Category Archives: non-verbal communication

At last!

A few weeks ago, I expressed my frustration in getting the new series of sales training books up by quoting Yogi Berra: "Things take longer than they do." Still true, but now I'd add a corollary: "And sometimes things take not only longer than they do, but even longer than you can ever imagine!"

In any case, the three new sales books are finally out, as you'll see in the column on the left. (How to Sell Face-to-Face Survival Guide (for people very new to, and maybe a little intimidated by, the thought of selling face-to-face); Sales Training Tutorials (more detailed, with more advanced guidance); and Sales Presentations and Demonstrations

(Alas, there's still a small glitch:  as of this moment, Amazon is showing the cover for Sales Survival Guide both for that book as well as for Sales Presentations, which has a green cover.  "Within the week it'll be fixed" — so I'm told.)

By way of celebration, I'll be putting up free sample chapters within the next few days. (That is, samples beyond the free sections available via the link at the top of the left column.)

That said, this blog has been in semi-hibernation while waiting for the books, and now will begin adding fresh material. 

Lee Child’s good life after being fired

I discovered Lee Child's Jack Reacher thriller series this spring, and, unusually for me, read three in a row . . . in part because they were so good, and in another part to try to find why they were so unusually gripping.

Turns out that Lee Child hadn't always been writing thrillers— fact is, he took it up only after being laid off unexpectedly from a job he loved, and had expected to hold till he retired.  This from his article in Parade Magazine last Sunday.  http://www.parade.com/news/2009/07/26-my-good-life-after-being-fired.html   Here's how he put it, and I think that resonates with a lot of readers of this blog:

"For 13 more years, I was happy as a clam.

"Then the management changed.

"We were always profitable, but the new guys wanted more. They got it by cutting costs to the bone. I was a cost. I got cut.

"I felt a lot of things. First, anger and frustration. My “family” was getting trashed. It was like watching an uncle getting kicked to death by a mob and being unable to intervene.

"Second, I felt betrayed. Not by the people I had worked for—they went in the very first wave. I felt betrayed by my own naiveté. The modern world had snuck up on me, and I hadn’t seen it coming. The rules had changed, and I hadn’t noticed. My fault, basically.

"Third, I felt scared. Remember that old saying, “one missed paycheck from disaster”?  That was me."

He doesn't say in the article whether he ever wishes he had the old job back, but I kinda doubt it . . . not after that "tough break" propelled him into a new career with 13 best-sellers to date.

My point?  Sometimes what seems like the worst thing can turn into the best thing that ever happened . . .if we're flexible and open. And if we can envision ourselves in a new role and sell that vision to others.

Telephone sales skills: if you encounter voice mail

Voice mail, or answering machines on either land lines or cell phones, works as another kind of screen or gatekeeper keeping you from talking directly to the prospect in organizations both small and large.

Here , as part of our series here on telephone sales skills, we look  at five key rules that apply when you encounter the Prospect's voice mail.


Continue reading Telephone sales skills: if you encounter voice mail

Sales Presentations–Contents: Some of the practical selling skills you will develop

Part One: EARLY PREPARATIONS



The crucial “must-do” before you invest any time in preparing to conduct a sales presentation or demonstration, or to invest time and effort in any other kind of proof source — including offering free trials or free samples.


Why and how to begin working out what both you and the prospect expect from this early: why it’s very smart to ask the Prospect to “invest” before you invest your time and effort.



“Decision influencers” are people who may not make the decisions, but they are key allies. How and when to work with them early-on.



Checklists on setting up the logistics of the presentation or demonstration.




A sales demonstration, presentation, or trial offer is a PROOF source, so what you cover and your key messages flow from what exactly needs to be proven in order to close the sale. The Prospect’s role in shaping the plan.



Mental strategies in preparing — not just what you’ll say, but where you’ll stand, where you’ll position the Prospect, how you’ll get the Prospect’s team actively involved in the meeting.



Preparing key visual aids, handouts, and other paperwork.



Part Two: DELIVERING THE SALES PRESENTATION OR SALES DEMONSTRATION.




In Section A we cover essential preliminaries to be handled on the day of the presentation or demonstration.



This section B guides your sales presentation or demonstration through the six key phases. These include early confirmations of purpose, conducting the body of the session, handling questions and objections, and closing for action.



Part Three: COMMUNICATING ON ALL LEVELS



As the old saying puts it, “Words alone are not enough.” The words you say, and the Prospect’s words — questions and objections — that you respond to are, of course, crucial.



But research indicates that only about 7% of the messages transmitted during fact-to-face communication are carried by the words that are said. Let me underline that: the words alone total only 7% of the whole communication



Which means that 93% of the messages back and forth during presentations and demonstrations are conveyed non-verbally . . . via indicators such as posture, hand gestures, movements, voice tone, eye focus and facial expressions, even how people choose to sit or stand, or how they sit in the chair and then draw back or move forward.



In the first section of this part of the book, the focus is on how to shape and discipline the subtle and non-verbal messages that you as the sales person sends TO the prospect and others.



The second section of this part focuses on interpreting and responding to the clues and messages coming FROM the Prospect and other decision influencers sitting in on the demonstration.



Some of these are signs of interest, some are signals of readiness to buy. Some may be warning signs that the Prospect is tuning out. We examine what these signals mean, as well as how to react to them in order to keep the selling momentum going forward.

Survival Guide

COVER-SURVIVAL How to Sell Face-to-Face: SURVIVAL GUIDE

In this little book, we work together through the need-to-know  steps of selling face-to-face—that is, face-to-face across the table from prospects.


That’s why I  call it How to Sell Face-to-Face: Survival Guide, with emphasis on the “survival guide” aspect.


Survival guides need to be as compact and “netted-out” as feasible, focusing on the “must-know now,” leaving the theory and advanced stuff for later.  It’s designed to help you get selling face-to-face on Monday morning, not  sitting home trying to pull out the need-to-know from a stack of other books.


Sample chapters



How to Sell Face-to-Face: SURVIVAL GUIDE –Table of Contents



        Preface   
       
A     Starting questions
  

B     Developing a list of potential prospects 
 

       
1.    Finding your way to the person (or team) who can say yes   

2.    How to initiate that first contact   


3.    Getting past the “Gate”   


4.   Your first phone contact with the Prospect   


5.   Preparing for your first face-to-face with the Prospect   


6.   Opening the first face-to-face with this Prospect   


7.   Working with the Prospect to uncover needs for what you offer   


8.   Asking the questions   


9.   Linking the Prospect’s need with how you will fill that need   


10.  Dealing with the issue of price: talk “value”   


11.  Being attuned to “buying signals”   


12. “Closing”   


13.  Responding to objections and questions   


14.  After the sale   



101

Cover-101-95 SELLING 101:

Essential Selling Skills for Business Owners and People New to
Sales

What are the differences between this
SELLING 101 our Selling Skills Step-by-Step:  TUTORIALS? Think of SELLING 101 as a
text-book, while SALES TUTORIALS is, as the name suggests, a
do-it-yourself guidebook.

You won’t find in SELLING 101 the templates that you will in SALES
TUTORIALS
, though you will find the content more detailed, more what you’d
want if you’ve been selling for a while . . . . . . OR if you will be
attending a class (or teaching a class) in selling skills.

If you are a sales manager, looking for materials for sales meetings,
consider using SELLING 101 as a textbook, and use our accompanying
SALES MANAGER/INSTRUCTOR GUIDE as your source for covering the material,
or leading group discussions.

Note that at this time, SELLING 101 is available only in
conventional book format. We’re planning an e-book version later, but target
date for that is not yet set.


    SELLING 101

    Essential Selling Skills for Business Owners and People New to
    Sales

    Adams Media Corporation, 2nd Edition, 216 pages, 8.4 x 5.5 inches.
    Illustrated. $10.95

    target=”_blank”>Order via
    Amazon

    Table of Contents: Selling 101

    PREFACE: The Entrepreneurial Option

    BACKGROUND: Starting Questions

    PART ONE: LOCATING PRIORITY PROSPECTS

    1: Creating Your Prospect List.

    2: Setting Priorities Among Prospects.

    PART TWO: LOCATING AND GETTING THROUGH TO THE APPROPRIATE DECISION MAKER

    3: Finding the Person or Team Who Can Say Yes.

    4: Getting Past the Decision Maker’s Screen.

    5: Cold-Calling — When You Must

    6: Convincing the Decision Maker to Meet With You.

    7: Organizing and Learning from Your Phone Calls

    PART THREE: HELPING THE DECISION MAKER RECOGNIZE THE NEED FOR YOUR
    PRODUCT

    8: Opening the Face-to-Face Meeting With the Decision Maker.

    9: Developing/Enhancing the Decision Maker’s Awareness of Need.

    10: Selling by Asking Questions: the “Selling Wedge.”

    11: Matching the Question to the Situation

    12: Selling by Asking Questions: the Questions in Action

    PART FOUR: SHOWING HOW YOU CAN FILL THAT NEED.

    13: Making the Link: Showing How Your Product Will Fill this Prospect’s
    Needs.

    14: Raising the Issues of Cost and Value: Showing How Your Product or Work
    More Than Pays for Itself.

    15: Using Other Methods For Highlighting Value Over Cost

    16: Making Your Sales Points Clearly and Concisely

    PART FIVE: CONVINCING THE DECISION MAKER TO ACT NOW!

    17. Recognizing Buying Signals

    18. Asking the Decision Maker to take “Buying Action.”

    19. More Ways of Asking the Decision Maker to Take Action.

    PART SIX: COPING WITH QUESTIONS, OBJECTIONS, AND HESITATIONS

    20. Determining What is Behind the Objection or Question.

    21. Restating, Responding, and Moving On From Objections

    22. Applying the Four-Step Process

    23. Responding to “Early” Objections and Concerns.

    24. Handling “Core” Objections.

    25. Dealing With Other Problems With the Decision Maker.

    PART SEVEN: PRESENTING YOUR PROOF

    26. Your Presentation as a Proof Source.

    27. Using Demonstrations as Proof Sources.

    28. Using Written Proposals as Proof Sources

    29. Sending and Receiving Non-Verbal Messages.

    PART EIGHT: ODDS AND ENDS

    30. Follow-Up Letters and Other Customer Care

    31. Winning Back Lost and Wavering Customers

    32. Using Indirect Marketing Tools

    33. “Prospecting” Resources

    34. Organizing for Sales Efficiency

    35. Selling Tools: Office Space, Computers, Sales Kits, etc.

Demos

Cover-Demos-95-2 Selling Skills Step-by-Step: DEMONSTRATIONS & PRESENTATIONS is a concise guidebook taking you  through
every phase in the process of setting up and conducting sales demonstrations,
sales presentations, and other kinds of “sales proof sources.”

Beyond that, it gives you a “mental roadmap” for
reading the subtle, unconscious signals sent by the decision makers and
“decision influencers”
who attend your sales demonstrations and
presentations.

Further, it provides practical guidance on the
non-verbal signals you want to send
. . . and to keep from sending in
your sales presentations and demonstrations and other sales meetings?

Selling Skills Step by
Step:
SALES DEMONSTRATIONS and PRESENTATIONS

E-book, 50 pages,
illustrated

Ready for immediate on-line delivery

NOW at introductory price: $9.00

To order for immediate on-line delivery

To order for immediate on-line delivery in PDF
format. $9.00 US introductory price:

Add to Cart

To view sample pages

To
VIEW SAMPLE PAGES

About the author.

About the author: Sales Training Tutorials and the other books in the
Selling Skills Step-by-Step series flowed from my work as a management
consultant and my work in developing sales training and sales management
training for top marketing organizations including Kodak, Xerox operating
companies in the United States, Canada, and Europe, Kodak, Motorola, Sylvania,
Bank of American (yes, even bankers need to learn how to market their products
and services!), and others.Michael McGaulley

Contents: some of the practical selling skills you will
learn.

    Part One: EARLY PREPARATIONS

    The crucial “must-do” before you invest any time in preparing to
    conduct a sales presentation or demonstration, or to invest time and effort in
    any other kind of proof source — including offering free trials or free
    samples.

    Why and how to begin working out what both you and the prospect
    expect from this early: why it’s very smart to ask the Prospect to “invest”
    before you invest your time and effort.

    “Decision influencers” are people who may not make
    the decisions, but they are key allies. How and when to work with
    them early-on.

    Checklists on setting up the logistics of the presentation or
    demonstration.

    A sales demonstration, presentation, or trial offer
    is a PROOF source,
    so what you cover and your key messages flow from what
    exactly needs to be proven in order to close the sale. The Prospect’s role in
    shaping the plan.

    Mental strategies in preparing — not just what you’ll say, but
    where you’ll stand, where you’ll position the Prospect, how you’ll get the
    Prospect’s team actively involved in the meeting.

    Preparing key visual aids, handouts, and other
    paperwork.

    Part Two: DELIVERING THE SALES
    PRESENTATION OR SALES DEMONSTRATION.

    In Section A we cover essential preliminaries to be handled on the
    day of the presentation or demonstration.

    Section B guides your sales presentation or demonstration
    through the six key phases. These include early confirmations of purpose,
    conducting the body of the session, handling questions and objections, and
    closing for action.

    Part Three: COMMUNICATING ON
    ALL LEVELS

    As the old saying puts it, “Words alone are not enough.” The words you
    say, and the Prospect’s words — questions and objections — that you respond to
    are, of course, crucial.

    But research indicates that only about 7% of the messages
    transmitted during fact-to-face communication are carried by the words that are
    said. Let me underline that: the words alone total only 7% of the whole
    communication

    Which means that 93% of the messages back and forth during
    presentations and demonstrations are conveyed non-verbally
    . . . via
    indicators such as posture, hand gestures, movements, voice tone, eye focus and
    facial expressions, even how people choose to sit or stand, or how they sit in
    the chair and then draw back or move forward.

    In the first section, the focus is on how to
    shape and discipline the subtle and non-verbal messages that you as the sales
    person sends TO the prospect and others.

    The second section  focuses on interpreting and responding
    to the clues and messages coming FROM the Prospect and other decision
    influencers sitting in on the demonstration.

    Some of these are signs of interest, some are signals of readiness to
    buy. Some may be warning signs that the Prospect is tuning out. We examine what
    these signals mean, as well as how to react to them in order to keep the selling
    momentum going forward.

    ORDER NOW AT SPECIAL ONE-TIME ONLY
    INTRODUCTORY PRICE: $9.00.