Sales Training: 260 Ideas from Brian Tracey and His Fellow Speakers: A Summary

by Herb Rubenstein

Introduction

I had the privilege of attending a Brian Tracy “Success” program in Denver on October 22, 2008. I was invited by Dr. Richard Keuhn, CEO of LifeSource Health Partners.

This article lists 260 ideas that I got from Brian Tracy and two fellow speakers at the event, Steve Black and Charles Douglas. I hope this article is useful to people who want to improve their ability to succeed in business and, more particularly, improve their selling skills. These ideas are not grouped in any order, though they generally follow the outline that Brian Tracy used with his overhead projector and transparencies. I have sent this article to Brian Tracy, Steve Black and Charles Douglas. This article has not been endorse by any of these speakers, nor does this article represent an endorsement of any of the speakers. Overall, I think everyone will agree there are many useful ideas presented by them and documented in this article.

The seminar began with two speakers, Steve Black and Chuck Douglas. I have incorporated their ideas into this summary.

Ideas From Brian Tracy and His Fellow Speakers

The first question that Brian Tracy asked and answered was: “What is the difference between people who are successful and those who aren’t successful or who are struggling to be successful.? Mr. Tracy’s stated that people who are successful have the following attributes or regular behaviors while implying that those who aren’t successful may not have these attributes or behaviors on a regular basis:

1. A clear vision for themselves that they can articulate

2. The ability to visualize themselves being successful as they seek to achieve a goal

3. Intentionally excellent

4. Have more “positive attributes”, use more positive words than negative ones

5. Don’t buy into limitations

6. Change to improve and see that they have no alternative but to improve

7. Set high goals

8. Behave in a manner consistent with making achieving those goals likely

9. Develop plans on a regular basis

10. Plan to improve

11. Have high expectations

12. Don’t settle for mediocrity

13. Execute well, carry out their plans

14. Always take action

15. Know their strong suits (competencies)

16. Play to their strong suits

17. Know where there are incompetent

18. Seek to become “unconsciously competent” (where acting in a successful manner becomes almost “second nature”

19. Clearly define problems

20. Be the light for other people (role model)

21. Figure out quickly why they are frustrated and act effectively to reduce or eliminate the frustration

22. Invite honest feedback to help them take stock of themselves and all of the results of what they are doing

23. Use the feedback to improve

24. Start new “programs” to achieve new results. A program is bundle of behaviors.

25. Know how to prioritize and effectively prioritize

26. Know the difference between what is urgent and what is important and do what is important

27. Always know the prospect’s #1 priority

28. Don’t waste time yours or your prospects

29. Regularly build teams

30. Know how to build teams

31. Act consistently

32. Have coaches

33. Like to be held accountable

34. Train

35. Don’t use excuses

36. Think that no excuse is valid

37. Do not blame others

38. Do not complain

39. Have great reasons to succeed

40. Study the habits of successful people

41. Follow the habits of successful people

42. Diagnose problems accurately

43. Act quickly

44. Are persistent

45. Continue to learn

46. Do something over and over until they have mastered the recipe

47. Develop new habits

48. Don’t watch much television

49. Know that how they act is the truest expression of their beliefs

50. Seek to grow all the time

51. Master known skills before they try to improve upon them

52. Know there is always an identifiable reason why a sale was not made

53. Know how to accept, address and overcome objections

54. Know how to develop rapport with the customer

55. Do detailed “pre-call” research on all potential customers

56. Quoting Teilhard de Chardin, “Don’t pray for things to get easier. Pray for you to get better.”

57. Know that selling today is more complex than ever

58. Know their competition

59. Seek the limited goal in the first sales call of just trying to get a meeting with the potential customer

60. Be thoroughly knowledge about all products and services they sell

61. Sell benefits not features

62. Understand their potential customer’s goals

63. Set a goal to take away customers from their competition

64. Know their ideal customer

65. Know the value their product/service will create for the customer

66. Knows the barriers and challenges potential customers have to buy their product or service

67. Know how to focus

68. Know how to listen

69. Repeats back to the customer what the customer said

70. Makes sure the customer knows he/she is listening attentively

71. Knows the customers buying habits

72. Know credibility and trust are everything

73. Know the most valuable asset of a company is its reputation

74. Becomes friends with potential customers and current customers

75. Knows customers buy on emotion and rationalize their purchase on logic and reason

76. Let the customer know that the salesperson really knows them

77. Plan for every customer contact

78. Set clear objectives for every customer contact

79. Set clear goals for the sale to every potential customer

80. Know their target markets (those markets where the product/service creates the highest value)

81. Have an agenda for every meeting

82. Stick to the agenda for every meeting

83. Know the questions that any potential customer will ask

84. Know the answers to every question a customer will ask

85. When asking the customer questions, start off with general questions and proceed in a methodical manner to asking more specific questions

86. Know the customer’s goals and desires

87. Very soon after every meeting or interaction with a potential customer, write down an analysis of the interaction in a manner that can be stored and retrieved easily. Do not wait a few days to write it up and do not even wait until the end of the day as the memory fades very fast if you are doing lots of things on your job.

88. Review the analysis of every interaction before the next interaction

89. Make sure their timing is right when the undertake an action

90. Know that everything they do, even the smallest things, count toward giving them credibility or count toward them losing credibility in the eyes of others

91. Are not late for meetings

92. Know customers are more demanding

93. Know competition is always increasing

94. Know how to identify the fears that potential customers have

95. Know how to ease the fears of potential customers

96. Give guarantees and back them up

97. Reduce risk for potential customers

98. Know that statistics show it takes 4.6 calls to achieve a sale

99. Always has a good reason to contact a potential customer or a customer

100. Knows that 95% of sales actually take place when the salesperson is not there.

101. Always knows who is the decision maker in organizations for what they are selling

102. Knows who the influencers are that may affect the person making the decision

103. Contact influencers appropriately

104. Ask great questions

105. Control the conversation with questions

106. Finds out the “closing conditions,” that is, how to tweak the product or service offering to overcome all objections of the potential customer

107. Know when to be quiet which is most of the time

108. Learn what is important to the customer, what problem they are trying to solve

109. Don’t tell their prospect much about what they are trying to sell until they know what they want/need, like/don’t like

110. Know that closing skills are a distinct subset of selling skills

111. Know how to ask the potential customer to buy the product/service

112. Distinguish between the basics of their offering and the fringe features

113. Take every sales opportunity

114. Understand the difference between product training and sales training

115. Know sales is a function of persuasion and influence

116. Know that salespeople need a substantial amount of training

117. Know salespeople must be held accountable

118. Know salespeople must set clear goals for the number of prospects they have, how often they contact them, and the sales results they achieve

119. Are efficient in their meetings with prospects

120. End meetings in a timely manner

121. Make beautiful, impeccable presentations

122. Always improve their presentations

123. Know how to move people from “I want to think it over” to making a decision

124. Know how to give people time ultimatums regarding the purchase

125. Know their time is very valuable

126. Know the time of their prospects is very valuable

127. Are confident when they ask the prospect to buy the product

128. Know how to ask potential customers for referrals to other potential customers

129. Know the goal is to work on a referral basis only and never have to make a “cold” call

130. Spend more time with better prospects

131. Create long term customers

132. Know the sale begins after the potential customer decides to buy

133. Questions whether their activities are potentially going to lead to a sale to weed out ineffective approaches and behaviors

134. Know that if they are hard on themselves, life will easy on them

135. Know the value of the ratio of number of sales calls to completed sales and other ratios like number of prospect calls to the number of sales meetings realized as a result of those calls

136. Know that if they don’t keep track of their numbers, they will lose track

137. Know the importance of shortening the sales cycle by focusing on customers who are ready to buy now or have a need now to buy

138. Are stingy with their time

139. Can quickly pick up that someone is a “tire kicker” and does not have the intention of buying

140. Know the timeframe of potential customers for their buying decision

141. Know how to use the phrase, “by the way” to engage a customer in listening

142. Know how to “qualify” a prospect

143. Know that all potential customers must be qualified, even those who ask for a proposal or want to meet with them

144. Know that urgency on the part of the potential customer lessons price, quality and other sensitivities

145. Know the prospects’ attitudes toward their industry

146. Know the prospects’ key values

147. Know the relatively low importance of price in the buying decision

148. Know the value of face-to-face connections

149. Proposals and product information is left, not mailed

150. Know the value of visiting the prospects’ place of business or home

151. Know the value of the prospect visiting their office/facility

152. Know the value of keeping current in their industry and related industries

153. Know that no one really cares about the actual product or service they are selling; they just care what it does for them

154. Know that customers only buy “improvements”

155. Know customers buy on “feeling” and emotion

156. Know customers must see themselves buy the product or service before they actually buy it

157. Know that customers must internalize the future benefits of the product and determine that its benefits outweigh the costs to buy

158. Show the value to the customer

159. Understand the problem the product/service solves and how

160. Ask for short time periods for meetings

161. Don’t make the pitch over the phone for a big sale; wait until they are at the appointment

162. Know when to be educated by a prospect and educate a prospect and stop there before trying to close the sale

163. Show people about the product/service when they can rather than tell them about it

164. Make sure the potential customer knows exactly what results the product/service will do for them

165. Nail down all logistics for every trip, every sales meeting, everything leaving nothing to chance regarding logistics

166. Ask the prospect for permission on a regular basis, permission to call them, permission to use their name in referrals, permission to…..

167. Ask prospects for their help often

168. Use polite persistence

169. Trigger the desire in the customer to buy

170. Show how their offering is new, different, transformational, useful, essential, better

171. Use testimonials

172. Solicit others to help with the sale

173. Tell prospects who or how many people already use the product/service

174. Don’t cut corners; go the extra mile to promote the chances of a successful sale

175. Write hand written thank you notes to 10 people a day, or, at least as often as reasonable

176. Show the prospect that the salesperson is smart

177. Prove to the prospect that the prospect is smart

178. Tell stories because they are real and useful, but not too many stories or a story that is too long

179. Know the future goals of their prospect

180. Make sure that their actual customers use the product, are satisfied

181. Stay in contact with the customer after he/she buys the product

182. Make sure their product/service can actually help the potential customer achieve his/her goals

183. Love what they are selling

184. Achieve clarity in all sales processes, presentation materials, all communication

185. Ask clarifying questions and avoid all confusion or doubt about what the potential customer is saying, feeling, etc. Use the phrase, “How do you mean…?”

186. Know how to use props and when to use props and which props to use

187. Make sure their offering is the best or something about their company is the best

188. Keep things simple

189. A sale is like a marriage-promises made and promises to be kept

190. Know the relationship between the salesperson and the potential customer is more important than what the salesperson is actually selling

191. Know the financial status of their prospects

192. Never interrupt

193. Respect all people with whom they interact

194. Know pausing before they answer a question actually helps them listen better

195. Try to be the low risk provider as compared to their competitors to reduce fear

196. Know how to deal with buyer’s remorse since most States have a three day rescission period where the buyer can cancel a major purchase

197. Let the prospect be the teacher and the salesperson be the student

198. Understand the “gap” between where the potential customer is today with their problem and the solution they are trying to achieve; know the gap between the real (present) and ideal (what they want to achieve with this purchase); If there is no gap, there will be no sale.

199. Move people from focusing on price to focusing on value

200. Surprise their prospects with extra value during the sales effort.

With that last sales training idea in mind, number 200, here are additional ideas generated during the seminar.

201. Get potential clients to talk about their needs and the ideas they have for the ideal product/service

202. Ask for and get the written plans or the plans the prospects have in their “heads” which the product/service is supposed to help realize

203. Write down their questions in advance of every meeting with a prospect

204. Ask “What would you have to be convinced of to go ahead and buy?”

205. Ask “If you think you will buy this product/service at sometime in the future, then what would it take for you to buy the product/service now?”

206. Regularly ask the prospects what they think about different features or potential results/value of the product/service and use that information to define the value of the product/service most favorably

207. Are experts and advisors to their potential customers

208. Get their prospects involved in the presentations they make

209. Understand the “trial close.” Ask questions like, “Do you think you would like to buy something like this that does _____?” The key to a trial close is that if the prospect says, “No” the sale is not dead. It is used as a probing type of question to ascertain where the prospect is at that moment regarding his/her thoughts about buying the product.

210. Know the difference between the product benefit (what the product does) and the customer benefit (what the customer wants in terms of results from the product/service)

211. Make sure the prospect understands everything they have said

212. Get real success stories about their products/services

213. Weave product facts into the story artfully

214. Know the goal of a salesperson is to make a person happy

215. Loves it when prospects raise objections to the product/service because it shows they are engaged, interested, and listening

216. Can deal easily with up six objections given about the product/service

217. Often answers objections before they come up. For example, “This product is more expensive than the competitors because it saves you money in the long run.”

218. Take every objection regarding the quality of the product, the integrity or the reputation of the product, the company or the salesperson very seriously and addresses that objection immediately and in depth

219. Never dismisses objections out of hand

220. Sometimes will defer answering the objection until more information regarding the value of the product/service is given to the prospect or until they learn more about what the prospect really wants the product to so or what problem the product/service is to solve

221. Sometimes, especially if the objection is minor and can be deferred, they never respond to the objection if it appears the sale will be made without addressing the objection

222. Hear every objection as if they had never heard it before

223. Compliment the person giving the objection if it is thoughtful, probing or allows them in their response to explain the value of the product/service more clearly

224. Do the research necessary and quickly to answer all objections where they do not have the information at their fingertips or on the tips of their tongues

225. Return every call and email promptly

226. Contact a person quickly if they are referred to them as a potential customer

227. Keep all persons who refer them business apprised of whether the person they referred has bought, is considering buying, or has decided not to buy

228. Keep lines of communication open with all prospects they value

229. Keep lines of communication open with all people who have referred them business or told them they would refer them business

230. Encourage prospects to articulate objections so they can be handled and the prospect can be satisfied that the objection has been removed by the salesperson

231. Always discuss price after you discuss value

232. If price questions come up, especially early, ask a question back, like, “Is price your only or the most significant concern regarding your buying this product? Getting the person to focus on the importance of price to them usually reveals that price is not the most important aspect of the deal. Quality is always equally, and usually more important than price alone as a factor in the buying decision.

233. Selling should improve the standard of living of the buyer

234. Know most purchasers are not price sensitive

235. Empathize with the customer regarding their concerns/objections

236. Know that nothing they sell is merely a commodity

237. Know the value of the brand and brand name of the products they sell

238. Provide proof to back up all of their claims for the value or efficacy of the product/service

239. Invite people to buy

240. Don’t fear rejection

241. Use the provisional close, “Why don’t you give it a try?”

242. Ask prospects during a presentation or discussion, “Does this make sense so far? Do you have any concerns at this time about the product? Do you think this might be able to help you?”

243. If a prospect says that the product/service they are selling is too expensive, ask the probing question, “How much too expensive is it?”

244. If selling a service, ask, “Why don’t you give us a try?”

245. Give the prospect a good plan of action, like, “If you want to purchase this, we will get your signature here, put this on your credit card, deliver it on Thursday, after calling first, and install it so we know it works perfectly.”

246. When they cannot make the sale they want, they try to make a secondary close and sell them something of value that may help open the door to selling the bigger ticket item in the future.

247. Ask their prospects, “Do you think you want to buy X or Y?” in order to give the prospect a real choice if there are numerous products that could meet the customer’s needs

248. “Assume” the sale or at least act like you know the sale will take place by saying something like, “I am really glad you like this one?” or “You have made an excellent choice” when the customer has shown a clear preference but has not said, “OK, I’ll take this one. Or say, “We can take care of all the details of getting this to you.”

249. Uses the sharp angle close when a customer makes and objection and the salesperson says, “If we could do X, Y, Z and resolve that concern, would you buy the product/service? Even if they say “No” the sale is not dead, so there is little to lose doing this. Make sure you can do X, Y, or Z or make it clear that you don’t know if you or your company can do X, Y, or Z, but you will see if they can.

250. Know everything is negotiable

251. Appreciate the fact that everyone has the need for speed in today’s world

252. If they say, “I want to think it over” keep the conversation going a little longer by saying something like, “That’s a good idea. You must have a good reason to want to wait. Is it the price? Is it something about the product/service? Is it something in particular about the product/service that you are not sure about?” Be sure to be polite whenever you are persistent.

253. Know askers control the future

254. It is easier and cheaper to sell to an existing client than get a new client

255. Write acknowledgement letters to those who buy from them and those who give it a lot of consideration but choose not to buy.

256. Know that some who do not buy can become excellent sources of referrals.

257. Ask for a specific number of referrals, 2 or 3, rather than just a generic request like, “Would you please give me some names of people who might benefit from the service/product?

258. Each prospect has the potential for thirty referrals?

259. Know the role, potential and limits of advertising?

260. Know that if you are going to sell and be a salesperson, be serious about it, about reaching your goals, about enjoying your work and about getting to know your customers and potential customers

261. Know that your weakest skill in selling sets the height of your success.