Sales Training Tips From A Golf Pro

On Gavin Ingham's site, he chats with a Head PGA Golf Professional, NLP Sports & Master Practitioner, Qualified Hypnotherapist and Professional Speaker by the name of Tony Westwood. Tony uses golf as a metaphor for sports, business and life, helping individuals and teams to play closer to their true potential. By helping them to LEARN through PLAY, creating AWARENESS, UNDERSTANDING and improving COMMUNICATION with themselves and others. 

Gavin Ingham: What are your qualifications and credentials?

Tony Westwood: I qualified as a PGA Golf Professional in 1988 having turned professional in 1985. In the last ten years I have added NLP Sports & Master Practitioner, qualified as a Hypnotherapist and studied extensively in the field of Personal Development. The journey has been and is amazing and I believe we can achieve so much more both individually and collectively.

Have you worked with anyone famous and what was your best result?

I played nine holes of golf with Sir Clive Woodward after writing him a letter and telling him about my approach and while he was working at Southampton FC. He loved the concept and his golf improved during the time we spent together. I am currently working with a lady who has reduced her handicap by ten shots after just two classes and at least six junior golfers I worked with when I was the County Coach for Leicestershire are now professional golfers themselves. On a regular basis when working individually with clients they tell me how my golf coaching has made an impact in other areas of their life either personally or professionally.

How similar are dealing with performance issues with golfers and say salespeople?

For me very similar. The golfer and the salesperson need to PLAN and be fully PREPARED for what they want to achieve. The golfer has to LISTEN and OBSERVE what is happening to the ball much like the salesperson has to observe their client listening intently. Focusing on every step of the round or the sale, enjoying what they are doing, MOTIVATED and COMMITTED. The golfer or salesperson needs to show and be their best self. I recently worked with the coach of the Portuguese Sevens rugby squad before they headed off to Dubai and South Africa for tournaments and I asked him to ask his team to show and do their best and at the end of every game to be able to say they could have done no better, regardless of the result.

A salesperson getting thrown an objection or being openly rejected is like falling a few shots behind and then driving into a bunker! They know that they need to relax and focus on the next swing but they just can’t. They’re tense. What tips would you give them to help them focus?

Every shot or sale is an opportunity to LEARN, whether the result is what you wanted or not. Either way understand what happened, what was said and as an objection or rejection and look at what could be done or said differently next time. Focus on matching the clients physiology as they are talking and really listening and breathing. If you BELIEVE in what you are saying and doing, you can do more and maybe the client saying no means they are are just not ready to say YES yet.


When you’re coaching you will come across players with mental ceilings (e.g. “I am not a scratch player”). Salespeople have very similar ones such as, “I cannot sell X amount of services.” What advice would you give to people to help them to blast through their glass ceilings and achieve better results than ever before?

My focus with everyone is that if you can do it once, you can do it again, once you have ingredients and the recipe you can create it whenever you want. Sometimes it is just a case of challenging the golfers or salespersons BELIEFS and getting them to reworking them so they serve them positively rather than limiting them. Breaking a round of golf into manageable “chunks” works very well and the same works in sales. The secret is find out what works and keep doing it. If it is not working do something else and keep doing something else until you find out what does. With EXPERIENCE, making mistakes and LEARNING from them a great round of golf or a great sale can always be made.

Any other tips for being a general top performer?

BE YOU! Be comfortable and professional in everything you do. Successful people in any line of work do the things that other people do not like to do even though they do not like doing them themselves. Persistence is key. If you are not getting the results you want find someone who is and copy and learn from them and make it yours. Perfect practice makes perfect, rehearse what you want to happen and be flexible in your approach. Just like a golfer has to have a vast array of shots to deal with any occurrence on the golf course as a salesperson if you have listened well you can prepare for those objections in advance.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SAVE MONEY ON YOUR ELECTRIC BILL IN 2011?

Free Yourself From Rising Energy Costs!

About Energy Deregulation
Deregulation of electricity simply means that you have a choice of where you buy your electricity.  Your local utility will continue to provide service, reliability, meter reading and you will still only get one bill.

In a regulated market, there is no incentive to offer cost saving solutions or innovative products and services.  That's now changing because people in many states have the right to choose who they buy their electricity from.

Innovation with our Customer Appreciation Program:
In addition to the savings on your electric bill, you will receive FREE enrollment in our exclusive Customer Appreciation Program.

Our customers receive 500 Savings Dollars* to start and then earn an additional 125 Savings Dollars each month to use in an online account towards thousands of everyday items at the lowest available prices.  You can save on travel, merchandise, dining, movie tickets, gift cards, local offers and more.

For questions and details call

John Haronis, Approved Energy Consultant

888-909-4982

401-295-2261

Deregulation = Choice

*No Cash redemption value, terms apply, see website for details.

ENERGY TIP - Don't Let Money Fly Out The Window!

With all the money we spend this time of year on presents, parties, and everything else – who really can afford to let money fly right out the window?  Do your part during these chilly months to make your windows more efficient to cut down on your utility bills.

In the winter, drafty windows can account for up to 25 percent of our heating bill.  However, there are some fixes that will make all the difference. Common choices include insulating drapes, interior storm windows, and plastic window insulation kit. Each of these solutions has its own pros and cons, but they all insulate the same way. They create an insulated air buffer between your home and the window surface.

Heavy Insulated Drapes

Insulated drapes are considered the most attractive option, but experts stress the importance of proper insulation.  Drapes must be flush with the wall to effectively create an air space between the window surface and the curtains. Improperly installed curtains that let air pass through the sides of the drapes can actually pull heat away from the room.  Drapes, of course, can be re-used and will help reduce utilities costs in every season.

Interior Storm Windows

Interior storm windows can be fitted to your windows and are effective at reducing air infiltration.  These units use a fitted pane that often clips into a frame. Pane materials range from the more expensive glass to polycarbonate plastic.  The advantage to interior storm windows is that they can be reused for several years.  Many favor interior storm windows over exterior varieties because they are easier to install will require less maintenance. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, interior storm windows can reduce heat loss by 25 to 50%.

Plastic Window Insulation Kit

Plastic insulation kits are a very economical choice.  Kits include a plastic sheet that is attached to a window frame with adhesive tape and then stretched tight by applying heat with a hair dryer. The plastic film is made of vinyl, polyester or polyethylene and can technically be removed and stored for next winter’s use. Most homeowners, however, find these kits to be single season items due to tears in the plastic and the milky appearance created by the aging plastic.

So which is your best choice?

Go with a reusable option like interior storm windows or insulating drapes. Homeowners that want to realize long term savings should consider upgrading to Energy Star qualified windows. Energy Star-rated windows will have a substantial upfront cost but are the most efficient way to reduce home heat loss around windows.

Whether you go big or small, make smart changes to keep the warm air inside your home and more money in your wallet.

Via

11 Ways To Get What You Want in '11

Jim Camp, the author of the bestselling business book, Start with No, has some sound advice going into 2011.

Most of us have been taught that if we want others to cooperate with us, we have to compromise — that is, to getsomething, we have to give something. There’s a better way, however, to getting what you want: 

Start with no. 

So, if your New Year’s resolutions for 2011 include being more assertive, standing up for yourself, and reaching your goals, the “No” system can be your ticket to success.

Here are 11 ways to do it:


1. Start with no.
Resist the urge to compromise. Instead, invite the other person to say “no” to your proposal. (Hint: Don’t tell him or her what it is — at least not yet.) The invitation to say no will earn you respect and remove all the tension from the discussion.

2. Dwell not. 
Don’t dwell on what you want, or you’ll blow your advantage. Throughout the discussion, focus instead on the now — controlling your actions and behaviors in the moment.

3. Do your homework. 
Learn everything you can before you begin. This way, you avoid surprises, whether you’re dealing with the boss, a car dealer, or your own teenager.

4. Identify obstacles. 
Before the meeting, identify everything you can think of that might come up during the negotiation — your baggage and their baggage. If you don’t, you could walk into a minefield.

5. Expose the elephant.
Bring your problem, their problem, and anything else standing in the way of your agreement out into the open. Doing so clears the air, eliminates surprises, and gives you an edge.

6. Be like Lt. Columbo.
Let the other party feel superior to you. This is the “Lt. Columbo Effect.” Don’t dress to impress, name drop, use fancy language, lecture, or get on a grandstand. The more smug and confident they feel, the easier it is to get what you want.

7. Shift into neutral.
Neutral emotions, that is. Check all emotions at the door, and let go of any expectations, excitement, fear, anger, and neediness. An emotional blank slate keeps you balanced and alert.

8. Build your M&P around them. 
Every negotiation, whether it’s a phone call or a formal business meeting, needs a mission and purpose. Your M&P is to help the other person see how your three or four top features will benefit them and help them achieve their goals.

9. Get them talking. 
The person talking most loses the advantage. Ask great questions that begin with what, why, how, when, and where. Learn about his or her needs, requirements, hopes, fears, plans, position, and objectives so you can soon position yourself as the solution.


10. Solve their problem. 
Help them see that giving you the deal you’ve proposed is to their advantage. Spend all of your time getting information about their world, the challenges they anticipate, and the problems they see — and then present yourself as the solution.

11. Don’t try to be friends. 
The other party is not necessarily your friend. You’re not seeking loyalty or a long-term relationship from this negotiation. What you want, instead, is respect and a fair agreement that accomplishes your mission and purpose, and solves his or her problem.

POWER UP YOUR INCOME - THE PERFECT WAY TO START 2011!

By simply showing others they have a choice of who they buy their electricity from you can earn unlimited residual income.

Take advantage of the Deregulation of

ELECTRICITY!

The Perfect Business

• Used By Everyone
• No Buying Habits To Change
• No Customer Product Training
• Can Save People Money
• Last Major Industry To Deregulate
• Energy Is A Hot Topic
• Expanding Opportunity
• $297 Billion Industry

The Perfect Product

• Free Enrollment
• No Credit Check - In Most Cases
• No Desposit
• Easy to Switch
• No Hidden Fees
• Physical Service Remains The Same

Our goal is to help you deliver to customers multiple products, services, and information related to Electricity and Energy savings!

You can profit from the deregulation of electricity!

ASK ME HOW YOU CAN ENERGIZE YOUR INCOME!

JOHN HARONIS

888.909.4982

Click HERE For More Details

HOLIDAY GIFT IDEA! Renewable Energy Pre-Installation Feasability Study!

It certainly isn't a traditional gift, but it is the perfect one for someone you know who might be considering modifying their home to integrate renewable energy into their home.

Renewable Energy Pre-Installation Study, and Financial Evaluation, for solar & wind technology.

Includes Project Engineering complete with Auto Cad Line Drawings depicting location of modules and inverter.



INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS

• Where on the building or property can the system be located?
• What size of system is required? 
• How much power is required?
• What type of modules would be appropriate?
• How is the module to be fitted to the building?
• How is the electrical system to be designed?
• How your net metering agreement with the Utility Company will operate

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

• How much funding is available; Local, State & Federal incentives revealed
• Maximum Return on Investment
• Monthly Solar Energy production chartLocal permit requirements 

PROJECT COST

• Carbon footprint implications.

This is an complete, professional, independent report. It is free to you. Just follow through with the proposal from America Approved Contractors and let us complete your installation.

A $500 fee is charged without AAESD installation.

Click HERE to find dozens of other great gift ideas!

A Better Year For Sales in 2011 Using 3 Easy Steps!

Via The Pipeline:

As we are about to enter 2011, it is time to think about how you are going to improve your sales, while we all sell different products in different markets and ways, the one thing we all likely have in common is the fact that our stakeholders will be expecting “more”. Whether that is more revenue, more new clients, more transactions, or some combination of all; the other certainty is that we will not be getting any more time with which to deliver more. So it is down to us to figure out how to go further next year; to be fair, some employers will be providing training, tools and support, but the key element for sales success, execution, will be left to each individual sales professional.

To help, we want to focus on three specific actions you can take to improve your output regardless of which sales approach or methodology you employ. They are in no specific order, at different times during the year or sales cycle one may be more important than another but over the course of the year, all three will figure and be a factor in your success.

• Collaboration
• Proactive
• Differentiate

Read more

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SAVE MONEY ON YOUR ELECTRIC BILL?

Free Yourself From Rising Energy Costs!

About Energy Deregulation
Deregulation of electricity simply means that you have a choice of where you buy your electricity.  Your local utility will continue to provide service, reliability, meter reading and you will still only get one bill.

In a regulated market, there is no incentive to offer cost saving solutions or innovative products and services.  That's now changing because people in many states have the right to choose who they buy their electricity from.

Innovation with our Customer Appreciation Program:
In addition to the savings on your electric bill, you will receive FREE enrollment in our exclusive Customer Appreciation Program.

Our customers receive 500 Savings Dollars* to start and then earn an additional 125 Savings Dollars each month to use in an online account towards thousands of everyday items at the lowest available prices.  You can save on travel, merchandise, dining, movie tickets, gift cards, local offers and more.

For questions and details call

John Haronis, Approved Energy Consultant

888-909-4982

401-295-2261

Deregulation = Choice

*No Cash redemption value, terms apply, see website for details.

How To Differentiate Yourself When You’re Selling

Ian Brodie has some interesting advice how to differentiate yourself from competitors offering the same product.

The “Safe Pair of Hands” Strategy
You may all promise you’ll deliver what the client wants. But from the client’s perspective, there can be major differences in how confident they are that you’ll make good on that promise. If you’re able to prove through testimonials, references, or just how much you seem to understand their situation, then they’ll feel more confident that you’ll be able to deliver what they want. And so they’ll pick you rather than selecting on price.

The “Relationship” Strategy
People choose to work with people they like and trust. They won’t pick you if they don’t think you can do the job. But once you’ve proven that, then they’ll almost always choose someone they like and feel they can partner with over someone they don’t.

The “Change the Game” Strategy
When you’re interacting with a potential client and talking about their needs – if you can identify problems or opportunities that they haven’t thought of themselves – then you can mark yourself out as being different. The quality of your diagnosis immediately marks you out as being an expert – and (rather fortuitously) can prompt the client to question the abilities of your competitors who didn’t highlight these new ideas.

It can be a risky strategy if the client has fixed ideas about what they need and doesn’t want to be challenged. But it can be a particularly powerful way of pulling the rug from under entrenched incumbents who have better relationships than you and are seen as safer pairs of hands.

Read the entire article HERE

POWER UP YOUR INCOME

By simply showing others they have a choice of who they buy their electricity from you can earn unlimited residual income.

Take advantage of the Deregulation of

ELECTRICITY!

The Perfect Business

• Used By Everyone
• No Buying Habits To Change
• No Customer Product Training
• Can Save People Money
• Last Major Industry To Deregulate
• Energy Is A Hot Topic
• Expanding Opportunity
• $297 Billion Industry

The Perfect Product

• Free Enrollment
• No Credit Check - In Most Cases
• No Desposit
• Easy to Switch
• No Hidden Fees
• Physical Service Remains The Same

Our goal is to help you deliver to customers multiple products, services, and information related to Electricity and Energy savings!

You can profit from the deregulation of electricity!

ASK ME HOW YOU CAN ENERGIZE YOUR INCOME!

JOHN HARONIS

888.909.4982

Click HERE For More Details

HOLIDAY GIFT IDEA! The Perfect Electronic Accessory!!!

SOLAR BATTERY CHARGER for iPods, PHONES, CAMERAS and USB Devices 

Solar Battery Charger for iPods, Phones, Cameras and USB Devices lets you charge all your electronic gadgets anywhere, anytime.

Are you tired of your phone shutting down in the middle of an important call? Are you fed up with your camera powering off right when you need it? Does it frustrate you when your PSP dies when you've finally made it to the last level? Now, with this solar battery charger, you can charge all your gadgets and enjoy them longer!

What kinds of devices does this solar battery charger work with?

iPhones, iPods, and anything that charges through USB, such as cell phones and PDAs, cameras and camcorders, MP3 and MP4 players, GPS devices, and even portable gaming systems like the PSP! You will love the convenience of being able to charge all your electrical devices any time you want, anywhere you go.

Using this solar battery charger is easy. Before you go out, you can charge the battery in one of three ways: by connecting to your PC via USB cable, through an electrical socket with the AC adapter, or by collecting solar energy with the device's solar panel. Charge it with your computer while you're at work, or stick it in your dashboard while you're driving. No matter how you charge it, this solar battery charger will be ready when you need to charge your phone, camera, MP3 player, and other gadgets.
Large battery capacity, compatibility with all USB gadgets, and portable design make this solar charger great for consumers and resellers alike. Purchase a sample for yourself to see how wonderfully the CVBS-S08 works, then order in bulk for even better savings.

At a Glance...

• Solar battery charger for portable electronics
• Charge iPhones and iPods
• Charge most portable electronic devices
• Charges any USB powered device
• Stores power in the internal li-ion battery
• Large 2600mAh battery capacity

Click HERE to find dozens of other great gift ideas!

The Top 10% Salespeople Share a Passion For What They Do

Colleen Francis, Sales Expert, is Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions and recently wrote an interesting article about building one's personal philosophy for success.

Throughout my career as a sales person and as a sales trainer, I’ve noticed that the top 10% of professionals in this field all share a passion for what they do. It’s not just that they have a knack for connecting with people and getting them to buy more goods or services more often. They also put a lot of thought into how they sell, how they work with people, and about why their personal approach works well for them. In essence, top performers have a personal philosophy for success—daily habits and disciplined beliefs that are at the root of how they do business with people on both a professional and personal level.


It’s especially important to take action on this in today’s economy, because frankly most of your less-successful competitors out there today are too busy repeating old mistakes, blaming the recession or even their customers (hard to believe, but true) for their disappointing sales results.


You know better than that, which is why you’re here with us at Engage Selling Solutions! The fact of the matter is that success—real lasting success—in sales in any industry hinges on how you look at your work and on the choices you make in getting things done.

Read the entire article here.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SAVE MONEY ON YOUR ELECTRIC BILL?

Free Yourself From Rising Energy Costs!

About Energy Deregulation
Deregulation of electricity simply means that you have a choice of where you buy your electricity.  Your local utility will continue to provide service, reliability, meter reading and you will still only get one bill.

In a regulated market, there is no incentive to offer cost saving solutions or innovative products and services.  That's now changing because people in many states have the right to choose who they buy their electricity from.

Innovation with our Customer Appreciation Program:
In addition to the savings on your electric bill, you will receive FREE enrollment in our exclusive Customer Appreciation Program.

Our customers receive 500 Savings Dollars* to start and then earn an additional 125 Savings Dollars each month to use in an online account towards thousands of everyday items at the lowest available prices.  You can save on travel, merchandise, dining, movie tickets, gift cards, local offers and more.

For questions and details call

John Haronis, Approved Energy Consultant

888-909-4982

401-295-2261

Deregulation = Choice

*No Cash redemption value, terms apply, see website for details.

GREAT ENERGY SAVING GIFTS FOR KIDS (OR BIG KIDS!)

One of the challenges of shopping for kids during the holiday season is trying to satisfy their tastes that have been shaped by high priced advertisements.


But, it doesn't have to be that way.  Here are several great ideas for both kids and gadget obsessed big kids.

Eco -Racers Powered By Water, Wind or Sun
These cars are moving fast,

Solar racer, powered by the solar panel.

Wind racer, powered by a wind turbine.

H2O racer, powered by water.

$39.95 Each

H2 Go Hybrid Remote Control Car Educational Kits
This battery-free model scale RC car is a real-working version of laboratory vehicles running on renewable and zero emissions hydrogen fuel. This refuelable RC vehicle runs on energy from the sun and water, and combines fuel cells for cruise power, and fast-charge super-capacitors for speed. The result: a fast moving fuel cell car where even the remote does not need any batteries!
$149.95

Miniature Working Wind Turbine

WindPitch is a miniature real-working wind turbine (wind power generator) designed for students to evaluate the pitch (angle setting) of the profiled blades. Up to 12 profile blades can be installed for evaluation.
$99.95

Hydrogen Cell Remote Controlled Racing Car.

Discover the automative technologies of the future by building and driving your own hydrogen fuel cell car. The H-racer 2.0 is the new generation H-racer, featuring a construction kit of the scale model car, as well as remote controlled steering, and light emitting features within the car

NO BATTERIES TO BUY OR RECHARGE!
$119.95

Renewable Energy Kit - The 'Chemistry Sets' of Tomorrow!

America Approved is offering a complete line of renewable energy science experiment sets and battery-free toys. Our kits are designed to explain renewable energy science in a classroom environment, for school projects and science fairs, or as fun and interactive activity sets for the entire family.

The Renewable Energy Science Education Set is a modular experiment set designed to demonstrate the workings of a complete clean energy technology system on a miniature scale.
$199.95

Click HERE to see dozens of other great gift ideas!

The Virtues of a Sales Professional

Virtues are a kind of excellence pertaining to morality. It would be hard to list the virtues of a business-to-business salesperson without including honesty and integrity, but those are table stakes; you’ll never be considered any kind of salesperson at all without them.

But there are other virtues that great salespeople possess in addition to honesty and integrity, all of which lead to a high level of excellence and effectiveness.

Prudence
Professional salespeople, especially the great ones, are extraordinarily self-disciplined. The virtue of prudence is about making choices. It’s about taking the right actions when they need to be taken, and controlling the desire to be impetuous and impulsive.

As a salesperson, you are offered an unparalleled freedom. Succeeding means tempering that freedom with the personal responsibility that results in prudent behavior, especially as it pertains to prospecting activity, keeping your commitments to your clients, and dream clients, and ensuring that you help your clients achieve the outcomes that you promised.

Your prudence is the foundation for other virtues.

Courage
Some of the choices that you must make in order to succeed require that you be courageous. It takes courage to take action in the face of resistance and against long odds. It takes courage to ask for what you need to succeed and to win for your dream client after you have been denied your request multiple times; you do it because it is necessary to your doing excellent work.

It takes courage to face the defenders of the status quo, and to fully engage in the politics of change in your dream client, especially when you are an outsider and have no real authority.

Courage is also required to face the internal politics that prevent you from succeeding for your company and your clients; it means taking on the entrenched defenders of the status quo within your own company.

It takes courage to do what is right when those around you would have you do something less.

Humility
You cannot allow your courage and your confidence to be mistaken for arrogance.

Professional salespeople possess the virtue of humility, being modest and humble, especially as it pertains to their accomplishments. You know that you didn’t win the dream client opportunity alone and that there are many on your own team who helped them to win.

You know that you don’t succeed for your clients alone and that your operations team produces a great majority of the outcomes that you promised and sold. You are standing on the shoulders of many, many others. Sometimes, they are carrying you.

The virtue of humility also ensures that you respect your competitors, never underestimating them or discounting their abilities as competitors or as value creators.

Love
It’s a strong word. You might be thinking too strong, but it isn’t.

Love is the greatest of all virtues and describes the act of caring enough about someone else to ensure that they get the outcome that they need. For salespeople, this virtue manifests itself in the ability to listen to their client, to seek to understand their needs, and to work with them to ensure that they achieve the outcome that they need.

It doesn’t end with your client. That deep caring that is love extends to the people on your own team. It means caring deeply enough about your own group to ensure that you do all that is necessary (and then a little bit more) to ensure that they succeed for your dream client with you.

Humor
Sales comes with lots of thankless and humorless tasks and events. The competition can be stressful and intense, as can delivering once an opportunity is won.

Possessing the virtue of humor allows you to release the tension in the difficult situations that are part of sales—and business. Humor allows you to make unpleasant circumstances and unpleasant tasks more tolerable for everyone.

This virtue can especially be seen in your having a sense of humor about yourself; a self-deprecating sense of humor helps lower the barriers to your message, and makes it easier for your dream clients to perceive you as less threatening—especially since your change effort brings with it a hell storm of disruption.

Your dream clients don’t believe that the stiff, dispassionate, medical demeanor is professional. Your virtue of humor allows you to be the authentic you, and it gives your dream client the permission to be their authentic selves.

The business of sales is about people. Your virtue of humor makes you more human.

Gratitude
You must be grateful for the opportunities you are given.

You must be grateful for the opportunities your clients give you to share their most precious resource: their time. You show your gratitude by respecting their time and using it well.

You must also be grateful for the opportunity to compete for their business, win or lose. Once the business is won, you must be grateful for having been trusted to help them achieve the outcome that they need, and you show your gratitude by digging in and ensuring their results are achieved.

You also demonstrate this virtue with a simple, heart-felt thank you.

This virtue must also extend to your own internal team, those who have served as your teachers and mentors, and all of those who have supported your endeavors.

Via

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Wishing you and yours a happy and healthy holiday!

POWER UP YOUR INCOME

By simply showing others they have a choice of who they buy their electricity from you can earn unlimited residual income.

Take advantage of the Deregulation of

ELECTRICITY!

The Perfect Business

• Used By Everyone
• No Buying Habits To Change
• No Customer Product Training
• Can Save People Money
• Last Major Industry To Deregulate
• Energy Is A Hot Topic
• Expanding Opportunity
• $297 Billion Industry

The Perfect Product

• Free Enrollment
• No Credit Check - In Most Cases
• No Desposit
• Easy to Switch
• No Hidden Fees
• Physical Service Remains The Same

Our goal is to help you deliver to customers multiple products, services, and information related to Electricity and Energy savings!

You can profit from the deregulation of electricity!

ASK ME HOW YOU CAN ENERGIZE YOUR INCOME!

JOHN HARONIS

888.909.4982

Click HERE For More Details

IDEA! A Gift For The Person Who Has Everything

Warm White LED Light Bulb for use in all incandescent screw-in base fixtures. 

This is a professionally engineered LED light bulb (often called LED Lights or LED Lamps in the trade) that fit into any screw base incandescent lamp socket. The H33 model produces a warm white color light and emits enough light to replace incandescent and CFL's for many ambient lighting tasks.
There has been plenty in the news about green gadgets and environmentally friendly LED lights recently. You probably already know the potential energy and environmental savings that can be achieved by switching to LED's. If not, then let us give you a simple rundown of the primary benefits:

• Energy savings (save 90% versus incandescent)
• Incredible lamp life
• Environmentally friendly (no mercury or harmful gases)

The design and manufacture of these LED lights is beyond compare - from the all metal die cast cooling fins to the IC boards that drive the diodes, every part has been manufactured to exceed world performance standards. You simply cannot find a better built 5 watt LED Light than the H33!
Great for retrofitting into existing table lamps, downlights, wall sconces, or other lighting fixtures with a diffused lighting distribution, these white LED light bulbs deliver smooth and uniform light without any flicker. The warm white color of this LED light is as natural looking as your old incandescent bulb, but will save you $100's every year on your energy bill!

America Approved offers this LED Light Bulb with an astounding no M.O.Q. (no minimum order quantity) so you can try one for yourself to see how it works.

At a Glance...

• Warm white color LED Light
• For use in any standard incandescent base light socket
• Long life as compared to incandescent and CFL bulbs
• Uses only 3 watts of energy

A perfect holiday gift that will last years, save money and make this world a better place.

Click HERE to see LED Lighting options and dozens of other great gift ideas!

Out With The Old, In With The New (Sales Thinking)

1. Stop the sales pitch. Start a conversation.
When you call someone, never start out with a mini-presentation about yourself, your company and what you have to offer.

Instead, start with a conversational phrase that focuses on a specific problem that your product or service solves. For example, you might say, "I'm just calling to see if you are open to some different ideas related to preventng downtime accross your computer network?"

Notice that you are not pitching your solution with this opening phrase. Instead, you're addressing a problem that, based on your experience in your field, you believe they might be having. If you don't know what problems your product or service solves, do a little research by asking your current customers why they purchased your solution.

2. Your goal is always to discover whether you and your prospect are a good fit.

If you let go of trying to close the sale or get the appointment, you'll discover that you don't have to take responsibility for moving the sales process forward.

By simply focusing your conversation on problems that you can help prospects solve, and by not jumping the gun by trying to move the sales process forward, you'll discover that prospects will give you the direction you need.

3. When you lose a sale, it's usually at the beginning of the sales process. 

If you think you're losing sales due to mistakes you make at the end of the process, review how you began the relationship. Did you start with a pitch?

Did you use traditional sales language like, "We have a solution that you really need," or "others in your industry have bought our solution, you should consider it as well"?

Traditional sales language leads prospects to label you with the negative stereotype of "salesperson." This makes it almost impossible for them to relate to you with trust or to have an honest, open conversation about problems they're trying to solve and how you might be able to help them.

4. Hidden sales pressure causes rejection. 

Eliminate sales pressure and you'll never experience rejection. Prospects don't trigger rejection, you do. When something you say and it could be very subtle, triggers a defensive reaction from your prospect.

Yes, something you say.

You can eliminate rejection forever simply by giving up the hidden agenda of hoping to make a sale. Instead, be sure that everything you say and do stems from the basic mindset that you're there to help prospects identify and solve their issues.

5. Never chase prospects. Instead, get to the truth of whether there's a fit or not. 

Chasing prospects has always been considered normal and necessary, but it's rooted in the macho selling image that "if you don't keep chasing, you're giving up, which means you're a failure." This is dead wrong.

Instead, ask your prospects if they'd be open to connecting again at a certain time and date so you can both avoid the phone tag game.

6. When prospects offer objections, validate them and reopen the conversation. 

Most traditional sales programs spend a lot of time focusing on "overcoming" objections, but these tactics only create more sales pressure.

They also keep you from exploring or learning the truth behind what your prospects are saying.
You know that "we don't have the budget," "send me information," or "call me back in a few months," are polite evasions designed to get you off the phone. Stop trying to counter objections. Instead, shift to uncovering the truth by replying, "that's not a problem." No matter what the objection, use gentle, dignified language that invites prospects to tell you the truth about their situation without feeling you'll use it to press for a sale.

7. Never defend yourself or what you have to offer. This only creates more sales pressure. 

When prospects say, "Why should I choose you over your competition?" your instinctive reaction is to defend your product or service because you believe that you are the best choice and you want to convince them of that. But what goes through their minds at that point?

Something like, "This 'salesperson' is trying to sell me and I hate feeling as if I'm being sold."

Stop defending yourself. In fact, come right out and tell them that you aren't going to try to convince them of anything because that only creates sales pressure. Instead, ask them again about key problems they're trying to solve.

Then explore how your product or service might solve those problems. Give up trying to persuade. Let prospects feel they can choose you without feeling sold.

The sooner you can let go of the traditional sales beliefs that we've all been exposed to, the more quickly you'll feel good about selling again and start seeing better results.

Via

Successful Selling to Customers is Just Like Persuading a Jury

Here’s how you can use persuasion to sell.

Establish common ground quickly and early.  It’s your job to quickly create a ‘we-ness’ with the customer. This means helping the customer see how similar you both are.  Look for something you could comment on that you both share.  It might be a college diploma from a school in the same state you attended college.  You would make a statement instead of asking an open ended question.  You could say, I see you attended State College.  I also attended school in Illinois. Time is the issue to establish this common ground, Establish it on general terms and don’t be too personal or specific even when you’re invited to.  Get right back on task. If you’re selling something what you have to respect is customers’ time. You’re there to sell, not to share personal details. 

Prepare to persuade.   You have to prepare to persuade.  You should have an outline in your head of what you want your customer to hear before you make your sales call. Plan three or four key phrases about your product or service.  These words should be descriptive words that create visual pictures for your customers to more easily understand your message. 

You should speak your customer’s language. To speak their language you have to look and listen for their key words.  Key words are used a lot; are specific to their products and services and are usually descriptive and purposeful.  They tend to be unexpected.  They are found in customer promotional materials.  Customers also use these words in their speech.  Here’s an example. A banking client may use ‘member’ as a key word.  In the company sales literature, the bank refers to customers as members, not clients or customers.  In your sales call, make sure you refer to members.  If you can take your customer’s key words and your key words and use them together, it’s more persuasive.  That’s why it’s so important to be a good listener.  Take notes.  Use "tell me more" to get your customer to elaborate more.

Punctuate to persuade.  Salespeople need to highlight their important points. Pause before an important point.  Make sure nothing is in your lap.  Women tend to keep objects in their lap.  Remove the pad or packet of materials from your lap and put it aside before making your point.  This is a way of helping the listener distinguish from the listening and the persuading.  With your legs and arms uncrossed, look your customer in the eye and lean slightly forward.  Then speak the important words slowly as you make your major point. 

Use everything you’ve got.   Watch your customer’s body position and mirror it.  Every nonverbal clue you give should convey confidence and credibility.  Start with a firm handshake. Your hips should be directed at your customer and your shoulders should be squared with your customer’s.  Pay attention to distance between you and your customer.  Watch that you are not too close or too far and lean forward as you speak.  Materials must be prepared so you are not sifting though your suitcase.

You’ll know your persuasion is working if your customers ask more questions; want more information and use the key words you use. 

Successful selling is being innocent of pushiness and coercion.   If you’re going to be guilty, it had better be for using persuasion effectively. 

Via

Regulation and Deregulation of Energy Sectors

This video is a long one folks.  It runs over an hour.  It's produced by M.I.T. and features Paul Joskow, and is well worth your time.

After viewing Paul Joskow’s meaty history of the nation’s energy industries, the baffling line items on your monthly utility bill may make more sense.

Joskow describes energy as perhaps the most regulated area in the U.S. economy. The natural gas, electricity and oil businesses have seen price caps and floors, as well as regulations around service quality and safety, environmental impacts, energy efficiency and entry of new suppliers. Different rationales spur these rules, from interest group politics to the need for more reliable energy production.

Some of these regulations have led to unanticipated and negative outcomes. Joskow describes the “sorry history of price regulation” of crude oil in the 1970s and early ‘80s, which followed a public outcry against high oil prices. When the government tried to set prices on this volatile market, so many loopholes emerged that “the only effect was to distort domestic petroleum markets.” Over a half century, Joskow notes the paradox that price controls generally corresponded to higher oil prices and lower domestic production.

Joskow demonstrates with graphs and slides how all energy industry sectors have undergone complex regulatory phases, many with ambivalent outcomes. Partly in reaction to this regulation and to increasing demand for energy, energy industries are being restructured and deregulated. In the case of natural gas, Joskow views the changes as a success, in that the “market meets consumer needs in a more efficient way,” with more domestic production and additional supplies coming into the U.S. market.

Electricity, Joskow’s “favorite topic,” is the last sector to be restructured, with the end of utility monopolies in electricity generation, transmission, networks, and distribution. A model of comprehensive reform “has been contentious and slow to evolve,” and with high natural gas prices, the evidence is far from in that deregulation will make electricity cheaper, at least in the Northeast. Some states, like California, “embraced competition, then unembraced it.”

Joskow lauds the success of energy efficiency standards in appliances, but bemoans the stagnation in fuel efficiency for vehicles in the U.S. He says a key challenge for economists is “to persuade policy makers that they ought to increase the price of gas if they’re concerned about vehicle efficiency and alternatives to oil.” He advocates as well replacing EPA regulations with a cap and trade system for various air pollutants, which in Europe seems to be working well.

Why Buyers Don’t Like Salespeople

If buyers could get by without salespeople, do you think they would? It is an interesting question if you stop and consider the role of the salesperson. Of course, considering the role in an abstract way is one thing, but what about when you consider it from a personal perspective? What happens as a salesperson when you put your emotions aside for a moment, relax, take a deep breath and honestly ask yourself, “What role do I play with my buyers?”

When I ask salespeople what value they bring to their buyers, I usually get a typical answer that is full of a lot of smoke puffery. When I ask this question of buyers, and in particular professional buyers, I get an entirely different answer. For professional buyers who see a wide variety of salespeople, the value they place on them is usually very minimal. Are you wondering why?

There’s one simple reason that can sum it all up: Most salespeople bring to their buyers only information. Interestingly, information is something any buyer can gather from other sources. At the end of the day, you as a salesperson must ask yourself, “Am I merely a conduit of information?” If you are, then you’re wasting your time, your company’s time, and your customer’s time. You might as well just email your buyer the information and then go play golf.

If you can’t as a salesperson honestly lay claim to problems you’ve helped your customers overcome, then you really have to begin questioning the role you play. Yes, I’m being quite harsh, but with the advent of technology and communication, the role of the salesperson has changed. If you as a salesperson have not recognized and embraced this change, then you are nothing more than the walking dead.

Buyers don’t want people who bring them nothing more than information. They want solutions. Unfortunately, because buyers often have far too much to do, they don’t even know what their problems are or what challenges their company is facing. This is the role the salesperson needs to play -- the role of helping identify the problems, whether blatant or obscure, and turning them into opportunities you can solve for the customer.

So how do you go about identifying problems? You as the salesperson must become an investigator – someone who is determined to find out what really is happening in an organization, industry and global marketplace. Then, you need to show your customer how what you found is impacting them now or will be impacting them in the future.

Start this process by shifting your focus. Instead of just delivering information to your customer, begin to ask more questions. A very simple rule I tell salespeople is for every minute you spend gathering information to share with a customer, you need to spend an equal amount of time developing questions to ask that customer. Don’t develop questions for which you already have the answers or could easily find the answers. In fact, those are the wrong type of questions.

Instead, you need to develop questions to which you don’t have answers. More than likely, these will be questions to which your buyer doesn’t have answers either. By asking these questions, you’re helping move the buyer to viewing you differently. Your role is to be seen as the one salesperson who is genuinely committed to helping them move themselves and their company to a higher level. This may be by growing their sales or helping them reduce their costs.

When you can clearly identify ways you’ve helped your buyer achieve either of these outcomes, then you will know you’re no longer the type of salesperson that buyers love to hate. Plus, you’ll be growing your bottom line at the same time. And that’s a lot better than simply doling out information!

Via

Selling Value, Not Price

Sales professionals who don’t know how to sell value, at some point won’t sell at all. Closing sales based on the lowest price is neither a long-term, nor highly profitable growth strategy. Even in today’s marketplace, you can still be a solid competitor without being the cheapest. You just need to sell value, not price.

Salespeople need to master the art of selling value and stop using the same overused mantras on why they can’t sell in today’s economy, mantras like “if I just lower my price, I could close this sale,” or “if I am cheaper than my competition people will buy from me.”

People don’t always buy based on the lowest price, and no one believes that the lowest price ever equals the best offer. Customers who buy a product or service because it’s the cheapest are not loyal.
If you don’t believe me, think about this: if price is the only thing that matters and people are just looking for “cheap,” then everyone would be driving a Kia, Nordstrom would be empty, flying first class would not exist and we would all be drinking Folgers instead of Starbucks.

In this highly competitive sales environment, salespeople find it difficult to differentiate their offer from their competitors’ in any way but price – but price-cutting is a losing proposition. This dilemma is faced by all business types – whether selling sophisticated high-tech products, real estate, intangible services, or individual/commodity products.

Selling value requires that salespeople have the ability to justify in dollars and cents how the customer will benefit from their solution. If they cannot sell value, they leave the customer no choice but to view their solution as just another commodity. Selling value is not some short-lived sales fad; it’s a comprehensive set of knowledge, tools and techniques that can be incorporated with any sales approach you are currently using.

If the lowest price is your business model, then go for it and sell on price. But if it isn’t your business model, you need to disqualify customers who want the cheapest price and spend your time creating the value you and your company were designed to deliver.

Your competitors say they have similar offerings. They say they have the same features and produce the same benefits. They look like you. They sound like you. They provide the same product or service as you, but they are cheaper. Now what?

The best way for sales professionals to create compelling value propositions is to add value by improving processes and solving problems for their customers.

To break out of the price trap, you have to work extremely hard at differentiating your offering on results and the return on investment. Don’t learn to sell price! Spend your time learning to create more value than your competitors and focus on showing you can create greater outcomes. If you believe that lowering your price is the only way to make a sale, then you have two, and only two, choices in this economy. Either learn how to sell more effectively or get out of sales altogether.

To attract and gain new customers, you need something dynamic and memorable to set yourself apart and not fall into the low-price trap. If you think of yourself as offering a solution to a problem rather than offering the cheapest price, then you are well on your way to succeeding in sales and in your business.

Via

INFOGRAPHIC - History of Solar Energy

Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available renewable energy on earth. Only a minuscule fraction of the available solar energy is used.


Solar powered electrical generation relies on heat engines and photovoltaics. Solar energy's uses are limited only by human ingenuity. A partial list of solar applications includes space heating and cooling through solar architecture, potable water via distillation and disinfection, daylighting, solar hot water, solar cooking, and high temperature process heat for industrial purposes.To harvest the solar energy, the most common way is to use solar panels.


Solar technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on the way they capture, convert and distribute solar energy. Active solar techniques include the use of photovoltaic panels and solar thermal collectors to harness the energy. Passive solar techniques include orienting a building to the Sun, selecting materials with favorable thermal mass or light dispersing properties, and designing spaces that naturally circulate air. (Wikipedia)

(click to embiggen)

SEX SELLS, Or 20 Reasons Why Selling Is Better Than Sex

The world’s oldest profession involves selling.

One might even argue about which came first – the selling or the sex?

In fact, selling and sex are so closely related that succeeding at either one of them can be euphoric, addictive, and good fun. Some people might like to argue that selling is not better than sex. They believe it’s the other way round.


Business can be fun and should be fun. Love what you do and do what you love. It’s about passion…it’s about creating the pathway for your own success and doing it with enthusiasm and zeal.

Here are 20 reasons why selling is even better than sex:

1. You are never too young or too old to sell. And just because you may be over 65, you don’t have to rely on those little blue pills to help you make a sale.
2. A new sales job comes with an instruction manual – complete with graphs and pictures and everything that you might need to come to grips with the basics.
3. When it comes to selling on an airplane or just chatting to a prospective client in the seat next to you, you’ll realize that it’s so much easier than trying to sneak into the bathroom for a quickie in order to join the “mile-high club”.
4. You don’t have to fear retribution for showing the proof to back up your claims of success and achievement. On the contrary, your prospective clients will want to see that. And the more sales history you have, the better! Your prospects may be very keen to see who you have listed as your previously satisfied clients.
5. If your customers decide to take photos or film you while you’re making your pitch, you don’t have to worry about those pictures or videos showing up on the internet when you become famous.
6. You don’t have to check for a wedding band or make sure that the person you’re chatting with is, in fact, a real woman or man.
7. It’s possible to close with a customer in two minutes or less and it’s actually something to be proud of.
8. You can be absolutely certain that nine months after a sales meeting, the customer’s lawyers won’t contact you asking for half of your pre-tax income for the next eighteen years.
9. You can invite your previous, current and potential customers to come together in a same room – it is called a “Customer Appreciation Day”.
10. If you’re practicing your presentation at night in the comfort of your own home, you don’t have to be concerned about keeping your neighbors awake.
11. With sales it matters not how young or how old you are – you can always find a fresh prospect – and they’re generally not interested in your age. They’re really only concerned about your expertise.
12. With selling you always know how good you are. The proof is in the purchase of the product that you’re selling.
13. A customer doesn’t get jealous when you get a new one. Actually, you look weird if you don’t have any customer at all. Being single is not good.
14. If you’re having trouble with selling and you’re not feeling as confident as you should be, it is perfectly acceptable to pay a professional to show you how you can improve on your technique.
15. Managing large numbers of sales or co-coordinating a group of salespeople makes you neither a pimp nor a prostitute.
16. You can keep your socks on during selling (or prospecting).
17. Finding customers on the internet isn’t illegal.
18. You can do sales by the book and you can choose the book (or DVD).
19. Selling publicly won’t get you arrested.
20. You can sell even in a moving vehicle and not be apprehended for breaking the law.

Via

NO Trust? NO Sale!

You can't trust someone who isn't honest!

 Trust is the single biggest motivator of buyer behavior and one of the key components to establishing a successful buyer/seller relationship. Do your potential customers trust what you say? Do they trust you as a salesperson and a business professional? Not putting your customer’s interests ahead of your own is a recipe for disaster.

Customers overwhelmingly buy from people they trust. These customer relationships are longer lasting, more effective and more efficient than relationships not built on trust. But building trust takes time, and the only way to do it is to sell in a trustworthy manner.


So, do you have a specific, well-thought-out plan designed to overcome this obstacle and build greater levels of trust with your customers?

In the past, customers had negative perceptions of salespeople because selling itself had been associated with manipulation, dishonesty and trickery. That stereotype of untrustworthy, lying salespeople still comes back to haunt the sales profession today. But salespeople can play a critical role in its dismantling.

You may be the most honest salesperson on the planet but if your customers don’t perceive you to be trustworthy because of sloppy sales skills and negative selling behaviors, it doesn’t matter.

Do you follow these 4 principles of selling to build trust?

1. Begin and end from the customer’s perspective and walk in their shoes
2. Think in the long term; the relationship is the customer
3. Behave in a collaborative manner and openly conduct honest conversations with customers
4. Be transparent and trustworthy in all meetings and phone calls

Knowing, understanding and possessing the traits that customers like are the best way to gain trust and close the sale. So, in addition to being honest, you need to be knowledgeable, punctual, solution-based and customer-focused, just to name a few. It’s the way you relate to others that determines your customer’s level of trust.

I see salespeople destroy client trust in the sales process and rarely recover, but it does not have to be that way! Always check your behavior. Focus on trust-building activities with customers by creating an action plan and then constantly focus on executing that plan. Once you’re able to increase your trust factor with buyers, you will also see an increase in sales. Salespeople who fail to put an emphasis on developing trust and rapport actually do a disservice to their customers and leave the back door open to their competition.

To be a professional salesperson, conduct yourself as a true professional. Your buyers will like it when you do – and you’ll be more successful. The most effective way to build that trust is to put customers first; always. You must do this by design, not by default.

In today’s highly competitive marketplace, your customers have many options and they are looking for a salesperson they know they can trust to work in their best interest. It’s not what you sell, it’s how you sell.

Via

INFOGRAPHIC - The Best States for Alternative Energy

As we move towards an electricity grid made up of renewable energy, it's a good idea to see from where that energy is going to come. Some places in the country are more naturally suited towards generating certain kinds of power; it's much sunnier in the southwest and windier in the Great Plains.

(click to embiggen)

Top 12 methods to stay motivated in sales: the journey of life

 An excellent reference not only for the mindset of selling, but also for living life.

We all know that a sales job is not the most motivating seen the number of deceptions:
Missing to close deals because thousand reasons
Not getting enough leads
Short and thin pipe line
Half empty funnel
Successful colleagues
Management pressure to close deals
Social pressure to be successful
Bad investments made with hard earned money
Hence staying motivated in Sales is a challenge.

In order to be motivated think about these methods:

1. Think positive – have a positive attitude
When you notice your negative thoughts turn them around or replace them with positive ideas and thoughts.

2. Speak positively
Stop saying negative things about business, competitors, government, regulations or other people.
Just don’t do this as it will only pull you further down.

3. State your goal in pubic
Tell your goal you really want to achieve to a few people or mention it on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.
It will give you a bit of extra social and personal pressure but you will get support and accountability from the others

4. Daily journal
Keep track of your activities on a daily basis: what exactly have you done and achieved today ? how much time have you wasted on nothing productive ?
Normally you should see a progress towards your goals as you will start to eliminate the wasted time.

5. Competition
Most salesmen need competition to get going or to stay in the lead. It drives them.
• If you have no competition around then look beyond your social environment.
• If your peers are Masters of the Universe then focus on people comparable with yourself.

6. Perplexed deception
Don’t get demotivated by the apparent success of others.
Sometimes it is only an appearance made by the others.
People do pretend to be successful but they are not.
You aren’t doing so badly in reality: investigate out their success and convince yourself of your success.

7. Spare-time
Use your spare-time like weekends and a few hours in the evening to do something completely different. Preferably a physical activity.

8. Alcohol / drugs
Don’t drink or use drugs it will only will make you feel older and uglier afterward.
Happiness based on alcohol or drugs is only for a short amount of time.

9. Enjoy
Enjoy the power of your youth even if you are sixty: be glad you still can enjoy and live these challenges. Many people haven’t got the chance to keep going as you do.
Life has still so many more challenges and discoveries for you.

10. No worry
Why worry about the future as you can encounter the next lead in a few seconds or this day.
Worrying won’t help. Don’t worry be happy.
Take decisions to change your future.

11. Don’t look back
Only the future counts as you can’t change the past.

12. Make plans
Making plans is positive thinking for the future.
The journey of life is important

It is not the goal it is the journey of life that is important.

Closing the big sales deal, your retirement or wealth is not the goal.

The journey to achieve these goals is the most important.

The meaning of life.

Via

WHAT GREAT SALESPEOPLE SAY - Harvard Business Review Sales Linguistics Article

Without language, you wouldn't be able to share your ideas, display your personality, or express yourself to the world. You couldn't communicate your needs and desires to others, and the never-ending dialogue within your mind would grind to a halt. The words we speak truly define who we are. However, since we are continually talking all the time, we often take it for granted.

Many well-established fields of language study exist to help us gain a deeper understanding of how we talk to each other. Sociolinguistics is the study of language use in society and social networks; psycholinguistics is the study of how the mind acquires, uses, and represents language; and neurolinguistics is the study of how brain structures process language. "Sales linguistics" draws from these fields to help us understand how salespeople and their prospective customers use and interpret language during the decision-making process.

Successful customer communications are the foundation of all sales, and the most persuasive and effective salespeople — the ones I call "Heavy Hitters" — naturally speak in the language of their customers. The question is, "What do they say?"

The three fundamental principles, drawn from sales linguistics, can help us be more persuasive salespeople: every customer speaks in his or her own unique language, successful salespeople build rapport through harmonious communication, and, finally, that people are persuaded based on personal connections. Let's look at each of these imperatives in turn:

1. Understand that Customers Speak Unique Languages
Most companies arm their salespeople with a "one size fits all" company sales pitch. Unfortunately, each person on this planet speaks his or her own unique language. All the mundane and traumatic experiences of your life have determined the language you use — where you grew up, the language used by your loved ones, where you went to school, your friends, your career, the amount of money at your disposal, and even your spirituality. Just as no one else has had your exact life experiences, no one else speaks your precise language. Therefore, the language two people use to describe the same situation — or the way two people interpret the same language — may be very different.

For example, reading the word "snake" might cause you to visualize a rattlesnake, python, or a cobra. While these are all specific interpretations of the word, they all may naturally invoke fear and negative emotions. Conversely, if you had raised a pet snake as a child, you probably have a positive mental association. Since the personal meanings of words can vary greatly, you may have thought of an unscrupulous businessperson when you first read the word "snake."

2. Build Rapport Through Harmonious Communication

Unfortunately, when most salespeople meet with prospective customers, they talk in only their own language and only about themselves. The subject of the conversation is me, me, me: my company, my product's benefits, and my product's features and functions. When Heavy Hitter salespeople meet with customers, they talk about them, them, them: their problems, their values, and their plans and desires. They speak their customers' language in order to build rapport.

Rapport is a special relationship between two individuals based upon harmonious communication. However, human communication occurs in several different forms and on several different levels. An immense amount of information is conveyed verbally, nonverbally, consciously, and subconsciously. A Heavy Hitter naturally adapts their mental wiring and language to mirror that of their customer.

3. Persuade People Through Personal Connections

Salespeople are paid to persuade. But what makes them persuasive? Is it their command of the facts and their ability to recite a litany of reasons why customers should buy? In reality, the most product-knowledgeable salesperson is not necessarily the most persuasive one because it takes more than logic and reason to change buyers' opinions. A personal connection must be forged.

Persuasion is the process of projecting your entire set of beliefs and convictions onto another human being. It's not about getting others to acknowledge your arguments or agree with your business case; it's about making them internalize your message because they believe that it is in their best interests. Ultimately, persuasion is the ability to tap into someone's emotions and reach the deeper subconscious decision maker within that person.

Heavy Hitter salespeople are accomplished communicators who know what to say and, equally important, how to say it. Through their mastery of language, they are able to convey and decipher deep underlying messages that less-successful salespeople miss. While using the same language as most salespeople, they develop an uncanny ability to influence nonbelievers to trust them and convince complete strangers to follow their advice. Sales linguistics can help us understand how they turn skeptics into believers and persuade prospective customers to buy.

Via