[Fredslist] Fw:Sales Tips- Prepare Like It's The Supreme Court

Fri Aug 12 14:56:34 EDT 2005

The below was sent to me by Bandit Too Chair Gary Anzalone and is well
worth reading!

__________________________________
Fred C. Klein
Klein, Zelman, Rothermel & Dichter, L.L.P
485 Madison Avenue, 15th Floor
New York, NY 10022
(212) 935-6020
fklein at legal.org
http://www.kzrd.com
http://www.gothamnetworking.com
----- Forwarded by Fred Klein/KZRD on 08/12/2005 02:54 PM -----

             Gary Anzalone                                                 
             <gma59 at optonline.                                             
             net>                                                       To 
                                       Fred Klein <FKlein at kzrd.com>        
             08/12/2005 02:32                                           cc 
             PM                        Fred Klein <fklein at legal.org>       
                                                                   Subject 
                                       Fw: TelE-Sales Tips- Prepare Like   
                                       It's The Supreme Court              

Fred - I thought you would relate to this.  Gary

This Week's Tip:
Prepare Like John Roberts

You don't get to be a top sales rep by winging it.

Or, a Supreme Court justice, for that matter.

John Roberts, the present nominee, specialized
primarily in arguing cases in the Supreme
Court. Which would be like a baseball pitcher
specializing in pitching only in the World Series.

Oh, and he won 25 of his 39 cases.

He is good, because he prepares. According to
a Newsweek article, colleagues at his law firm
say he would race around the firm with a white
legal pad, jotting down questions he might be
asked, and then answering them.

A fellow attorney said, "He'd have it with him at
the office, and he'd bring it home at night."

He'd amass 300 questions and answers for a
case, then stage moot-court sessions to rehearse.

His performances were a sight to behold. Another
attorney said, "If we heard Roberts was going to be
arguing, we'd go down to watch. He was that good.
It was like if Tiger Woods was hitting balls at your
club, you'd want to watch him too."

And every top sales rep I've ever seen does something
similar in his/her profession. Do you?

Here are some areas where you can and should.

Screeners and Gatekeepers
Can you instantly provide a response to the question,
"What is this in reference to?"? And I mean a good,
results-oriented answer, not one that gets you screened
out.

The Tough Questions
Ever hear, "I don't believe I'm interested," at the
beginning of a call? Are you able to breeze past this
reflex response--which isn't a real objection, by the
way--and engage them in conversation, moving them to
a state of interest and curiosity?

Unexpected Answers to Questions
We're all able to build sales momentum when they
follow the script we'd like ... answering questions
with the positive, interest-filled responses that
lead to our objective. But what about the ones we
DON'T want? The ones that resemble a hard-drive
crash, wiping away all of your memory.

Real Objections
Too many sales reps dread objections because they
feel that to deal with them they must "overcome"
them with a canned, argumentative answer. Those
types of "rebuttals" actually throw gasoline on
the fire. Instead, we must be prepared with
questions.

In each of these areas, I recommend the same
prescription for excellence: work and preparation.

There's no easy way to sound smooth.

A sales rep told me at a recent training seminar,

"You make it look so easy, coming up with quick
answers. How do you do it?"

Oh, it was easy, I told him. After 20 years, over
1000 sales training presentations, thousands of my
own sales calls, and thousands of hours of writing,
reading, and practicing, it just comes naturally.

C'mon, no one is naturally smooth.

Although almost everyone can sound that way.

But we must be un-smooth and uncomfortable first.

Before you can golf in the 80's, you go through
the 90's.

If you want to raise yourself to the next level,
go back to the basics and beyond.

ACTION STEP
Lock yourself in a room with a pad of paper. Begin
by writing out difficult situations you encounter.
Use the ones I mentioned above. Then, stretch, knead,
and rack your mind until you create word-for-word
responses and questions you're comfortable with.
(Doing this with a small group works well too.)

Then, go to the next level. Like a military strategist
preparing for all possible scenarios, brainstorm for
their possible responses.

Keep repeating the process.

Then practice it out loud. Role play with a partner.

Recite--don't read--into a tape recorder.

What's great about this is that the more you do this,
the better you become, which means better results. Which
means you have more fun on calls. Which also means you're
more confident on your calls.

And people will be saying about you, "You sound so
smooth! You're a natural."

Or, "You could be a Supreme Court Justice!"

QUOTES OF THE WEEK
"To be prepared is to have no anxiety."
Korean proverb

"Chance favors the prepared mind."
Louis Pasteur

"Luck is when preparedness meets opportunity."
(attributed to many)

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