1. Allowing a prospect to lead the sales process. The best way to control the sales interaction is to ask questions. This is also the best way of learning whether or not your product or service meets the needs of your prospect. Quality questions that uncover specific issues, problems, or corporate objectives are essential in helping you establish yourself as an expert.
2. Not completing pre-meeting research. After several weeks of voice mail I finally connected with my prospect and scheduled a meeting. Unfortunately, I entered the meeting without first researching the company. Instead of presenting a solution to an existing problem, I spent the entire meeting learning fundamental information, which to senior executives, is a complete waste of their time. This approach is one of most common mistakes. I have received countless phone calls from sales people hawking their wares and trying to sell me ‘stuff’ I have no need for. As a sole proprietor, I do not need a complex telephone system, additional employees, or an automated payroll system. Invest the time learning about your prospect before you call them and before you try to schedule a meeting.
3. Talking too much. Too many sales people talk too much during the sales interaction. They espouse about their product, its feature, their service and so on. When I first bought carpet for my home I recall speaking to a sales person who told me how long he had been in the business, how smart he was, how good his carpets were, etc. But this dialogue did nothing to convince me that I should buy from him. Instead, I left the store thinking that he did not care about my specific needs. A friend of mine is in the advertising business and often talks to prospects who initially request a quote for a specific advertising job. Instead of talking at great length about the ad agency’s experience and qualifications, he gets the potential client talking about her business. By doing this he is able to determine the most effective strategy for that prospect.
4. Giving the prospect information that is irrelevant. When I worked in the corporate world I was subjected to countless presentations where the sales person shared information that was completely meaningless to me. I don’t care about your financial backing or who your clients are. Make the most of your presentation by telling me how I will benefit from your product or service until I know how your product or service relates to my specific situation.
5. Not being prepared. I remember calling a prospect expecting to receive his voice mail. That meant I was completely unprepared when he answered the call himself. Instead of asking him a series of qualifying questions I simply responded to his questions, allowing him to control the sale. Unfortunately, I didn’t progress any further than that initial call. When you make a cold call or attend a meeting with a prospect it is critical that you are prepared. This means having all relevant information at your fingertips including; pricing, testimonials, samples, and a list of questions you need to ask. I suggest creating a checklist of the vital information you will need and reviewing this list before you make your call. You have exactly one opportunity to make a great first impression and you will not make it if you are not prepared.
6. Neglecting to ask for the sale. I recall a participant in one of my workshops expressing interest in my book. I told him to look through it but at no time did I ask for the sale. Later, I heard him express this observation to other participants in the program. If you sell a product or service, you have the obligation to ask the customer for a commitment, particularly if you have invested time assessing their needs and know that your product or service will solve a problem. Many people are concerned with coming across as pushy but as long as you ask for the sale in a non-threatening, confident manner, people will usually respond favorably.
7. Failing to prospect. This is one of the most common mistakes independent business make. When business is good many people stop prospecting, thinking that the flow of business will continue. However, the most successful sales people prospect all the time. They schedule prospecting time in their agenda every week.

Even the most seasoned sales professional makes mistakes from time to time. Avoid these blunders and increase the likelihood of the closing the sale.

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!

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The post The Top 7 Sales Blunders – You Would Think Number 6 Would be Obvious appeared first on ConectUS Wireless.

Shoe stores suggest socks or polish to go with your new sneakers, hair salons recommend styling products, and stores selling electronics offer an extended warranty on the gadget you just bought. In each case, the business encourages the customer to add on to the purchase they are making.

Upselling can be done in person, on the phone or over the Internet. Many online shopping carts allow you to set up a product-specific upselling page. That means that when someone orders Product A, they get the suggestion that goes with that product. Someone who orders another product receives a recommendation appropriate to that product.

Here are some tips to make suggestive selling work for you:

Make the suggestion after the customer has made a commitment to buy. Don’t try to add on to the sale before the customer has made a firm decision and is in the process of buying.

Upsells should be related to the original purchase. An upgrade, a warranty, accessories, or something else that adds on to what the customer is buying can be effective. The customer is more likely to see such a suggestion as helpful than as simply a sales ploy.

Consider making the upsell a “two-fer” offer. Because the customer bought one item at regular price, they are able to get a second at half price.

The add-on product should have a lesser cost than the base purchase. Suggesting batteries to go with a radio works. Recommending a radio to go with a battery purchase doesn’t.

Don’t hit customers with a lot of upsells. One (or possibly two) is enough. Badgering them to buy more can backfire and maybe even kill the sale completely.

Make sure employees and order takers are making upsell offers to customers. Remind them of the importance of doing so, and consider rewarding them for great results, or even when you “catch” them upselling. Give telephone order takers a script that includes a suggestive sales offer.

Done properly, an upsell is helpful to the customer and builds your profits as well.

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!

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The post Do You Want Fries With That? – Using Suggestive Selling to Increase Your Sales appeared first on ConectUS Wireless.

The issue of course is that in today’s marketplace buyers have become accustomed to just about every clever line and manipulative phrase that sales people ever invented. Instead today, the buyer community is keenly aware of the overused, old hat clichés sales people traditionally used to qualify them.

In today’s world buyers are strongly focused on products, systems and services that return real value for the commitment of doing business with you. And old style stale selling ways are fortunately being replaced by new, and greatly improved methods that give the buyer credit for intelligent decision-making.

One of those methods is to make a professional presentation after enough fact-finding that establishes the buyers needs, wants and desires. Professional salespeople who have spent a reasonable amount of time investigating these are the ones who will be in the best position to perform what traditionally is referred to as trial closing.

As a professional, however, you recognize that part of the fun of selling is to enjoy what you are doing for a living. Let no one doubt for an instant that buyers still like doing business with professionals who are competent in their company’s policies, products, processes, procedures, practices and prices. Taken as a body these cumulatively could be called “manifested” competency skills. Similarly, interesting, fun and enjoyable could be called “personality” competency skills. Top-flight professional sales people usually have huge amounts of both.

Yet, how can you be fully knowledgeable about your company, be up all the time, be fun and entertaining too when by virtue of what you do for a living has “no’ associated with it.

Here’s a way to do it and at the same time develop an additional skill set as a by-product.

Have you have reached a point in your sales career where you recognize that all the trite and hackneyed trial closes just don’t seem to make you feel comfortable anymore? Do you see your prospect rejecting them? Then try this. It’s called use your senses, and here’s how it works.

There are numerous studies that describe the types of communications that are successful; typically these are culturally dependent. Kinetics, body language, appearance, voice modulation, pace and delivery of speech and personal space are a few. Each on its own is a study of and by itself. So how do you determine if your delivery and message are being well received and you are getting through to your prospect?

One way is to provide a natural checkpoint in the presentation that lets you find out how your message is being delivered. Three of your five senses, namely see, hear and feel give you the checkpoints to determine if your prospect and you are tracking in parallel.

The purpose of a demonstration and presentation is to clarify in the prospects mind what your product, system or service will do for them; this you would have already identified in the fact finding/analysis stage. During the presentation, whether on the phone or face-to-face you should be able to “sense” how your prospect wishes to have information presented. So now you should be able to pause during your statements of fact and ask simple yet effective questions.

And using one of those three senses is a sure fire way to monitor how well you have been doing.

Try these the next time you want to intermittently check your presentation progress. If your prospect appears to be visually oriented ask them ‘do they see it’? If on the other hand your prospect concentrates on the words, ask them ‘how does that sound’? Moreover, if your prospect is outgoing, then you have a wonderful opportunity to ask them “how they feel’ about what you have said. In the process you have called on the prospect to make an assessment or evaluation. They certainly will be more comfortable with you since you listened for their response, what they had to say and in so doing have made them part of the process.

In the new age of selling, the cornering techniques used by past generations of sales people are just not effective anymore. The savvy buyer is immune to them and more than likely will turn off to overused phrases and outdated methods. An improved way to demonstrate your professionalism, sales skill and knowledge of people is to let them assimilate your information and while they are doing that, stop and ask a question or two based on using their senses. You’ll find the buyer is more appreciative of your down-to-earth forthright style, as well as much more prone to give you honest feedback that you need in order to “see“, “feel” and “hear” if your presentation is on track…especially for them.

The post In Selling – Use Your Senses appeared first on ConectUS Wireless.

There’s no job description that says “Stand in the booth and hand out brochures”, so it’s important that for each show each staff member receives training. Just because you can sell well doesn’t mean you can sell well in this unique marketing environment.

How? Get everybody in a room and lecture to them. Wrong! Whether using a professional trainer or doing it yourself, here are FIVE TIPS to develop better booth staff:

1. VISIT SHOWS …

You want to find a Practice Show. Don’t have a trade show? Sure you do – shows are everywhere. Try a local home-and-garden show, car show, boat show or call the CVB and ask if there’s a show you can visit. Go as a group or individually but have a check list. Watch behavior. Look for the signs of why, and why not, you would talk with any particular person in the booth. Ignore the display. Be conscious of clothes, mannerisms, odors, demonstration, presentation and grammar. Did you get a business card? Was the person selling you or listening to you? Compare notes on a Wednesday.

2. ANONYMOUSLY CRITIQUE EACH OTHER …

From the visit to the practice show – did your staff person come back with information that was needed? There are only two reasons people go to shows – to find information and to make decisions. Most go to gather information, but a stack of brochures or business cards is not information.

3. SUCCESS AND ROCKS ROLL FROM THE TOP …

CEO’s attend a show to meet clients and support their sales staff. Visibility and accessibility of top management at a show provides credibility and modeling for the on-floor staff. If managers don’t want to be involved, it sends a who-cares message to everyone involved, including prospects and clients.

4. SELECT STAFF TO MEET EXPECTATIONS OF THE FIRM …

If the goal is to find 25 qualified leads and close two deals, then send the folks who can do that. Match the corporate expectations with the reality of the show attendance. Many firms send people who are logistically closest to the show, know the most about the product or are most expendable – they are the newest or oldest. The staff must be fully fluent in the firm – know who knows what, how things get done plus be personable.

5. MATCH INDIVIDUAL EXPECTATIONS WITH CORPORATE EXPECTATIONS …

Every person who stands in the booth expects to make a sale, meet a prospect, get a bonus, waste time or find a new job. Send the people who will make your company prosper.

Be prepared and get the most out of your Marketing Dollars in 2020!

The post Trade Show Staff Training – 5 Tips for Managers appeared first on ConectUS Wireless.

Be motivated to sell with confidence knowing that ConectUS will be here tomorrow. We have been around for 40+ years and plan on another 40 years. Join our B2B Agent Program and let us help you maximize your revenues by maximizing your offerings with Vivint Smart Home, Verizon Wireless and Frontier Communications. Call us for more info: (469) 248-7322‬

Are you interested in selling Vivint Smart Home Security? Call us at (469) 248-7322 or fill out the form below.  We look forward to speaking with you soon!

The post 10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Vivint Smart Home appeared first on ConectUS Wireless.

Add Voice-Controlled Devices

Formerly, voice-controlled devices could only play music. Now, there are voice-controlled devices that can act as your assistants. They can set your alarms, control your lights and even give you directions, even without pressing any buttons. Some of these devices can even alert you if anything unusual happens at home.

Install Smart Lighting

Automating your lights can slash a huge portion of your electricity bill. Pair them with sensors, dimmers and wireless control and you’ll be able to save even more. You can set your lights to turn on and off, depending on your personal schedule or, add motion sensors, so you won’t waste energy. You can even use your smartphone to control the brightness, color as well as the ambiance of your home.

If your smart phone isn’t enough, you can install a smart device that can notify you when you have left your lights on. Apart from the alerts, this device can also give you an estimate of how much energy your home has already consumed.

Secure Your Router

When you’re building a smart home, your concern shouldn’t be limited to the kinds of devices you’ll invest in; you also have to take proper measures on how you’ll secure everything inside it. Your router is one of your home’s weakest spots. Much like your front door, you should strengthen it to keep intruders out.

Start by changing your password. As soon as you receive your router, change its default password with something that can’t easily be guessed. Refrain from using your birth year or the last digits of your phone number. As much as possible, create a lengthy password and make sure to use alphanumeric characters to make it even harder to crack.

It’s also a good idea to constantly upgrade your security software to decrease your devices’ vulnerability to new threats, like spying tools and viruses. Install a malware protection to prevent suspicious and malicious programs from running on your computer.

Upgrade Your Smoke Detector

An ordinary smoke detector that gets activated can cause confusion, especially if you have several units at home. If it isn’t monitored, there’s no way you’ll get alerted about a possible fire – unless you have some friendly neighbors looking after your home. For your safety and security, it’s best if you can upgrade your smoke detector to something smarter.

Most smart smoke detectors today are industrial grade and can last a long time. Some of them even come with dedicated apps to help make monitoring a lot easier. Apart from battery life, they can also tell you exactly which area of the house is showing increased temperature. They can even connect you to your local police and firemen for a quick resolution.

These extra features can mean a higher price tag. However, considering that they can augment your home security and initiate a faster response, they can be considered as valuable investments.

If you are on a tight budget and investing in new devices doesn’t seem feasible at the moment, your next best option is to invest in a device that can turn ordinary devices into smart ones.

Get a Smart Doorbell

As home automation becomes even more sophisticated, you’ll find yourself being able to do the things that seemed impossible before. Take, for example, answering your door, even if you’re not physically at home.

You’ll be able to tell the delivery man where to leave your parcel or check on someone who’s been showing interest in your front gate for several days. Burglars favor houses that are unoccupied. By being able to answer the door and show that you can see what’s happening around your property, you’ll be able to make your home a lot less favorable for burglary.

Smart doorbells can do so much more than that, especially when they are equipped with the right features. With night vision capabilities, live streaming and a two-way talk feature, you’ll be able to detect intruders and burglars even before they execute their plans. You can even record videos to serve as hard evidence in case someone manages to get inside your property.

Also, by monitoring your feed, you can check on your kids and know when they arrive home safely from school. You can also get alerts whenever they leave the house without your permission.

Over To You

How Smart is your Home? Have you checked out Vivint Smart Home lately? They can offer some of the latest technology and best home security options in the market. Have you upgraded all your security devices and installed new ones available in the market? Have you made your home “safe enough”? I would give this a second thought and re-visit all the points mentioned above to have a stress-free life without having to worry about your home safety.

Are you interested in selling Vivint Smart Home Security? Call us at (469) 400-0596 or fill out the form below.  We look forward to speaking to you soon!

The post How to Make Your Smart Home Smarter appeared first on ConectUS Wireless.

Since you resent the experience, don’t recreate it for others when you are trying to sell. If you didn’t appreciate being pressured and disrespected, no one else will either. When trying to close a sale, you must always respect the opinions and thoughts of the buyer. If all you care about is your payoff, then you will drive customers away. They will be afraid to buy from you, thinking that you will always try and convince them to buy things they don’t want.

Here are some helpful tips to help you close a sale with class:

• Be kind and considerate

Don’t try to fool the customer. You will get a lot further if you’re really trying to help them, instead of just helping yourself.

• Give them a direct request

You can let them know what you want them to do. Don’t be afraid to ask for the order or sale. The customer will know you are being honest if you tell them what you really want them to do.

• Give them two choices:

Explain that, on the one hand, if they buy the product, they will be receiving these benefits. Then explain that if they don’t buy, they will be losing out in certain ways. People like to have the pros and cons laid out for them. It helps them make a decision the smart way.

• Give them plenty of room to think:

Don’t pressure them. As I mentioned above, people resent purchases they were pressured into. Real persuasion doesn’t involve pushiness. The choice belongs to your customers, so let them make it.

We learn at a very early age how to persuade people to do what we want them to. Some of us learn it better than others, but EVERYONE can LEARN to use simple persuasion techniques to make their life better. Often, earning more, finding the perfect mate, being pushed around less, and being happier in life don’t have anything to do with you as a person. It has more to do with knowing a few simple rules of persuasion.

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

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The post If You Respect Them, They Will Buy — Closing the Sale appeared first on ConectUS Wireless.

Be motivated to sell with confidence knowing that ConectUS will be here tomorrow. We have been around for 40+ years and plan on another 40 years. Join our B2B Agent Program and let us help you maximize your revenues by maximizing your offerings with Verizon Wireless and Frontier Communications. Call us for more info: (855) SELL-VZW

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!

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The post Take a virtual tour of the CNET Smart Home, our living lab for smart home tech appeared first on ConectUS Wireless.

Annual revenue for smart home platforms to sky-rocket to $14.3 billion

Be motivated to sell with confidence knowing that ConectUS will be here tomorrow. We have been around for 40+ years and plan on another 40 years. Join our B2B Agent Program and let us help you maximize your revenues by maximizing your offerings with Verizon Wireless and Frontier Communications. Call us for more info: (855) SELL-VZW

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!

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The post Annual revenue for smart home platforms to sky-rocket to $14.3 billion appeared first on ConectUS Wireless.