When people are asked to think of less than successful salesman, one of the unpleasant characteristics that springs to mind is them being pushy or aggressive.

The usual memory is of looking for a new car or used car! We have all had experiences when the salesman hasn’t stopped talking and you sense yourself being pushed to say ‘yes’. You find yourself signing on the dotted line!

Too many business owners, when presenting their sales pitch don’t think about whether their style could be perceived as pushy or aggressive, and don’t realise what they could be losing. In this article we are going to look at exactly what being pushy or aggressive looks like and how it can damage building long term relationships (which is what selling should be about).

Being pushy, whether intentionally or unintentionally, can be the ruin of a salesperson. Luckily we are all individuals, so we have a different ‘pain’ threshold where pushy salesmen are concerned; some people will shrug it off, others will feel intimidated. But what defines ‘pushy’?

To ‘push’ something is the act of exerting force on one object in order to move it from one place to another. When you push an object, its weight responds as resistance and to overcome this you have to push harder. To fulfil the act of pushing you have to expend effort, but when strong enough, resistance can prevent you from moving forward.

Looking at the preceding words again, but re-framing them in a sales context, you can quickly see what being pushy is - forcing your will onto the buyer, countering resistance with more force, using effort to get a result. This is not how to make a sale or encourage someone to buy from you again! You must always remember that a customer is with you because he wants to be there - he can quickly change his mind.

What are the actions you take in your sales process, which could be perceived as aggressive?

• Not taking ‘no’ for answer

• Not actively listening or watching for body language hints which are telling you to stop, that your message is not getting across

• Being overly familiar with the customer too early in the sales process

• Despite having been told that he is not interested, within a few days you are back on the phone, following up the previous meeting

These actions could be taken in all innocence but the outcome is the same - the customer feels pressurised.

So what’s the impact of these actions? Here are some of the possible outcomes if you take things too far.

• You may be lucky and hit upon a customer who is too meek to fight back or walk away. Great, you made a sale! However, they will never buy from you again. Missing out on repeat business means you are missing on the real profit. The next deal can be completed without all the preliminary talk so the true profit is higher. Be pushy and you miss out on all of this

• If the customer is a strong personality, he may dig his heels in and an argument quickly develops. You can never conclude a sale under these circumstances. Worse still, if you are in the retail trade, potential customers wandering around your shop may pick up on the tense atmosphere and be out of the door with their money still in their pocket. The result? More than one lost sale

• Even if your product or service is ideal for them and satisfies all their requirements, if they feel uncomfortable with your style, they’ll buy elsewhere

• Word-of-mouth can be a great way to boost sales but it can also be a destructive force. A dissatisfied customer will tell many more people about their bad experience than a satisfied customer will about a good experience. So, not only have you missed out on one sale but also a bucket-load more

What steps can you take to avoid being too pushy or aggressive and possibly end up loosing a sale?

Early on in the relationship or presentation, don’t be overly familiar. Ask if you can call them by their first name. Seeking permission may sound a bit cheesy but at least you have their permission.

Having established this ground rule, actively listen to what the customer is saying, Is he dropping clear hints that he is not comfortable with what you are saying? Conversely, if he’s not responding at all, ask him if he’s OK with what he has heard so far. Asking questions is a great way of finding out what the customer is really thinking and so an opportunity to put things right.

As well as listening, watch their body language. Do they appear happy or are their eyes constantly looking around (probably looking for the exit!) and not at you. If so, again step back and use questions to check their mood. Slow the pace down and clarify any concerns. Listening to what the customer has to say is the key and then respond by addressing the issues.

If, after taking on board what the customer is saying, you still get a ‘no’, don’t argue; back off and leave the door open for another day. Once the customer has verbally said no, the chances of you getting a sale after that is dramatically reduced. And whatever you do, don’t follow up a few days later with a telephone call! Leave the customer alone and he may come back of his own free will. The memory of your pushy style will linger for some time and the chances of you getting a quick re-match are slim, so don’t try and encourage one!

Next time you are making a sales pitch, make sure you don’t go too far and push the client so hard that he falls off a cliff. You want him alive so he can come and see you another day!

© Robert Warlow
Small Business Success

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I arrive with about 350 other guys. We smile at each other but really don’t talk much. I guess we all feel that we are too good and too proud to be at a sales-training seminar.

The trainer/speaker/guru promenades into the room and starts glad-handing everyone. He is dressed in a $1,200 suit with a sequined T-shirt underneath.

He lets us know right away that he just never wears a tie. (Suddenly all of us are loosening our ties, slipping them off, and stuffing them into our briefcases.)

“OK fellows, get up!” he tells us. “Put down your pens and pads; you won’t need them today. I am going to make you a successful sales rep by changing how you think, not how you write. I want everyone to push away the chairs. Open up the room so that we can open up your minds.”

Reluctantly, we start pushing the chairs and table into the corners. Are we supposed to be in nursery school? I thought I was finally going to learn how to close more deals.

The lights are dimmed. He begins with a whisper. “Close your eyes… think back to when you were a small child. Remember that story your mom would read to you. The one that you already knew by heart but wanted to hear again and again. The story that shaped you hopes and dream. What was it?”

He must be pulling our leg, I thought. But then someone screams out, “The little engine that could.”

Mr. Guru jumps on it. “Great, now I want you to really get into the story.” He starts pretending he is a train and huffs and puffs around the stage.

“Those of you who want to get on that train of success, what are you waiting for?” He is imploring us to join him.

To my disbelief, within 20 seconds 100 guys are snaking around the tables and chairs in a long conga line. Then I start hearing music that sounds like an engine that is racing faster and fastrer. The guys are loving it.

After a few minutes of pure pandemonium, Mr. Guru cuts the music, and everyone quiets down. “OK, OK, I want everyone to get that favorite story of their very own into their karma and act it out. Also look around the room to see if anyone else has a similar dream.”

The noise level goes right back up, and yet I am still standing in the corner doing nothing. These guys are a bunch of jerks, I tell myself.

The guy next to me is starting to take off his jacket, and even his shirt. “What are you doing?” I ask.

“My favorite story was the emperor’s new clothes,” he says with some embarrassment. “You remember, everyone pretends that they see stuff that is really not there to please the emperor. Well I am tired of pretending at work that all those ideas from my boss are so great. I think most of them are foolish.”

This guy is right. I start pulling off my shoes and socks, even my toupee. I see contact lenses popping out, and women pulling off their high heels and pulling out running shoes from their purses. We have at least 30 to 45 people around us. We are not alone.

What are we going to do with this newfound community? I jump onto the stage and tell Mr. Guru about our group. To my disbelief, he asks me to speak to the entire convention about what we are doing.

“When?” I ask.

“Right now,” he responds and sticks the microphone in my hand.

I begin telling our story, To my amazement the “little engine guys” stop huffing and puffing. They stand still. They are listening to me. They start removing their jackets. The few remaining ties are gone too.

I am into this. I tell the crowd, “Next time your prospect asks you for the benefits of your product, don’t just repeat the garbage in the fancy brochure. Tell me how you, yes you, how you can really help them.

“Listen to your client, he is the emperor. Find out what he really wants. No one has ever honestly asked the question.” I am on a roll, wow, and I am loving it.

The room is hopping. This is how my kids must feel at a rock concert. Do they still have mosh pits? I am ready to jump. I am sweating from exhilaration. I see Mr. Guru standing just off stage, grinning.

The music comes on. He runs out, thanks everyone for coming, and tells us to buy his book and sell, sell, sell.

With one hand, he envelops me with a huge hug. His other hand turns off the microphone. He whispers in my ear. “Hesh, good job as always. See you out back. Don’t forget the limo is waiting for us.”

Hesh Reinfeld writes a syndicated business humor column. You can read additional examples of his columns on his website: http://www.heshreinfeld.com Or contact him at hesh1@comcast.net

Sometimes making cold calls gives us a strange feeling in our gut. We become stuck, flustered and the phone turns into the heaviest dumbell you are ever likely to pick up. Unless you combat this feeling I’m afraid it only gets worse, even getting to the point where we are a nervous and hate the phone.

However, practice makes perfect and such reluctance is normally more evident in people that are new to cold calling and telemarketing in general. Well here’s the good news, cold calling doesn’t have to be the nerve tingling dreadful experience we all know it can be.

In telemarketing we tend to create our own fears. For example we may be put off making a call to a prospect because he’ll be offended if he’s busy, or if we call during lunch he’ll be upset, or he has probably been called a thousand times before about this particular product, deal or service. It is human nature to make matters seem worse than what they actually are, thereby creating our own fears.

As human beings we have great tendancies to make excuses, and this is especially so in the telemarketing profession. This can become a sticking point when it comes to cold calling or even when calling warm leads. We subconciously tell ourselves that we don’t have the correct resources to get the job done without some other form of external help. We may feel that we should send some more information first or ask them to fill in yet another survey.

Three tips for cold calling success

Don’t care what anyone else thinks - Separate yourself from that part of your personality that thinks cold calling is wrong and a bad way to find new business. Stop kidding yourself and telling yourself that there is a better way to drum up new prospects and business which suits your personality better, such as email, media advertising or direct mail. The real truth of the fact is that nothing is as effective as telemarketing when it comes to winning new business.

Define your reluctancies - decide that your call reluctancies can be managed effectively by highlighting tendancies and excuses outlined above. Use an approach that seeks to gain feedback from your calls, and will hopefully show that your fears are totally unfounded.

Tell yourself you CAN - in telemarketing it is necessary to tell yourself that you CAN make those calls, and when you do more new business will follow. Most tendancies and fears are based on a projection of what you think a prospect will say to you when you call. This fear builds to the point where one part of your personality tries to protect the other from what is only presumed harm, and in actual fact will more than likely prove to be a falicy.

Everywhere I turn, I’m being asked to weigh in on the issue of whether copy should be long or short in a sales letter. I receive countless newsletters on copywriting and marketing, and they are all still debating the issue.

I doubt that the question will be answered definitively, but after hearing from other Internet copywriters and after considering the issue myself, I’ve learned that if you follow three guidelines, the issue of length will become almost irrelevant.

Guideline #1) TELL PROSPECTS WHAT THEY WANT AND NEED TO KNOW TO MAKE A BUYING DECISION.

Interested prospects will read even a sales letter of several pages long if they are interested and if your sales letter has good content. Many of us are more interested in telling prospects what WE want them to know. But we should all be telling prospects what THEY want and need to know.

Guideline #2) OMIT NEEDLESS WORDS.

This guideline is actually Rule #17 from Strunk & White’s famous little book on writing, _The_Elements_of_Style_. (If you write, you really should read this small but influential book.)

Anything that doesn’t have a direct purpose or work toward winning over your prospect should be cut out. I don’t care how much you want to tell them about what a great reputation your company has and how successful you were last year. Unless that information takes the reader one step closer to buying (admittedly, sometimes it does), cut it.

Do the research and know your target audience. Then, write with their needs in mind. Write everything your prospects want and need to read, but write ONLY what they want and need to read. Cut the rest.

Guideline #3) TEST. TEST. TEST.

This is the best indicator of how long your sales letter should be. If you don’t like to test, you have to rely on luck. Not a good idea. Put together the best sales letter you can with everything a prospect needs to know to make a buying decision, cut out anything that’s not essential reading for your prospect, then run it. Record the results. Rewrite a portion of the letter. Test again. Record the results. Keep doing this until conversion rates improve and you’ll know how long your sales letter needs to be. Of course, this kind of testing is much easier online than in offline direct mail, but it needs to be done. (Offline direct mail will probably require a split mailing.)

Although many people will tell you that “research has shown longer sales letters pull better,” the only research you should be paying attention to is your own. Long sales letters don’t pull well for everyone.

There’s an easy way to answer to the question of how long or short a sales letter should be. (It’s the same for other similar questions of tone, diction, and how much text you should emphasize.) Determine the needs and desires of your readers and you’ll have your answer.

About The Author

Matthew Cobb is an independent copywriter/consultant. Contact him at contact@cobbwriting.com or learn more about Sales Letters by Matthew Cobb by visiting his Web site at www.cobbwriting.com/salesletters, and sign up for his free monthly e-publication, The Seductive Sales Letter Clinic.

Why do people buy your product? If you stack up enough benefits
to outweigh the costs of purchasing it, do you automatically
close the deal? It doesn’t always happen, does it? Consumers are
not calculating machines. They are soft, warm, breathing humans
with emotions that assign meaning and personal significance to
your products.

How do potential customers evaluate your products (or services)?
How do they trade off various factors before deciding? How are
their emotions involved in the process? Consumers–whether they
realize it or not–use up to six categories of emotional
criteria when they decide to purchase your product.

Technical criteria

Technical criteria relate to what your product does. Every
product performs a function. It may also perform additional
functions or have features that make it easier to operate or
use. If your type of product has been around for a while,
everyone assumes it will perform its basic function. Marketing
battles are fought on the ground of extra features and ease of
use.

Does your product perform its core function better, faster, or
more smoothly than your competitors’ products? Have you enriched
your product with additional features? Is your product easier to
buy and simpler to operate?

Economic/sacrifice criteria

Economic/sacrifice criteria relate to price. Consumers live in
an approach/avoidance world. Your product’s benefits are in a
tug of war with its price and the effort it takes to purchase
it. For most consumers, the psychological cost of paying for
your product reduces their enjoyment of it. Several emotionally
significant factors influence the maximum price you can charge
for your product.

How closely does your product relate to the buyer’s needs? How
unique is your product? Do you charge a “fair” price? Is paying
the asking price socially acceptable for your customers?

Legalistic criteria

Consumers are also guided by what others demand or want. Some
potential buyers must obey legal requirements and this loss of
control may be frustrating. Consumers also feel obliged to
consider the needs and desires of others, like their spouse or
children.

Does your product help your customer comply with any legal
requirements? Can your product be made more appealing to your
customer’s children or spouse?

Integrative criteria

How does your product or service fit with your potential
customer’s social group or personal identity? Consumers belong
to social groups. They face potential embarrassment if they
don’t conform. So they constantly try to strike a balance
between group membership versus visibility and self-esteem. Any
product or service that increases their self-esteem is
emotionally satisfying.

Does your product help your customer express their identity? Can
your product be described as “upscale” or “exclusive”?

Adaptive criteria

Consumers want to minimize any risk that they will regret their
purchase later. The easiest solution is to avoid responsibility
completely and trust the advice of others, preferably an expert.
Consumers also lower their risk of future regret by imitating
the buying habits of others that they assume are “in the know,”
by looking for guarantees, or by basing their decision on your
reputation.

Are you able to offer endorsements from recognized experts? Do
you have testimonials from satisfied customers? Do you offer a
strong guarantee? Is it possible to offer a free trial or sample?

Intrinsic criteria

Intrinsic criteria relate to your product’s basic nature–how
much the consumer “likes” your product. Appeal to your
customer’s senses. How does your product look, feel, taste,
smell or sound?

Curiosity is another intrinsic criterion. Consumers are always
looking for something new and different. Familiar products are
reassuring, but they are also boring. The trick is to not go too
far. Every consumer has an optimal level of novelty and
complexity that maximizes their curiosity and their desire to
satisfy it. If you push beyond the optimal point, they will
return to the familiar.

Is your product “refreshing” or “alluring”? How about
“enchanting” or “elegant”?

If you focus only on rational behavior, then you choose to
ignore enormously powerful emotional forces that ultimately make
your customer’s final decision. The rational argument should
already be won by your product’s high quality design. Creative
innovation, savvy pricing, and persuasive presentation will win
your customer’s emotions.

*The six categories of emotional criteria were developed by John
O’Shaughnessy, and Nicholas Jackson O’Shaughnessy, The Marketing
Power of Emotion (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003).

How do you define selling? A lot of people think of selling as
persuading/convincing people to buy things they may or may not
want or need. To some, selling is all about closing a deal.
Thinking of selling like this is not very empowering to you.
Frankly, if you have this perspective on selling, it’s no wonder
if you hate it. I would too!

So what perspective can you take about selling that will make it
enjoyable, exciting and something you look forward to? Sounds
like a bit of a tall order doesn’t it? Read on.

Hopefully by now, you have made the list of all the problems
that you can solve for your target market. You’re going to be
surprised how long that list grows over time. So really, if you
look at your list and you think about it, you are a master
problem solver. What you’re really doing is helping people.
Correct?

So try on this perspective about what selling is: Selling is
helping people. Selling is serving. Selling is a process of
identifying and solving people’s problems.

See, feel and know that selling is serving. This will cause a
big shift for you. With this perspective, you will really become
passionate about wanting to help people. Find this passion and
let it shine through.

It is your purpose, your moral obligation, to have as many sales
conversations with people as you can so you can help as many
people as possible. If you’re not having these types of sales
conversations, you are holding back the gift you have to offer
the world. You owe it to people to be there for them with your
expertise and wisdom.

Next time you’re talking to a potential client, think about how
you can help them, how you can serve them. Forget about trying
to sell them something. If what you have to offer does solve
their problems, and you facilitate the conversation using the
strategies we are covering, people will sell themselves and will
subsequently buy from you.

If you have a perspective on selling which is one of service and
helping people, how do you think the people you’re talking to
will feel? Think about this: people hate to be sold. The minute
they feel they’re being sold, they often want to get away -
fast. Don’t you? On the other hand, if they feel you are
sincerely trying to help them solve their problems, they will
relax and open up to you.

If you have a perspective on selling which is one of service and
helping people, how do you think you will feel? Does energized,
excited, relaxed, and natural come to mind?

This perspective is simple but powerful and very attract-tive to
clients.

(c) 2005, Tessa Stowe, Sales Conversation. You are welcome to
“reprint” this article online as long as it remains complete and
unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end) and
all links are made live.

Are you dog tired because of the way you manage your sales team? Many managers tell me that they cannot see a way out of traditional sales management methods that keep them working like dogs, including focusing strictly on revenue goals, staying late, traveling up to three weeks a month, tightly controlling teams, and constantly reacting to emergencies. There has to be a better way.

Are you satisfied with the way your life as a sales manager is turning out? Is it giving you all that you wanted? If not, perhaps it’s time to make a revolution. Here are some revolutionary ideas you might consider:

1. THINK THREE TO SIX MONTHS INTO THE FUTURE

What you want to accomplish right now was set in motion a few months ago. The results of your decisions three to six months ago are coming to fruition today. Think and talk strategically about three and six months down the line as if it were “today.” Describe and write down what you see about:

The culture of your sales team

The size of your sales team

Your ideal customers

Revenue you are generating

Your competition

Your target markets

How your team has changed in the last three to six months

How hard you are working

While crystal-ball gazing is never an exact science, it can be enormously helpful to “live” in the possibilities.

2. GO BACKWARD

From the vantage point of three to six months in the future, identify what you did over the past three to six months. Ask yourself the following questions:

What did I accomplish?

What did my team accomplish?

What tasks did we complete

What actions made us successful?

What were some of the obstacles?

How did we overcome the obstacles?

3. CREATE A PLAN WITH MEASURABLE GOALS

If you want better clients, the #1 sales team, more money, more time for yourself, and more enjoyable work, you need an effective business plan.

Use your insights from No. 1 “Think three to six months into the future” and No. 2 “Go Backward” to create a plan.

Don’t know how to build one? Make this the year you learn.

Already know how but haven’t built it? Get support from a colleague, mentor, coach, or group to make it happen.

Have a system but aren’t using it? Pull your plan out of the drawer and re-commit to doing what it takes to have your dream career.

To help you get started, here is a simple tool I use. You can also ask each salesperson on your team to create a plan using the same template.

Top 5 Goals - 3 months

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Top 5 Goals - 6 months

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Top 5 Goals - 12 months

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

HOT TIPS:

Do not put your goals in a drawer! Post your goals where you will see them every day (computer, fridge, bathroom mirror, wall next to the phone). When you see your written goals, you increase your chances of accomplishing them.

Communicate your goals. Let others know what you are thinking. Take regular opportunities to talk to your staff and superiors about your plans. It usually takes a village to accomplish great things. You’ll need buy-in and help reaching your goals from many levels within the organization.

4. CHOOSE THE BEST

Serve only those clients you, your organization, and your sales team care about and enjoy. Everything becomes a struggle when you work with people you don’t enjoy. You wouldn’t hire someone you couldn’t amicably work with, so why let them hire you?

Begin today to let go of clients you and your sales team find difficult, and start seeking out those you want. Have the courage to refuse new clients who don’t fit your picture of who you most want your business to serve.

5. CREATE ACCOUNTABILITIY FOR YOURSELF AND OTHERS

How many times have you said that you were going to do something and then not done it because nobody else would know the difference? Try spreading the word. Just the simple act of telling your plan to another person raises the stakes. Most of us place a high value on doing what we say we’ll do. There is something profound about taking our commitments seriously when we profess them to another person or when we join in a pact to reach a common goal.

To hold employees accountable, have them declare their intentions to you. Use these three simple questions to help you:

What will you do?
When will you do it?
How will I know you’ve done it?

Then, schedule a follow up time to talk about their accountabilities.

Enjoy reaping the rewards of your revolution.

‘Revolutionary’ Challenge: BE THE FUTURE

NOW is a good time to plan. Conduct a visioning exercise with your team where you go into the future.

Ask your team to close their eyes and focus on the future, one month at a time. First, ask them to see themselves today. Then proceed one month at a time. When you all open your eyes, it is six months from where you started.

Discuss what you see, using the points in the “Think Three to Six Months into the Future” section at the beginning of this newsletter. Make sure you capture the ideas on a flip chart.

Please let me know how this worked for you, and any suggestions you have to improve the process. Have fun with it!

—

This article may be reprinted in its entirety with express written permission from Nicki Weiss. The reprint must include the section “About the Author”.

About the Author

Nicki Weiss is an internationally recognized Certified Professional Sales Management Coach, Master Trainer, and workshop leader. Since 1992, Nicki has trained, certified, and/or coached more than 6,000 business executives, sales managers and salespeople.

Nicki guarantees increased sales performance when sales managers become better sales coaches. Sign up for her FREE monthly e-zine, Something for NothingTM, which has powerful tips and techniques for sales managers who are ready to make this transformation. Sign up at http://www.saleswise.ca You can email her at nicki@saleswise.ca or call 416-778-4145.

Look around the Web and you’ll find sales letters promoting just about every kind of product and service imaginable. Some are long, some are short, some are punchy, some are formal, some work well and some simply don’t work at all.

Writing a sales letter isn’t a difficult task but unless you avoid the five mistakes that far too many copywriters make, your sales letters simply won’t be pulling their weight.

1. Features Don’t Sell

If your sales letter tells your visitors that the “amazing new ‘whizzle’ is being offered complete with 3-way tracking and an incredible 6 Mb of storage” you won’t really be telling them very much at all.

Instead of concentrating on the product’s features, focus the reader’s attention on the benefits the product offers them. They want to know exactly how owning a ‘whizzle’ will improve their lives. Will it help them lose weight, store their music collection or find their car if it’s stolen? If so, use the sales letter to tell them!

2. Exaggeration

Ok, so advertising always contains an element of exaggeration and Web-based sales letters are no exception, but don’t let it get out of hand. A sales letter that sounds too good to be true will most likely be ignored so always stick with the truth while getting those benefits across. In fact, a sales letter that sounds 100% honest will be such a breath of fresh air that its honesty alone will most likely make it a success.

3. Thinking the Reader is “Stupid”

Most people are intelligent and want to be treated as such. Far too many sales letters talk down to the reader, offering them every snippet of information with the proverbial teaspoon.

Once a reader starts to think: “Yes, yes, I understand that now get on to the point”, you’ll most likely have lost a sale.

When writing sales letters, give your reader enough information to leave him feeling that he’s learned something, but give it in a way that has him thinking he’s picked it up without it being explained in detail.

4. Bore… Bored… Boring Your Reader

Whether of not you’re able to hold the reader’s attention will mean the difference between a killer sales letter and a sales letter that just hangs around doing nothing much at all.

As with all forms of promotional business writing, a certain amount of drama is needed in a sales letter in order to grab the reader’s attention and hold it throughout the message. Emotion is also used for the same reason. BUT, too much drama and emotion that isn’t substantiated will become boring.

Appealing to the good nature of the reader in order to have him donate money to your “save the garden slug fund” isn’t going to work unless you give him clear information about the slug and what impact its loss would have on the environment/his family/the economy.

While it’s important that the main selling points of the product or service are repeated several times throughout the sales letter, it’s crucial that the way in which the information’s presented differs each time. If miniature windmills “will generate power for your home”, they will also “create enough energy to heat and light your home” as well as “save you hundreds of dollars in energy bills”.

5. Lack of Motivation

Why are you writing a sales letter? Because you want the reader to buy a product, donate money, join a club or anything else that requires him to do something. If the sales letter doesn’t motivate the reader to action, you’ve wasted both your time and his.

Give the customer the opportunity to take action at several points throughout the sales letter and ALWAYS end the letter with a direct appeal. Click the link now! Ring today! If you want them to do something, tell them what!

Now that you know what to avoid, writing sales letters should become easier and the finished product far more effective. Here’s to sales that skyrocket and a prosperous future for all.

Sharon Jacobsen is a full-time freelance copywriter living in South Cheshire, England. For a competitive fee she’ll happily write compelling sales letters to promote any product or service.

To contact Sharon or to learn more about her work, please visit her website at: http://www.sharon-jacobsen.co.uk

Use these simple and effective tips to boost your prospecting performance.

1. Always use a conversational tone…don’t come from a script. People hate to hear scripted sales pitches. Ditch the script and come from your heart. Even if you find yourself saying the same things over and over to different people, say it as if you are talking with them, not at them. Once you get a groove going, this gets easier. Your confidence and ability to assist others grows with each consecutive call.

2. Don’t chase anybody. Chasing just defeats you and angers them. You’ve got no chance to help someone if all they want to do is get you off the line. Repeatedly trying to contact those who are not returning your call only wastes your time. Use the rule of thumb “Second call, or not at all!”.

3. Make the objective of your conversation to find out what they are specifically looking for. Is your product or service something that they really need? Something that will benefit them in some way? Can you help the person? Ask them. Don’t just launch in on a list of why your product or service is better than others out there. You’re not trying to sell them, your helping them sell themselves.

4. Never assume that you know what the person wants or needs. Get to the truth of their objections by asking pertinent questions. If they “can’t afford it” then ask “If you knew that ___could absolutely help you change your life for the better, what would it take for you to be able to afford it?” Make them think about why they are parroting out a response.

5. Give them questions that they really need to think about, rather than questions with cut and dried answers. Questions like “What do you mean when you say…” or “Can you elaborate on that a little?” assist the person in expanding their own reasons why they feel a certain way about something. Sometimes this is enough for them to see that they really don’t know WHY they think this way, and that it is no longer serving them to do so.

6. Don’t defend yourself or your product. You have absolutely no need to justify what you are selling or doing. If someone challenges you, don’t buy into it. If someone asks “Is your company any better than so and so?” Move forward with questions like “If it were better, is that something you’d be interested in knowing more about?” Resolve again to find out specifically what they want and if you cannot offer that to them, let them go.

7. Assume that you don’t need the sale. Your only concern is to find out if you and your prospect are a good fit. What you want to achieve is to discover whether or not you can help them. If you don’t need the sale, then you won’t be pressured to rush through a script or badger a prospect into buying.

8. Always end the conversation on a positive note, even if there is no sale. If you let someone go, do it with dignity and wish that person success. Mean it. It’s possible that after mulling it over, they decide that your product or service is right for them. If your conversation was a friendly, helpful one, chances are good that they will remember that and come back to YOU for the sale.

9. Always come from a place of peace. Take 10 minutes to meditate and get quiet before you prospect. Get your mindset in the right place. You have something of significance. You want to assist people. You want open communication. Expect that these things will occur.

10. Be the leader that others are looking for. Your attitude, more than anything else, is what will affect the outcome of your efforts.

Copyright 2006 Angie Hewerdine

Angie Hewerdine is a successful home business owner in the fields of Wealth Creation and Personal Development. She has a passion for helping people attain personal and financial freedom using a simple 3 step system. For more information call 1-800-491-4758 or visit http://www.TheTimeForChange.com

Tips On Overcoming Sales Resistance When your clients and
prospects resist your sales presentation are they really saying
NO or are they asking you questions in order to make an informed
decision? Resistance can come in a variety of forms: The client
may not like you, they may not like your product or service or
they simply would prefer the status quo (change is not an
option.) If the prospect doesn’t like you, you may never be able
to recover. People buy from people they like and people who they
perceive are like them. If you don’t establish a strong
relationship with your prospect right from the beginning, no
matter how good your product or service may be, you probably
will not be able to give it away. In the first meeting with your
prospect, focus on the relationship not on selling. Work on
developing your relationship and establishing credibility with
your prospect. How do you distinguish yourself from the
competition? Remember..no one wants to be sold anything,
however, most of us love to make an informed decision to buy a
product or service. Give your prospect the respect they deserve.
Ask questions: Do you have an agenda for this meeting? How did
you get into this line of work? What strategies have you used to
create your current success? What are the problems that you see
limiting the future growth of your business? Are you always
prepared with a list of powerful, impactful questions to ask
your clients and prospects? How much time do you spend preparing
for each sales call? Do you just show up and hope everything
will turn out OK? Adequate preparation and well thought out
questions could very well make the difference in establishing
your relationship and credibility with your prospect as well as
a creating successful outcome. If your prospect is resistant to
your service or product, how do you overcome their objections?
Is your product or service an investment to your client to help
him/her solve a problem and improve bottom line profits or is it
viewed as an expense? Have you been able to determine the real
reasons why you are getting resistance? Picture an onion - your
job is to peel back each layer of the onion until you get to the
core of the onion and the real problem that the client is
facing. Then and only then will you be able to present
alternative solutions to help your prospect solve the problem.
NO PROBLEM…NO SALE!!! NO PAIN FOR THE PROSPECT…NO GAIN FOR
YOU!!! Can you show an ROI for the product or service you are
offering? If your customer would prefer the status quo
(resistant to change) vs. what you have to offer…they may not
see the value in your product or service. If your client asks
you…why should I do business with you? How do you respond?
Before you read my recommendation on how to respond to this
question…pause for a moment and write down your answer. If your
answer is all about better service, better quality, faster time
to market, more experience etc. get ready to lose the next sale
if the question comes up. A response to consider when asked …why
should I do business with you? Might be “Maybe you shouldn’t.
Although we’ve worked with many companies similar to yours, our
products/services might not make sense for you. Where do we go
from here?” Acknowledge the customer’s resistance. It will help
to defuse a tense moment. Take your time, work on the
relationship, STOP selling and focus on finding the real
problems and concerns of your prospects. Then show them how you
can make their problem go away.

The author, Ken Levine, is an executive sales coach who works
with business owners and their sales organization to help them
be more effective at sales and leads generation. Visit
www.impactbussolutions.com or write ken@impactbussolutions.com.

Phone:508-845-8849 Toll Free:866-277-0100