Despite thousands of years of trying, we are not able to predict the future of non-standard events with any certainty. I’m pretty confident that the sun will rise on December 1, but over the same time frame we have no reliable way to predict what the price of petrol will be.

It’s the same when sharing an idea, pitching for a contract or selling your services. We have no logical way to know what will be happening 12 months from now. We hope we know, we trick ourselves into thinking we know but we do not. No one does. Any belief that we have is based solely in emotions – not logic.

Pitching therefore cannot rely on logic to win. You must elicit emotions if you want to get across the line first.

Would love your thoughts on this.

Cheers

Authenticity has two sides to it – to yourself and to what others expect from you or your position. If you get this right work is easy and challenges are welcomed. If you get it wrong you’re in a world of pain.

• If you’re authentic to yourself but not to your role you are a misfit – the conductor with a rock band.
• If you are authentic to your role but not yourself you are hollow – you’re living someone else’s life
• If you’re not authentic to yourself nor your position you are dying – every day is drudgery and hard work.
• When you are authentic to yourself and your role you operate in flow. You’re doing what you were put on this earth to do.

Realising that you are potentially in the wrong box can be painful and take a while to admit. But those who are authentic to both themselves and their role are easy to follow, easy to work with and easy to live with.

How is your authenticity going?

Cheers

Darren

One of my childhood hero’s was/is Dr. Karl (Kruszelnicki). He understands and can explain just about anything from microbial disorders through to problems with inter-planetary travel. When he can’t answer a question he openly says, ‘I don’t know!’

One of his mantras is, ‘The Nobel Prize for Science is not given out for the answers scientists give but for the questions they ask’. Knowing what question to ask and what ones to avoid changes everything. Asking the same old questions sends you down the same old path as every other scientist. Those who stand out ask different questions and get different answers.

In my program Better Positioning, Deeper Conversations, More Sales I will show you how to go beyond asking the normal basic questions that every sales person asks. I’ll show you how to dig deeper, challenge assumptions and uncover the issues that clients will buy on. When you can dig deeper in a different way you stand apart from your competition. This helps you offer greater value to your customer.
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If you’d like to know how to ask better questions I’ll be focusing on it in the program Better Positioning, Deeper Conversations, More Sales. You can get all the details here.

Elon Musk (co-founder of PayPal, Tesla and Space X) is famous for how he treats sales people on their first sales call.

If a sales person spends time trying to build rapport he will kick them out of his office for wasting his time. He doesn’t want to discuss the weather, the local football team or anything else with a sales person. Why should he? He doesn’t care what a complete stranger thinks about such events!

He wants the sales person to lead the sales conversation and bring value to his business. He is too busy to waste time shooting the breeze.

This makes sense. Both parties are at the meeting for an agreed reason – that’s evidence of rapport.

Trying to ‘Build rapport’ on the first sales call shows that you are weak and looking for permission to be there. It’s why it always feels awkward and is no fun for anyone.

In my program Better Positioning, Deeper Conversations, More Sales I show sales people how to sell to without wasting time trying to build rapport. I show them how to assume rapport and demand response – even when in the client’s office.

The irony is that in the long run this approach gives you a stronger connection with the customer. In addition to this, you have a position of strength throughout the relationship – something that can be useful down the track.

But the trick to doing this starts well before you get to the customers door. It starts on the first contact.

If your sales team needs to control the sales conversation with greater authority, let me know by leaving your comments below and we can start a dialogue to improve how your sales team leads the sales conversation.

Cheers

Darren Fleming

Networking events are about engaging – not selling. To get engagement people need to find you interesting. This is where most people fail.

Being interesting should always be about them – not you. This is where the three levels of interest come to the fore.

• Interests – what you like.
• Interesting – judgments about what you do and don’t like.
• Interested – paying attention to what other people like.

People go to networking events and try to be interesting and this is the wrong approach. What interests you (your business, your football team your whatever) is usually of little interest to me. Why? Because I’m interested in my business, my football team and my whatever.

If you want me to see you as interesting, start by being interested. When I’ve told you all about what I find interesting two things will happen:

1. I’ll think you are very interesting (after all we talked about so many interesting things)
2. Without realising it will I’ll tell you want I want to buy.

Ask the right questions and people will tell you everything you ever wanted to know so you can sell to them when you have a business meeting (not a coffee) after the event.

Cheers

Darren Fleming

*This also works on dates. In fact I would say it is more important on dates!

Living in the knowledge economy, it will be incumbent on any sales person, leader and manager of people to be across the latest information in their field. This is more than just the latest trade journals and blogs. You need to be well read and have depth to your knowledge. You need to be across the work of the best selling authors in your field.

With thousands of books published every day you need a strategy to keep ahead of them. This is the strategy I employ:

1. Download Audible to your phone (you get it from Amazon).
2. Ask a trusted colleague/mentor what’s the best book they’ve read on your topic lately (You’ll be surprised at how few people do not read).
3. Download it from audible and listen to it at 150% speed. This gets you through the book more quickly and stops your mind from wandering. Listen to it on walks, when in transit etc. Give the book 15 minutes. If the introduction does not grab you the rest probably wont either so ditch it.
4. Repeat the process for other books referred to in the current book.
5. Once a month listen to a book completely off your topic. I’m currently listening to An Autobiography of a Yogi. It’s fascinating! This ads breadth to your knowledge.

When you can outsmart your competition, you know more. In the knowledge economy that is the main currency. You can offer greater value to your team, clients and employer. That positions you as an asset to their business.

What’s the latest book you’ve read?

Cheers

Darren