Uncategorized

Bryan Neale, Brooke Green,
and Bill Caskey

Value is the relief that your prospect feels when you can find and solve a pain they have.

Excerpt from post on:
December 14th, 2007

May 17th, 2008 A Brief, Effective Internet Education For Sales People As an internet follower, I'm always intrigued with how we can all understand the web in a more succinct way. And, as a sales trainer, who ...READ MORE: A Brief, Effective Internet Education For Sales People
Saturday, May 17th, 2008

As an internet follower, I’m always intrigued with how we can all understand the web in a more succinct way.

And, as a sales trainer, who is interested in the sales and marketing team bringing in more revenue to your firm, it goes without saying the internet is/should be part of that.

So, if you want to really learn what’s happening on the web–and why it’s happening–go to www.stompernetnow.com where there are several videos that you should watch.

While I am not an affiliate of theirs, I do listen and react to what they recommend. As a sales professional today, you should be educated as to what your customers are doing on the web–and how you can be a part of that.
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Tags: Bill Caskey, customers on the web, sales trainer, sales training, stompernet, web videos
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May 9th, 2008 The Importance of the Sales Package As sales trainers who get asked in to fix sales problems, we find that the solutions aren't always in the place you're looking. Often, our ...READ MORE: The Importance of the Sales Package
Friday, May 9th, 2008

As sales trainers who get asked in to fix sales problems, we find that the solutions aren’t always in the place you’re looking. Often, our VP of Sales clients want us to come in and teach the team how to “sell harder” and “close more.”

But sometimes, the package just isn’t right. Which has caused me to think a lot about packaging lately. I wonder if this is a skill for the 21st century salesperson. Or, maybe I should say the 21st century company.

Years ago, we used to refer to Proctor and Gamble and the like as “packaged goods companies” before they were consumer products company. That was probably a very useful description.

Mainly because they knew that on the supermarket shelves, it truly was a packaging challenge. Album covers were the same way–and CD covers. Ever bought an album partly because of the package/design?

B2B Challenge
If you’re in B2B business which most of our readers are, then you, too, are a packager. You package your message, your diagnostic and yourself. How a message is packaged can be as important as what the message is.

A new way to define it is “all that the customer sees ‘around’ the product/service.” It’s not just website. It’s not just brand/color scheme.

It’s “how you are” and “who you are.”

So when we’re training sales teams, we work as much on “the package” of questions you ask, of skills you possess, of stories you tell, and of “how you behave” in front of the prospect.

In selling high level solutions, the package is the thing. Bryan Neale and I will podcast on this topic in the future. But what do you think? How important is “packaging” in your business? Before you say “not at all” think hard.

Tags: Bill Caskey, sales packaging, sales strategies, sales training, VP of Sales
Posted in Bill Caskey, Expression of Value, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
May 7th, 2008 How To Handle A Buyer Turned Non-Buyer? We get this question a lot in our training. "I've got this prospect who keeps saying he's 'in' but he then avoids me when I ...READ MORE: How To Handle A Buyer Turned Non-Buyer?
Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

We get this question a lot in our training. “I’ve got this prospect who keeps saying he’s ‘in’ but he then avoids me when I try to close!”No sweat. Let me dial it down with you.

You may have a suspect masquerading like a prospect. You see, people can come into and out of your prospect funnel. If you expect people to be prospects all the way through the sales process, you’re naive. I know you better than that!

Like we say, “Don’t expect much and you’ll never be disappointed.” (The arrogant hate that saying, coz they think that means you’re giving up. Quite the contrary–but that for another post.) I never expect anything–not because I want to cushion the fall–but because when you begin expecting something to happen in a certain way–then you close yourself off from being flexible–or to having it happen in other ways.

So, when someone who you thought was (and I mean “was”) a prospect, now tells you they’re in “think-it-over-land,” you have to handle it correctly. Don’t beg. Just say, “Kind of thought that was the case since I didn’t hear from you. This is not unusual when considering a purchase like this. Sounds like you’re having second thoughts. Let me ask you this. Are you having second thoughts about solving the problem we discussed or second thoughts about who you want to help you?”

Now this assumes that you’ve been following my process–that you can’t sell someone something unless there is a compelling reason for them to change (problem they’re wanting fixed, or a solution they’re urgently dying for).

If you have neither of these, then you never did have a prospect. But that gives you something to work on.

Tags: Account Executives
Posted in Bill Caskey, Communication Skills, Mechanics of Selling, Uncategorized | No Comments »
April 15th, 2008
Executive Seminar - Building a Dream Team

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Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

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March 20th, 2008 How To Sell In A Slowing Economy. March 27 Teleseminar The economy is slowing. If you haven't seen it yet, you will. And what will you do about it to get ready? Afterall, your quota doesn't ...READ MORE: How To Sell In A Slowing Economy. March 27 Teleseminar
Thursday, March 20th, 2008

The economy is slowing. If you haven’t seen it yet, you will. And what will you do about it to get ready?

Afterall, your quota doesn’t get reset. Your income needs don’t go down. And your desire to grow personally and financially doesn’t either. So what’s a high performer to do?

5 Strategies For Growing When The Economy Isn’t

We’re hosting a teleseminar on March 27 from 12:00-1:30 EST (Tuition: $79). The intent of this is to give you 5 Strategies that you can use to continue to grow your business during a slowdown.

We’ve also enlisted the help of Alan Beaulieu, an economist for EcoTrends (www.ecotrends.org). Alan has a unique perspective since a) he’s been predicting this slowdown for some time and b) he works every day with businesses helping them prepare for this slowdown.

Watch this 5 minute video. It takes a few seconds to begin so be patient.

Tags: Presidents, video
Posted in Bill Caskey, Teleseminars, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
February 2nd, 2008 Starbucks: One Win. One Loss. After striving for seven years to become my local SB's "Customer of the Week," I finally made it. I thought there would be more fanfare ...READ MORE: Starbucks: One Win. One Loss.
Saturday, February 2nd, 2008

After striving for seven years to become my local SB’s “Customer of the Week,” I finally made it. I thought there would be more fanfare than there was–a sign by the barista (”Bill is our customer of the week”) and a free drink per day. Oh well. Not sure what I expected.

That’s the Starbucks win.

The loss though is a peek inside a company — and how even the greatest ones can make mistakes. (I recognize this is just one transaction that went bad.)

My friend Ron Rosenberg is sponsoring a “Health Care Customer Service” symposium for a large group of healthcare executives–100-200 high level people. He recognizes the customer care situation facing health providers. (Have you been to a doctor lately?)

He brought in a top speaker who wrote a book about the Starbucks Experience. Ron, thought, “Hey, I’ll buy 200 $5 certificate cards from Starbucks and give them out.”

Then, he thought, “Why don’t I call SB’s and tell them what I’m doing and see if they want to have a few of their people there, maybe to hand out the certificates?”

I’m sure Ron was thinking, “Let’s give the participants an experience of great customer service.” Two of the attendees were even considering putting a Starbucks in their medical facility.

But guess what Starbucks said?

No. We will not agree to participate in the Executive Forum. No reason. No explanation. Just–No.

Hmmmmm. As he was telling me the story and getting to the punch line, I thought for sure he was going to say the SB Regional Manager not only agreed to do this, but would also throw something else in the mix–maybe a larger certificate, or maybe a scone, or maybe a free song on iTunes, or something.

Or I thought he was going to tell me the SB Reg’l Mgr was going to come in personally and make an appearance–maybe even to say a few words.

But no. Even Starbucks makes mistakes from time to time. Even when their stock is in the tank. Even when they announce they’re going to slow down new store openings to focus on revenue building at existing stores.

We’re all excused for a slip-up in customer service. But in the new economy, when it’s hard to get in front of decision makers, and when every move you make–good or bad–is one step from the internet (read Seth Godin’s new book, Meatball Sundae for more examples), you had better think about the implication of a minor slip up. I don’t know if Ron will tell the attendees what happened. But he told others–who told others–who told others.

Actually he should tell the attendees about his experience so they can all learn from the incident. If you’re a healthcare provider (or any business for that matter), do you realize that each customer you have is a potential blogger/podcaster/publisher/referrer? And the experience you give your customer can be easily transmitted to others (maybe hundreds–maybe thousands). The internet can be your friend to spread the good word.

It can also be disastrous. I’m sure someone at Starbucks has a Google Alert for anything written about them. And I’ll probably hear from them. And I’ll blog about that conversation too, if it happens.

I’ll write more on great customer experiences in future posts. Have you had any great ones to tell me about? I’ll spread the word….

Tags: President
Posted in Bill Caskey, President, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
January 23rd, 2008 Wrong Mindset. Poor Results. Is There a Link? Last week I was consulting a client who uses free seminars as a prospecting tool. They really do give a lot of information at the ...READ MORE: Wrong Mindset. Poor Results. Is There a Link?
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008

Last week I was consulting a client who uses free seminars as a prospecting tool. They really do give a lot of information at the program–so even if no sale is made, goodwill is created. But they were having trouble getting people there. They were cold calling–mailing-emailing. With not much to show for it. So they did what every company does–create a brainstorming session to devise new techniques.

Sales Tactics. The Wrong Discussion.

As I sat in the room listening to their ideas on mailing vs. calling first v. emailing, I thought to myself (and actually said it), “You’re working on the wrong thing!” (Sometimes you just have the be the ‘bringer’ of bad news.)

The right thing to work on is “what is my thinking?” Their thinking was all wrapped around: how do I get someone in to the free seminar?

Their thinking should have been: how can I bring value to this person by him attending?

The Key To Great Sales Results Is Great INTENT.

I see this a lot in sales orgs—their “intent” is out of whack. Think about how their new intent (of helping the prospect get value) will color their words, their tonality, the discussion etc., It will radically change their interaction with their customer. The customer will no longer feel sold to–and their will be less resistance.

As they all realized what they had missed, heads started nodding. They didn’t like my exposing this fallacy in thought–but they can now to their prospecting with their head on straight.

Are Your Filling Your Sales Pipeline With The Right Mindset?

Maybe. Maybe not. But before you make another cold call (or prospecting call), make sure your attitude is in the right place. And the best method for that is checking out “your intent.” Is it about YOU? Or is it about THEM? You know the answer.

Posted in Bill Caskey, Lead Generation, Speeches/Appearances, Uncategorized, VP of Sales | 1 Comment »
June 14th, 2007 NEXT CALL # 2 10-29-07 Hey group. Here is call #2 up and ready for download. We talked about: *The power of "I don't know" and also gave you some variations ...READ MORE: NEXT CALL # 2 10-29-07
Thursday, June 14th, 2007

Hey group. Here is call #2 up and ready for download. We talked about:

*The power of "I don’t know" and also gave you some variations on how to use it.
* How to communicate your "business philosophy" so that begin the sales process by controlling the dialogue–and so they don’t put you in the ’saleperson’ category.
* How to frame your solutions in a problem "solving" prism-so that it’s an obvious link to cost of problem.
* How to advance a call when more decision makers come in after the sales process has begun.

Good stuff, all.

Download call2102907.mp3

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June 10th, 2007
Whale Hunting Women Launch

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Sunday, June 10th, 2007

Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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June 8th, 2007 Greenville NEXT Audio Recording Here is audio recording from our session a couple of weeks ago. Part 1Introduction - 22 minutesDownload Part1-22mhz.mp3 Part 2Feedback from Group - 20 minutesDownload Part2-22mhz.mp3 Part ...READ MORE: Greenville NEXT Audio Recording
Friday, June 8th, 2007

Here is audio recording from our session a couple of weeks ago.

Part 1
Introduction - 22 minutes
Download Part1-22mhz.mp3

Part 2
Feedback from Group - 20 minutes
Download Part2-22mhz.mp3

Part 3
Change Thinking/Ideal Client - 30 minutes
Download Part3-22mhz.mp3

Part 4
Fundamental Shift/Intent - 33 minutes
Download Part4-22mhz.mp3

Part 5
More on Basic Selling - 27 minutes
Download Part5-22mhz.mp3

Part 6
Your Value: "How to Express It" - 27 minutes
Download Part6-22mhz.mp3

Part 7
Step by Step Process Selling - 31 minutes
Download Part7-22mhz.mp3

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