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WINNING, Incorporated
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Your training is helping us more rapidly build and maintain the strong, consultative client relationships so critical to our success. Your tools have made the transition to Sandler® methods virtually painless. And, your management training initiatives have greatly enhanced our managers' individual productivity and effectiveness. I can't wait to see what you'll help us achieve next.
Tom Smith, President
CertainTeed, Inc.
Press Releases
Vice President of WINNING INC., Mike Myers,
Published in Mass High Tech Journal
Why it's so hard to discuss money
By Mike Myers, Vice President, WINNING Inc.
When working with my clients, one of the biggest challenges I have had is to get salespeople to effectively discuss money with prospects early in the sales process. Salespeople know how to discuss money, but many times their personal beliefs around money hold them back. When dealing with money there are both technical and conceptual roadblocks. When you don’t know how to discuss money it’s a technical roadblock, and it’s a conceptual roadblock when your personal beliefs hold you back even if you know how.
In many cases our conceptual roadblocks can have a much bigger impact on our ability to effectively discuss money in a selling situation. Unfortunately money is like sex, politics and religion; those words have many complicated beliefs around them. These beliefs primarily come from our parents. When you were young, your parents would say things like, “Money doesn’t grow on trees” and, “It’s not polite to talk about money with strangers.” Then, as adults, these beliefs may lead you to be pessimistic or embarrassed when discussing money in a selling situation. Our beliefs hold us back and make us feel uncomfortable.
Here are five strategies that can make you more effective when you talk about money:
1. Perception is reality
When you talk about money, perception is reality. It doesn’t matter what you think about your price, it matters what the buyer thinks. If the buyer believes he is getting a great deal, he is; and if the buyer believes he is getting ripped off, he is. The key for you in a selling situation is not to assume that your beliefs are the buyer’s beliefs. For some people, $10,000 dollars is a lot of money and for others it is a tear drop – don’t assume.
2. Fake it ‘til you make it
Another strategy that may help is to “fake it ‘til you make it.” Act like you have all the money you need when you talk with the buyer. It is not being arrogant or cavalier but confident. This will make it much easier for you to have both direct and honest money conversations with buyers, especially early in the sales process.
3. Practice, practice, practice
One of the best ways to help you talk comfortably about money is to practice. Role-play the important money conversation with a co-worker or friend before you have it with the buyer. Be prepared for the worse-case scenarios and determine how you will respond. Discussing money the same way every time can help suppress our negative beliefs.
4. People always remember the lowest number
When you are giving a buyer a range for your product or service, make sure that “your” number is at the low end of the range. If you are giving the buyer a range of $25,000 to $35,000 for your services, “your” number ($25,000) should be the number that you ultimately think will be the price. People always remember the lowest number and that’s the number that they often give their boss. It doesn’t mean you won’t get the deal with a higher number but you make harder on yourself in the long run.
5. Silence is golden
We have all heard the expression, “Silence is golden.” When you are negotiating your price, put a number on the table and say nothing. The rule is, whoever talks first loses. You want to get the buyer’s perspective on a given price. Anything we say after we give our price only justifies that number. The buyer could be perfectly comfortable with the price and we need to get their perspective before responding.
Finally, when you think about money to some extent, it’s irrelevant how much you charge for your product or service. It really comes down to how much the buyer wants it. Invest versus cost. It is not how much you charge but how much someone is willing to invest to solve a problem or how badly the buyer wants what you are selling.
The mental game of sales
By Mike Myers, Vice President, WINNING Inc.
Throughout my career I have been fortunate to meet hundreds of successful sales people. Many of them have had a wide range of talents that enabled their success such as excellent industry experience, superior product knowledge or great selling habits. All of these attributes contributed to their success but the most important factors I have seen in defining success across the board is beliefs and sales mindset.
When I first got into the sales training business, I thought the most important job I had was to teach sales techniques and tactics around prospecting, qualifying and closing. What I found was that if a salesperson did not first have the right beliefs or mindset, techniques were much less effective. If a salesperson didn’t believe a technique would work, in many cases they wouldn’t even try it – even if other sales people in their organization were using it with good results.
To illustrate this point, the Sandler sales methodology teaches sales people to set clear expectations of the possible outcomes with a prospect at the beginning of sales calls. If a salesperson believes this technique is too pushy or aggressive they avoid using it no matter how much training and support they are given. Their limiting beliefs hold them back. So how can you avoid this trap? Tap into these five critical selling beliefs that drive success.
1. You need to believe in yourself and the product or service that you sell.
This may seem obvious but I am amazed how many conversations I have had with sales people who say that they aren’t confident that their company can deliver what they are selling. If you truly believe this, you need to do one of two things: either change your belief or leave your current position. The minute the prospect pushes back or questions your organization’s ability to deliver during the sales process, you will most likely falter because you will lack the self-confidence to push through the prospect’s objections.
2. You need to separate your personal identity from your role as a salesperson.
Great salespeople are able to separate their role as a salesperson from who they are as a person. The two major reasons why salespeople fail are fear of failure and fear of rejection. You need to understand that when a prospect says “No” it is not to you personally but to the product or service you are selling. If you are unable to do this, it can cause you to stop taking risks and lead to call reluctance – you just don’t want to pick up the phone. You just don’t want to hear another “no.” You need to remember that selling is not about getting a “yes” or “no,” but getting people to make a decision.
3. You need to believe that disqualifying is as important as qualifying.
Many salespeople believe that they need to focus on qualifying prospects. I would ask you to shift that mindset and have you focus more on disqualifying prospects. Just because the company you are talking with has invested in services like yours in the past doesn’t mean they are a good prospect now. As salespeople, we all sell the same thing: our time. You need to make sure you are spending time with the right people. If you focus on disqualifying prospects, you will make more money.
4. You need to understand that behavior drives attitude and mindset.
Sometime salespeople try to wait for “the feeling.” For example, they say to themselves, “I will start making cold calls when I feel comfortable.” If you wait to feel comfortable you will never pick up the phone. The nature of sales is that you need to be a little uncomfortable every day to be successful. One belief that will help you get there is “do the behavior and the attitude will follow.” The only way to get comfortable doing something you are uncomfortable doing, is to do it on a consistent basis. You don’t have to love making cold calls, you just have to make them.
5. You need to believe that you and the prospect are peers.
We have a saying in the training business, “the prospect is not your mother.” Just because a prospect asks you to do something, it doesn’t mean you have to do it. You need to have the belief that you and the prospect are peers. They have money and you have a solution to their problem. It is an equal trade. Many salespeople put prospects on a pedestal where they don’t belong.
Having a sound sales methodology and a great product or service to sell will go a long way, but if you keep these beliefs in mind as well, you will be better equipped to win at the mental game of selling.
WINNING, Incorporated Wins International Award
WINNING, Incorporated, a professional services firm that specializes in Leadership and Sales Force Development, has been named the winner of the David H. Sandler Award. Sandler Systems, Inc., of Stevenson, MD, bestows the Sandler award annually to its #1 franchisee in North America.
"Of over 160 firms in North America associated with Sandler Systems, WINNING, Incorporated has consistently set itself apart by its revenue and profitability growth and client successes, as well as its business ethics and willingness to give back to the community. It is our distinct pleasure to honor WINNING, Incorporated with our highest and most coveted award for their continued excellence", said Edna Sandler,President of Sandler Systems, Inc.
"It's a phenomenal honor and a challenge to continually raise the bar in the future", said Bill Murray, founder and CEO of WINNING, Inc. Our stated company mission has always been to abolish mediocrity and develop business champions. We will continue to push the envelope and help our clients develop, and, more importantly, execute creative business strategies and street-smart tactics to achieve uncommon results", said Murray.
WINNING, Incorporated, headquartered in Wellesley Hills, MA, specializes in Leadership and Sales Development, via new, "non-traditional" methods that breed success in today's business environment. Clients range from hundreds of individuals and entrepreneurs and small/mid-size businesses, in over 30 industries, to Fortune corporations including Oracle, Fleet Financial, Fidelity Investments and Xerox Global Services.
USa today highlights winning, inc.
Sandler is on a Roll, So Why Reinvent the Wheel?
by Nancy Rathbun Scott, USA Today
Bill Murray was an outstanding sales executive for 16 years, helping take high-tech companies public. Despite considerable career and financial success, Murray longed to be running his own show, building something for himself. "I sat down one night and made a list of the things I'm good at, which I really like to do. I came up with two: training and recruiting." Murray spent the next couple of months developing a curriculum for his own sales training business. He even started to write a book, which he called The Murray Method. Until he heard about the Sandler Sales Institute ®.
"I found them by accident on the Internet. 'You can actually buy a franchise like this?' I thought." This was late in 1995. "I went down to Baltimore to see what they had. I thought it couldn't possibly be as good as the stuff I already knew. But the curriculum amazed me. I had spent my entire career in sales and marketing; I have an MBA; I had been through a dozen other sales courses. I was familiar with maybe 60 to 70 percent of what Sandler had to offer, but there was a good 30 to 40 percent of what they teach-a lot of it is based on psychology-that was unfamiliar."
When Murray first joined the franchise, he knew the curriculum was a huge benefit. It still is, he says, but he's found other unexpected rewards. "You can call on the other Sandler franchisees and delve into their sales experience. Not to be corny, but it really is like a family where people help and support one another."
And, like he planned from the beginning, Murray is building a business. "Some Sandler franchise owners choose to be a sole proprietorship. I've taken a different tack; building the company so we have a business.
Murray also appreciates that Sandler is not a proponent of in-and-out, impact training. "Number one, it doesn't work, because it doesn't affect lasting change. Number two; it doesn't help the franchise owner build long-term relationships. I have a client I will see tomorrow, who I've been seeing every month for the last five years. They are committed to sales training as an ongoing growth and development event and a process."
"Buying a Sandler franchise is the best business decision I've ever made. I really do have a passion for the business. We've had the opportunity to bring on some very good people and build a successful company." He adds, "And this business still allows me to coach seven sports teams a year-which is my other passion."
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