One of the biggest frustrations business owners face is converting more leads at a higher rate, with better efficiency and results. Time is money and so is temperature. Hot leads bring immediate dollars. Cold leads are dismissed to the land of misfit toys.

To better understand why, let’s hop into the way-back machine and head back to the beginning of mankind. When cavemen discovered how to use sticks and stones to make weapons and tools, it made their lives easier when hunting and gathering food. When the wheel was discovered, it made life even that more efficient.

These items allowed them to hunt better and quicker. It allowed them to gather more food in shorter amounts of time. And it lit the fuse that ignited the need for bigger, better and quicker.

Flash forward a few million years, and we are exponentially bigger, better and quicker. Not necessarily as people or society (although there are several National Geographic specials that would probably confirm that notion) but with the technology we use to improve efficiencies and reduce the amount of time we need to access pretty much anything we want or need.

A byproduct of the improved efficiencies and reduced lead times is an incredible need for immediate gratification. It wasn’t enough to cook your own meal, so restaurants sprung up to do that for us. Then, it wasn’t enough to sit down and place your order so they opened up the drive-thru. Still not fast enough? Well here’s a box that will zap your food hot in mere seconds.

So how does this relate to sales and working with leads? Immediate gratification.

Businesses spend valuable dollars and invest incredible time and effort to generate leads to drive people to their cash registers – and credit card swipers. Typically, the leads go into the sales funnel are pre-qualified to determine which ones will lead to immediate sales. Guess what leads are given immediate attention. You got it. The hot leads!

As these hot leads are being worked, additional leads continue to come in. These new leads are then pre-qualified and dealt with in the same manner. Meanwhile, the other leads are sitting in the funnel where the warm leads are becoming cold leads and the cold leads are becoming dead leads.

But warm and cold are only temporary. If all your efforts are poured into converting only the hot leads, you are going backwards on the evolutionary efficiency curve. You’re investing time into building systems to generate leads; do the same to convert more and more of all of those leads – not just the hot ones.

There are several types of systems you can implement to convert these tepid leads. However, one of the fastest growing, widely accepted, and highly effective methods is right in front of your eyes. The e-mailed newsletter.

These people have told you they have some level of interest in your product or service; otherwise they wouldn’t have ended up in your sales funnel. Just because they aren’t ready to ring your register today, doesn’t mean they won’t want to tomorrow, next month or next year. Don’t waste that initial effort. Follow up with these folks on a regular basis with product, service or industry news that is of value to your prospects and keeps you in front of them until they are ready to give you their nickel.

It is very important though to deliver timely and valuable information without choking them with your sales pitch. When they are ready to buy, they will. Until then, be a resource for them. Be someone they will automatically turn to without hesitation when they are ready to pull out their checkbook.

Stop being Cro-Magnon with your lead management. Find a system that works for you, and more importantly for your prospects, turn up the heat and watch those warm and cold leads slowly cook from a simmer to a raging cauldron of increased sales!

Now, Go Get ‘Em!!

Referral generation is a two-way street. With the right questions, it can be a two-way super-highway!

“Good” questions are open ended that require more than a one or two word response. “Better” questions inspire others to respond by painting a picture you can use to further a conversation. When it comes to referral generation, the “best” questions open roads to drive prospects to your door and to the doors of your customers and prospects.

The east-bound lane of your referral super-highway is full of random people that you have not yet met that are your potential customers. They are driving all different types of cars, trucks, vans and SUV’s. There are as many types, sizes and colors of vehicles as there are products and services that you may offer.

You don’t know the drivers of these vehicles yet, but you may bump into someone they know. When you do, you need to be able to get them to introduce you to these drivers. How do you do that? By asking specific questions that will lead to those introductions.

Let’s say that a red Chevy Camaro represents the product that you sell in particular. When you ask someone for a referral, rather than be vague and ask if they know someone that drives a car, be specific and ask the first great question – “Who do you know that drives a red Chevy Camaro?”

Now, instead of shrugging their shoulders and blowing you off, that very specific, turbo-charged question triggers a person to scour their mental rolodex searching for everyone they know that drives a red Chevy Camaro. Now you can get an introduction to them where you may never have had that opportunity.

Next, let’s take a look at the west-bound lane of the referral super-highway. This lane is bumper-to-bumper with people you know or may come in contact with. This is traffic that may be the perfect referrals you can direct to your customers and potential customers.

When you are meeting with your customers helping them buy from you, there is another great question that you can ask. And when you are meeting with a prospect, you can also ask this same great question. Additionally, this same great question is versatile enough that you can ask it when simply networking with others.

The second great question is “How will I know if someone I meet would be a good referral you?” Tell me, wouldn’t you love to be asked that question from everyone you meet!? How would you feel if you were asked that question by someone that was networking or prospecting you? The trust level just shift into overdrive!

If someone was taking an active role in my sales and my success while also trying to provide me with their product or service, that transcends the buyer/seller relationship to that of success partners. If someone was driving sales to me, how much more motivated would I be to return the favor? 10-fold? No. 1000-fold? Absolutely!!

So there you have two great questions that individually drive referrals in both directions. Together, they help elevate you to that of a trusted advisor that people will be confident doing business with.

Now, Go Get ‘Em!!

If you read through enough websites, blogs, business journals, newsletters, etc., you will find that one of the fastest growing business sectors is that of the entrepreneur. I would agree with that to a certain extent.

More specifically, I would say that one of the fastest growing sectors is the technician with an entrepreneurial spirit. By definition, an entrepreneur is one who “organizes and manages an enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.”

By contrast, the Technipreneur is someone that is an expert at their trade or with their product or service, that has a desire – that entrepreneurial spirit – to go out on their own and start a business rather than lend their technical expertise to someone else’s business.

Another way to look at the difference is the Technipreneur wears many, if not all of the hats in the company including, management, production, implementation, sales, marketing and administration. Conversely, the entrepreneur organizes others to wear each one of those hats.

There is a fundamental difference in paradigms between the entrepreneur and the Technipreneur, with each having their own unique benefits and challenges. The entrepreneur sets out with the mindset to organize people and develop a business system around a product or service that is needed by society. She doesn’t necessarily have an in-depth working knowledge of the product or service they provide. But she doesn’t need to as she will find people that do have the knowledge and assemble them into the business team.

On the other hand, the Technipreneur is typically an expert at the product or service they provide. He may have gone to school to learn it and spent many years perfecting the knowledge of the product or crafting the skills of the service. Then, one day he gets an itch to venture off on his own with the entrepreneurial spirit to start a business and provide the product or service on his own terms.

Examples of Technipreneurs range from mechanics and contractors to lawyers, accountants and financial advisors and many of them will tell you that starting out isn’t done with a simple “if you build it, they will come” model. This is where the successful Technipreneur becomes resourceful. He seeks out others that help him where he may lack expertise such as business plan development, marketing and sales. With training and experience, the Technipreneur becomes a jack of all trades and actually a master of SOME!

In this information age in which we live, it is becoming more and more viable for the small business owner/technician to flourish with all of the resources available to them. Typically smaller in size, they can be more flexible than the larger companies as well as more responsive. As such they can compete on a field where they can position themselves as the trusted advisor in their industry.

That will do it for this week’s overview of the Technipreneur. We will look closer at the dynamics of the Technipreneur off and on over the next several weeks and how you can apply the concept and ideas into your own activities. Until then…

Now, Go Get ‘Em!!

If you’ve ever been at a closing to buy a new house, you’ve probably left with carpel tunnel in your signature hand from all of the forms you had to sign. Some of those sheets seem pretty ridiculous – I recently had to sign one acknowledging that I had signed the previous document! Although that may seem pretty ridiculous, the amazing thing is an instance or a series of instances precipitated the requirement for these seemingly frivolous documents.

Likewise, have you read the directions on some of the most basic products that are use every day? For example, on a kids Halloween Superman costume, the label reads “Warning: Wearing this garment does not enable you to fly.” Seriously!? Then there is the one on a Nytol sleep aid that reads, “Warning: May cause drowsiness.”

So what does this have to do with anything sales related? Well it lays the foundation for why I am writing about this week’s topic. For all of the ridiculous things we see and read, there is a reason why we are reading it. Much of the time it is because of repeated and total disregard for the obvious. We also live in an increasingly litigious society so these “C.Y.A.” documents are unfortunately needed. Not coincidentally, there is something that needs to be addressed in sales that you wouldn’t think should be.

There’s a saying in sales that goes something like this: “Half of the sale is just showing up.” It seems preposterous, especially in today’s business environment, to not show up for an appointment or a sale. But it is happening. A lot. Just this week I made two sales and heard from two other people with similar experiences where the other people that were called to quote a job never showed up. Or they did, but never submitted the quote or didn’t return a call.

But this isn’t an article to remind you to show up for your appointments. Rather, it is to look at the opportunities you have when you do, and others don’t. These are observations through my experiences and those of the others I mentioned.

1. Establish Credibility. When you show up and others don’t, you immediately establish a heightened perception of credibility and dependability that you may not have received if your competition also happened to show.

2. Become the Hero. By just doing what you are expected to do, you almost become a hero in your prospect’s eyes. They have a need and everyone else they turned to let them down except for you. (Time to put on that Superman cape!)

3. Get the Order. When you are the only one that shows up, you don’t automatically get the job. They always could try calling a few others. But when you deliver your excellent service and value, most of the time you earn that sale without “burdening” your prospect with having to look for others. Also, when they are ready to re-order, do you think they will call around? Or will they just call the one person that they know will take care of them? (Hint: it’s the second one there!)

4. Get the Referrals. This is probably the biggest byproduct of your competition not showing up! After you’ve delivered your exceptional product or service and gained a loyal customer, you now become the dependable hero to everyone your customer tells the story to. And believe me, they are telling the story!

Now, Go Get ‘Em!!

They say it takes a village to raise a child. Well, in business, your village is everyone in your organization, and your child is each and every sale, customer or prospect that you serve.

Consider how companies are downsizing, either by lay-offs or attrition, and it is becoming more and more crucial that everyone in the company has at least a basic level of sales mindset. This includes everyone in every department. Everyone from the office assistant to the folks in production and service need to have a sales mindset.

What about the accounting department? Yep. The maintenance department? Yep. Ok, but what about the nurses in an urgent care facility!? Absolutely! Every single person in every single business or organization needs to wear a sales hat to some degree. Why? Simple. Competition.

Consumers and businesses are holding their dollars tighter and they have exponentially more options of businesses to spend it with. Factor in your on-line competition and the arena you’re playing in makes the Coliseum look like your backyard kickball field.

So with all of this competition what are you supposed to do? Take your ball and go home!? Heck no! Far from it. You get creative and use all of the resources you have available to you. As a result, more and more businesses are ensuring that everyone in their company from top to bottom have the sales mentality needed to wow their customers regardless the department they work in.

Typically, the only people in an organization that receive any kind of sales training whatsoever is the sales department. They are the frontline out in the sales battlefield fighting for every lead, every prospect, and every sale. Let’s take a look at two perspectives on why similar sales training should be expanded throughout the company at all levels.

The first perspective is that from the prospect when dealing with any department they may come in contact with. Some may view this as “customer service” which does have its place. However, it is the mindset of the person delivering the service that makes or breaks their efforts. Without the correct mindset, customer service can become very methodical and cliché.

When people have a sales mindset, delivering customer service has reason, passion and a sense of commitment and urgency. I believe we’ve all experienced it before when the person on the other end of the line or other side of the desk is telling us what we want to hear, but do we really believe there is conviction behind the words, or merely a training manual with a script. Conversely, how do you feel when you deal with someone that walks the talk!? They deliver above and beyond what you not only expected, but would even dream of.

The second perspective on the need of everyone having a sales mindset is the power in numbers. If all you’re relying on is your sales staff to generate leads, provide the value, serve the prospect and close the sale, you are missing out on all kinds of potential activity.

In a previous article, we looked at the power of tapping into other’s personal networks where we each know on average 250 people. If you have 20 people in your company in addition to your sales staff, that is 5,000 potential prospects that are not even being tapped into. Heck, if you only have six people, that’s an additional 1,500 people that could be introduced to your business, product or service.

You may not be able, nor want, to put everyone into a commissionable position, but having a referral reward system in place to thank your “non-sales” staff further cements the sales mindset throughout the organization. Make it worthwhile for everyone to actively “sell” for you and bring you back good, quality referrals. Maybe it’s an individual incentive, or it could be a company-wide incentive with non-sales staff goals in place to works towards.

(Here’s an idea…if “X” number of referrals are generated by your non-sales staff over a four week period, the sales staff holds a pot-luck luncheon and serves everyone else. They will gladly serve everyone for the hot referrals they get to work!)

Finally, by providing Sales Mindset training to your entire organization, it proactively puts everyone in a position to drive more and more people through your door. It gives everyone a sense of ownership in the success of the company. It gives people a greater sense of value and a better appreciation of everyone they work with.

Now, Go Get ‘Em!

This week we are going to do a 180 and look at sales from the “half-empty” view of the glass. Rather than discuss a few positive things to do during your sales presentation or process, we are going to look at a few things that can really knock you on your can. Rather than knocking one out of the park, these things will send you straight back to the dugout.

Killer #1: Lack or Absence of Professionalism

First impressions can come in many forms. If you are phoning a lead or referral, your first impression is your tone of voice, vocabulary and conversational skills. If you are stopping in to see someone, meeting someone for the first time on an appointment or if you are attending a networking event, you first impression is your outward appearance. Yet another first impression is the one given through your marketing materials such as your web site, brochures and business cards.

A positive, favorable first impression holds the key to your opportunity for a second impression and a third and fourth. Put your best professional foot forward with all you do and live to make another sale!

Killer #2: No Rapport

A sale requires trust. Trust requires comfort and confidence. Comfort and confidence requires building rapport. Building rapport requires your time and effort to engage your customer and provide value through your actions and conversation. Unfortunately, many people think the presentation is the first step in making a sale. However, without rapport, you have not earned the opportunity to deliver your presentation.

Killer #3: Telling not Selling

Here is another trap many people fall into. Assuming a good first impression was made and that rapport has been established, many people will use their presentation to talk about all of the wonderful features their products or services possess. This is a sure-fire way to lose your customer and kill the sale. Your prospect could care less about the features. Rather, they want to know how those features will benefit them. How will they increase, efficiencies, productivity and profits? It is these types of outcomes that will draw them in to place an order!

Killer #4: Over-presenting and under-presenting

This killer is tied to the rapport requirement. During the rapport building, you should have discovered the triggers that will cause your prospect to become your customer. Now, during the presentation, once you’ve addressed and satisfied those triggers, close them. Too many salespeople feel they have to deliver their whole dog and pony show. By going on and on about things your prospects have no concern with, their desire wanes and their excitement diminishes. By the time you are done, they want to “think about it” a little because they forgot why they wanted to buy.

Conversely, not going over enough information or simply skimming over the details can give you a quick boot out the door, too! It may be the 952^nd time giving this same or similar presentation, but it is the very first time your prospect has heard it. Take the time to make sure you are as thorough as you need to be!

Killer #5: Dropping the Ball

This final killer can be the most devastating. You’ve managed to avoid the first four killers and secured an order, but your job does not stop here. You need to ensure everything is in place to deliver what you’ve sold. You also need to follow-up to ensure everything is working out the way they expected it to. Mishandling anything in this process could get your order cancelled and frustrate you with all of the time you lost. Worse yet, it could cost you all of the referral business that could have come your way. (Said with a shudder!!)

There you have it. Five “glass-half-empty” pitfalls you must avoid to ensure that your cup runneth over! Now, go get ‘em!

progression [pruh-gresh-uhn] -noun 1. the act of progressing; forward or onward movement.  2. a passing successively from one member of a series to the next; succession; sequence.

Remember that model train you had as a kid? Or do you remember someone that had one? Maybe you still have one that has now become a life-long hobby!

I remember my model train vividly. The base was a 4′ x 8′ sheet of plywood with green, textured “grass” paper stretched over it and stapled underneath. The track was a basic oval, kind of like a race track, with a wooden, covered bridge along the back of the railway. It also had a couple of stops that the train made during its travels. One was to dump a load of timber and the other to pick up some barrels of oil.

But what I remember most was that all of the cars were very different from each other. Lined up between the engine and the caboose were box cars, flat bed cars, tankers, cars with removable side rails and one with a functional crane on it. They were all different colors and of various lengths. But as different as they were, they all had one thing in common – they all linked together and relied on that link to accomplish the journey from beginning to end.

Being in sales, or owning a small business, is very much like putting a train together. You start with the engine and one-by-one add another car and another car until you get to the end and finally link up the caboose.

You, as the sales rep or business owner, are the engine. You drive everything that goes into your sales process. You are the first person that your customers and prospects see as you are coming down the track. The caboose is the delivery and payment on the product or service that you provide. All of the cars in between represent everything that happens along the way during your sales process.

Before looking closer at this sales analogy, let me ask you another question. Have you ever been caught at a rail road crossing waiting for a train to pass, wondering how long it is, both in length of the train and length of your wait? You get a little anxious and a little frustrated not knowing the answer to these questions. The longer you wait, the more frustrating it becomes.

But what if there was an attendant at the crossing that informed you there were 48 cars on this train and that the expected wait time was going to be less than three minutes? You would feel much better about the wait knowing what to expect. Even if it were 200 cars with a 10-minute wait, you would at least feel much more comfortable with the process of waiting for the train to clear.

Ok, let’s get back on track! How do you think your customers and prospects feel when they see you (the engine) coming down the tracks (through their front door) knowing that somewhere behind you, you are pulling a caboose. Even if they want your caboose, they may be anxious with the cars in between that they cannot see. So put them at ease and tell them what kind of train cars you have and what the purpose of each of them is. Sell the train, not just the caboose!

You (the engine) have already established a rapport with your prospect and a relationship with your customer. You’ve talked about how your product or service (the caboose) is going to solve their problem or make their business more profitable. Now do something that will make the process less anxious and more comfortable for them. Show them that there are “X” number of cars in the train and what each of them is there for. Maybe your sales process has six cars in it. Describe each of the cars and what role they play in the process.

Just as important, when you drive your train through their door to follow-up with that first car, remind them what the next car looks like as well as the remaining cars that are still to come. This will reassure them of the process and prepare them for the next step. As every car goes by, sell the next car in line. In doing so, their comfort level will rise throughout the process making it much easier to pull your caboose through their door and collect on a successful delivery. Now, go get ‘em!

conversation [kon-ver-sey-shuhn]  -noun 1. informal interchange of thoughts, information; 2. The spoken exchange of thoughts, opinions and feelings; 3. An informal discussion of a matter.

I once read an old-school definition of selling that went a little something like this: Selling is convincing your customer to buy something they do not want and then making them feel good that they did. This style may have worked years ago, but try it today and you might just get slapped! Well, you might not get slapped, but I bet your prospect would seriously think about doing it!

The opposite definition is to thoroughly uncover your customer’s needs and dilemmas in order to provide them with a profitable solution. You can do this through conversational selling and it is far more effective for you and for your customer .This week we will break down this definition, examine how and why it is effective and how using conversational selling can achieve the result you both want.

First, we need to consider that today’s consumer is being bombarded with hundreds, if not thousands, of selling messages from the time they wake up until the time they finally fall asleep. The last thing they want is for some sales stiff to walk through their door and bully their way in to their pocketbook. Considering the first, old-school sales method, there are a few reasons why this it is no longer effective.

The first reason is today’s consumer is becoming more and more self-educated on the products and services that they need and that are available to them. Customers from 5 to 105 are researching their options on-line and learning the benefits of your product or service before you even show up. They also have the benefit of reading on-line the reviews and testimonials from others that may have used your product or service.

Another reason the old-school methodology is obsolete is our customers have a very short leash with their time and their expenses. Whether you have an appointment, or just stop in on a cold call, try yapping about something your customer doesn’t want, doesn’t need or doesn’t understand and you’ll quickly see the other side of the door you just came in through.

Now imagine that same appointment or sales call where you sincerely engage your prospect in a conversation. The conversation will build a relationship with your prospects and strengthen your relationships with your customers. When you use conversation you will do more listening, ask more questions and discover what your customer really needs. When you discover their problem, you can then provide your solution rather than sell your product or service.

Taken a step further, if you’ve really been a good listener, asked some excellent questions and engaged in great conversation, you can also quantify your solution so your prospect can really see the value in it as well as how your solution can actually be profitable for him.

Our customers today want listeners, not talkers. And they don’t want to be convinced, they want to be understood. Listen to your customer, understand what they need and provide them with a solution. If you can do these things through good conversation, you’ll never have to worry about “making a sale!”

can-dor [kan-der] -noun 1. The state or quality of being frank, open and sincere in speech or expression; candidness: The candor of the speech impressed the audience.  2. freedom from bias; fairness; impartiality: To consider an issue with candor.  synonyms: openness, frankness, honesty, truthfulness.

transparent [trans-pair-uhnt] -adjective  1. easily seen through, recognized, or detected. 2. open, frank, candid: The man’s transparent earnestness.

Candor in sales unfortunately seems to have all but disappeared. Transparency has been eschewed out along with it. (Maybe not by you, but just in general.) Bring them back and watch your prospects become loyal customers and a huge source of repeat sales and referrals!

Do a Google search on “sales techniques” and it will return about 23,300,000 website results. Now start clicking on each site to absorb as much as you can on the various sales tips, tricks and techniques “that work.” Go ahead. I’ll wait. What? You don’t have time to click through them all? Yeah, me neither. Heck, I didn’t even click on the first one.

Now, I’m not saying that there isn’t merit to learning various techniques to assist you with your sales efforts. I study sales through books, blogs and websites like many others. However, I don’t rely on strategies or techniques as a crutch to sell for me. I would say most people know when they are being “sold.” You can see the slick salester coming from a mile away that relies on, if not depends on slick tricks and techniques.

Instead, my sales approach is a little more old fashion, if you will. It is a combination of candor and transparency. It’s from back in the day when your word was your contract and a handshake was your purchase order. Back before pushing the up-sell and filling quotas ruled the roost. You have a prospect with a need or dilemma. Provide them with a solution and give some options to consider, but focus on the true need at hand. We’ll look at how doing so will naturally up-sell for you later in this article.

Unless your prospect is totally clueless about what they need – and most never are – too much up-selling will insult their intelligence and drive their right away. With the internet, our customers are very savvy and many times know most of what they need to know to make a buying decision. All they need from you now is a few ideas as to the various options and a price.

(I’m tempted to go off on a tangent here and discuss the importance of adding value to the service and information you provide your customer. But I’ve done that in previous articles -visit the Archived Newsletter page at my website – and will do so again in the future. Just know that for the purpose of this article, we are focusing purely on sales approach.)

Start out asking great questions so you are clear on what their need or dilemma is. Confirm with your prospect that you do in fact have full understanding of what they need. Then, with full candor, provide your solution. Be descriptive with the benefits and paint the picture for them of how the features of your product or service will produce their desired outcome. At the same time, be forthright with potential drawbacks, if there are any. It is very rare that there isn’t at least one Con to go along with all of the Pro’s. We all know this and your prospect will appreciate the heads up.

Sharing the potential drawbacks of a product or service, not matter how insignificant, is selling with transparency and is another thing your customers will appreciate. Transparency tears down the walls of skepticism and builds a foundation of trust. With that foundation in place, you now can build a long-term sales relationship.

Let me share with you a story of a meeting I had very recently. I was meeting with a potential client when a competitor showed up early – a day early – for his consultation. Before he showed up, I had already assessed my prospect’s dilemma, concerns, budget restrictions and what kind of bells and whistles would be acceptable as well as which would be frivolous to him. I had gone over a few options and candidly explained the benefits of each. I had also explained a few of the drawbacks or reasons why someone may not consider that feature to be important.

When the other guy showed up, I introduced myself to him and gave him an opportunity ask his great questions to uncover the prospect’s need. Instead, he skipped right to his “pitch” and began bombarding the client with feature after feature. Upon seeing his approach and the confused looked on the client’s face, I sat back and just let this guy finish. He then left as quickly as he came, and I continued to work with the client towards the solution that best fit his need.

I never once mentioned some of the bells and whistles the other guy was trying to up-sell because I knew they didn’t fit with what the client was looking for, nor did they make sense with the budget he was working with. He did ask me about them, so I candidly explained why I didn’t bring them up. I shared with him the benefits they could provide, but also why the benefit was offset by the additional cost, lack of return on his investment or the potential drawbacks.

The last thing he said to me as we wrapped up the visit is how much he appreciated my candor and how up front I was with everything we talked about. As I was about to leave, he chased down a bicycle ice cream vendor that was going by and bought me the best watermelon popsicle I’ve ever had. Yeah, I think he appreciated the candor!

Most every service profession has a set of tools they use to do their job. Building contractors have hammers, saws and other power tools. Mechanics have their wrenches and diagnostic devices. Painters have their brushes, rollers and sprayers. You get the picture. We all have a set of tools we use to do our job or to do our job better. This is especially true for people in sales.

Sales people have a different kind of tool set they use. Some of these tools include marketing materials like brochures and samples, a Blackberry and their Customer Relationship Management software. However, perhaps the most powerful tool a salesperson can use is a testimonial. And not just one testimonial, but several.

If you are not using testimonials, you are probably walking away from sales that may otherwise have been in your pocket! If you do not have any written testimonials, go get them. Identify ten of your best customers and maybe a couple others that you had a unique sale or situation with that would provide a great testimonial. Call them or stop by and ask them for a written testimonial. Your customers know the value in having testimonials themselves, so they should be more than happy to help you out with one from them.

Now there may be as many reasons to use testimonials as you have testimonials to use, but let’s take a look at five of the more powerful reasons to use them: Believability, Credibility, Examples, Outcomes and Reduced Anxiety.

Believability - Pictures may be worth 1000 words, but a testimonial is 1000% more believable than your word. This isn’t a personal knock on you, your character or integrity. But let’s face it, when dealing with a new prospect, it seems salespeople already have two strikes against them when they walk in the door. This is probably due to many prospects having been burned at one time or another by someone in sales.

However, if your prospect hears what you have to say, and then you back it up with a stack of testimonials from several other customers that are saying the same thing, your prospect will be much more apt to believe what you are saying. With testimonials, you aren’t “selling,” you are providing.

Credibility – Many people see their experience with a salesperson as a “me-vs.-them” relationship where they are on one side of a line and you are on the other. When you provide your prospect with a stack of testimonials, they can then see themselves standing with your other customers over on your side of the line and will feel comfortable crossing over to work with you, rather than against you.

An even more powerful way to add credibility is by providing testimonials to your prospect from customers you have in the same or a similar industry. If your prospect is a contractor and you provide a few testimonials from other contractors, he will feel even more confidence in you since you’ve already worked with one of his peers.

Examples – A powerful aspect of using testimonials is they typically provide examples of not only your product or service, but also of your previous customer’s experience in working with you. This factor alone can be huge! Many new prospects may have the same questions about the details involved regarding everything from the product/service itself to the ordering and delivery process. Having a picture painted through testimonials can provide just the type details they may be looking for.

Outcomes – This is similar to “examples” in its benefit through testimonials. Where examples will set them up, outcomes will knock ‘em down! Providing your prospect with a handful of testimonials that illustrate how your product or service benefited your other customers allows your prospect to visualize that same outcome helping their company.

This benefit of using testimonials may just be the most powerful of them all. A fundamental practice of sales is to not focus on the features of your product/service, but to show your prospect what the outcome will be because of the features of the product/service that you provide. In this light, not only will you now have believability and credibility, but you will also have a heightened level of trust from your prospect.

Reduced Anxiety – The final powerful benefit of using testimonials we will look at is a little more personal. Many times a big reason why some people do not buy is anxiety that they are not making a good decision. You may have done an excellent job of explaining your product/service and painted a vibrant picture of how it will benefit your prospect (outcome). However, since all they have to go on is your word – which may be no different than the word of one or many salespeople that they may have been burned by in the past – a stack of testimonials is just what they may need to eliminate their anxiety and sign on the line that is dotted.

Want to blow your prospect away with your testimonials? Rather than give them a stack of written testimonials, give them a CD with half a dozen video testimonials! These don’t have to be anything that is commercially produced with fancy graphics. Just grab your cam-corder, maybe a tri-pod to keep it steady, and get some 30- to 60-second testimonials. Burn each file to disc and voila! Better yet, find any 13-year old and have them put those files together like a pro!