The Winner's Sales Strategy Blog

The Crazy Tale of Two Sales Reps

"That's impossible. It can't be done."

That's what my friend Bill said to me one day. Bill and I worked together at my first sales job many years ago. We both left the company and moved on to greener pastures after some time, and we lost touch until I ran into him one day.

Bill and I were still very much alike - with one exception: Bill was still working hard, struggling to make his numbers, while I was enjoying success as a top-performing salesperson - and enjoying the income that came with it!

What Made The Difference?

After going through initial sales training, both Bill and I went out into the field and spent hours upon hours cold calling, just as we were told. However, after a few months of doing that and getting no results from it, I realized there must be a better way.

Bill kept on making those cold calls, dialing for dollars and pounding the pavement, eternally in search of the light at the end of the tunnel.

It never came.

I, on the other hand, had reached that state of mind known as "inspirational dissatisfaction" after many failures. I was fired from my first sales job. And my second. And third. At that point I decided it was time to "just say no" to cold calling and look for a better solution.

And I found it.

At job number four, I felt a surge of hope when my new sales manager saw me cold calling, pulled me aside, and explained, "We didn't spend thousands of dollars to hire you and send you to training to have you doing the job of an unskilled minimum-wage telemarketer. There are better ways to generate leads, and that's what I want you doing."

My boss teamed me up with the top-producing rep in the office, Joe, who took me under his wing. On the way to our first appointment together, he told me in the car, "Calling people at random is a waste of time. A certain percentage of the market is pre-disposed to buy from you; all you need to do is position yourself to identify those people and get in front of them, or better yet, get them to contact YOU."

That day at my new job changed my life…

(I found this gem the other day while looking for something in my safe - this is the very same job that changed my career and my destiny by teaching me to never cold call again!)

Bill's Story

You're probably still wondering what made Bill say, "That's impossible. It can't be done." It was when I ran into him and told him I'm on top of my game, blowing out my numbers and taking home a huge commission check each and every month, all while working short hours. But it was when I told him I hadn't made a cold call in YEARS that blew his mind.

See, Bill went on cold calling. He became totally brainwashed that making 100 calls a day would lead to success. He believed the sales manager's lies that every call is worth X number of dollars in your pocket. (And that IS a big lie, because if it weren't, they'd pay you per call instead of per sale!)

The saddest part of all this is that, to this day, Bill still believes in cold calling and really thinks it's "impossible" to make a six-figure income without it. He accused me of being buddies with the boss and getting free leads, which was nothing further from the truth.

Bill needs to hear Napoleon Hill's story of how he cut the word "impossible" out of a new dictionary every time he bought one!

A System Is Born

Although I was enjoying massive success by that time, I will admit to you that it wasn't all easy. Nobody gave me a formula or plan on that fateful day. They just put the seed of knowledge in my mind and left me to discover the path in my own way.

First of all, I threw out all those mindless sales books and tapes with their ridiculous mantra of "it's a numbers game, make more calls, pester people until they buy," and so on. I know you've heard the same, and that it didn't work for you.

Then I spent months and years in a long, trial-and-error process of testing dozens of new ways to get leads, eliminating the ones that didn't work, and expanding the ones that did, all the while adding new strategies as they became available (like internet marketing and social media).

I also sought out top sales professionals in my community and spent as much time with them learning as much as possible. And most of that information really surprised me - it was nothing of what I expected!

I took all of that knowledge and created a system. I learned how to generate an endless supply of hot, qualified leads without cold calling.

Before I knew it I was taking home over five figures per month in commissions, and I never made another cold call again. (This also had a lot to do with convincing my employer to let me resign and sign on as an independent agent with no salary and a much higher commission rate.)

More importantly, I was finally happy. I no longer lived in fear of losing my job, and I never had to worry about paying my bills again. Life was suddenly stress-free and easy.

Knowledge Is Power

The great thing about my strategies is that they don't require any skill to implement. You don't have to be a born salesperson - in fact, I was a terrible salesperson starting out!

As my friends at work would taunt me, "You can't close the lid on a jar."

But...

You'll find that sales just happen - people simply buy - when you're in front of a prospect who has a current need and is ready and willing to buy from you.

In fact, once I had perfected my systems, my colleagues were amazed that I'd go to a first appointment and usually return with a check and contract in hand! They were baffled since they were still going on with corporate's "three appointment rule" - what they failed to realize is that an ideal, qualified prospect with a current need doesn't want to sit through three appointments.

They want to BUY RIGHT NOW.

An Added Bonus

Myself and many others who use my lead-generation strategies all received an added bonus - more time. Yes, some used that time to gain more customers and earn more income but countless others have created more time to live their lives, spend time with friends and families -- enjoy hobbies, sports and other activities to balance their lives. They have more control. Does that make your ears perk up? Just a little?

I've received heart-warming letters from a dad who increased his income while cutting his working hours from 12 to 6 each day - now he gets to spend time with his kids again.

I've heard from a single mom who was so grateful to have much more freedom and be with her children more once cold calling was eliminated from her life.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, likes making cold calls. Make 50 cold calls and how many “no’s” do you get? About 50, right?

So you know it doesn’t work. So why on earth would you keep doing it? Probably because you don’t know what else to do.

And that's not your fault!

It's the fault of dinosaur sales directors who haven't been in the field for 20 years, and the fault of the scam sales training industry, where sales trainers keep people failing by cold calling, and therefore coming back for more and more and more training that doesn't work.

Your responsibility is education. As Napoleon Hill said, you get 8 hours to sleep, 8 hours to work, and 8 hours of spare time. It's what you do with that spare time that decides your fate. Do you waste it watching television and sports or going out drinking?

Do you listen to music or mindless talk radio in your car instead of spending that time listening to valuable audiobooks like I do?

Don't waste your spare time. Remember, knowledge is power. Study modern prospecting methodology and read sales and success books in your spare time, along with motivational recordings like Earl Nightingale's The Strangest Secret.

Remember, knowledge is power, and that knowledge will set you free.

-Frank J. Rumbauskas

PS: The names have been changed in this article to protect the identities of "Bill" and "Joe."

If you're not up to speed on modern, Information Age lead-generation methods, learn how you can stop cold calling forever and become a sales rock star by downloading a 37-page PDF preview of the Never Cold Call Again System here.

New York Times best-selling author Frank Rumbauskas is the creator of the Never Cold Call Again® System and has won numerous accolades, such as Readers Choice for Business Book of the Year from 800-CEO-READ, and has been named one of Fast Company’s Most Influential People. To learn more, and to download a free 37-page PDF preview of his Never Cold Call Again lead-generation system, visit NeverColdCall.com

What's Your Lame Sales Excuse?

Recently I’ve been working with a sales organization that has been selling the same suite of services as one of my businesses for a long long time, then a few months ago they decided to introduce a new one.

I was initially excited to work with them – because THEY were extremely excited about selling this new service to both their existing clients, as well as new ones. In fact they thought that leading with this new service would make it easier to prospect for new business.

And so off they all went, out into the field, to make a proverbial killing selling the new gizmo and getting prospects all lined up to buy it.

Except for one minor, tenny-weenie detail…

It didn’t happen!

"Your Excuses Are Your Own." -Alec Baldwin as Blake in Glengarry Glen Ross

You see, there are many successful – very successful – salespeople in this organization, and despite that, I heard them all gripe about how hard it is to sell this service or that one, and that prospects are inundated with cold calls, direct mail, and email from competitors all selling the same service. (Which was not true at all – I went out and did some selling on my own, to really understand what they were facing.)

In fact, this new service turned out to be MUCH more difficult to sell than what they were already selling!

And even though their existing suite of services turned out to be very EASY to sell – something I quickly learned when I went out and did it myself for a couple of days – they continued on with their whining and excuses about how “hard” it is to get a prospect to even listen, let alone buy.

The strange part of this is that when I tried selling it, prospects were practically throwing money at me because they wanted it so badly – at least the way I presented it, anyway.

AND – instead of being willing to drop the idea that their new service would be so easy to sell (it wasn’t – I tried selling that one too), they chose to sit around and gripe all day and make EXCUSES instead of learning how to PROPERLY sell in the first place!

If YOU think your product or service is difficult to sell, really think hard about why you feel that way. Dig deep. Is it REALLY that difficult? Or are you just not going about it properly?

"Is your product really difficult to sell? Or are you just making excuses?"

Are you only approaching, or better yet, getting them to approach you, qualified prospects who have a clearly identified need for your product or service and are ready, willing, and able to buy right now?

Because that’s how I was able to sell this firm’s “old” product like gangbusters – only working with qualified prospects, and then going in – up front – with an analysis of how much money the service would bring into their business.

Meanwhile, the rest of the sales force – who found the service “hard” to sell – were approaching people at random, saying, “This is what we do and can do you for you, are you interested?” And then they wondered why they barely sold enough to make a living!

"Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right." -Henry Ford

Listen up: Your job in selling is only as difficult as you think it is. Change your thinking and your sales results will change with it.

New York Times best-selling author Frank Rumbauskas is the author of the Never Cold Call Again® System and has won numerous accolades, such as Readers Choice for Business Book of the Year from 800-CEO-READ, and has been named one of Fast Company’s top 30 most influential people. To learn more, and to download a free 37-page PDF "sneak peek" into his Never Cold Call Again lead-generation system, visit NeverColdCall.com

Has Sales Gotten You Down and Jaded?

Seriously, are your sales suffering because you've become JADED?

What am I talking about?

Yesterday in my car I was listening to some old Napoleon Hill lectures, recorded way back in the 1950s, toward the end of his career.

He was explaining the concept of how repeated exposure to negative influences will eventually destroy your chances for success - success defined as peace of mind, freedom from fear, sound physical health - in addition to just money.

"Repeated exposure to negative influences will eventually destroy your chances for success"

He went on to say that he's glad that he dropped out of Georgetown law school in 1908 in order to follow Andrew Carnegie's directive to compile the world's first complete philosophy of success, and that he didn't follow his intention of becoming a litigation attorney, because doing so would've meant repeated exposure to negativity.

He told the story of his brother Vivian, who did go on to become a very successful and wealthy lawyer, specifically, a divorce lawyer.

And that's where the story goes downill: Vivian, due to endless exposure to the divorce cases he handled, he became so jaded about the concept of marriage that he never married himself.

"Due to endless exposure to the divorce cases he handled as an attorney, he became so jaded about the concept of marriage that he never married himself."

To make matters worse, his career made it all but impossible to have ANY kind of relationship with a woman, and he grew to be a lonely old man - because he allowed negativity to influence him.

Is This Happening To YOU?

There's no arguing that in any sales office, most of the time, the younger sales reps are the most optimistic "go getters" while it's the "old timers" who will complain and tell you all the things that won't work and all the reasons why prospects won't buy.

It's always the prospect's fault or the company's fault - but never their own!

Do you know WHY these old timers are so jaded?

Easy: Repeated exposure to negative influences!

And what is THE most negative influence in the sales profession?

Another easy answer: Repeated rejection caused by cold calling!

Now, the old timers will tell you that repeated rejection will "steel you against it" until it just "bounces off your back." But I learned something quite different.

Science Proves The Old Timers WRONG!

When I was still working in sales and preparing to write my first sales training course, I read quite a lot about a branch of psychology called social dynamics, that attempts to explain why people behave the way they do in certain circumstances.

And you know what I learned? Repeated rejection doesn't make you stronger. It actually BEATS YOU DOWN and leads to eventual DEFEAT!

"Repeated rejection doesn't make you stronger. It actually BEATS YOU DOWN and leads to eventual DEFEAT!"

So, here is how to succeed in sales, quickly:

1. Stop cold calling. The repeated exposure to rejection caused by cold calling will put you into a permanent state of defeat quickly.

2. Begin spending all of your time with qualified prospects who WANT to hear from you. Immersing yourself in this kind of positive environment will "re-wire" your brain for success.

If you're not up to speed on modern, Information Age lead-generation methods, learn how you can stop cold calling forever and become a sales rock star by downloading a 37-page PDF preview of the Never Cold Call Again System here.

New York Times best-selling author Frank Rumbauskas helps companies make billions by improving sales processes and marketing strategy. He has won numerous accolades, such as Readers Choice for Business Book of the Year from 800-CEO-READ, and has been named one of Fast Company’s 30 Most Influential People. If you're in sales and want to stop cold calling forever, download a free 37-page PDF preview of his Never Cold Call Again lead-generation system at NeverColdCall.com

The Dirty Little Secret of Sales

"This Dirty Little Secret!"

I'm writing this just a few minutes after I emailed a question off to an old friend, whom you might know from his many best-selling books or his appearance in the motivational movie, The Secret.

Dr. Joe has a saying that was echoed in The Secret and that I've come to realize is the #1 cause of success - or failure - depending on how you use it.

Another friend, Jeffrey Gitomer, has echoed this same idea. So have most other successful people I know. But that's where it ends.

The unsuccessful among us believe the exact opposite of what I'm about to tell you.

I know, I know, the suspense must be killing you by now!

So here it is...

[drum roll please...]

And now for the dirty little secret:

"It's All Your Fault."

Yes, YOU.

I'm pointing an accusing finger at YOU, because everything you have in life (or don't have), whether you want it or not, it's all your fault. Success, failure, happiness, disappointment, and even those same results in the people you influence.

When another multi-millionaire friend released his first marketing course way back in 2006, he explained that the title came from the butterfly effect - the effect that very small actions today cause huge, major changes down the road.

Everything you do TODAY - or DO NOT do TODAY - WILL have a major, massive, huge impact on your future success. Or failure.

Hate your job? It's your fault you're there. Not selling enough? 

It's your fault (quit blaming it on the economy or your customers or your boss). Out of shape? Can't sustain a relationship?

It doesn't matter what the issue is. The bottom line is, it's all your fault.

And more often than not, it's not what you do that hurts you later on, it's what you don't do that messes up your life and de-rails your success.

Procrastination is the habit of putting off important things that should have been done yesterday or last week or last year or last decade.

And it is the number one killer of success and happiness!

But that's okay... I've been there too. Procrastination is human nature. We're all born with it, so I know what it's like. I've also found a way around it.

It's common knowledge that almost no one is every really content, hence the old saying, “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.” That's why so many celebrities destroy their lives with drugs - they achieve fame and fortune, then wonder, "what's next?"

For me I was at the top of my game in sales when I asked, "What's next?"

Obviously I'm no longer in sales, not literally anyway. "What's next" for me was building a business based on teaching my knowledge to others and becoming a best-selling author and speaker.

So in closing, I ask you, "What's next?"

Learn how you can stop cold calling forever and become a sales rock star by downloading a free 37-page PDF preview of the Never Cold Call Again System.

New York Times best-selling author Frank Rumbauskas is the author of the Never Cold Call Again® System and has won numerous accolades, such as Readers Choice for Business Book of the Year from 800-CEO-READ, and has been named one of Fast Company’s top 30 most influential people. To learn more, and to download a free 37-page PDF preview of his Never Cold Call Again lead-generation system, visit NeverColdCall.com

How Henry Ford Prospered During the Great Depression, and How You Can Use These Principles Too

Untold millions of people lost every penny they had during the Great Depression.

Even most business and industrial leaders took a beating.

But -

Henry Ford passed through it unscathed. In fact his business even grew.

What was his secret?

Well, it's no "secret" at all - in fact it's something we all know but usually don't follow through with.

It's the idea of giving our customers the best service possible, no matter what.

You probably think service means customer service, and if you do, you're wrong. There is SO MUCH more to it than that.

Here are a few key points of what creates good service, in Ford's view (besides what we already know as 'customer service'):

1. Delivering the best product possible at the lowest price.

2. Having easy and cheap access to service so that no Ford owner was ever stranded while broken down.

3. Avoiding selling to people who are not the ideal fit for the product. (Ford was a very frugal man and even though he priced his cars very low, he discouraged his dealers from selling to anyone who couldn’t truly afford one.)

It's that third point that most of us are guilty of.

Unfortunately few salespeople have any control over what kind of service our company gives (if you're a small business owner that's a different story).

But we do have TOTAL control over who we choose to sell to.

I remember years ago when I'd try to sell to anyone who would meet with me or even take my call, I'd have these huge sales months when I was doing nothing but picking up signed contracts & checks and it was so exhilarating to be so busy!

But then the following month I'd be buried up to my eyeballs in customer service issues and fall short on sales.

Why?

Because I'd sold to people who were not a 100% ideal fit for my product, and it came to show when they realized they'd been "sold" and didn't really "buy."

After I'd started selling to people who WERE 100% perfect fits for my product, something changed.

All the endless customer service nonsense went away and people were a lot happier.

It's not that problems didn't happen - there were always billing issues and things like that with the company I worked for - but the customers were a lot more understanding and would just go and call the 800 number instead of screaming at me about it.

The best part is that those people not only resulted in plenty of repeat business, but also in a seemingly never-ending flood of referrals!

And there you have Ford's little depression-busting "secret."

Even though our economy is back in pretty good shape, things have become hyper-competitive, so it's more important than ever to only sell to people who are really going to need and appreciate what you're offering.

Besides, if you ask me, that's the only ethical way to sell anyway.

Learn how you can stop cold calling forever and become a sales rock star by downloading a 37-page PDF preview of the Never Cold Call Again System here.

New York Times best-selling author Frank Rumbauskas is the author of the Never Cold Call Again® System and has won numerous accolades, such as Readers Choice for Business Book of the Year from 800-CEO-READ, and has been named one of Fast Company’s top 30 most influential people online. To learn more, and to download a free 37-page PDF preview of his Never Cold Call Again lead-generation system, visit NeverColdCall.com

Fox Business Names Sales as One Of The Top 10 Most Stressful Jobs

Yes, it's true. I was surprised - when I read the article about what the most stressful jobs are, I came across all the usual suspects - police officer, firefighter, soldier, air traffic controller - and some unexpected ones like schoolteacher.

But the one that really threw me was salesperson!

I certainly never thought of sales as one of the 10 most stressful jobs out there, but apparently I was wrong. I personally always enjoyed selling. In fact I love it!

And in working with thousands of salespeople all over the world, I certainly wouldn't think of sales as being so extremely stressful.

The article made many good points.

For one, it pointed out that sales is a "what have you done for me lately" kind of job. You need to keep producing, ALWAYS, in order to not only make enough to live comfortably, but to keep your job in the first place.

To add to the problem, we've been in a bit of an economic recession for a few years now, and that makes things even worse, since some people and some companies just won't buy no matter what, no matter how good your sales skills or your arguments are.

According to the article, the median annual income for a salesperson is only $61,000, with 73% reporting high stress.

73%!! That's nearly 3 out of 4!

It doesn't have to be this way!

Let's look at the two big reasons that make sales so stressful:

1. Ongoing quota, that you need to meet RIGHT NOW, regardless of your past performance. You may have blown out 200% last year, but if you're not doing that today, this month, right now, you'll probably get fired. Which is doubly hard right now since jobs are more scarce and salaries are lower.

2. Difficult prospects who don't want to spend money. One of the issues in today's economy is housing - as a business owner, which banks consider “Self-Employed,” buying a house for my wife Dana and I was about as enjoyable as an IRS audit. And I was told that without very high credit scores and very high income, I would have been out of luck. Likewise, you can have excellent sales skills, but if people have decided that they're not going to spend money, or in the case of the mortgage example, they can’t get funding to buy from you, then they're not, and that's that.That's the bad news.

You may not realize that there is GOOD NEWS in all of this.

Tough times give a hidden advantage to salespeople who know what they're doing. In other words, yes, a larger majority of prospects tightening up budgets and don't want to hear from salespeople.

So, the trick to excelling in a recession is to leave low-quality prospects who aren’t highly qualified for your competitors to waste their time with.

While your competitors and everyone else are out struggling, while they’re trying to sell to people who won't even consider a purchase until things improve, you can spend 100% of your time with prospects who are ready, willing and able to buy right now.

I went through a similar experience after 9/11 happened. I was a few hundred percent for the year and already over my September 2001 quota by the 10th of the month, but starting on 9/11, sales simply stopped.

That's when necessity forced me to ONLY spend time with those prospects who were not only wiling, but WANTING to buy.

(I worked on straight commission at that time so it was doubly important that I not fool my time away with anyone who wasn't ready to buy immediately.)

It took a process of perfecting the lead-generation techniques I already had and further refining and systemizing them to the point where they filled my inbox with hot, qualified, ready-to-buy leads that wouldn't waste my time and who wanted to BUY.

You see, the real stress in being a sales professional comes from lack of leads and the pressure to continually find more prospects and keep your pipeline full. Most salespeople still depend on cold calling, despite its ineffectiveness in today’s Information Age economy where decision makers can build a virtual wall around themselves with technology, and the fact that the average return on cold calling is 1%, and only as high as 3% for those who are real pros at making cold calls.

If you want to de-stress your sales job, you need to eliminate cold calling from your sales activities and focus on other methods that work. Case in point, you’re reading this article on LinkedIn, and LinkedIn is one of THE most powerful ways to get new prospects into your pipeline, and buying. LinkedIn Sales Navigator has produced amazing results for many of my clients. 

Always remember, it usually isn't until times of difficulty or challenge that people find their inner selves and really begin to excel and succeed in life. If you're finding sales to be challenging right now, realize that this may be your cue to change what you've been doing and learn new and better ways of selling. 

Learn how you can stop cold calling forever and become a sales rock star by downloading a 37-page PDF preview of the Never Cold Call Again System here.

New York Times best-selling author Frank Rumbauskas is the author of the Never Cold Call Again® System and has won numerous accolades, such as Readers Choice for Business Book of the Year from 800-CEO-READ, and has been named one of Fast Company’s top 30 most influential people online. To learn more, and to download a free 37-page PDF preview of his Never Cold Call Again lead-generation system, visit NeverColdCall.com

A Sales Process That Works - And One That Doesn't

I was reading a book by Dan Kennedy yesterday and he quoted another author on the topic of achieving what you want. I don't remember the other author's name, or even the quote exactly, but it was something like this:

"To win, forget results. Focus on process."

As an example, he explained that if you want to improve your golf score, you don't focus on hitting hole-in-ones. You focus on fundamentals like your grip and your swing, and the results will naturally follow.

Likewise, in negotiating, he explained that there's no way to force someone to give in to your demands, unless of course you're in the Mafia - as The Godfather put it, "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse!"

The same is true in sales. You cannot control the outcome of a sale. There are too many variables - the prospect's ability to pay, their real need or desire for the product, whether the prospect can even make the buying decision or if it must go to committee, and so on.

However, there is one thing you CAN control in sales. One and only one thing. And those are our sales activities.

Control Sales Activities To Get More Sales

I've said many times that in sales, you're paid ONLY for completed sales. You're not paid for going to appointments, for time spent driving in your car, for cold calling, for going to sales meetings & mandatory training, and so on. The ONLY thing you get paid a commission for is a completed sale.

No exceptions.

But far too many salespeople, and especially sales managers, don't seem to understand this. Remember my article about the myth that "if X number of sales equals X number of appointments and X percentage of appointments turns into a sale and each sale is worth X, then each cold call puts X dollars in your pocket!"

Of course that old line is a lie and a sham, because if it were true, companies would pay salespeople per cold call, not per completed sale!

The truth is that no one really cares how or where you get your leads. All they care about is that you bring in completed sales. That's why we have sales quotas. Only the dumbest and most mismanaged of companies have activity quotas. (But, sadly, some actually do.)

To Get More Sales, Forget About Sales Results

Unfortunately, to go back to the golf analogy, most salespeople shoot for the hole-in-one. They don't focus on the fundamentals.

That's also why most salespeople fail.

The truth of the matter is that, unless you're The Godfather, you can't force people to buy. All you can do is take them through a natural, logical sales process that induces them to buy.

In the books Napoleon Hill wrote on sales - he spent part of his early career as a sales trainer - he explained that a good salesperson never has to use "closes." A good salesperson takes the prospect through a natural process that induces them to simply and willingly BUY in the end.

A Sales Process That Works - and One That Doesn't

If you're going to expect sales success, you must begin each and every sales interaction correctly, right from the start - remember, focus on the process, not the result!

The absolute worst way to begin a sales transaction is with a cold call. For starters, 80% of decision makers simply don't take them anymore (source: University of North Carolina's Business School), so you're restricted to dealing with the 20% of the market that is bombarded with salespeople, and has extremely high sales resistance as a result.

You also put yourself in a position of weakness. A basic law of negotiation is that the person who displays, up-front, that they have a need is in the weak position, and by making a cold call, you communicate that you need a sale.

The key to sales success, and a correct sales process that DOES result in sales is, therefore, to stop cold calling. Forever.

And let's face it - there's really no sense in continuing to cold call when even university studies have concluded that 4 out of 5 people will never respond. That's pretty bad odds. And in terms of actual sales results, it's even worse than that.

In today's ultra-competitive marketplace, skip low-results activities like cold calling and focus on leveraged, high-return methods to prospect for new customers. 

New York Times best-selling author Frank Rumbauskas is the author of the Never Cold Call Again® System and has won numerous accolades, such as Readers Choice for Business Book of the Year from 800-CEO-READ, and has been named one of Fast Company’s top 30 most influential people. To learn more, and to download a free 37-page PDF preview of his Never Cold Call Again lead-generation system, visit NeverColdCall.com

View the original article on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/want-more-sales-forget-results-frank-j-rumbauskas

The World's Dumbest Sales Rep - Ever!

It's nearing the end of another year, even more so with Christmas coming up fast, and as always, sales reps are scrambling to make their quotas, and managers are scrambling to finish big to make their bosses happy.

Therefore, it's no surprise that I'm getting the usual barrage of sales calls, all while I'm trying to work hard and make my numbers great before the end of the year arrives!

But there's one sales rep in particular who is driving me nuts, because I most likely WANT to buy from him, but he won't LET me buy. Insane, right?

Here's what I mean:

He's my rep at an existing vendor I've already done business with. I received an email from him over a week ago telling me that they're running a hot month-end special but I'd have to purchase before December 31 to get in on it.

I wrote back and said, "Great, shoot me the info and pricing." His response? "Let's schedule a call tomorrow."

Being buried in work myself I never got around to setting up a time with him. But if he'd just sent me the info, pricing, and how to order, I most likely would have bought.

Fast forward a week: I got the same email. "Frank, we need to talk SOON or you'll miss out!"

At the time, I was in a tire shop getting new tires for my car - I've been putting it off and my old tires were nearly bald, not a good thing with winter fast approaching - so I quickly wrote back from my iPhone, "Don't have time. Send pricing and info. I want it."

Nope. That's too difficult for him. He wants to play phone games instead. And with year-end and Christmas on top of that, guess what? I'm not going to get in on his year-end special. Oh well. I won't miss it.

But him? He just lost a sale!

And the worst part is he didn't even have to "sell" me - I basically said, "Yeah I'll buy, send the info," but noooooooo... that would be too easy. He's insistent on doing the whole "steps of a sale" garbage and that just cost him a sale. (I used to work with someone who did this all the time, as you may remember from a previous email.)

People are busy at the end of a month, let alone year-end. In fact, most decision makers are always busy. That's just a fact of life. So when someone wants to buy, let them buy! Don't botch the sale by insisting and demanding on a meeting when none is necessary.

My good friend and colleague has a motto: "People hate to be sold but they love to buy." So when someone buys, don't try selling them - just let them buy!

New York Times best-selling author Frank Rumbauskas is the author of the Never Cold Call Again® System and has won numerous accolades, such as Readers Choice for Business Book of the Year from 800-CEO-READ, and has been named one of Fast Company’s top 30 most influential people online. To learn more, and to download a free 37-page PDF preview of his Never Cold Call Again lead-generation system, visit NeverColdCall.com #Sales

What’s The Dumbest Sales Story You’ve Ever Heard?

When I relocated to Dallas, Texas, one of the first things I did was start going to networking groups.

I wasn’t there to sell anything at all. Rather, being new in town and knowing few people, my goal was to meet like-minded business owners, entrepreneurs, and top sales professionals, and hopefully strike up some new friendships as a result.

You probably know from my previous email newsletters & blog posts that I’m not a morning person. Now that’s changed a bit – I do get up earlier now than I used to, especially now that I quit caffeine and got HUGE energy increases from it!

Back to the point, I got on Meetup.com (that’s where networking is at these days), and found some business networking mixers.

The groups are pretty evenly split between morning mixers that start at either 7:00 or 7:30 am, and lunch groups that meet in private rooms at restaurants.

Naturally I was drawn to the lunch groups. Even though I normally don’t eat lunch (as Gordon Gekko said in Wall Street, “Lunch is for wimps!”), the timing simply works better for a morning hater like myself.

But, wanting to meet as many people as possible, I made the effort one day to go to one of the morning groups, and it wasn’t so bad.

The group met at 7:30 am and was, by far, the largest of any that I’d been to. I was even approached by multiple people after it ended, who have my books and who wanted to meet me.

But that’s where things went downhill. The following week, an announcement was made that due to the large turnout, the group would begin meeting at 7:15 am, and the door would be LOCKED at 7:15 am sharp to lock out latecomers.

That’s when I decided I wouldn’t be going anymore.

But then today, I got the shock of my life!

Even though I haven’t been there in months, I’m still on their email list, and when I got their meeting announcement today, I just about fell on the floor.

They now start meeting at 6:15 am! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? THIS IS INSANITY!

Any very successful person, or success guru, will tell you that trying to be more productive by cutting your sleeping hours is never going to work – all it does is backfire on you, by making you tired, less productive, and less mentally aware.

7-8 hours of sleep is the rule for optimal health. (Rare people only need 6 and others need 9, but NEVER cut your sleep in the name of “productivity.”)

Anyone who actually shows up at 6:15 am to attend a group where all the same people come every week, give the same “30-second commercial” that they give every other week, and all walk out with no leads, is a sign of sheer and total desperation when it comes to a lack of qualified sales leads.

I’ve always said that cold calling is a waste of time, but a 6:15 am networking group, that consists of the “30-second commercial” format instead of the roundtable discussion format that the lunch groups follow, may actually take the cake for dumbest idea ever!

If your sales pipeline is really that empty, and you’re so desperate for leads that you’re willing to cut your sleep short to arrive at a 6:15 “leads club” type of group, then you need to make some changes. Serious changes. And you need to do it NOW!

Thankfully, you’re not stuck with cold calling or with 6:15 am networking groups where everyone shows up bleary-eyed and still too tired to even speak intelligently. There are literally dozens of ways to generate hot, qualified leads – from people who are ready to buy right now – and the advent of the Internet and social media has added even more!

New York Times best-selling author Frank Rumbauskas is the author of the Never Cold Call Again® System and has won numerous accolades, such as Readers Choice for Business Book of the Year from 800-CEO-READ, and has been named one of Fast Company’s top 30 most influential people online. To learn more, and to download a free 37-page PDF preview of his Never Cold Call Again lead-generation system, visit NeverColdCall.com

A Valuable Sales Lesson - From A Cat!

You can learn a lot from a cat.

How to sell, for starters.

You see, cats and dogs are very different. We have one of each in our  house, and if I want the dog to come over, it’s pretty simple – I call  her over! 9 times out of 10, she jumps up and trots right on over, happy  to see me!

The cat, on the other hand, is a different story. If you try to call a  cat over, it will ignore you. The harder you try, the more you will be  ignored.

Totally opposite of the dog.

And guess what – sales  prospects aren’t dogs. They’re cats, and if you want to get them buying  from you, you need to learn and understand “cat theory.”

Cat Theory
Cat theory is simple: It states that it’s up to you to get the cat to  come over. You’re the one taking the action. However, you must trick  the cat into believing that it is the cat’s own idea to respond to you.

In other words, you’re really getting the cat to come over, because  you want her to. But she believes it’s her own decision – that she’s  doing it of her own accord.

Sales prospects are exactly the same way. That’s why direct sales  approaches trigger an instant, subconscious sales resistance in people.

Think about it. When you’re walking through a shopping mall or other  market place, and salespeople at those kiosks yell to you to come over  and look at whatever useless trinket they’re selling, your first  reaction is to shut down and either ignore them, or give a polite “no  thank you.”

By contrast, an intelligently constructed store window, containing goods you would like to have, does the polar opposite: It entices you to draw nearer, take a closer look, and possibly enter the store to buy.

You may have thought it was your own idea to go into the  store, but in reality, the store’s staff made you come in. They set  things up to draw you in, while letting you believe it was your own idea to do so.

And that’s how cat theory works in the real-world of selling. You  must create the ideal circumstances to get prospects to come to you,  ready to buy, while letting them believe they did it all on their own.

Using This In The Real World
Cat theory applies across the spectrum of sales situations, from  prospecting all the way to the culmination of the sale (enticing them to  buy instead of “closing” them).

It’s in prospecting, however – or more precisely, lead generation – that it’s most effective.

When you create the ideal circumstances to get qualified prospects to  come to you, much like that store window, they do just that – and the  balance of power is in your favor, since the prospect approached you  rather than the other way around.

 - See more at: http://www.nevercoldcall.com/blog/how-to-sell-to-a-cat/

New York Times best-selling author Frank Rumbauskas is the author of the Never Cold Call Again® System and has won numerous accolades, such as Readers Choice for Business   Book of the Year from 800-CEO-READ, and has been named one of Fast    Company’s top 30 most influential people online. To learn more, and to    download a free 37-page PDF preview of his Never Cold Call Again    lead-generation system, visit http://www.nevercoldcall.com/