a change in attitude is better than taking pills

I wrote in an earlier blog about my epiphany - the "light bulb" moment that changed my life.

Reflecting on that event I have come to a number of conclusions:

• being positive made me feel better about myself
• feeling better about myself got me to start exercising and feeling healthier
• i started performing better at work
• i took up hobbies that I had been putting off, ignoring, not doing anything about: photography, blogging, writing, starting my own businesses
• this made me feel even better about myself
• which made me see the world in a different, less dark, light
• which in turn made me happy

This is only one man's experience but I think that the lesson is don't put off to tomorrow all those dreams and plans that you have left in the "ideas to be acted on one day" cupboard.

There is no downside, only upside.

It beats wasting time in front of the TV.

And it feels great to feel great.

Creativity

All my life I was jealous of creative people. Creative people were those who wrote or played beautiful music, painted, sculpted, penned books or poetry, made movies.

It never occurred to me that photography was just as creative, just as much an art. Anyone could take a photo, right? Just point and click and bingo, a picture. So how in heaven's name could that be creative?

Well, the answer to that question is obvious if you take the time to look at the photographs being published by photographers, both professional and amateur. Visit Fotopedia and see how people see the world thrrough the lens of a camera. The images are breathtaking, awesome, beautiful, inspiring.

Photography most definitely is an art. Perhaps we all have an element of creativity in us, we simply have to look for it.

Shocked, stunned, and not a little bit amazed...

I had an epiphany!

I actually had to look up the word in the dictionary to confirm that "an epiphany" is what I had actually experienced.

Basically it is an emotional/pyschological kick in the head resulting in an "awakening" of sorts.

Without delving into the details, in the middle of a conversation with my boss it dawned on me that I was a "glass half empty" person, and it shocked me!

At 54, it occurred to me that I had spent the vast majority of my life believing the worst. If I knew someone was talking about me then it has to be a bad thing. If I caught a cold then it had to be the beginnings of pneumonia. Chest pains, rather than being caused by stressed muscles, were an indication of a soon-to-be heart attack.

Life is simply too short to waste. Yes it throws out constant challenges. Yes many of the people in the world are struggling, hungry, under siege from illness, war, and financial hardship. And yes maybe smiling won't contribute to a solution to these challenges.

Bit it won't harm! And in a best case scenario it might actually help us all think more clearly about how to solve some of our real or perceived problems.

Laughter really is the best medicine. Smiling and being positive in the face of adversity can help. And maybe, just maybe, the problem we face, or think we face, is not quite as large or dark as we think.

Attitude & Persistence

What makes a good salesperson?

Not an easy one to answer. In fact I could probably come up with a whole list of items (it's late so today I'll spare you the ramblings :-))

In my humble opinion there are two characteristics that differentiate the ordinary from the extraordinary salesperson.

The extraordinary salesperson has the "right" attitude.

He or she remains positive regardless of what is thrown at them. They have their ups and downs but they soon get over these hurdles and get on with things.

They are relentless. They do not stop, give up, feel sorry for themselves, or put off to tomorrow what can be done today. Does this make them superhuman? Not at all! It makes them professional salespeople - they desire, more than want, to succeed. This persistence will help them eventually handle any objections or challenges thrown at them.

Now do not get me wrong. I am not describing some superhuman ogre who is tactless and pushy. Having the right attitude and being persistent are just two characteristics of being professional.

Salespeople face challenges and problems each and every day. It goes with the territory. They can also come up with a million reasons a day why it is easier to simply throw in the towel and give up.

But the extraordinary ones keep that smile, are passionately convinced of their capability to succeed, and keep on keeping on.

Get out of the office

People want to do business with people.

Technology has made the majority of salespeople lazy. It has also allowed them to indulge their fears of rejection.

If you want to make a sale then you have to phone and/or meet the prospect.

This may be the 21st Century with all the asssociated 21st Century technologically advanced communications tools but they should not be used to replace the basic skills of face to face communication.

The tools may have advanced in capability but people are still the same. They want to look into the eyes and hear the voice of the person who is selling them a product. Evolution has engrained in us the need to communicate physically and verbally.

Use emails to confirm future meetings and summarize past ones. Use emails to send relevant documentation.

A propsecting phone call will be much more effective than a prospecting email (or heaven forbid, sms). Of course verbal rejection is far more difficult and embarrassing then electronic rejection - a very compelling reason indeed for salespeople to hide behond technology.

The question we as salespeople need to ask ourselves is whether our desire to make a sale outweighs our fear of rejection. Not having to be verbally rejected is not much compensation for not making money.

Use techology. Use it though to enhance rather than replace.

Talking is not selling

Too many salespeople equate with talking (or, more appropriately, preaching).

The most successful salespeople spend the bulk of their time asking well researched questions and then listening intently to the answers.

What they end up with is a profile of their sales prospect. Most importantly, listening enables the salesperson to build up a "needs" profile. What are my prospect's hot buttons? What are his or her problems? In what order does my prospect think they need to be addressed? Is my prospect a real prospect or simply fishing for information? Does he or she have money to spend on my solution? Are they in a position to make a decison or do they have to refer to someone else? What is the potential timeline for a decision? What benefits are they seeking from a solution? Why?

Now the salesperson is in a position to be able to sell.

The key is not to sell what YOU think the prospect wants. The key is to sell what the PROSPECT thinks he wants. A Ferrari salesperson would, I imagine, be highly tempted to sell the high performance aspects of his product. His potential buyer on the other hand may only be looking at a Ferrari to be able to show off and boost his ego in front of his colleagues and peers with a name brand sports car. Selling performance to this prospect may very well result in a lost sale.

In "the old days" we used to hear time and time again the adage "the customer is always right". Well in the 21st century nothing has changed.

Prospects want to talk. They want to tell you their problems. (They also want you to believe that they have the money to make a purchase now and they and only they are the final decison makers - this is where the qulaification skills of the salesperson need to be utilized (but more about qualification in another blog post)).

So instead of barging in like a bull in a china shop the salesperson would be wise in taking advantage of the prospect's willingness to share information. because this knowledge will provide the salesperson with the power to be able to target the prospect's hot spots and, all things being equal, close the sale, and close it faster and with less fuss.

In the selling game knowledge truly is power. And this knowledge can only be gained if the salesperson talks less and listens more.

iSyndica - the web distributor - Upload once, sell everywhere!

iSyndica - the web distributor - Upload once, sell everywhere!

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Contacts

This blog is aimed at the people who are selling product(s) for a living.

If there is such a thing as that "one magic bullet" that will help you win more sales and make you more money it is your Contact Base.

Your contacts are everything.

So, some ideas:

• write down the name, phone number, and email address of everyone you meet.
• keep in touch with them on a regular basis. Even if you do not think you have anything of value to say a simple email checking to see if their business is doing ok and that they are keeping well will suffice. Once a month is plenty (otherwise you run the risk of being a nuisance).
• all contacts are valuable. Even if they have nothing to do with your line of business and they will never buy from you, they may well know someone who knows someone who will buy.
• if you promise to do something for a contact (read everyone you meet in your professional life), follow though - do it!
• never lie - your first lie will your last.
• take every opportunity to physically meet with as many people as possible - even if it is for coffee. You do not need to spend lavishly on all of them - in fact spending lavishly may actually backfire in some instances as it could be seen as a sort of bribe. You do not need to discuss any business at all. It is the face to face bonding that is important.

MOST IMPORTANT

• people buy from people!!! Assuming your product(s) and price(s) are within the realms of reality, what will set you apart from your competition is your relationship (personal & professional) with the buyer. Making a purchase is scary. Making a big, costly purchase is even scarier. At the top of the list is the purchase that, if it does not work as expected, could harm the purchaser's career. Buyers are human with human emotions. Buying is less an intellectual and much more an emotional experience. Use your relationship with the buyer to help him/her through their fears. Assure the buyer that all will be well - the product(s) will perform as promised, your forecast Return On Investment will be realized!
• if it all goes according to plan and the prospect becomes a client, and 3-6 months down the track he or she is happy with the purchasing decision, ask for a referral to another prospect. More often than not a satisfied client is more than happy to share his success story with his contact base.
• join a business networking site such as LinkedIn. This is an easy way to meet business people, thus enabling you to make new contacts, in your part of the world. It is one of the most cost effective ways of socializing in the business community.

Treat your contact base with the same care you would your money in the bank and you WILL reap the rewards.

The Prospecting Email

Get it right and effective email prospecting can help you can significantly increase your lead generation hit rate.

Some pointers:

• Decide on the purpose of your email:

1) to get an appointment?
2) to keep in touch with a prospect?
3) to make a prospect aware that a competitor has bought your solution (so they better get their act together). You cannot build a house without first having sketched out what you are going to build.

remember: emails do not sell a product.

• understand you target audience:
• in certain geographies people only respond well to short, sharp, factual emails. Other geographies respond differently.
• individuals at certain levels within the company hierarchy will respond differently to unsolicited emails: a "C" level individual only has attention time for a couple of lines whilst an IT person may well read a longer email. If you do not know then find out (ask other salespeople). Don't drone on and shoot off all your product benefits bullets in one email - you will hopefully have plenty of time for that at your face to face meeting.
• research the target audience individuals (so do not send the same email content to everyone within the company: different people are interested in different touch points of your offering)
• make it personal; don't send "ads" they could as easily see in a newspaper
• make it appropriate: exactly how does your product help their particular industry at this particular point in time
• Most importantly, refer to 2-3 success stories: companies that have bought your solution. Briefly describe how they have benefited through its implementation and usage. Nothing sells a product better than a reference. But keep it short and to the point.
• Finally, before sending, put yourself in the receiver's company role and frame of mind (as best you can), and ask yourself how he would react to your email - then ammend accordingly.
• CHECK THE SPELLING!

Selling your photos

Fact: there are many, many, many photographers out there in the real and cyber world trying to sell (and I use the term lightly) literally millions of images!

The reality is that unless buyers are looking for a specific image at a specific time and you've taken just such an image and it is actually possible for them to find it then you might, if you're lucky make a sale.

Of course you might strike gold and sell gigabytes of images simply by being in the right place at the right time with the right images. Or not!

So, do we as photographers give up? Of course not! The dilemma we must deal with is exactly the same one as that faced by car/soap/technology/etc manufacturers who all face a vast array of competitors, all selling ostensibly similar products, on a daily basis.

At this point the purists out there will argue that the points I make below fall into the category of Marketing rather than pure Sales. Well, there is some truth to that. For those who struggle with the difference between sales and marketing, the first is typically one to one (or one to a few), whilst the latter is one to many.

Regardless of semantics, if you want someone to buy your images you are going to have to sell them. In other words, what is in it for the buyer to part with his or her hard earned money to purchase your image?

So lets start at the top - the image.

Your image/photo could be exactly or close to what the buyer wants. Whether he knows it or not he wants to know about the benefits of purchasing that specific image (its beauty, its ability to help him sell product/impress his wife or boss/etc).

You could argue that he has seen the image somewhere (a microsite, your website, Flickr) and simply decided to buy it. But is the sale of one image enough? How do you get him to buy another, and another, and yet one more?

It pays off to research your audience. What are buyers looking for? And remember that, fortunately for us, what a buyer seeks changes over time. Once you know this go out and photograph appropriate images and post them in relevant locations. Say something about the image (how difficult it was to take, how long you had to wait to take it, how rare such images are to find, how may more similar inages you possess, their very competitive price, etc). Selling the image means not selling the image: rather ir means selling the short and long term benefits to the buyer of purchasing that specific image.

But I want to photograph what I want to photograph? This is good too. But art for art's sake might not make you as much money as art for the buyer's sake. If the buyer doesn't matter, or if the money doesn't matter then you're probably in the wrong blog:-)

A lot has been written about where best to display your images so I do not want to go over old ground. All I can add is that if you want to sell your photos/images read about this topic as much as you can. You can never learn too much.

Then there is you, the photographer. On you website, microsite, even at your fleamarket stall, tell the audience about your experience, your ability to shoot the images that interest them, your willingness to go our on a limb professionally, financially to capture just the right moment in time, just the right facial expression, just the right color or lighting. Start a blog. Get involve in other people's blogs. Write in appropriate forums. Connect with successful photographers you have read out. You may well be suprised how many will respond to your emails and willing they are to dispense some words of wisdom (don't harass them though:-)).

Slowly, over time, you will differentiate yourself and you may just find yourself earning more money for your images.

Go out and actually SELL your images! Sell yourself! Most importantly, focus on the benefits to the buyer because what you think is of no consequence, only the buyer's opinion matters.