Mission and Value

In our previous post we talked about the fact that Rejection, which is common in many areas of life, is also something to be expected if you work in direct sales companies, are involved in selling by commission only, or are thinking of starting a direct sales business. We highlighted the absolute paramount importance of a salesperson recogizing their personal Mission and Value and that these transcend the Sale or the product they are trying to sell, and that he or she needs to protect his or her self esteem and core beliefs to the point they can even say-at least to themselves”The customer is always wrong” when they feel verbally abused or unjustly criticised.

“The customer is always right” is a mantra drilled in to sales people everywhere but, I think especially in this time of economic uncertainty, Sales Managers and companies need to spend a little more time sympathising with their sales force, and at least giving them the benefit of the doubt when customers lash out-particularly if the salesperson has a good record. Your sales people bring the wealth in and the profits-customers don’t just turn up to deposit money in to the company coffers. Something to remember if you are a Sales Manager and “driven” is your middle name. If you are reading this and feel a tad convicted why not plan this month to go out of you way to reward your Salesforce? Here’s a good site for gift ideas!

I remember when I was starting out in sales-selling insurance. Part of the sales process involved giving out free Accident cover to members of groups that we dealt with. The insurance was only worth a small amount, but human nature being what it is, because it was free it was usually snapped up and led to far greater sales of more useful wide-ranging insurance products for us.

Rejection can come from any source:be prepared

Selling was not easy, you had your highs and lows, and sometimes a low would come out of nowhere to blindside you. I remember one prospect I had booked an appointment with, and his son. It was the son who answered the door and when I enquired if the parent was in was greeted iwth “Dunno-I gis (sic) they will be home soon“. When he asked what my job was and what I was “selling” I mentioned the word “insurance” and the free accident coverage. The teenager took one look at the certificate and then at me and asked what job I did and I said “insurance agent”;he smirked “What kind of job is that?” and left the room in disgust.

He was not able to link this little bit of paper and my visit to any kind of benefit his family might get, nor to any value remuneration-wise or career-wise in the industry that I represented. Statistically a lot of people in the demographic we were targetting did suffer a lot of accidents and very few had insurance-so we provided something very useful.

But on that day I remember leaving the premises feeling discouraged,and asking myself why I was in direct sales and questioning whether it was worth it.  All because of one teenager’s comment!  Fortunately I managed to shrug off this negative critical comment that “came from nowhere”. I went on to actually be very successful and was recognised a year or so later as a top producer and rewarded with an annual paid holiday to America staying in luxury hotels such as this Cancun Resort. So I was on the beach in Cancun and the teenage boy was still living with his (poor) parents in that same house which had cracks and needed paint. A little later people started losing jobs (see post on Predictions for 2010) but I still had mine.

Overcome negative people with faith

If I had succumbed to rejection and this “put down” (by a teenager at that!) I would not have made many sales, or a living, that year. I could have ended up brooding on his put-down and concluded I really had a lousy job and, therefore, lousy prospects. In many jobs things go wrong, but particularly in sales, a couple of “strike outs” or missed sales can really dent a saleperson’s esteem. Sometimes these mental-spiritual attacks come indirectly, and not from the customer, your boss or obvious sources! To overcome REJECTION in sales you need to have a STICK-WITH-IT personality and FAITH in yourself.  You need to LIKE YOURSELF (and I don’t mean egotistically), something that has become real to me of late.   I would also add faith in God, because your strengths and abilities and positive thinking can only go so far, despite what the New Age Self Help gurus tell you.

*realise your success in life (especially in working in Direct Sales companies) depends on what you do or don’t do -your actions, and , more importantly, your RE-actions (particularly when criticised)-not on the words and actions of others-what they think of you, your product or even your future success. (Obviously you need to ensure you have done the best sales job possible, but this assumes that, and that you still occasionally face rebuttal and rejection)
*your image of yourself and Personal Faith is paramount.

If you are painfully shy you can break free.  It takes determination though.  Robert Kiyosaki relates in his books “Rich Dad’s Guide to investing” (see below)  and “Cashflow Quadrant” that he deliberately took a job with the Xerox company not because he could sell (he could not) but because he knew from his “Richdad” that Selling was a basic skill you HAVE to acquire if you want to be rich.  He knew Xerox had a good training program and so he made himself make those cold calls, learned the ropes, and the rest is history.

If you have trouble with Rejections and Sales objections I recommend you get the resources listed below, and look around for a network marketing company that can train you in sales.  Why Network-marketing?  Because there is very little risk to you in terms of your outlay, and you can learn a lot.  I learned a lot with Amway doing this.  When I eventually became a salesman relying on selling by commission only (the examples I have given above and in previous post were all from commission-only sales) it stood me in great stead.

Related reading and resources:

Click Here for Ultimate Guide to Sales Comebacks!

get Richdad’s Guide to Investing

Australasian readers can buy “The Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing”here

Australasian readers:Buy “The Cashflow Quadrant: The Rich Dad’s Guide to Financial Freedom” here

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Learn to Handle Rejection and Sales Objections Well

Rejection is part of life and definitely one of the things you need to learn to overcome if you are to succeed in Sales.  It is one of the things a good salesman or woman learns to handle well, but on an “off day” it can affect anybody, no matter how much of a super-star one thinks one is.  Why?  Because words, contrary to the popular saying, do have the power to harm. In fact, the Bible goes further and says they carry the power of life or death. We can, by our words, either kill what someone is trying to do or we can empower what someone is trying to do.  Most people just say what comes off the tip of their tongue and then blame others for the ensuing problems.

If we are in sales we deal with people.  People can reject what we have to offer, even reject us;sometimes you may feel like a punchbag as they offload their frustrations. The frustrations may be nothing to do with you but be what they feel for the company, the product, or even some unrelated problem,so it is important that we realize our own mission and value and that those things are more important than the product or the sale we are trying to make.

The other day I had what I thought was a confirmed appointment to close a sale.  I go through at least a four-part process to actually close a sale, before I know I will actually get paid for my efforts.  (As many salesmen will testify, agreement with a customer does not always result in a sale if other decision makers are involved).  I sell medical devices, amongst other things.  I am also engaged in marketing products via an internet marketing affiliate program , which is covered in more detail in my main site on “Healing, Health and Wealth” .  But, for the present, I am engaged in direct sales to homeowners.

This particular customer agreed to me -in principle-trying to get her one of said devices but she was pessimistic the doctor would agree to it, because of a prior situation she had had with him.

The main steps in the sales process (and many direct sales companies probably have a similar format) are usually:

1)to initially make contact with prospects (these have to be qualified).  This I usually do myself, as I have no leads given to me by my company as a rule

2) I then need to make an appointment to see those I have prospected and given the company sales pitch to

3) I then need to further qualify them for the all-important free-funding subsidy for the elderly. At this stage it is usually obvious if they are really interested in the product-but some people do not know what they want at any given time and will default to “yes” when asked if they want to follow a certain course of action. Salesmen will know what I mean. They are the worst type of customer, and cause no end of trouble

4) I then need to obtain the certificate from the Medical Establishment-without this, no funding help

5) if this is given, it further solidifies the sale and usually means that the installation of the device is a foregone conclusion

6)I then install the device and am usually thanked for going to all the trouble as in reality most of my customers will obtain funding in paying for that-if I qualified them well in the first place

The customer is always wrong

I had got as far as the 5th step, and had booked the appointment over the phone.  The lady had a few questions but did not say at any time she did not want me to proceed.  When I got to the door-I actually had not been feeling well for a while-it soon became obvious this would be “one of those days”. Instead of being welcomed, I was met with a stone-faced harridan who was obviously not happy.  She told me she had received a call fom our medical monitoring company that morning to see if her device was installed ok.  Because the device hadn’t even been installed (obviously a communication breakdown on the admin. side of the third-party monitoring service provider to our company. Someone had written the time of install wrong) ,she now said she would have nothing to do with me or my company and she referred to us a “mickey mouse outfit“. I could feel my blood pressure rising as I explained I had gone to the trouble to get her the device, had paid for the Medical certificate (a practice my company uniquely follows, as we try to help hard-up customers) but the woman would not budge and showed me the door.

I felt depressed when I left (no doubt amplified by whatever virus I was fighting off).  If you are in sales you may see this as pretty normal. Some salesmen would probably barely stop to catch their breath before the next sale. Some salesmen appear to be like automatons with Colgate grins, and recite whatever mantra they learned at their sales seminar, and plough on regardless. But as I said in a previous post I am not a natural Salesman, and have to work hard at it.  I do get discouraged.  If you are one of these kind of salespersons, and you have done everything you know to do, then relax-let me give you some encouragement.  You’ll hear a piece of advice you never get from your Sales Manager.  It is this: your customers do not know you.  They are not privy to your thoughts, your previous experience or have any knowledge of your motivation.  Therefore if they “go ballistic” and have a go at you, what they say is bound to be purely based on their present inconvenenience-what they did not get from you.  Therefore in a situation like that-as I say this depends if you have honestly done your job to your best-you can say to yourself without batting an eyelid:  ”The customer (who just unloaded that frustration on me) is always wrong(about that character attack/slander/observation etc) .  Next please!”. This may sound corny, but what you are doing is protecting a vital piece if real estate:your self esteem and your view of yourself. The world, the devil and your own crazy thoughts need to be stopped in their tracks. How? By words you say. Not to the customer-to whom you should always be respectful-but to yourself.

Finish the day well

As I left the house I was obviously upset by losing the sale, but I realised I had a choice.  I could either dwell on her words – “sub-standard”; “Mickey-mouse” and start to take these criticisms on myself-which in turn would affect my image of myself and therefore my performance in the coming days OR I could let it wash off  my back and go for the next appointment, reminding myself I was not responsible for the hiccup in the sales process that had occurred, and that I was still going to get my targets for the week.  The customer was wrong!  I spoke it out loud to myself and that was that.

I then decided to ring through to see if the certificate for the next customer had been completed.  I had no motivation to see anyone but I was determined to end the day well. This next customer I did not expect to be approved, to be honest.  The person barely qualified for the medical device.  But their age counted in their favor.  So when I rang up I was very pleasantly surprised to hear they had been approved. Within two hours I had installed the device (=sale made) with this prospect whom I had not been planning on seeing, and had a very good reception from the customer who even promised to give me some referrrals!

I wonder if my day would have ended in this way if I had paid attention to the customer and gone home depressed and full of self-doubt!  If you, like me, are not a “sales machine”, occasionally get down from rejections and need some good resources, have a look below. The first product is good for standard responses to sales objections but should be used for reference and not in a mechanical way. You need to know when “No” is “no” and don’t feel you have to succeed at convincing everybody. That’s the other extreme-no-one likes a pushy salesperson!

John Reason,
Salesman, teacher, Article writer, Internet Marketer.
© 2010
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Related Reading and resources:

Click Here for Ultimate Guide to Sales Comebacks!

How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling
In Australia buy here:How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling

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Prophecy and Predictions for 2010

This post is a summary of some of the predictions given by two men who have come to be seen as leaders and fathers in their respective fields. The first is a spiritual “Dad” (father in the Faith), David Wilkerson, the author of the the Bestseller The Cross and the Switchblade;the second, “richdad”,(Robert Kiyosaki), has been a de facto “father” to many budding investors and entrepreneurs in the last decade, as they have followed his popular “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” books and online courses, the most recent of which is his new bestseller, Conspiracy of the Rich.

We have included two views here-one from a well-known Christian prophet and one from a well-known writer on business and investing;we’re obviously aware there are many other views out there, but in the babble of views from so-called experts both in the church world and in the business world we have found that not many meet the criteria of a true prophet on the one hand, or of an accurate and honest financial seer on the other.

Very simply, the tests for a true Biblical prophet are that he is one whose predictions or prophecies come to pass (Deut 18:22), but also, is one whose message and ministry glorifies Jesus Christ.  Most so-called “prophets” fail in both categories; if they pass the first, they fail on the second, and seek glory for themselves.  I seem to remember adverts on the net by someone predicting America’s destruction in 2009 (or was it supposed to be in 2008?)?  What amazes me is that people still follow such turkeys even after their so-called prophecies fail.  I have watched Wilkerson’s ministry for years and from what I can see he seems to qualify under the Bible criteria, particularly on the second which is essential for any true minister.

If  one is looking for advice on investments and where to invest one’s money, as Kiyosaki often says, one should not look to get it from people who are not investors themselves.  Many financial advisers work for large fund-management firms and will only offer products or advice they are paid by the company machine to offer.  Kiyosaki is not a financial adviser, nor a Christian minister or prophet -and does not claim to be-but in our view is an original thinker, a genuine investor and his predictions as a savvy business entrepreneur (that I have read anyway) seem to be consistently accurate-hence their inclusion here.

David Wilkerson’s 2003 prophecy

David Wilkerson

We start with a pertinent prophecy from David Wilkerson called ” THE CHASTENING OF AMERICA” from back in July 2003:

“For the last five years, I have been warning of an impending financial disaster in America. Today, few will listen, and even devout Christians do not want to hear what they consider negative prophecies.

I’ve heard ministers preach that America is headed only for blessings, with no judgment. They say “Where is the financial breakdown the doomsayers speak of? It will never happen here.” They point to a believing President, to a clean, moral White House, and to a leadership doing its best to repeal abortion legislation.

Our own Supreme Court has just legitimized homosexuality. And America will soon legalize gay marriages also. We have outdone Sodom There is no record of Sodom aborting babies. And Sodom had no Bible, no churches, no gospel. Yet we have sinned and outlawed the very name of God, in the face of loving warnings and a gospel of mercy and grace.

A few years ago, I was practically screaming out warnings about a collapse of the Internet bubble. Now I am crying out a warning about the real estate bubble.(italics supplied) Soon, America will face a fearful collapse in real estate (highlight added by this article writer), as bad or worse than the real estate collapse in Japan ten years ago.

I take back none of my warnings. The storm is still on the horizon. Right now it is being withheld for a season… in hope that the goodness and patience of God lead us to repentance.”

Whether you agree with Wilkerson’s views or not, the facts of history cannot lie.  His prediction of the collapse of real estate can now be verified absolutely.  You may be interested to know the same minister has predicted a Money Crash in the not-too-distant future.  Further information on Pastor David Wilkerson can be found by contacting Times Square Church, 1657 Broadway, NYC, New York 10019.(www.timessquarechurch.org ) and a link for a recent book of his is at the end of this post.

Robert Kiyosaki’s 2010 predictions

Robert Kiyosaki

Speaking from a business and financial platform, not a spiritual one,  Robert Kiyosaki also has predicted a money collapse in Rich Dad’s Prophecy: Why The Biggest Stock Market Crash in History is Still Coming… which is worth reading, if you haven’t already.  His recent article in Yahoo entitled “2010:The Best of times or the Worst?” makes the following predictions (this is a brief summary for those who lack time to read the full article):

• housing market predictions 2010, 2011 (he gives a handy graph which shows that in September 2008, the mortgage resets hit $35 billion that month, the exact time the financial crisis hit.  2009 was the “eye in the storm” and 2010, the graph shows, will be when the financial hurricane comes back to bite) and , he says, “The storm will not end until 2012… The first half of the storm was primarily due to subprime defaults. The second half of the storm will hit more solid homeowners.” So, according to him, real estate will crash again
• Prediction #2: Gold, silver, and oil will continue to be safe investments in 2010.
• Prediction #3: The next market to crash will be commercial real estate.

Other points of concern and predictions Kiyosaki draws out are:

• the Chinese boom will eventually go bust…but he’s not sure if it will happen this year
• “Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is replacing toxic debt with new debt.. Taxes will kill anyone working for a paycheck.”
• “The U.S. dollar will grow weaker. If the dollar strengthens, we will have more unemployment because our goods become too expensive and we will export less”.
• The U.S deficit will increase
• Israel “may” attack Iran.   If there is an attack, obviously oil prices will go through the roof.
• The stock market rally enjoyed at the time of Kiyosaki’s article “will probably turn into a dead cat bounce. If the Dow drops below 6500, 5,000 may be the next stop.”

Kiyosaki tells his online subscribers to his new book Conspiracy of the Rich: The 8 New Rules of Money that he thinks “interest rates will remain low for a few more years…take your time.  Do not let the fear of missing out suck you into a bad investment.  Decide which real estate business you want to be in-residential,warehouses,fast foods, or cemeteries?“  And that one should start to build relationships with people in a similar business.  Good advice indeed.

Related Reading:

Rich Dad’s Conspiracy of the Rich: The 8 New Rules of Money

Australian Readers click here

Rich Dad’s Prophecy: Why The Biggest Stock Market Crash in History is Still Coming…and How You Can Prepare Yourself and Profit From It!

Australian Readers: get Rich Dad’s Prophecy here

America’s Last Call by David Wilkerson.

John Reason,
Salesman, teacher, article writer, Internet Marketer.
If you liked this blog, subscribe to it using the RSS feed button above!
© 2010/2011

The above article and the Kiyosaki article in Yahoo! Finance are provided for information only and are not to be construed as investment advice. Under no circumstances does the information in this content represent a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security.

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As I discussed in my last post it was my dentist who was a primary catalyst in getting me involved with affiliate marketing. His fees for his projected course of treatment on both my son and I were somewhere between ludicrous and extraterrestrial. What was worrying was that my dentist, whilst filling my mouth with dental plasticine, found my reactions amusing but never evinced anything other than complete seriousness about the price of his suggested treatment.

My dentist is from India, and despite my jibes, we have actually become friends since his first forays into my mouth uncovered a world of botched, amateur dentistry and unprofessionally-finished fillings by a succession of mediocre British and Kiwi dentists. He has a habit of singing half-in-tune with his soothing background pop music, as he uncovers one job after another requiring great future expense. I am beginning to think he is involved in some kind of Indian hypnotism because the net result is that I walk out in a daze and pay the huge bill that awaits.

But I have been postponing work that needs doing of late, because of the cost. His prognosis however on my son was harder to ignore since he did increasingly look like son-of- Dracula with one half-emerging fang, currently hidden by an upper lip, looking like it wanted to project at 45 degrees from his upper gum! So I am asking myself, as Robert Kiyosaki often advises, “how can I afford to pay for this?” rather than dismissing it as unaffordable. One way, I have concluded, is by implementing Affiliate marketing and SEO strategies.

My problem with Internet marketing up to now has been the mediocre products I have seen and the exorbitant charges that go with them. As a member of the Web2020 Internet marketing forum that Sean Rasmussen has initiated (which you can actually get a free introductory look at), I have found that the costs (so far) are manageable and one gets a LOT of information in return. In comprehensible, non-jargon-filled English too, which helps.

The Year of the Affiliate ebook is for those who need knowledge on the subject of affiliate and internet marketing but don’t want to spend an arm-and-a-leg to get it, and don’t (like me) want to meet a wall of jargon;how to get started;and how to implement the strategies that work. It is well worth getting. As Sean Rasmussen the author says:

Focus your time and efforts on the strategies giving the greatest returns. More than that The Year of the Affiliate and my private member’s forum also reveals other tested and proven strategies virtually guaranteed to give you the best returns on your efforts. This is especially important if you are just starting out and you’ve got information overload.
Avoid common pitfalls and costly mistakes when starting a new money making internet business. The journey ahead is full of potential problems that can literally stop you from succeeding. I’ve already walked through the minefield for you to safely follow my footstep

As he states “owning your own copy of Year of The Affiliate is like having a map to get from Point A to Point B.” I needed the map. The Internet is like a huge minefield, especially if are not computer-savvy, like me. The e-book and the forum will actually walk you through how to set up websites, web positioning and the correct, unspammy way to use free Social media sites like Squidoo to make money. You do not need to have a website, although I have found it is actually important to have a self-hosted website to avoid the pettier Terms and Conditions of other sites which you do have to abide by. You also learn how to avoid being labeled a “Spammer”. There is nothing worse than getting unsolicited viral emails!

With the help of Sean, the team of “Zodiacs” and a friend,I have actually been able to set up four different websites, having had no prior knowledge internet marketing or web design! I am still in the throes of learning, and will keep you posted.

Have a great day!

John Reason,
Brit currently living in New Zealand.
Salesman, teacher, article writer, Internet Marketer.
© 2009
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Click on the image to check out the Year of the affiliate e-book!

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Getting your feet wet

In the previous post “Starting in direct sales” I looked at some of the initial questions that arise when one decides that one needs to acquire Sales training either because one is thinking of starting a sales career, or because one’s job requires one to take on some skills in this area.  I discussed how the first two questions that naturally arise (“What do I sell?” and “Do I have to do an expensive sales training course?“) could both neatly be answered within the category of Network-Marketing, because network marketing affords one the ability to sell virtually anything (and as we mentioned, it is important to choose something to sell that one is enthused about personally), and to do so at a nominal cost, often with great training.

Click here for “15 Secrets” book on Network Marketing

I remember being taught the basics of presenting products, demonstrating products and talking to small groups of strangers by the great Andy Privett, a six-foot tall Englishman who commanded respect if for nothing else because of his size.  All the people invited had been pre-prospected and invited either to my house or to Andy’s where we would give an initial presentation using a whiteboard, on the benefits of using and marketing the products.  Thereafter, once we had a few people agree to try out the products, and ,even better, try marketing the products themselves, we could invite them to conventions where the full spectrum of products, personalities and company back-up could be fully deployed.

Back-up and finding a mentor are crucial

I’ll say that phrase again: “Back-up and finding a mentor-a good mentor-are crucial to success in sales”.  If you are not being looked after by your “Upline” manager or trainer, beyond the first few weeks, then consider talking to someone higher up the pipeline who may be able to have a little word in the junior manager’s ear, or, even better, take you directly under his wing. From Day 1 I had full support from Andy and I attribute my continued interest in direct sales companies (I don’t say “success” because in those early days, we didn’t do great, but I was learning) to his attention and care of me.  If you are a Manager or team leader of a direct sales business and your salesmen do not last more than a few months, look carefully at your training systems and trainers. I’ve seen many potentially good commission salesmen lost to companies because of selfish, impersonable, or over-aggressive, trainers and middle-managers, who were not willing to go the extra mile for their charges.

Your No.1 skill in business is to sell

So if you are not a natural sales person, take heart.  I wasn’t (and probably am not now).  Yet I have been selling successfully and continuously (with no retainer or other safety net) for the last six years in a country and markets I had no prior experience in.  I made the decision that I could do sales and that I would learn and put into practice what I learned-and I got myself one or two good mentors.  Blair Singer says “Your number 1 skill in business is to sell.  In this economy you are either going to learn how to sell or go out of business..the toughest job is to sell yourself to yourself.“  I agree.  Don’t look at what you are not-look at what you have.  God has given everyone gifts and talents. I have insecurities and faults, but somehow I have always been confident.  I have survived the Rhodesian civil war (see African Genesis) , a dysfunctional family, and moving house no less than 15 times!  when I was growing up I was so unused to talking to people (my early days were spent in the bush country in eastern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) that I could barely look people in the eye!
Click here for this great book on sales

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