I’ve spent the last few decades working with college students, training them in the field of life. My history is varied: I was a mild-mannered lecturer in the Univ. of Kansas English department by day; by night, I was the Rhythm Keyboardist in a glam rock band, complete with a cape, thigh-boots, and light makeup.
Life has calmed down. I’m a dad, a manager, a husband. I enjoy reading (both books and faces), music, and God-stuff. I swim and train as a Masters swimmer with Excel Aquatics. (Be thankful I’ve elected not to include my Speedo photo portfolio.) Let’s pick up on last week’s blog regarding selling with an awareness of your prospect’s preferred submodalities. (If you didn’t read it, go now to “Speak Their Language”.) Establishing good rapport, whether you’re selling books, phone plans or clothing, is critical. Likewise recruiting a team with the Southwestern Company certainly requires an ability to connect. [...]
Let’s say you are running an info session for The Southwestern Company in an attempt to find another team member. Or, you may be demoing your product. Almost subconsciously, your track with your prospect: “I see what you’re saying.” “I hear you.” “Does that feel right to you?” People use simple phrases like these all the time. When you [...]
I didn’t recognize the number, but I was feeling lucky and picked up. It was a call from a salesman selling hotel vacation club memberships. He greeted me by mispronouncing my last name, then reassured me by telling me, “I’m not calling to sell you anything.” He then proceeded to try to sell me something. Sigh. I [...]
I just read Geoffrey James’ Sales Machine blog for Nov. 9 entitled, “How to Bullet Proof Yourself from Rejection.” I think of the many times I encountered the feeling of rejection my first summer selling books with the Southwestern Company. There were some pretty painful moments. Here’s what James suggests to “bullet proof” yourself: Step #1: [...]
Here is an excerpt from Dan Miller’s blog, entitled “Everyone Sells”. Dan is an author and radio host. His website is www.48days.com. While Dan never sold with the Southwestern Company, his observations on the value of sales skills are accurate.Last month, I bought the book 48 Days to the Work You Love, based on the [...]
My family dined out the other night at Chili’s and we had a killer waitress. She made a great first impression. She sold herself. She sold the food selections. She was attentive. She also got a big tip when we were done. I wish this waitress could sell books with the Southwestern Company–she would do well! As we were [...]
We just wrapped up the checkout season at The Southwestern Company. After a summer of hard work, hundreds of excited, tired, relieved college students have flooded our corporate headquarters. During one of our debriefing meetings, I was talking about victories, defeats, and why a second summer of selling would be better than the first. One young lady [...]
If you’re just starting to build a team at the Southwestern Company, or you’re making sales calls somewhere else, I have some advice: Go Warm. I talk to many new student managers, and they’re eager to prospect–to get names through questionnaires and class surveys. In other words, their first instinct is to get lists of “cold” prospects [...]
OK, last week I wrote a blog about emotional black holes, so I thought, why not write about something brighter and more positive? (Sorry if I’m milking the space analogy a bit much.) Most of the students at the Southwestern Company are not self-absorbed, bags of negativity; rather, they’re great examples of positive, outgoing salespeople. [...]
When I was a young astronomy major at college, I was fascinated with the subject of black holes–massive stars which survived a supernova and imploded on themselves. The remnant had a gravitational field so powerful, not even light could escape it. I’m sure at some point you’ve been around griping, whiny people who have devolved into emotional [...]
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