"Success is not to be pursued; it is to be attracted by the person you become."

If you want to learn something, ask questions. That's the best and most straightforward way to get information and uncover opportunities that you didn't know existed. When salespeople don't ask enough questions, it means they're talking too much. You might think you have a lot of valuable information to impart, but know that the more you talk, the less room you have to discover new things. The next time you feel the urge to talk, ask a question instead, and see where it takes you.

"Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads."

Be aware of the big difference between inspired action and activity. Activity comes from the brain-mind and is rooted in disbelief and lack of faith - you are taking action to "make" your desire happen. Inspired action is allowing the law to work through you and to move you.

Activity feels hard. Inspired action feels wonderful.

"Invest three percent of your income in yourself (self-development) in order to guarantee your future."

"When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you till it seems you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn."

"Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul."

"There is a time to let things happen and a time to make things happen."

"It’s simple arithmetic: Your income can grow only to the extent that you do."

"The only certain means of success is to render more and better service than is expected of you, no matter what your task may be."

"The second half of a man's life is made up of nothing but the habits he has acquired during the first half."

"To get the full value of a joy, you must have somebody to divide it with."

"Without faith, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible."

Each of us is attracting in every moment of our lives. So when you feel that the law isn't working for you because you don't have what you want, realize that the law is responding to you. You are either attracting what you want or you are attracting the absence of what you want.

The law is still working.

"Little strokes fell great oaks."

"When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters - one represents danger and the other represents opportunity."

"Procrastination is opportunity's assassin."

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it."

"Give me a stock clerk with a goal and I'll give you a man who will make history. Give me a man with no goals and I'll give you a stock clerk."

"I am a great believer in luck, and I find that the harder I work, the more I have of it."

The fastest way to become the Master of your thoughts and emotions is through challenging situations. If your life is going along fairly smoothly, there are not the same opportunities that enable you to strengthen your power and become the Master of your thoughts and emotions.

You see, even challenges are beautiful opportunities in disguise.

"When I was young, I observed that nine out of 10 things I did were failures, so I did 10 times more work."

Research suggests that our brains are wired in a way that makes us inherently social creatures. What are your social initiatives, either personally or in your corporate culture? Are you reaching out to prospects on social media and using social networks to listen and gain a greater understanding of what their needs and wants are? Sales teams have the most to gain from being socially connected to customers and prospects. Yet many sales leaders continue to think social media is just for fun or a waste of time for business; however, social business can and does create customers. Be open to social ways of selling. The benefits might surprise you.

"Without courage, all other virtues lose their meaning."

"Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment."

"The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot."

"All achievements, all earned riches, have their beginning in an idea."

"When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it - but all that had gone before."

"I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been."

"Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstance."

"No one lives long enough to learn everything they need to learn starting from scratch. To be successful, we absolutely, positively have to find people who have already paid the price to learn the things that we need to learn to achieve our goals."

It is important for every person to practice small indulgences every day. This is why we take vacations, watch funny movies, sing in the shower, and order dessert. What are some of the ways you relax, laugh, and enjoy life? How often do you indulge in these things? Without small and routine outlets for pleasure, stress and worry build up and leave us vulnerable to indulging in bloated and damaging excesses. A daily and healthy outlet helps everyone stay balanced and on course.

Every night before you fall asleep, replay in your mind the good moments of the day, and give heartfelt thanks for each one of them. Think about the next day also, and intend that it is going to be amazing, that it is going to be filled with love and joy, and that all good is coming to you. Intend that it is going to be the best day of your life. Then when you wake in the morning, BEFORE you get out of bed, declare your intentions again for the day and give deep thanks as though you have received them all.

"Today, knowledge has power. It controls access to opportunity and advancement."

As sales professionals we face brutal facts that conflict with our view of the world every day. The world around us is constantly evolving and shifting the requirements of our role. Some of this change is neither welcome nor easy to deal with. Nevertheless great sales people confront the brutal facts and create strategies and make decisions in response to current reality. Others waste valuable time trying to hold onto the way things were or searching for that elusive silver bullet that promises to make everything right again.
So … which are you? Are you David standing up to Goliath fully aware of the challenge? Or are you Big Bird neck-deep in sand? To help you ponder the question I thought I’d share my top 3 brutal facts of reality sales teams face today along with the implication to your sales success.
Brutal Fact of Reality #1
In the eyes of our prospects we all look and sound the same.
Ouch!! Sorry but it’s true. You think it’s hard to differentiate your offering. Well guess what? Buyers are finding it harder to discern relevant differences between suppliers. Simon Sinek sums it up in this quote from his best seller, Start with Why, “There isn’t a single product or service that we can’t buy from someone else for a similar price at similar quality with similar service.”
Implication to your sales success: If you rely on the features and benefits of your product or service to create differentiation… good luck! Start differentiating through the quality and relevant value of your daily interactions with your customers and prospects. Challenge their thinking in ways that serve them, regularly bring high value market data that supports their business success, demonstrate your understanding of their world in every e-mail, phone call, presentation or meeting. Stop trying to “look better” than the competition… develop your sales approach to be a valuable differentiator and “look relevant.”
Brutal Fact of Reality #2
No-one needs your information.
We are neck-deep in information overload. I recently read that over 150 billion (yep that’s a “b”) e-mails get sent every day. (I swear 149 billion are unsolicited sales messages, follow ups and updates sent by sales people.) And get this … out of curiosity yesterday I googled the words “sales training.” Within 27 seconds I received 332 million results! So why would anyone want to receive information from me about sales training!? The world is drowning in information so it’s the last thing we need from professional sellers.
Implication to your sales success: Putting out information is easy for sales people to do. And for many it counts towards your metrics. Frankly it’s lazy… and ineffective. As a potential buyer I don’t need your information… I need you to connect your information to me, my world, and my priorities in ways that contribute to my success by my definition. This requires you to do your homework … and to put deep thought into, not just the “content” of that next e-mail or proposal, but also the “context.” If you want to hit my radar or engage a response from me … then make the connection to what matters to me now!
Brutal Fact of Reality #3
No one wants to pay more than necessary for anything.
Of course they don’t. This includes you and me… right? But this doesn’t mean we always buy the cheapest option. Price has become a “scape goat” for buyers who want to let an unsuccessful seller down easy… and for sellers looking to abdicate responsibility for a lost bid.
Implication to your sales success: Selling isn’t easy … your success requires you to think deeply about any buying situation. If you can’t, or choose not to, compete on price it’s your role as a sales pro to be the catalyst to having the buyer feel the need to pay your fair price. And I don’t mean by preaching, convincing or persuading. If you lose on price, and it comes as a surprise to you, it suggests one of three things:

1. You failed to understand that lowest price is in fact a primary condition of the sale.
2. You failed to uncover the interests / priorities from the buying organization‘s perspective that would have tipped the balance of price versus value.
3. You identified the priorities but failed to effectively connect your value in ways that hit home to the influential stakeholders. In short your proposal had the content but missed the context.

There are, of course, other brutal facts of reality in selling today. So here’s a valuable and fun exercise for your next team meeting … Have the group identify a common sales challenge and then consider the associated brutal facts of reality.  Use the brutal facts as a starting point from which to make decisions or create strategies to address the issue. You’ll uncover fresh thinking that will help you move the sales process forward when competitors come to a grinding halt.

"All men who have achieved great things have been great dreamers."

       

        

Sometimes the best business lessons are the ones we’ve know the longest. 

Success at business is no easy chore.  It takes discipline, focus, and a set of core values that guide you around the emotions and stress of daily combat.

It’s all too easy to get sidetracked by the latest new strategy for business — like social media or digital marketing or sales automation. You find yourself chasing tactics. One after another. Hoping that you will be successful with one of them.

When one doesn’t work, you throw it away. Quickly adopting another new tactic. As you repeat that cycle, the idea of success becomes blurry.

What used to be very clear now seems frantically out of reach. It’s likely you need a return to core business strategies.

You need a new philosophy. The one your mom taught you many years ago.

Here are a few of those business lessons:

1. What goes around comes around.

In any area of your business, what you do has consequences. Sometimes those are good. Other times you are left with regrets. Actions have results.  That’s a universal truth. It never changes. You will always get the results deserved by the activity that you’re doing. You might not like those results, but you’ll always get them.

That can be a good thing.  See, you need to believe that what you do can make a difference.  A kind word matters.  Honest matters.  Candor, personal responsibility, and fairness — they all matter.  Because the culture you create is the culture that ultimately decides how successful you become.  Make sure you’re doing the right things.

2. No one likes a “know it all”.

Don’t be that person that cuts everyone off mid-sentence.  Don’t interrupt your employees or your customers.  Don’t roll your eyes and stomp your feet while you wait for the person who is talking to stop.  That’s selfish and shortsighted.  And besides coming off completely arrogant, you are missing out on important lessons by acting that way.

Let’s be honest, a lot of things you hear are unimportant — facts you already know or criticism that is hurtful and unusable.  But if you can listen long enough you’ll hear some really important information that will help you be more successful.  Listen for those moments.  Ignore everything else.

3. Stop being a whiner.

It’s that simple.  Stop complaining.  Stop being the person who has to help “keep everyone else’s feet on the ground”.  That’s just an excuse for you to whine and mope.  No one likes a whiner.  That’s just the truth.

It impacts more than the people around you at the time of your whining.  It directly impacts who you hire and how you manage your teams.  If you whine, your people will whine.  And the last thing you need when you’re trying to be successful is an army of wimps and whiners.  So stop.

4. Life isn’t fair.

Stop pretending like you’re the only one who has bad, unexpected circumstances happen to them.  Everyone lives in the same sometimes-erratic universe.  You didn’t get it any worse than anyone else.  Enough already with the theatrics.

A lot of things that we like to call “unfair” are really life gambles that we lose.  We make risky decisions and then cry “unfair” when our gamble doesn’t turn out with us hitting the jackpot.   Which is unfortunate because there is a valuable lesson that could be learned if we stopped pouting and started listening.

5. Just because everyone else is doing it doesn’t mean you should too.

Idiots do stupid things.  Sometimes a lot of idiots do the same thing together.  And you can feel like there are so many people doing something that you are missing out if you are not doing it too.  The only thing you are missing out on are the results of idiot behavior.

But it’s not always that extreme.  Many times your industry is heading is a good direction.  And it feels safe to follow the leader.  But instead of achieving greatness you get the “success left-overs” of everyone else in your industry who gets to the finish line first.  Take the time to go your own way.

6. Learn from your mistakes.

Success doesn’t mean that you need to be perfect — or anything close.  You just need to be honest about those mistakes and learn from the results that you achieved.  It does you no good to pretend like you’re more successful that you really are.  It stops you from being amazing.

Running your business successfully isn’t so much about having one giant brilliant idea and executing it.  It’s more about taking tiny steps forward continuously.  When you’re right you keep moving.  When you’re wrong you change course and keep moving.  Mistakes lead you towards success.

7. Say “I’m sorry…” when you’re wrong.

This is likely the most important business lesson that leaders overlook.  You are going to make many mistakes if you attempt anything remarkable.  You are going to hurt people, create disappointment, and cause confusion and chaos.  The best way to make these right is simply to apologize.

And the best way to apologize is simply to say “I’m Sorry…”.   No excuses.  No drawn-out reasons.  Just powerful words and an attitude of sincerity.  And when you do, the results are mind-blowing.   You solve problems faster, win the confidence of your clients better, and make yourself more accessible to everyone around you.

8. Grow up.

You need to be tough if you’re going to win in business.  That means you’re going to get kicked in the teeth when you least expect it and need to get back up on your feet.  That’s why you need to grow up.  Instead of getting offended, insulted, or misunderstood, you need to focus on the “real dramas”.  You’ll know them when you see them.  Whining, wimping, and complaining isn’t what big kids do.  Simple as that.

Part of growing up involves learning from your mistakes, being more mature, and getting better at making decisions.  If you can’t say that you are making better decisions and learning better lessons, then you know that you need to grow up.  And fast.

Your mom was pretty smart.  The basic life lessons you heard from her growing up are the same practical lessons you need right now to be more successful as a business leader.

It really is that simple.  Being successful isn’t always about your S.W.O.T. analysis or your “go to market” plan.  Most often it’s about the core values you let guide your day-to-day decisions.

Right now you’re making decisions that impact the future of your business.  Maybe it’s time to revisit the life lessons your mom taught you.

Sometimes the best business lessons are the ones we’ve know the longest.
Success at business is no easy chore.  It takes discipline, focus, and a set of core values that guide you around the emotions and stress of daily combat.
It’s all too easy to get sidetracked by the latest new strategy for business — like social media or digital marketing or sales automation. You find yourself chasing tactics. One after another. Hoping that you will be successful with one of them.
When one doesn’t work, you throw it away. Quickly adopting another new tactic. As you repeat that cycle, the idea of success becomes blurry.
What used to be very clear now seems frantically out of reach. It’s likely you need a return to core business strategies.
You need a new philosophy. The one your mom taught you many years ago.
Here are a few of those business lessons:
1. What goes around comes around.
In any area of your business, what you do has consequences. Sometimes those are good. Other times you are left with regrets. Actions have results.  That’s a universal truth. It never changes. You will always get the results deserved by the activity that you’re doing. You might not like those results, but you’ll always get them.
That can be a good thing.  See, you need to believe that what you do can make a difference.  A kind word matters.  Honest matters.  Candor, personal responsibility, and fairness — they all matter. Because the culture you create is the culture that ultimately decides how successful you become.  Make sure you’re doing the right things.
2. No one likes a “know it all”.
Don’t be that person that cuts everyone off mid-sentence.  Don’t interrupt your employees or your customers.  Don’t roll your eyes and stomp your feet while you wait for the person who is talking to stop. That’s selfish and shortsighted.  And besides coming off completely arrogant, you are missing out on important lessons by acting that way.
Let’s be honest, a lot of things you hear are unimportant — facts you already know or criticism that is hurtful and unusable.  But if you can listen long enough you’ll hear some really important information that will help you be more successful.  Listen for those moments.  Ignore everything else.
3. Stop being a whiner.
It’s that simple.  Stop complaining.  Stop being the person who has to help “keep everyone else’s feet on the ground”.  That’s just an excuse for you to whine and mope.  No one likes a whiner.  That’s just the truth.
It impacts more than the people around you at the time of your whining.  It directly impacts who you hire and how you manage your teams.  If you whine, your people will whine.  And the last thing you need when you’re trying to be successful is an army of wimps and whiners.  So stop.
4. Life isn’t fair.
Stop pretending like you’re the only one who has bad, unexpected circumstances happen to them. Everyone lives in the same sometimes-erratic universe.  You didn’t get it any worse than anyone else. Enough already with the theatrics.
A lot of things that we like to call “unfair” are really life gambles that we lose.  We make risky decisions and then cry “unfair” when our gamble doesn’t turn out with us hitting the jackpot.   Which is unfortunate because there is a valuable lesson that could be learned if we stopped pouting and started listening.
5. Just because everyone else is doing it doesn’t mean you should too.
Idiots do stupid things.  Sometimes a lot of idiots do the same thing together.  And you can feel like there are so many people doing something that you are missing out if you are not doing it too.  The only thing you are missing out on are the results of idiot behavior.
But it’s not always that extreme.  Many times your industry is heading is a good direction.  And it feels safe to follow the leader.  But instead of achieving greatness you get the “success left-overs” of everyone else in your industry who gets to the finish line first.  Take the time to go your own way.
6. Learn from your mistakes.
Success doesn’t mean that you need to be perfect — or anything close.  You just need to be honest about those mistakes and learn from the results that you achieved.  It does you no good to pretend like you’re more successful that you really are.  It stops you from being amazing.
Running your business successfully isn’t so much about having one giant brilliant idea and executing it. It’s more about taking tiny steps forward continuously.  When you’re right you keep moving.  When you’re wrong you change course and keep moving.  Mistakes lead you towards success.
7. Say “I’m sorry…” when you’re wrong.
This is likely the most important business lesson that leaders overlook.  You are going to make many mistakes if you attempt anything remarkable.  You are going to hurt people, create disappointment, and cause confusion and chaos.  The best way to make these right is simply to apologize.
And the best way to apologize is simply to say “I’m Sorry…”.   No excuses.  No drawn-out reasons.  Just powerful words and an attitude of sincerity.  And when you do, the results are mind-blowing.   You solve problems faster, win the confidence of your clients better, and make yourself more accessible to everyone around you.
8. Grow up.
You need to be tough if you’re going to win in business.  That means you’re going to get kicked in the teeth when you least expect it and need to get back up on your feet.  That’s why you need to grow up. Instead of getting offended, insulted, or misunderstood, you need to focus on the “real dramas”.  You’ll know them when you see them.  Whining, wimping, and complaining isn’t what big kids do.  Simple as that.
Part of growing up involves learning from your mistakes, being more mature, and getting better at making decisions.  If you can’t say that you are making better decisions and learning better lessons, then you know that you need to grow up.  And fast.
Your mom was pretty smart.  The basic life lessons you heard from her growing up are the same practical lessons you need right now to be more successful as a business leader.
It really is that simple.  Being successful isn’t always about your S.W.O.T. analysis or your “go to market” plan.  Most often it’s about the core values you let guide your day-to-day decisions.
Right now you’re making decisions that impact the future of your business.  Maybe it’s time to revisit the life lessons your mom taught you.

Ben Franklin sought to cultivate his character by a plan of 13 virtues, which he developed at age 20 (in 1726), and continued to practice in some form for the rest of his life.
His autobiography lists his 13 virtues as:

1. Temperance. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
2. Silence. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
3. Order. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
4. Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
5. Frugality. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
6. Industry. Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
7. Sincerity. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
8. Justice. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
9. Moderation. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
10. Cleanliness. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths (sic), or habitation.
11. Tranquility. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
12. Chastity. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation.
13. Humility. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

Franklin didn’t try to work on them all at once. Instead, he would work on one and only one each week, leaving all others to their ordinary chance. While Ben did not live completely by his virtues, and by his own admission fell short of them many times, he believed the attempt at living them made him a better man. He believed these virtues contributed greatly to his success and happiness.
In his autobiography, Franklin listed and wrote about the virtues, “I hope, therefore, that some of my descendants may follow the example and reap the benefit.”
His list is certainly no be-all end-all list of virtuous characteristics, BUT it gets you thinking about yourself and your virtues. Impossible not to.
Not wanting to in any way infringe on the genius of what was Ben Franklin, I’d like to offer some of today’s characteristics of virtue and add to Ben’s list.
I’ll add a few words of definition to each, but more important, think about each of these virtues as it relates to you, your self-disciplines, your actions, and your ethics. Maybe even RATE YOURSELF on each one as you read.
Were he alive today, Ben’s virtues might have included:

• Truth. Your ability to be truthful to others and truthful to yourself. 
• Honesty. Take honest actions you can be proud of.
• Trust. Be trustworthy and trusting. Trust others until proven otherwise. Be trustworthy by example.
• Ethics. The right way you conduct yourself in business and life.
• Speed. Response it today’s world is immediate. How immediate are you?
• Reliable. People want to deal with reliable people. How reliable are you?
• Loyal. Getting loyalty because you earned it. Giving loyalty because it’s your philosophy.
• Responsible. Not just responsible to others, but both to yourself and for yourself.
• Observant. Having value based peripheral vision, both of others and yourself.
• Consistent. Making the highest and best decision – all the time. 
• Independent. Not a follower to be “safe,” but a self-ruler of your time and fate.
• Faith. Not just religion, faith in people, faith in family, and spirituality of self.
• Self-belief. Belief in company, product, customer, and especially in yourself. Be a believer.
• Confidence. Confidence is evident often without saying a word. Radiate yours.
• Enthusiasm. Generate the inner spark of self-induced energy that lights up a room and the people in it. 
• Study/Student. Learning more leads to earning more. Resolve to learn something new every day.
• Respect. Things and people deserve initial respect. Give it to get it.
• Kindness. Every ounce of kindness is worth a fortune to those on the receiving end of yours. 
• Forgive. Until you forgive the past – both actions and people – you are likely to repeat it.
• Thoughtful. Expressing both thanks and feelings. Remembering events and people. 
• Open-minded. Willing to accept new things. Willing to encounter at “change” and see it as “opportunity.”
• Appreciate. Art and life. Look and see the beauty that abounds, the opportunity life affords, and appreciate your ability to choose the values you represent.
• Grateful. For health and happiness. Saying grace. Counting blessings, daily.
• Loving. Give love to get love. Give love to be loved.

Wow! Those are some values. How many are yours?

Email is the new phone in today’s sales world. It’s currently one of the most effective online customer acquisition tools according to this post from Wired – ranking just behind organic search and paid advertising, but ahead of social media channels like Facebook and Twitter.

There’s just one problem with the way many businesses have begun to view and deploy email as a sales tool – they’re executing campaigns without first understanding how their current sales process can be optimized for the clients’ buying process in that environment.  

One Company’s Experience with Selling Through Email

Recently, “Randy,” a new client of our firm, came to us with the desire to drive sales through email without involving a salesperson. He’d noticed the widespread increase in Internet marketing and believed that, because customers were getting so comfortable with buying online, that even bigger ticket items like his company’s website plug-in could be sold through online channels like email.

Essentially, Randy thought that email would allow him to increase sales and save significant cash because he could cut back on sales headcount and commission payouts.

In some ways, Randy was right.

His firm’s plug-in could be easily customized for each client without the involvement of a salesperson, and his existing clients had been thrilled with the productivity savings his product delivered. Randy’s firm had written a white paper that outlined those successful client implementations and produced a video with testimonials and a quick product demo. Even better, his metrics showed an incredible 75 percent conversion rate when prospects digested both of those content pieces.

So, Randy naturally assumed that all he needed to do was run a simple email campaign that included the white paper and video, followed up with an offer to try the plug-in, and new sales would roll in.

But that’s not what happened. After three months of email campaigns, Randy’s firm had driven no new sales.

Why Sales and Buying Processes Matter in Email Campaigns

The problem, we discovered, was that Randy’s email campaigns didn’t align with how the company had successfully sold its product in the past, nor did they pay any mind to how the company’s prospects preferred to purchase.

Randy’s email strategy was simple: It began with two emails that revolved around an offer to read the white paper, and followed up with two more emails with an offer to view the video. If prospects decided to view the video, they were greeted with an offer at the end of it to purchase the website plug-in.

So, why didn’t that sales process work?

Because, in the real world, Randy’s sales process typically included meeting a contact in person at a trade show, discussing their productivity challenges, sending the white paper after the show, scheduling a follow-up meeting (during which the video is shown), delivering a pitch for how the plug-in could be applied to that prospect’s unique situation, engaging in a discussion about pricing, and then (and only then) sending the prospect to the company’s website to order.

That’s a minimum of four personal contacts. Randy’s email campaign was banking on just one or two. If every prospect opened and read each email (highly unlikely), Randy’s email campaign mimicked just a two-call inside sales process. Knowing that average email open rate percentages hover around 20 percent, however, it’s more likely that Randy’s email campaign modeled a one-call close sales process in which a prospect was cold called, shown the video, and asked to purchase. In either case, neither was sufficiently robust enough to nurture and educate Randy’s prospects about his product.

Regardless of the Channel, the Sales Process is Still Relevant

Ultimately, I think Randy’s experience personifies the way many business owners sell through email.

They see the channel as a faster and more efficient way to drive sales, but forget that email campaigns must still model, in some way, their offline sales processes. Yes, customers are increasingly comfortable buying online with little engagement with an actual salesperson, but that doesn’t mean their historical buying process should be ignored.

To be truly successfully, your business needs to treat its email campaigns like it would any other sales mechanism – progressively providing the information that nurtures, educates, and builds trust with prospects so that they can fully understand the value of your solution and move closer to a buying decision.

Yes, doing that might mean extending the length and intensity of your email campaigns. But, as Randy’s experience shows, the commitment to that more robust sales process is more likely to pay bigger dividends than a hastily executed campaign.

Email is the new phone in today’s sales world. It’s currently one of the most effective online customer acquisition tools according to this post from Wired – ranking just behind organic search and paid advertising, but ahead of social media channels like Facebook and Twitter.
There’s just one problem with the way many businesses have begun to view and deploy email as a sales tool – they’re executing campaigns without first understanding how their current sales process can be optimized for the clients’ buying process in that environment.
One Company’s Experience with Selling Through Email
Recently, “Randy,” a new client of our firm, came to us with the desire to drive sales through email without involving a salesperson. He’d noticed the widespread increase in Internet marketing and believed that, because customers were getting so comfortable with buying online, that even bigger ticket items like his company’s website plug-in could be sold through online channels like email.
Essentially, Randy thought that email would allow him to increase sales and save significant cash because he could cut back on sales headcount and commission payouts.
In some ways, Randy was right.
His firm’s plug-in could be easily customized for each client without the involvement of a salesperson, and his existing clients had been thrilled with the productivity savings his product delivered. Randy’s firm had written a white paper that outlined those successful client implementations and produced a video with testimonials and a quick product demo. Even better, his metrics showed an incredible 75 percent conversion rate when prospects digested both of those content pieces.
So, Randy naturally assumed that all he needed to do was run a simple email campaign that included the white paper and video, followed up with an offer to try the plug-in, and new sales would roll in.
But that’s not what happened. After three months of email campaigns, Randy’s firm had driven no new sales.
Why Sales and Buying Processes Matter in Email Campaigns
The problem, we discovered, was that Randy’s email campaigns didn’t align with how the company had successfully sold its product in the past, nor did they pay any mind to how the company’s prospects preferred to purchase.
Randy’s email strategy was simple: It began with two emails that revolved around an offer to read the white paper, and followed up with two more emails with an offer to view the video. If prospects decided to view the video, they were greeted with an offer at the end of it to purchase the website plug-in.
So, why didn’t that sales process work?
Because, in the real world, Randy’s sales process typically included meeting a contact in person at a trade show, discussing their productivity challenges, sending the white paper after the show, scheduling a follow-up meeting (during which the video is shown), delivering a pitch for how the plug-in could be applied to that prospect’s unique situation, engaging in a discussion about pricing, and then (and only then) sending the prospect to the company’s website to order.
That’s a minimum of four personal contacts. Randy’s email campaign was banking on just one or two. If every prospect opened and read each email (highly unlikely), Randy’s email campaign mimicked just a two-call inside sales process. Knowing that average email open rate percentages hover around 20 percent, however, it’s more likely that Randy’s email campaign modeled a one-call close sales process in which a prospect was cold called, shown the video, and asked to purchase. In either case, neither was sufficiently robust enough to nurture and educate Randy’s prospects about his product.
Regardless of the Channel, the Sales Process is Still Relevant
Ultimately, I think Randy’s experience personifies the way many business owners sell through email.
They see the channel as a faster and more efficient way to drive sales, but forget that email campaigns must still model, in some way, their offline sales processes. Yes, customers are increasingly comfortable buying online with little engagement with an actual salesperson, but that doesn’t mean their historical buying process should be ignored.
To be truly successfully, your business needs to treat its email campaigns like it would any other sales mechanism – progressively providing the information that nurtures, educates, and builds trust with prospects so that they can fully understand the value of your solution and move closer to a buying decision.

Many people wonder what separates a top performing sales person from the rest of the pack. In most cases, it's because they apply a number of best practices in their daily routine. Here are 17 best practices of top performing sales people.
1. They set HIGH TARGETS and goals.
Top performers don't wait for their manager to issue an annual or quarterly quota. They set their own goals that are usually more ambitious than the corporate targets.
2. They carefully PLAN their quarter, month and week, as well as their daily schedule.
Too many sales people fly by the seat of their pants and only look at the day or week ahead instead of planning their month and quarter. Look at the big picture.
3. They set OBJECTIVES for every sales call.
It is essential to know exactly what you want to accomplish before you make your call (face-to-face or telephone).
4. They ASK high-value questions that probe to the heart of the issue.
Sounds simple but most sales people fail at this and ask weak, feeble questions. Top performers are comfortable asking tough questions that make their prospect think.
5. They LISTEN carefully to what their prospects and customers say instead of waiting for your turn to speak listen to your customer.
You can ask all the questions in the world but if you don't hear what people tell you won't be able to present the proper solution.
6. They CLARIFY the issue when they are unclear what their prospect means.People often say things that are unclear and most sales people assume they know what their prospect means. Top performers take the time to fully understand by asking "What do you mean by that?" of "Can you clarify that for me?"
7. They WAIT TO PRESENT their product, service, solution or idea until they know exactly what their prospect's situation is.
The majority of sales people jump too quickly into their 'sales pitch' but top performers are patient and wait for the right moment.
8. They begin every sales presentation with a brief RECAP of their understanding of the prospect's situation.
Again, a simple concept but one that is greatly ignored by many sales people. A quick summary of your customers' situation give you the opportunity to ensure that your presentation addresses their key issues.
9. They know how to ADAPT their sales presentation if their prospect's situation has changed.
Making changes on-the-fly is challenging but it is one way to stand out from your competition. Learn how to modify your presentation when customer's situation has changed from the time you initially met to the time you are delivering your presentation.
10. They know how to properly and effectively POSITION their product, service or solution.
The vast majority of sales people fail miserably at this. They talk, talk, talk but usually end up talking about aspects of their product or solution that have little or no relevance to their customer's situation.
11. Their sales presentations FOCUS on the prospect.
Most sales presentations focus on the seller's company, their product, or other trivial information that is of no interest to the customer.
12. They are PREPARED for potential objections.
Top performers anticipate objections and plan their response before their sales call.
13. They always establish the NEXT STEPS.
Decision makers are busier than ever which means they are more difficult to connect with. Avoid losing contact with a prospect by agreeing on the next steps after every sales call. Do this in face-to-face meetings and telephone calls.
14. They FOLLOW-UP after the initial call or meeting.
Many a sale has been lost because the sales rep failed to follow up after the initial call. You cannot rely on your prospect or customer to call you; you need to take this initiative. Set this up during your call or meeting.
15. They PROSPECT continually to keep their pipeline full.
It's not uncommon for sales reps to experience peaks and valleys in their sales. This is usually a result of failing to prospect for new business on a regular basis. Avoid the highs and lows and schedule time to prospect for new business every week.
16. They deal with the DECISION-MAKER whenever possible.Dealing with people who have little or no buying authority is a waste of time. However, many sales people fall into this trap because it is easier to connect with people other than the decision maker. And that may be true. However, in the long run, they end wasting their time because they don't close the deal.
17. They look for ways to KEEP IN TOUCH with their customers. A sale is not a one-time deal. However, you need to find ways to keep your name in your customer's mind to prevent a competitor from squeezing in. Top performers incorporate this into their schedule and make it a priority.

Here are seven realities to get your thinking started:
FIRST REALITY: Traditional selling is aggressive – telling, pitching, manipulating, and closing. This old-world approach to sales is over and has been for more than a decade.
SECOND REALITY: The first sale that’s made is the salesperson. If the prospective customer does not by you, they're not buying anything.
THIRD REALITY: The customer is as smart or smarter than you are. The internet has provided them with competitive savvy and social media has provides proof.
FORTH REALITY: Your customers and prospects are busy with THEIR stuff and may have little or no time to be bothered by you and your stuff. It's so much more powerful when they find you in time of need.
FIFTH REALITY: Customers and prospects want intellectual engagement about how THEY WIN, not a sales pitch! They do not care about your urgency to make quota. They only care about their urgency to make profit.
SIXTH REALITY: The prospective customer must perceive value in your sales offering, trust you as a person and as a company, perceive that they win as a result of purchase, and be able to visualize outcome after purchase (maybe with the help of your video testimonials).
SEVENTH REALITY: You better have a social presence and a social reputation that proves your worth to others, and provides peace of mind to the prospect.
Look at this list – carefully – and see if what you do, the actions you take, or any of the strategies about how you sell are contained here. If they are, you will consistently lose to the “new way.”

• Cold calling. If selling has a dark side, it’s the cold call. Total interruption of others (the prospect), and predominantly a waste of salespeople's time. Higher than 90% rejection rate and the major cause of sales failure.
• Hunting and farming salespeople. This is basically a sales specialist making a sale and then running away. Leaving behind the service department, or inside sales, or the delivery guy, and the customer to feel desserted. Hunting and farming is the worst case for relationship building ever created.
• Find the pain. Perhaps the rudest of all sales processes, it’s “probing” to make prospects feel uncomfortable. This is an old-world tactic, where the salesperson miraculously proposes a solution to an issue that the prospect has. The solution is not the issue. The issue is that finding the pain is the focal point of the sale. No value, no engagement, no connection – simply manipulation. The only thing more idiotic (and more rude) than “finding the pain” is cold calling.
• Pitch the product. Telling your prospective customer stuff about your product that they could've found online in three seconds, or that you could've emailed them in advance of your meeting. Customers do not care what you're selling, unless you're showing them how they win as a result of purchase such as how they will produce more, and how they will profit more. Start there. 
• Overcome objections. “Your price is too high.” Really? You still dealing with that? Where's the value? Where's the testimonial? Where’s the relationship? Where’s the trust? Where's the social proof?
• Close the sale. Manipulative closing is a thing of the past. The sale is made emotionally, not manipulatively.
• Proposals and bidding. This part of selling will never go away, but can be significantly reduced with loyal relationships and proven quality.
• Insincere follow-up. Call looking for money. 
• Customer satisfaction. J.D. Power and Associates gives “customer satisfaction” awards to airlines. Do I need to say anything more about how ridiculous customer satisfaction is?
• Ask for (beg for) referrals. If you ask for a referral once, and the customer does not give you one, and you call again reminding the customer that they promised to give you a referral, and the customer still does not give you one, they will never take your call again. Instead of asking for referrals, why don’t you give one?
• Low or no social media presence. Failure to understand the fact that social media is a combination of attraction, proof that you are you say you are, and a sales tool.
• Low or no social media awareness. Inability or refusal of salespeople to participate gives your competition an ability to use it and dominate.
• Low or no relationship. The quality of the relationship allows you to make multiple sales, earn more profit, earn referrals, and gain their testimonial proof. If you’re lacking in these four areas it’s your relationship report card, and loss of sales or profit, or both.

Me? I prefer to be assertive. Assertive salespeople ask. Aggressive salespeople tell. Assertive salespeople go for the customer. Aggressive salespeople go for the sale.
Which one are you? It's the difference between the old way and the new way.

"Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises."

What you get by reaching your destination is not nearly as important as what you will become by reaching your destination. 

"Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment."

When a relationship is new, everything is wonderful, and promises are generous and plentiful. Eventually, these promises seem stale and ordinary, and the flame of the first promises dwindles. That's when promises become heavy and burdensome. At this point, remember that a relationship is built on promise but is maintained by people. When aggravation sets in, revisit and revise your promises. Find new things to celebrate.

"Parents can only give good advice .but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands."

"A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the quality of his actions and the integrity of his intent. "

You're going to meet resistance when you take a new course of action. At first, if you've been running on self-defeating thoughts and beliefs, they're going to resist any new ideas. It's just like starting a new exercise program. The muscles are tight and stiff, and they resist. The same is true with mental muscles. You need to continually practice running the new, positive thoughts in your mind at regular intervals and act on them. There's a direct relationship between beliefs and actions. You can't just think your way to success.

"The secret to success is to know something nobody else does."

"Every man dies. Not every man lives. The only limits to the possibilities in your life tomorrow are the "buts" you use today."

"People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don't know when to quit. Most men succeed because they are determined to."