Track Selling Times: The Voice of the Sales Profession

Track Selling Times - January, 2000

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Track Selling Times
The Voice of the Sales Profession
Issue No. 122
January 1, 2000
Published by Max Sacks International,
Home of 100% Guaranteed World Class Sales Training, and
Developers of the Track Selling System™.
Author/Editor: Roy Chitwood, President, MSI

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In This Issue:

Feature:

" Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Web? "
by Roy E. Chitwood, CSP, CSE

Sections:

Integrity Pays:
" Integrity in Sales"
by Flavio Veiga

World Class Sales Management:
" Your Attitude to Prospecting"
by Charlie Gillette

Focus on the Professional:
"Building your Business Through Relationships"
by Jim Naleid
What are the secrets of building a multimillion dollar sales empire? Jim Naleid lays out five ingredients to his success.

Book Review -
Recommended reading list

Ask Roy:
"What do you do when your company is out of step with technology?"

Survey - Reader Survey

Newsletter Archives

"Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Web?"
by Roy E. Chitwood, CSP, CSE

Listening to some salespeople talk about the Internet, I get the impression they feel like Little Red Riding Hood entering a dark forest, just waiting for the Big, Bad Wolf to jump out from the next tree to eat them up. They see the Internet as a competitor and are afraid of it. Big mistake.

Rather, the Internet is an incredible opportunity. It offers ways to remove routine actions from your schedule and provides tools to help you accomplish your job better.

Here, then, are some common fears that salespeople have about the Internet Age, as well as tips to ease the transition:

I'll lose sales to the Internet

Sure, you might lose a few sales. After all, the .com companies are experiencing a boom right now. But consumers are beginning to experience (especially during the holiday season) some of the real headaches of shopping online, such as lengthy waits on returned goods or even how to return a gift received without a receipt. Once the novelty has worn off, the marketplace will stabilize again.

I'll become obsolete

There are certain sales tasks, such as order taking, that are being replaced right now by fax, email and the Internet. But there will never come a time when the professional, value-adding salesperson is replaced. Customers are comforted by the rapport and trust which can only be made through personal interaction, and in many markets they need it in order to make the right choice.

I'll become a slave to a machine.

Instead of waiting for someone else to automate the way your sales are administered, take responsibility yourself. This could be a simple as finding out what software can be used to make your job easier, freeing you up for more personal interaction with the customer.

The global economy will flood the market with foreign competition.

Some salespeople seem to think that it's only a matter of time before emerging companies will be invading our markets and taking all the business. Not true! While there is certainly going to be increased competition on high-ticket and inexpensive mass-produced items, many segments will remain largely unaffected by global economy. So if you sell to IBM or K-mart, you might be affected. But in most cases, trading will probably continue as before.

Instead of being frightened about the implications of the Internet, use it as a new weapon in your sales arsenal. It can help you bring better service to the customer, it can greatly speed up communication with prospects and it can remove much of the drudgery from sales administration. And most importantly, if you hone your people skills, you will emerge as one of a new breed of sales professionals who have mastered this new medium.

Integrity Pays:
" Integrity in Sales "
by Flavio Veiga, Principal and Managing Director
Circulo dos Profissionais de Vendas, Brazil

A sales rep told me that a regular customer had purchased 20 tickets to one of our seminars for $3,000.00. Instead of feeling happy due to the ticket sales, however, I felt that something was wrong. I called the client, and after a few questions, I knew that customer had not made the right decision. I explained that he could have a complete in-house seminar for 20 people for only $2,000.00. Besides saving $1,000.00 and travel costs, the event could be specifically tailored to his exact needs.

He didn't know about our in-house program and immediately decided that it would be better for him. We changed the order and he thanked me for taking the time to call him when it would actually result in less money for my company.

I believe at that moment, he realized he was dealing with a company of integrity. Not only does he continue to be a loyal customer, he has also referred many clients to us. In fact, I've just calculated that his referrals alone have brought us about $30,000.00 in new business.

So, what is integrity to sales? Well, in a word ... everything!

Flavio Veiga can be contacted at fveiga@cpvendas.com.br.

World Class Sales Management:
" Your Attitude to Prospecting "
by Charlie Gillette
President, Advanced Training Solutions, Issaquah, WA

My company helps organizations increase productivity through designing online training systems. As I have 15 years of experience in sales and sales management, these sites tend to be particularly suited to salespeople.

One of the big areas we stress in our presentations is prospecting. Basically, the key to acquiring new customers is to have a structured prospecting procedure. With a prospecting procedure in place, salespeople can begin the essential task of separating suspects from prospects.

By "procedure", I mean that you do the same thing at the same time all the time, without exception. I believe strongly that salespeople should adhere to a schedule and quota when it comes to prospecting. Some of the best salespeople I know religiously call 20 people each morning and don't go out on sales calls until this quota is met. It takes that kind of commitment to prospecting to achieve success in sales. So, your procedure might be: setting aside an hour each morning to do nothing but cold call; making 40 cold calls before doing anything else; etc.

Additionally, I want to stress that the current customer base is by far the best source of referrals (not to mention additional sales). If you have serviced them well, they will be more than happy to send people your way. That means you have to keep in regular touch with them, not just for sales, but for making sure the quality of service is high. And if you find that they are unwilling to give you leads, there is bound to be an underlying service satisfaction issue that must immediately be resolved.

Attitude, however, is also extremely important. I recommend to salespeople that they adopt a proactive approach to prospecting, rather than a reactive one. Some wait for a corporate machine to supply them all their prospects and then often complain about the poor quality of such leads. It is far more effective to either generate prospects on your own, or to become involved in the company's prospect generation process and find ways to improve it. That way, you are in control of the quality of prospects you receive.

Charlie Gillette can be contacted at Charlie@advtraining.com.

Focus on the Professional -
"Building Your Business Through Relationships"
by Jim Naleid, President
Lokken, Chesnut & Cape.

Twenty years ago I met Roy Chitwood. Today, I'm the president of an asset management firm. Since those days in the mid-seventies when I sold agricultural hardware, I took what I learned about the Track Selling System and applied it to a successful career as a stockbroker.

Then again, those skills taught by Roy accompanied me when I started in this business 10 years ago. During our first year, we managed $9 million dollars of client assets that produced annual revenues of $61,000. Now, we manage $135 million and generate $1 million in annual revenues.

Probably, the most critical element of my success is the ability to build long-term relationships with our clients. Here are the underlying 'secrets.'

Listen!
This one applies to your kids, your workmates and your clients. Once I started applying this principle, I learned more about others than I could have ever imagined. It is a major contributor to my financial success.

Commitment!
When I take on a client, I make a commitment to their financial health. At the same time, however, I require clients to make a commitment to me and my company. Just as we agree to stick with them through thick and thin, so we expect that they will remain with us and give us ample opportunity to perform.

Integrity!
Our sales process usually involves four or five visits in order to establish a strong relationship and fully understand the client's needs. As we are dealing with an intangible product, all we have to offer is the integrity of our professional expertise. In order to maintain that integrity, though, you have to recognize that it is a two-way street. I make sure that prospects also meet our own standards of integrity. Even if that means turning away someone with a lot of money. What we want is a long-term relationship founded on trust, not the brief high that comes from a one-time sale.

Build Trust!
One of the things that disarms our prospects is that we will never close the sale until we feel that we deserve it. It's our belief that we have to spend a significant amount of time with the client in order to earn the right to ask for the close. Therefore, we invest several visits and about 80 percent of the entire sales process on the approach and qualification steps. During this period, we can get to know each other and come to a mutual understanding about a long-term relationship.

Training!
The Track Selling System has been, without a doubt, the greatest reason for my sales success. Everything we have accomplished is based on the principles I learned many years ago. In fact, each of the above points has come through my participation in the Track Selling System.

Jim Naleid can be contacted at Jimlcc@aol.com.

Book Review - Recommended reading list

Starting in the next issue, we will introduce reviews of books we believe will prove helpful in your sales, marketing and management endeavors. Here is a recommended reading list:

* Business at the Speed of Thought - Bill Gates, Microsoft Press
* Roaring 2000's - Harvey J. Dent, Jr. - Simon & Schuster
* Changing the Game: The New Way to Sell - Larry Wilson, Simon and Schuster
* Profit RX - John S. Haskell, Executive Excellence Publishing
* The Circle of Innovation - Tom Peters, Knopf
* How to be a Great Communicator - Nido. R. Qubein, Executive Press
* Questions that Make the Sale - William Bethel, Dartnell
* The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People - Dr. Stephen Covey, Simon & Schuster
* Visionary Selling - Barbara Geraghty, Simon & Schuster
* Think and Grow Rich - Napolean Hill - Fawcett Publications
* Leading People - Robert H. Rosen, Viking
* The Quadrant Solution - Howard Stevens and Jeff Cox, American Management Association
* "World Class Selling: The Complete Selling Process" - Roy E. Chitwood, Best Sellers Publishing.

Ask Roy

Jane Cawthorne from Durham, NH,

" I work for a respected company. But it is so out of step with modern technology, our competitors now have a distinct edge. I can see a dozen ways we can incorporate the Internet into our sales operations, but my sales manager doesn't want to know. I've been considering a move to a more 'with-it' competitor. What should I do? "

Roy's Answer:

"It's good to see another sales professional who understands the potential of the Internet. I'd suggest that you don't give up just yet. Find out who in top management is keen to harness technology to increase productivity. Send your ideas to that person and seek his or her help in introducing some changes. But beware of one thing. Don't try to revolutionize the company's sales technology infrastructure in a matter of days. Pick one critical element and suggest that it be tackled - perhaps faster invoicing or better contact management. Once you achieve success in one area, you will find others begin to come round to your way of thinking. "

Reader Survey

1. What do you think of Track Selling Times?
2. What else would you like to see included?
3. If you have sales questions for Roy, or know of a salesperson, sales manager or integrity story that should be featured in Track Selling Times, mail it to:

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