June 6

Five Important Sales Tips

Five Important Sales Tips

By Deborah Johnson

June 6, 2017

Goals, mindsets, personal development, positive self talk

The Best Sales Tips

Sometimes the best sales tips are recalled when a deal doesn’t go through. It was the sixth venue I visited and I only went in because of the Starbuck’s next door. I walked in to a beautiful new hotel lobby and Marcus, the sales representative, excitedly met me to show me the facility. I was looking for a place to launch my two-day seminar, Hero Mountain.™ (watch video below and download FREE 23 pg. booklet!)

Marcus absolutely sold me with a nice new brochure and a complete tour, including a visit to a wonderful outdoor space with a fire pit. His main sales manager joined us as we walked the facility. Marcus agreed to wave the normal audiovisual fee, as I usually bring in my own equipment for local events. He also quoted me a nice rental discount. I left our meeting very excited. I felt I found the perfect facility that would fit my needs, working with a sales representative who really wanted my business. There’s also a certain feeling of relief when an important item, especially like renting a venue, is crossed off your list.

What Follow Up?

I was expecting to receive a follow-up email or call the next morning, ready to sign a contract. However, no email came that morning or even that afternoon. By the end of the workday, I emailed both Marcus and his manager telling them how wonderful it was to meet them and I looked forward to working with them. The following morning I did receive an email, but from Tiffany, a different sales supervisor I had not met. Both Marcus and his manager were cc’d but apparently Tiffany had been assigned to take care of the actual contract.

Tiffany proceeded to respond politely to my email and shortly after that sent me a contract. It’s a good thing I’m used to reading contracts because I immediately found several parts of it that were not acceptable. There were extra substantial percentages on the room that would literally double my costs. In addition, there was absolutely no flexibility with their catering requirements, which might have still worked if I could at least bring in bottled water and sealed energy bars. Also, the audiovisual charge was still on the contract. Did she think I wouldn’t notice?

Didn’t Value My Business

I immediately deducted that this venue didn’t really value my business. Sure, I’m not a large client, but as their meeting room was small, my seminar would be a very good fit for them. After a full week of back-and-forth phone conversations and emails, I walked away from the entire deal.

Hero Mountain booklet coverI almost expected to hear back from them, but not a word. Shortly after that, I found the perfect venue and expect to sign the contract this week. It’s a total win-win situation and I would have probably not even thought of this venue if the other deal hadn’t fallen through. Since many lessons are learned from both good and bad deals, I did recall a couple sales tips from this particular encounter.

Five Important Sales Tips

Sales Tip #1: Listen to the client. Working for so many years in the field of the arts, the tendency to justify, puff-up and self-promote raises it’s head with touting degrees and past accomplishments. The client doesn’t really care. It’s all about them and what you can do for them and their needs.
Sales Tip #2: Don’t change the rules. Once you agree to something with a client, follow through. Repeat business is great business, and your odds go way up when you follow through on your word.
Sales Tip #3: Make it as easy as possible to do business. It’s so easy to add all sorts of bells and whistles that end up looking like up-selling. Keep it simple and do the work on your end to make the business happen.
Sales Tip #4: Follow through. Prompt follow through speaks volumes in the area of trust. People usually like to do business over and over again with people they trust.
Sales Tip #5: Don’t be afraid to walk away. Sometimes the business will come back to you, but not always. You have to believe there’s something better just around the next corner! It’s really their loss!

Climb the Cables of Success

Many entrepreneurs and small businesses struggle with sales. It would be so nice if people just signed up for our events, paid us what we feel we’re worth and kept asking to purchase our next product or program. However, part of climbing Hero Mountain™ is developing the attitudes and good habits to keep climbing the cables of success in both your personal and professional life. They affect each other. It doesn’t matter what field you’re in, your toughest sale is you. You can do it successfully with the right life tools to make the climb. I believe in you!

Your Self Leadership

Hero Mountain Cables-RockslidesHero Mountain™ is a concentrated time for a small group of professional women to work on self-leadership, personal development and life purpose/goals. If you’re a professional woman at halftime facing frustration, stymied about the rest of your journey, consider Hero Mountain.™ I have been working with small groups of leaders for almost 30 years and the best way I know to make a greater impact is to influence and support other leaders.Click here for more information about the Hero Mountain™ weekend Sept. 22-23 and your free download.*

For the second half of life to be better than the first, you must make the choice to step outside of the safety of living on autopilot. Bob P. Buford

*Registration is extremely limited and the discounted rate expires July 31.

DEBORAH JOHNSON: Helping others Get Unstuck with Healthy Mental Code. Speaking, Concerts, In-Depth Workshops. Most recent book Bad Code: Overcoming Bad Mental Code That Sabotages Your Life! You can reach Deborah the following ways: Twitter: @DJWorksMusic; YouTube: https://YouTube.com/user/DJWorks; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deborah.johnson; Websites: https://GoalsForYourLife.com; https://DJWorksMusic.com

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Deborah Johnson

About the author

Deborah Johnson, M.A. has not only written multiple books and albums, but hundreds of songs, three full-length musicals and is the producer of the popular podcast, Women at Halftime. She was past president of the National Speakers Association, Los Angeles and has written & produced multiple online courses. She enjoys being outside and traveling with her husband and also loves spending time with her children and grandchildren.

Up for multiple GRAMMY Awards and spending over 20 years in the entertainment industry, she's built multiple self-driven businesses and is an expert on how to constantly reinvent yourself in a gig-economy. Deborah speaks and performs for both live and virtual events.

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