Selling yourself FIRST will lead to more business because YOU are often the product or service

YOU are often your primary product or service.

YOU are what your clients or customers buy.

YOU are the first-line of contact and how your prospects see the business you run.

Everything you do or say, how you dress and carry yourself, how you speak and write (even in short emails that you feel "don't matter"), and whether you are an "on-time person" or one who is always late combine to be the "brand" that is YOU.

And it ALL matters. A lot!

It is how your clients and customers think about you. It's how they refer to you when speaking to other people about you. It determines if they return to do business with you another time.

Did you ever hear the story about the blind men and the elephant?

• The first man touched the elephant's trunk and described it as a flexible, long creature.
• The second man touched the elephant's tusk and thought it was a very hard, smooth, upward-pointed animal.
• The third touched the elephant's hoof and thought it was a large, flat, very heavy creature with several smoothe places (the toe nails).
• And the fourth touched the tail and thought it was a short, pliable snake-like animal with hair at the end.

Each one "knew" the elephant for what his experience told him… and each was correct, but only PARTIALLY correct.

The same is true for YOU…

Whatever you show your prospects is how they see YOU and the work you do

Be confident, they see confidence. Be a great salesman, full of knowledge, and they see a knowledgeable salesman. Be their adviser and advocate, and they see someone on THEIR side of the table who is there to help.

Be a wimp, and they see someone they don't want to do business with again.

If you are looking for a job, looking for employment, looking for a way to start your own business, be sure that what you show to people is the side of you that you want exposed.

For just as the blind men of the story thought they knew the elephant, people you come in contact with THINK they know you.

Be down, be loud, be obnoxious even ONE time, and it resonates with those who come in contact with you. But be UP, encouraging others around you, seeing the bright side… and that can work magic on people.

The northeast of the USA has had lots of rain. I often hear people say, "Ugh… what a horrible day." But what if we had no rain? What if the plants stopped growing? What if it were hot, muggy, and gardens were withering? Wouldn't the rain look pretty good THEN?

So LOOK for the good and then present yourself well to win new business

Keep your spirits high, see the good in what (and who) is around you, and you will win in just about everything you do.

It's a scary time out there in that economy of uncertainty.

And as the saying goes: It's a RECESSION when others are out of work; it's a DEPRESSION when YOU are out of work. And even if you work for yourself but have no paying assignments to keep you going, it's a tough place.

Let's stay away from the DEPRESSION. Being a part of the Great Recession is bad enough.

It's time to stay positive, upbeat, alert to new opportunities

OK… so your dream left you a long time ago but you came up with NEW dreams and you know that only YOU can pick you up and get you moving. Your new dreams are just as valid as the old ones – people of the 1920's didn't have the same dreams of those of the 1950's, so your dreams simply HAD to change.

Get moving. KEEP moving. Know that you have to sell yourself FIRST to win new business and that often YOU are the product.

Be sure to present yourself WELL. All the time!

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad since 1983, succeeding in this economy

PS: You can find me here:

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Salesmanship – Sell Yourself FIRST To Win New Business

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Sales Prevention: Do You Allow Poor Sales Techniques to "Unsell" your customer?

Let me give you an example where the sales person UNSOLD something and then didn’t follow-up:

A woman went to buy tires. Her husband had asked her to get 4 Michelins for the Explorer and when she went to the chain tire store, she was told that 4 tires would cost approximately $1200.

“1200?” she exclaimed, never having bought tires for this large vehicle before. TRUCK tires, I might add.

“Well, let me show you some different tires for $800,” the salesman said.

“Wow, I’m still confused. That’s a lot of money.”

“Well,” the salesman said, doing the best he knew how, “I do have some OTHER tires for $600.”

The woman was confused, called home to her husband who just murmured, “Come home, dear.”

Marketing Follow-Up – Did The Salesman Follow-Up?

It’s been weeks since that day, but do you think the salesman even once called the man and woman about the tires? He received her phone number and email address, but made no attempt to follow-up.

So… not only did he immediately lower the value from $1200 to $800 (and then again to $600), he never followed up with the people because he THOUGHT they wouldn’t buy. But their VERY strong buying signal (actually SHOWING UP at the store to BUY the tires – being in the store to buy is ALWAYS the number one buying signal!) was wasted.

And the woman wasn’t objecting to the $1200, she was really asking a question: if he had only taken that as an opportunity to chat with her about the quality, safety, durability, the you-don’t-have-to-worry-with-Michelins. But no….

And that company continues to have meetings that the economy stinks, NO ONE IS BUYING, and their marketing and advertising campaigns aren’t working.

Things Aren't As Bad As You Think IF You Use Good Marketing And Sales Techniques

Unfortunately this salesman was good at Sales PREVENTION, but not good at selling or following up.

And I’ll bet his store manager spends more time on getting inventory and looking over people’s time cards than he does helping to assure that proper marketing, sales, and follow-up are used.

And you…

• Are YOU "unselling" people by not helping them get what they want?
• Do you “down sell” them any time an objection is raised?
• Are you falling down with follow-up either in direct follow-up as was needed in the tire situation or general follow-up needed when someone joins one of your lists.

If a football team is great from the 20 yard line to the other 20 but can't score, what good are they?

And if YOU attract all kinds of people to your bricks and mortar store or your online location but then use poor techniques once they know about you, you're not doing well either.

Think about it. The time you spend thinking will pay off greatly if you straighten yourself out and sell correctly.

And remember: follow-up, follow-up, follow-up!

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad, succeeding in this economy

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