There are two approaches to business failures. Toyota blaming accelerator problems on driver incompetence is one way, and all too common. This is the worst method. [Read more...]
How to Turn Business Nightmares into Positive Public Relations
July 20, 2012 by 2 Comments
Stop Selling & Start Succeeding
March 28, 2012 by 8 Comments
When asked “What do you sell?” my answer is “I don’t sell, I develop relationships, many of which happen to turn into business.” [Read more...]
My Best Closing Tactic
December 1, 2011 by 8 Comments
Getting people to laugh helped me close more deals than every other method combined. Steve and I were negotiating our first deal. He was pushing me to the wall for a big discount. First, I was unwilling to cut my price. Second; I didn’t need to, because he had already made the emotional commitment to buy, which was why he was pushing so hard.
It got tense. You know the type of tense negotiations I’m talking about. This wasn’t a poker faced, behind the shades, all in Texas old ‘em negotiation. This was an in your face, blood on the wall, last man or woman standing deal.
Finding an opportunity to raise a smile seemed impossible, but Steve finally gave me the opening, “You have it and I want it, so let’s make this deal.”
Without hesitation and a smile I said, “Steve, having is better than wanting, and I have it and you want it.”
He had a hard time catching his breath and nearly laughed himself to tears. I knocked off less than 1% on a six figure sale and we did plenty of business together down the road.
A father and son team tried working me over on $60,000 piece of equipment we were dying to sell. The son offered me $48,235.61 or some hokey number very close to that. Our deals are rounded off to the nearest zero, so this smelled fishy.
“Do you mind if I ask how you came up with that number?”
“My dad told me to offer you that.”
“Do you mind if I speak with your dad?”
“That’s an interesting number” I chortled. “Do you mind telling me how you came up with it?”
“It sounded good to me” he laughed.
“Well, $60,000 sounds better to me.” We laughed. He then explained that he was teaching his son how to buy. We agreed that I would give his son a small discount and a feel-good moment. We settled at $57,000, which I was very happy to get. His son felt like a hero and his father appreciated the discount and my handling the situation with a good sense of humor.
Of all the closing tips, tricks, and manipulations, nothing works better than authentically making someone feel good. And the best way to do that is to put a smile on their face and a laugh in their belly. Joke telling isn’t the only way. Most often, when we’re in tight negotiations, there is something in the situation that is truly funny. Try not to take yourself and selling too seriously. When all else fails, self-deprecation works very well.
When you laugh, the world laughs with you, and so do your customers.
Do You Really Give a Shit About Your Customers?
July 13, 2011 by 19 Comments
Do you care how they feel or how they are?
Do you care about their future? [Read more...]
I Want a Sales Force of Derek Jeters
July 9, 2011 by 4 Comments
Courtesy Robert Sabo/News
Queuing up the Yankee ballgame on my iPhone, in hopes of seeing Derek Jeter hit number 3,000, evoked childhood memories of my very first mobile device. My father cashed in wrappers from the countless cigars he smoked to give me the most popular electronic communication device in history.
I was 8 or 9 years old when he called me into the living room to watch him set it up. He opened the back and loaded the batteries before sliding it into the tan leather case. He turned it on, tested it, and said “Here’s the ear phone” as he handed it to me.
The transistor radio changed the world in its day, it made entertainment portable. On a sunny day, you could go to the beach or park without missing a game. It was the beginning of mobile life. We listened to our favorite announcers talk about Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays in a way that made you feel like you were sitting in the ball park.
Now I was sitting on the patio of a local restaurant, overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains, waiting to have lunch with my daughter and “watch” a Yankee game from a “phone!” The glass of wine I sipped was extra crisp and meaningful when we watched Derek Jeter’s 2,999th hit. Before we finished eating, Derek put one over the fence for number 3,000. He’s the 28th ballplayer to do it and only the second to have done it with a home run.
A few days ago, I remarked that I would love a sales force of Derek Jeters. The choice has nothing to do with his celebrity and everything to do with his character, personality, and attitude. The crowd would have cheered for hours because they love him, and with good reason. Even the Rays and ex-teammate Johnny Damon joined the standing ovation to honor #2.
Although Jeter was on the disabled list with an injury until last week, and has unexciting stats this year, he made the All Star team for the twelfth time. So what makes this guy so special?
Despite the constant leveraging of free agent status for more money that sends ballplayers to different clubs at a staggering rate, “Jete” has been a Yankee for his entire sixteen year career. Loyalty means more to him than making a few million dollars more. Loyalty is the cement of great teams and that’s one of the many reasons he has the rare honor of being the Yankees 13th team captain.
In a sport rocked by steroids, a litany of scandals and controversy, you never hear a bad word about this scandal-free guy. He’s never in the tabloids for anything scandalous. After his weak performance last year, with his contract expired, there were concerns about the Yankees resigning him.
After the Yankees publicized the negotiations all he had to say was “I’d be lying to you if I said I wasn’t angry about how some of this went; the negotiations were supposed to be private,” a class act. Nevertheless, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said of the Yankee captain: “If you had a daughter, you’d want her to marry Derek Jeter. He’s a great person.”
He finished this historic game with 5 hits including the game winning RBI, but as always, this gentleman never glorified his accomplishments. Here are some quotes from the post-game interview with Yankees announcer Kimberly Jones:
“The most important thing is we were able to win and I was happy I had the chance to contribute.”
“I wasn’t trying to do it (3,000 hits). I just come out here and try to play hard every day and if you do that, I guess good things happen.”
When asked what he would say to the fans, “I’m glad I did it here. Thanks for coming, thanks for the support throughout the years. I’m most happy that I hit them all in this uniform, playing for this organization.” -Derek Jeter
George Steinbrenner was known as being one tough boss. He paid his players more than anyone else, demanded a lot, was outspoken about it, and rarely paid a compliment for what he felt was due him. Yet here is what he said of his team captain:
“I have always been very, very careful about giving such a responsibility to one of my players, but I cannot think of a single player that I have ever had who is more deserving of this honor than Derek Jeter. He is a young man of great character and has shown great leadership qualities. He believes, as I do, what General (Douglas) MacArthur said, that ‘there is no substitute for victory.’ To him, and to me, it’s second only to breathing.” – George Steinbrenner
Real heroes and heroines aren’t perfect, but they share certain qualities that make them who and what they are: commitment, consistency, courtesy, discipline, enthusiasm, friendship, helpfulness, honor, humility, kindness, loyalty, passion, optimism, teammanship, and a tremendous work ethic.
Even fans who hate the Yankees love Jeter. That’s the kind of person I want selling on my team.
Google+ Plus Uses The Studio 54 Effect
July 4, 2011 by 15 Comments
Studio 54’s Steven Rubell’s exclusive hand selection of guests from the waiting throngs was an old marketing ploy that he made it famous. First in were high-profile celebrities like Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, Halston, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Salvador Dali.
If you were lucky enough to win the beautiful people lottery and make the second round, it was a claim to fame. The unlucky hundreds or thousands could have been dancing and having fun elsewhere, but they waited in hope of making the grade.
Google launched Plus this week with an exclusive selection that includes tech celebs like Michael Dell and Mark Zuckerberg. Invitations have been shut down due to “technical restraints with the beta version” <wink> <wink>. This has created quite the Buzz – pun intended – with outstanding results. [Read more...]
Lead, Sell, or Get Out of the Way: The 7 Traits of Great Sellers by Ron Karr – Book Review
June 30, 2011 by Leave a Comment
More sales books, blog posts, and articles are published monthly than all the material available when my sales career began in 1971. Finding the gems can be daunting, so I was fortunate to find “Lead, Sell, or Get Out of the Way.”
I met the author Ron Karr on Twitter, enjoyed his conversations and posts, and liked what he says about selling. A Fox TV interview with him finally piqued my interest enough to read his book. [Read more...]
Slow Down, You’re Selling Too Fast
June 24, 2011 by 9 Comments
When the new Corvette came out in 1984, the president of our company gave me one as a company car. My red toy had the first digital dashboard; it was like driving a video game. Slamming the gas pedal pinned you to the back of the seat. I could go from red light to red light faster than almost any other car.
An officer who gave me one of three speeding tickets awarded to the red beast told me, “Son this car looks fast standing still.” I do not believe I got anywhere any faster than I did in any other car.
My third speeding ticket came with a license suspension. I plead with the judge, “It should be illegal to make cars that go this fast.” The judge agreed, and then found me guilty. [Read more...]
