It is March 14th, 2011, approximately 9:15 CDT.

Just got an idea today for a new sales oriented website, course or something like that.

The domain name is the next item on my list. I have two in mind.

As you can see in the screen capture above, apparently nobody has written or said this before now.

Obviously, we can’t use this search as gospel, but this is pretty good proof that I’m first to do a blog post, a screencap and say it out loud.

Wish me luck!

EDIT: It’s now 10:15 PM CDT and I am now the only 2 search results for that phrase.

Got the domains I wanted, too.

Wish me even more luck. I’ll need luck ’cause I ain’t got enough time to do everything I want with this idea.

Related posts:

1. Sell Like A Pirate Over at Life Hack, I read a post about Working...
2. Ideas For Sale – No Longer Free I’m now up into double digits with the number of...

The basic interest common to all prospects is self-interest.

It’s the one single common denominator of the entire human race.

Now all you have to do is tie that in with your offer. Simple.

Self-interest is expressed on four levels.

(1) What will this do to help me ?

(2) What will it do to help those close to me – my family, friends, or business associates ?

(3) What will it do to help my customers or my industry ?

(4) Will it help the public generally ?

The order in which these are listed is also the order of their effectiveness when you use them in your approach to a prospect.

Unless you know the prospect is a professed altruist or philanthropist, don’t bother with #4.

You could use #3 effectively with that small segment of society that loves to save the world or help their industry turn itself around.

You could possibly make it work with those who see that the interests of their customers are closely identified with their own interests.

As you might guess, #2 has multiple possibilities which are dependent on which one of the figures in the question you’re attempting to identify with.

And #1 is the universal common denominator of human nature – it’s built into every human mind and produces a universal response.

It’s the key to an effective approach which sells the prospect on the fact that he needs to delve further into your presentation.

Related posts:

1. Thinking Ahead Maximizes Your Selling Time   In my last post, I told you that you...
2. Attracting More Interest Leads To More Sales   Most people have little patience with salesmen and their...
3. How To Tell Prospects From Suspects I read about a Swiss optician with a great sense...
4. The Secrets Revealed: Learn The Art Of Human Nature To Become A More Successful Salesperson Over the last few years, much has been made of...
5. Sales Objections Are Good For You Back when I was juststarting my sales career, I’d come...

The first time a prospect comes in contact with your product or a demonstration of it, it must be the most powerful presentation you have of what the product has done for others and will do for him.

You need to sell him the desire to listen longer. The desire to learn why he needs your product and what it will enable him to do or become.

The presentation actually passes through three distinct stages and makes three separate sales.

First, the prospect is sold the will to listen.

Second, the will to consider.

Third, the will to act.

You’ll do well to think of the process of making a sale as leading the prospect down a flight of logical steps until he enters the arena of action.

You cannot omit a step, or the prospect will fall and you’ll fail.

You cannot rush him, or he’ll fall and you’ll fail.

Every prospect walks at their own pace, not yours. Let them walk at their own pace, a familiar pace and they’ll feel secure enough to trust you.

Leaving out the first step is particularly fatal, since jumping to the next step demands too big an effort and stops the prospect on the brink.

Whether the distance is five steps or fifty, it cannot be covered until the first step has been taken.

Related posts:

1. You Have To Buy Time To Make A Sale   To become more successful in your approaches, you have...
2. Close Like The Pros by Steve Marx Just got finished with an absolutely great book about selling...
3. Use Podcasting To Generate Sales In 3 Easy Steps After my review of Podcasting In About An Hour, a...
4. 7 Simple Steps To More Effective Self-Management Salesmen turn into Sales Managers, who turn into Vice-Presidents and...
5. Didn’t Your Mother Teach You Not To Stare ? As he walked into my office, there was something in...

In my last post, I told you that you needed to gain the prospects interest, before you threw him your best pitch. That leads us to finding better sales approaches. One simple approach would be to tell the prospect immediately what you can do for him.

In terms of what your product will do for him, sell him the desire to see proof of what you’re trying to sell him.

Doing this effectively requires a little thought about the prospect before calling on him. Such pre-call thought should be regarded as insurance for the salesman’s most valuable possession – his selling time.

What’s the nature of the prospect’s business, and what’s his position in the business?

What will the thing to be sold do for such a business and what’s he, in his position, most likely to want done?

If he’s an executive, for example, he’s more likely to be interested in saving money than in saving a little trouble for his employees.

But if he’s an employee, he’ll be much more interested in seeing how the thing will make his work easier, more pleasant or more profitable to him or those above him.

Related posts:

1. Soriano’s Way Of Thinking Is Simply Stupid I’ve been a baseball fan since before Alfonso Soriano was...
2. Warning ! More Really Stupid Salespeople Ahead ! Here’s Round 2 of the stories my friend Debbi Bressler...
3. Warning ! Really Stupid Salespeople Ahead ! What would you think of customer service like this ?...
4. You Have To Buy Time To Make A Sale   To become more successful in your approaches, you have...
5. How To Tell Prospects From Suspects I read about a Swiss optician with a great sense...

Most people have little patience with salesmen and their approaches. They immediately want to know what you’re selling and the price.

Experienced salesmen know, through negative sales experiences, that it’s usually fatal to explain bluntly: ” I’m with the Simplenomics Corporation and I wanted to know if you could use one of our Simple machines. ”

Almost inevitably, the answer to that type of approach is ” No. ”

That’s why many successful salesmen no longer use business cards on their first approach.

Handing out a business card as the first look a prospect gets at your company or product is less than best. You give the prospect an easy way to pre-judge and reject you, your company and your product.

Most business cards are designed to tell the world about you, but you really need to tell the prospect what you can do for him. Immediately.

Handing him a white paper titled, ” 10 Simple Ways To Make Bigger Profits And Spend Less Doing It ” will grab much more attention than a business card with your name, email and cell phone number on it.

On the other hand, ” trick ” approaches, that tend to keep the prospect in suspense about the real reason you’re there, do nothing to disperse impatience or improve receptiveness.

Prospects want to know why you’re there and what you can do for them.

Salesmanship consists of giving prospects what they want…after leading them to want it.

Related posts:

1. Staying In Control Leads To More Sales Over the last 10+ years, I’ve conducted a private study...
2. 10 Seconds To More Sales One of the most mysterious parts of the sales process...
3. Thinking Ahead Maximizes Your Selling Time   In my last post, I told you that you...
4. Diplomacy Leads To More Sales Or Happier Enemies ! The next submission in my (potentially named) The Simplenomics Guide...
5. One After Another After Another After Another … I heard it said that ideas are like boxcars behind...