Saturday, February 28, 2015

Todays Kudos & Encouragement (Sat 2-28-15) Overcome Slump



Good Morning My Most Excellent Friends,

It was once said (and often repeated) It is our attitude that determines our altitude. I like that!! With sales in general, and with us in particular, it could be easy to get down when we hit a slump. The hard part (in addition to a low paycheck) is the keep the attitude of excellence in the forefront of our mind. I researched a dozen or so sales articles and came up with these top 10 ideas to help us get back on track, and live the excited and productive life we all want. I know it’s longer than normal but it is still a quick read:

Here are the top 11 ways to overcome a slump, why not apply at least one today:
1.  Maintain a regular practice even when on a plateau (or in a ditch!). If you wrote out a business TODO list, re-read it. How about this: 10 x 12 (contact 10 prospects by noon); or 1 x 5, ask for 1 referral by 5 each day.
2. Look at our numbers honestly: our appointment levels, quote contacts, referrals. What have our historical standards been? Can we add one more per day, per week? Start from the possible and move towards the impossible. Take an honest inventory of our active quotes - are they really prospects or suspects?  If our call backs/be backs are full, our fear will diminish.
3. Write down, map out our sales process: what are the predictable, necessary/critical steps from planning our initial prospect contact until after the close? Is there a sales process breakdown that we can correct?
4. Be absolutely clear as to the identity of our self gen target markets and lead/referral sources and how to best reach them.
5. Work on our body and mind.  Increased energy and mental awareness increases our productivity.
6. Guard our prospecting time ferociously by managing our calendar: eliminate distracting tasks and avoid distracting people.  Make an appointment with ourselves for prospecting activities and don’t cancel our appt!
7. Read a book, listen to a book on tape while driving. Success, Motivation, Skills will be gleaned from this one activity.
8. Talk about it. For most sales people, this one can be tough. Sometimes venting gets it out of our system so we can focus on higher thoughts!
9. Celebrate our success, even small victories: that impossible appt, that objection you overcame, a terrific referral. I treat the family to an awesome dinner every Friday night (or Sat) to celebrate another paycheck.
10. Keep our sense of humor engaged; it’s helpful (if we’re in sales, we must have a sense of humor!)
11. Love on a Dog – they think we are AWESOME salespeople!!

Excellence is not a skill. It’s an attitude. – Ralph Marston
* Our job is to relieve our competition of the burden of their accounts!
* Contact our prospects until they surrender or block our number!
* Re-read Dr. Seuss’s “Green Eggs & Ham” – a terrific sales manual!

Dan Thompson
Floors By Tomorrow
Auth Rep of Empire Today
Sales Trainer
720-371-2000
Connect with me online:

PS: Be aware of current limited availabilities Mon-Weds
PSS: If you have a real estate agent friend, call me, I have an amazing idea for you.

Friday, February 27, 2015

Todays Kudos & Encouragement (Fri 2-27-15) Value Perception



Good Morning VP Professionals,
Value Perception (VP) is the opinion our potential and current customers have of our product and service, of ourselves and our company. This perception determines the value it adds to them; in line with the problems it needs to solve or aspirations they want it to fulfill. Also evaluated is our perceived relevance and importance, over and above that of our competitors. In short our product knowledge and presentation is what defines our perceived value and our customers desire to buy.

Ladies & gentlemen, we are Product Perception Professionals (P3).  Plying products through professional presentations of plush possibilities to people’s perceptions. (sorry, I had to get that out)


"Each close you use should be an educational process by which you are able to raise the value in the prospect's mind." -Zig Ziglar
During our presentation, how many times do we lob out a pre-close? I believe Jay once told me about the 4-P’s (reasons people don’t buy) 1) Price 2) Product 3) Person 4) Place. If we can figure out the reason someone is not buying, then fix it, our sales will skyrocket.

Floors By Tomorrow
Auth Rep of Empire Today
Sales Trainer
720-371-2000
Connect with me online:


PS: Strange thing happening on the computer last night, some people see this dress as Blk/Blue others see Gold/White. What colors do you see? Perception test. Please respond to this email and tell me.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Todays Kudos & Encouragement (2-26-15) Name Callers



Good Morning Name Callers,

Yes, there are many names that come to mind with respect to some of our customers; however, none as important as their real name. Our goal from here on out is to use their name many times during the appointment. When we call for manager assist, we must not say anymore, “I’m at my 9 o’clock” or “I’m here in Denver”.  We NEED to call them by name and say, “I’m here with Bob & Jan”

People want to be treated as human beings, not objects. Using their name is the fastest and most reliable way of building rapport and creating a good first impression. We are frequently reminded this is a relationship building business … that we just happen to build and sell in one call and under 2 hours!! OK, maybe that was a little tongue in cheek, but honestly, if we spend 60 minutes building rapport/relationship throughout the 10 steps, the sale CAN happen in the last 30 minutes.
 
“Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language. The information we are imparting or the request we are making, takes on a special importance when we approach the situation with the name of the individual.” – Dale Carnegie
 
Floors By Tomorrow
Auth Rep of Empire Today
Sales Trainer
720-371-2000
Connect with me online:


PS: Self Gen plug: After our appointment, when we go out to our car to warm it up & dispo our lead (because that is what we all do here in Denver) Take 1 minute to call a For Sale/Rent sign in the neighborhood and introduce ourselves and offer service.
PSS: Be VERY AWARE of install availability EVERYTHING LIMITED for Fri/Sat (except tile/lvt/lvp)
PSSS: Vanilla Ice (80’s pop star) just tweeted to remind us to be careful on the ice, ice baby!!

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

SELF-GENERATING YOURSELF TO SUCCESS



If you missed it, you missed out on a powerful and encouraging jump start into the weekend. Here it is again for you:

SELF-GENERATING  YOURSELF TO SUCCESS
·         Self-generating  business shapes the culture of not just our company, but of the industry.
·         Many of our reps have seen the benefits of getting good at self-generating.
·         One top Chicago rep saw just how much $$$ self-generating could provide.
o   This rep had 5 self-generated sales installed in the month of December.
o   His 4th or 5th self-gen was a $10K sale!!
o   So…he made a 4% commission and an 8% bonus for a $1200 payout!!!
o   You can’t get these big payouts if you don’t do the work to get there.
·         HOW DO YOU GET SELF-GENS???
o   You have to truly earn your customer’s LOYALTY.
§  When you have your customer’s loyalty, they will want to help you.
§  We want them to think of you before they think of Empire.
§  Magnetize your business card or put your name and # in their phone.
·         You want them to call you directly instead of calling the company.
o   You have to provide such an incredible service, that our customers will feel like they’d have to be crazy to go somewhere else.
§  We know that our competitors are not giving them the service that we do.
o   Remind them in the wants/needs analysis that “Most of our customers come from repeat business or referrals that come from our repeat customers.”
§  TIP: We now have over 2 million satisfied customers!!!
o   To earn loyalty you have to keep your promises.
§  Get to the appointment on time.
·         TIP: If you show up for your 9:00-11:00 at 5 minutes after 9:00, in your customer’s eyes YOU’RE LATE!!!
o   Our customers want us to wow them!
§  When they give you’re their time, they want something in return: THEY WANT YOUR BEST!
o   Get your customer involved with you during the appointment.
§  Have them help you measure, talk with them, laugh with them, get them involved with the samples.
o   In 1995, Bally Total Fitness had 3.4 million members
§  In 2004, Bally Total Fitness had 3.4 million members
§  In 2011, Bally Total Fitness closed down.
§  The point here is: The quality of your life and the $$$ you make, will be greater if you take care of the customer’s you already have.
§  It costs more to get a new customer than it does to keep an existing one.
o   Top reps keep their customer’s interests ahead of theirs.
§  This helps develop loyalty.
§  Emphasizing a sales strategy that is focused on relationship building is the bigger picture and a key to improved success.
o   Over deliver and under promise.
·         Try this today:
o   Give your next presentation and envision that you are giving it to the parents of “that special one”.
§  How would your presentation change?
§  Would you feel that you did the best you could?
·        GIVE YOUR ABSOLUTE BEST!
·        WINNERS WIN BECAUSE THEY DO WHAT IS NECESSARY TO SUCCEED!
·        IF YOU CAN’T CHANGE IT…YOU HAVE TO CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE!
·        COURAGE IS NOT THE ABSENCE OF FEAR, BUT THE JUDGEMENT THAT SOMETHING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THAT FEAR!


Floors By Tomorrow
Auth Rep of Empire Today
Sales Trainer
720-371-2000
Connect with me online: