Selling

The Reason Buyers Never Buy Big And Dreamers Dream Too Small

Garth Beyer

The buyers have a mindset preventing them from succeeding because they have been taught that they have limits they can’t pass. The same goes for dreamers.

The dreamer only dreams of living in a mansion or directly on the coast of California. The buyer thinks of purchasing a house just big enough for her family and a good 15 blocks away from the coast.For the actual capabilities of her, of a person, even you, to achieve this – well, it’s easy.

Eliminate the restraints that both dreamers and buyers have in their minds and you have a dreamer dreaming of owning a private island and a buyer getting a yacht to go with it. The saying can go “if you’re going to dream, dream big”, “if you’re going to buy, buy big”, but both are meaningless as long as the limitations are there – and they are. They are there for the upper class, the middle class (who suffer the most from the mental hindrance), and even the lower class.

Every person has this nudge when going after something they really want, that they should settle for something just okay, something they can deal with. Stop it. By having the attitude of only dreaming and buying things that are just “good enough”, you are creating a world filled with just that. Personally, I will take the private island and the yacht over an apartment and a dinky car that will just get me by. In fact, don’t mind if I do.

 

Stay Positive & How About You?

Garth E. Beyer

My Secret Obsession: Starbucks (Not their coffee…well..that too)

Garth Beyer

I was in New York last week for Seth Godin’s Pick Yourself event. Instead of writing a post about that, (which I will soon), I couldn’t help but write about the one thing that you see every 72 steps in any direction: Starbucks

1 out of 3 Baristas laughed. 2 actually thought I was named Voldemort

Guy Kawasaki, a likely idol of both of ours, had written an article telling how important mantras are and that the shortest are often the sweetest. The example he used for the greatest mantra from the greatest company on the planet is  Starbucks – “Rewarding Everyday Moments”

I apologize for those who disagree,  I can’t help but side with Guy. Starbucks is the the real deal, the perfect role model and incorporates every trademark of a successful company. For example, my friend (who works at Starbucks) had told me this story the other week.

“The other day in the drive through this woman wanted a small but ordered a venti because she thought it meant a small. When she was shocked at the size and the price, my manager told me to  just charge her for a tall. So many other places you just don’t do that. It’s always a pleasant surprise to people you meet at work when you get to be nice.”

Starbucks revolutionized coffee and the experience of getting it. Put together a CEO and marketing mavens and you get a company like Starbucks; who defy all logic and assumptions and who have altered the beverage marketplace by defining quality, creating convenience and most importantly, having heart.

That is why I couldn’t complain after every 72 steps when I would look up at see the Starbucks sign. The beauty of Starbucks is that it is available to the masses – “from the student who wants a latte to the CEO who needs it.” More importantly, it represents that you can find generosity, people who care, tentativeness and truly great people – in abundance. Simply walk 72 steps in NYC and you will know what I mean.

Starbucks also signifies risks.

“When Starbucks and other companies made stock options grants back in 2008, there was no guarantee that the companies would succeed. Performance was not a sure thing,” says Starbucks spokesman Jim Olson.

It was less than a sure thing, it was unexpected. It was an occurrence that only the greatest companies could actually leverage. In this case, Starbucks succeeded and continues to do so.

Stay Positive & I Solemnly Swear That Starbucks Is Up To Too Much Good

Garth E. Beyer

Two Types Of Public Speaking Confidence

Garth Beyer

Confidence in public speaking goes much deeper than simply being prepared and excited to give a speech. Those who strike the audience with an unexpected amount of determination are those that create a balance of the two types of public speaking confidence.

Type 1: Confidence In What You Are Saying

To have confidence in what you are saying you have to do your research. You need to know the topic you’re speaking on inside and out. Depending on the topic of choice, you may even have to know ideas and concepts that do not support the outlook you are taking on a topic. For more a more simple term, you can label this Analytical Confidence. To acquire this confidence, which is vigorously sought after in all professional positions, you have to be able to analyze every aspect of your topic. For example, you know how most people only know how to sing the alphabet? Well, to have analytical confidence, you have to know how to say it backwards, say it in German, French and Gibberish, create it in Morse Code, have a hieroglyphic example and be able to sing the alphabet to rhythm of the Canadian national anthem. Those who have this type of confidence, are considered Mavens on the subject and are the most respected people and speakers in the world.

Type 2: Confidence In How You Say It

Knowledge is power when you are public speaking, but remaining shy and quiet renders your intellectual stature meaningless. You may know what you have to say, but are you saying it right? The one technique for putting the most confidence in how you speak is to fuel it with passion. When you deliver a speech on a topic you are passionate about, you somehow create just the right balance between remaining humble and being assertive. For example, a person can know everything they need to get the job they want, but they won’t get it unless they show their knowledge, passion and the combination of the two which is confidence.

Confidence in what you say is gained from preparation and research. Confidence in how you say it is accredited to the level of motivation and  passion you have with the idea. Combine the two and you have the everything it takes to be a world class public speaker.

Stay Positive & Take Control Of Your Confidence

Garth E. Beyer

Alarm Marketing

Garth Beyer
You Prospects Lose If They Snooze Too

A New “Prospect”ive On The Alarm

An alarm, if unique enough, can wake up any person every single day. But very few alarms are capable of that. After using the same alarm over and over the person will begin sleeping through it. The alarms that work wake a person instantly causing them to be mentally alert. The first thought they have is why the alarm went off.

This is your best window of opportunity as a Marker to communicate to your client. The content you deliver will be the decision maker whether the alarm get’s snoozed or even worse, unplugged. Look at it this way, if you knew that you were going to Paris tomorrow, you’re not going to hit the snooze button because you are too far excited. As a Marketer, your product or service you signify has to have the same effect.

Now, it is not so much what you have to give, it is what your prospects get to do, get to have, and get to feel. Those three variables are what your alarm has to communicate. They don’t care what you are offering, they care about the by-products they receive in addition to their package. The only people who I know that wake up simply to get what people have to give are ebayers, and what you are offering better not be applicable to ebay. If you don’t have a good enough reason for waking them up, it’s back to sleep for the prospect and back where you started for you.

Alarms are risky, but if you don’t take the risk of the prospect hitting the snooze button then you don’t “risk” them not hitting it either. This generation is all about quickness, impulse, convenience and accessibility. That means the alarm needs to be instant, jolting, and precise. There is no time for a 2 minute elevator speech or a half-page bio of your service/product. If you can’t pass the alarm test and gain enough interest for them to wake up and act, change the ringer.

If you can’t connect with your prospect even with a change of alarm then use a back up plan and issue an alarm with the first thing most people do in your niche audience. Is the first thing they do after waking up is check their email? Do they go to Starbucks? Do they read a specific blog or online content in the morning? Get in those places and insert the alarm. Be the first thing that makes their day full of excitement and worth it.

Alarm Marketing is a new outlook at the fast-paced lifestyle of the current and future prospects. It limits the time frame that advertising and PR needs to be invested and applies the 80/20 rule more so than is advised. It implies that you, as a Marketer, have about a 4 hour time bracket each day to be the answer of a prospects problem and be the reason why waking up was easy. It also incorporates the frequent change of tactics to keep prospects appealed and coming back.

Don’t Think The Prospects Alarm Is The Only One

You know what rhymes with the “ring” of an alarm, the “cha-ching” of  money being handed over to you. As @ClemensRettich puts it “Biz needs to hear the ring of the cash register as an alarm: time to wake up and follow through”. The alarm of the “cash register” means your work has just begun. You have to follow-up and give even more than what was expected. Their purchase and investment is your alarm and there is no snooze button on it. Either you act immediately or you lose your prospects future business. Clemens continues to add that “Biz fall asleep after the cash register rings. Too bad, because retention and referrals are where the value is”. With that, I will add that you can’t run a successful business if you are solely based on getting new customers because you didn’t wake up to your alarm. Business advancement as well as monetary accumulation is the sole result of recurring, reliable and committed prospects.

Stay Positive & I Resisted All This Time But… “You Snooze, You Lose”

Garth E. Beyer

Be In It For The Long-Run: Product Longevity

Garth Beyer

You are the only one who wants instant benefits.

Everyone else is investing in long term results.

Quality has devoured quantity. Customers, employers, investors, marketers – they all expect the quality to last. That is what they are after.

Let’s look at the product life cycle and Mac’s for instance. Jef Raskin began by focusing on the market introduction and growth state, but it was Steve Jobs who maintained these two stages at the same time as the maturity stage of Apple which allowed them to continuously keep the lead. Their survival was the function of disciplined attention to brand identity and equity. While that was the marketing aspect, many fail to realize the product longevity attitude that was put into Mac’s. They were made to be in it for the long-run. The greatest selling point a product could have – longevity.

Convenience was the heart of the largest product sales, until it became standard in every sale of the product. Nothing will profit without convenience to the consumer. Now that there is no longer a competition of who is more convenient, it is a matter of what product will last the longest.

Neil Kokemuller of Demand Media says that, “Although predicting specific longevity of a product life cycle is impossible, businesses want a general idea of the expected length of the life cycle for optimized production and marketing planning. Technology life cycles tend to unfold fairly quickly as competition intensifies and technology evolves. Missing the timing of a prime market opportunity can mean your product fails in the market. Additionally, marketers and salespeople need to know whether they are promoting a stable, consistent and reputable brand with a longer life, or a new and improved, or cutting-edge product.”

 

The Dexterity Of “Product” Longevity – It’s Universal

Bloggers who receive the most views, are creating posts that can be read with even a larger impact 1-3 years from now.

Investors don’t care about the start-up price, they care about consistency in equity over the next 10 years.

Business’s cannot even start-up without the stability to last for 5+ years, and that number is steadily increasing.

Even the underrated occupations are falling victim to the rising standards of consumers.

Painters are being asked how long the paint job will last and people will pay more for the number of years.

Personal Fitness Trainers are expected to teach clients the lessons necessary to keep the body they want.

 

What other scenarios can you think of?

 

Stay Positive and Haul Long

Garth E. Beyer

The First Hand Fails: This Is How The Second Hand Succeeds In Sales

Garth Beyer

Do you want first hand experience with the philosophy and tactics of selling?

I do!     Err, I did.

Somewhere between not wanting to pay $250 dollars for a Seminar on selling and getting restless when I would read 200 pages of business/selling advice every day, I found World Financial Group. Better yet, they found me.

Side Note: Did you know that almost as many people who secondhand smoke end up with as many health problems and issues as someone who does the smoking? You can even agree that those who second-hand smoke, typically end up smoking. I never thought I could take such a terrible relationship and create an analogy out of it, but I am going to give it a puff, so read on.

The “I’m Gonna Make 500k a Year” Adrenaline Rush

It’s time to kick the adrenaline and excitement of selling out of your system. You can go to school, seminars and read as many books as you want on selling, but you still won’t be the best salesman. All that the knowledge will create is an adrenaline to sell, and when you go out to make your first few sales, you will most likely be unsuccessful>feel beat>not want to put the tad of extra effort to succeed>give up>go back to trying to be what your parents want you to be>and feel out-of-place the rest of your life. Unless…

You soak up the concept that I am going to share with you.

1. For the beginners in sales or those who simply want to learn the strategies of a salesman, this concept is perfect for you.

2. For those who are on the unsuccessful sales track that I presented above, this concept is the tad of extra effort you need to succeed in all your future sales.

3. For those who consider themselves experts in selling, congratulations on failing enough to turn your experience into something remarkable. This concept I am about to share is very much like your process — but in this concept, you don’t fail.

The concept: Become the second-hand smoker of sales.

I mentioned World Financial Group (WFG) and this will be the basis of explaining the concept you need to follow to skip failure in sales. If you have not heard of WFG they are a national seller of insurance, investments and financial advice.

I received a phone call from them about two weeks ago. The sales-field adviser in IL wanted to ask me a few questions related to my direction in life and thoughts about assisting families by providing financial advise. He told me one of my good friends recommended me for the position and he would like me to come to the office in IL for a presentation. (Remember, I live in WI now)

I thought to myself, “All the greatest leaders in history were at once involved with sales.” On top of that, if you can’t tell by the majority of the information on my website, I want to be a broker and financial advisor to families and individuals so this opportunity seemed like I could combine the two.

I went to the presentation in IL and really enjoyed the message and point of the company to help families with all financial variables, not just selling insurance. After the presentation I had a private meeting with the Field Advisor. During the meeting he began to talk more about the company and how it seemed that I would fit in and then he started asking questions about me. (Quick tip about me, when you meet me, you know immediately how much I love to talk) I began getting more excited, telling him about all my qualities that would be perfect for the company. I then started sending a torrent of questions about the company at him. I am not easily persuaded, I think things all the way through and I allow time between information intake and decision making when possible. He did not know this though…

75% of my excitement and energy came from the great position that I could place myself in, it’s a little bit of everything I want to be: My own business, financial advising, life improving, etc. The other 25% of excitement and energy came from acting like every other person that has walked through the door. (It is said WFG calls around 10,000 ‘friends of friends’ to come in and check a presentation out every month)

To shorten the rest of the story, I did not apply to become a WFG associate (yet). Instead, I wanted to check out the WI branch and see what they have to offer. To reiterate, I am going to check out the WI branch primarily because It seems like something I really want to do (75% of excitement and energy). It’s also another opportunity to learn selling techniques (25% of acting).

I Hope The Smoke Is Starting To Clear

You have just been given a very short summary of my experience. If I told you to go back and read it and tell me the selling techniques that were used on me, you could find at least 7. Don’t think so? Then let me pull them up for you.

1.  He networked. He used my friend whom I trust to gain my trust in him.

2. My friend and him had talked so he knew that I was ambitious and I made it clear when I answered his questions that I enjoyed talking about myself and my goal sand accomplishments. Quick personality background check.

3. I was recommended. Who doesn’t like knowing that they got recommended for something?

4. Presented the best qualities and mission of the company through a simple Powerpoint presentation. Exploiting the best parts of the job and not mentioning the money making aspect of it.

5. Square peg into square hole. How I fit perfectly into the picture.

6. Brought up questions the right questions. About me.

7. Answered as many questions as I threw at him (Trust me, I asked A LOT).

Multiply 7 by 3 and the Smoke Better Be Gone

7 x 3 = How many sales techniques were used in total on me. The reason I mentioned the 7 above is because that is all it took to get me in, I really wanted to become an associate (I still may). Once it was unveiled to me that the Field Advisor was selling me the position and that I was the prospect, I began playing my part even more. (25% acting). Later that evening, once my excitement began decreasing, I was able to note all that I learned from the endeavor. Once the 75% energy and interest began to dwindle, the 25% of acting started to provide me results and I discovered the other 14 selling techniques that were used on me.

Look at it like this: The field advisor is the smoker and I just got done second-hand smoking.

I knowingly and excitedly became the second-hand smoker of sales. I just learned 21 techniques of selling in one session by becoming the prospect.

Why Learn From Your Failures When You Can Be The Failure Of Others

I do not at all support the fact of purposefully creating failure for other people. I do however promote experiences that teach both parties lessons that will improve each parties talents. In this case, I provided more selling experience to the WFG Field Advisor along with clearly showing what techniques worked best. (They really did work. As I said, only 25% was acted. He was the one who inspired and excited the other 75%) As my reward for my contribution to his increase in talent and experience, I got to second-hand smoke his sales techniques.

Every mentor in “Sales” will tell you to listen to listen to CD’s on reading and understanding people, read books on connecting with people, and browse examples of successful sales. All of this is what you should already be doing, but no mentor is going to tell you to go out and become a prospect.

I am telling you otherwise.

To only study the philosophy of selling is not enough, you have to become part of the philosophy. The best way is not to go out and sell — this will lead you to learn from YOUR failures. The best way is to go out and be the one who is sold to!

You do not need to be the primary smoker… I mean seller.

Stay Positive and Inhale The Benefits of Second Hand Selling

Garth E. Beyer

Interested in the 14 other sales techniques that were used? Email me at TheGarthBox@gmail.com with the subject line Sales Techniques