Stephen M. Haines - Tips for sales professionals

I've taken a six month hiatus on writing, but there's many topics for me to catch up on.   After recently onboarding a half dozen new hires, I have realized one question just keeps popping up: "Stephen, how do YOU overcome objections?"  I've had answers for that one over the years, but I recently came to grips with an interesting fact: I don't. What I mean is, I am not the one who overcomes objections - the person raising them does. Allow me to explain further: You go out to eat and order a diet Coke (because ordering anything else in the Atlanta area is paramount to a sin, and could be met with legal ramifications in some jurisdictions).  Anyway, the server says "We have diet Pepsi - is that OK?".  Now, YOU have a choice. Please forgive my simple example, but it matters with large purchases, too. In my example, it is the restaurant patron that must make a choice.  You, as the customer, have some choice responses: 1) "I think i was clear. I orde...

Facebook is so funny.  You're sitting there trying to beat level 89 of Candy Crush, and up pops this friend request - this person you haven't seen or heard from in years, you were in homeroom with him in 10th grade.  During your years, you probably exchanged... I don't know... 35 words?  Now, he is so excited to have found you. So, your finger hovers over the button on your smartphone... Do I accept?  What's his name again?  oh, yeah.. Jake.   So, you click on his profile to see what he shares with the public.  A few photos, not much.  He looks like his younger version, just heavier.   Oh, his wife looks nice.  Looks like they live in Rhode Island.  I don't know anybody else in Rhode Island. So, you accept the request.  Now, there he is.. friend number 389.  You don't really care that he found a new shawarma place for lunch today, or that his kid lost a tooth.  You don't want to be bothered with how upset he...

In my last blog I told you about Rachel, and how to recover from a really BAD presentation.  Luckily, you can avoid that, too!  What if there were a foolproof way to AVOID bad presentations in the first place, thereby ALWAYS giving you the right to close, thereby increasing your conversion rate and your wallet?!?  What would THAT be worth to you? OK, nothing's foolproof, but I do have some suggestions! First, begin with the end in mind.  Stephen Covey said it best in 7 Habits, you should always launch your ventures knowing where you ultimately want to land.  Imagine working hard for a vacation, packing up the family cruiser with tons of luggage, toys, kids, grandma, and the cat- then heading down the road.  About an hour into it, your spouse lovingly looks at you and innocently asks, "so, where we goin'?"   Ridiculous, right?  Who would go through all that trouble without a plan?   Well (sheepish pause), we've all done that with a sale, ...

Forgive the title, but I figured if I was going to promise something big, I should Go REALLY big! In the last blog, I challenged the big, fat, lie about closing- which is that it is Only a numbers game, that if you aren't selling enough, you simply aren't closing enough.  Now, this may be partially true, but I submitted that what really is probably going on is that you are holding back.  You aren't closing enough because you aren't building trust, demonstrating value, and creating separation from your competitors- so your gut is telling you that you haven't earned the right to ask for their business! So, how do you earn the right?  Well, you'll have to read the next Blog for that!  The feedback I got from the last blog tells me that you agreed, that's why you're not closing more often.  So, as promised, I'm going to help you with that  scenario first - the "what if I screwed up already?" answer. Let me answer with a story.  One of the great...

In this installment of  Are YOU On Demand?  we will focus on the promptness.  As you recall, we've been looking at how we have moved into the On Demand era, and how our consumers are demanding it from not just devices, but from everyONE they deal with.  Not only are they looking for someone who makes it simple to do business with, they also want those people to be prompt and engaging. The newest laptops on the market have solid state hard drives, whose main purpose is to create an "Instant On" experience, one touting a 2 second boot up!  Compare that to your laptop!  Why do I bring this up?  well, again, your consumer's iphone, iPad, and now laptop starts as quickly as their cars have for years (although even those now have Push button starts now!)  How does this translate?  If a customer leaves some question in your lap, they kind of expect it answered....quickly.  This is best seen online, where customers who used to survey that they...

Last time we discussed how much more prevalent tablets and smartphones have become, and how your consumer is being quietly reprogrammed to expect those features from everything - and everyone - they come in contact with.  Think about it - when's the last time you rearranged your schedule to make sure you saw the weather report on TV?  It's almost ludicrous to think about.  One 2 second hold on the round button on my phone, then mumbling the word "weather" - I have the whole thing - 5 day forecast, maps, weather alerts - I can even click around and see how other people feel  about the weather.  That is something that was previously missing from the nightly newscast. As I dig into this reality, I am drawn to the amazing thing that Jobs landed on in his pursuit of the perfect device.  It is so.... simple.  In the authorized biography of Steve Jobs, it is discussed how the iPhone came to fruition. Interestingly, he was first motivated to invent a new t...

Why does anyone enter the highly respected profession of sales?  (Yeah, that was totally tongue-in-cheek).  I will tell you why, because we see an opportunity to likely feed our families and achieve our dreams via our natural gift of conversation or relationalism.  The ability to find commonality with just about anyone. I am pretty sure, if you are in sales, you can relate with this notion.  You probably have been told over the years that you have the "gift of gab" or "get along with anyone." So, you gave up your first career of teaching, accounting, pizza delivery, paint stripping, or warehousing to enter the dynamic world of sales. Let me ask you a question - is that enough?  Is the difference maker between highly consistent and successful sales professionals simply that some are more interactive than others?  No!  You have probably felt some measure of success, but you've had setbacks.  Yes, even self doubt at times.  I think I may be...

As I've shared with you before, If you're not growing, your shrinking (I'm in trouble!).  Each of us should spend part of our week sharpening the saw- gaining knowledge, insight, and abilities.  We should challenge our thinking, techniques, and style to always lean into our personal and company strengths. On that note, in some of our more established communities, we face resale and foreclosure challenges that are unique because they are the same floor plan!  The buyer struggles to not see that as "same-same" because their eyes tell them they are the same. Well, when you pop into a straight-off-the-showroom- floor new car, your NOSE and eyes tell you it's brand new compared to a "same body style" version of the car that's 3 years old.  The leather has some visible sings of three years of wear. But more than this, The ODOMETER of a new car tells you it has 3 original miles versus the 52,000 miles on the used one.  In other words, even a novi...

How heavy are your questions? Part 3 of Ask a Better Question is actually a question - "How heavy are YOUR questions?"  In this installment, we investigate which question you are reaching for, and what response you are likely to solicit.  Buckle in, because this topic is HEAVY! This will be the last time I write on questioning for a while, but I felt it was worthwhile to cover one more facet.  You see, we have an opportunity to filter or improve the actual answer we are seeking, and phrase it as a better question - one that actually is likely to help us towards a positive response.  Before I get specific, how about an example? Let's say YOU are shopping for a luxury item for the first time - one you are not that familiar with - we'll go with a boat.  You have made it clear that you are an amateur by the nature of your dialogue - you've asked about anti-lock braking (on a boat, really?), cruise control, and "where does the waste from the toilet go?...

This topic of questioning is so near and dear to me, I figured I'd fire up the writing machine to remind you again just how important the power of questions are.  Today, I want to remind you that you are communicating great volumes by the nature and type of questions that you ask. First, did you realize that your customers realize where you place your value by the type of questions you ask?   For example, if you begin by asking them ABILITY or QUALIFYING questions, you are communicating that you are most concerned with whether or not they can afford your product.  It doesn't matter where you are in life, imagine walking into a Porsche dealership.  The sales person gives you a once over, and immediately begins with "Hi!  Isn't this Carrera gorgeous?  So, where will YOU be driving this to work?"  On the surface, it seems harmless, but here's what he's really asking "Will I be wasting my time if I help you?" Now, if this same hypothetical salesp...

Pulling your hair out only creates a bad hair day! You've tried everything you can think of - called your best clients, dressed better - maybe you even bathed today!  However, you are not getting the results you desire. Many salespeople, no matter how grounded or religious in other areas of their life, get very superstitious when it comes to sales.  I often ask a sales professional "Why do you have a salt shaker on your desk, and your trophies are all turned backwards?"  The response, with all the confidence and shock in the world, "Well, I have a strong appointment today, and I don't want to jinx it."  Really?  Don't you hope your surgeon has more confidence in her ability the next time you need a procedure?? Here's the cold, hard, facts.  Sales is a blend of art and science, of  "try" and "do" work, as one of my old bosses used to say.  On the art side, it is an art to read buying signals, to know when to shut up, to kn...

After years of speaking to people and hearing "you really should write" - I figured now would be the best time to do it.  After all, it's Father's Day, and I am perched on my throne as King of my household.  I may be slightly delusional, but to a father of five, it is rather unusual to have a Sunday afternoon without a honey-do list longer than the Constitution.  My youngest, whose nickname is Red Bull, made me a paper Burger King-esque crown today, which I've worn with a great deal of pride.  I could tell the state highway patrolman was contemplating whether or not to stop me as I raced the 9 passenger family van down Georgia 400 wearing the contraption, but the regal open hand wave certified that I was legitimate royalty. I have been in some kind of sales my entire twenty-four year career.  Better yet, I've been pretty darn good at it!  Most of you are in sales, too - whether or not you know it!  Ever need a better price on...