Top Secrets of Marketing & Sales

If you don't hit the sales goals set by either you or your employer, that's a problem. In this podcast, business growth expert David Blaise explains why. If you're just starting out and you're not yet hitting your sales and profit goals, maybe you're lucky. Maybe it's just a timing thing and eventually, you will. But if you've been in the industry for any length of time and you're STILL not hitting your desired levels of sales and profit, that indicates a real problem. In fact, it indicates a problem that time is unlikely to fix. Because as the saying goes, if you keep doing what you're doing, you'll keep getting what you're getting. Let's look at the reasons we set sales goals in the first place. Very often, businesses set at least minimal goals for their salespeople. They know how much the salesperson needs to generate in order to just pay for himself or herself. And that's before they're ever profitable to the company. Some companies are more patient than others. But let's face it, when salespeople can't do the one thing their hired to do -- sell -- it's unlikely they're going to remain employed in that capacity. "You had one job!" The fact of the matter is that in most businesses, everyone's job ultimately depends on the company's ability to sell it's products and services. Because if nothing is being sold, no one is getting paid. At least not for very long. But beyond company goals -- the goals required to simply remain employed -- as individuals we also tend to set personal goals. These are the sales goals that will actually allow us to achieve our own desires and objectives. "If I generate x dollars in sales, I'll earn y dollars in commissions. After taxes, this will allow me to pay my bills, live in the home I want, drive the car I want, pay for college for my kids and provide for myself and my family in the style to which we'd like to become accustomed." When it happens, it's great! But in our industry, even those salespeople who manage to hit their company goals often fail to hit their personal sales goals again and again, year in and year out. They continue to put in more time and effort, but they still can't hit the numbers they want. They sacrifice their time, energy, health and quality of living and still fail to hit their numbers. It's a tremendous source of frustration. And it's confusing because so many of us have been taught that it's hard work that leads to success. But if you continue to target a level of sales for yourself that continues to elude you year after year, please don't delude yourself into thinking that time is going to fix it. It won't. What Can You Possibly be Doing? My business partner, Rick Drake, was talking to a distributor who was frustrated with her sales volume. She told him how hard she was working -- putting in eight to ten hour days five or six days a week for years without achieving the level of success she was looking for. When he asked her sales volume, she said she was doing $20,000 a year in gross sales. He was shocked. He blurted out "What can you POSSIBLY be doing for ten hours a day, five or six days a week to only generate $20,000 in sales?" It was a blunt response, but it's a great question, and it was absolutely the best possible question he could ask her. Really, what WAS she doing with those hours? And what are you doing with yours? It doesn't matter if the number is $20,000, $200,000 or $2 million. The chronic inability to hit your own desired sales goals indicates a serious problem that time alone will not fix. Naturally, I'm not talking about people who set sales goals, achieve them, and then set new ones. All of us should constantly strive to exceed our previous successes and shoot for new heights. But frustration, stagnation, and lack of achievement require different actio...

Tired of having your presentations derailed? In this podcast, business growth expert David Blaise reveals his simple, three-step RPR method to regain control of the sales process. As salespeople, we all know that if we want to be effective, we need to maintain control of the sales process.  We also know that generally speaking, whoever is asking the questions, controls the conversation. But the way we do that -- the way we ask questions and maintain control of the conversation and the selling process is also important. We can't always just flip things around on our prospects and expect them to sit still for it. Back in the early days of sales training, many people were taught to answer customer questions with questions. Some people still subscribe to that philosophy. So if the prospect said, "Does it come in green?" you might respond, "Would you like it in green?" If the prospect asks "How much for your mugs?" you might respond, "What's your budget?" To me, this is downright painful. If you're dealing with a thoroughly uneducated customer, you might get away with an approach like this. But uneducated customers don't usually control large budgets. And today, in an era of highly educated consumers, responses like that are just deadly. Not to mention painful to listen to! In most cases, ignoring prospects' questions and just trying to flip them around does not benefit either you or them. Naturally, as sales professionals, we don't want our presentations to get derailed. We need to keep things focused. We need to keep things moving forward. So very often there are times when we would prefer to put off answering a prospect's question or questions -- particularly those related to price -- until after we convey the major points of our presentation. However, ignoring or disregarding our client's questions is not the appropriate response. We can ask them to hold their questions until the end, but we can't always make that work. We can sometimes deflect by saying we'll get to that in a moment, but we can't always make that work either. For that reason, I find that in nearly every situation, when questioned, we are far better if we provide a basic response, the promise of more information, and then a quick redirect to turn the conversation back to where you need it to be. I call it RPR: Response, Promise, Redirect So if they ask "Does it come in green?" you could say, "I believe it does, but I'll confirm the exact colors for you. Is this for an ongoing promotion?" Response: "I believe it does." Promise: "I'll confirm the exact colors for you." Redirect: "Is this for an ongoing promotion?" When you answer using this framework -- Response, Promise, Redirect -- your prospects won't feel like you're blowing off their questions. They won't feel like you're ignoring them or disrespecting them. They won't feel like you're flipping their words around on them to make a sale, and you'll get credit for being far more responsive. Prospect: "How much for your mugs?" Salesperson: "Well, the pricing depends on the style you want as well as the quantity you're ordering. I can give you specific pricing when we've clarified some more of the details. Tell me, when do you need them delivered?" Response, promise, redirect. It's the cleanest way I've found to address questions when you're not quite ready to address them. Let's face it, relationship marketing is about relationships. So why not shoot straight? Respond to your client's basic question, give them the promise of a more complete answer and redirect them back with a quick question designed to get you more of the information you need to close the sale.

Is it true that in business, everyone is replaceable? In this podcast, business growth expert David Blaise discusses the facts behind this uncomfortable truth.

It can be tempting to give in when clients beat us up over price. However, in this podcast, we'll explain why that is rarely a good idea.

"Sales is a numbers game," they said. "Make more calls and you'll make more money," they said. "Keep smilin' and dialin'," they said. They said a lot of things, but who are they, anyway? Is sales truly a numbers game? If you make more calls, will it always increase your sales? Here's my take on it. Yes, sales IS a numbers game, but it is a SMART numbers game. This means that more calls are NOT always the answer. For example, here are three times when calling more people is NOT the answer: 1. When you say the wrong things. Some salespeople were never adequately trained on what to say and what NOT to say... let alone how to say it. When salespeople like this get on the phone with live prospects, more calls are NOT the answer. Instead, they are detrimental. The more calls they make, the more prospects they have the potential to alienate. Not ideal. 2. When you target the wrong businesses. Face it, each business is different. They are not all equal. Some have a lot of money. Some have a little. And some have debt up to their eyeballs. Sell to a company like that, and good luck getting paid! When you make more calls to the wrong businesses, you don't just waste your time, you may do more harm than good. 3. When you approach the wrong people. Some salespeople do a terrible job of targeting. As a result, they reach the wrong people. Maybe it's not their fault. Maybe it's like in the movie Glen Garry Glen Ross. "The leads are weak." In any event, if you call the wrong people, in the wrong companies, and the wrong departments at the wrong time... if you approach those with no need, no desire, no money, no budget, and no ability to pay, then no amount of additional calls will improve your results. So does this mean you should use it as an excuse not to make calls, hang up your phone, and go home? No. It means you should start dialing smarter instead of just faster. For brand new promotional distributors we have a training program called Getting Started. If you're new to the industry and you have not taken this training or something as thorough, then I can virtually guarantee you are leaving money on the table, running the risk of alienating clients and losing business. You can get details on that program at topsecrets.com/gettingstarted If you're already established in the industry and just need help bringing in new business like clockwork, we have a tested, proven six-step process for doing just that. It's called Top Secrets of Customer Acquisition and promotional products professionals across the country and around the world prove that it works, time and time again. You can test-drive it in your business, risk-free for one full year. For details, go to topsecrets.com/tsca. Check out one of those links. Order Getting Started or Top Secrets of Customer Acquisition or both and put them to work in your business for one full year. If it doesn't make or save you at least ten times its cost in increased sales or bottom-line savings, I don't want you to keep it. Just request a full refund. We have offered this guarantee on our training products since 1998, so if the program didn't work, we would have gone out of business long ago. Improve your sales. Make your numbers game smarter. Look beyond "more calls." Don't make another worthless phone call. Instead, visit our website or call 1-800-494-2721 right now, this very moment. Put these proven customer-getting resources to work immediately. So order Top Secrets of Customer Acquisition now, and I'll send you an instant gratification bonus! Instant gratification. It sounds naughty, but actually, it's nice! You get instant access to the complete customer acquisition overview,

If you’re not accomplishing everything you want in your business or sales career, take a look at your to-do list. If you’re like most people, you’ll find it’s not the things that are on there that create the problems. It’s the things you haven’t been able to get rid of.

Most businesses have a charitable side, and most charities have a business side -- at least if they want to remain in business. But there's a big difference between business and charity. In this podcast, we'll discuss some of the distinctions.

When your best clients talk to other people about you, what do they say? If you're focused on getting referrals you'll need a good answer to this. And you'll need to do it proactively. Do they say you're creative? That you're responsive? Do they say you're excellent at coming up with recommendations? The kind that make perfect sense for the objectives they're trying to reach? What if they're not saying anything about you at all? Whenever I ask salespeople where most of their business comes from, they inevitably tell me "word of mouth." Someone they know referred the business to them. That's a great place to get leads, but how can we make that happen more often? When Getting Referrals, the Answer is to Teach Our Prospects and Clients What to Say About Us Sometimes it's enough for them to say, "my friend Jim sells that stuff, you should give him a call." But that's not really all that compelling, is it? Instead, we want to give them the hook... the primary benefit of doing business with us rather than anyone else. This goes back to what I was saying before about what your best clients say when they talk to others about you. Do they say you're great at meeting deadlines? That you're able to work within budgets? That you can get stuff for them fast, fast, fast? It's nice when people say good things about us. But we also need to ask, "How does what they're saying about us match up with what we consider to be our core strengths? What do we want to be known for?" If they tell people you can get stuff for them fast, what type of clients will that attract? Last-minute shoppers? Indecisive people? Procrastinators? If they tell people you're the cheapest, what type of clients will that attract? Bidders? Cheapskates? Low-ballers? If you want people to send you the right type of referrals, you need to teach them what to say about you. And that starts with having some idea of what you want people to say about you. What Do You Want to Be Known for When You're Getting Referrals? What is it that you want other people to think about when they hear your name or your company name? Whatever it is, you need to say it with words and demonstrate it with actions. If your core strength is creativity, you need to promote your creativity (that is, tell prospects and clients how you do that, how you are creative.) Then demonstrate it with each presentation. If your core strength is meeting deadlines, you need to tell them in your marketing and show them with your actions. When we try to be all things to all people, it's harder for prospects and clients to understand what we're all about -- let alone explain it to other people and refer them to us. So today, take just a few moments to determine what you're great at. 1. What is it that you're great at? 2. What would you like to be great at? 3. What would you like to be known for? Take a moment. Jot it down. Then, concentrate your efforts on communicating that primary benefit in your conversations, your marketing, your emails, your blog posts, your social media -- and demonstrating it for your clients in the work you do every day. Your words can give people a great idea, a guideline of what to say about you, but ultimately your actions will determine whether or not they're going to want to say it. Are you ready to get more referrals and make more sales? If so, check out the five primary ways we help promotional product distributors grow: * Just Getting Started? If you (or someone on your team) is just getting started in promotional products sales, learn how we can help. * Need Clients Now?

One of the most important lessons I've ever learned in business is that just because we can do something -- either well or poorly -- doesn't mean we should do it. After all, being capable of doing things is not the same as being required to do them. And like most business lessons, I learned this one the hard way. In the early days of my career in the industry, I tried to do everything possible for a client. And I tried to do it all myself. Need a logo cleaned up? Sure, I can do that! And I don't mean jobbing it out. I mean physically doing it myself! Does the fact that I have no art background at all slow me down? Nope. I'll just figure it out and dive right in. Need "just-over-cost" pricing on that order? Sure, I can do that. It's not like I need profit margins to survive, right? Need rush service? Sure, I can do that, too. I don't mind eating rush charges for a first-time client who may or may not pay me at all. Want me to drop off the order in person? Sure, I can do that. Maybe I can find a pair of brown shorts and pretend I'm the UPS guy. That'd be awesome! Need me to wait 45 to 60 days to get paid? Sure, I can do that. Functioning as an unpaid banker is something I've always aspired to -- despite my desperate financial situation. It's amazing what we'll do in the early days when we don't know what we're doing. We Can Do All Kinds of Things For Our Clients. But Just Because We Can... Should We? In some cases, maybe we should. But in many cases, the answer is a resounding "no!" Naturally, we want to provide our clients with an exceptional experience. I'm not suggesting we shouldn't accommodate a client's reasonable requests whenever possible. But when the requests start to pile up, wasting our time and crushing our profit margins, it's sometimes best to just say no. Two Kinds of No In fact, there are two kinds of no we should learn how to say: First, is the public no. This is when we actually have to say "no" to our clients. We do this in response to requests that will actually harm you or your business. For instance, if your margin structure won't support the discount they're asking for, it's best to tell them you just can't do it. Moreover, if you don't have the financial wherewithal to carry an order past 90 days, don't wreck your credit rating by telling them you'll do it. Just say no. Second, is the private no. This is the no we should say to ourselves when we're tempted to do something that we know we should delegate to someone else. For example, "No, I won't clean up that logo myself. But I will job it out to someone who will do a better job than I would, in a fraction of the time -- and for far less than it would cost me to do it myself." Or, "no, I won't stop what I'm doing, run over and pick up those blank shirts, but I will send someone else to do it, or have them shipped, while I continue to sell." Finally, there are some things we shouldn't do for clients at all because those things are bad for business. There are other things we need to do for clients, that we shouldn't do ourselves. In both those cases, remember just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Are you ready to focus on doing the things that will get you results? If so, check out the five primary ways we help promotional product distributors grow: * Just Getting Started? If you (or someone on your team) is just getting started in promotional products sales, learn how we can help. * Need Clients Now? If you’re already grounded in the essentials of promotional product sales and just need to get clients now, click here. * Want EQP/Preferential Pricing?

In business and sales, we frequently talk about the importance of persistence. And it can certainly be a valuable trait… but only when we’re doing the right things. In this podcast, David Blaise explains why, when we’re doing the wrong things, persistence can be harmful, detrimental or even deadly.

Most experienced salespeople are at least somewhat familiar with the idea of selling to a client's needs. So how do you create a need when a prospect doesn't already feel like they need the products and services you offer? For decades, business owners and sales managers encouraged their sales teams to sell to the prospect's needs. "Find a need and fill it." But in reality, the biggest problem or issue in your prospect's mind is probably NOT related to the products you sell. So how do you sell to them if they don't have the need? Can you really create a need? It would be great if you could, but it is incredibly difficult to create needs in people out of thin air. You can't just tell them they need it, although many have tried. "You know, Mr. Prospect, you really need to buy these products." No, you probably won't create much need that way. Maybe you can turn it around in the form of a question like many salespeople have been trained to do. "So as you can see, Ms. Prospect, you really need to buy these products, don't you?" Again, no. You probably won't create much need that way either. So if you can't tell them they need it, and you can't just ask them if they need it, how do you sell to the need? Well, first of all, understand that instead of trying to create a need, it is far easier to channel or redirect the needs that your prospects and clients already have. We all have needs -- some of us more than others. But the most successful salespeople in the world are those who become experts. They identify the needs of the prospect or client. Then they gear their presentation to position their products and services as a critical component in meeting those needs. So what does your prospect really want? If you approach a business owner, she might want to grow the business, add more staff, or move the decimal point on the number at the bottom of her income statement one place to the right. When you talk to a marketing manager, he might want to create more awareness, get his message out there or make an impact among a new group of prospects. If you interact with human resources directors, they might want to attract the right people, reward the performance of a team or incentivize specific activities. Naturally, promotional products can help with all those needs. But if you think the prospect's primary need is for promotional products, you are very likely mistaken. It is unlikely the prospect sees that as the most pressing issue. Create a need that gets them what they want What if my prospect's biggest need is that she has to pay for college for her kids? How will your products help her do that? That's a tough one. But you need to be able to answer questions like this for yourself. What if you could create a promotion designed to bring in additional customers, get more from the customers they already have, and get their existing clients to buy from them more often? Wouldn't that generate additional revenue for the business? And couldn't some of that additional revenue be used to help pay for college? Successful promotions can cure a lot of problems and fill a lot of needs. But not if you confuse the need with the product you're selling. Our products are not the need. Instead, we should position our products as the answer to the need. Top Secrets clients are trained in the consultative selling approaches that connect the dots between a client's perceived need and the products and services we offer, between what they want and what we sell. So sell to the need! Not your need to sell a product, but their need to create a specific result. If you need help with this, see below...

I had a buying experience or two recently that left me feeling frustrated, annoyed and kind of sad. It was frustrating that people could be so blasé about business. And it was annoying to spend money with people who really didn't seem to appreciate the business I gave them. It's also sad that as a society, we seem to have entered a phase where thoughtless, inconsiderate, sloppy service is becoming more the rule than the exception. Buying is an experience. Sometimes good, sometimes great, sometimes terrible and sometimes totally forgettable. But it's always an experience. So what kind of buying experience are you creating for your prospects and clients? If it's great, you will likely have repeat customers. If it's terrible, you won't. These are at either end of the spectrum. If the experience is good, you might get another chance, or they might try someone else. And if the experience is totally forgettable, you're probably finished. In just the last few weeks, I had a landscaper tell me he would get me an estimate on Monday. It arrived on Tuesday. That wasn't a terrible experience, but it wasn't great either. He, at least, apologized for the delay. That alone made him stand head and shoulders above many of the other experiences I've had recently. I spent a bunch of money with a travel agency. Prior to purchasing, I had trouble getting answers to my questions, because the person "missed" my questions the first time around. Then I had to hound them to get copies of receipts for stuff they were billing to my credit card. I also noticed that the responses I got always came at the very end of a business day, which would inevitably push my next set of questions into the following day. This resulted in higher ticket prices and fewer good seats left on the aircraft. In another situation, I had a very straightforward pre-purchase question with a service provider that was not answered -- by anyone in the organization. But I needed what they were offering, so I just placed the order. I figured I would answer the question for myself after I took delivery. It reminded me of that famous political quote that said "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it." Not an ideal way to do business. The selling experience, and more importantly, the buying experience for the customer, should be great. If it's not, people won't want to come back. Many people like to complain about Amazon. I don't love Amazon as a company, but when I order from them, I usually know where my orders stand. They deliver my invoice right away. They provide my estimated delivery dates upfront. My orders almost always arrive within that window and ultimately, I don't have to think about it. For me, that's huge. So while I might not love them, I have to say, they have my confidence. And I find my confidence sadly lacking with many of the other organizations I deal with. Business coach Dan Sullivan says that much of success boils down to three things: Show up on time, do what you say you're going to do, and say "please and thank you." That sounds like some really basic stuff. But today, it is ignored far too often. As you consider the type of experience you want to create for a prospect or client, think in terms of a Disney park. It's a totally immersive environment. Everything you see, hear, smell and experience as a visitor has been conceptualized, orchestrated, choreographed, and executed flawlessly. Every aspect of the experience is decided in advance. And while it's probably not possible to create a Disney-level experience in every selling situation, it's a great idea to try to get as close to that as possible. We need to consider not just the type of buying experience our prospects will have, but the quality of that experience, the texture of it.

Some salespeople in our industry are very good at what they do, but they don't get to do enough of it. They don't get to sell as much as they could, because they're afraid of coming across as pushy. And that fear can make them less confident, slow them down or even stop them dead in their tracks. I think we can all agree that no one likes a pushy salesperson. But if you're really good at what you do, shouldn't you do everything possible to convince worthy prospects to do business with you? You know there's a big difference between being persistent and being pushy. Or between being helpful and being overbearing. Also between being confident and being cocky. For the most part, people like those who are confident, helpful and persistent. But they don't like those who are cocky, overbearing and pushy. But if you look at it carefully, the negative traits we're describing are essentially nothing more than extreme versions of the positive traits. Those who are too persistent come across as pushy. Those who try to be too helpful can come across as smarmy or overbearing, and those who appear too confident are often described as cocky. So Where Do You Draw the Line? It's interesting to me that some of the best salespeople fail to get orders because they retreat for fear of being seen as pushy. So they back off. But instead of backing off just a bit, to a place of positive persistence, they back way off to a place of inconsistent follow up. They don't want to be seen as overbearing, so they back off. Not to a place of helpfulness, but to a place of not un-helpfulness, but non-helpfulness. They're essentially missing in action. And it's hard to be helpful if you're not around. They don't want to be seen as cocky, so they back off on that, too. Not just to the point of confidence, which would be a great place to land, but to a place of timidity. Too afraid to have the conversations that need to be had in order to generate business. The irony here is that as a result, some very pushy, overbearing and cocky salespeople often end up getting orders, because those who are actually confident, helpful and persistent are too afraid to let their light shine. So they slip into the background. It's almost like politeness carried to an extreme. Remember the two chipmunks from the old Warner Bros. cartoon. "After you," "No, after you!" They're so busy insisting the other one lead, that they don't get anywhere. In our industry, this means not being in contact as often as we should. Not being present with ideas and recommendations at the right time, or simply failing to ask the client to make a decision and get us the artwork in time to be able to place the order. The late Zig Ziglar used to say, "Timid salespeople have skinny kids." Find your balance * Are you in front of your best prospects as often as you should be? * Do you find yourself not promoting yourself as aggressively as you could? * Are you losing business to salespeople who aren't as professional, skilled or caring as you are? If so, it's time to step up! * Let the unskilled be timid, inconsistent and missing in action. * Let the belligerent be cocky, overbearing and pushy. * And be the person you were meant to be... a confident, helpful, persistent professional. Are you finally ready to grow your business? If so, check out the five primary ways we help promotional product distributors grow: * Just Getting Started? If you (or someone on your team) is just getting started in promotional products sales, learn how we can help. * Need Clients Now?

As a professional in our industry, you probably differentiate between your online and offline activities. You may further differentiate between your personal online activities and your business online activities. Or you may just find the whole thing a gigantic distraction. In any event, today I'd like to talk with you about why you may want to use social media to lead your prospects and clients off of social media. Today want to touch on something that I recently discussed with our Inner Circle and SmartEQP members. Your Social Media Persona Let's think in terms of social media that's designed to help our business. We can begin by thinking in terms of our online persona. This refers to what we're communicating online. Meanwhile, our offline persona is about what's happening in real life. For most people, there's usually a bit of a disconnect between those two things. We don't share everything that's going on -- though it seems some people do. Some people go onto social media to complain about things. They gripe about their lives, share every frustration and eventually just repel people. Am I being too candid? If you are using social media for business, I strongly encourage you not to engage in that approach. Staying Positive For the most part, in business, it's usually a good idea to put our best foot forward. Keep things forward thinking and uplifting. Focus our comments and convey our personality as positively as possible. That's not to say you can't share the occasional frustration or "rant," but when it gets to be too much, it can easily drive people away. Let's face it, if you want to convert online leads into sales, people will have to like you. They're going to have to want to interact with you, and much of that boils down to the way we communicate... how we put ourselves out there. When you start to think in terms of using social media to get people to interact with you offline, for business purposes, or to engage with you through your sales funnel, it should have a definite impact on what you're doing in much of your communication. In some of my previous podcasts, I've talked about the direction of your communication. Where does it start out and where does it lead? What is the direction of your social media? In my view, the best use of social media is to encourage people to interact with you OFF of social media. That could start by directing them to your blog site, where they can opt-in to receive a special report or free video series. It could direct them to your company website where they can sign up for your newsletter or subscribe to your podcast. It could invite them to lunch, or to get together for a meet-up. So why do we want to use social media to lead your prospects off of social media? Well, aside from the obvious distraction, diversion, competition and sensory overload that are the hallmarks of social media, we all see, over and over again, how the rules, functionality and algorithms in social media change constantly, to reduce access and limit communication. It used to be that you could post something on social media and it would be shown to the people you're connected with. Now we've reached a point where, if you put out a post, they may show it to your people... or they may not. In fact, if you don't pay extra to boost your post, it might be just a tiny percentage of your connections who will be shown the message, which means even a tinier percentage can actually read it and respond to it. If we just post cat videos, it doesn't matter too much. But if we put out a thoughtful, compelling message that we want our prospects and clients to see, then deliverability is important. While we can't control what people will read or respond to after it's been sent ...

Some people in our industry spend so much time talking about selling, thinking about selling and worrying about selling, that they rarely find the time to actually sell! The best salespeople I know are essentially machines as they perform the most important and profitable tasks associated with selling. They focus, like a laser to identify new leads, quickly qualify them and convert the qualified leads into sales. And like a machine, they perform those tasks again and again: methodically, consistently and repetitiously. They just keep churning it out. Selling is not about reflection In fact, the most profitable and productive salespeople don't waste time, think about past failures, worry about uncooperative prospects, complain about tough gatekeepers or put off sales calls. Instead, they just focus relentlessly on doing the job now. So they do it, and they do it, and they do it, and then they do it some more! Naturally, they evaluate what works and eliminate what doesn't, but they don't dwell on analysis. Instead, they dwell on action. They take action and get it done. Contrast that with the actions of average or below average salespeople. Many come to work, grab a cup of coffee, chit-chat for a while and wonder who they might talk to that day. Maybe they pick up the phone and "reach out," "touch base," or "check in" with a prospect or former client. Some don't set a real objective for the call. They don't identify "next steps" or define outcomes. Instead, they just chat or schmooze in the hope that maybe someone they touch base with that day will say, "hey, while I have you on the phone, do you mind if I place an order with you?" Of course, that never happens, but tomorrow is another day! If Your Sales Aren't Where You Want Them to Be, Ask Yourself, "How Much of My Time Do I Spend Thinking About Selling and How Much Do I Focus on Actually Doing it? Do I Qualify, Meet and Interact With High-Probability Prospects and Clients? So if you're not earning up to your potential, examine your daily actions. What percentage of your day do you think, plan and put out fires? And what percentage of your day do you identify client needs and sell solutions to people? Track your actions for just a day or two. You may be surprised at the results. How many people did you contact? What percentage did you qualify in? How many did you qualify out? Which ones had specific needs and how many people convinced you they had no needs at all. Imagine that. A human being with no needs at all. In the meantime, if you want to spend more time selling and less time spinning your wheels, call us at 1-800-494-2721. Are you finally ready to grow your business? If so, check out the five primary ways we help promotional product distributors grow: * Just Getting Started? If you (or someone on your team) is just getting started in promotional products sales, learn how we can help. * Need Clients Now? If you’re already grounded in the essentials of promotional product sales and just need to get clients now, click here. * Want EQP/Preferential Pricing? Are you an established industry veteran doing a significant volume of sales? If so, click here to get End Quantity Pricing from many of the top supplier lines in the promo industry. * Time to Hire Salespeople? If you want to grow your promo sales by hiring others, click here. * Ready to Dominate Your Market? If you’re serious about creating top-of-mind-awareness with the very best prospects in your market...