Today’s guest post is by my good friend Joe Crisara. Joe just plain teaches people, especially contractor’s, how to make more money with what they already have, but don’t know how to use.

I can tell spring is about to arrive when I listen to my favorite sports radio show and I hear the ‘Hot Stove” league heating up. The show hosts go on seemingly forever about the same players and how they fit in to this years team. This week they started to play the pre-season games in earnest as all the players try to play themselves into mid-season shape by the first week in April.

In the selling world try to think about how you can use this time of year to do the same thing. What I mean is that we have all endured a challenging economy over the recent past. Just remember that when a person who is good at selling their services goes to work that the economy is always a lot better. At least it is for those who are in great mid-season selling “shape.”

What do top sales professionals do to stay in top selling shape? The answer is probably easier to explain by telling you what they do NOT do. For one thing, they do not make any assumptions. They are always thinking of news ways to approach buyers that they have had challenges with in the past. They acknowledge selling as a competitive sport and they feel that if they are not growing that their competitor probably is. So the one thing for sure is that they do NOT stand pat and rest on their laurels.

Get Yourself In Shape To Close

Here are some of the things that the best people in sales do to round themselves into top shape before they go on their next round of calls.

Focus – Exercise your ability to focus only on the things you have control of. Worrying about the past or the future is just not a productive use of your time. Think about what you can change right now and not on the economy, your prices and other things that won’t change under your direct control. All of the things you worry about would improve if you were just focused on your selling behaviors and how they effect the outcome of each interaction with buyers.

Practice – Think about the areas of your calls that need the most practice. Is it listening? Or how about creating interest and desire? How about the timing of your presentation? Are you always sure that you are finding solutions for the right people or is their someone else who should be involved? Of course there is always closing and handling objections. Do you have ways to eliminate objections before they happen? Are you good at responding th them after your presentation? These are things that will always need practice to get into top shape.

Are You In The Minors?

If you watch enough sports you can tell the difference between a minor league player and a seasoned professional at the highest level. It is the details and polish that shows from years of practice. So many sales people who are in the “minors” actually practice their skills for the first time in front of a customer. Why not use the rest of this month to get prepared for the regular season and eventually you might wind up in the “World Series” of selling and finally reach your goals. You and your family will be glad you
did.

To keep up with Joe, head over to Contractor Selling and The Contractor Selling Blog.

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Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010.

The small as a selling point decade has officially begun.

As I read the Life section of today’s USA Today, I see an article by Brian Mansfield in which he’s doing a great job of riffing about Blake Shelton’s new ‘Six Pak’, which happens to be an Album titled Hiillbilly Bone, which happens to contain just six songs.

I’m sure other people, other artists, other companies, other content providers, whatever, had started doing this before now, but me and this article have to start somewhere, don’t we?

Will people buy more often if the entire album is only six songs and is priced at $4.99 to $6.00? We’ll soon find out, as I’m sure there will more of these on the market very, very soon.

The only way to find out if it works for you and your market is to do just what they did, which is put it out there and test.

Same thing for you and your products. Are you still at the top of the food chain, price wise? Does your market have a way to test your product without committing to more than they’re willing to spend?

Only you know that.

Personally, I’m more likely to buy the entire album, off  iTunes, if it’s priced at $4.99, rather than $9.99.

If the entire album goes for $9.99 to $12.99, I’m more likely to just buy the one, two or three singles that make the radio airwaves.

What about you as a content provider or product developer? Have you created an entry-level or starter kit size offering for your audience?

If you haven’t, you probably should, because the effects of this recession will last for a decade, if not more, as it pertains to peoples buying habits.

Special reports may outsell complete books or ebooks.

6 module courses may outsell 12 module courses.

3 part audio series may outsell 5 part audio series.

You can’t just take this test as gospel, you have to test the market’s waters with your own feet.

Every market and sub-market will react differently.

If ever there were a time to become a marketing geek and learn the intracasies of product creation and testing, this is it.

Otherwise, you may not be around for the next boom market.

As I’m not omnipotent, I invite your comments, additions and thoughts in the comment section below.

What? You didn’t know that I didn’t know everything? Me neither, til now and it’s been a startling revelation to say the least.

Pray that my pain is minimal and subsides soon. Thanks!

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Today’s guest post is by Tom Reilly, author of Crush Price Objections, a McGraw-Hill book to be published in 2010. You can learn more about Tom on his website.

Price resistance is the nemesis of most salespeople.

Our research shows that 72% of salespeople cave in when the buyer resists price.

This results in companies losing millions of profit dollars every year because their salespeople fail to defend their prices.

They discount when they should hold the line on prices.

There is a blend of emotional and tactical reasons why salespeople relent on price objections. How many of these ten reasons apply to you?

Emotional reasons why salespeople lose to price objections:

1.    Fear. You fear losing the sale. Fear is a powerful motivator—more powerful than greed. Humans are hard-wired to detect danger and nothing signals danger more for a salesperson than the possibility of losing a sale.

2.    Guilt. You feel guilty selling at that price. Other customers may be paying less and you feel guilty charging more to this customer. Wrap in some fear that the buyer will discover others pay less and your guilt is amplified by your fear.

3.    Conviction. You do not believe that your product is better than the competition’s product. You lack the passion you need to defend your price. It’s difficult to convince others of your value when you suffer from a lack of confidence in your package.

4.    Exhaustion. You are tired of the battle. You believe that it takes too much effort to hold the line on your prices. You feel that it is easier to discount than fight for your profit.

5.    Courage. You give up too early. You lack the will to continue. Your fear is too overwhelming and you decide that it is less painful to cave in to your fear than fight for your profit. When buyers object to price, first they test your price; then, they test your resolve.

Tactical reasons why salespeople lose to price objections:

6.    You fail to penetrate the account high enough to talk to the high-level decision maker who controls the purse strings. Research shows that 90% of salespeople do not penetrate at this level, mostly because high-level decision makers intimidate them, or salespeople fear alienating a lower level contact by going over their heads.

7.    Your buyer is more prepared than you are for the price discussion. There are many legitimate reasons to lose a sale—wrong product, availability, and even price—but being out-prepared for the negotiation by the customer is not one of them.

8.    You lack the know-how to hold the line on prices. You never learned how to fight this battle tactically. This generally means a lack of training.

9.    You copy a price competitor’s price strategy. You cannot be an industry leader if you are a follower on price. You alone control your prices. The competition may cut their prices, but you cut your prices. Copying them means that you tacitly admit your product or service is no better than the competition’s.

10.    You quit too early. For whatever reason, you stop selling before the buyer stops buying. Maybe it is a lack of resolve or knowledge of how to continue the battle. The sale is never over until you or the customer calls it off. Why would you quit if the buyer does not quit?

Do you see yourself in any of these reasons? If so, use this insight to improve your results.

Study. Prepare. Infuse yourself with passion about your product.

Be ready for price resistance. Anticipating that price may become an issue is not the same as soliciting a price objection.

You need not fear price resistance if you are prepared and believe in what you sell.

You need not feel guilty holding the line on price when you are convinced of your value.

You need not give up too early when you are prepared for the battle.

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