Trash Your Sales Talk Horror

by Chris Lytle
Monster Contributing Writer
Source: http://sales.monster.com/articles/horror22/

Tough customers can be the best sales trainers. Listening to a cranky customer is a great way to learn what not to do. Most salespeople have been figuratively shot down. But what happens when your sales manager actually does get shot in the midst of your presentation?

The Big Bang Theory of Closing

Monster member pprince swears this happened:

In the '60s, I sold for a major equipment leasing company. I had tried three times to get one prospect to sign the contract for a substantial piece of business. Each time, the prospect found new objections to the wording. I would then call my boss to see if the changes were possible before leaving the prospect's office. When I reached the switchboard operator this time, she said, "We are being held up. They shot Mr. G and put everyone but me in the closet. Call the police!"

I turned to the prospect and said, "They just shot my boss. Sign the papers. Then, call the police. I've got to get back to the office!" I grabbed the signed contract and ran out. Mr. G had, in fact, been shot. It was not fatal.

The Accidental Salesperson notes: Having a sense of urgency and transferring it to your customer is sometimes hard to do. In this case, it was hard not to.

The Cranky Customer

Monster member lshaindlin recalls:

I went into a demo not knowing that the customer had a chip on her shoulder toward my company. Because I'd been dealing with one of her direct reports, I wasn't aware how big that chip was.

As she walked into the meeting, the first thing she said to me was, "I hate salespeople, and don't give me any of that sales talk."

I was holding a stack of index cards to use in my sales talk. I walked over to the trashcan and threw the cards away. Then I asked her to please define "sales talk" so I was sure not to do it.

That broke the ice, and I proceeded through the rest of the meeting just talking about their needs and our solutions. We signed the contract the next day.

The Accidental Salesperson notes: Focusing on the customer's needs instead of your notes was the right thing to do. Throwing the cards in the trash was a wonderful nonverbal signal that you were willing to listen to the customer.

Sales Horror Crypt Classic: What Are You Looking At?

Monster member tim_lex has this story:

My new company stressed professional appearances. After three weeks on the job, I went to a buddy's incredible bachelor party. I woke up the next morning to discover my friends had shaved off my eyebrows. After getting over my initial shock, I began to panic about how my new colleagues and clients would respond to my appearance. Finally, I got my girlfriend to draw eyebrows, and they actually looked OK. None of my coworkers noticed, and I began to get my confidence back. I decided to go on a sales call that I had been preparing for more than a week. Upon arriving and meeting the potential client, I noticed he was staring at me kind of funny.

That's when I lost it. I screamed, "I am not a drag queen! My !@#$ friends shaved them off!"

The client just stared at me and then began to shake with laughter. It broke the ice, and he is now one of my best customers. I used those eyebrows, or lack of eyebrows, in most every meeting until they grew back. This worked so well that I have even considered shaving them off again.

The Accidental Salesperson responds: This story works because your friends played a practical joke on you. When you start shaving your own eyebrows, we'll ask you to share your story elsewhere.

Moments That Take Our Breath Away...

I had a very special teacher in high school many years ago whose husband suddenly and unexpectedly died of a heart attack. About a week after his death, she shared some of her insight with a classroom of students.

As the late afternoon sunlight came streaming in through the classroom windows and the class was nearly over, she moved a few things on the edge of her desk aside and sat down there.

With a gentle look of reflection on her face, she paused and said, "Before class is over, I would like to share with all of you a thought that is unrelated to class, but which I feel is very important. Each of us is put here on earth to learn, share, love, appreciate and give of ourselves. None of us knows when this fantastic experience will end. It can be taken away at any moment. Perhaps this is the Powers That Be way of telling us that we must make the most out of every single day."

Her eyes beginning to water, she went on, "So I would like you all to make me a promise. From now on, on your way to school, or on your way home, find something beautiful to notice. It doesn't have to be something you see. It could be a scent -- perhaps of freshly baked bread wafting out of someone's house -- or it could be the sound of the breeze slightly rustling the leaves in the trees, or the way the morning light catches one autumn leaf as it falls gently to the ground. Please look for these things, and cherish them. For, although it may sound trite to some, these things are the "stuff" of life. The little things we are put here on earth to enjoy. The things we often take for granted. We must make it important to notice them, for at any time...it can all be taken away."

The class was completely quiet. We all picked up our books and filed out of the room silently.

That afternoon, I noticed more things on my way home from school than I had that whole semester.

Every once in a while, I think of that teacher and remember what an impression she made on all of us, and I try to appreciate all of those things that sometimes we all overlook.

Take notice of something special you see on your lunch hour today. Go barefoot. Or walk on the beach at sunset. Stop off on the way home tonight to get a double-dip ice cream cone. For as we get older, it is not the things we did that we often regret, but the things we didn't do.

If you like this, please pass it on to a friend, if not just delete it and go on with your life!

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

How Stock Market Works

The stock market is driven by supply and demand. The number of shares of stock dictates the supply and the number of shares that investors want to buy dictates the demand. It's important to understand the for every share that is purchased, there is someone on the other end selling that share (or vice versa). The stock market is really just a big, automated superstore where everyone goes to buy and sell their stock. The main players in the stock market are the exchanges. Exchanges are where the sellers are matched with buyers to both facilitate trading and to help set the price of the shares. The primary exchanges are the Nasdaq, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), all of the ECNs (electronic communication networks) and a few other regional exchanges like the American Stock Exchange and the Pacific Stock Exchange. Years ago, all of the trading was done through the traditional exchanges (like the NYSE, American and Pacific Exchanges) but now almost all of the trading is done through the Nasdaq, which uses ECNs and thousands of other firms with access to the Nasdaq to facilitate trading.

Here's an example of one of the many ways that the stock market works:

You open an account with E*Trade. You send E*Trade a check for $1,000. E*Trade deposits the check into a trading account that is listed under your name. You log onto E*Trade and place an order to buy 100 shares of a stock in Company A, which is currently trading at $5. E*Trade uses it's network to tell the Nasdaq and all of it's related networks that there is demand for 100 shares of Company A's stock. The Nasdaq finds someone who is willing to sell 100 shares of Company A and, instantaneously, they execute the trading of stock between you and the person selling the shares. The trade information is sent to a clearinghouse where the information is processed and the shares will now be registered to you. Basically, the clearinghouse will designate 100 shares of Company A to E*Trade and E*Trade will designate those 100 shares as yours. The actual stock certificates are typically held "in street name" and never really need to exchange hands (although you could request that the stock certificates be transferred to your name).

In a nutshell, that's how the stock market works. The stock market is really just like any other marketplace - it facilitates the exchange of goods between interested parties and works to reduce distribution costs and set prices.

Five Steps to Financial Freedom

Financial security for you and your family does not just happen - you have to be motivated and disciplined, and you have to have a strategy.

1. Knowledge

There is no substitute for knowing the facts. Financial knowledge comes in two parts: educating yourself generally and knowing your financial situation specifically.

Financial knowledge is not difficult to acquire. It is available everywhere: in newspapers, on TV, radio and the internet, and through your financial institution's promotional publications. For most people, financial ignorance has nothing to do with lack of access and everything to do with attitude. We often say, "This is for other people." But to think this way is to do yourself a disservice. Financial matters affect us all in direct ways. It therefore makes sense to become better informed and to understand the processes that can enrich or impoverish us.

2. Goals

We all need goals. Without something to strive for, life becomes a grind. This is as true financially as it is in other areas of life. Most of our goals require money, so reaching them means we must have a financial plan to get there.

There are three types of goals: Long term (for example, to retire with enough to live on comfortably); medium term (for example, to pay for a child's university education, or to extend a home, or start a business); and short term (for example, to budget effectively to control your spending to establish a healthy savings pattern). Take a close look at your own goals and work out the financial implications. With realistic goals to strive for, financial discipline and self-control become much easier.

3. Honesty

Knowledge and honesty go hand-in-hand. Knowledge without honesty is unreliable and will do nothing towards helping you to realise your goals. Honesty means assessing yourself, your needs and your areas of weakness. It means facing facts. Are you in debt over your head? Admit it to yourself. Are you free from debt, but unable to achieve your goals due to lack of commitment? You can change your habits and achieve your goals, but it requires an honest look at yourself. Only if you are honest about your shortcomings will you be able to overcome them!


4. Discipline

This is the least popular requirement for financial freedom.

Financial freedom does not mean having unlimited money. It means managing what you have in such a way that you are free from worry, guilt or fear. Applying discipline where it is required reaps great rewards. Learn to say "no" to yourself. If you keep your goals in sight, it is easier to be disciplined. The people who find self-discipline hardest of all are those with no clear goals and no plan for how to achieve them - or goals that are so distant and unrealistic that they are removed from daily life.

Revisit your goals regularly, apply discipline and self-control, and you stand a good chance of realising your dreams.

5. Compassion

Acquiring wealth can be a worthwhile goal, but on its own it cannot bring satisfaction or fulfilment. True happiness comes from using our resources - whether money, energy or talent - to make a positive difference to the world around us. There are plenty of ways to do this. Some people donate money to charities every month because they approve of the work that the charities perform. Others use their money to give someone else a leg up - perhaps a younger person with ambition, or a mother struggling to make ends meet. Others, again, prefer to put a small part of their wealth back into the community they grew up in. It all makes the world a better place!

Saving is Imperative!

Saving is important, for the past, present and the future, but takes a plan.

Everyone has a different reason for saving, just as all people differ in income, and in expenses that are deemed necessary. But one thing that doesn't differ is the need to save. Saving is perhaps the single most important thing that any person can do for financial success.

For the individual, savings translates into power. It might be the power to afford a down payment on a home, which would then allow the transition from the perpetual renter to the stable home owner. Or perhaps it might be the power to afford a used car, and therefore be able to make it to a better job across town.

More importantly, Savings creates freedom from debt. Savings can translate into power in every area of finance, by ending the habit of buying on credit. A person who has developed the discipline to save, will also have developed the discipline to control spending. This will lead to planned purchases, and an end to impulse item purchasing -- an activity that frequently leads to credit card transactions.