By knowing your audience, or prospect, you can easily gain favorable attention by supplying information of interest. 

Start tracking areas of interest to your prospects and clients.  Become an expert in your field by reading thirty minutes a day on your target market’s industry.  Soon you will be noticed more as a source of valuable information.  That will increase the value of all the information you provide – especially about your product or service.

 “THINK”

-Thomas Watson

This technique produced nearly a fifty percent return on 1,200 emails (from an approved list) for a series of seminars I once hosted.  I gave them, my target market, exactly what they wanted.

Share your talents one-on-one or in group settings.  Make these events fun and non-threatening.  Selling comes later.  The first step in any professional sales process is to create a relationship.

“I like things to happen; and if they don’t happen, I like to make them happen.”       

-Sir Winston Churchill

When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,

When the funds are low and the debts are high,

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit,

Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As every one of us sometimes learns,

And many a failure turns about,

When he might have won had he stuck it out;

Don’t give up though the pace seems slow–

You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,

It seems to a faint and faltering man,

Often the struggler has given up,

When he might have captured the victor’s cup,

And he learned too late when the night slipped down,

How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out–

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,

And you never can tell how close you are,

It may be near when it seems so far,

So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit–

It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.

- Source Unknown

Think of business opportunities for others; refer that business to them.  Where can I create business for others and let them know about it. 

For those starting out this is a great way to develop business.  For those of you with years of experience, this is a great way to open new markets.

Have you ever known anyone to turn down business? 

“The reward of a thing well done is to have done it.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

To insure its sincerity, ask a question based on the compliment.  In addition to showing your sincerity, it also gets the other person talking about themselves quickly.  What subject do people like to talk about most?  Themselves! 

Focus more on the world around you and give more compliments.  It will allow you to instantly connect with people and gain valuable information needed for successful in business.

“Most arts require long study and application, but the most useful of all, that of pleasing, requires only desire.”

-Lord Chesterfield

A smile will always get you off to a great start.  Think of the last person you met.  Was that person smiling or not smiling?  What was your immediate impression of that individual? 

Look around as you walk the streets.  Are people smiling or not?  Think to yourself, what do I think of each person based solely on their facial expressions?

Finally, if there is anything to get you to smile… it’s free!

“The reputation of a thousand years may be determined by the conduct of one hour.”
                                  Japanese Proverb

How many “I”s are in your emails, letters, texts, or any other form of communication?  How many times in a conversation do you say I?

Start counting and you will identify the focus of interest. You will realize, you’re likely not communicating in terms of the other person or their interests.

Use only two “I”s in any communication.  Try it!  It’s not easy! 

Take an interest in those around you and focus on them.  The first and biggest challenge is removing “I” from your vocabulary.  Use the English language to its fullest potential.

“We….”
-Powerful Leaders

In sales you will make various presentations before one or many.  How can you make your presentation more clear, concise, and to the point?

My great, great, great uncle Edward Everett once spoke, as the main presenter, before a large audience in a farm field in Pennsylvania.  After two hours of speaking, a tall man wearing a top hat stood and spoke for little more than two minutes. 

Edward Everett later wrote, “Permit me also to express my great admiration of the thoughts expressed by you, with such eloquent simplicity and appropriateness, at the consecration of the cemetery. I should be glad, if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes.”

Edward Everett witnessed at the Gettysburg Address how exactly to be clear, concise, and to the point.  Spend time thinking about the “core” message and the simplest way of presenting it.  Set yourself up for success.  If you do, you won’t pull what we call an “Uncle Eddie!”

“Want a miracle, be the miracle.” 

- The movie Bruce Almighty

Are your physical and verbal cues indicating your level of listening? Are you thinking of something else?  Daydreaming?  Cutting people off?  Exhibiting a poor attitude with your posture?  Looking for a fight? Analyzing to words to death?

Is this what you’re doing during a conversation?  All of the above are levels of listening that will guarantee you failure in any endeavor.  Have you been accused of these behaviors in the past?  If so, think how you can correct them in the future.

“Most of the successful people I’ve known are the ones who do more listening than talking.”
-Bernard Baruch