A Roadmap to Sales Success

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“Whether we like it or not, in many aspects of life, it's not (necessarily) ‘what you know', as much as it is ‘who you know' that can be a determinant to one's success/fulfillment. That, plus all other things being equal, most people want to spend time with (and buy from - and help) people they know.” -- Joyce's Law #8
Vol. 1 No. 8 April, 2004		Feel free to pass this along if it can help others.
For help with sales issues: see "Ask your Sales Partner”. Submit your questions to info@salestraininginc.com. All Questions will be answered via e-mail. “Students completing Sales Partners' most recent courses had high praise for the materials provided and the instruction delivered...” - - Wayne Loots, Dean of Business and Industry Center, Wake Technical Community College		Ask your Sales Partner: Judy asks: “What's the best way to go about building relationships?” SP: Judy, David Sedaris said, “To make a friend, be a friend.” - - Dave Eggers, The Best American Non-Required Reading (2002)

About the “Roadmap …”

Each issue of the “Roadmap to Sales Success” will contain items of interest to the business (especially the sales) community.

In addition, each issue will also feature one in a series of “progressive” articles to help you through the “Sales Cycle.” Following is the schedule:

No. 1	-	“The Importance of Sales/Salespeople”
No. 2	-	“Understanding Your Offering/Your Market”
No. 3	-	“Reaching Your Decision - Makers”
No. 4	-	“Things to Say When You Do Make Contact”
No. 5	-	“Offering Your Offering - in the Best Light”
No. 6	-	“Handling Obstacles/Objections/Concerns”
No. 7	-	“Closing a Sale”
No. 8	-	“Cultivating Lasting Relationships”
No. 9	-	“Networking for Results”
No. 10	-	“Importance/Use of a Customer Data Base”

This Month’s Sales Tips …

“When you meet anyone, remember, it is a holy encounter” - - Course in Miracles

“… some industry analysts say that the next business decade will be the era of relationships rather than of technology.” - - Ephraim Schwartz, InfoWorld 6/15/01

Administrative Professionals Week® is April 18-24. Administrative Professionals Day® is Wednesday, April 21.

Upcoming Events involving Sales Partners:

04/13/2004	-	World Trade Center of North Carolina - “CAFTA Workshop”
04/12/2004	-	Triangle Small Business Connection Meeting – “Networking”

Please see:
http://www.salespartnersinc.com for details

Cultivating Lasting Relationships - - Vol. 1 No. 8 - - April 1, 2004

“Whereas the industrial era focused on hard assets and the information era on sharing information, the next era will focus on individual relationships.” - - Barry Libert, Director, New Business Development Lab, MIT

Whether in business or in our personal lives, if we wish to enhance/expand/elevate our “circle” of acquaintances, we must learn about and practice cultivating lasting relationships.

A good place to start is by being a helpful person. If people believe that you honestly want to help them (and others), they will gravitate to you.

In business, relationships help us to:

Uncover (otherwise) hidden opportunities – and uncover them earlier than the competition
Increase our chances of winning both hidden and known opportunities
Be of genuine value to customers by helping with strategic decisions
Promote customer loyalty

"We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give." - - Winston Churchill

Relationships work best when they are “managed” properly. To do this, we need to acquire and USE some kind of Customer Relationship Management (database) tool. “Importance/Use of a Customer Data Base” will be covered in detail in Newsletter #10, June 2004.

In order to form relationships, we first need to get ourselves in front of people. “Networking for Results” will be covered in detail in Newsletter #9, May 2004.

Next, we have to “sell” ourselves – hearing and listening skills are good traits here.

Then we'll need to work on building “rapport” – a mutuality of interests.

“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” - - Dale Carnegie

Next comes empathy, the ability to fully put ourselves in another person's shoes – to have a keen understanding of their issues, challenges, etc.

Two of the most important traits of great sales people are:

A strong ego drive to be successful – manifested by money, image, “winning”, relationships, etc.
An acute ability to empathize.

Once a “presence” has been established, it is important to try to continually add value and to be consistent.

Some ways to do that are:

By being a resource – of information/for business and social contacts
By being aware of “opportunities” for your contacts
By being available – don't be “one poor correspondent … too, too hard to find” – America, Sister Golden Hair
By being inquisitive – knowing what's happening - in the world, locally, and in your “circles” and willing to share information, without monopolizing the conversation

If your “hallmark” is Customer Service (as opposed to lowest prices/best products), try to tailor everything to your customers' needs. See: http://www.salestraininginc.com/customer-orientation-checklist.htm

"The easiest kind of relationship is with ten thousand people, the hardest is with one." - - Joan Baez

Next issue:

Be on the lookout for next issue of “Roadmap …” where the topic will be: “Networking for Results”.

Until then, Good Selling!!


Helpful Hints this month: If you're having network issues or want to upgrade your skills, see: http://www.netwktraining.com/ Like to have a website that actually does something to help your business? Please see: http://www.webdesignstudio.com/ Want help taking your business global? Start with http://www.wtcnc.org/ And, of course, to improve your sales situation, please see: SALES PARTNERS, INC. ^SM http://www.salespartnersinc.com/		SALES PARTNERS, INC. ^SM Helping companies and individuals: * Grow Revenue * Improve Sales Productivity * Enhance Customer Relationships Submit your question/comments to: info@salestraininginc.com Subscribe to the “Roadmap …”