Harry Harris

A Bad Day At The Office!

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 11:25:10 +0100

Ever have one of those? We all have....

Soin honour of this I have posted this video from our friends at http://www.wealthyaffiliate.com/?a_aid=1TiV8C1y

(Prepare to laugh out loud)

Happy Selling!

Harry

Comments

What would your last lecture say.....?

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 22:39:33 +0100

A friend found this and passed this on; so I thought I would too!

Happy selling (and follow your dreams!)

Harry

Comments

Everything you need!

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 17:11:11 +0100

Great sales people adopt and adapt and many of the things that I have learnt I have learnt from internet marketers and applied these hidden secrets in the field - with amazing results!

A great site to check out is found here http://www.wealthyaffiliate.com/?a_aid=1TiV8C1y

This truly is the best site for information on how to get your product in front of the masses!

Happy selling!

Harry

Comments

Save Time

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 21:56:38 +0100

As the statistics for this site show I get a large number of visits every day/ week/ month and now year!

Thank you very much and I hope you are enjoying the blog as much as I enjoy writing it!

In order to save time I have started to subscribe to blogs via email and feeds (both available on this site)

That way you don't have to come back every time to check if there have been anymore updates - you will get an email or if you use a 'reader' as I use Google Reader - then I get access to ALL the blogs that I read on one page!

Genius - thanks to Tim Ferriss of http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/ for having reminded me of how to save time! Look it up for a really is a fasinating read!

Happy Selling!

Harry

Comments

Very Funny Video

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 00:08:10 +0100

One for all you Internet Marketers out there!

Happy selling!

Harry

Comments

Cold Calling - Top 5 Reasons to Avoid It

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 22:26:18 +0100

Frank Rumbauskas explains the top 5 reasons why cold calling is actually detrimental and will lose sales instead of gaining them.

Cold calling, once the only method of sales prospecting, no longer works in today’s world. Here are the top five reasons to avoid it:

1. Cold calling makes you look desperate.

We all know that people want to do business with those who are successful; however, cold calling makes you look totally unsuccessful! Prospects think if you’re cold calling, you must have nothing else going on, and they should avoid doing business with you.

2. Cold calling makes timing work against you.

How can you know if someone is ready to buy when you call them at random? You don’t! If you get leads from cold calling, there’s a good chance they’re looking to buy next year, not now. And most people you call at random will never buy, ever.

3. Cold calling limits your sales production by time.

Leverage is very important, and is missing from cold calling. In other words, you can make only one call at a time or knock on one door at a time. There is no leveraged system working on your behalf, and as a result, even if you get leads from cold calling, there are only so many hours in the day to do it.

4. Cold calling is the leading cause of salesperson turnover and lack of morale.

Endless surveys show that the requirement to make cold calls is the number one reason why sales people quit, and the lack of cold calling is the number one reason why salespeople stay. Cold calling is very demoralizing and has a very negative impact on sales performance.

5. Cold calling fails to get qualified leads and generates unqualified leads.

Managers tend to measure the results of cold calling by the number of appointments set; however, appointments gained through cold calling have the lowest close rate of all. People who respond to cold calls generally aren’t the busy, successful people we want and need to meet with.

Frank Rumbauskas is the author of the hit sensation "Cold Calling Is A Waste Of Time: Sales Success In The Information Age". His training and products teach salespeople how to generate hot leads without cold calling and how to keep their power and remain in control of sales situations. For more information please visit http://www.nevercoldcall.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Frank_Rumbauskas http://EzineArticles.com/?Cold-Calling---Top-5-Reasons-to-Avoid-It&id=181097

Happy selling!

Harry

P.S To get the first 10 chapters of Franks incredible book absolutely free, go to my site and sign up for my newsletter!

Comments

Want to Present Better?

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 01:18:06 +0100

What is it that really gets up the nose of any audience, even one that is interested in what you have to say?

Following are the 'Top 7 Presentation Gripes' of audiences the world over and what you can do to avoid them.

Poor grammar and spellng errors (Yes I know - it was deliberate!)

Mark Twain once said: "I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way." Unfortunately not everybody agrees. So get it right and proof read. Don't trust spell check software either, as they don't always pick up the "Hear" and "Here" nuances afforded by the English language

Inconsistent style

A presentation fraught with accidental creativity. Different fonts and typeface sizes on every slide. Please stop this now!

Recycled presentations

The 'one size fits all' approach won't cut it with your audience or prospect. I have even seen a presentation done where the name of the competition was on the slide. Whoops! Don't let this happen to you. Treat each presentation as though it was the first time you have given it to this unique and special client!

Boring or uncreative slide design

The author is still struggling with the subtleties of the text box. Presentations appear to be by extreme beginners. There really is no excuse for this now. PowerPoint has some amazing features to help you have a bit of the WOW factor. If in doubt ask someone in your organization who knows how to do it, get them a beer or chocolates, and ask for help! At times I even use a plain white slide, not the usual (over used) templates and have found this to be a very welcome change, for all involved.

The meaningless pie chart and/ or graph

If you are going to use these, please explain why and what they really mean. Just ask: Is this information relevant and is this the best way to present it? Try and use an illustration that your audience can relate to in an effort to explain the factors involved.

Information overload

Where a company's entire history is crammed into one slide. Very close to this is where the presenter reads, word for word, the information on the slide. We can all read, what we need is for you to explain what it means in real life - make application of what is on the slide.

The 'waffler'

Once the presenter starts he can't - or won't stop! I am not speaking about well placed emphasis of main points, which is important - no this is where the speaker is bordering on falling in love with his own voice, or so nervous that he just can't/ won't shut up. Practice saying what you have to say by only using half the words you would normally use to explain the subject, and then you are getting closer to a waffle free presentation.

When you give your next presentation, keep these points in mind and your audience will thank you for it - and you never know - they might even ask you back!

Happy Selling!

Harry

Get the newsletter full of tips that will change your sales career at http://www.topsalesprostrategies.com

Comments

Great Article

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 01:03:32 +0100

Just wanted to share a great article I read.

Book Yourself Solid: The Simple Selling Process
By Michael Port

As a service provider you may not want to think of yourself as a salesperson. You are in the business of helping others and you may not feel comfortable with the sales process. However, you need to let clients know that your service is available. Here are some ways to do so:

Shift Your Perspective

Start by building relationships with your potential clients based on trust. Remember that you are making them aware of something you offer that they are looking for.

Emotional Triggers

Selling is based on emotion. Here are a few generic emotional triggers almost everyone has:

• People want to feel accepted and needed

• People want to feel satisfaction from their accomplishments

• People want to feel admired and recognized for their accomplishments

People respond to the issue you’re uncovering because it creates an emotion pull and charge for them.

The Simple Selling Process

Remember that the selling process is more about your clients and less about you. The great part is if you are selling properly, all you really need to do is...

• Ask more questions than you answer

• Listen more than you speak

• Relate to your potential clients’ needs and desires

• Keep the conversation positive and empowering

The conversation becomes a simple selling process with the addition of just one key question:
Would you like a partner to help you achieve these goals?

With this one question you make yourself the key to the solution. Your clients do all the selling for you. They…

• Articulate the benefits

• Create mental imagery toward producing results

• Keep their self-criticisms out of the way

• Visualize results and gain confidence about what their life would look like

• Visualize you as the right partner to help them achieve these goals

Keep in Touch

Get a commitment for a next step. Think of yourself as a lifelong consultant. Tips to remember:

• Move the relationship forward

• Follow up and ask for small commitments

• Don’t give in and don’t give up if you know you can help

These are the easy steps to simple selling, and Booking Yourself Solid. Start small, end big, and remember, successful selling is really nothing more than showing your potential clients how you can help them to live a happier more successful life.

Michael Port is the President of Michael Port & Associates LLC and is known as the guy to call when you’re tired of thinking small. To spend some more time with Michael and to think bigger about who you are and what you offer the world go to [http://www.bookyourselfsolidvancouver.com]http://www.bookyourselfsolidvancouver.com.

Dr. Gayla DeHart, from Vancouver, Canada, is a Professional Coach with a Ph.D. in Psychology. She provides coaching services to single professionals who want to hone their dating skills, and offers a special package that includes an emotional intelligence (people skills) assessment, review, and post-date debriefing. Click here to contact Dr. DeHart ww.achieveexcellence.ca/contact.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Port http://EzineArticles.com/?Book-Yourself-Solid:-The-Simple-Selling-Process&id=62056

Good advice

Happy selling!

Harry

http://www.topsalesprostrategies.com

Comments

Send an email!

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 17:26:13 +0100

I have been overwhelmed by the amount of interest in the free ebook!

If you want your copy just email me at harry@topsalesprostrategies.com and I will send it through to you too!

Well done to all who have recieved it!

Happy selling!

Harry

http://www.nevercoldcall.com/

Comments

10 Free Chapters of an Amazing Book!

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 13:37:51 +0200

I don't know about you, but I sure hate cold calling.
Unfortunately there aren't many resources on how to
stop cold calling, and how to generate leads
effectively and automatically. At least that's what I
thought, until I came across this -

www.nevercoldcall.com

I talked with the owner of that site, and he gave me
the okay to send you the first 10 chapters of his book
at no cost.

Pop me an email and I'll send it through!

harry@topsalesprostrategies.com

What is it, exactly?

It's called 'Cold Calling Is A Waste Of Time: Sales
Success In The Information Age,' written by New
York Times bestselling author, Frank Rumbauskas.

His book and CD set explain endless tactics and
techniques that you can use to stop cold calling, and
begin to generate hot, qualified leads. Today.

I highly recommend checking out the download he
gave us access to ... after all, it doesn't cost a thing
and is very valuable all by itself -

Pop me an email and I'll send it through!

harry@topsalesprostrategies.com

Amazing!

Never Cold Call

Here's to your success, and to never cold calling again!

Happy Selling (without cold calling)!

Harry

Comments

Confessions of a Cold Caller

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:09:03 +0200

I'm thinking that your holy grail as a sales professional is to speak to as many clients as possible who have the money, authority, and need for what it is you have to offer. You are nodding your head (I know because after 12 years in sales you learn a thing or two). But here's the thing - we just might differ on how we achieve this. Are you cold-calling? Working through the usual lists (that everybody else has, including your competition) full of the usual suspects? (I know - I've been there).

Let me ask you a question; which is more important, to spend your time finding clients, or speaking to and engaging with qualified clients who have a need right now? Let's take this a step further. Which is more productive? Spending hours calling prospective clients – requesting time, (‘begging’ really - it's true, and you know it. If you doubt this just tell your manager you have no appointments this week – go on I dare you!) agreed then, begging for time to discuss a solution to a problem that you don't even know if they have or not, and if they have not identified it - what are they doing for 40+ hours a week?

Also, you and I know that timing is everything. How many times have you called through to a customer and (this is after having charmed your way through the gatekeeper and every other obstacle that is put in place to prevent you from speaking with the them) that you find out that they have just signed with your competition and are now in a contract, and they just don't see the need to revisit the issue for at least another year! Really how long did it take you to get to this answer? Days, weeks, months even?

You are now saying that, although this is true, you've had success connecting with individuals in organisations and have gone on to enjoy flourishing business relationships and financially rewarding success. I know. As a sales professional I too have done this and was known for my ability to make appointments from the coldest of cold calls. I soon realised however that it wasn't about how many appointments I made, but about how much time it consumed to do the bare minimum. It was really about how much business I closed and how easy or hard I was making that for myself - and to do that went way beyond the realms of just cold-calling. I was quickly learning that the type of buyer who accepts cold-calls were increasingly the type that had too much time (hence the appointment) and this carried through the sales process as the proposal continued to get passed around and timescales and deadlines reassigned. I wanted to speak with decision makers who were ready for what I had to offer - or at least felt they wanted to understand their options so that when they made their decision they could do it quickly.

Here’s what I mean. Let me ask you something -as a consumer- when you need something done, do you sit by the phone and wait for the sales person to call you? Think about this: It's January and your car needs servicing, what do you do? Do you wait in the vain hope that someone will call, set up an appointment, discuss the issues involved, offer a price and then you can get your car serviced? NO! You take action. You call them. You ask the questions - get the answers and then make a decision (and a quick one at that as it needs to be done). You did not start calling in July, saying: "Oh, it's okay I am just making enquiries. I don't need it done till January actually". You pre-qualified yourself! And even if a garage was to call you in July and your car needed a service in January - there is no way you are bringing it in to them any sooner!

You see my point. I realised that the quality of my prospects were diminished when I approached them in the cold-call. I learnt that the few times I got leads through the office I closed them far more quickly and effectively; the dynamics too were different - I didn't have the need - they did. What I wanted was more of those type of clients. So I set about finding a way to get them………….

Find out what I did to achieve this at www.topsalesprostrategies.com and get immediate access to the e-course that changed my career!

Comments

Get visitors to your site - NOW!

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:50:10 +0200

Search engines are the vehicles that drive potential customers to your websites- short and simple! But in order for visitors to reach their destination - your website - you need to provide them with specific and effective signs that will direct them right to your site. You do this by creating carefully chosen keywords.

Think of the right keywords as the Open Sesame! of the Internet. Find the exactly right words or phrases, and presto- hoards of traffic will be pulling up to your front door. But if your keywords are too general or too over-used, the possibility of visitors actually making it all the way to your site - or of seeing any real profits from the visitors that do arrive - decreases dramatically.

Your keywords serve as the foundation of your marketing strategy. If they are not chosen with great precision, no matter how aggressive your marketing campaign may be, the right people may never get the chance to find out about it. So your first step in plotting your strategy is to gather and evaluate keywords and phrases.

You probably think you already know EXACTLY the right words for your search phrases. Unfortunately, if you haven't followed certain specific steps, you are probably WRONG.

It's hard to be objective when you are right in the centre of your business network, which is the reason that you may not be able to choose the most efficient keywords from the inside. You need to be able to think like your customers. And since you are a business owner and not the consumer, your best bet is to go directly to the source.

Instead of plunging in and scribbling down a list of potential search words and phrases yourself; ask for words from as many potential customers as you can. You will most likely find out that your understanding of your business and your customers’ understanding is significantly different.

The consumer is an invaluable resource. You will find the words you accumulate from them are words and phrases you probably never would have considered from deep inside the trenches of your business. Only after you have gathered as many words and phrases from outside resources should you add your own keyword to the list.

Once you have this list in hand, you are ready for the next step: evaluation.

The aim of evaluation is to narrow down your list to a small number of words and phrases that will direct the highest number of quality visitors to your website. By "quality visitors" I mean those consumers who are most likely to make a purchase rather than just cruise around your site and take off for greener pastures. In evaluating the effectiveness of keywords, bear in mind three elements: popularity, specificity, and motivation.

Popularity is the easiest to evaluate because it is an objective quality. The more popular your keyword is, the more likely the chances are that it will be typed into a search engine which will then bring up your URL.

You can now purchase software that will rate the popularity of keywords and phrases by giving words a number rating based on real search engine activity.
Software such as Word Tracker will even suggest variations of your words and phrases.

The higher the number this software assigns to a given keyword, the more traffic you can logically expect to be directed to your site. The only fallacy with this concept is the more popular the keyword is, the greater the search engine position you will need to obtain. If you are down at the bottom of the search results, the consumer will probably never scroll down to find you.

Popularity isn't enough to declare a keyword a good choice. You must move on to the next criteria, which is specificity. The more specific your keyword is, the greater the likelihood that the consumer who is ready to purchase your goods or services will find you.

Let's look at a hypothetical example. Imagine that you have obtained popularity rankings for the keyword "car companies." However, you company specializes in bodywork only. The keyword "car body shops" would rank lower on the popularity scale than "car companies," but it would nevertheless serve you much better. Instead of getting a slew of people interested in everything from buying a car to changing their oil filters, you will get only those consumers with trashed front ends or crumpled fenders being directed to your site. In other words, consumers ready to buy your services are the ones who will immediately find you. Not only that, but the greater the specificity of your keyword is, the less competition you will face.

The third factor is consumer motivation. Once again, this requires putting yourself inside the mind of the customer rather than the seller to figure out what motivation prompts a person looking for a service or product to type in a particular word or phrase. Let's look at another example, such as a consumer who is searching for a job as an IT manager in a new city. If you have to choose between "Dublin job listings" and "Dublin IT recruiters" which do you think will benefit the consumer more? If you were looking for this type of specific job, which keyword would you type in? The second one, of course! Using the second keyword targets people who have decided on their career, have the necessary experience, and are ready to enlist you as their recruiter rather than someone just out of school who are casually trying to figure out what to do with his or her life in between beer parties.

You want to find people who are ready to act or make a purchase, and this requires subtle tinkering of your keywords until your find the most specific and directly targeted phrases to bring the most motivated traffic to you site.

Once you have chosen your keywords, your work is not done. You must continually evaluate performance across a variety of search engines, bearing in mind that times and trends change, as does popular lingo. You cannot rely on your log traffic analysis alone because it will not tell you how many of your visitors actually made a purchase.

Luckily, some new tools have been invented to help you judge the effectiveness of your keywords in individual search engines. There is now software available that analyzes consumer behaviour in relation to consumer traffic. This allows you to discern which keywords are bringing you the most valuable customers.

This is an essential concept: numbers alone do not make a good keyword; profits per visitor do. You need to find keywords that direct consumers to your site who actually buy your product, fill out your forms, or download your product. This is the most important factor in evaluating the efficacy of a keyword or phrase, and should be the sword you wield when discarding and replacing ineffective or inefficient keywords with keywords that bring in better profits.

Ongoing analysis of tested keywords is the formula for search engine success. This may sound like a lot of work - and it is!

But remember the amount of informed effort you put into your keyword campaign is what will ultimately generate your business' rewards.

Happy selling!

Harry

Want to find out the strategies of top sales professionals?

Find out at www.topsalesprostrategies.com

Comments

Great Quote

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 00:07:50 +0200

I read a great quote the other day that is a must for all business owners and managers. It was just in an advert that I quickly caught a glimpse of when I looked at a paper in a friends house.

It was simply this:

"Are you working IN or ON your business?"

Brilliant. Ask yourself (as I have myself) - when was the last time you took a step back and looked at the direction of your business, or are you too hands on, too IN your business, the day to day stuff, to see the needed changes that will surely be called for to stay on top of the game. Where will your business, department, family, life be in 6 months? If we can answer this question then we are working ON our business.

Reminded me of another quote- "You don't need to bark if you have a dog". Let the people that work with us on our teams do what they do best as we do what we do best - strategise!

All that from a two second glance! Ah the power of well placed words.

Happy Selling!

Harry

Comments

Rapport- An important key to opening relationships

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 18:40:50 +0200

I'm sure you'll agree, establishing rapport and trust with your prospects is one of, if not the most important presentation skills you can learn. It's been said many times, people only buy from people they like and trust. That's you!

Have you ever had an experience with a salesperson and you have said to yourself "I will never buy anything from that person, even at half the price"? You have probably also had the experience where you hit it off with a salesperson and you would buy just about anything they recommend.

Why?

Because you didn't like or trust the first salesperson and you did like and trust the second. Why did you like and trust the second person so much? Because they took the time to establish rapport with you. In simpler terms they probably showed a sincere interest in you and/or were like you.

The last sentence sums up the points I want to discuss.

The first point you should learn in establishing rapport and trust with your prospects is, show a sincere interest in them. How do you do that? The first thing to remember is you have two ears and one mouth, so you should listen twice as much as you talk. Sales really is all about asking the right questions and then shutting your mouth and waiting for the answers. Then ask another question and so on and so on.

The questions you ask initially should be about them, their interests,
how many kids they have, what kind of car they drive, where they work, etc.Get to know them like you would a new friend. Find out as much as you can about them, all the time looking for common interests. You see the second point I talked about earlier was people like people who are like them. So find the common interests and expand on them.

Don't take this step lightly. This is very important! People love to talk about themselves. Don't you agree? So let them talk as long as they like. The more they talk and you show a sincere interest, the better they will like and trust you.

The second way to establish rapport with your prospects quickly is called mirroring and matching. This technique can be accomplished in a couple of different ways.

One way is to pay attention to their communication style. Do they like to get right down to business (don't miss this vital clue, too many sales persons do -to their detriment), tell stories or joke around? Do they talk soft,loud, quick or slow? Do they communicate visually (use words like see, clear, reveal), or auditory (use words like hear, clear as a bell, tune in),kinesthetic (use words like feel; get a handle on, concrete).

The second way is pay attention to how their sitting or standing. Are their legs crossed, arms folded, do they use their hands when they talk, do they lean forward with their arms on the desk.

Then once you understand their communication style, mirror and match them, in other words, do what they do. If they talk loud, then you talk loud. If their visual, use visual words in your communication.

If they cross their legs, then you cross your legs. Now, I'm not talking about right away, use some discretion. Don't immediately cross your legs when they do. Use a slight delay. This will take some practice. However, in time you can become a master at this. You may find you do this naturally with people you like! You may even find that the prospect starts to mirror YOU, the expert!

Once you establish rapport and they like you and trust you, and feel you care about them, then and only then should you begin to ask qualifying questions.

Word of warning: Remember the KISS test -Keep it short and simple, and that goes as much for rapport building as anything else in the sales process.

Many salespeople fail to establish rapport and then can't figure out why the prospect won't buy, (as Gitomer says, if they are not interested, it's because you are not interesting -to them or in them!).

Start a relationship, don't just close a sale.

Happy selling!

Harry

Comments

Price match?

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 18:08:19 +0200

You do not have to price match! You are better than that. Sell the other benefits of your product, and sell you! The only difference can be as little as £3 a month; that’s only 10p a day. Wouldn’t you pay 10p a day for excellent customer service? Customers are coming back to companies because of this very issue. Break it down to the ridiculous!

I knew a guy that left a good job because he got an extra 2K a year on his basic…..false economy! The job was stress city and he did it for all for £5 a day extra. £2,000 sounded a lot but was it……?

Help your customers understand the real impact of change!

Sell the sizzle, not the steak!

Happy selling,

Harry

Comments

Are you an expert?

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 18:34:11 +0200

Most salespeople do not wish to be seen simply as product salesmen. Most salespeople sincerely want to help their prospective customers by improving their business, saving them money, and expanding their share of the market. The problem is that many prospects are cynical. They either were burned by an unscrupulous salesperson in the past or know someone who was, with the result that they become extremely wary of salespeople.

Thus to get over this hurdle, salespeople need to position themselves as experts or advisers who use their expertise to improve the lives of their prospective customers.

This is where the use of educational questions is invaluable and gives prospects the opportunity to voice their opinions and allows the salesperson to see how they feel about various business issues.

Thus the ability to appear knowledgeable is portrayed in the use of intelligent, educational questions and lets the prospect know that the salesperson is aware of what is going on in the marketplace.

Also, when doing this the salesperson is able to engage the prospect customer in talk about controversial issues and present himself/herself as someone with fresh information as opposed to just selling a product.

This is relatively easy to achieve because it requires only that the person keeps up with latest news in the industry as well as other trends or issues affecting a prospect’s industry.

The goal here is to engage prospective customers by sharing information that is relevant to their problems, with the key being to make the prospective client feel understood and, most of all, understood by the salesman.

It must be noted that these questions are not meant to be used maniputively; rather they are intended to stimulate a prospect’s thinking and encourage exploration of options; once the prospect has started thinking about different possibilities and new ways of doing business the product will inevitably be seen as a solution.

It may be argued that it is important to have a plan in place to transition the meeting from the pertinent question to the concerns of the individual with whom the salesperson is meeting.

This will not always lead into directly into a discussion of the product service but should lay the groundwork for an exchange of ideas and provoke a response from a prospective customer.

The information to support all the aforementioned process does not necessarily need to come from a printed source; daily interaction with people is an invaluable source for this information also.

Basically, an intelligent question, strategically placed in a meeting can enable a salesman to probe the prospective customer’s feelings and stimulate conversation.

This begs the question of when to introduce this process; they can be used as a teaser on a voice mail message or as an icebreaker at the beginning of a meeting or as a way to stimulate conversation during a lull in a meeting.

Summarising, these are probably things that we do unconsciously anyway if we think about it, however it is a valuable reminder of the techniques available, and the times to use them as it is always good from time to time to gain a refresher.

Happy selling!

Harry

Comments