Vancouver Board of Trade - Video Clips
The guys over at Reachd shot some video of Stephen Jagger and I during a panel discussion we participated in at the Vancouver Board of Trade called Big Impact for Your Small Business. The video is pretty shaky (it was done on someone’s hand held but the content was good). Have a listen.
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July 30, 2008 · Filed Under Events and Seminars, Sales Training, Sales Training Video, iPhone Podcasts |
Sales Blog Entry - The Number one Sales Currency
F.E.A.R. as defined by many personal development gurus (the revered and even the self-proclaimed) is defined as False Evidence Appearing Real. To close big deals, and large clients, especially in turbulent or uncertain times is all about taking the F.E.A.R out of saying yes.
Often the prospect has a dozen good reasons why they should do business with you, they even admit it, but still no deal. There’s a hesitance, a pause, then more questions, a couple stalls and more meetings hesitations and stalls. What are they afraid of? Often it’s an undefined sense of uncertainty. It’s emotional intuitive issue, they don’t trust us, or they don’t trust a number of factors that influence their business that are related to the transaction.
“Sales is about creating an environment where an act of faith can take place.”
This act of faith us based upon trust and credibility. Trust is in my opinion the number one sales currency. Too many people think it’s a product, a pitch, a better deal, or a nice suit. These things are important, but all will fall short without trust.
Recently I surveyed a number of senior investment advisors with one of Canada’s largest brokerage firms and asked them a very straightforward and open-ended question; “What does is take to move a big client (along with their with money) from a competitor to your firm?”
Every single one of them, without exception, said “the relationship.” This relationship was built upon a series of trust building interactions, very few of which were related directly to immediate gains in stock picks or better brochures than the competitors. They described knowing the client personally through lunches, dinners, inviting them the VIP events and being very accessible and transparent in their dealings with them.
I asked “what about your great research, your name in the press, the brand, and of course your track record?” The response: “That will get them to open their account with you and allow you to send them the odd e-mail or prospectus.” To move a large lump sum of money for you to manage they told me “you need trust, a real relationship based upon it.”
I recently landed a fortune 50 client. I knew I was up against bigger competitors. After the RFP and final presentation was done I got the news. The deal was mine. When I asked the Senior VP of Sales for this company why I got the deal his answer was little surprising. He said “I don’t know, the other guys are well branded, they said the right things, but you just made us feel comfortable, you were open with us, I felt that our team would relate well to you.” Relate well? I thought. What about the results I’ve landed for other clients? Our great training modules? Our experience in their sector? Comfortable? They bought comfortable!? What kind if competitive advantage is that?!
What my broker clients and I experienced is the same thing.
Our value proposition, our branding, our stats and track record opened the door for us. To close the deal, and grow the client it was our ability to establish trust that was the deciding factor.
What is trust? Trust from a prospects perspective, is a sense of comfort, a belief that we’ll do what we say we’ll do regardless of a contract or what we’re obligated to do. Seems simple, but so many people today feign concern but don’t deliver. The truly empathetic sales person that is grounded and transparent has a huge advantage in the marketplace. Trustworthiness is a rare commodity, if we focus delivering it as out core value proposition we can lock clients in for a lifetime.
So how do we establish it? Here’s some quick concluding thoughts on the topic:
#1) Know your product and service capabilities, all of it’s applications and all of it’s limitations. Close deals that fit and be willing to walk away or refer them to someone else. Basically take on clients you know you can hit a home run with.
#2) Keep even the smallest commitment always, Even things like being on time are unspoken and implied commitments. If we can’t be trusted with minor details how can we be trusted with business critical issues?
#3) Never talk about other clients to prospects, unless you let them know that you have pre-approval. They’ll enjoy the story but then later wonder what you’ll say about them.
#5) Manage their expectations up front. Let them know what to expect, even in regards to product and service limitations. Our clients are grown-ups, they know there’s no perfect product or service and they’ll appreciate our candor.
#6) Have conversations that are broader and deeper than our competitors are capable of having. Do this by educating ourselves more, researching more, assuming nothing, and customizing every interaction with the client.
#7) This final point is by far the most critical. Be good at establishing genuine rapport. This happens by being totally aware, present and functional and having a highly developed capacity for listening and asking great questions. People will sense our level of empathy and sincerity more from the questions we ask then the stories that we tell.
Author’s Bio
Shane Gibson is President of Knowledge Brokers International and author of Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals. With 14 years as a professional speaker Shane is in high demand as a conference speaker and a sales training and sales performance specialist. KBI’s clients include organizations such as BMW, Siemens, Ford, Vodacom, the Vancouver Board of Trade and dozens of professional associations and corporations in Canada, USA, South Africa, South America and the Middle East.
June 25, 2008 · Filed Under Sales Articles, Sales Blog |
Sales Blog Entry on Free Leadership Self Assessments
I have put together a series of self assessments on coaching and leadership which are provided free (not-for-profit use and distribution only.) Here are the assessments:
Five levels of leadership self assessment
Coaching skills assessment
Enabling versus equiping self assessment
I would appreciate any feedback and comments on the usefulness of these tools and how we may improve upon them.
Shane Gibson
Shane Gibson is the author of Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals and President of Knowledge Brokers International Systems Ltd. a leading sales performance and leadership development organization. Shane divides his time between his entrepreneurial projects, speaking at major conferences and mentoring salespeople and entrepreneurs.
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November 13, 2006 · Filed Under Leadership |
Sales Podcast - Sales Presentation Skills Part 3
This week’s sales podcast on sales presentation skills is focused on how to effectively avoid and recover from common bombs and mistakes in sales presentations. Selling in the boardroom is a skill that can greatly accelerate our ability to close big deals in our sales career. To Download the sales podcast MP3 (Part 3) on sales presentation skills click here or subscribe to the podcast feed using one of the options on the right navigation bar.
This sales podcast is presented by Shane Gibson.
Shane Gibson is the author of Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals and President of Knowledge Brokers International Systems Ltd. a leading sales performance and leadership development organization. Shane divides his time between his entrepreneurial projects, speaking at major conferences and mentoring salespeople and entrepreneurs.
November 10, 2006 · Filed Under * Sales Podcast, iPhone Podcasts |
Sales Podcast Entry - Presentation Skills in the Board Room Part 2
This weeks sales podcast is part 2 of a 3 part series on presentation skills in the boardroom. This entry is focused on adressing the various buyer and learner styles we will encounter when doing sales presentations. You can download the file by clicking here or you can subscribe via itunes or directly to the feed by clicking one of the options on the right naviagtion bar.
Presentation Skills Part 2 - Shane Gibson - ClosingBigger.net: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (194)This sales podcast is presented by Shane Gibson.
Shane Gibson is the author of Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals and President of Knowledge Brokers International Systems Ltd. a leading sales performance and leadership development organization. Shane divides his time between his entrepreneurial projects, speaking at major conferences and mentoring salespeople and entrepreneurs.
October 26, 2006 · Filed Under * Sales Podcast, iPhone Podcasts |
Closing Bigger Sales Podcast Entry - Sales Podcast Part 1 on Executive Presentation Skills
This weeks sales podcast is on presentation skills and their importance in the boardroom when pitching potential clients. This is part 1 of a 3 part podcast series on the topic. You can download todays sales podcast by clicking here.
Shane Gibson is the author of Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals and President of Knowledge Brokers International Systems Ltd. a leading sales performance and leadership development organization. Shane divides his time between his entrepreneurial projects, speaking at major conferences and mentoring salespeople and entrepreneurs.
September 14, 2006 · Filed Under * Sales Podcast, iPhone Podcasts |
Tips on Building Strong Transformational Mentorship Relationships
As one can imagine depending on the
personality styles and values of the individuals involved the mentoring
relationship can take many forms and follow many processes. As long as the
people within the relationship find it rewarding and effective we really can’t
say that any one process or format is more effective but it is important that
both people fully understand and are agreeable and committed to it.
Expectations
It is important in the beginning for the
mentor and mentee to explicitly confirm what one another’s expectations of the
relationship will be. How do they personally define mentorship? What goals or
outcomes would they like to achieve? How involved will they be in each others
life professionally or otherwise?
Structure and Process
Do you meet in person? On the phone? Mentor
while golfing or skiing? How often do you meet? For how long are the meetings?
All of these questions should be agreed upon early on.
Some of the foundations of the mentoring
process are important are:
r
To identify each person’s values, style and
preferred method of communication
r
Set SMART regularly to focus the
relationship
r
Remember that mentoring is transformational
and that most of the goals should be focused on building the mentee’s talents
into strengths
r
Have a way of recording and checking on
commitments made
r
Set a regular time or frequency of time to
check in; you may not need to meet every three weeks but at least check-in with
each other to keep the relationship strong and current
Commitments & Rules
It is vital to confirm and agree upon what
commitments we require from one another. Some mentors have no problem working
through in-action or continually broken promises by the mentee while others will
end the relationship if the advice they give isn’t heeded. Neither of these
mentors is wrong, it’s a values thing. The key to ensure that both parties are
aware of each other’s personal rules and that commitments are firmly put into
place and recorded.
Shane Gibson is President
of Knowledge Brokers International
Systems Ltd. and author of
Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals and High Impact
Mentorship - The Transformational Mentor’s Field Guide. e-mail
shane@kbitraining.com or call
604-331-4471
