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HTSS150 - How to get out of sales slumps from emotional downturns in sales - Scott Sylvan Bell

How to get out of emotional downturns and sales slumps

As you go through your sales cycle there will be a point where you hit a sales slump. You can have an emotional downturn in sales for multiple reasons. It helps you to know what has caused the sales slump and if it was induced by you. 

Sales have patterns of success and failure. You can sustain a longer closing cycle when you know what to do to find success again. As you make a list you can mark off the items that will help you. 

1. Music - can be a way for you to reignite your feeling and emotions. You can make a playlist on your phone, in Spotify, and or YouTube of songs that pump you up. You will want to be aware of songs that can make you feel down or lonely. 
2. You can borrow the emotions you want or need from special videos. You can start with Golden buzzer moments as they are quick look-ups. You will want to identify the videos that fit your needs and emotions. 
3. Movies can be a way for you to grab a feeling you need. There are multiple movies that have inspiration to them. A small list includes
   • Invincible
   • Rudy
   • Greater
   • The Greatest Game ever played
   • 300 
   • Gladiator 
4. You can use a group of friends and colleagues to help you win and when you are strugling. When you talk to your group you get a chance to get the poison out. 
5. Time on call (toc). The time you spend with your clients can tell you when you are about to have problems and when you are on top. 
6. You vs I in a conversation can tell you how much you are leaving content on the table. If you take a recorded conversation and then have it transcribed you can look for how much you have talked about yourself vs the client. You will want to make sure you have the legal authority to record the conversation.  

• Patterns that are predictable are predictable. When you track your sales cycles you can see the times where you are closing, discounting, losing deals, and even sliding towards a sales slump. You can track these items in most CRMS. 
• Breathing and exercise can help you when you are struggling. You can find meditation videos online for free to help walk you through how to use the actions. You may need to listen to 10-15 recordings to find the right person to listen to. 
• Therapy can be a powerful way for you to talk through your problems with a professional. If you are paying someone you will want to "spill the beans on what is going on". You can talk through issues and concerns you never knew you had. 
• Emotional touch and or intimacy can help you when you are struggling in sales. This is not just the bump and grind actions it is about having someone there to help ground you. 
• Donating time to a charity can help you in ways you cant imagine. You will want to pick the group that fits your lifestyle the most. 

How to beat a sales slump

Your emotions can help your closing rate or you can lose deals. Before you struggle you can take action to pull yourself out of a sales slump. 

HTSS149 - Why you need tension in sales calls - Scott Sylvan Bell

Why you need tension in your sales process 

You don't always have to be polite in sales. In fact, you can loose deals by being too agreeable with your buyers and or clients. Social conditioning can hurts and help salespeople. By being "too nice" you can be walked all over. Be acting like a jerk you can go too far. There is a sweet spot when you have tension with your potential client or client. Tension can actually help keep attention in the sales process.

Rapport can actually hurt sales 

You may be trying too hard with rapport and losing deals because of it. Being too nice without pushing back can prove that you will not stand up for the buyer or the client when they need it.  You could be trying too hard and it can come across as desperate. 

Sales actions can feel like flirting

Social interactions like flirting rely on good and bad tension. The conversation, the timing, and your responses can feel like fun with a twist. You can take a look at these 4 books as a way to gain insights into adding pressure and tension into your sales process:

• The Game – Mystery
• Pitch anything – Oren Klaff
• Never Split the Difference – Chris Voss
• Get inside her - Marni Kinrys

You can always go to a bar and watch the tension between people picking up on each other as a way to model your process. The best way to do this to make sure you are sober. Grab a glass of seltzer water or even a cranberry juice and discover how flirting and tension can help your sales. 

You can watch movies to model tension

Look at any good movie with 2 people who don't get along in the beginning. Bad Boys with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence is the perfect example. The Avengers Movies are about tension as well. Take some time and learn as much as you can about tension and resolution. You will find that tension keeps the appointment interesting and your buyer engaged. 

Rapport can feel manipulative 

If you use a ton of rapport in sales it can make the buyer resent you and cause them to not feel like you are genuine. Your buyers can feel like you are taking advantage of them emotionally. There is a natural amount of tension in all relationships. Rapport plus good tension can allow you to say what needs to be addressed. Being too nice can be seen as supplicant behavior. 

When you look at this combination of actions you can actually lose deals. 

• Overboard rapport (finally leads to fear of rejection)
• Fear of rejection
• Polite – Money

The problem with sales trainers 

Some sales trainers and gooroos will say to always get agreement. When you always agree with a buyer you can be seen as spineless. Disagreement can be as powerful as a well-placed "no" in your interactions.  Its ok if the buyer doesn’t like you in the beginning, the middle or the end. You can still close a deal without the “Likability” factor. It just takes more work.

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HTSS148 - The secret closers know ”There is always another deal” - Scott Sylvan Bell

There is always another deal in sales 

Most salespeople live on scarcity to close the deal and for them if there is no scarcity there is no deal. The real question is could you sell and close a deal without scarcity? What if your company or service ended specials and discounts? Would you be able to close the deal?

You sell how you buy and you buy how you sell  

Can you live with this in your own life – when you learn this lesson it increases your sales skills.  It is possible for you to stop selling only on discounts and develop new abilities and skills. When you learn how to sell without only using the price this skill helps you in every other deal you could be in. 

Every Day Pricing was a mistake

One promotion every salesperson should study is EveryDay Pricing from JC Penny.  Your buyers may like deals. You do need to know that when you have a target market you will want to know how they buy and make their decisions.  There are other things you can do in order to induce a purchase. Discounting isnt the only way to close deals and make a sale. 

You will want to look at see how you make your own purchases. When you know what "sets you off" to make a purchase you can increase your skills. If you buy off deadlines, you will probably buy off deadlines. There are some people who will not make a purchase from deadlines and specials. 

Increase your sales skills 

Your buyer will need a few things to make a purchase: Pain, Problem, Risk or Pleasure. When you dig in and take a look at when your offer is roled out does it contain a message for pain, problem, risk or pleasure? 

A poll was held on my social media about what drives people nuts about salespeople. Here are the common issues people had with sales:

• Bragging -
• Fear mongering
• FOMO (fear of missin out) 
• Guilt
• Pressure
• Scarcity
• Shame
• Social proof
• Threats

What’s weird is these elements are all part of the sales process at some point but yet we all buy anyway.

HTSS147 - The problem with skinny deals and motivation - Scott Sylvan Bell

You will face problems with skinny deals 

Deals, where you are not making much money on the commission, is considered a skinny deal. When you meet with buyers that dont want to pay the money you are asking for it can chew through your time and allow you to not be interested. 

Skinny deals in sales are common 

It doesnt matter what industry you are in there is always a deal you don't like to make. The skinny deal can come from lack of revenue, commission or the fact you are forced to be pulled away from other deals where you could be making money. 

All industries have different types of buyers they work with. Everyone deals with cheap buyers or difficult buyers at some point. You do learn how to politely tell people "no" over time. You also find ways to hold your gross as well.  

The keys to rejection in sales 

Whenever you put time, energy, risk, effort or money on the line you have the elements for rejection. Skinny deals in sales typically have 3 or more of these elements.

When skinny deals go sideways 

If you feel for the person you are meeting with and try to get them a great deal you can lose. Not everyone is gracious as to getting help. It may feel that the more you try to give aide the worse the deal gets.  

HTSS146 - The reasons why you want to quit sales and how not to - Scott Sylvan Bell

What to do when you want to quit sales or quit a sales job... 

Let's face it, at some point in time you will want to quit your sales job. It could be because the job is hard, the people you work with suck or even you have your own personal issues. 

You will want to look at what is causing you to want to quit your sales job. What were the factors to lead up to you want to exit? 

These questions may sound easy at first but answering them can be hard, real hard. The reason is you need to be honest with yourself about why you are feeling the way you do. 

• Is the job out of your league?
• Are you being disrespected and or harassed? 
• Is the product or service not good?
• Are you having personal issues?

Is it a sales slump or is it more?

All of these questions are what you should be asking. It may very well be that you just hit a common cycle of your business and things are hard. These difficulties can be multiplied when you feel bad about yourself or when you have personal issues at home. Your sales problems can be compounded when you don't have money and are not making commissions. 

You must master the sales process

Being in sales isnt supposed to be easy. In fact, it is meant to be hard. You deal with things other people in business do not have to for the most part and the largest area is dealing with rejection. 

You can make yourself better at sales by taking the time to practice and invest in yourself. This is the foundation to start with if you are doubting if you should stay in sales. If you are struggling your go-to move should be to practice your sales process and get it on video to baseline where you are. In fact, you should video your presentation when you are at the top as well to compare what you are doing right vs what you have changed. 

If you are really struggling go and get some help and share what you are going through. If you want to quit sales you do need to investigate why. Once you know the reasons why then you can take the appropriate acition. 

The feeling of wanting to quit sales happens to the greenest of the salespeople all of the wat up to the veteran closer. You are not alone... Keep Going!

 

HTSS145 - Make Mondays your secret weapon in sales - Scott Sylvan Bell

You will never hear anyone say, "I don't know what I did to make Monday such a good day. But whatever it was, I'm going to do it again tomorrow." If you've been in sales long enough, you know Monday is statistically the worst day of the week for bringing in revenue. Peak days bring in a majority of sales, while the other five days of the week struggle to catch up.

So why do salespeople make Monday their secret weapon? We all know how difficult it is for sales reps to begin producing quality sales efforts early in the week, but we don't want to suggest that teams should wait until Thursday or Friday before putting pen to paper. That's just too far away from a sales rep's normal workday to be effective. It doesn't leave enough time for a salesperson to develop a relationship with a prospective buyer and close a sale before the weekend arrives. While Tuesday may be statistically your best day for sales, here are some ideas on how you can ensure Mondays remain productive:

Think through how many salespeople come dragging in on Monday mornings, this is your competition in the office and out in the field – these guys are price matchers and or discounters. Its amazing most salespeople are truly lazy. They only produce when they see activity or sales being made by other salespeople. You have to work hard and smart to stand out in the crowd.

You have to be ready at the start of each sales week. Have your sales tools and sales support lined up and available for you, before you walk into the office on Monday mornings.

Make sure that what you need is waiting for you on your desk or on a nearby shelf – no scrambling around trying to find business cards, brochures, pens etc… If you want things done quickly and accurately imagine how much more productive everyone would be if those sales tools were always organized and accessible!

Fighting off those Monday morning blues can take some serious creativity as well as some actionable steps such as arriving

How to plan for a good Monday:

1. Go to bed early
2. Get up and get going before the rest of the salespeople
3. Do your daily routine
4. Hydrate and drink plenty of water
5. Be willing to put in the work
6. Watch the lazy salespeople role into work late and be ineffective.
7. Take sales meetings, appointments and sales calls
8. Make sales
9. Close sales

 

HTSS144 - Why you need an awesomeness swipe file - Scott Sylvan Bell

Why you need an Awsomeness Swipe file!

It's not a matter of if but when you will struggle. Whether you are a salesperson or an entrepreneur you will face issues. You will question if you are good at what you do, if you belong and if you should keep going. Having something to go back and take a look at and remind yourself of your feats, your wins and your exceptionalism does help. 

What is an awsomeness swipe file 

You have had events in your life that are great. These events may be small or big, known to you or known to everyone. When one of these incidents happen you find a way to memorialize it. This can be a quick selfie, a picture of the event or circumstances, or even a video. All of these pieces of information are categorized and then added to a central location. You can use awards given to you by others and even testimonials for your efforts. 

Setting up your awesomeness swipe file

What works the best is for your swipe file is to have different types of information for you to go and look at. These articles allow you to see a full picture of what you have done. 

• Testimonials
• Events from life (pictures and or videos)
• Trophies (this concept is important)

You can anchor your Awsomeness swipe file 

Anchoring is how you hold your emotion to an event. You can tie a feeling to action so that you can recall the emotions you need to move forward. You can use the same gesture over and over again when something goes well. Anchoring a feeling or emotion can be as simple as rubbing two fingers together covertly. You can be more overt and even make noise and use a well-pronounced gesture others can see. 

Where you can store this awesomeness swipe file

Having your awesomeness swipe file accessible and easy to reach is one way for you to stay on top of selling and or closing deals. If you are struggling you want to be able to get to your good feelings and anchor as soon as possible. Here are just a few places you can store an awesomeness swipe file: 

• Dropbox or the equivalent
• File on computer or phone
• .pdf with all the relevant data in a few pages 
• A quick movie that you can watch with the documents imposed into the video 

All too often salespeople and or entrepreneurs feel like they have lost and then struggle to get back on top. Having an awesomeness swipe file helps you find ways to keep going. 

HTSS143 - How to prepare to be recruited for sales jobs - Scott Sylvan Bell

How to prepare the be recruited:

If you are in sales long enough you will be approached… especially when you are good.

Know this is a sales process

You will be told everything “good” and “perfect”

Be careful of too much upside. If the upside is sold more than the commission there may be a problem.

People who sell hope may just be selling a dream and trying to recruit you.

I wish I would have seen this pattern earlier in my life. Be willing to say “no” – too much upside is a sale and could be a danger sign and really could be desperation to get you in or a cover up for the problems

If its too good to be true there would be people lining up to sell

All jobs and employers have a problem – all companies have problems

Know what you want now (make a list)

What would you ask for?

What’s important to you

Reverse engineer every problem you could face in the industry and make a list. You want pain points in the day.

You are just as much in an interview as they are – ask really good questions. All types, Yes and no as well as situational

Be willing to say no – not all salespeople are good with getting or giving rejection. If it’s a no tell them and get on with your life

HTSS142 - The most dangerous buyers in sales Part 1 - Scott Sylvan Bell

As a salesperson, there are people you will sell to that have the possibility of creating problems. These buyers trip up most salespeople in a variety of industries. These people can wreak havoc on your sales process and lead to frustration. If you are new to sales and or are in a sales slump you will want to know that these different buyers are normal to come across. 

How you deal with these buyers can vary depending upon your sales knowledge. Taking the time to think through the list of buyers that challenge you is a powerful way to close deals and make your process easier.  

Here are the 10 dangerous buyers if you don't know what games they are up to:

1. The mysterious big deal buyer - There is always someone who tries to entice you to extra discounts and or concessions based upon more magic deals in the future. To deal with this buyer you have to let them know the next deals are the ones they will get special treatment on. 
2. The overly excited buyer - When you meet with buyers who are too excited, the deal isn't ready to close. This is their nervous energy and most of the time leads to a quick presentation and no deal. 
3. The desperate buyer - You may think a desperate buyer is someone who is willing to make a quick purchase. Desperate buyers will eat up your time and then complain you took advantage of them if you are not careful. 
4. Mr. and Mrs. frugal 1 - The first frugal buyer is all about the lowest price possible. These buyers dont care at all about quality, service, warranties, and or guarantees. This buyer will grind on you just to get to a price. The danger is if you give up all of your value upfront and discount too much. 
5. Mr. and Mrs. Frugal 2 - This frugal buyer will play games after the deal is done. You have to know that there are people who will nickel and dime you after the deal is done. 
6. Rapport too quick buyer - Rapport can be good and bad in sales presentations. Building too much rapport with you can be a strategy of the buyers you meet with. Too quick of rapport will take you off your presentation. 
7. I don't want to waste your time buyer - When you hear the "I don't want to waste your time line" most of the time it is too late. You will need to figure out how to slow down the conversation or walk away from the deal. 
8. The secret shopper buyer - Secret shoppers who never plan on buying from you are a complete waste of time. Most of the time these buyers reveal too much and you can figure out that the appointment isn't real. 
9. I know the Big Man Buyer - In life, it is all about who you know. With that being said the right discretion is important. This quick quip is meant to tell you who you are dealing with and intimidate you. 
10. The Tech Spec Dude - Tech spec people will eat up your time with questions and even argue with you about design. Some of the tech spec people also tell you why they are right and why you are wrong. At the end of the day you will need to figure out if there is a deal to be had and if there is, is it worth the sale. 

As you learn how to sell or as you sell you will want to know and understand what your kryptonite buyer is. This is the person or the people you struggle with. These 10 types of buyers may not be the one you struggle with the most. Map out the weird and or tough buyers you face so you know how to sell more. 

 

HTSS141 - How to quit a sales job - Scott Sylvan Bell

Quitting a job in sales is not as easy as you think it is. You may think that walking away from an employer is cut and dry, it isn't. You have more on the line than you think. 

Salespeople will say how they want to leave but they don't. There is a back and forth if you are doing the right thing. The sleepless nights, the concerns about family are difficult to deal with. 

You will face rejection because you put in time, effort, and energy into your job. There is the feeling of loss and what could have been. There are all of the hopes and dreams of what could have been. You may have left another job to be at the one you work for now. You may even have picked the wrong place to work. Walking away from a sales job can be excruciating. 

Emotional issues are a common problem on the way up to leaving a job. Stress, frustration, anger, loneliness, and even regret. 

You may face a guilt trip from the manager, owner, and or owners of the company you work with. Know that your leaving is up to you and what you want. 

Know what you want when you leave. There may be a possibility where they will try and keep you. It helps to have a list of things you want. If they press hard you can ask for too much. Know what you really want to stay vs you leaving. 

Most people never talk about how to quit a job let alone a job you have in sales.