It's Been A Long Time...

The goal of this article is to reintroduce you to Positive Results Sales Executive News. You may have signed up for this article blog just a couple days or even years ago and it has been my fault for not providing new content. I could provide you with 100 excuses and probably ten of them are real but let's not waste time, I'm sorry and it won't happen again.

I hope to bring you a blog at least weekly. As you may know by reading some of our past articles, we are not a self promoting propaganda driven organization. Our goal is to provide relevant information for professionals in sales and management. Positive Results and my efforts will not change moving forward. Same high quality content, some comic relief, and tools you can use.

I will be blogging more frequently in the weeks and month's ahead. I hope you'll join me in providing feedback, comments and questions, so I can answer them with witty substance and meaningful specifics. We will also have guest bloggers as well.

Political Salespeople

It's that time of year and I am always fond of watching the crazy politicians at work. Conceivably McCain, Obama, and Clinton may be the greatest sales professionals ever. Why you ask? Quirky as it may sound they listen, or at least someone on their campaign staff listens. I cannot determine who is responsible for listening but it happens.

Watch their interviews and live conferences to thousands. No matter the audience their message is slanted to appeal. It amazes me the power of listening to your audience and how it impacts the success of any campaign.

In your sales campaigns you have to listen to your audience. Three important principles to remember while listening in any sales situation.

1. Delivered Message
2. Testing the Message
3. Audience Specific Response

Delivered Message

The delivered message is what someone is actually saying. The words they use. A prospect can tell you they are interested in your solution. Expressing in words doesn't always allow you the sales professional to gain perspective on the prospect's state of mind. It is important for you to test the delivered message to insure it is real.

Don't misinterpret my point! Listening to the delivered message is 100% important however, you cannot bank on the message being valid. It is hard to believe but prospects lie. Yep! You heard it here. Prospects and customers are less than honest during sales processes to hold you off and not commit.

Testing the Message

Don't take a message at face value. Prospects and customers lie and deceive. Yep! You heard it here. Deception is a common human practice during sales situations. It is not intended for malicious purposes it is just psychology. I am not saying all communications are lies they're just slanted sometimes.

Buying and selling is a process of effective communication. As you listen to the messages your prospect delivers to you it is important to test it on three basic criteria:

1. Why is the message they deliver important to them? It is critical that you understand this. You need to determine if they own their thoughts or are just filling the air with empty psychobabble. Don't be afraid to question their answers to determine why something is important, or how something affects them.
2. Does the information help you move the sales process forward. As you listen to a prospect or customer insure the message you are receiving is helping you to advance the sale. If not, direct the conversation in a path that will.
3. Did you receive mixed signals from body language or tone of voice. You must not overlook the power of non-verbal communication. Your intuition usually isn't wrong, jut most people fail to listen to their own intuitive skills. If the non-verbal message you receive is different from the verbal message question the situation further.

Audience Specific Response

Ah ha, full circle discussions are nice. Back to the political salesperson. After you listen to your audience, in your case customer or prospect, make your presentation specific to their needs. Your high ethical business practice allows you to deliver on what you promise unlike most politicians. So when I make the political comparision to sales it's only in the aspect of how well political spin-masters match their presentation to the audience.

Specific and pointed presentations and discussions that appeal to your customer and prospect's wants, issues, and needs, increase your chances for success. Sales professionals too frequently attempt to sell the same proverbial square peg even when the hole is round. Ah, cliches' they are so helpful sometimes.

That's all for this article. Hope you have a great week selling and I look forward to our next communication. Be sure to emai your comments and questions to me.  I will use your ideas for future articles.  Remember to check out the upcoming webinars on Power Questioning and Four Strategies for Creating a Winning Sales Process.