This is a bit of a rant and justifiably so. In the last few months it has come to my attention the most disruptive student who attends my corporate sales training seminar is the sales manager.
We tell all leaders the training is most effective when the CEO, Owner and Management team attends. It is a strong message to fully engage as an active participant and demonstrate by action, rather than words the importance of education. Makes perfect sense doesn’t it? Yet, here is the reality; the Blackberry remains on, and is constantly checked, and in most cases email replies are actually taking place. Furthermore, if an incoming call is deemed important the (ineffective) leader will leave the room and take their call.
I could give you a few clichés such as “walk the talk”, or actions speak louder than words”, or even “people do not listen to what you say, rather they watch what you do.”
Rather, I’ll quote Albert Switzer: “Teach people at the school of example, they will learn no other way.”
The people I respect most in business are generally instant decision-makers. Sure, if data is available, it is considered but they don’t need to know every “minute” fact first. Confident decision-makers accept in advance that they are bound to make a fair share of wrong decisions, yet they are also confident in knowing that, most of the time, they will make the right decisions.
My friend and mentor Nido Qubien has a four-step decision-making method he shared with me that takes the risk out of decision-making.
Initially, he said, you must be willing to take a risk with your decisions, but as he emphasizes, “There is a difference between risk management and risk aversion.”
Here’s Nido’s four-step formula to managing risk and making confident decisions:
1. Ask the question, “What is the best possible outcome that can occur if you were to move forward with your decision?” Then remove the rose-colored glasses, and ask the second question.
2. What is the most likely outcome that can occur if you decide to venture forward? In most cases, you will find the most likely outcome is the probable-case scenario. If the most likely outcome will move you toward your goal, then you are probably on the path to the right choice.
3. You have now pondered the best and the most likely outcomes, so step three is to ask, “What is the worst possible outcome of this decision?
4. Finally, ask yourself if the worst possible outcome should occur, are you willing to subject yourself and/or family to it?
After thinking through the outcomes, if you conclude that the most likely one will take you where you want to go but, if the worst outcome happens, you can live with it, then launch ahead confidently.
A final bit of advice - Most decisions are self-fulfilling prophecies. A lot of seemingly great decisions have worked; not because of the quality of the decisions, but rather because of the determination to make them work. Conversely, a lot of good decisions fail because the people who make them undermine their chances for success by not conquering their doubts.
Hiring Practices: How Long Does It Take You to Make a Decision?
Most executives decide whether or not a job candidate is suitable for the position in only four or five minutes, and then spend the rest of the interview looking for additional information to confirm their decisions. One study showed that 74 percent of the executives determine the suitability of the applicant within five minutes.
Printing Industries of Northern California Newsletter
Mind your appearance! In a USA Today poll of 651 sales managers, the biggest deterent to a salesperson selling was appearance-by a whopping 94%. You do not have to be the best looking in a group, though you always strive to look your best. A book is always judged by the cover and judgement is passed in one to four seconds during the meet and greet phase of the selling process. In that one to four seconds you will be sized by your appearance.
I’m constantly searching for ideas that help my readers and clients move from good to outstanding. Although numerous factors create success, great employees are essential to create a great company.
Hiring top talent is tough. Many companies fail in this vital process. Most would pay a fortune to learn secrets that would dramatically improve their recruiting effectiveness. Well, I have discovered a book that provides those secrets. And you can read it in just one hour!
The book- Stop Hiring Failures! by Steve Springer, is available from Amazon.com and is currently ranked #1 under Employee Hiring. This book provides a simple but effective hiring strategy for any position at any level in your company. Steve’s method is divided into six steps that everyone can understand and follow. And it works.
In sixty minutes, Steve not only provides the process, he also lists killer questions that will blow you away in terms of their effectiveness. They will help you unlock the motivation, energy level, job skills and passions of every applicant you interview. You will accurately predict future performance, separating the mediocre from the exceptional.
And here’s the best part, available exclusively from Myers Barnes Associates: Steve has agreed to write postings for my blog and articles for my newsletter. In addition, he has agreed to answer questions from anyone reading his book who seeks additional information or guidance.
Visit Amazon.com and buy this outstanding book. Read it from cover-to-cover. Then continue to visit this site for Steve’s postings that will specifically address the challenges we all face when recruiting top sales and sales management talent. Steve’s insights and knowledge will increase your ability to attract and retain outstanding performers.
I receive constant correspondences from people who are not currently working with our company, and they express concerns that the current market and state of affairs is affecting their ability to sell real estate. They stress that current conditions are causing indecisiveness in their prospects, who use them as an excuse to drag their feet about buying a new home. Their customers tell them they want to wait until the market settles and the economy “stabilizes.”
Before providing you with a list of solutions to this real-estate roadblock, I want to address a prudent issue in regards to the “professional’s mindset.” First, a sale is made every time a salesperson and prospect begin a sale’s conversation. Either the prospect sells you on why she will not own, or you sell her on why she should own. My question is, each time you’re with a prospect, “Who is doing the selling?” Between you and your prospect, who ends up being the better salesperson?
It’s important to realize that objections come from one of two places. They are introduced into the sale’s presentation either by your prospect – and these are easy to overcome – or by you. Sometimes, without being consciously aware of it, you create objections in your own mind about why a customer will not buy.
You can handle your prospect’s objections by employing strategy and pre-scripted responses. You can eliminate the self-defeating objections in your head by changing your attitude and your perspective.
Is the economy really bad? Or is it simply “adjusting?” What is a bad economy anyhow? Is the idea being introduced by you or by your prospects? What is the reality … not your perception of reality?
Here are The Official Rules For Beating A Declining Market like a drum.
1. Decide not to participate. Seriously, get out of the drama of the situation and get back to work. Now, we are going to find out how hot most salespeople, managers and builders really are. Telling is not selling, and those who have become accustomed to simply presenting the property and having prospects sign on the dotted line are due for a wake-up call. Reputations are earned in a challenging economy, not in the good times.
2. Make rapid, bottom-line decisions. This is no time to be spending a lot of time trying to decide what to do. In the words of W. Clement Stone, “Do it now.”
3. Work everyday on developing your personal and/or team selling skills because the most skilled person always succeeds in challenging times. If you are a salesperson, be willing to invest your own money in books, tapes and seminars. New information will improve your attitude as well as increase your skills. If you are a manager or company owner, now is not the time to be eliminating (debating and shooting down) professional sales training for your team. They need to be equipped to deal with a changing marketplace and it’s your responsibility to insist that they knuckle down and get to business. For help, visit our website, www.myersbarnes.com, or call and schedule an educational session.
4. Evaluate your results. If a certain marketing program or a housing design is not working, or a campaign is losing money and producing an energy drain, drop it. Eliminate access baggage and, regardless of cost, cut your losses and do what’s right for today.
5. Work twice as hard! John Maxwell observed, “Whenever you let up, expect a let down.” Hard work covers many sins and makes the climb upward go smoother.
6. Develop and intensify your relationship with your “Spheres of Influence.” Keep in mind, you best prospects are your current customers.
7. Give yourself a whack on the side of your head and get creative. Do something different. Whatever got you to where you are today is as far as it will carry you tomorrow. As Dr. Einstein professed, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.”
8. Let go. Lao Tzu wisely said, “When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.” That’s how it is with you. Let go of fears, bad attitudes and unwarranted expectations that undermine your success. Then you will be free to discover what you truly can become.
Bottom line: Real estate is the one investment that over the last 75 years has always been sound, and a place where investors can go and not have to deal with the emotional ups and downs of Wall Street, wars, gasoline shortages and economic swings. The major percentage of all millionaires and billionaires have had a good portion of their money parked in strong real estate investments.
Here are two final thoughts: 1. Should you be looking at real estate as your personal haven to protect your financial future? 2. Should you be talking (selling) to your prospects and current owners about taking advantage of low interest rates to buy more real estate to build their financial future?
The answer is so obvious, it’s offensive. “Yes,” to both of those questions so get out there and start buying and selling more new homes!
You have probably heard the story of the Wright Brothers. Both were bicycle mechanics who were unknown and lacking a formal education. Although they weren’t leaders in aviation, they still managed to pioneer man’s first motorized flight on December 17, 1903.
But do you know the story of Samuel P. Langley? He was a professor of mathematics and astronomy, and a Director of the Smithsonian Institution. Langley was also a scientist and inventor who, in the mid to late 1890’s, actively performed experiments with large unmanned airplane models, gaining notable recognition for his accomplishments.
Because he was at the forefront of aviation, the U.S. War Department gave him $50,000 (an astronomical amount of money for that time) and commissioned him to design and build an airplane that would send mankind skyward.
By 1901, he had successfully tested and created history’s first heavier-than-air aircraft. Then, on October 8, 1903, on a modified houseboat in front of journalists and spectators, Langley (with the aid of pilot Charles Manley) attempted to fly his plane, The Great Aerodrome.
When the launch was attempted, however, the biplane was flung into sixteen feet of water only 50 feet from the boat. Criticism from skeptics and cynics was brutal as evidenced by this report in the New York Times:
” The ridiculous fiasco, which attended the attempt at aerial navigation in the Langley flying machine, was not unexpected. No doubt the problem has its attractions for those it interests, but to ordinary men, it would seem as if the effort might be employed more profitably.”
At first, Langley remained undaunted. Eight weeks later in early December he and his pilot again prepared to make history with their second flight. Yet, once again, disaster struck and this time the pilot nearly died.
As before the cynics and skeptics fiercely attacked the Great Aerodrome, calling it “Langley’s Folley,” and accused him of wasting government funds.
Langley succumbed to his critics and abandoned his project with the heavy-hearted speech, “I have brought to close the portion of work which seemed to be specifically mine - the demonstration of the practicality of mechanical flight. For the next stage, which is the commercial and practical development of the idea, it is probable that the world may look to others.”
Instead of throwing his hat in the ring, Langley threw in the towel. He abandoned his pursuit of flight and walked away from his decade-long pursuit. Only a few days later, Orville and Wilber Wright - uneducated, unknown and unfunded - flew their aircraft from the sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
Let me offer my perspective of Langley and the Wright Brothers because what happened to them is what occurs in the lives of many people today. Too many allow failure and setbacks to get the best of them, while a few accept life’s challenges as lessons and allow their setbacks to propel them toward the achievement of their goals.
In retrospect, it would seem that Samuel Langley had an almost unfair advantage over the Wright Brothers; money, education, reputation and supporters. Yet, I suggest it was the Wright Brothers who had the unfair advantage over Langley.
Samuel Langley had more than his share of cynics and skeptics surrounding his project. As painful as failure can be, it’s magnified when others add their ridicule. This would cause him, and anyone else, to emotionalize and personalize their shortcomings. For many, the pain of failure leads to the fear of failure.
Because the Wright Brothers were unknown, they had no cynics or skeptics to criticize their work. The advantage they had over Langley was that, when they experienced setbacks, their thoughts were not on personalized failure but on focusing on the lessons of their failures.
Therefore, the first and most important step in overcoming failure (setbacks, obstacles and challenges) is to understand that failure is an event and not a person. It is something that happens to you that can be demoralizing as well as educational, but it is not YOU. To put it simply, failing to achieve does not make you a failure.
If you really want to accomplish your dreams, you must get into the marketplace, take calculated risks and be willing to experience failure. Soccer player Kyle Rote Jr. noted, “There are many ways to win, but only one way to lose and that is to fail and not look beyond the failure.”
USA Today (today) has a great article about how the Internet is transforming the way homes are sold. My friend Mike Lyon has the article and comments posted over at his blog Do You Convert?
Flash back to Carly Simon and her song, “You’re So Vain.” Now admit it: Didn’t you think this part was about you? A little dose of self-esteem is good. So, here are a few vain, all-about-you practices to initiate that won’t alienate others:
• Care for yourself.
• Save for your retirement.
• Work at being healthy.
• Exercise regularly.
• Eat with the following thought: Food is only fuel.
• Drive a clean car. It makes you feel better
• Avoid heavy perfume and cologne. Others may be allergic.
• Wear quality clothes.
• Think energetically.
• Take vitamins.
• Keep your shoes polished. It reflects favorably on you.
Is this vanity or self-esteem? You figure it out. I think salespeople who stand erect, look sharp, and smile don’t look vain….they look like they value themselves.
Winston Churchill, a person who never quit in a lifetime of challenges and setbacks, may best be remembered for the shortest commencement address ever given. Speaking before the graduates of Oxford University he said, “Never give up!” A few seconds passed before he repeated, “Never, never give up!” Then he returned to his seat.
I have arrived in Orlando, FL for the International Builders’ Show. This is the main event, and my speaking schedule for those who are attending is listed:
• Secrets of Closing the Sale:
Wednesday, February 7th, 8:30 a.m. till 10:00 a.m.
• Super Sales Rally:
Thursday, February 8th, 9:00 a.m. till 12:30 p.m.
• Savvy Sales Management:
February 10th, 8:30 a.m. till 10:00 a.m.
I’ll be sharing the platform with incredible speakers at all three seminars, and promise in advance a high energy, impactful and unbelievable experience. I am looking forward to seeing you in the audience.
Builder Magazine has named Bob Schultz to the Power On 50 List: The 50 most influential people in the homebuilding industry. The precise quote reads:
“Schultz has been preaching the sales training gospel for years. In the boom times, when agents got cramps from writing so many contracts, he may have felt like the Beatles’ Father McKenzie, writing the words to a sermon no one wanted to hear. But today, people are starting to understand that new home sales are hard work - and are clinging on to his every word.”
Congratulations Bob, your contributions to the industry make this distinction worthy, and your contributions to me personally are appreciated.
In sales there is a universal axiom called The Law of Size, which states, “Customers really have no more than six objections to owning the home or homesite you are selling.” You may hear what seems like countless objections; however, if you categorize them, you will find they normally fall into six basic topics. Figure out what those objections are before you make a presentation. Don’t wait until you are involved in the presentation and then find yourself trying to make up an answer. You must be proactive and show up prepared.
Here’s how the process works:
• Identify all possible objections by yourself or brainstorm with team members.
• Write the objections down. Don’t think it, ink it!
• Script potent responses. After identifying all objections, develop ironclad scripted responses and airtight answers.
• Rehearse the scripted responses in role-play. Practice, drill, and rehearse until your planned responses feel natural. This is professionalism of the highest degree.
Do this and, when the predictable objections surface, you can easily, effortlessly, and automatically move to the close.
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