Rainmakers and Expert Salespeople on the Secrets of Sales Excellence

RainMaker Maker Webinar Series

2009-09-04T17:35:00Z

You may remember that a few weeks ago, I announced the RainMaker Development Webinar Series (for Owners Only). Yesterday, I met with Dave Kurlan to review the results, share feedback and make necessary adjustments. Our conclusions were simple.

Give people enough time. They're just getting back from summer. School's starting. Customers are calling. Four weeks wasn't enough time to get the word out. Have people read it. Forward it. Check their schedules and make a decision. Give them more time. At least the middle of September or early October.

The first webinar will be on October 7th.

Make it easier for people to start. Yes, the economy is coming back, but people aren't flush yet. Yes, they recognize that they need help, but they've never experience this kind of professional training before. They can't imagine how quickly the impact will affect their business. Give them the opportunity to take a smaller bite. Let them experience some success, then they'll want the rest.

Per Dave,

Two semesters:
$499 for the first semester.
$500 for the second semester ($400 if you have a discount code).

First Semester Webinars 10/7. 10/14, 10/21, 10/28

You'll complete the online self-assessment prior to the first webinar and your personalized report will be sent to you just before the first webinar.
You will learn how to recognize and overcome the obstacles that have been keeping you from getting where you want to be.
You will learn how to turn your voice mail messages into returned calls.
You will learn how to turn your lead, referral, or networking contact into a bona fide, legitimate, qualified appointment.
You will learn how to get your prospective customer's attention and keep them engaged throughout the process.
You will learn how to posture yourself as an expert without bragging.
You will develop a sales process that will allow you to maintain control and handle every question and every objection in an orderly manner without having to memorize or use a canned presentation.
You will learn how to super qualify. No more surprises at closing time. No more wasted proposals. When you are qualified and they are qualified, closing becomes the next logical step in the process.

Second Semester Webinars 11/4, 11/11, 11/18, 11/25

You will learn how to wrap up your process and present the solution that your prospect expects and is prepared to accept.
You will learn how to use the Inoffensive Close. No manipulation. No tricks. No cute names. No games. No surprises. Very natural.
You will learn how to handle any objection and overcome any resistance.
You will learn how to eliminate competition and differentiate yourself if your prospects ever look at your solution as a commodity.
Finally, each of the second semester webinars will be followed immediately by another hour long webinar during which we will answer questions, solve problems, role play and practice your new skills.

Sign up for both semesters for $999 ($899 with a discount code) or just the first semester for $499 and add on the second semester after you've started seeing results. Call me for info or register at eventbrite.

RainMaker Development Webinar Series (for Owners Only)

2009-08-09T10:32:00Z

Most business owners -

are not salespeople.
are passionate about what they do.
need to sell before they have something to bill.
don't have the time, money or desire to become a professional salesperson.
need help now, not over the next 12-18 months.
have other things to do, so 'selling' time is very limited.

The economy has begun to come back. Now is the time to re-double your efforts. The opportunities that are in your pipeline may show signs of life. Networking and prospecting efforts will provide new opportunities. This webinar series is a special program that's been designed specifically for owners and partners. It is not available to professional salespeople or salespeople that are part of a company that has multiple salespeople. Everyone in the program will be the owner or a partner in their small firm. You will be exposed to the same training that the Kurlan team provides to companies over six to twelve months, but in an accelerated, compressed format tailored specifically for the needs of your growing business.

You will learn -

why and how owners sell differently than employee salespeople.
what has been 'getting in your way' and how to fix it.
how to develop compelling Positioning Statements that will engage prospects immediately.
how to convert more of your networking contacts and leads into viable opportunities.
how to get more appointments with better qualified prospects than ever before.
how to make your sales process more effective.
how to convert more of your opportunities into paying customers.
how to adapt the four bases of Baseline Selling to your world.
how to eliminate objections and avoid commodity selling
how to apply this knowledge to your business, in this economy, right now, to make the fourth quarter the strongest of 2009 and set yourself up for an incredible 2010.

This special offering includes:

a series of eight one hour webinars offered once per week for eight weeks.
your own personal, entrepreneurial version, on-line, sales assessment.
training materials (PDF/workbook).
access to our email help desk for specific questions, applications or situations.
plus four totally interactive web sessions that will allow you to debrief and analyze a past selling situation, strategize and role play an upcoming sales call with one of our development experts.

The first webinar will be Wednesday, ~~September 9th~~ October 7th at Noon (ET). Subsequent webinars will be on subsequent Wednesdays at Noon (ET). Email Rick Roberge before ~~9/3~~ 10/1 to ask questions and/or register at eventbrite.

Last Post! We've moved!

2009-03-17T10:55:00Z

This is my last post at this domain.
I've moved to a high-rise luxury condominium.
Please visit me there!

THIS BLOG IS MOVING!

2009-03-16T10:30:00Z

But before we move, here's where we've been.

First Entry was 3/18/2006 at 5:46:00 AM.

We have a total of 415 entries with a total word count of 104,938 words.

If you do the math, that's 2.64 entries per week.

The most popular entries were:

top ten geek business myths 4.40%
Blog Topics 2.30%
First...........What is a RainMaker? 1.52%
Another Guest Blogger 1.41%
Prize Corn 1.16%
BIG CLIENTS 0.97%
Referral = Obligation 0.93%
Success Secret #3 0.83%
What an event! 0.79%
Intimidating Women 0.79%
Joe's Escalade 0.70%
Other (404 items) 84.15%

These were the longest discussions with the number of comments per discussion.

Ask me a question! 28
Joe's Escalade 18
Tom's Question for the Experts 17
What's Your Recession Strategy? 17
Svelte People at the Gym 14
First...........What is a RainMaker? 14
Reality vs Virtuality vs Unreality 13
Numbers, Baseball and My Kind of Selling 12
Hiatus 11
Trick or Truth 11
Sales Support vs. Supported by Sales 11
YOU BE THE COACH! 10
Kinder and Gentler....Like the IRS 10
Blog Topics 10

I won't be posting here any more. So, please come with me. Click here for the new address. You can subscribe by email or RSS there.

Sales Call Appointments

2009-03-16T03:07:00Z

Never get stood up again!

Click here.

Successful Cold Call?

2009-03-14T01:34:00Z

My Other Blog

Sales to Normal Prospects

2009-03-13T03:07:00Z

Click here.

The Great Speed Networking Game

2009-03-12T02:42:00Z

What are you doing for lunch on April 14th?

Come to the Great Speed Networking Game hosted by the Society of Professional Communicators.

Space is limited. So, reserve early!

Referrals - Introductions - Endorsements

2009-03-10T05:31:00Z

I received this email today.

Dad,

A friend of my and hostess at the restaurant is starting a gardening business, she is cc'd on this email
Marshall has been kind enough to offer some guidance on insurance quotes.
Also, please see Marshall's response below # 8 as you were brought in to the mix as someone that may be able to help them out with a letter of engagement.
Also, Kirstyn and the ladies would most likely appreciate any thoughts you may have on how to bring in sales leads to the business. not sure how you handle generating sales leads for this type of business.

Kirstyn like I have been stressing to you my biggest concern for you guys is bringing in enough business for the three of you........listen to my Dad on any advice he may have on sales he is very good at this.

Dad, thanks for the help in advance.

Matt

Whether you call this a referral, introduction, or endorsement, think about the power in the way he did it.

I am a very proud father!

March Madness 2009 Elevator Pitch Contest

2009-03-03T20:29:00Z

Is your Elevator Pitch, 30 Second Commercial, Positioning Statement a winner?

Find out! Enter to win the 2009 Elevator Pitch Contest.

The Sweet 16 will earn publicity throughout the blogosphere as our guest judges deliberate and narrow the field.

So, click here to see how it works and to enter.

RainMaker Wanted?

2009-03-02T23:14:00Z

Click here to read the article at OMG.

The BLOGFATHER

2009-03-01T15:40:00Z

So, last night, Vic & Tina came over. Wine. Sushi. Wine. Dinner. Wine. Coffee. Brownies. Wine. and scotch.

At one point, Vic said, "I didn't expect you to put my email on your blog." Then we started talking about how he was gonna ~~waste~~ spend $1,000 on advertising for new clients the first two weeks that he was in St. Croix. So, I asked him if he had read the rest of the post. I also asked where in the post did I suggest to spend ANY money on advertising. Then I asked him why he wouldn't spend the money finding events where his prospects would hang out and he could meet them. Chamber events, networking groups, breakfasts, lunches, dinners, after hours, before hours, expos, yada, yada, yada. Set up meetings using LinkedIn, Plaxo, etc. Read and comment to blogs that originate in St. Croix. Check out Topix.

Long story short, after Tina and Elaine rolled their eyes enough, we decided to stop talking shop, but Victor ended with,"I guess that I'll be reading about this tomorrow on your blog. I'm gonna start calling you The Blogfather". Immediately, I heard the music and saw Vito Corleone's face.

Or maybe, I'm a genie....Your wish is my command!

RainMaker Lead Generation

2009-02-28T06:51:00Z

I put this post at OMG.

If you were my own son...

2009-02-28T05:41:00Z

Whenever Bob Jiguere wanted me to know how important it was that I listen to him, he would preface the advice with, "If you were my own son, I'd tell you to...." I also watched him on sales calls when he told the woman that he was talking to, "If you were my own sister, I'd tell you..." Think about how strong that is. Wouldn't you give your best advice to your son or your sister? (or your daughter or your brother?)

So, would you like to know my latest advice to my son? Here's the exchange.

From, my son, Matt, to a fellow alum that's gonna do some bizdev for him.

Joe, I had a good conversation with my Dad about sales. He is going to send us some info he thinks will be helpful. He would be a good resource for you to use to help bring a few clients on. He is cc'd on this email and his cell is (###) Thanks, Matt

My reply to both.

Gentlemen, There’s a few different ways to get new clients.

    • Spend tons of money on advertising.
    • Make 1,000 cold calls. (This is the way I built my agency in the 80’s.)
    • Go where your prospects are hanging out, have a beer and collect business cards.

When I looked at this website, www.saltlakechamber.org/calendar/ I saw three types of events that seemed interesting. There’s a Business after Hours almost every month. Bring business cards, but it’s more important to get theirs. I’ll coach you before you go. My goal is typically to get 10-15 business cards per hour that I’m there. Two hours – 30 cards. There’s also a program called Networking without limits that’s probably worth checking out once. The best program is the Expo. 4 hours on May 14th. 70 booths. 600 people walking the aisles like you. Everybody looking to connect. We need to talk about your approach to this, but you won’t have any problems. Also, I would imagine that if you call the chamber and ask them how do you check them out, they’ll probably invite you to an event or two as their guests. I’d look for other chambers of commerce (Sandy, Park City, others?).

Get on LinkedIn. Follow the directions to invite people in your address book to connect with you, but ONLY invite people that are already in LinkedIn. You don’t want to spend a lot of time teaching them how to use it. If some of your existing clients are on LinkedIn and happy with your service, they can write a recommendation which will become part of your profile and the world will be able to see it. Another way that you can use LinkedIn is to search for people that might be prospects. For instance, my search for property managers in SLC area yielded 470 results. I searched Utah Business in the Groups Directory. 39 Results. One of them was Utah First Friday. This is their website. Might be interesting. You should check out the other 38 results and do some other searches. See what you find. You have to ask to join the groups, but the groups will grow your exposure and connections. There’s other ways to use LinkedIn, but that’s a start. Dad

Matt's response.

Thanks Dad we will get on it. Matt

Enough said?

One more thing.

Did you follow the link to my brother? In August of 2007, he bought his place in St. Croix and thanked me fortelling him to double his hourly rate. Today, I was copied on this email from him.

Hi Doris, We have scheduled flights for arrival on the 6th of April. Please cease rental scheduling from that time until further notice. I intend to try to expand my Information Technology Consulting business on the island at that time, and if all goes as I expect, I will be staying to look for permanent residence while Tina returns to deal with stateside moving tasks. Hopefully the unit will be available again in a short period of time. Also, please be advised that on March 1st at about 12 to 12:30 Best Furniture will be delivering a new sofa to our unit. I’ve informed the front desk that our friend Sue Ferguson will be there to oversee the task in our absence. They will be removing the old sofa and chair. Vic Roberge

He's moving to St. Croix? Maybe, I'm too good.

Moving?

2009-02-25T03:16:00Z

Please read my post and put your input here.

Main Street vs Wall Street

2009-02-24T02:16:00Z

When I was doing my research for my 'Layoffs post', I noticed that when a company announces layoffs, their stock price often goes up. Interesting huh? Here's a question for you to ask your financial advisor.

How come? Who does Wall Street think is gonna buy their stuff if everybody's unemployed?

Today, the Dow Jones dropped 251 points to it's lowest level since May 7, 1997.

HEY!.............................MANAGEMENT!

ARE YOU GONNA LAY SOMEBODY OFF TODAY OR TEACH THEM HOW TO SELL?

Do Layoffs Work?

2009-02-23T11:23:00Z

Do you remember this post about Circuit City?

So, this is the story about Circuit City laying off 3400 salespeople in 2007.

This article mentions Circuit City laying off 3900 salespeople in 2003.

Last November, Circuit City filed bankruptcy.

Here we are in 2009.

Just before I left for Punta Cana, I read about another retail chain that was going to lay off 370 employees because their sales were off by $100 million last quarter. When I returned, I learned that the same chain had done it before.

The chain cited the deteriorating economy for the decision.

As an expert I wonder how much of that $100 million was due to the economy and how much was due to laziness, lack of motivation, or undeveloped sales skills of some of their store managers and associates.

Last Friday, I asked the executives of that chain this question.

"If we could quickly and dramatically have an impact on your in store salespeople, would that be worth a 30 minute phone call? "

We'll see if they call today.

I don't know history like The Archaeologist, but I have heard something about history repeating itself.

If you know a CEO or majority owner of a company that may be contemplating layoffs, forward this post to them with the suggestion that they contact me and mention that you sent them.

COMMITMENT!

2009-02-06T14:49:00Z

What is commitment? Why is it important? Dave Kurlan writes about it often. OMG evaluates for it. We look for it in our clients.

Why? Here's an example.

We are in Day 2 of our Recession Busting Boot Camp. Yesterday, one of the attendees left at 1:30 (it was pre-arranged and OK with his manager and CEO) to attend a concert in Manhattan. The concert tickets were a gift from his girl friend and were purchased before he was enrolled in the Boot Camp. He promised to be back for all of Day 2.

Here's the whole story. He left the Westboro training facility, drove to Albany area to pick up his girl friend, drove to Manhattan to see the concert, drove his girl friend back to Albany after the concert and hit his pillow at 2:45 AM. Got up at 5 AM to be the first one to arrive at the Westboro training facility, ready to go at 8:30 AM.

850 miles................2 hours sleep.

How's his commitment?

Will he do whatever it takes?

Will he get it done?

Would you hire him?

Would you marry him?

5 Steps Your Sales Force Needs to Take to Survive in the Recession

2009-02-06T11:28:00Z

It’s February 2009, Barack Obama is the president, the stock market is in the tank and you are worried about the economy.

Please join us for 5 Steps Your Sales Force Needs to Take to Survive in the Recession a critical idea stimulating web session with Dave Kurlan as your guide. The program is sponsored by Landslide who produces state of the art sales software that combines sales process consistency, on demand performance technology and access to personal sales assistants.

This one hour web session on Wednesday February 18th, 2009, from 1pm - 2pm ET will address the following:
    • Having the right people in the right sales/sales management roles;
    • Gaining your sales team's commitment and buy-in to work harder, be tougher and do what it
      takes in these more difficult times;
    • Performing a pipeline analysis and working the pipeline;
    • Creating the necessary infrastructure. This includes an appropriate sales process, recruiting
      process, sales management systems, and software;
    • Developing the salespeople on process, skills and overcoming their weaknesses.

You can register here. Don’t miss this session, it will make 2009 easier.

Feel free to forward to a friend.

Who hates Rick Roberge?

2009-02-03T01:07:00Z

OK. So, here's the deal. Someone went to their search engine during the first week in January and typed

i hate rick roberge
into the search box. Then they went to my blog.

It happened eleven (11) times.

OK......Who was it?