Ten Guerrilla Selling Tips

From: http://www.gmarketing.com/articles/read/169/Ten_Guerrilla_Selling_Tips.html

Ten Guerrilla Selling Tips
by Bill Gallagher, Ph.D.

1. Listen to your customers actively, be really interested, no, be fascinated! Sit on the edge of your chair, literally.

2. Wait to give your presentation. As Sandler, says, "Don't spill your candy in the lobby," and don't tell the good news on page one.

3. Be a "sales doctor." Be sure that you've thoroughly explored exactly how your customers want to look and feel by using your product. Then support them in their conclusions.

4. Ask for a "ballpark" budget figure, a range, "off the record," "in round numbers," and then refine it.

5. Give your sales presentations only to those who can make buying decisions.

6. As a salesperson, be friendly, but don't make friends.

7. Assume that prospects know nothing about you, your products, or your organization and don't tell until they ask.

8. Everyone's a "Number One." Let all know that you know.

9. Everyone knows when they're being controlled or manipulated and we all resist it. Don't do it. By letting your customers feel more "in control" you'll actually be more in control.

10. Nab and capture many more sales with the winning 6-Step NaB & CaPTuRe Sales Track!

The 10 Biggest Goofs Salespeople Make

From: http://www.gmarketing.com/articles/read/170/The_10_Biggest_Goofs_Salespeople_Make.html

The 10 Biggest Goofs Salespeople Make
by Bill Gallagher, Ph.D.

A few years ago, a nationally acclaimed writer and sales consultant spent several months traveling across North America interviewing scores of top sales professionals and leading sales managers. He wanted to find out the most damaging mistakes salespeople make. He wanted to discover why people often didn't buy products and services that they really needed.*
Here are some of his findings, in no particular order, with our popular "guerrilla" solutions and sales tips to give you and your organization the winning sales edge. For us,including my co-authors Jay Conrad Levinson and Orvel Ray Wilson, guerrilla means unconventional, creative, not doing it the way it's always been done.

Becoming a more successful sales professional today does not usually require a major, dramatic shift in one's sales skills. As with other world champions, products and services are sold today by one person, and not another, because someone got the edge. Someone did something, perhaps unnoticeable, which created that 1/1000th of a second difference that made him or her the winner who got the sale.

One of the most critical reasons salespeople aren't more successful is because they become discouraged. They began to doubt themselves and their products. Like many of us, they lose sight of their real purpose as a sales representative.

One solution is to be reminded of the importance of salespeople in world society. Without them we never would know about products and services that may save and enrich our lives. Salespeople are the "doctors" who uncover our wants and needs and provide us with goods and services which make us more successful, look good, feel good, be healthier, happier and, in every way, better off because of them. Salespeople have a high calling, an important and critical purpose in the world.

Please understand that our Guerrilla Selling Workshops teach professionals how to fully overcome these and other sales pitfalls. Learn to get that winning edge, to prospect better, to be more professional, and to close significantly more sales!

1. Salespeople Fail to REALLY Listen .

Commentary and Guerrilla Solution: The 80/20 rule. Listen 80% of the time; talk only 20%. This is very tough for many salespeople. By asking a lot of questions you'll be listening to the answers more. Learn to take written notes and ask for more information.

Guerrilla Tip: Listen to your customers actively; be really interested. No, be fascinated! Sit on the edge of your chair, literally.

2. Salespeople Jump into the Presentation too soon.

Commentary and Guerrilla Solution: Ask more questions until you're sure that you fully, completely, 100% understand your client's needs, wants, expectations, and feelings and then, and only then, give your sales presentation.

Guerrilla Tip: Wait before you explain your product or service. As guerrilla, David Sandler, says, "Don't spill your candy in the lobby," don't tell the good news on page one.

3. Salespeople Presume the Prospect's Need.

Commentary and Guerrilla Solution: "I know exactly what you need," is probably the dumbest thing to every say or even think. No medical professional would ever prescribe a cure until after much questioning and examination. Neither should you.

Guerrillas are "sales doctors." So, in uncovering the need, remember, most people buy things to make them look good, look clever, and appear successful. No kidding. The second most common reason for buying things is to make the person feel good or to overcome some pain, real or imagined. These two motives, looking good and feeling good, lie at the heart of nearly every buying decision.

As a sales doctor, make sure you thoroughly understand your prospect's "ordinate" pain, the one that your product or service will solve.

Guerrilla Tip: Be a "sales doctor." Be sure that you've thoroughly explored exactly how your customer wants to look and feel by using your product. Then support them in their conclusion.

4. Salespeople Fail to Uncover the Budget, up front.

Commentary and Guerrilla Solution: Everyone saves time when all concerned know the budget range, up front. Not to do so wastes everyone's time. Since we're all slightly wacko about money, it's hard to get to the truth about financial matters. But, if you're asking a lot of clear questions per #1.-3., above, you'll probably create enough trust and professional rapport to ask for and get an honest budget amount.

Guerrilla Tip: Ask for a ballpark budget number, a range, "off the record," "in round numbers," and then refine it.

5. Salespeople Fail to get a buying Commitment, from someone with authority to buy.

Commentary and Guerrilla Solution: Many great sales presentations are made to folks who can't say yes. You must find out who can. Maybe it's a committee, maybe it's a spouse, might be the owner, or the CFO, better find out. Be ready to reschedule the sales call, if necessary.

Guerrilla Tip: Give your sales presentations only to those who can make buying decisions.

6. Salespeople Chat and "Make Friends," Building Rapport for Hours.

Commentary and Guerrilla Solution: Making friends is great, but it doesn't necessarily make sales. So, what's the answer? Find one thing, ONE thing, in common. That's enough rapport. Notice the golf trophy, if you're a golfer, the college pennant, if you relate to that university, talk about it for 2, TWO, minutes then move on to your client's needs, budget, and buying authority. This is not a social call.

Guerrilla Tip: As a salesperson, be friendly, don't make friends.

7. Salespeople Answer Unasked Questions, especially "Objections."

Commentary and Guerrilla Solution: This is my personal favorite goof. "Uh, you're probably wondering why our prices are so high. Well, in fact, they're not really that high, they're..." Got it? Don't do this. Don't "know" what they've maybe heard. Should a customer raise an objection, don't answer it. It probably isn't a question anyway. Ask why they raised the "objection."

Guerrilla Tip: Assume that prospects know nothing about you, your products, or your organization and don't tell them until they ask.

8. Salespeople don't understand or properly relate to the Client's Unique Personality.

Commentary and Guerrilla Solution: Each one of us is unique and special. We all want to think that we got a bargain, that we got special treatment. We all operate from different levels of im-maturity, yes, immaturity all day long. Knowing this is an advantage to you, an edge.

Many of us, not all, just about 30 to 40 percent of us, are overgrown two-year-olds! We're all mostly acting like selfish egomaniacs, complaining that the world won't devote itself to making us happy. We're looking out for Number One.

Our best advice about this to you, as a sales doctor:

1. Make us, your customers, as happy and comfortable as you possibly can;
2. Ask Questions and listen more attentively;
3. Say "That's interesting," "Tell me more," "How did that feel?" and "You're right" a lot;
4. When we ask about you, let us know that you and your firm are absolutely "number one;" and,
5. Be prepared. Make each sale unique, give each person something special a unique discount or add-on.
Guerrilla Tip: Everyone's a "Number One." Let us know, that you understand that we are.
9. Salespeople Try to Control and Manipulate the Sale.

Commentary and Guerrilla Solution: We all like to shop and buy stuff, some of us even like to sell, but we all hate to be sold. We all say "No Thank You, I'm just looking." when the sales person says, "Can I help you?" Why? Because we don't want to be controlled. Our guerrilla advice is: Stop selling.

Start listening to what your prospects want with respect to your product or service. Find out what they really need. Does your product match or fulfill that need? If not, be willing to leave. You'll never be invited to do so. Let the customer's needs and priorities govern the call.

Concerning the match between your product and your customer's wants, needs and budget; when you admit to any negative, the customer will come up with a positive; and you'll look great. It's the Guerrilla Law of Candor.

Guerrilla Tip: Everyone knows when they're being controlled or manipulated and we resist it. Don't do it. By actively inviting your customer to be "in control," you are really in more control; because you're the one who's giving it out!

10. Salespeople Have no Systematic Approach to Sales.

Commentary and Guerrilla Solution: A lot of selling is "hit and miss." It's sometimes called "Good Ole Boy-Good Ole Gal" Selling. The salesperson shows up, chats a bit, asks a few leading questions and/or launches into a sales presentation.

Time is very valuable to all of us. You don't need to memorize pages of a sales presentation. Follow a successful model or sales track. If you get off course, use it to get back on. We teach a simple memory device which will keep you on a proven track to dramatically close more sales. We call it NaB & CaPTuRe. Two good guerrilla words, easy to remember. We spell them with the consonants capitalized to remind you of the most successful and most efficient track to professional selling.

Follow these six steps, NBC/PTR:

1. N stands for Need. Find out your prospect's needs first;
2. B stands for Budget. Uncover the prospect's budget second, after you're sure that you understand the need fully;
3. C stands for buying Commitment (Who has the authority to buy),
4. P for your sales Presentation;
5. T for Transaction (the paperwork); and,
6. R for Reward. (Guerrillas are taught to regularly throw in a little something extra with each sale. It makes customers feel special.)

Guerrilla Tip: Nab and capture more sales with the winning NaB & CaPTuRe Sales Track!
And Finally...

As Salespeople, members of the world's largest, often toughest, sometimes highest paid, and, quite possibly, the oldest profession, we would do well to review, occasionally, the words of Shaw. He must have been thinking about salespeople when he wrote:

This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be completely used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live.

I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no "brief candle" to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.

-- George Bernard Shaw, from Epistle Dedicatory to Man and Superman

* Brian Azar, "The 10 Most Common Mistakes Salespeople Make" in Master Salesmanship, September, 1991.

The 7 Secrets of Great Business Names

From: http://www.gmarketing.com/articles/read/133/The_7_Secrets_of_Great_Business_Names.html

The 7 Secrets of Great Business Names
by Bill Gallagher, Ph.D.

One of the first things our new clients want to do is to change their business names. It can be disaster or windfall. Your business name is very important and a simple change can have a big effect. A drastic name change can destroy all the recognition you have carefully built up, but a careful tweak can send a strong message. Choosing a good business name seems to be a formidable task for most of us and we often get it wrong. Maybe it's because we like our own names so much or it's because we think we need to be cute or something.

We've seen some incredibly silly names for businesses. They appear to be chosen almost at random, as if it didn't make any difference. Well, it does!

Your name should reflect your market niche, your identity, and be able to easily reach your customer base. In most cases your own name means very little to your customers. For example, "Gallagher & Associates" means nothing. It says nothing. If you watch a lot of TV, maybe you know of a comedian named Gallagher who breaks open watermelons with a huge wooden mallet. Beyond that Gallagher means nothing. "S? Foods" also says nothing. By now most of us have heard of them, however. Of course, S? gives a better message for food products than W's full name, Wormer!

Think of a Chinese restaurant called Foo's Rush Inn. What about the hair styling center called Curl Up & Dye? Then there's Nice To Be Kneaded Massage Center. Three Sheets To The Wind is a shop for bedding supplies. Get your hair pieces at The Wig-Wam and on and on.

Silly names to be sure. Memorable, maybe. But would you shop there? Okay, what are the secrets? Here are seven.

Make sure that your name tells what you do. Our absolute favorite is Jiffy Lube. It not only tells you exactly what they do, but a benefit to you is implied.

Make your name expandable. If you say you're Allied Software you'll never be able to sell hardware products.
Avoid name trends. For awhile everything was something-rama, then it was something-land, now it's something 'R Us.
Make it an easy name. Easy to say, easy to spell, easy to remember, and make it easy to tell others about you. Practice it. Print it. Look at it. Do you really like it? Maybe it's okay.

Is it clear, what it is that you do for your customers? Acme Shoe Repair, we all understand. The Transactional Feedback Reengineering Management Group is very puzzling.

With your name, is your niche claim understandable? We like the east coast fast-food home delivery chain called Hot 'n Now. And, does your name fit your logo, your slogan, your overall identity? Does it work? Are you sure?
If the Yellow Pages are an important source of customers, should you be Aaacme or A-1 Whatever? What about Aardvark Printers?

Your business name is crucial to your overall marketing effort. Even if you've been in business for several years, it's not too late to look again at your business name. Chances are that you've violated two or three of the seven suggestions we've listed. By the way, if you make the change carefully, your faithful clients will follow you and most will be very happy that you chose a new name that they could relate to and clearly understand.

Ford's Marketing Goof

From: http://www.gmarketing.com/articles/read/93/Ford's_Marketing_Goof.html

Ford's Marketing Goof
by Bill Gallagher, Ph.D.

Many years ago, the huge Ford Motor Company made a huge marketing goof. The goof was so enormous that even though you may not have been alive at time, chances are you remember hearing about the infamous Edsel. Let's look at what happened.

Many people think that the car bombed because of its design. Not so. While the central design theme was somewhat bizarre, the car looked a bit as if it were some kind of giant fish sucking on a lemon; the look wasn't the source of the debacle. It was the marketing.

As the story goes, from the CEO's office down came the word, "We want a car with something for everyone, the Edsel." Obediently, marketing ordered lots of models with lots of prices. Over twenty models were designed, including the specialty issues. Four-door sedans to racy sports models, each sucking that lemon, and all headed for disaster.

Something for everyone, lots of models, with lots of prices spells a very big marketing mistake.

Let's contrast this gloom and doom with a success story. A Ford success, a huge Ford success. Did I say huge? Bigger than huge, enormous, gigantic, and years later, still going. Major huge. Mega big. This is a marketing blockbuster. I speak, of course, of the Mustang.

The success was due to a tightly focused sales campaign, what we call today "target marketing."

The defined or targeted market was, 1. "young," meaning 20 to 30, and 2. "second family car," meaning 30 to 50. The model was positioned as "easy to handle" and "uncomplicated." As a consequence, everyone knew what a Mustang was and who was supposed to buy it. They did, in droves.

Mustang's popularity started with a very narrowly focused target market, the young and the "young at heart." The car was designed for the wants and needs of this market alone. They knew that this market wanted an uncomplicated car that was "easy to handle."

Some of you may recall that a few years after the initial offering, the Ford management decided to widen the Mustang offering. Now it was pitched as a luxury offering and four-door models appeared. Sales, of course, dipped.

Loss of targeted marketing focus usually means a loss in sales. We in smaller businesses must learn lessons from the big guys. They can afford to make mistakes here and there and with their giant resources can recover. But we can't. Coke can lose millions on a mis-focused "New Coke." Who wanted it? What was its target? A similar mis-calculation will put most of into Chapter 11.

A final word or so, find out who wants or needs your products or services the most. Set up all your efforts to that small slice of North America. Later you can target another market segment.

Just Don't Do It!?

From: http://www.gmarketing.com/articles/read/96/Just_Don't_Do_It!?.html

Just Don't Do It!?
by Bill Gallagher, Ph.D.

One of the most powerful marketing slogans these days is, of course, Nike's "Just Do It." During the recent presidential campaign, I heard Senator Bob Dole encourage drug users: "Just don't do it." He said it was his anti-drug message to America's youth.

Hmmm, as much as I respect the ex-senior-Senate Majority Leader from Kansas as an accomplished politician, I've got to admit this suggestion is a bit lame. As a marketing specialist, here's why.

Nike has obviously spent a lot of money and effort on developing and promoting its positive, albeit double entendre, message of endless possibilities with the purchase of a pair of sneakers! What makes its message, targeted at the youthful sports minded, hip market, is its imaginative, titillating subconscious communication.

Guerrillas will remember that it is axiomatic to successful marketing to understand that no one ever makes a conscious buying decision. All purchase decisions are made by the subconscious mind. Winning marketing requires that your favorable purchase-message get through the layers of the mind to the subconscious. The easiest way to do this is to have a non-offensive, positive message repeated enough times to get through. This is how Michael Jackson, in his hay day, sold Pepsi by the millions when, in fact, he probably hated the stuff. He just danced and sang over and over again things about the "Pepsi Generation," whatever that was. It was fun, exciting, youthful, and it made a major dent in Coke sales who, at the same time, were shouting as loud as the could, "Coke Is It." Is this "it" the same "it" as in "Just Do It?"

The really cool thing about the word "it" is that it can mean anything and everything the hearer wishes. If "it" didn't exist as a word in English, I think we marketers would have invented it long ago. It's a great marketing word for all ad copy and slogans.

The 20 year old slogan of the US Army is wonderful for the same great reasons discussed above. It is positive, hopeful, non-specific, imaginative and exciting (especially to late teens). "Be All That You Can Be In The Army."

Now Nike ought to be glad that Bob Dole lost. His anti-drug campaign: "Just Don't Do It." was destined for failure. Besides being an uninspired swipe of Nike's motto, its message is negative. This is a big no-no in the ad business. Worse, he aimed this message at the same crowd that wholeheartedly supported Nike's message with billions of shoe purchases, worldwide. And not just shoes, they are buying posters, tee-shirts, sweat shirts, and a host of other related paraphernalia with its logo and positive message emblazoned everywhere. That made for a tough fight for the Dole slogan and the lack of marketing savvy no doubt contributed to his poor showing on election day.

Bad idea, Mr. Dole. Next time you need a slogan call in a Guerrilla.

Follow Up Sales

From: http://www.gmarketing.com/articles/read/99/Follow_Up_Sales.html

Follow Up Sales
by Bill Gallagher, Ph.D.

We've been exploring some no-cost marketing tips that will have a big impact on your small business. Keep in mind that by definition a small business is one whose annual sales are under $5 million. That covers a lot of North American firms. I focus on these businesses because there are so many of them. Nearly a million of them start up every year. Two out of three will be out of business in under five years. The biggest problem is poor attention to sales and marketing. That's where I come in.
A technique, not always understood by some is called "follow-up." Everybody knows that you need to follow-up with your customers, but when? And why? Let's start with why.

The first purpose of following-up is to make sure what the customer bought was delivered. This may appear to be an over simplification.

I probably ought to remind you that the number one complaint of all American consumers continues to be that the experience they thought they were going to have at your establishment didn't match what they found. Said another way, what they thought they ordered wasn't delivered.

Okay, so you're going to follow-up with your customers. Now, when is the best time to do this? Well, upon delivery, just to make sure everything's fine.

The second reason to follow-up, the second follow-up, is to get referrals. When is the best time to do this? The answer is within 30 days after delivery. This time, in marketing circles, is called The Time of Supreme Customer Satisfaction. You show up and say something like, 1. "How are you enjoying your new whatever?" 2. "If you were me, who would you call on next?" Often, they'll tell you about a friend who had admired the new whatever.

On a similar subject, studies have shown, over and over again that the more contact time you spend with customers, the more loyalty they will have for you and your services. Were not talking about building friendships; we're talking about more contact time for business relationships.

One excellent way to do this is to more deeply explore the customer needs relative to your firm. First level needs are rarely the whole story. There are probably more profound and more meaningful subconscious needs underneath that first look. When you spend enough time with your customers to find out their emotional needs and feelings about your products you'll usually have a customer for life.

Here's another generally unsuspected customer relationship tip. Your enthusiasm for your profession and for your unique approach will win you more customers. Let all of know how happy you are to be in your particular business. Remember we're all in the problem-solving, people-pleaser business.

Guerrilla Prospecting

From: http://www.gmarketing.com/articles/read/104/Guerrilla_Prospecting.html

Guerrilla Prospecting
by Bill Gallagher, Ph.D.

Back when a nickel bought an ice cream cone or a candy bar and I'd take my children to the park on weekends, I used to take a handful of change with me and drop it all over the areas where kids were playing. It was great fun watching the children discover the coins with such youthful glee.
Remembering this experience, a couple of years ago I suggested to a client, a real estate salesman working in Marin County, California the following prospecting technique.

As you approach the toll booth on the Golden Gate Bridge (or any interstate or turnpike toll booth, or parking lot attendant, for that matter), line yourself up in front of BMW's, Mercedes Benz's, Cadillac's and the like (folks who look like your ideal customer). Take some time to staple a few dollars to your business cards. And pay for the car behind you! You cannot imagine the reaction to having someone, some stranger, pay for your way across the bridge or whatever.

As the car behind you approaches the booth with his or her dollars ready, the attendant announces, "It's already been paid, that guy up there just paid for you, and here's his card." And all the way across the bridge this guy's waving at you, giving you the thumb's up and "okay" signals. When he gets back to the office, sometime that afternoon he gives you a call. "Say, I just wanted to thank you in person, paying for me across the bridge really made my day! I see you're in real estate, you know, I was just thinking of putting my home on the market..."

Talk about being a Guerrilla. Remember "Guerrilla" means doing the thing least expected, and most appreciated by your prospective customer. So what are the steps?

1. Step number one, go through your data and find out who your ideal customer is. This means are they mostly male or female, over or under 40, middle class or lower, college grads or not, and so on?

2. Go where they are. Do they belong to the country club? If so, you'd better get a membership. Do the live in the lower east side? Maybe you should spend more time there. Do they have facilities in the new industrial park? Spend some time there on Saturday mornings. (The "gatekeepers" are not working but the owner usually is.)

3. Use Unusual Approaches. Like the toll booth approach, or my client the CPA who now walks the entire length of the BART train, on his way to work, looking for two things: 1. An empty seat, with, 2. A friendly face. He'd then sit down with the opener, "Hi, my name's Don Winston. I'm a CPA in the city and I've figured out a way so that most of my clients pay very little income tax. Here's my card." Much conversation follows. And, voila', a new client. Or, my client who works the big new buildings in downtown Phoenix selling key-person insurance. He rides the elevators, making sure that he's the last one to board. Everyone else backs in facing front, he boards last and faces all, saying something like, "You're probably wondering why I called you all together this afternoon! You know, the price of everything is going up, but not insurance. Here's my card..."

4. Ask lots of "Content" type questions. They usually begin with "wh."

5. Use Your Guerrilla Listening HITS. See other columns on Guerrilla listening skills. You will increase your business dramatically using these skills.

And finally, the best approach to prospecting is to become fascinated with people. No kidding, when, for example I'm flying across the country and I have a lot of work to do, I introduce myself and say that I sell insurance policies. I get immediate sustained silence for hours. If I haven't much to do, I say that I'm a writer and start asking a few "wh" questions. Everyone that you meet has a novel (or two) inside of them. When you discover this your prospecting struggles are over, forever.