost in customer morale after service/product is installed, 7) reasonable price (with the best value), 8) saving money for the customer, 9) assuring the client that there is a perfect fit, 10) assurance that there is no risk in doing business with you when buying from you.
# 22 — Referrals should not be asked for they should be earned! These are some referral earning strategies: 1) Deliver memorable service. Give positive response immediately! Be helpful and friendly. 2) Be available, make it easy to contact you, 24/7 for 365 days. 3) Be a consistent value provider by creating content that helps others. 4) Give a referral to the customer. 5) Give them one LinkedIn contact that they can benefit from. 6) Develop the relationship slowly. 7) Don’t ask for it, if you have not earned it.
# 23 — Give to give — don’t give to get!!!!
# 24 — Turn off the TV for 1 year and invest instead 10 hours a week in something from which you can get a return.
# 25 — Do things for others, BUT without any expectations to receive anything in return.
# 26 — Forget your business card. Instead, force people to connect, link with you online via Linkedin, Twitter, etc. Create a long-term engagement. A business card alone would not be able to do that.
# 27 — Be authentic, write your own tweets. Stay personally involved.
# 28 — Do 10 things after the sale to ensure loyalty, referrals, and a great reputation from your customers!
# 29 — Share ideas, tips, observations that benefit your customers.
# 30 — Ask questions to find out from your client the motive and urgency of the buy.
# 31 — Create a link with your clients. Make a difference so that you stand out from the crowd when you are being compared with your competitors.
# 32 — Prevent to hear the answer “I want to think about it” from your clients. Ask instead “why” and find out the reason so that you can prevent it next time. Ask the client directly “How long do you need in order to decide”.
# 33 — Don’t rush the sale, don’t force the sale. You will lose respect!
# 34 — Say all things in a positive way, if you want a positive attitude!
# 35 — Being “friendly” makes sales, is a quality, generates repeat business and is a degree!
# 36 — The relationship between friendly staff and loyal customers? One breeds the other!
# 37 — Executive friendliness sets the mood for the entire company! Executive friendliness affects the tone for front-line friendliness!
# 38 — You need to have the desire to be friendly. The value of friendly is beyond measure, it costs nothing, yet, it’s worth a fortune!
# 39 — Someone referring you as a ROCKSTAR is much more powerful than you calling yourself a Rockstar!
# 40 — Don’t learn a sales system, sell in a way that makes you feel comfortable.
# 41 — Self-confidence and preparation go hand in hand. If you feel a lack of confidence it could be just due to your unpreparedness. So make sure you are well prepared.
# 42 — Have personal pride in your work. Every time you go for a sales meeting recall that feeling you had when you succeeded in the past. Relive the moment!
# 43 — You can improve your sense of humour by going or watching comedies. Don’t go there to laugh, but to learn instead. Don’t just be a passive spectator, take notes and learn from it! Ask yourself what you could also apply in your own sales approach.
# 44 — If you want to make a joke about someone, make it about yourself, not at the expense of others.
# 45 — If you think “funny first” than everything will start being funnier. Don’t forget that people are attracted to people who have a big sense of humour.
# 46 — Ask your customers what ingredients they want in order for you to offer them the best what they wish for.
# 47 — Learn something new every day.
# 48 — If there is no proof from customers that shows that what you have to offer is good, you will struggle.
# 49 — You need to consider testimonials as sales tools, a belief builder and a report card.
# 50 — Testimonials can sell what and where salespeople cannot.
# 51 — A testimonial is only then good, if it spurs other customers to action. Testimonials are great if they impact other customers’ buying decisions. Thus, don’t have passive statements that don’t have any buying power! Insert the value and the why in your testimonials.
# 52 — Every powerful testimonial is focused on the outcome, on that what happened after buying a certain product or service.
# 53 — A written testimonial should be phrased in a way that takes away a risk or neutralizes a fear. It should show a value outcome or a specific enhancement.
# 54 — There is no more powerful testimonial than having a client saying that s/he switched from your competitor to you. And encouraging other clients to do the same!
# 55 — Ask your clients if they recommend you to others and why. You will get the unsolicited feedback.
# 56 — Try to get video testimonials instead of written testimonials and spread the word on various social media channels. Shorten your testimonials in a way that highlights the best part of what you/your company has to offer.
# 57 — Consider of putting customer testimonials on your business card too (page 2).
# 58 — Study other peoples’ testimonials and look why they are good.
# 59 — Be one of the few who starts earning, collecting, archiving, categorizing, using, posting and sharing testimonials as proof that you are really the person who you say you are.
# 60 — If you ask the wrong questions, you will get the wrong answers.
# 61 — Invest some time in developing a rapport and personal engagement with your clients, or don’t start the selling conversation.
# 62 — Make sure you know whose fault it is, if the sale is not made.
# 63 — The sale is in your head. Have the right frame of mind. Be confident, smiley, friendly, self-assured, positive, enthusiastic, likeable and prepared beyond nerves.
# 64 — Finding out why people buy is more valuable than how to sell!
# 65 — Be open and alert at any time. As soon as an opportunity arises, you can take advantage of it.
# 66 — Don’t blame anyone, take instead responsibility and ask yourself “What can I do in the future in order to avoid the same mistake happening again?”
# 67 — Sell for the relationship and not for the commission.
# 68 — The more hard work you put into building relationships, the more you will earn loyal customers and sales will become easier in the process.
# 69 — Be best prepared, not just about yourself and your products, but especially about your prospect!
# 70 — Meet a customer with a coffee in the morning. Don’t look at coffee as a cost or something you have to do, look at it as a new way to meet and connect with a prospect. Buy someone a coffee, invest in coffee. If you do it every day you might have 250 more sales a year. Coffee is personal….. watch the following video with Jeffrey Gitomer.