Outlets that have covered our award from Verizon include several ABC, NBC, and CBS affiliates from all over the United States, and each of them have spoke glowingly about ConectUS.

Everything that has come along with this coverage has not just benefited us, but our agents as well. Businesses from across the country have reached out to ConectUS to learn more about how Verizon solutions can take their business to the next level due to the extensive media coverage we have been getting, and we have been able to lead these businesses to our agents to show them exactly why that is true.

“I am constantly elated by the expertise, commitment and passion demonstrated by every single member of our ConectUS family,” ConectUS Wireless Executive Vice President Rick James Stapp said. “Our partners always tell me how much they appreciate the personal attention they receive from ConectUS support staff. They especially like our commitment to answering every phone call during business hours.”

ConectUS, according to Verizon, was selected for the “Partner of the Year” Award for “being on the leading edge of serving customers and delivering results” along with our “accomplishments, alignment with social and community impact, customer business impact, and partner innovation.”

We couldn’t have won this award without our partners, and the wonderful staff over at Verizon, and we’re looking forward to continuing to chase greatness now, and moving forward.

The post ConectUS receives national media coverage after winning Verizon’s “Partner of the Year” Award appeared first on ConectUS Wireless.

We’re Back

This Wednesday at 11:30 AM CT, click on: https://myconectus.com/wpstream/partner-news

In our first episode, we’ll preview our participation at Channel Partners, both at the Expo and the Conference. And David Starr will join us to tell us more about how you can leverage his brand to help your brand.

So watch Partner News LIVE every second Wednesday at 11:30 AM CT.

The post Partner News LIVE is Back! appeared first on ConectUS Wireless.

Over the weekend, I ran into an old colleague of mine. I used to work with him several years ago when I was in the corporate sales world. He was always moderately successful financially. But he always worked his behind off. Much harder than me, I must admit. My discussion with him on Saturday told me that not much had changed.

Knowing that I am now a sales coach, he asked me if I had any advice. Well, hopefully, everyone reading this knows you have to start with questions before you can give any answers! So, I asked him, “What specifically are your problems as you see them?” “Well,” he said, “I’m working 70 hours a week, I have more to do than I feel I can get accomplished and I just can’t seem to get past the income level I’ve been on for the past few years.” So, I asked another question, “Exactly what are your financial goals?” He answered, ” I don’t know, maybe $75,000.” Wow. this kind of answer always puzzles me. So I asked another question, “Why only $75,000?” Why would you not want to make twice that?” “That would be wonderful! But I would really satisfied if I could just get to $75,000. I just think $150,000 would be too hard.” As I began to talk with him about how he could actually get there and work less than he is now, he lost interest. He had already made up his mind that he wasn’t prepared to do what it took to get to that level regardless of what I said.

I actually ended the conversation by saying, “Look, I would really like to help you. I have always thought that you had potential. But I have to tell you, I’m not interested in working with someone who strives only for mediocrity. I work with winners. Those who have a passion for more. And not just a little more. If you ever decide that you really want success, to excel, to reach your true potential then give me a call.” I gave him my card and with that, I ended the conversation.

Now, that may sound harsh to you but I am an unreasonable friend. I expect more and generally, I get it. Maybe it was a bit harsh, but my goal was to get him to reconsider his less than lofty goals. Maybe he will, maybe he won’t. But one thing I know for sure...if I had given him a few tips for improvement, a few tips that would have put an extra $5000 or $10,000 in his pocket over the next year, that would have been as far as he would ever go. At least this way, he has a chance to wake up and realize that he is not only shortchanging himself but everyone around him, including his family.

Everyone has greatness within them. Everyone. Yet so few nurture it and bring it forth. You must be willing to set your goals high, to push yourself, to work at greatness. It rarely falls in your lap. But, one thing I have found is that it is actually much easier to achieve true success than it is to spend your life mired in mediocrity or worse yet struggling just to pay the bills. And there’s one more thing you should know, success is a lot more FUN!

It can be yours, but you must take action. You must examine your true goals, then take whatever steps are necessary to learn how to reach them. It’s really as simple as that.

Are you interested in selling Verizon Wireless services? Call us at (855) SELL-VZW or fill out the form below.  We look forward to talking to you soon!

The post Sales Success Tip – You Can Have It, But… appeared first on ConectUS Wireless.

Try combining the following two powerful ideas, track your progress, and improve sales conversion growth almost immediately:

1. The use of an autoresponder is a major online marketing tool. It could mean the difference between long-term success and a one-hit-wonder. Collecting leads with your autoresponder should be the lifeline to your business. Definitely request names and email addresses, and based on what products and services you are providing, mailing addresses and telephone numbers could be incredibly ideal for additional ways to follow up with each person.

2. Once you start growing your list providing valuable content to your subscribers should be the primary key before considering monetization. Bombarding your subscribers with sales offers and pitches will ensure the loss of subscribers. You have to nurture your list of customers and prospects like you would a newborn baby by giving them information that is a benefit to them. It would mean much more to your business if you provide free qualitative content that will eventually convert your subscribers into loyal and long-term customers. You can then begin to provide a price list of all the products and services that you offer using the following as some examples:

• An insert
• Direct marketing package
• PDF to be made available via autoresponder
• Order forms
• Product Descriptions
• and other sales material

Using the contact information your subscribers have provided allows you to follow up in multiple ways. You can mail postcards or sales letters, make phone calls, and other promotional options.

Remember to send announcements of new sales and products/services, monthly updates, and a request for referrals. You could probably survive on referral requests alone if you have a great product or a service that is in great need and not enough available to go around, so keep that in mind.

Based on what the leading sales professionals have confirmed regarding the number of times it takes on the average for prospects to make a purchase, would it make sense to provide them with information that will be worth their while to make certain they continue returning instead of bashing them with sales offers? Absolutely!

Converting prospects into buyers can be challenging but if you nurture them correctly you will improve sales conversions.

Are you interested in selling Verizon Wireless services? Call us at (855) SELL-VZW or fill out the form below.  We look forward to talking to you soon!

The post Two Powerful Facts For Improving Your Sales Conversions appeared first on ConectUS Wireless.

STEP #1: SELL TO YOUR MARKET

The first, and perhaps most important, the key to improving your sales ability is to know your target group – whom you want to sell to. A well-crafted sales pitch keeps the target market constantly in mind, carefully tailoring expressions and words to appeal to that group. If your target group is young children, for example, your pitch should be geared towards selling to that group – with simple language, bright and colorful marketing, and vivid imagery. When selling to a business, however, clearly outlining what you have to offer, and displaying strong facts or statistics packs more punch than a colorful description.

STEP #2: LISTEN TO YOUR MARKET

Being open to feedback and experimenting with wording can bring a mediocre sales pitch to a powerful level. Many salespeople will simply talk over the customer in hopes to overwhelm them into a purchase, but being more open and attentive will give you an instant advantage. Listening to your customer also puts you on their side, and makes them feel that you sympathize with them – no one cares how much you know until they know how much you care. When you listen to your customers, you will better know how to make them listen to you, and how to hone your sales skills to match your market.

STEP #3: KNOW YOUR PRODUCT

Whether you’re selling real estate or Barbie dolls, it is essential to truly know what you are selling. Knowledge of your product gives you an immense advantage over a salesperson that is simply “giving their pitch.” Being connected with your product also allows you to be even more connected with your customer, allowing you to answer questions and converse with ease.

STEP #4: SET GOALS

More than almost any other career, success in sales is dependent on YOU – your attitude, your effort, your ability, and your motivation. Setting goals for yourself gives you something to reach for and adds another level of action to the rhythm of your work. It is important to continually challenge yourself, setting realistic goals that will push your performance to the next level. Try setting goals on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis – and as you keep track of your performance, take notes on what works and what doesn’t!

STEP #5: HAVE FUN!!

As cliché as it sounds, your enjoyment of your job comes through to every customer you speak to. If you have a bad day, the customer feels that as well. So keep yourself energized, getting up and walking around, brainstorming creative ways to approach the same things, and getting connected with your customer and your product. Your attitude is everything – it will determine your energy, ability, and success.

Following these steps and maintaining a good attitude will put you well on your way to being able to hone your sales skills and improve your performance. Your drive, your determination, and your connection to your customers will make all the difference in establishing you as a top seller. A career in sales is challenging and rewarding, giving you the power to make every sale a success, and even earn a six-figure salary in your first year – it’s all up to you!

Are you interested in selling Verizon Wireless services? Call us at (855) SELL-VZW or fill out the form below.  We look forward to talking to you soon!

The post Hone Your Sales Skills appeared first on ConectUS Wireless.

Here are three ways to enhance your listening skills:

1. Make the speaker feel comfortable and important by being courteous and respectful;
2. Show your attentiveness to the speaker by nodding your head or saying, “yes” or “I see” from time to time;
3. Listen between the lines to detect when someone is being dishonest or evasive with you.

By honing your listening skills, you can catch hints in your speaker’s voice, attitude, or body language that indicate a lack of interest or enthusiasm for your product or company.

Many clients aren’t selling or recruiting because they are not listening to the truth when they hear it. They simply hope that what they are hearing isn’t what it sounds like. Our distributors or associates may miss the “not interested” message completely because they either don’t want to hear it or really don’t hear it because they are so focused on what they intend to say next.

Listening Types

Reflective and paraphrase listening will assist you to communicate to your prospects that you are, in fact, listening to them and are aware of their concerns and points of view.

Reflective listening is repeating some words your prospects or customers use as you listen to them speak. Reflective listening builds rapport in three ways:

1. It shows that you are paying attention and understand what the speaker is telling you;
2. It keeps someone else talking long enough for you to evaluate whether they are a prospect who is serious or just curious; and
3. Paying attention and listening is a good investment of a few minutes of your time in the interviewing stages.

In paraphrase listening, you paraphrase what your prospect says. I teach my clients how to interview their prospects to see if they are people they would like to work with. Many people confuse “interview” with “interrogate.”

By practicing the shared listening technique, you will find that all of your questions get answered without your prospects feeling they are under a microscope. Shared listening allows you to turn a questioning process into a conversation.

Developing a conversation, rather than asking one question after another, is a great way to get a person to open up. Your prospects will feel more comfortable revealing information to you if they feel you have something in common and lets them see you as a real person.

Listen closely and make brief notes as your prospects share in your conversation. You will soon discover your prospects’ motivators – or lack thereof – as well as their “hot buttons,” which you can repeat back to them when it’s time to as for a decision or close.

Continue listening even after your new distributor or associate has signed their application. You’ll be able to recall names, places, and other information with little or no effort because when it was first given out, you paid attention.

Are you interested in selling Verizon Wireless services? Call us at (855) SELL-VZW or fill out the form below.  We look forward to talking to you soon!

The post Listening Skills – Pay Attention With More Heart Than Talent appeared first on ConectUS Wireless.

The master prospectors, however, teach themselves to hear at a different level. They hear what people are really telling them. I teach that 20% of your time in conversation should be spent asking and answering questions; the other 80% should be spent listening to what the other person is saying and not saying. You can learn more by listening than you ever can by talking. “Talk and you lose, but listen and you learn” is a saying I coined recently.

Through working with thousands of marketers in the past several years I have witnessed many good people doing most of the fundamentals pretty well. Most people do a lot of what I call “telling and selling,” synonymous with begging and convincing. These people tell all about their great product and opportunity. Their prospects feel like they are being sold and the message is sent – they have to do the same thing also. The prospects and customers get bored and confused.

In a period of silence, I see most people break the code of “the first one who speaks loses.” The salesperson can’t stand it and jumps in inappropriately with a comment instead of waiting for the prospect to talk. They should have been asking questions, listening, and determining the prospect’s problems, desires, and interests. I went through this phase as well. I used to believe that “I could sell anything to anyone; Ice to an Eskimo”, or I had “the gift of gab,” and all the old sales clichés and adages I had been taught. Are you guilty of this?

Almost all of the people I have worked with start out this way. I have learned that by asking and then listening, your prospects will tell you what you are supposed to do. They let you know if they are curious or serious, and if they are suspects or prospects. This usually happens in the first thirty seconds.

Listening begins by learning how to read people by the energy they are emitting. Do they come across as excited and enthusiastic or do they sound lifeless and ready to go to sleep? Are they aggressive from the first words out of their mouth? Are you able to sense their negative or skeptical body language? I can usually size all of these qualities and traits up in the first fifteen to thirty seconds. The fatal mistake average prospectors make is they assume everybody “needs” their product, and they assume they know what the customer wants. People get frustrated when you talk too much.

I have learned that effective listening provides valuable information and assists me to build relationships with my clients. People love to feel listened to! Listening makes people feel special! Have you ever been in the middle of a conversation and the person you are talking to continually interrupt you? Doesn’t this annoy you? This usually stems from someone proving they have to be right or get the final word in. Are you guilty of this? Great listeners who become great prospectors learn that the “less they talk, the more they make”, and they also learn “how to say less to more people.”

Most people don’t really have anyone in their lives who really listens to them without interrupting or judging them. The point was well expressed by Dr. Elton Mayo, who said “One friend, one person who is truly understanding, who takes the trouble to listen to us as we consider our problems, can change our whole outlook on the world.”

Listening is attention, a stroke, a hug, a kind word. When you listen non-judgmentally and non-critically, you sell yourself as worthy of respect and affection. This frees your customers to think, and to like, respect, and trust you. You become the leader they are looking for. A level of trust begins more easily when you are listening. The prospect relaxes and doesn’t feel like he/she is being sold, and begins to share.

Listening not only allows you to receive valuable information but is crucial to establishing a close and personal friendship. Think how valuable you will become with your prospects if you are the only person in their lives who listens! Listening is the art of getting meaning from any situation. “Really listening” builds self-esteem in the speaker, customer, or prospect. It builds trust. It makes the prospect feel heard, understood, liked, respected, appreciated, and assisted.

It also retrieves and processes valuable information and this information truly can be used as power. If you don’t listen well you miss-selling and closing opportunities, relationship-building opportunities, and specific buying signals.

Listening is what I call the better half of conversation. When we use the term “conversation”, speaking is usually what comes to mind first. However, speaking is only part of a conversation and usually not the biggest part. In the end, what makes the difference is what is heard, accepted, and internalized, not just what is spoken.

I have learned a whole new awareness, distinction, and insight, and I have learned the process of becoming a master listener. This is a process of creatively and actively absorbing what people say. Learning to manage your listening, and really hearing what people are telling you allows you to unleash your own speaking abilities. When you treat listening with the same care and concern you put into speaking, then your conversations will have the influence and effect you desire.

Listening is truly an internal process and this skill is rarely taught. It is an art that takes its own attention to detail. You have to pay particular attention to what is being said, not what you think you hear. Listening is often overlooked in leadership training, even though it may be the most important leadership skill. Mastering the art of listening will make a big difference in your life.

As an exercise, I challenge you to spend one whole day in this next week focusing on what you hear and what new information you’ve learned that you may have taken for granted. Teach yourself to pause after someone finishes speaking a sentence and wait two or three seconds before responding. This may challenge you. Average people jump in right away at the back end of someone else’s sentence because they feel they have to be heard. They end up missing half of the spoken sentence because they are consumed with thinking about what to say instead of listening.

Start to catch yourself interrupting people or your prospects. Be humble enough to apologize and to let the person finish. You’ll know you are improving when you start to catch yourself and you start making improvements.

Are you interested in selling Verizon Wireless services? Call us at (855) SELL-VZW or fill out the form below.  We look forward to talking to you soon!

The post Master The Art of Listening appeared first on ConectUS Wireless.

10: Driving all Day

Spend the minimum amount of time traveling and the maximum amount of time prospecting or closing deals. Divide your area into manageable chunks and work each smaller area on a specific day each week. Only deviate from this plan where there is a very good reason such as collecting a certain sale.

9: (Really Cold) Calling

First impressions count big time. Prospect’s care about their business and not yours so have enough research done so that you can talk to them about their business. This will allow you to start to win their trust from the off. You need to stand out from the crowd and convince that your offering will add value to their business and customers

8. Falling Down on Follow Up

Call your customers or drop in to see if there are any more opportunities and that the current service is up to scratch. Send out some e-mails informing of latest developments or new products and follow up with a call. Speak to old prospects to see if their circumstances have changed. Selling is about building relationships; relationships are based on communication so make sure you follow up.

7: Painful Presentations and Dull Demonstrations

Let me start by saying the number of presentations where I have retained the information and which were in some way memorable I can count on one hand. There tends to be a general consensus that they are a necessary evil. In my opinion, this is not the case and they are often used as a bad sales prop and contain reams of irrelevant information. Good presentation skills are difficult to master so the average seller should limit time spent presenting and increase time spent selling. When evaluating your presentations and presentation skills ask yourself ” What is the presentation adding to the meeting?” and always ask this question from the point of the person or persons receiving the presentation. If your average meeting is one hour and your presentation takes up half, could some of this time be better to spend doing something else? How much of the information do people actually want to hear? A simple rule to apply when presenting is far less tell and much more interaction.

6: Stalling Your Sales Engine

Selling is all about the seller managing opportunities so that each action or conversation produces positive forward momentum ending in sales. Set yourself minimum and maximum objectives each time you talk with a prospect and always achieve in between. Ensure next steps and agree time frames no matter how small. Let stalling be your biggest enemy and attack with all your sales might.

5: Losing Track of Time

Time is your greatest resource, be very greedy with it. Ask the question ” Is this contributing to my sales?” for every action you do and for every conversation you have. If this answer is no, you need to change what you are doing or start having a different conversation.

4: Rejecting Referrals

Referrals are by far one of the easiest ways to get good quality leads. I’m often asked when is a good time to ask for referrals. “Is it when you just made a sale?” “Is it when a prospect is really happy with the quality of back up and after service?” Of course, these are all good times to ask but really the very best time to ask for referrals is “now”

3: Running Scared of the Close

The close is a reasonable request at a reasonable time. At best prospects say “yes” and at worst they say “no” and even then you can still change their mind. Ask the question “Can we do business?”

2: Not Getting to Know Each Other

You know why your product is special and can talk about all its valuable features. The prospect knows what makes their business special. To convince a prospect that your product will add value to their business you too need to know what makes their business special. How do you this, you ask lots of questions to find out. Take the time to find out about what’s important to them and what makes their business great. Only then will you be in a position to demonstrate how your product will make their business even better.

1. Alarming Attitudes

With the right attitude and energy nearly everyone can learn the skills required to become a seller and forge a successful and lucrative career for themselves. However, even today sales are still viewed in some quarters as a stopgap career move. Some companies too add flames to this fire by tossing away under-performing new hires at rate of knots. It’s time these people and organizations woke up to the fact to be successful requires proper training, the correct company supports, a varied skill set, and most of all a professional attitude on behalf of everybody involved.

Are you interested in selling Verizon Wireless services? Call us at (855) SELL-VZW or fill out the form below.  We look forward to talking to you soon!

The post Top Ten Deadly Sales Killers appeared first on ConectUS Wireless.

My Cake:

I tried to make a box cake. How I did it is I put all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and started to stir it. But somehow I ended up with a real mess that I threw out in frustration.

What I learned the hard way was with certain recipes you need to mix part of the ingredients first separately from the other ingredients. Then you mix them together. If you don’t do it in a certain way and in a specific order you end up with problems.

The same is true with customer’s objections.

Here is the recipe for overcoming customer’s objections.

1. Listen to the complete objection – I have witnessed too many salespeople start listening to the customer’s objection. Then before the customer finished the salesperson enthusiastically jumped in and started to overcome the objection. Unfortunately, the salesperson read the customer’s mind wrong and overcame the wrong objection, and didn’t make the sale. I suggest you not interrupt the customer when they are voicing an objection. I even like to have a brief pause when they are done talking to make sure they didn’t just take a breath and we’re going to continue.
2. Restate the objection – Rephrase the objection back to them in your own words. This lets you both know that you got it.
3. Tell them you understand and ask if they have any other concerns – Don’t be afraid to ask for more. Get them all out now so you can resolve them.
4. Overcome the objection – How do you do this? That is the next session. I’ll show you how to overcome 90%+ of all objections.

Use this approach and watch your closing skills soar.

Are you interested in selling Verizon Wireless services? Call us at (855) SELL-VZW or fill out the form below.  We look forward to talking to you soon!

The post The Recipe for Overcoming All Objections appeared first on ConectUS Wireless.

Among these top-selling sales professionals are three characteristics to which each adheres. Many other sales representatives know of these three traits, but simply do not apply them. Then there are those who do not know what the three shared qualities are.

What are the three traits of successful salespeople? Quite simply they are:

1. Know your product.
2. Believe in your product.
3. Understand the secret of your product.

Sounds simple enough doesn’t it? The truth is, it is simple. Most do not comprehend what it means, though, to know, believe in, and understand the secret of their product.

The first key to successful sales is to know your product. I mean to truly know and understand exactly what it is that you are selling. You should know every aspect of your product so that no matter what question a prospect may propose you have an answer–an honest answer– available for them. Do not limit yourself to just knowing the cost of the product or memorizing the sales letter/pitch. Speak to the manufacturer of the product, if you can, and obtain as much documentation or material that they have available. When you truly know what it is that you are selling you are going to build confidence within yourself and gain the coveted confidence and trust of the prospect.

Confidence has a snowball effect. Once it starts to build inside of you it only becomes stronger and larger. When you start presenting your product with undeniable confidence you will notice that your sales begin to increase. In order to build that confidence, you must know your product inside and out. So, get to know exactly what you are selling.

The second key is to believe in your product. If you truly believe in your product–you believe in what it does, you believe in what it can do for others–then you are going to sell with much more enthusiasm. People can tell when a salesperson does not have a true belief in their product. They have certain transparency about them. One example I give of believing in a product is a personal one.

If you simply can not bring yourself to believe in the product you are selling then don’t. Find another product to market. If you do not truly believe in your product then you will never be as successful as you could be.

The final key is to understand the secret of your product. What is the secret of your product? Well, that is going to differ for every product, but at the same time, it is essentially the same. The secret to any product is what it can do for the customer. What can it provide that will better the prospect’s business, fulfill a need in their business, or satisfy a want in their life? Every product has this secret no matter what the product is.  That is its secret. So, figure out what secret your product is holding and combine that knowledge with the other two traits of success.

Once you understand the secret of your product it will only help to strengthen your belief in it. As you begin to believe in it you will automatically become enthusiastic about getting it out to the world. When your enthusiasm is combined with the confidence you have gained, by knowing all the particulars of your product, you will notice an incredible increase in your sales.

So take the three traits–know your product, believe in your product, and understand the secret of your product–and apply them to whatever it is you are currently selling. If you can’t apply all three then it is time to promote something new. Something that will make you one of the top five percent in the world.

Are you interested in selling Verizon Wireless services? Call us at (855) SELL-VZW or fill out the form below.  We look forward to talking to you soon!

The post 3 Traits of Successful Salespeople appeared first on ConectUS Wireless.