The Wiser Customer Weblog

A sales manager who reads this newsletter regularly suggested the topic for this issue.

“I read your news letter weekly, and would like to see some information, or suggestions that deal with overcoming sales objections, such as cost, and ‘no time right now.’ Thank you and I look forward to further readings in the future.”

Time and money are the most critical resources that everyone has – whether we are speaking of an individual or a business. Both time and money are abstractions that measure the amount of resources that we have available to expend.

So if someone claims “I don’t have the time for this right now” or “I’m sorry I just don’t have the money”, then what this person is really telling you is that you have not justified why they should expend their precious resources on what you are selling.

If you dig down into any “sales objection”, ultimately you will find either time, money or both at the root.

Let’s take a look at a few common sales objections:

  -That looks too complex for me          = time.

  -We don’t have any budget money left    = money

  -We already have a supplier for that    = time and/or money

  -I don’t have the staff to support that = time + money

  -Sorry, we don’t need that              = time and/or money

  -I can’t talk with you right now        = time

  

In all of these examples, the seller hasn’t demonstrated his worth or value to the prospect. So if someone gives you a sales objection, then he is really telling you that you haven’t shown him anything of value to him. You haven’t justified to him why he should expend his precious resources on you.

If you’ve read any sales books, or been around selling for awhile, you might be thinking “sales objections are great – each sales objection moves me one step closer to closing the sale.” I know that I was taught that years ago in IBM Sales School.

In traditional selling, this is true. Your supposed to get in there, make your pitch, and fight down the sales objections until you get an order.

Consider an alternative – just avoid sales objections completely.

It is possible.

How?

Find out the pains, desires, and values of the prospect. Show them a solution involving your prospect/service that meets these. Find out precisely what they want by asking questions.

Use this knowledge to propel the sale forward. Propel them toward what they want to have, eliminate, or most value. The prospect will sell themselves, and will be able to resolve their own “sales objections”.

If you think about it, your easy sales were like this. Your hard ones, or the ones you lost, weren’t.

I want to make one more point here while I am thinking about it. Finding your prospect’s pains, desires, and values is somewhat different than discussing and presenting benefits to him. Benefits are great for marketing and online selling (because these are non-interactive).

Use benefits for your marketing and online selling efforts. Use questions to determine the true pains and wants when selling. Find out what people and businesses want to avoid, have more of, or desire most. Then show them how you can help them get what they value most.

© 1999-2004 Shamus Brown, All Rights Reserved.

Shamus Brown is a Professional Sales Coach and former high-tech sales pro who began his career selling for IBM. Shamus has written more than 50 articles on selling and is the creator of the popular Persuasive Selling Skills CD Audio Program. You can read more of Shamus Brown’s sales tips at http://Sales-Tips.industrialEGO.com/ and you can learn more about his persuasive sales skills training at http://www.Persuasive-Sales-Skills.com/

On the quest for a more productive day, research has shown that a more productive sleep at night can be one of the healthiest solutions. A Memory Foam Mattress could be just what researchers have been looking for. Concentration, Observation and even Creativity, are all qualities that can help us on our everyday journey through work, and life. The key is relaxation.

Any quality that enhances our daily productivity is welcome, but with a calm mind and rested body, do we find the most precious resources, that is, through our sleep. Sleep provides us with an infinite number of possibilities. Possibilities, which are most efficiently cultivated, while having deep restful dreams in a peaceful bed. And mattresses made from memory foam are ideal in this respect.

Ever since the invention of the first electroencephalogram, the machine that registers brain waves, back in the first part of the 20th century, scientists have known that sleep is not just an unproductive time in which we are forced to stop working. Wonderful things occur at night while we sleep.

During an average night of sleep of eight hours, our bodies move in and out of consciousness through cycles, determined by brain wave activity. If these cycles are disrupted by stressing muscles in certain points, the sleeper, could actually wake up without fulfilling the full sleep cycle. This means time and relaxation, are needed to achieve the proper depths of a good nights rest.

Suppose an average sleeper, gets eight hours of sleep, on a good mattress. Then she or he, would plunge into the realm of sleep for about 90min. then slowly come back out, and on return to the waking world, would have about 10 min. of dreams, almost wake up, roll over, and plunge back into another 90min. cycle. If the conditions are good, such as in using the proper kind of bed, the second sleep cycle will have something like 20-30min. of dreams, followed by 45-60min. in the third cycle. The longer we sleep, the more dreams we have.

Maybe, not everyone remembers what they dream, all the time, everyday, but that doesn’t matter, as much as the fact that dreaming is, in and of itself the place where we let our worry and stress of the day to day go free, preparing, for the day to come. If we don’t value our sleep enough, we carry all that stress and anxiety from the day before, into our morning, and consecutively throughout the day, until we finally sleep again, to give our dreams another chance at freeing themselves.

In a stressful modern day to day, race for time and money like ours, it’s a wonder why we don’t value our sleep more. Sleep requires relaxation, and that means sleeping a good night’s sleep. Pressure on muscles must be evenly distributed throughout the body in a way that keeps our bodies fully relaxed.

That means keeping the joints well accommodated. Memory foam does this in a very natural and relaxing way. When the body heat hits the mattress, it allows the foam to conform to the body reducing all that tension on the pressure points. No pressure points, no stress, no stress, means getting that good night’s sleep that we need so badly to be more productive and happy individuals. Mattresses made from memory foam keep the load properly supported, so that no one point is favored over any other. Relaxation is the road to a good nights sleep. And memory foam can help the sleeper achieve the ideal nights rest. While getting tensionless, deep and well relaxed sleep, the individual can produce more and feel great doing it.

My body is coming along but is not quite where I want it. I have the strength I need as long as I keep working at it and can go all day at either work or sports.

Let us face I just want to see some big honking muscles on my arms and legs and they just do not seem to want to appear.

I have been taking Bodybuilding Supplements all along to get to this point but feel that maybe I need to change to a different mixture to get past this next hurdle.

I need a product that will increase the mass of my muscle size. I have issues with weight that most people would love to have.

Almost all of my life I have been able to eat anything I want and not put on a bit of weight. But being a skinny person I am embarrassed to be seen at the beach or even in a t-shirt.

My friends keep telling me not to worry about it because no one will notice. Well, I do. I am looking for Bodybuilding Supplements that will help me gain weight that is muscle.

At this time, or any time, I do not want to start putting on fat. I do exercise regularly.

Several months ago, I was working in New York State with a group of salespeople. During an exercise designed to identify what obstacles stood between the sales force and their number one prospect, a salesperson related a story about a major prospect who wouldn’t give him the time of day. The problem as the salesperson described it was that several years ago the company’s credit manager suspended the customer’s credit privileges because he was not paying his invoices on time.

As a result of the credit manager’s action, the decision maker swore that he would NEVER do business with my client again. The salesperson’s question to me was, “What do you recommend I do to turn this prospect’s thinking around?”

I don’t believe I have ever conducted a sales training program where someone didn’t offer PAST SINS as a key obstacle to doing business with a key prospect, so I know that this objection is prevalent in just about all markets.

So what are past sins, you may be thinking. A past sin is something that someone in your organization — not necessarily a salesperson — did perhaps several years ago that offended a customer, and in an attempt to get revenge, the customer made the decision to never do business with your company again.

A suspension of credit privileges can certainly sting; such action can certainly be embarrassing for a customer, but is it reasonable and logical to suspend all dealings with the offending company — FOREVER?

Well, in my opinion, of course not. But then again, we’re not dealing with a decision I made. We’re dealing with a decision maker who is a grudge holder. We’re dealing with someone who perhaps doesn’t know how to reverse his rather rigid position and while doing so, save face.

Haven’t you been guilty of making a similar statement? I know I certainly have. Just a few months ago I had a bad experience with a local camera shop. I had purchased a small camera that had a design defect, but because it was out of warranty, the camera shop said that it would cost more to have it repaired than it would cost to buy a new camera. So I took their advice and purchased a new camera.

After about three months had passed, the LED display clouded over on the second camera to the point that it was illegible. When I took the camera back to the camera shop, they told me that I needed to bring in my receipt or the manufacturer wouldn’t accept it. I looked in my receipt file, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. I did bring them my American Express bill that showed the amount and date of the purchase, but the manager told me that I had to have the original receipt or his hands were tied.

“You guys are a national chain,” I said in an attempt to persuade him to help me out. “Couldn’t you use your clout with this manufacturer (Canon)?”

“Nope, without an original receipt, I can’t help you.”

“I’ve done the last business I’ll ever do with that company,” I told my wife.

So I can certainly relate to how the customer felt when his credit privileges were suspended. I’ve been there, as have many of you reading this article. But the question is how do you deal with customers who have stayed angry for years?

Try this approach:

Step 1: Do your dead level best to divert the prospect’s anger away from your company and onto the specific individual who offended the prospect. It wasn’t the entire company that made the credit decision, it was one person — the credit manager. If the offending employee is no longer with the company, it makes the job a lot easier.

Step 2: Say something like, “I’m a human being. I’m also a salesperson. I make my living selling my company’s products. Please don’t penalize me for something another human being did to you.”

Step 3: Compliment the customer by explaining to him what a key “player” he or she is in the local market. Explain that your company is a major player, too, and that it seems reasonable that two major players would be better off burying the hatchet than they would allowing a single incident to fester to the point that the two companies can’t do business together, making you both lose out on potential win-win opportunities.

What you’re doing is playing upon his ability to be “reasonable.” But still to “save face,” it’s usually necessary for the angry customer to become convinced that there’s something in it for him if he does bite the bullet and acquiesce.

Is there any guarantee that this approach will convince the angry former customer to forget his vendetta with your company? No, there is not. There are few guarantees in sales, but this approach sure beats doing nothing.

As salespeople, we are paid by our companies to be persuasive. It’s our job to deal with customers at all levels and in all sets of circumstances.

If you have a prospect that is no longer doing business with your company because of a “past sin” that someone in your company committed at some time in the past, you might want to give this approach a try.

If it works for you, please send me an email to Bill@BillLeeOnLine.com with Past Sins in the subject line and fill me in with all of the details.

Bill Lee is author of 30 Ways Managers Shoot Themselves in the Foot ($21.95) and Gross Margin: 26 Factors Affecting Your Bottom Line ($29.95)plus $6 S&H for the first book and $1 for each additional book.

Tanning bed lotions abound. How do you choose from all the tanning bed lotions available?

There are tanning bed lotions that are in cream form. There are tanning bed lotions that are gels or oils. You can find tanning bed lotions that function as accelerators. Tanning bed lotions are named to sound like wonderful desserts or sexy adventures. Do these tanning bed lotions work better than the ones that you can buy at WalMart?

I have tried a variety of tanning bed lotions and can not see much difference between the very expensive ones and the tanning bed lotions that are less costly.

First I bought one of the pricey tanning bed lotions from my tanning salon. It worked just fine and lasted about 2 months. Most of the tanning bed lotions at the salon are at least $20 a bottle.

Then I used the little containers offered for $2 a shot. I tried five different “shots” and they all seemed to work about the same. Using these tanning bed lotions did not seem to make my skin softer. Using these tanning bed lotions did not make my tan last longer and slathering myself with these expensive tanning bed lotions did not seem to accelerate my tan.

Then I went to WalMart and bought one of the tanning bed lotions they carry. The tanning bed lotions they had available were under $10.00. I found they worked as well and lasted as long.

Others may have better luck with the higher priced tanning bed lotions but I was very satisfied with the less expensive brands.

While heading home at day’s end, you begin reflecting on a coaching meeting you had earlier that day with an employee, Chris. You hope that, this time, you finally succeeded in getting her to understand the importance of spending less time in disruptive socializing in the office and more time elevating her performance. If not, you feel that your only remaining alternatives are to give her a poor performance evaluation or demotion or may even fire her. You’re reluctant to do either of the first two things because you know these would disrupt the positive work relationship you’ve had with Chris. And you don’t really want to fire her. On the other hand, you’re running out of patience; this is the fourth time you’ve said something to Chris about the situation. Admittedly, the first few times, your comments may have missed the mark because you gave her only some casual feedback. But about a month ago, you held a formal coaching meeting with Chris, in which you discussed the situation in depth and came away thinking that she understood the need to change her behavior. In fact, she did change. But after a week or so, she was back to her old behavior.

Sound familiar? The most critical step in the management coaching process – getting an employee to agree there’s a need for improvement – is usually not well understood or well executed. Without that, there’s little likelihood of any permanent change.

Not a chewing out

As the use of coaching rises, so does the confusion over what it is and isn’t. I define management coaching as an interpersonal process between a manager and an employee in which the manager helps the employee redirect his or her performance while maintaining mutual trust. Coaching differs from feedback, although feedback is part of the management coaching process. Feedback is given by a manager or supervisor in response to a specific event or situation; coaching focuses on a pattern of behavior along with strategies for growth and development. Coaching is all about the art of turning situations and events into learning and growing experiences. Examples include missing several deadlines in a short period despite being reminded that meeting deadlines is important, continuing to arrive late for work after being told tardiness is not acceptable, and continuing to interrupt others in spite of receiving feedback that such behavior isn’t appropriate. Management Coaching is not “chewing out”, taking to task, or threatening employees to try to improve their performance. Those tactics can work, but the results may be worse than the original problem. Such approaches tend to make employees passive-aggressive. They will walk the line and do nothing more or less than what is asked.

In general, a management coaching meeting should take place only after an employee understands clearly what’s expected and has received feedback at least once that his or her performance is not what it could or should be. However, in some cases, certain significant events may be the focus of a coaching meeting, before they develop into a pattern of behavior. For example, a manufacturer decided that any safety violation – no matter how minor – would be addressed in a coaching discussion and, if significant, could lead to formal discipline.

Coaching involves these critical elements:

• A two-way dialogue
  
• A series of interdependent steps or objectives
  
• Specific coaching skills and strategies
  
• Courage and conviction
  
• A personal sense of humor
  

The management coaching process has two primary areas of focus: helping an employee recognize the need to improve his or her performance and developing an employee’s commitment to taking steps to improve performance permanently.

While all of the steps in the C.M.O.E coaching model are important, the most critical one is often not understood or carried out effectively – getting an employee to recognize and agree that there is a need to improve his performance. That step is equally important whether an employee has a specific performance problem or an employee is an average performer who could do better. Without a felt need for change and greater self awareness, there’s little likelihood that any improvement will occur or that it will be permanent.

The Center for Management and Organization Effectiveness (CMOE) seeks to improve individual leadership and team member skills within organizations.

For professional information on management coaching, visit CMOE.

Human history has shown that our species can be a significant problem for our selves and our environment as we draw our swords against ourselves. It is a tragedy of human evolution that our large brains could not get past the chaos in controversy and conflict of human political groupings.

Perhaps in the past this might have been able to help mankind control its population without overtaxing the environment for their food. But now as we grow crops and are much more efficient in our overall civilizations we need to find a way to limit our population growth while at the same time utilizing our resources more efficiently. But until this happens and until human wars stop happening, which will probably be within the next hundred years, we will be facing more and more powerful weapons being created by humans.

Among these weapons will be bio warfare weapons and humans have been known to use these in the past. In fact in the Middle East they are quite resourceful with sarin gas. In the future Nano weapons at the molecular level will become bio system hazards able to kill entire armies very quickly. We need a way to abate these chemicals after the attack so that humans can move back into the area.

We need a set of protocol procedures and strategies to insure that we can cleanup the messes that human wars cause. I propose a cluster strategy for the mop up and abatement of Nano weapon bio warfare material and we need to assign the top biological universities and grant them money for their research and development departments to study the best way to strategically remove and abate Nano bio warfare weapons, chemicals and biological WMD. Consider this in 2006.

Too much stress? You need a simple stress meditation. Of course, learning to meditate might intimidate you, and it’s tough to find the time for daily meditation. A solution to both problems is a meditation you can learn right now, that will take a minute to do each day.

An Easy Stress Meditation

When you breath through your mouth, it expands your chest. Breath through your nose and you’ll notice how your abdomen extends. Nose-breathing causes the diaphram to pull air to the bottom of your lungs. This delivers a good dose of oxygen into your bloodstream and brain, and it also tends to relax you. Breathing through your nose is healthier, and it’s the basis of this one-minute meditation.

Here’s how you do it. Close your eyes, sigh, and let the tension go out of your muscles. It may help to tense up your muscles first, then release that tension. Then let go of your thoughts, as much as possible, and take four or five slow, deep breaths through your nose, paying attention to your breathing.

Can Meditation Be This Easy?

The short answer is yes. No, you’re not likely to get you into a deep meditative state with this simple stess meditation. However, you will get benefits, including a clearer mind and a reduction in stress.

It helps to develop a “trigger” for your meditation. For example, do your four breaths when you get into the car, or right after lunch each day. These triggers are places or times that remind you, so your meditation becomes a habit.

You can say this isn’t “real” meditation, but there’s nothing wrong with enjoying the relaxation you’ll get from this technique. If you want, you can always pursue deeper meditation later. Meanwhile, remember that not everything has to be difficult to be of value. Why not try this easy one-minute stress meditation?

Steve Gillman writes on many topics including brainpower, weight loss, meditation, habits of mind, creative problem solving, generating luck and anything related to self improvement. Learn more and get FREE e-courses at www.SelfImprovementNow.com

To gain control of our actions first we need to face up to the OCD and believe in ourselves that we can fight this fight single handed if need be. I say single handed purely because this battle is one sided (between you and you). Medication is readily available to combat and ease the symptoms but for results you have to work hand in hand with prescribed medicines and listen to medical advisors. This has proven to be successful for many of our fellow sufferers of over compulsive disorder(OCD)

Patients in desperation who take a stand and decide enough is enough, go on to topple this illness thus claiming contentment after liberation. The cure is out there whether you opt to take it is another matter, freedom beats being a prisoner inside of your own thoughts where mind over matter, matters.
All patients differ where in some cases symptoms are more severe than that of others. There is no need to try and beat this alone, yes I did mention this was between you and you, but where is the harm in having a little support behind you.

The cause behind many a sufferer’s OCD remains a mystery, regardless of not knowing why and how it all started the sufferer continues to carry on with their repetitive compulsions in return for peace of mind.
A combination of factors have been addressed which could probably be the cause, it has not been ruled out that in some cases it is hereditary. More prone to OCD are people who are susceptible to stress. Perfectionists also come under threat from developing this disorder.

In America approx one in 50 adults currently suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) double that number for the amount of people who in the past at some point been gripped by this self destroying illness.

2% of the population have been recognised as sufferers of OCD but just who really are the true sufferers. Family, friends, children even strangers are affected. Any one in general who proves to be a threat where an OCD patient is interrupted or prevented from performing his/her repetitive rituals in the home or out on the street is not welcomed with open arms.
Figure in numbers for all infected and affected by OCD, is now a population over populated with an epidemic.

I still fight this battle alone but as I stated earlier the success rate in curing an over compulsive disorder (OCD) sufferer is quite high but it is a time thing so don’t expect miracles overnight. I am going to be honest with all who are reading this article. I found coping with my OCD over the years easier than trying to fight it where it caused a lot of heartache and pain. I hasten to add most importantly at this point we all differ greatly. What works for one may not work for the other.

Symptoms of OCD to an outsider can be looked on as quite hilarious, but then you have the fellow sufferer with understanding on obsessive compulsive disorder who can relate to why a victim’s tears just keep on flowing.
Please consult a doctor if you or someone close may have developed any signs of this disorder.

A little advice, if you choose to ignore this warning then I know I do cry not alone.

Any Concerns on OCD then take time to browse my health page at www.benidormbeaches.com

Money is the prime necessity for survival. Due to the lavish lifestyle and increasing expenditure, one often falls short of funds. Deficiency of money may sometimes drive you away from gratifying your personal desires. In such a circumstance you are just left with one option, borrowing money from outside. Is borrowing money from friends or relatives right? It might cause you discomfiture. Secured loans for homeowners can offer you an alternative in such a circumstance. Opt for the loan and relieve yourself from the financial calamity.

Secured loans for homeowners are also recognized as mortgages. These loans are usually secured against your home. Home equity shows the market value of your home i.e. the value that can be obtained after selling it. By opting for secured loans for homeowner, one can make the best use of the equity stored in the home. It however does not mean that you are selling your home. You just place your home equity as security against the loan.

Securing home against the loan does not deprive the borrower to act as the owner of the home. It is just an assurance to the lender that you will repay the loan. The borrower stays in the home and regains it completely after paying the final installment of the loan. But if you fail to repay the amount drawn from secured loans for homeowner, the lender can then confiscate your property.

Besides home equity an automobile, bank statement or any other valuable property can also be used as collateral.

The interest rate charged on secured loans for homeowner is comparatively lesser than any other unsecured loan. As they are attached to the clause of collateral therefore the financial risk of the lender is covered.

Secured loans for homeowner can be used for multiple purposes. One can use it for debt consolidation, purchasing a car or holiday package, funding the education etc.

If you want to possess the most beautiful home among your close ones, you can use the loan for making home improvements. You can bring about changes in your home and even raise your standard of living.

Having a bad credit history is no more considered as a taboo. Opt for secured loans for homeowner and get financial help to meet your requirements. Using the loan wisely can help you clear off your debts and improve your credit score.

Plenty of lenders appear online offering secured loans for homeowner. Just visit the website and fill in the online loan application form. The online lender will keep you away from all hurdles and provide you an appropriate loan deal according to your requirements.

Opt for secured loans for homeowner and fetch money by making use of equity in your property.

Aldrich Chappel has been associated with get-secured-loans, since its Inception. Having completed his Masters in Finance from Lancaster University Management School, he undertook to provide useful advice through his articles that have been found very useful by the residents of the UK. To Find Secured loans, cheap secured loans UK visit http://www.get-secured-loans.co.uk