What are good selling skills? The opposite of telling is asking, the opposite of talking is listening and the opposite of selling is buying. These are definitive selling skills.

Buyers no longer have a desire to be sold. They want to be understood, engaged and empowered to buy. These are great selling skills!

Buyers will buy from someone who demonstrates admirable selling skills. They want someone who truly listens and genuinely cares.

Someone they can trust and who reminds them of themselves. These are the focal selling skills required in today‘s new economy of buyers.

An engaging conversation and a considerate attitude are top notch selling skills. One, who asks questions, listens empathetically and acknowledges customer concerns harbors sturdy selling skills. A number one selling skill is trust. Trust is gained by being buyer focused and building rapport with the buyer, creating a mutually ratifying relationship. These are highly beneficial selling skills for today’s new economy of buyers.

When sales people are telling, they assume they are in control. Telling is not a suitable selling skill. Sales people conducting themselves in this fashion lack basic selling skills and totally loose control of the sales prospect. The buyer is now asking the questions and initiating the control. The wisdom to know better is a selling skill.

Do you ever get rejected? Ponder that a moment as it applies to selling skills. If your answer is yes, you are not in control. Proper selling skills will not promote failure or rejection. Excellent selling skills will engage the buyer. Professional service and dependable sales skills are positive motivation. . Superior sales skills pioneer dependability. The buyer is assured they will benefit from constructive results. Hard work and perseverance are necessary to attain and maintain all those exceptional selling skills.

Want to be in control? Apply adept selling skills with all future buyers: ask questions and listen well

Sales people may believe they gain by offering plenty of information. Too much information is of no value to the buyer. It is time consuming and an inappropriate selling skill.

Buyers today want value. They want to be understood, to feel important, to build a comfortable relationship and to be heard. These are all apt selling skills and all sales professionals should exhibit proficient selling skills on a daily basis.

If your selling skills are not engaging as described above and the customer is dissatisfied, you may be asked to “please leave! Don’t waste my time!”

To succeed in sales today, you must do the opposite of selling. You must learn how to attract, engage and empower buyers to buy.

Learn How to Execute the Disciplines of Attracting, Engaging and Empowering the “Buyer Focused” Velocity Selling System, to Up Your Bottom Line

To download your complimentary White Paper “The New Economy of Buyers, Why Traditional and Consultative Selling Methods No Longer Work”, visit www.BobU.com

Sales Velocity. Your Bottom Line. Our Passion

It’s important to be successful at what you do, maximizing your talents and leveraging your strengths. We need successful people in every facet of society for it to function properly – no one would argue with that concept.

There is a difference, though, in being successful and adding value to society, your family and all the relationships in which you are actively engaged. You can be successful at the expense of others, which many have experienced at some point in their lives; however, a person who adds value through their success, as Einstein ascribes, achieves that higher accomplishment of making society, home life or relationships better for everyone.

Think about the things you are striving to achieve. Are you working toward success at any cost, or are you adding value to others along the way? If you add value to others, they will value you in return and cheer for the successes you achieve in life.

Therefore, let’s understand how salespeople can add value.

Wikepedia defines Value added selling is one of several sales techniques that relies on building on the inherent value of a product or service. By its nature the value add technique is a more flexible and customized selling approach that requires input from a defined range of average customers. These customers will help the sales and marketing leaders to outline value positions that are likely to benefit the largest number of customers.

Tom Reilly, in his book Value Added Selling, describes value-added selling as a proactive philosophy of seeking ways to enhance, augment, or enlarge your bundled package solution for the customer. It’s promising a lot and delivering more, always looking for ways to exceed the customer’s expectations.

Based on the definitions above, you can see that being proactive, exceeding customer expectations, being flexible and able to customize your approach are important. However, there are other elements that also have to come into play first. They are the four universal needs of all buyers. Without those needs being satisfied, nothing will happen.

The 4 Universal Needs Of Buyers

Need 1. The need to be understood.
Need 2. The need to feel welcomed.
Need 3. The need to feel important.
Need 4. The need to feel comfortable.

First and foremost, a salesperson must be “buyer focused” with an immediate desire to establish trust. Trust is the basis of a great long-term relationship. If two people trust each other, like each other, and want to do business with each other, they will work out the details.

This step is not about you, your product, service, company or about making a sale. It is about the buyer and creating a relationship based on trust. This involves being curious while demonstrating integrity and empathy. This, is turn, will satisfy the buyer’s need of being understood.

Salespeople add value with their questioning, listening and problem solving skills, follow-up, accessibility, knowledge and initiative when focused on the buyer, not themselves, their product, service or company.
Initially, the value added salesperson is a doctor —he diagnoses the customer’s problems and then prescribes the right solution.

Value added salespeople define value in buyer terms, based on buyer needs, not seller terms or desires. If you define value in buyer terms, buyers pay for it with a higher selling price. Conversely, if you define value in your terms, you pay for it with a bigger discount.

Value, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. The salesperson’s competence and attitude are primary drivers of customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention.

Value-added selling is significantly different than traditional selling.

-Traditional salespeople sell products—value added salespeople solve problems.

-Traditional salespeople attempt to create the buyer’s needs—value added salespeople seek to understand the buyer’s needs.

-Traditional salespeople make deals—value added salespeople want to create a long term relationship and make a difference.

-The fundamental selling skill for traditional salespeople is closing—the fundamental selling skill for value added salespeople is engaging – probing, listening and empowering the buyer to make decisions.
Ask yourself this question – What can I do today to add more value?

Characteristics of Value Added Salespeople

Attitude – the foundation of all successful people – a desire to be buyer focused.

Integrity – ninety-six percent of buyers say that the number one thing they look for in salespeople is integrity. People want to do business with those whom they trust.

Empathy – this is the salesperson’s ability to ask questions, listen, understand and to view life from the buyer’s point of view.

Initiative – having an owner’s mentality and being proactive, being one step ahead of the buyer, not waiting for someone to tell you what you must do.

Knowledgeable – buyers report that what they want most in a solution is to deal with salespeople who are knowledgeable, or experts in their field. If knowledge is power then what you don’t know holds great power over you. Knowledge is empowerment.

Courage – this is not the absence of fear—it’s the management of fear. Value added salespeople feel the fear and do what they know they must do.

Discipline – Doing what you have to do, even when you don’t want to do it.

The Bottom Line: The key to value added selling is understanding buyers’ needs from their perspective— and defining “value” accordingly. Sell value, not price!

To succeed in sales today, you must do the opposite of selling. You must learn how to attract, engage and empower buyers to buy.

Learn How to Execute the Disciplines of Attracting, Engaging and Empowering the “Buyer Focused” Velocity Selling System, to Up Your Bottom Line

To download your complimentary White Paper “The New Economy of Buyers, Why Traditional and Consultative Selling Methods No Longer Work”, visit www.BobU.com

Sales Velocity. Your Bottom Line. Our Passion

Are you telling your sales people what to do? Are you telling them what their sales targets should be? If so, who really owns the target? Are your sales people really committed to achieving their goals? How do you think a “telling” behavior makes them feel – not trusted, not knowledgeable, and not professional? Do you like to be told what to do by your boss? How does it make you feel when you are told what to do?

What type of relationship will a sales team have with their customers if their sales manager consistently demonstrates a “telling” behavior? Most salespeople don’t like to be told what to do, nor do the customers. Unfortunately, a selling trend is generally to “tell” others what to do and how to think. However, it should be noted that “telling” indicates lack of trust and empowerment.

Sales professionals, customers, and probably you too, prefer to be engaged in the process. To be engaged means to be consulted or asked. You will feel empowered, trusted, motivated, and far more committed to the job at hand because you own the idea.

Are you asking your salespeople for their input or telling them what to do? Are your salespeople asking questions of their customers or telling the customer about the company and its products and services. Chances are your salespeople are doing exactly what you are doing – “monkey see, monkey do”.

The Bottom Line: Discipline yourself to demonstrate appropriate behaviors. One of the disciplines is to ASK, not tell.

Want to know what A.S.K. stands for? ASK bob@bobu.com

Visit www.BobU.com and download your complimentary White Paper titled: The New Economy of Buyers: Why Traditional and Consultative Selling Methods No Longer Work.

Believe it or not, the world revolves around sales. Without sales, there are no transactions, no revenue, no business, and no jobs. You can have the best product or service in the world, but if you cannot sell it, you will not survive.

When people, like you, undertake sales training, the human interaction and productivity qualities are honed to perfection. Not only do they acquire a sizeable return on investment from the sales training, but also enjoy an edge over their competition. Sales training plays an instrumental role in channelling one’s selling talents in the right direction ensuring a better return on time invested – R.O.T.I..

If you want your profession or your business to succeed you need to be comfortable selling, but not in the traditional way. Traditional and consultative sales training and selling methods no longer work.

Buyer focused sales training is a natural non-selling manner in which to build your business. It is based on attracting the ideal prospects, building trust, remaining ethical, and building long term relationships.

Buyer focused sales training is based on a pull – an attraction strategy instead of a push strategy like selling. It is based on engaging the buyers in such a way as to determine their true emotional needs. It is not about convincing or persuading them to consider your product or service. All you need to do is learn how to build rapport, learn the pertinent questions to ask, listen to the answers, question some of the answers, and empower them to buy.

As a result of buyer focused sales training, non-selling professionals and entrepreneurs realize that it is more profitable to attract, engage and empower potential prospects to buy than wasting valuable time trying to drive a square peg into a round hole, and emerging as a traditional sales person.

Buyer focused sales training is for non-selling professionals and entrepreneurs who want to stand out in their profession and who want to up their bottom line.

To succeed in sales today, you must do the opposite of selling. You must learn how to attract, engage and empower buyers to buy.

Learn How to Execute the Disciplines of Attracting, Engaging and Empowering the “Buyer Focused” Velocity Selling System, to Up Your Bottom Line

To download your complimentary White Paper “The New Economy of Buyers, Why Traditional and Consultative Selling Methods No Longer Work”, visit www.BobU.com

Sales Velocity. Your Bottom Line. Our Passion

Let’s face it, the world revolves around sales. Without sales there are no transactions, no revenue, no bottom line, no organization, and no jobs. Without buyers, there are no sales. The world really revolves around buyers – what are you doing to help them buy?

Buyer focused sales training is the opposite of traditional and consultative selling techniques. It is certainly not about you, your products and services, your features and benefits, your presentation, or the handling of objections.

Buyer focused sales training is all about the buyer and how to attract, engage and empower them to buy from you. Buyer focused sales training is a pull, not a push, process. It is about being chased, not chasing after prospects. Buyer focused sales training is about getting commitment, not giving it. It is about empowering prospects to buy, not selling to them.

Buyer focused sales training is about understanding human behaviour and human interaction. Discovering how buyers buy and how to address the universal needs of all buyers. Buyer focused sales training is about building trust and long term relationships, not about tricks and dodgy techniques to sell and run.

Buyer focused sales training is about the sales person being in control of the sales process, while allowing the buyers to think they are in control. It is about asking pertinent questions and listening with empathy, but it is not about talking, presenting, or handling self-created objections.

Buyer focused sales training is about doing things differently, honestly, and with a high degree of ethics. You will stand out in the crowd of competitors.

Buyer focused sales training is the right direction in today’s economy.

To succeed in sales today, you must do the opposite of selling. You must learn how to attract, engage and empower buyers to buy.

Learn How to Execute the Disciplines of Attracting, Engaging and Empowering the “Buyer Focused” Velocity Selling System, to Up Your Bottom Line

To download your complimentary White Paper “The New Economy of Buyers, Why Traditional and Consultative Selling Methods No Longer Work”, visit www.BobU.com

Sales Velocity. Your Bottom Line. Our Passion

Let me share with you the story of two different clients in need of sales training. Last August, I was scheduled to conduct some sales training for dissimilar clients: Client A and Client B. Each sales team was having difficulty meeting their sales targets and sales training was identified as a solution to the problem.

Due to budget cuts, Client A’s sales training was postponed until the New Year. Why do suppose their sales training budgets were cut?

The primary reason was sales were down. Client A chose to punish or penalize the sales force by cutting sales training budgets and other sales related activities.

Did Client A’s choice to eliminate sales training help increase their sales, or get the team back on target, or even contribute to their bottom line?

Time had passed and as per their request, I followed up with them. Unfortunately, I learned the sales force was cut to a bare minimum, the sales training budget was slashed, and now they are in serious financial difficulty. Can you appreciate the importance of sales training?

Client B was also struggling to meet sales targets; however, they invested in sales training. Client B ended the year on target, and realized how sales training made a positive contribution to their bottom line. Not only did they prepare in advance for today’s new economy of buyers but they are now providing their sales team with ongoing sales training. What do you think their results will be this year?

It is important management understand that the world revolves around sales. Without sales, there are no transactions and without transactions, there is no revenue. Organizations cannot survive without revenue and therefore, no one would have a job.

Today’s down economy is resulting in layoffs and cutbacks due to lack of sales, and lack of buyer focused sales training. There is reduced revenue and therefore, cost reductions are necessary. However, these cost reductions should not be in the sales training area. Sales is the bloodline of every business in the world!

On the contrary, an increased budget should be allocated to sales for sales training. Now is the time for ambitious sales activity. It is no longer an order taking economy. It is a hunter’s economy. Prospects are to be sought after, qualified and prescribed affordable solutions. Sales training must be at the forefront. In addition, it is crucial to maintain loyal relationships with all existing customers.

These are only a few of the things that are re-enforced in sales training, not to mention the following points:

Sales people may also need to change the way they are selling. The traditional dog and pony show or feature and benefit dump will no longer work. Clients, in today’s economy, are looking for sales people who bring them value. They want sales people who take the time to truly understand a client’s business and needs.

Clients appreciate sales people who ask pertinent questions and listen intently, while demonstrating genuine concern for the client and not just themselves. Clients respect sales people who are in it for the long term relationship and not simply for the money. Ongoing sales training will cover the entire field. Sales training offers structure and builds confidence.

Sales people also need to learn how to get the best return on their time invested (R.O.T.I.). In today’s economy, they may need to change their targeting strategy in order to benefit from R.O.T.I. They must profile clients by category and then, identify similar profiles in the market place. Once again, this is addressed and reiterated in ongoing sales training.

Sales people need to track their behaviours and identify where they obtain the best results for improving their call to close ratios. These ratios are normally down during an economic crisis. Sales training will offer a guide for effective tracking.

The sales person’s attitude also requires an adjustment. Sales people tend to become a product of their environment of which they have little control. They use the tough times as an excuse and slow down as opposed to moving forward and taking control of their life. Ongoing sales training offers constant and progressive motivation.

This economic crisis is not the end of sales. There is much to learn through ongoing sales training that leads to positive actions and results. Now is the time to contribute to your bottom line one positive step at a time. However, if the foundation is not there for sales support, nothing will change.

Sales training is the foundation. You may not be able to build on it right now, but don’t knock it down. It is a strong support today and in the future.

Learn How to Execute the Disciplines of Attracting, Engaging and Empowering the “Buyer Focused” Velocity Selling System, to Up Your Bottom Line

To download your complimentary White Paper “The New Economy of Buyers, Why Traditional and Consultative Selling Methods No Longer Work”, visit www.BobU.com

Sales Velocity. Your Bottom Line. Our Passion

There are no sales, without buyers; there are no transactions, without sales; and there is no revenue, without transactions. It is imperative sales people take part in ongoing sales training and learn how to attract, engage and empower buyers to buy.

Both small business owners and major corporations cannot survive without revenue, and consequently, without any sales revenue there won’t be any jobs. Hence the importance of buyer focused sales training.

Let’s face it; your success depends on sales. You may have to “sell” your honest and professional character often during your life time. How can you not afford sales training?

Most strategic planning emphasizes a target to increase sales and to up the bottom line. Sales skill sets acquired from ongoing sales training, must keep pace with the new economy of buyers in this global, high-tech society.

This is probably one reason why sales training is so prevalent on the internet, at public seminars, and through in-house customized programs.

Every business struggles to instil into the minds of their employees the beliefs, behaviours, competencies, and disciplines that will maximize their profits. However, the only way to increase your bottom line is through sales and that is best accomplished through buyer focused sales training.

There are a variety of sales training solutions in the market place intended to “train” people how to sell more effectively. Unfortunately, many of these sales training solutions on their own or in their current form do not provide long-term improvements or solid, beneficial solutions for the average salesperson. Many of these solutions may help some people some of the time and most have merit; but each solution can be improved upon in order to produce maximum results.

Firstly, you must define the following:

1. Objective – what are your sales training objectives?
2. Needs – what are your needs or the needs of others partaking in sales training?
3. Budget – how much are you willing to invest in ongoing sales training?
4. Time – how much time are you willing to invest in sales training?
5. Results – What measurable results are you looking for from sales training?

Next you need to understand the advantages and disadvantages of each of the sales training options so as to determine which criteria would best meet your objectives, needs, budget, time, and desired results.

There is no faster, easier, and less costly way to increase revenue than through sales training.

I must ask again,” who cannot afford sales training?”

Learn How to Execute the Disciplines of Attracting, Engaging and Empowering the “Buyer Focused” Velocity Selling System, to Up Your Bottom Line

To download your complimentary White Paper “The New Economy of Buyers, Why Traditional and Consultative Selling Methods No Longer Work”, visit www.BobU.com

Sales Velocity. Your Bottom Line. Our Passion

Therefore, 87% of your time allocated to sales training is lost because the acquired knowledge is generally forgotten after 30 days!

What is the solution to this problem as it pertains to sales training?

Avoid investing in one, two, three or more consecutive day sales training programs, whether they are public or in-house.

Invest in non-traditional ongoing sales training, sales management training, and/or “train-the-trainer” certification programs. The ongoing sales training, coaching and re-enforcement sales training should be conducted on a weekly or monthly basis during low sales times. The sales training is typically carried out by the sales manager, the in-house trainer, or an external resource.

Also, make sure there is a favourable working environment that allows for real world application, sharing of experiences, and coaching as needed.

Other research has shown that there is little or no correlation between sales training effectiveness and the sales training evaluation which is completed by the trainees immediately following the training. In reality they are just smile sheets that reflect the participant’s emotions at that particular time.

What is the solution to this problem as it pertains to sales training?

Clearly define your sales training objectives before considering any sales training program. It is virtually impossible to measure training effectiveness without setting clear and realistic objectives prior to the training.

What observable and/or measurable attitude, behaviour, competency and discipline changes do you expect from the participants following a sales training session? Do you have tracking systems in place to measure the changes generated from the sales training?

The ultimate test of any sales training will be whether the objective based learning points can actually deliver better bottom line results when applied correctly in the real world. The results from non-traditional ongoing sales training can range from attitude and behaviour changes to shorter sales cycles, increased margins and revenue, improved relationships, better communications, word of mouth referrals, and much, much more.

The problem with many organizations is they are still caught up in traditional and consultative selling methods which no longer work in today’s new economy of buyers.

To succeed in sales today, you must do the opposite of selling. You must learn how to attract, engage and empower buyers to buy.

Learn How to Execute the Disciplines of Attracting, Engaging and Empowering the “Buyer Focused” Velocity Selling System, to Up Your Bottom Line

To download your complimentary White Paper “The New Economy of Buyers, Why Traditional and Consultative Selling Methods No Longer Work”, visit www.BobU.com

Sales Velocity. Your Bottom Line. Our Passion

Sales training will not be effective unless management is onboard. An organization will benefit from efficient use of time and get more “bang for your buck” with supporting sales management training.

Sales training generates valuable changes and improvements in individual attitudes, behaviours, competencies, and disciplines. All these factors lead to bottom line improvements; however, if sales management is not trained on “how to” demonstrate and coach these improved characteristics, then nothing will change.

You have heard it said before – monkey see, monkey do. Sales people look up to sales management and will emulate management’s course of action. If management doesn’t utilize what is acquired from the sales training program, then they defeat the overall purpose of sales training. It becomes a futile investment of time and money.

However, with supporting sales management training, the sales manager not only learns how to demonstrate the sales process acquired through sales training, but also learns how to overcome his/her own weaknesses. Management is very likely to increase their strengths and become better coaches for their sales team.

Sales management training goes beyond the sales training curriculum. Sales management training focuses on understanding the role of a leader/mentor/coach and how to effectively guide in all areas. Sales management training enlightens and warrants increased and ongoing team motivation and bottom line results.

Sales management training provides sales managers with the tools necessary to engage the sales team and secure a commitment to devise and accomplish effective sales strategies. Sales management training highlights how to forecast and maintain sales performance while getting the best return on time invested – R.O.T.I.

Sales management training offers techniques on how to provide constructive feedback and deal with conflict. Sales management training explores how to run effective sales meetings, build stronger teams, and use recognition and reward appropriately.

Sales management training is designed to support the sales training program and help create winners. Sales managers should also be responsible for following-up with ongoing sales training and re-enforcement. Sales management training is far more effective when adult learning principles and methodologies are included.

A well trained sales manager is an asset to any organization especially if management is trained to effectively lead their team toward improved bottom line results on an ongoing basis.

To succeed in sales today, you must do the opposite of selling. You must learn how to attract, engage and empower buyers to buy.

Learn How to Execute the Disciplines of Attracting, Engaging and Empowering the “Buyer Focused” Velocity Selling System, to Up Your Bottom Line

To download your complimentary White Paper “The New Economy of Buyers, Why Traditional and Consultative Selling Methods No Longer Work”, visit www.BobU.com

Sales Velocity. Your Bottom Line. Our Passion

Sure the motivation and a couple of sales training tips may be good for the next 30 -90 days, but if sales training techniques are not implemented within 24-48 hours of learning them, they are forgotten and the sales training becomes a waste of time and money.

Let me acknowledge that sales training can be your best return on time and bottom line results if the sales training is well organized and properly demonstrated. However, most sales training on the market today is antiquated and does not focus on the new economy of buyers, or the actual needs and learning patterns of the sales team.

Think about this. The last time you attended (sales) training; did you immediately make permanent attitude, behaviour or competency changes based on what you learned during the training?

On day three, did you remember what you learned on day one?

Thirty days later, can you recall 50% of the sales training information?

It is highly unlikely you will.

In order for sales training to be effective and grant a return on time invested (R.O.T.I.), it has to be an ongoing process with real world application and coaching re-enforcement. Although ongoing sales training results may not be immediate, there will be noticeable improvement in attitudes, behaviours, competencies and disciplines. In time the results will speak for themselves.

Why do farmers plant seeds, water them, nourish them, tend them and cultivate them without immediate rewards?

A farmer does this without immediate rewards because he knows that sooner or later his effort will multiply in the form of a bountiful harvest.

It is no different with ongoing sales training and coaching. An organization who invests in ongoing sales training will out perform those who do not, in every arena, every time.

Also, sales training cannot be stand alone. Sales training needs to be supported by sales management training. After all, sales management must demonstrate and coach the appropriate attitudes, behaviours, competencies and disciplines they want their sales people to follow. Remember, “monkey see, monkey do!”

To succeed in sales today, you must do the opposite of selling. You must learn how to attract, engage and empower buyers to buy.

Learn How to Execute the Disciplines of Attracting, Engaging and Empowering the “Buyer Focused” Velocity Selling System, to Up Your Bottom Line

To download your complimentary White Paper “The New Economy of Buyers, Why Traditional and Consultative Selling Methods No Longer Work”, visit www.BobU.com

Sales Velocity. Your Bottom Line. Our Passion