Tonight, I just wanted to go to bed. Hang it all up for the day.
Why? Facebook has changed their rules. I was wondering why I was getting no love. No Likes. Few comments.
then, I found out that Facebook changed their rules. NOW, if you LIKE my page, you also have to HOVER over the “Like” button and request that my updates show up in your feed.
There’s a Catch-22 here. I can’t tell people to do this if they aren’t getting my feeds.
I used to have such lovely conversation with my peeps. We were growing something. It has come to a screeeching halt!
Now, I have to re-think the entire scenario.
Actually, it is probably a good thing – here we are at the start of something GREAT! And I was giving my success to Facebook – something I cannot control.
Still, tonight I wanted to just GO TO BED and not post a thing. But, my PRIOMISE is that I will post every school night – five nights a week. Period. Whether people are watching or not.
So, tonight, being WILDY discouraged (I am just launching the bit.ly/vavavavoomregister interview with the AMAZING Bob Burg). A breakout event … and NO ONE is seeing it.
If you think about it, the MOST important thing to humans seems to be looking good! Our currency is adoration, looking like a good guy, and being right. And, we will do ALMOST ANYTHING to achieve those key qualities.
Here’s how this helps YOU as a salesperson (or, frankly, any business person).
When someone is buying from you, MAKE SURE they look like a ROCK STAR.
If a man has to defend his purchase of his car to his wife, MAKE SURE he looks like a GENIUS about the decision he made.
If an employee is buying a service, MAKE SURE that his boss is thrilled with his business acumen.
If a … well, you get the picture.
People want to feel smart about the decisions they make. If you understand why someone is buying, what need it fills for THEM and for their INFLUENCERS — you have got it made!
This one is just for fun today. A little poke at the traditional blog styling. I was just musing…
These are the SEVEN topics I would write about if my life looked like a blog post:
7 innovative ways to make coffee in the morning…included would be quippy tricks about keeping coffee from being bitter, maybe things to make my coffee taste like Christmas morning (hint: cinnamon in the grounds – nod to Berta from Two and a Half Men).
Then, I would move on to…
6 creative ways to get my dogs to walk themselves … here I would likely find fantastical and magical tips from Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer – one trick would include teaching the pups to walk on a treadmill – perhaps an advanced note on training them to turn the machine on by themselves.
5 important events that must happen before I start my day…these would likely be a bit more mundane – geared to entertain the new brand of remote employees and solopreneurs – things like clever ways to remember to brush my teeth and check to see if I need a shower. Of course, the fifth idea would be something cute and comical, just to add a kick of fun! (At what point in the laundry cycle you MUST mute your phone when on important conference calls! Something like that.)
4 items that are better put off until tomorrow … this would provide insights on the stuff to stop that TRULY sucks life out of my day. Like getting caught in a Minesweeper marathon, mindlessly trying to beat my best score from 10 years ago. (The entertaining “new” look at the power of procrastination!)
3 fun facts about work habits…this section would fascinate my reader with off-the-wall statistics about the things people do every day and do not even realize it. Something like…72% of office workers are thinking about hedgehogs while at the coffee machine (hello, Erika!). Ya know. Things you wouldn’t expect, but make you go hmmmmmmm….
2 reasons to avoid the grocery store on your way home from work…this paragraph would outline how much more susceptible I am to buying advertised items that are over-priced and high in calories at this precarious time of day. Something of critical importance!
THE ONE THING TO NEVER FORGET AT THE END OF THE DAY … my blog post would end with something mushy and inspiring, of course. It would probably be something like … make sure to give everyone in my house a big hug with slurpy kisses (yes, the dogs are pretty slurpy!)
I think about cold calls a lot, the more I talk with solopreneurs and budding salespeople.
Here’s what I realized.
There is a lot of mythology about cold-calling.
There are two visions that people conjure up when they think about cold-calling:
Either they imagine the frustrated cold-caller: locking his jaw, picking up the phone with a clenched fist, hoping that someone won’t actually answer the phone, “Please GOD Please, let it go to voice mail”. Then (when they answer) “Please GOD Please, let them be nice”.
OR
They imagine the Monster Cold-Caller: fangs dripping with the blood she anticipates from her victim.Going for it. Driving and driving and driving – like a machine mowing down everything in her path.
(Genders made up).
It’s not like that for me, and it doesn’t have to be that way
I am not going to pretend that calling on someone I do not know is ever easy. We have a natural resistance to being a pest and feeling like we are wasting someone’s time! THANK GOD for that resistance! It is not something to overcome. It is a reminder that you are an AWESOME human being.
Which brings me to the next mythology:
If you want to be a great cold-caller, you must have a thick skin
People imagine that the great cold-caller can take a “rejection – kick-in-the-teeth” call and move on. Not true.
It doesn’t work to have a thin skin, either, but perhaps the thickness of your skin has nothing to do with it.
A new paradigm
Imagine this. If you were a person who was passionate about your product. You had done as much research as possible about who you are calling to make a conversation about THEM (this takes about 2 minutes, tops!) and you are willilng to consider that there is another person on the other end of the line who has priorities in their day and their lives. And you KNEW that 3 out of every 10 people were going to respond to you favorably.
NOW, how does cold-calling look?
It starts to look like an interesting conversation. An opportunity to connect. A thought about how YOU can make a difference in someone else’s day.
Here’s the rub
There are four muscles YOU MUST develop as a ‘cold-caller’.
1) Creativity – get creative about how to reach the people who will care
2) Emotional Radar – learn to get in “someone else’s world” FAST
3) Vulnerability with Confidence – the ‘hardest’ of all, but the most rewarding
4) A system that you stick to – you’ve gotta do the work. Every week. Sorry!
If you can do those, the world is your oyster
And they are simple skills to build. And trainable. I have trained my sales staff to LOVE outreach. I have a hard time calling my cold-calling “cold”, ‘cuz it rarely is.
Let’s keep the conversation going. Just know that there are ways that you will be LIT UP by your cold calling. AND YOU WILL RULE!
I was speaking with a good friend of mine today. She was a successful partner in a successful law firm and just retired (at the old age of 44)!
She was bemoaning the things she REALLY wants to do in life. Things she has always imagined.
She wants to walk into a prestigious nonprofit – dressed to the nines – and offer them her service – if even to only bring coffee to the people who run the show. She feels dorky doing it.
She wants to call her childhood friend who is now pursuing HIS (and her) LIFETIME PASSION for acting and musicals. She feels dorky doing it.
Even though she “knows” that if she doesn’t approach these people the answer is as “NO” now as if it would be if they told her “NO”. She still doesn’t want to put herself at that risk.
It made me wonder. This is a person who has been a HIGHLY PAID professional, a leader in her community, a bad-ass-mamba-jamba. Yet, she is AFRAID to pursue her passion.
Where are we looking for permission to pursue our passion? Do we feel better about holding our passion as a possibilty than finding out that we can’t have it? Possibly so. Maybe the “wondering” feels better than the “no” that we fear we would find.
So, here we are, my lovelies. Passionate beings who want to pursue our passions (and feel the hole inside that we are not), but happier to have it as a “possibility” than a clear “no”.
I GET IT!
Tonight, I BEG OF YOU, to think of ONE THING you could do to pursue your passion. Get ahold of someone who will hold you to account. Let THEM give you permission to pursue your passion.
Then, GO FOR IT!
You probably won’t. We seem DESIGNED to hold back, but maybe, just maybe ONE OF YOU WILL.
Tell me your story. Tell me the passion you are resisting. Let ME be your accountability partner. I mean it. YOU have access to The Irreverent Sales Girl and I will work with you to give yourself permission, BUT, I will also ask you to help me get the same permission I seek.
Announcing the VaVaVaVoom Selling Fearlessly Book Release Interview
I am excited to announce a special 45-minute telephone event that will ENTERTAIN you on November 8th (and give you some great sales tips, too).
Ever wanted to know how to walk into a COMPLETELY COLD sales call and “BE” the equal to your prospect, GUIDE the conversation, while you CONTROL the environment? (And, get the close the first time?)
ME TOO! That is exactly what we are talking about!
On November 8th at 10 am Pacific/1 pm Eastern, join me for the VaVaVaVoom (Voyeuristic, Vicarious, Virtual) Selling Fearlessly Book Release Interview with the renowned Robert Terson!
You WILL walk away with stuff no one else is ever likely to tell you (‘cuz, frankly, they don’t know).
The great part is, that it’s MOSTLY free. We are offering admission if you’re willing to Pay With A Tweet or simply Opt-In to Irreverent Sales Girl’s email list (don’t worry — I have a strict “I Hate Spam” policy). There will be a surprise give-away at the end to a lucky caller, too!
We’re having a ton of fun putting this event together, and we hope you’ll join us.
Let’s ROCK THIS THING. And don’t keep it to yourself. If you think YOU ARE going to love it, think of a someone else who will, too, and send them along to sign up. (We’re not selling ONE SINGLE THING – just putting together loads of value for you and your career).
In college, my girlfriends and I loved the mantra…If you marry for money, you earn every penny!
Same goes for selling something you do not believe in…just to earn a check.
Do you KNOW you are doing the best for your clients? Can you speak passionately about your products and services and be the poster child for your wares?
