Business Coaching

Dealing With Emotional People

In my June edition of the Achievers Edge (Peter Thomson's monthly audio newsletter) was another very interesting feature from Nancy Slessenger about how to deal better with emotional people. I have written before about Nancy as an expert in how to deal with difficult people.

Nancy told two stories about people who have a strong connection to their emotions and both resonated with me. Some people think that coaches are very touchy-feely and while some are, I'm not. I am much more task focused and it seems that where problems start.

When an emotionally driven person runs into a task driven person you can very easily run into a stalemate situation with each person exaggerating their biases.

The Samaritans

The first story Nancy told was about the time when she had a very depressed person working in her team and other members of staff were concerned about the suicide risk. So Nancy decided to ring the Samaritans (UK helpline for the suicidally depressed) to find out how the process worked.

Nancy just wanted the facts and if possible to try to set up a meeting but the person the other end of the telephone was not interested in the task but wanted to know how Nancy felt about this situation. "I'm concerned but I am sure that everything will be OK if she can get some help."

"Yes but how do you really fee-eel?" came back the reply.  The Samaritan obviously thought that Nancy was doing the "A friend of mine... "routine. It didn't get anywhere because the more Nancy pushed for action (information), the more the other person believed that she was repressing her feelings and had to be forced to confront them.    

The Computer Bug

The second story concerns another member of Nancy's staff who was very reluctant to hand over an old computer to another member of staff so that she could have a new one. As Nancy pushed for action, she met resistance and heard excuses.

It was only when Nancy asked how she felt and suggested some emotions - upset, angry, worried - that the truth came out. She was worried because she hadn't fixed a computer bug and she was embarrassed to hand it over like this.

Nice Stories (Especially When Nancy Explains Them)

But what is the implication for us as managers and coaches.

If you are dealing with a task focused person, you need to stay on point and focus on the facts and what action needs to be taken.

If you are dealing with a feelings focused person, you have to find out how they are feeling and how those feelings are connected with what they are to do. Only then after you have recognised and dealt with the emotional issues can you move to agreeing future actions.

This was the third feature from Nancy Slessenger in the Achievers Edge but if you want to hear or read her ideas, there are some links on the dealing with difficult people page.

As a task driven person with a suspicion of touchy-feely ideas, she makes many of these  people issues fascinating.

What Else Was In The Achievers Edge

It was a great edition with:

1. Personal development - starting and completing projects
    
   
2. Guest interview - Richard Richardson, co-author of Marketing Judo (so good I ordered the book)
    
   
3. The edge of the month - how good are you in the last three feet?
    
   
4. Communication - tricks of sleight of voice
    
   
5. Control your life - never take a no from someone who can't say yes
    
   
6. Audio excerpt from Jim Rohn's "The Day The World Turns You Around"
   

If you would like to learn more about the Achievers Edge, Peter Thomson has made an excellent introductory offer - see Achievers Edge

To Your Success

Your Profit Coach

Paul Simister
Business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

Overcoming Information Overload

Since I came back from holiday, I have been suffering from information overload. This has been a problem that has crept up on me through my developing interest in Internet marketing and information marketing.

I receive so many emails offering free reports, teleseminars, webinars, downloadable recordings and videos that it would have been very easy to avoid doing any productive work at all. What was manageable on a daily basis became overwhelming in a ten day batch.

It won't surprise you to know that I am a firm believer in the ongoing power and benefits of continual personal development and learning but it is important to know where to draw the line, stop learning and start using.

I have written about this concern before in my "Are You a Business Advice Junkie? and "Cold Turkey For The Business Advice Junkie" but I want to return to the theme of information overload.

The Problems Of Information Overload

• Higher levels of stress
   
• Confusion and frustration
   
• Little time for action
   
• Increased pressure to strive for perfectionism if you could just know a few more secrets
   
• Delayed decision making as the focus is on more research, facts and analysis

The Solutions To Information Overload

• Focusing on what you need to know rather than what it's nice to know
   
• Learning to make better use of what you already know
   
• Finding the best sources of quality information which you trust and rely on
   
• Self discipline to the way you manage your time in research and a commitment to taking action within your self imposed deadlines.

Peter Thomson and the Performance Effectiveness Quotient

When Peter and I had lunch last week, we discussed the problem of people buying information, not for the reason of what it can do to make their lives or businesses better but for intellectual entertainment.

I was thinking more about this while I was driving back home and I remembered that Peter had a great technique for developing and enhancing your personal skills which he calls the Performance Effectiveness Quotient.

Your success in any activity is a combination of three separate areas:

1. Your knowledge of the skill area
    
2. Your ability in applying that knowledge
    
3. How often you use the knowledge.

This makes a lot of sense to me.

You may know a lot about a subject but you find it very difficult to apply that knowledge  turn it into an effective skill. This means that you don't use the knowledge and take productive actions which create a benefit.

This is the classic situation of someone suffering from information overload.

They have an ongoing thirst for knowledge and to benefit from learning but the concentration of effort is misplaced.

In this situation benefits don't come from knowing more but from learning to apply what you know and then consolidating and reinforcing the skill through frequent action.

Applying the Performance Effectiveness Quotient

This is covered in Peter Thomson's super audio program from Nightingale Conant called "The Best Kept Secrets Of The World's Great Achievers" (and for anyone interested in buying the mp3 download it is in section 1 Straight To The Target) but hopefully Peter won't mind if I give you the flavour.

Identify your important skill areas for your role (at work and in life) and then rate yourself out  of ten for your knowledge, ability to apply the skill and how often you  use the skill.

Turn the ratings into percentages and then multiply together. This means that if each element is rates as 6 out of 10 (or 60%) your overall rating is 60% x 60% x 60% or just 21.6%.

To get better in your performance in this skill area, you have to find which element is the easiest to upgrade and then work on that.

So if your ratings are 70%, 70% and 20%, then you need to focus on using the skill more often because you are wasting an important capability.

If you have ratings 70%, 20% and 60% then you are trying to use a skill which you know a lot about and use regularly but you have not developed an effective way of applying your knowledge and working out the systematic steps to effective application becomes the priority.

Applying the Performance Effectiveness Quotient To Your Business

Peter Thomson explains the Performance Effectiveness Quotient as a way to develop and strengthen your personal skills but there are two extensions that you can apply to your business:

1. Using the Performance Effectiveness Quotient in your team development and appraisals. How often have you seen good training go to waste? If you try to consolidate the training (which may have been focused on the increase in knowledge) by extending it across to the two other areas, you will start seeing an improvement in the results and benefits of the training.
    
2. Using the ideas behind the performance Effectiveness Quotient to develop the capabilities of your business. Just as an individual has skills which differentiates them as a person, a business has distinctive capabilities which are at the foundation of any differentiation based competitive advance.

Increasing Business Capabilities

My Eight Pillars of Business Prosperity are a structured way for you to look at your business and focus your improvement initiatives.

Just to remind you I have  identified eight fundamental pillars or capabilities which businesses need to continue to improve in addition to the particular skills of the trade or profession:

1. Pillar 1 - Measuring your key numbers and managing performance
    
2. Pillar 2 - Developing your vision and translating it into everything you do in your business
    
3. Pillar 3 - Developing and enhancing your market position so that you are seen as the natural choice in a great market opportunity
    
4. Pillar 4 - Generating new customer leads
    
5. Pillar 5 - Converting leads into customers
    
6. Pillar 6 - Keeping customers happy and turning one time customers into regular customers
    
7. Pillar 7 - Leading and building your team to achieve your business vision
    
8. Pillar 8 - Systematising your business to improve quality, reduce variation and lower costs.

You can take each of these Pillars and look at how well your business knows what to do, how well it applies what it knows and how often effective action is taken.

If you would like an introduction to Peter Thomson's ideas, his Achievers Edge monthly newsletter is excellent.

To Your Success

Paul Simister

Your Profit Coach, business coaching for the customer focused entrepreneur

© Planning & Control Solutions Ltd 2007-2008 All Rights Reserved

Selling Pain Relief Or The Promise Of Gain

I had lunch with business growth expert Peter Thomson earlier this week and to help prepare for my meeting I listened to two of the modules from his excellent Accelerated Business Growth System.

In the modules Peter was shared his interpretations and twists on the work of Robert Cialdini and the factors of influence and persuasion. This is a fascinating subject but Peter repeated one of his favourite expressions;

"Away motivation is the catalyst for action, towards motivation is the continuation of action."

What does Peter Thomson mean by this?

Simply that the relief from pain (or the avoidance of future pain) is a bigger factor in a person's decision to buy than the promise of reward, pleasure or gain.

So when you are in a sales process, you need to find your prospect's pain - their fears, worries and problems- and then show how your solution can stop the pain.

The Other Experts Agree - Pain Is The Key Motivator To Make Sales

David Sandler and the Sandler Sales Institute strongly emphasise the importance of helping the prospect explore their underlying pain (see "You Can't Teach A Kid To Ride A Bike At A Seminar" or the excellent "Close The Deal" audio program) because prospects start by telling you about a surface symptom.

The first problem a customer will admit to is not the real issue and it's certainly not the motivating force. People will start with logical reasons which they feel OK to admit to but there is no emotional connection. Only by mining their pain will you create the emotional force and urgency to persuade the prospect to buy.

Tony Robbins takes a similar approach in his excellent "Power To Influence" audio program. A prospect in pain will buy, a prospect sitting in their comfort zone will think it over. Tony Robins talks about the need to find ERBN (pronounced "urban" and standing for emotional reasons to buy now).

In SPIN Selling, a similar approach is taken with the P referring to the problem the customer is having and I standing for the Implications so that you can help the prospect see the pain, damage or cost of doing nothing.

Isn't Selling Pain Relief Negative Selling?

You may have some concerns about the process of selling pain relief and I can understand.

Let's just take a little look at the process.

You meet a prospect.

They seem nice and you first work to build rapport to help them like and trust you.

Then you start asking about their problems ... and you dig, and dig some more ... and your prospective customer feels worse and worse about the problem.

They see how the problem is affecting their lives, holding them back, stopping them achieving their goals. They discover with your help how the problem  badly affects other people they care about. They start feeling guilty that they haven't done something about it in the past.

Your prospect becomes desperate. They need a solution and they need it NOW.

You carefully explain how your product or service will stop the pain.

Just as you would want someone to stop hitting you with a hammer, your prospect wants the pain to stop. Their emotions are heightened and they will buy almost anything, just in the hope that it will stop the pain.

You don't have to close, your prospect is desperate to sign on the dotted line.

Is This Manipulation?

Difficult question.

You can't create pain for people. They will quickly tell you to go away so the literal "hitting your prospect with a hammer" won't work.

But you can unearth pain that they are already feeling but have suppressed. You have to do it tactfully and sympathetically through the art of effective questioning.

Trying to sell a dietary product by telling fat people that they don't look good and can't get dates is a big step too far (and of course not true in many cases).

People are very sensitive and if you go for the pain jugular badly, you will be insulting and make people very defensive. There is no chance of a sale because people will actively resist your ideas. I know because I am about 30 pounds overweight and don't like it when my Mum tells me that "I must do something about it."

Slimming product advertisements may show the difficulty of getting into your best pair of jeans or the disappointment of finding that your favourite outfit doesn't fit but they don't major on the physical and emotional consequences of being overweight.

Still using the weight loss/body re-shaping industry as an example, if you can gently help your prospect explore what being overweight and out of shape means to them by carefully questioning, your concern and empathy come over favourably.

How they feel about themselves. What they think other people think of them. How other things they have tried before didn't work.

You have heard the saying "a problem shared is a problem halved" and I think it was Peter Thomson who said "it's not a good talking to that many people need but a good listening to."

All these emotions are there in your prospect, just waiting for you to tap into.

You can't create pain. The prospect already has it but their self defence system may have suppressed the full impact to make life easier. If something hurts  and you want it to stop there are often two options:

a) Do something about it to relieve the pain

b) Try to put it out of your mind by deliberately ignoring it and concentrating on other things

The first solves the problem, the second relieves the symptom but leaves the problem festering away to reappear again in the future.

So helping your prospect to find a great solution to a serious problem is a great service and can be seen that you do really care about their wellbeing. Using the thinking behind Jay Abraham's strategy of preeminence, if you can help them, isn't it your duty to do what you can.

The manipulation problem comes if you don't have a great product.

If you use a pain relief selling approach to sell a poor quality product which won't benefit the prospect, then you are manipulating the situation. You are acting in your own self interest, rather than for honest, mutual benefit.

Does Selling On Pain Always Work?

I don't think so all some people don't agree. I think it depends on the product and the problem/situation.

Some products are not problems to solutions but celebrations and exciting opportunities.

I've just come back from a safari holiday in Africa and I can't see a pain based selling approach persuading me to buy.

Using pain to sell a wedding dress to an excited bride goes against the whole idea of living the dream since childhood.

Some situations don't need the pain to be increased.

Housing repossessions are increasing in the UK because of mortgage arrears. If someone contacts a debt management company for help, they are facing up to their problems and don't need extensive pain exploration. Yes, it may be necessary to clarify what the ramifications are, but they can already imagine the shame of being homeless and unable to provide for their children.

What Happens After The Problem Is Solved?

I have read research that indicates that a customer who has bought to relieve pain is likely to stop when the pain is solved while a customer who bought to gain benefits, will continue.

This makes sense because the comfort zone creates so much inertia. When something stops hurting, there is no motivation to go on.

This is why Peter Thomson's phrase says:

"Away motivation is the catalyst for action, towards motivation is the continuation of action."

Peter recognises that relieving pain will make someone start buying but there needs to be a positive outcome for the buying to continue.

Going back to the slimming analogy, the desire to look good, feel good and be healthy is the motivation for continued action once you've hit your weight loss target. But if you don't have the gain clear in your mind, the pain of the continued diet and exercise program may tilt the balance when you've reached your weight comfort zone.

Peter Thomson Reveals The Seven Big Mistakes

A few months ago Peter released a great report called the Seven Big Mistakes which revealed areas where owners of small businesses and sales people were causing their own problems and causing lost sales, lower profits and reduced personal income and wealth.

Just click on the link above, fill in the form and you will have instant access to Peter's revealing report.

Click on this link to find out more about Peter's Accelerated Business Growth System.

What Do You Think About The Issue Of Selling Pain Relief Or The Promise Of Gain?

This is a controversial subject but what do you think about selling pain relief. Have you found that it works for you as a seller or buyer?

To Your Success

Paul Simister

Your Profit Coach, business coaching for the customer focused entrepreneur

© Planning & Control Solutions Ltd 2007-2008 All Rights Reserved
 

Peter Thomson Achievers Edge - Cargo Or Crew

I have told you before how highly I regard the Achievers Edge monthly audio newsletter by Peter Thomson so let us take a look at the latest issue I have received.

Are You Part Of The Cargo Or Crew?

This is a pretty blunt question to ask but it does make you think.

Have you noticed how some people have a history of being made redundant. Every time it is necessary to make cutbacks, they are picked.

It's because they are seen as part of the cargo which has to be carried by the business.

There are two types of people:

• Those who earn more than they cost. These people add value to the business which will fight to keep them.
   
• Those who cost more than they earn. These people may survive out of convenience and management's desire for an easy life but as soon as the going gets tough, the business can no longer afford to carry them like cargo.

It's easiest to see an example and one of the most results oriented areas is sales.

Many years ago I was involved in as a young accountant in a large business start up. As well as the two directors, from day 1 we recruited a sales manager and four salesmen. There was no luxury of an established customer base and an order book. Everyone was starting from the same place - zero.

Obviously it would take some time but two of the salespeople quickly picked up orders and were covering their costs after a couple of months and moved into clear profit and helped to pay the business overhead. These two salesmen were part of the crew.

The other two sales people struggled. They found it difficult to open accounts and when they did, the orders were small and we found it difficult to get payback. Even after six months, the margin on their sales didn't even cover the costs of their salary, car and travelling. They had to go because they were part of the cargo and expected to business to keep carrying them.

It is easier to see how the cargo or crew analogy works for sales people but what about:

A secretary who doesn't save her boss time because of all the errors in her shorthand typing?

Or a credit controller who fails to follow the approved procedure and allows overdue accounts receivable/debtors to increase?

Or a customer service representative who upsets customers by his attitude and rudeness?

So Peter Thomson in this Achievers Edge encourages us to take a self employed attitude - we should only expect to work if we can demonstrate that we are effective, we add value and do more good than we cost.

So how can you take this idea and decide whether you are part of the crew?

How can you add more value to the company? Where can you show initiative and find improvements?

Thoughtprovoking isn't it as much of the Achievers Edge is.

Contents of the Achievers Edge

This will let you see how wide and varied the Achievers Edge is because I believe many people are nervous about buying into a monthly purchase program.

If you are like me you have probably been tempted into a music club, a book club or a wine club in the past by a great opening offer only to find that the best came first but you would never have bought the later products which automatocally appear.

So my intention is to show you the contents of the Achievers Edge each month so that you can see for yourself just what you are missing.

So in volume 1 issue 12 we have:

1. Personal Development - Peter Thomson gives us a few tips on how to start a conversation with a stranger using one of his proven communication techniques.
    
2. In Control Your Life, Peter asks are you cargo or crew and then offers tips on how you can be part of the crew, add value and help to carry the cargo.
    
3. In the Edge of the Month, Peter uses two problems or conundrums to help show you how to be more creative in your problem solving.
    
4. In Customer Service, Peter asks "how was your steak" and then questions whether we really listen to the feedback our customers give us.
    
5. The Guest Interview of the month is Barry Hearn, sports agent and promoter, probably most famous for his work with world snooker champion Steve Davis, boxer Chris Eubank and we learn tips on management and communication.
    
6. The Guest Presenter is Nancy Slessenger and I blogged about her thoughts about dealing with difficult people last month. This time Nancy gives us tips on how to manage the rhinos, the thick skinned people who are brunt, rude, loud and don't seem to take any subtle hints to change.
    
7. Finally the Audio Excerpt of the month is by Steven K. Scott and taken from his "Mentored by a Millionaire" program. In this excerpt we learn how important the skills of persuasion have been in creating millions of dollars of revenue for Steven K. Scott and the important difference between persuasion and manipulation.

As you can see, The Achievers Edge is a varied program which brings tips for our business and personal lives.

It's good that the Nancy Slessenger presentation is the first of six so I can learn more about the different types of difficult people.

Click on the link to learn more about the Achievers Edge and you will see that Peter makes a great offer to sign up and I fully understand why he has the confidence to make such a generous opening offer.

To Your Success

Paul Simister

Your Profit Coach, business coaching for the customer focused entrepreneur

© Planning & Control Solutions Ltd 2007-2008 All Rights Reserved

Dealing With Difficult People

I was listening to a very interesting interview between Peter Thomson and Nancy Slessenger which explains how to deal with difficult people. The interview is part of Peter's Achievers Edge program.

Nancy Slessenger is founder of Vinehouse and an expert in helping you to manage your difficult people more effectively.

What Are Difficult People?

Most of us behave in normal ways and go through the usual social niceties. This means that most people we meet behave in the way that we expect and therefore it is easy to communicate and reach our mutual objectives.

Unfortunately some people don't behave within the normal rules and these are the difficult people.

Nancy Slessenger has identified various types of behaviour and given them names so we have the bullies, fusspots, cry babies, ditherers, rhinos and pessimists.

I bet as you read that list, just the names triggered thoughts of at least one person who you would think of as difficult - perhaps an employee who is driving you crazy by knocking back and resisting every good idea you have or a boss who is an aggressive bully.

The Cause Of The Difficult People Problem

There are methods to deal with all these types of people but you have to be prepared to adjust your behaviour to the other person's actions and your judgement of the underlying cause.

But first ask yourself whether you meet lots of difficult people all with the same behaviour traits.

Jasper Carrot, a UK comedian joked about his mother in law's bad driving. He admitted that she'd never had an accident but she'd seen hundreds.

So could it be that the way you respond is creating the problems with staff which are driving you crazy?

How Not to Deal With Difficult People

The easy way is to ignore the problem.

But that's the cowardly approach which condemns both sides to an unhappy relationship.

Yes it may be a bit scary or embarrassing to confront the problem.

Don't give in.

Just as a spoilt child whose harassed parents make another concession reinforce the undesired behaviour and increase future problems, don't reward your difficult employee by letting them have special treatment which other staff will resent.

Difficult People Could be Costing You A Fortune

If you have someone who is difficult, their continued poor behaviour could be a massive hidden cost when you take into all the ramifications of the ripple effects going out.

In the Peter Thomson / Nancy Slessenger interview, Nancy mentioned an NHS consultant who had caused an extra £1.5 million of costs in a five year period because he was so difficult, the hospital had to use agency staff to work with him.

Of course most of the time, the costs aren't anything like that high but it is easy to see how a difficult person can cause £5,000 to £10,000 of costs.

Suppose one of your better staff members is being secretly bullied by a manager and decides to leave. You then have the recruitment costs to pay for a replacement, all the time to reviews CVs and interview people. Then there is the time required for the induction process and the three months it takes for the person to learn to perform at an acceptable standard.

The bully may still be bullying so the cycle could start again.

What Can Be Done To Deal With Difficult People

Some people may be born "bad to the bone" but often the way we naturally communicate back, can make any problem worse.

I could tell you how important it is to try to talk to them and understand them. I could say that it is important that people understand their roles in what the organisation is trying to achieve. I can tell you to explain how their behaviour is causing problems for other people. I could tell you to ask them to explain why they act as they do.

But the right response depends on just which type of problems, your difficult people have.

That's where training from specialists like Nancy Slessenger come in.

You could use trial and error but this is definitely a situation where I would seek help from an expert.

It is much better to discover the subtle ways to influence their behaviour than to escalate the problem into a disciplinary dispute.

Helpful Resources To Deal With Difficult People

I was very impressed with how clearly Nancy Slessenger explained the issues in the Achievers Edge interview and Peter Thomson recommended her Understanding Misunderstanding book very highly.

That book doesn't seem to be available from Amazon but I have found:

Difficult People Made Easy(Book - Amazon.co.uk)    Dealing Effectively With Difficult PeopleDownloadable Audio - 56 minutesAmazon are confused on the attributionJust click and it is by Nancy Slessenger and Andy Gilbert

Follow the link if you want to find out more about Peter Thomson Achievers Edge - it is highly recommended as a monthly newsletter packed with interesting features.

Your Profit Coach

Paul Simister

Business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

© Planning & Control Solutions Ltd 2008 All Rights Reserved

How To Be A Complete And Utter Failure - Steve McDermott

In a radical departure for my blog, instead of helping you to succeed, today I want to help you learn "How To Be A Complete and Utter Failure in Life, Work & Everything"

So here is my tip - listen to Steve McDermott.

I was introduced to the ideas of Steve and "how to fail" by Peter Thomson's Achiever's Edge but I'll let you into a little secret.

Steve McDermott doesn't really want you to fail. It's reverse psychology.

He has written the book "How to Be a Complete and Utter Failure in Life, Work and Everything: 44 1/2 Steps to Lasting Underachievement" which I haven't read yet but I am excited by the live CD "How to Be a Complete and Utter Failure."

Two reasons:

1. It is very funny
    
2. The messages are powerful

The CD covers Six and a Half steps that have to be listened to very carefully in case you might do the opposite:

1. Don't change your mood
    
2. Don't change your beliefs
    
3. Don't know what you value
    
4. Don't do things on purpose
    
5. Don't spend any time in the future
    
6. Don't have goals
    
7. Don't stop doing everything by halves

Steve McDermott has been voted European speaker of the year.

Should you wish to book Steve McDermott you can find out more details from his entry on Speakers for Business Steve McDermott and there are a few samples of his public speaking.

The CD is strongly recommended if you feel that you need to get yourself motivated, learn and have a laugh all at the same time. I am sure that this is one "change your life" CD that I will be listening to many times.

The CD is available from Amazon.co.uk

and his book on the same theme has great reviews which you can get from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com 

This is the problem with Peter Thomson's Achievers Edge, Peter does introduce you to so much good stuff that you will want to know more.

To Your Success

Paul Simister

Your Profit Coach, business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

© Planning & Control Solutions Ltd 2007-2008 All Rights Reserved

The Magic Matrix - Peter Thomson

"The Magic Matrix" named by Peter Thomson is a great way to identify and exploit opportunities for extra sales and profits from your existing customers.

Two of the saddest words in a person's life are "if only" said with yearning for a lost opportunity. "If only I'd taken that job opportunity..." "If only I'd asked that girl out..." "If only I'd had the courage to start my own business..."

Some of the saddest and most frustrating words in your business life also relate to missed opportunities and these are "I'd have bought from you but I didn't know you did that..." The Magic Matrix is designed to make sure that you stop hearing those words.

What Is The Magic Matrix?

The idea is simple.

The Magic Matrix is a table with your products as the column headings and the names of your customers in the rows. To prepare your basic Magic Matrix all you do is mark off who is buying what product.

By showing clearly on a table who buys what you also get the opportunity to see what they don't buy. Since you have a relationship with the buyer and you have proven yourself, you can now see the opportunities to promote and sell additional products.

I have used this basic concept for many years but Peter Thomson has given it the snazzy title of the Magic Matrix and added a few twists that I hadn't thought of. However now that i have been exposed to Peter's thinking I have found extra ways to enhance the idea.

The Importance Of Looking With Fresh Eyes

The Magic Matrix is one example of how important it is to find new ways to analyse your business.

Every time you look at it in a different way, from a new angle you are likely to gain new insights and see new opportunities.

One example I have used in the past is the product/customer/competitor matrix.

The purpose is for you to identify the share of your customers wallet in the products you sell and help you to identify new competitive strategies targeted at particular competitors.

If you sell various main product groups to customers who also buy from competitors then try this thought-provoking exercise.

1. Pick one of your product groups
    
2. Take a piece of paper and list your customers in rows and competitors in the columns but leave two columns blank at the start.
    
3. The title of the first column is "Total Purchases" - this is the value the customer buys from you and your competitors.
    
4. The second column is "Our Business" so record how much you sell to this customer.
5. Identify who else the customer buys from.
    
6. Estimate how much they buy from each.

You now have the competitive map for your customers so add to it the major non-customers to make it a comprehensive competitive opportunity map (is that my new name for this matrix?)

You have identified which customers give you the greatest opportunities to increase sales value by increasing the share of their wallet and by considering your competitive strengths against your competitors you can target the weaker players.

This isn't the place to talk about all the different strategies that you can use but the important thing is that you now have new competitive insights because you see your market in a different way.

How To Find Out More

If you would like to find out more about Peter Thomson's thoughts on business, I recommend his free report The Seven Big Mistakes.

The Magic Matrix is the first module in Peter Thomson's Accelerated Business Growth System.

To Your Success

Your Profit Coach

Paul Simister

Business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

© Planning & Control Solutions Ltd 2007-2008 All Rights Reserved

11 Common Sales & Selling Mistakes

The full title should be "Eleven Common Sales & Selling Mistakes That Will Waste Your Investment In Lead Generation And Cost You A Fortune In Lost Sales, Profits & Future Opportunities" but it didn't fit into the header.

These aren't theoretical. If you make these mistakes, they will be costing you money NOW and because of the lifetime value of the customer and the power of referrals, this loss will extend well into the future.

So are you ready to take the test?

Is there potential for improvement in your business? Are your sales staff making some of these common mistakes that mean that you miss out on opportunities for extra sales and profit?

Work through the questions and it's best to do it in writing and to make it easier for you and your staff to make the assessment, I have produced the form below that you can download.

Download 11_common_sales_mistakes_form.pdf

Ask yourself whether you are making these mistakes. Please be honest with yourself and it may help to grade your answer - Never, Sometimes, Always.

The issues are listed below and then repeated with my comments.

1. Trying too hard to sell.
    
2. Talking more than listening.
    
3. Not listening to what the customers say.
    
4. Failing to get in front of the real decision maker.
    
5. Not following up on leads.
    
6. Poor product knowledge.
    
7. Thinking the customer knows what they want.
    
8. Not asking for the order.
    
9. Allowing customers to destroy your pricing policy.
    
10. Failing to qualify prospects and confirm call appointments.
     
11. Not measuring conversion rates.

Here's the detail and an explanation of why each issue is so important.

1 - Trying Too Hard To Sell

Think of a typical salesman (but obviously not you) and a particular image pops into your mind and it's probably not a particularly pleasant.

It's too easy to confuse salesmanship with glib manipulation for self interest or is that too harsh?

When you are talking to the best sales people you don't realise their skills because they are very subtle.

But they do use the gentle art of persuasion to help you move towards a solution that is best for you. Your uncertainties disappear and you feel good when, with their guidance you have finally made your decision and your problem is going to be fixed.

I much prefer the concept of "helping a customer to buy" to "selling" because I believe that people love to buy (but may need to be led and guided) but hate to be sold.

Does your approach try to beat the customer into submission or do you help your buyer to buy?

2 - Talking More Than Listening

I've always been amazed when I've met a sales person and they've gone straight into their pitch.

Of course that's the stereotype image of a sales person. A fast talker who will persuade you by the power of the sales presentation. But there's a problem.

No questions about what I want or what my special needs are.

Just their product, why it's the best thing since sliced bread and why I'd be crazy to consider anything else.

That may be true but until they've listened to me and my own unique situation they have little or no credibility.

You see I'm special and different.

I want a sales person to listen to me and consider whether they really do have a solution that's right for me and not just right for their monthly bonus.

If you know that it's not right, be honest and admit it. Save us both time and trouble. Anything else will lead to dissatisfaction after purchase, possible complaints to the company and certainly to people I know and NO repeat business.

I sometimes think the "present first" salespeople know that they don't have a good product so their only chance is to dominate the conversation. But that puts me on my guard and that means trouble. I start off as a sceptic and it will take the force of a ten ton truck to shift me.

Do you or your sales people rush into a presentation before you've asked enough questions to understand your customers needs?

Have you taken the trouble to find out how serious the problem is that the customer is trying to solve or how much they want any gain?

Have you found their hot buttons that will help you close the deal by tailoring your pitch to their exact needs?

The selling systems cover questioning techniques but it may helpful to read my recent article on sales questions & SPIN Selling.

3 - Not Listening To What The Customers Say

Asking questions is one thing.

Listening to the answers is another but without really listening, the whole process is subverted. You're not getting as many benefits out of your questioning as you could.

It is very easy to hear your customer say something and immediately start composing an answer in your mind and miss the other points they make.

To show how common it is, listen to interviews on the radio and television and you'll hear how often the interviewer ask a question that has just been answered. Unfortunately the interviewer wasn't listening.

When it happens with a sales person and a buyer it's no surprise that the buyer gets frustrated. They realise they are wasting their time and downgrade the salesperson in their mind.

So listen. You don't want a frustrated buyer.

4 - Failing To Get In Front Of The Real Decision Maker

There are people who can say "Yes and No" and there are people who can say "No or Maybe".

It's a tough sale if you have to go through gatekeepers who are likely to (accidentally) misinform you of the real criteria for buying.

Wherever possible try to see the person who can actually make the buying decision. If you've got the confidence insist on it. Your time is valuable.

If you are not sure just ask "Are you authorised to buy our product if I convince you that it is a good deal or will you need to refer to somebody else?"

5 - Not Following Up On Leads

This is difficult to believe but please take a good hard look at your business.

Do you track incoming leads and make sure that somebody makes contact?

Surveys have shown that many leads are never followed up and most are not responded to quickly enough to impress a prospective customer.

Do you track the contacts made?

Sometimes people are not available immediately or it's not convenient to talk.

Do your sales people leave the onus on the buyer to make contact again?

If you do, the buyer is probably thinking "They are not interested but Jones & Co are. I'm going to buy from Jones."

6 - Poor Product Knowledge

There's little excuse for poor product knowledge.

Your sales person has to appear to be a trusted adviser so if they are new, don't send them out until they are familiar with the product.

And don't let any of your sales staff make up an answer that sounds good. Sometimes buyers know more than you expect. Just admit what you don't know and promise that you'll get back to them. Then do it.

7 - Thinking The Customer Knows What They Want

This is not encouragement to ignore market research but more a warning about assuming that the prospective customer knows far more than they really do.

Customers have needs and wants but you're the expert in your products and by careful questioning you should check that the product they say they want will really meet their needs.

A doctor wouldn't give you a prescription for penicillin because you say you need it. He'd want to make his own investigation of your symptoms before prescribing a powerful antibiotic.

Peter Thomson has a great session in his Accelerated Business Growth System called "The Real Question" that really brought this point to my attention.

8 - Not Asking For The Order

I take a professional interest in sales techniques that are used on me and the "closing phase" is particularly fascinating.

Some of the closing techniques are cheesy but they usually make me smile - "Is Tuesday better for you to take delivery than Wednesday?"

But there are worse things to do than being cheesy.

The worse sin is not even asking for the order or advancing to the next clear step in the selling process (perhaps delivery of a trial unit or attending a demonstration).

Your job in the sales process is to move the process along, and preferably get the prospective buyer's commitment to taking action.

Tiny steps may be but I think it's a great tip to ask them to do something. If they won't, it's a sign that they are not very interested and the lead is likely to stick in your sales pipeline until the business has gone to someone else.

9 - Allowing Customers To Destroy Your Pricing Policy

Let me tell you a secret.

"Buyers like discounts."

OK. It's not much of a secret but too many businesses aren't properly prepared to handle price challenges.

The simple fact is that no matter how good your product is, no matter how good your offer and service, it's even better if there is another 20% discount.

A good buyer will challenge you on price and poor sales technique can even invites price challenges.

Let me take you through an example.

Buyer "What's the price of this widget?"

Salesman "Our normal price is £25"

Buyer "Well if your normal price is £25 that means you've got some flexibility. What discount will you give me?"

Salesman "I can let you have them for £20."

Buyer "And what's the price if I order 500?"

Salesman "Crikey I'll need to check that out with my sales director. We've never had an order for 500 before"

One phone call later, the price has been slashed to £15.

Buyer "Here is the order for 500 at £15. I'd like you to deliver 5 of them per month. It's been a pleasure doing business with you."

Does this sound familiar? Can you see how the salesperson got sucked in to price negotiations by saying "our normal price is..."

Then once the price is moving and the salesperson has shown poor technique, it's like pushing on an open door.

10 - Failing To Qualify Prospects And Confirm Call Appointments

Face-to-face sales calls are expensive but how often does it become clear in five minutes that the visit has been a waste of time?

Perhaps the buyer forgot to put the appointment in their diary or wrote it on the wrong date or time and they can't see you - that's why it is important to confirm the appointment and even perhaps re-confirm the day before.

Your time is valuable and that message needs to go out to the buyer.

Perhaps it's obvious that your product is unsuitable or not what they thought. Perhaps they don't have the money to buy it. That's why it's important to qualify your leads upfront.

A poor quality lead where the buyer does not have an interest, a problem to solve or a much wanted gain will cost you and your business money and waste your time.

Perhaps your buyer is just price checking and fishing for information to make sure that their much preferred supplier is being fair.

Again a few questions may alert you to the possibility that while the buyer will buy the generic product or service, the order is unlikely to be coming your way.

Once alerted you can then move into seeking some form of commitment or action from the buyer as a genuine sign of interest before wasting too much time.

11 - Not Measuring Conversion Rates

Do you measure the rate your sales people convert leads into sales?

It's an essential measure because if it is too low it tells you that at least one of these two issues is a big problem:

• Your lead generation activities are creating poor quality leads. That's down to poor communication of your advertising promise.
   
• Your sales technique is poor but at least you can start doing something about it through the sales training and coaching options.

Strangely I believe that conversion rates can be too high.

It's a classic symptom that your prices are too low for the quality of your products and services. Your prospective customers can't believe how good your offer is because you're leaving money on the table. They would have been prepared to pay more.

If you have several sales people, do you analyse their leads to conversion sales rates and compare against targets?

Salespeople are generally competitive and a little incentive may produce some great results. Just make sure that your incentive scheme is fair and that everyone has a chance of winning.

Design the scheme so that it can't be "gamed" by holding back orders from one month into the next. That may be good for the salesperson but bad for the business and customer.

Results

How did you get on?

Admitting to one or two of the failings isn't too bad especially if you answered "sometimes" rather than "never".

You'll know from your experiences of the other factors that what I've written works so I've given you something to think about which is great. Just stop and consider how you can change.

More than two indicates that there is scope in your sales processes that could lead to a significant improvement in turnover and profit.

How much do you think these mistakes are costing you per year in lost sales and profit? £10,000? £25,000? Maybe £100,000 per year or even more?

And how long have you been making them? One year, two, five? That adds up to a lot of money that you and your business should have in your bank accounts.

If you don't do anything about them for a few more years, it means that even more money is lost.

Hopefully it makes sense that it's now time to take action.

What Action To Take

Do you want to do it yourself or bring somebody in to help?

I wrote an article several months ago about selling systems and why there is no one best selling system but there is a best selling system for you.

If you'd rather bring somebody in to help, do you need a specialist sales trainer or a business coach?

If low sales and lead conversion in particular is the dominant problem (and you have a competitive, good quality product) then you should give serious consideration to contacting a sales training consultant.

You'll find it an education in itself and I've certainly found it interesting to see the different selling approaches taken and practised on me.

But if there are issues in the other areas of your business as well that you need to deal with, can you manage and coordinate different functional specialists?

If not then a business coach or general business adviser is your best option (depending of course on who) and especially one who can bring you top quality sales training material.

If you want to do it yourself (and taking into account the comments I made in my article about the best selling system for you), I like Peter Thomson's Accelerated Business Growth System very much.

It is the one that I know best having bought and used the full program and I will admit that it is an affiliate link. I earn a fee from you buying.

I will write a full review of the Accelerated Business Growth System sometime soon but it is a comprehensive system that looks at the selling process, the marketing element of sales, negotiation skills and the art of persuasion. But it also includes personal skill issues like time management, goal setting, active listening and body language.

As an introduction to Peter, you may want to download his 7 Big Mistakes report. It covers different points to this article and gives you an idea of Peter's unique style.

If you are based in the UK, I can also tell you that the Accelerated Business Growth System has been white-labelled as the PROBIZ Edge system and is available through the PROBIZ network of accountants and business advisers as a sales training/coaching service. Just search Google for your local PROBIZ member.

If you just want the Accelerated Business Growth System rather than sales coaching, I'd recommend that you buy direct from Peter Thomson International because of the large number of bonuses included in Peter's offer.

But remember there are many sales systems so do read my article The Best Sales System. The article covers some of the best known sales systems but there are many more.

To Your Success

Paul Simister

Your Profit Coach, business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

Coaches, Consultants & Trainers - How To Make More Money

Attention - are you a life coach, executive coach, business coach, consultant or trainer?

I watch my traffic that comes to the Business Coaching Blog carefully and one of the questions that people are asking is "How do I start a coaching business?" or "How do I make my coaching business more profitable?"

While I cover these issues in the Business Coaching Blog for businesses in general I have never specifically addressed this issue for coaching, consulting and training businesses, and therefore I have been a little surprised by my web traffic.

I hate people to arrive here and not find what they are looking for.

While I have been thinking about writing a "Marketing Tips" article for coaching businesses, it seems that Peter Thomson has solved some of my dilemmas.

You will probably be familiar with Peter, he is the leading UK business growth strategist.

I promote his premium product - the Accelerated Business Growth System over there on the right. Peter Thomson is the person below the photograph of Jay Abraham and he's written a great report - the 7 Big Mistakes which is well worth downloading and reading.

Alternatively you may know of Peter Thomson through his Achievers Edge monthly newsletter where you hear him interview a great achiever and persuades the achiever to reveal the secrets of their success.

I have just read an email from Peter telling me that last Thursday night he was the guest speaker on a teleseminar with Dan Bradbury where he went through his ideas on:

• How to start a coaching business
   
• How to build a coaching business
   
• How to charge the right price
   
• How to get more leads
   
• Loads of other inside secrets

The call was recorded and if you'd like to hear that 50 minute interview - IT’S FREE for you.

Just click here and enter your details and you will get immediate access to the recording.

As a master communicator Peter has a great delivery style and his message are always worth hearing.