An Introduction to Selling at Mastery pot

An Introduction to Selling at Mastery By Jim Masson Author of Getting Paid is Good!! $$$ copyright 2012, Jim Masson Smashwords Edition all rights reserved This ebook is licensed for your personal use only. It may not be altered or recopied without the written consent of the author. However, If you would like to share this book with another others, as sincerely hope you will, please direct them to download their own free copy .at http://www.sellingatmastery.com/ Thank You. $$$ Cover design by: Gianni Grando In-Print Graphic Design and Printing Nanaimo B.C. Canada Table of Contents Acknowledgements About the Author Forward Chapter 1: Defining a Master Professional Salesperson. Chapter 2: W hat the role of a Master Professional Salesperson is and What the Role is Not. Chapter 3: Who puts up the most obstacles to the sale? Chapter 4: Some of the self limiting behaviors some salespeople engage in and why they do so. Chapter 5: The deepest underlying motivator that virtually every buyer brings to the table when they make any purchase. $$$ Acknowledgements First, I want to thank my wife, Wanda for taking significant time from her own work to help me with the editing and proofing of this body of work. Her eyes caught many errors in my original document and her unique prospective helped me adjust my dialogue to improve elements of communication. I am truly grateful. This material has been brought together as a culmination of knowledge obtained in over forty five years in the sales and service profession. Throughout that time, I had many teachers. There were those who employed me. There were my early managers. There were my fellow salespeople. There were my employees. There were those who I was privileged to manage. They all shared their knowledge with me. There were outside sales trainers and authors who provided insights for me to examine. And, of course, there were my customers who taught me what I needed to do to serve and sell at mastery. To all, I am extremely grateful. About the Author Jim Masson is a businessman, author, sales trainer and sales consultant with a selling career that spans over 45 years. He has sold and managed the sale of millions and millions of dollars worth of products and services. Plus, he spent many of those years, training salespeople to function as master professionals while helping to build award winning sales teams. Jim began his selling career while still in high school. While working part time for a full line General Motors dealership in a small town in Northern Ontario, Canada, he sold a pre-owned car at only seventeen years of age. He was pleasantly surprised when rewarded with a commission for that sale. It the first of many, and he discovered that getting paid for his efforts was indeed, very, very good! After attending Algonquin College Business Campus in Ottawa, Canada's capital, he had a successful selling career with large automotive dealerships there, before relocating with his wife Wanda to Vancouver, British Columbia, in the early 1980s. There, Jim partnered for almost ten years in an automotive services business. After selling his interest in that business, Jim resumed his automotive career as Sales Manager and Sales Trainer with major automobile dealerships that achieved new levels of sales and customer satisfaction success. A number of sales people who he helped train have become nationally recognized as Sales Leaders and Sales Masters and several were promoted to Sales Management positions themselves. Jim has always recognized the tremendous need for professionalism in the selling industry and affordable training in all areas of selling and customer service. In order to share his extensive experience and success with those pursuing a career in the selling profession, Jim initially wrote his book, "Getting Paid is Good!!'' He has also offered live sales training seminars to both sales novices and seasoned pros. through school board sponsored Continuing Education classes on Vancouver Island, where he and Wanda make their home Now, he is very pleased to present to you, “An introduction to Selling at Mastery”along with a link to “Selling at Mastery” These powerful ebooks are a compilation of all the material that was initially presented over forty hours in his live, bootcamp style seminar presentations, plus additional strategies, tools and concepts. These ebooks have one defining purpose. That is, to provide effective and affordable Profession Development Training for individuals, business owners and sales managers, wishing to either upgrade their own selling skills or to train salespeople for a better future by learning how to sell as a master professional. $$$ Forward First and foremost, thank you for choosing “An introduction to Selling at Mastery”. I applaud you for taking the first step in taking charge of boosting your selling career and your income. If you are just considering entering a selling career, or actually have been selling for some time, be prepared to start unlocking your full potential, both in terms of earnings and in terms of how you will look at yourself in your day to day living. As you read through this ebook, I will try to present the material in a conversational style as it is based on my live workshop training sessions. I will also try to anticipate questions and answer them at the appropriate times. I hope this helps you to gain the maximum benefits from the concepts and strategies offered here. So that you will know what to expect and in order for you to receive the maximum benefit out of the strategies, concepts and tools which I am going to share with you here, I would like to begin by making a few suggestions. >>> Grab yourself a note pad, so that you can jot down ideas that you might want to think about later without having to wade back through the all the material right away >>> Try to read in a quite environment. You will retain more each time you read a concept. >>> Try to keep an open mind. Some ideas will be totally new to you. If they are not, I’m not doing my job. So, rather than trying to judge a strategy or concept as being right or wrong based on your current knowledge, consider just thinking in terms of “ what works and what doesn’t work”. >>> Get excited! You are about to learn things that can change your life and help you get paid at higher levels once you put these concepts and strategies into action on a daily basis. >>> Make a commitment to yourself to put your newly found knowledge into practice just as soon as you can. Do you remember that old expression, “Use it or lose it”? >>> Do yourself a favor; reread this ebook often. This will help to permanently drive the points deep into your subconscious where they will serve you as productive habits. While I initially developed my material, it was primarily to train and coach salespeople who work either on commission, partly on commission or who strive for production bonuses. However, there are so many concepts, tools and strategies that will also be of tremendous help to those working for hourly wages in retail settings or in service sectors, even restaurant servers who are looking to be the best they can be and get promoted in their chosen field. In fact, I believe some of the life skill concepts shared here and in Selling at Mastery will be of significant benefit to most people who read them. OK, let’s get started. $$$ Chapter 1 Defining a Master Professional Salesperson The need for really good and very affordable sales training is enormous in the selling field today.” Why did I make that statement? I had too, because the proof is all around us. It is the reason I have chosen to write the “Selling at Mastery” material. The selling profession is badly broken right now. Business, salespeople and consumers are all paying the price for this. Hopefully, I can help the salespeople and sales managers work at a much more professional level. If these concepts and tools make any difference for them, everyone, including the customers will win in a big way. Generally, the overall perception of salespeople in today’s marketplace is actually a nasty extremely one. Don’t you agree? We, as salespeople, are rated by society, as a profession at the bottom of the heap. We rank right there with corrupt politicians, lawyers, crooked auto mechanics and members of the so called oldest profession. You know who I mean. Now, if you really think about it, selling is the world’s oldest profession. Just be aware that the products or services which salespeople offer vary considerably. If you are now a salesperson, you know the reputation I’m talking about, don’t you? If you are considering selling as a career choice, that nasty reputation probably scares you a bit, or maybe even a lot. Here is good news however. You can actually turn that horrible reputation of the average salespeople in the marketplace into an awesome advantage for yourself. You will totally understand this concept in just a minute. Another of my ebooks, “Selling at Mastery”, is just loaded with all the tools necessary to make that happen. The fact is, the marketplace didn’t just lay this bad rap on salespeople for the heck of it. The joke writers for Letterman and Leno aren’t out to get us. Government and industry regulators don’t write laws against certain sales practices just to pass the time or justify their existence. No, it is because many people in the selling industry have seemingly painstakingly built this bad reputation over the years. In my opinion, those people, both the salespeople and their managers, truly deserve every insult that is hurled in their direction. I will guarantee you this. We all have had encounters with sales people who were underhanded, rude, liars, incompetent, uncaring, etcetera and etcetera again. Hey, sometimes you will find all of these traits in just one individual. But in spite of these flaws, some consumers actually buy things from these people and the salesperson stereotype continues to grow. That’s the bad news. I don’t like bad news. So let's look at the good news. Actually it’s not just good, it’s really great news! Not all our personal experiences with sales people have been bad. In fact, some have been a downright pleasure, haven’t they? I’d like you to carefully think about those buying experience for a moment. Perhaps one of those great experiences was created by a salesperson who helped you buy your vehicle or your home. Or, perhaps you were really helped by a salesperson who matched you up with the perfect television or computer. Maybe someone helped you plan your perfect vacation or created a nice dining experience. If they did a masterful job, chances are that you never looked at them as a stereotypical salesperson, did you? My point is simply this, in spite of all the bad salespeople out there, there are plenty of average ones and there are some truly masterful ones. So, if you choose to sell for a living, you can also choose where you will fit in to the industry. You can be the masterful salesperson,or you can settle for just being the average. Or, you might even decide to be the nasty stereotypical salesperson. It is absolutely a matter of personal choice. Here is a critical marketplace fact. When a consumer encounters a bad salesperson, he or she might buy one time, but then they will generally shun that salesperson and the organization the salesperson works for in the future. This is because he customer sees the salesperson and the organization as being one and the same. The flip side is, when consumers find a great salesperson, they will buy and they will generally buy again and again from the salesperson and the organization that the salesperson works for. Because, they too are seen as being one and the same! Isn't that true? You know it is true, because as a consumer, you behave exactly in this manner. We all do. We all have our favorite places to do business and we choose to go back over and over again. The underlining reason is that the person or people that we deal with there have created a great feeling in our minds. They have created the right experience. Burn that truth into your memory right now, it is critical to your success. I’ll even repeat it. We all have our favorite places to do business and we choose to go back over and over again. The underlining reason is that the person or people that we deal with there have created a great feeling in our minds. They have created the right experience. So, now let’s look at the definition of a master professional salesperson. Simply stated, the word professional is used to define someone who is paid to do what they do. The sports world makes great distinction between amateur and professional. However, using that basic definition would bestow professional status on every loser salesperson that you have ever met. That is clearly not going to work for my definition of a master professional salesperson. My trusty thesaurus expands the definition of professional to include adjectives such as, expert, specialized, qualified, proficient, skilled, trained and accomplished. Those traits certainly separate the masters from the average and the nasty, don't they? Since we all know that a salesperson is a seller of goods, services or ideas, my definition of master professional salesperson therefore becomes, “A very well paid, trained and qualified expert who is proficient and skilled in the helping people acquire goods, services and ideas which meet the customer's needs wants, all while functioning at the highest level of personal integrity.” Does one automatically become “master professional” because that person has graduated as a doctor, dentist or lawyer? I don't think so. In the same way, calling yourself a professional salesperson does not make you a professional salesperson. A master professional is someone who is committed to being the best he or she can be. A master professional takes the time to obtain the education, training and expertise necessary to do the job in an outstanding way. An average performer or an amateur doesn’t invest in him or herself and is doomed to be frustrated with their performance and their paychecks. A master in any profession is vastly different when compared to the average and less than average members of their group. A master professional constantly continues to learn his or her trade. I know a lot of salespeople who’ve been drifting around in the selling business for 20 plus years, usually from job to job. Sales managers have a term for these folks, They are referred to as “Rounders” because they just seem to go around and around. You might even know some of these people yourself. These salespeople will tell you that they have over twenty years of experience, but do they really? Have they continued to learn, improve their skills or challenge themselves? Probably not They only do the minimum to get by and quite frankly, some don’t even do that. The salesperson who has been selling for twenty years but never really improved or learned any new skills might just have six month’s worth of experience that has gone around and around forty times. My job here is to add concepts and tools to help you as you become a true master professional salesperson. I think there are two main reasons why selling has such a nasty image in the public eye. The first is the fact that virtually anyone can call him or herself a salesperson, regardless of qualifications and the second is the totally underhanded methods that some salespeople choose to use. First let’s look at the fact that anyone can be called a salesperson. Let’s consider this: >>> Doctors need to get trained and pass exams to be called a Doctor. >>> Dentists need to get trained and pass exams to be called a Dentist. >>> Engineers need to get trained and pass exams to be called an Engineer. >>> Accountants need to get trained and pass exams to be called an Accountant >>> Airline pilots need to get trained and pass exams to be called an Pilot. You get my point, don’t you? Sadly, there is no such mandated requirement to enter the sales field. But wait, it gets worse. In all those other professions there is also the requirement for ongoing training in order to maintain their credentials. Now before anyone gets excited and all distracted by pointing out that certain selling niches do have certification and ongoing professional development requirement, such as real estate, securities, and insurance, etc. the vast majority of selling positions do not. In fact, most mandatory licences and training cover regulations, not sales and selling relationship skills. The governing bodies for doctors, accountants, engineers and most of the other professions will pull the credentials of those who don’t continue to invest in their education and personal growth. But, it’s not like that in most areas of sales field, is it? There isn’t a mandated requirement to continue learning the skills of the trade. As a result, many salespeople just show up to and try to wing it. Then, they and their managers are left wondering why they are achieving far less than stellar results. Can you imagine what would happen in the marketplace if all salespeople applied the same effort and time into professional development as members of other professions do. The results would be incredible. Unfortunately, right now, those salespeople who actively practice ongoing professional development, represent a very small percentage of the total number of people in the sales field. Those who do work on improving their skills do enjoy successes far and above those who chose not to try to better themselves. This fact gives you a great advantage in the industry because, if you are committed to professional development, followed by putting what you learn into action, you will propel yourself to the top of the profession. I often smile, just a little, when people tell me that they are hesitant to sell for a living. Why are they hesitant? They think there is no security in selling, especially in commissioned selling. That is quite funny actually. I ask you, is there really much more security anywhere else? The fact is that you really have much more security as a master salesperson than you do in most other career choices. This is because, if you are highly skilled and are dedicated, if you possess unwavering integrity, you will be in high demand and could choose to sell virtually anything, anywhere, provided you acquire the proper product knowledge. Master sales professionals are capable of selling any product, any service or any idea as long as they are passionate and believe in what they are being asked to sell Beyond the poor training, the second reason the profession takes such a bad rap is the underhanded behavior of so many salespeople. By that I mean, they have the characteristic that so many consumers despise in the marketplace today. You might be asking, “Where does this bad behavior come from?” In a small number of cases it may stem from a basic dishonest nature on the part of the salesperson. But I believe that the majority of bad behavior comes from two distinct sources. The first source is the lack of proper training which leads to salespeople just winging it in the approach they use when interacting with their customers. Additionally, there is the fear of not earning enough money on the part of the salesperson. This fear often leads to some underhanded and desperate behavior in order to make the sale happen. You should understand that the famous 80/20 rule definitely applies in the selling field This means approximately twenty percent of the salespeople earn almost eighty percent of the overall money earned. Of course the corollary of that statement is that means eighty percent of the salespeople are left scrambling for the other twenty percent which generates some pretty disgusting behavior from many of those salespeople. We see it every day in the marketplace, don’t we? Studies show that salespeople who are in the top twenty percent in their field consistently earn five to twenty times more than those who are in the bottom twenty percent. This means that money is no longer the biggest worry in their lives. As a result, they do not need to resort to underhanded behaviour in order to close a sale. Now, as you can see, you can take full advantage of the poor reputation of the industry by choosing to rise above the common stereotype by learning to sell at mastery. One of the main supporting pillars of an exceedingly prosperous selling career is proper ongoing training. Back in the last century, Anatole France, winner of a Noble prize in literature once said. “An education isn’t how much you have committed to memory or even how much you know. It’s being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don’t”. Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying, “If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.” And to that I would add, “If you think education and training is expensive or time consuming, just take a moment to consider the cost of ignorance. In chapter 2, I will explore what the role of a master professional salesperson is and what it isn’t. I think you will find it very interesting. It might even surprise you. $$$ Chapter 2 What the Role of a Master Professional Salesperson is and What the Role is Not. I mentioned above, that you might be surprised with what I would share here. Well, let’s see if you actually are? Let me ask you this very simple question to consider. In your opinion, what do you think the primary job of a master professional salesperson is, given the information you now possess? Now, I would like you to take a minute and write your answer on your notepad before you proceed read any further. Your answer will ultimately be important to you because it will serve as your benchmark as you move forward on your journey towards selling at mastery, if that is your career goal. Remember and understand this particular concept. Whatever answer you write down will be a reflection of the information you have gathered to this point in your life and career. Stated another way, it will be the result of your conditioning, either the conditioning you’ve done to yourself or the conditioning applied to you by others but still accepted by yourself. Get used to my discussions of the concept of conditioning. You will see it mentioned a good deal in my writings. Have you finished writing your answer? If you have, then we can carry on. A few years back, I conducted a little non scientific survey to help me determine what people thought the job of a master salespeople actually consisted of. I asked both salespeople and customers just what they believed. I probably interviewed about fifty people altogether consisting of ten salespeople and about forty customers. I certainly will concede that this was not a huge sampling as far as surveys go, but overall the results I received were surprisingly consistent. Among the salespeople I interviewed, eight simply said their job was to sell lots of stuff for the company. The other two thought about the question in a totally different manner. They said, essentially, their job was to help their customers select the proper product by giving them the appropriate information in order to aid them in making an informed, positive buying decision. On real reflection, virtually without exception, the customers who were interviewed told me they believed that salespeople should simply provide the information the customer needs to make the buying decision and then some also added that they wanted the salesperson to help the customer justify why they should buy the product, service or proposal. When I asked them if that was what they had come to expect when dealing with salespeople, the majority told me that they felt most salespeople they had interacted with simply wanted to make a sale as quickly as possible. That is very interesting, isn’t it? Now, I invite you to go back and read what it was that you wrote down as your definition of a master professional salesperson. How does it compare to my survey results? Let me ask you now, of the ten salespeople who I surveyed, who do you think were the highest money earners, the two or the group of eight? I suspect that you didn’t have to think long about that one, did you? The results weren’t even close. The two each earned as much as any four of the others combined. But that wasn’t the most interesting part. One of these top earners was a master professional with fifteen years selling experience. The other was a total rookie with less than a year under her belt but she was master professional none the less. That little survey really excited me because it reinforced once again, a fact which I already knew. Success, for a person who is new to selling, doesn’t need to be viewed as being years away. It can develop very quickly indeed. I would strongly suggest that your personal definition of the job description of a master salesperson should be aligned with the two individuals not the with the group of eight. Clearly, the two very successful salespeople had their views totally aligned with their customers’ views and that choice is getting them very well paid. And quite frankly, “Getting Paid is Good!!”, isn’t it? Now I’d like to throw in my thought of what the number one job of a master professional salesperson is. It’s pretty darn simple. “GET PAID!!”. Wow, can you hear me now? Yes, I said “get paid”, because absolutely everything you do as a master professional salesperson should be to that end. Don’t you agree? That statement is not at all at odds with what either those top two salespeople said, nor is it at odds with what the various customers said. [...]... challenges and opportunities of outside selling Employ tools for tracking your performance ratios Learn how to deal with the ”shopper” masterfully Understand alternate financing options Effectively avoid or handle customer ‘heat’ Thrive in an ethnically diverse marketplace Unearth the seven tools to help you become a deal magnet at an ‘event sale’ Acquire survive and prosper tricks, tools and strategies to. .. Jerry Hicks, authors of Ask and it is Given Well, that brings us to the end of An Introduction to Selling at Mastery I sincerely hope that it has caused you to do some serious thinking about what you have come to believe about the sales process I also hope that you’ve picked up some valuable tips and ideas that you can put to work right away to help get you paid more and more often, because as we... rise to the cut throat price advertising we see today It is really missing the mark for many customers and salespeople I will share, what I now know to be, the deepest underlying sales motivator for most customers It is revealed below, while the motivator that ranks a very, very close second in my studies is revealed in Selling at Mastery Don’t you think that you could gain you a tremendous selling. ..Now, with that comment made, I need you to carefully understand a very serious caveat to that statement This is critically important to your selling career success Some salespeople think that this means using whatever scams or tricks they can come up with to make the sale in order to fulfill their need to get paid In other words, the sale at all costs The end justifies the means Nothing could... Being intolerant of others to the point of confrontation >>> Being a workaholic >>> Eating too much or eating without regard to proper nutrition There are plenty of other things that we could add I would guess that it would be fair to say that we’ve all engaged in one or more of these things at some points in our lives and maybe even still do today That’s the bad news The good news is that we can change... you that, if you pay attention Listen to your body and give it the rest it requires for optimal performance Recreation is another critical area of our lives Just look at the word itself, it is re - creation or re - create It is the time to put our lives back into balance We even see animals taking time out for play and fun When we don’t recreate, we begin to feel deprived or burned out and that is... or the center of attention Being entertaining can certainly be an integral part of the selling process, but always keep in mind that it is not an end onto itself It is only a tool to move you to the sale, not something to get you nominated for an Oscar >>> It’s not about pumping up your ego Resolve to put aside your ego when you’re selling, just work to pump up your bank account That will be far better... customer People buy repeatedly from people they like and trust Just look at your own personal buying patterns Do you do business with people you actually like and can relate to or will you drive across town to deal with that lying piece of garbage that ripped you off on your last visit? That is hardly a tough call, is it? >>> It’s about being a great listener This is a vitally important concept that... advantage if you knew and understood those critical customer motivators? I absolutely know it will Well here is the big one Are you ready? Drum role please This is way, way, way too simple It’s so simple it’s scary It is totally based on emotion The number one motivator behind a customer's decision to buy is The customer just wants to feel good!!! Yes, that’s it That is the number one reason that a... No, it’s just lack of good training and lack of awareness I realize that people do exactly the best that they can do or the most they are capable of, in any situation, at every given point in time in their lives, no more and no less But, it is the human condition to want to do better for ourselves and for those we love That’s why I have developed Selling at Mastery and make it so incredibly affordable . pleased to present to you, An introduction to Selling at Mastery along with a link to Selling at Mastery These powerful ebooks are a compilation of. idea how many people want, wish and grovel to get paid and then aren’t at all receptive. You’ll see what I mean in chapter three. In Selling at Mastery ,