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One Simple Way to Increase Sales 99% of Your Competition Won’t Do

The longer I have been in sales the more weird little ways I have learned to increase sales.  Most of them don’t take much more effort than you are already doing to increase your sales.  This idea is a very simple one and you can start doing it right away.

Increase Sales by Recording Your Sales Presentation

Whether you sell over the phone, in person or through public speaking you can record your sales presentation.  There are several great reasons to record your sales presentation.  One reason is that it helps you find out where you “lost them” if you don’t get a sale from that prospect.  You could be making the same mistake over and over again in your sales presentation.  That mistake could cost you increasing sales.  If you record you delivering your presentation you may find a consistent place in your presentation where you are losing the sale.

Recording your sales presentation is also great if you are going to write a book.  If you are an expert on what you sell you can give these recordings to a ghost writer and use them to write a book.  Of course, if you deal with a lot of confidential information from your prospects you will not use their information for your book without their permission.

Before you write a book you can use the recordings of your sales presentation to create audios or videos for marketing.  You can use the recordings to drive traffic to your website or to have your prospect contact you for more information.  This will increase sales by bringing in more leads into your business.  For more tips to generate leads for your business click HERE to watch your FREE video the “Instant Sales Master Blueprint”

You Can Be There Whenever They Need You

Another great reason to record your sales presentation is that it can be a great value you add to your clients.  If are training clients, they won’t be able to remember everything you spoke with them about.  If you record your call or appointment with them they can listen to it as many times as they need to.  Recording your sales presentation will help you increase sales today and every day for the rest of your career.

Kristoffer Thompson

Master Sales Coach

Increase Sales Training

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How to Use “Recycling” to Increase Sales

You probably never thought you would see “recycling” and “increase sales” in the same sentence.  Recycling or “going green” is usually talked about when we are trying to take care of the environment.  You recycle your bottles and cans.  You feel good that you do those things because you are doing your part to take care of our planet and each other.   What does recycling have to do with getting an increase in your sales?

“No” Does Not Mean “Never”

You contact prospects or leads to increase sales in your business every day.  Some of your prospects are interested right away and they purchase from you and that results in increasing sales in your business.  The rest of your prospects say “It’s not in the budget” – “We are happy with our current supplier” or possibly other objections to doing business with you right now.  What can you do with those leads after they say no that can help you close more sales?

“Recycle” Your Leads & Increase Sales

So your prospect said no to your offer.  It happens to everyone.  Things change in the mind over your prospect over time.  Customer service from your competition can drive them back to you.  The company could bring in a new decision maker that wants a solution to the problem you solve.  When a prospect says no make a note in your database to get back in touch with them and make the same offer to them every 90 days.

You can recycle your leads by making the same or a different offer to your leads every 90 days

This is how you “recycle” a lead and increase sales.  Sales failures don’t do this.  They almost never contact someone again after they hear a no and it’s a huge mistake. “Recycling” leads consistently will build your relationship with your prospect and it lets them know you are really serious about solving their problems.  This will help you increase sales and get more referrals

BONUS – Click HERE to watch your FREE Video to get more leads, the “Instant Sales Master Blueprint”

Kristoffer Thompson

Master Sales Coach

Increase Sales Training

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Increase Sales: The Facebook & Twitter Mistake That WILL Cost You

Everyone agrees that using social media is an important marketing tool to increase sales.  Everyone has a social media presence now from big business to small business. What could you be doing on social media that prevents an increase in your sales?   First, let me share with you briefly how the brain works to increase sales.

Your Prospect Likes People Who Are Like Themselves

People sub-consciously notice similarities & consciously notice differences.  What does that mean?  When you meet someone at first you may not notice anything in particular about them.  Let’s say they start talking and say something you find insulting or disagree with.  Your mind didn’t notice that they have 2 feet just like you, have 2 hands just like you and 2 eyes just like you.  Those similarities to you are sub-conscious.  The fact that they said something you did not agree with is what you notice and what you will use to decide if you like that person or not.  We all have a tendency to like people who we have things “in common” with or we see as similar to us.

People sub-consciously notice similarities & consciously notice differences.

Here is a story of how this works to increase sales.  Back in the 80’s Ronald Reagan was the President.  There was a realtor who went on a listing appointment with a prospect to sell the prospects home.    The prospect had Ronald Reagan stickers all over her car and had posters in her house.  It was very clear that the prospect liked Ronald Reagan.  The Realtor did not like Ronald Reagan’s politics.  When the subject came up of Ronald Reagan, the realtor said “I like how he seems so sincere and communicates so well.”  The Realtor said that because they knew it would create a disagreement between them and their prospect and lower their chances of increasing sales if the realtor said something bad about Ronald Reagan.  They also didn’t lie to the prospect and say they liked Ronald Reagan.  It just would have been unprofessional and unnecessary to make a political statement in that situation.

Do you think that the realtor would have gotten that sale if they would have had stickers all over their car saying negative things about Ronald Reagan?  Probably not!  Why?  Because the prospect has many choices of people to do business with and if their first impression of the realtor was bad it is very unlikely the prospect would have done business with them.

Increase Sales By Watching What You Say In Your Marketing

So how does this apply to marketing on social media to increase sales?  Religion, politics and sports are very emotional things for your prospect.  They will respond strongly to any disagreements with you in those areas.  If you want to increase sales you will want to avoid making any religious, sports or political comments on your BUSINESS social media pages.  Many people have lost jobs over such statements on social media.  I don’t want you to create any kind of negativity around your business.  It will cost you one way to increase sales.

Avoid making ANY religious, sports or political comments on your BUSINESS social media pages

You may disagree with what I have said here.  That is your right to disagree.  You want to be sure you are not just disagreeing just because that is your first emotional response.  Earlier I said that religion, sports & politics are very emotional.  If you are disagreeing without first taking time to logically consider whether you have lost sales over this you may be proving the point of this whole article.  If YOU feel so strongly about your views do you think your prospect feels just as strongly?  Of Course!  If your prospect disagrees with you about your personal views they are not going to tell you.  They just won’t respond to your marketing efforts because they have so many other choices of other businesses to work with to solve the exact problem you solve.

What about if you are trying to work with a specific niche?  The exception to the rule is if you are working with a specific niche where religion is part of community you are trying to target.  For example, you might want to work with Christian Singles to help them with finding their soulmate.  In that case your marketing would have a Christian tone to it.  I doubt you are going to want to use politics or sports to help define the niche you will work with so I won’t comment on that here.  By sports I mean that if you are a Yankees fan and you promote the Yankees all over social media Red Sox fans are not going to want to work with your business and it will cost you several million chances to increase sales.

What about expressing yourself?  A lot of people I have shared this with really feel that not making religious, sports or political statements on social media would compromise them “being themselves”.   YOU are still YOU no matter what you say on social media.  I would suggest that if you want to express political, religious or sports related views then create a separate social media profile JUST for your personal opinions and messages and say whatever you want on those.

My role is to help you increase sales so I’m going to share with you various ways to increase sales.   Some you will feel great about and others you will resist.   There is a very large segment of your market that feels that mixing personal opinions in religion, politics and sports with business is inappropriate and unprofessional.  If you choose to make these statements you can do that as long as you understand the cause and effect relationship.  If we choose the behavior we choose the consequences.

BONUS – Click HERE for  your FREE video with more tips to increase sales the “Instant Sales Master Blueprint”

Kristoffer Thompson

Master Sales Coach

Increase Sales Training

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Increase Sales: The 7 Best Ways Ever to Get Past The “Gatekeeper”

To increase sales you will need to get past the “gatekeeper”.  What is a gatekeeper?  They are the person who answers the phone when you call a business.  They could be the assistant to the decision maker or they could be the receptionist.  Their job is to filter unnecessary calls from getting to the decision maker in the business.  If you want to increase your sales you will need to get to the decision maker.  Here are some ways to get past the gatekeeper and increase sales.

Treat The Gatekeeper The Way YOU Would Like To Be Treated

One of the keys to increase sales is to always treat the gatekeeper like they are the CEO of the company.  Why?  Because they might be!  Several times I have had the spouse of the decision maker or the decision maker themselves answer the phone.  Treating whoever answers the phone badly can cost you a chance to increase sales.  Never be angry with them or insult them.  The gatekeeper gets a lot of phone calls each day from bad salespeople.  They don’t know that you can really help their company.  They often only say “no” because they don’t know YOU are not one of the bad salespeople that call them every day.

Humor is a great tool to use when increasing sales.  If the gatekeeper answers the phone laughing I always try to have fun with them.  Before I start what I normally say I might say to them “Are we having fun today?” or “It’s great to work with fun people isn’t it?” and laugh.  This usually will get them to relax a little with me and makes them more open to put me through to the decision maker.

The first thing you say is important to open doors to increase sales.  When the gatekeeper answers the phone say something to get them on your side.  I will usually open by saying “(Gatekeepers name), I need your help.”  People naturally want to help each other.  Saying something like this makes their first instinct to help me and they are more open to put me through to the decision maker.

The gatekeeper’s goal is to get you off the phone with them.  Make it easy for them to get you off the phone.   If the gatekeeper says they are on a different floor than the decision maker, ask the gatekeeper to page the decision maker.  You might say “Please page them. I’ll hold.”  This helps the gatekeeper reach their goal of getting off the phone with you.

If the gatekeeper doesn’t know the schedule of the decision maker here are a few questions to ask to give you a better idea of when you can call back and reach the decision maker.  “What time do they usually arrive in the morning?” “When do they usually leave in the afternoon?”  “Is it best to reach them in the mid morning or in the early afternoon?” “Do they eat lunch in or out?”  “What time do they normally have lunch?”

Increase Sales By Asking Smarter Questions

To increase sales you have to get good at being creative and thinking differently.  If those questions are not working to get past the gatekeeper you can flip it on them.  You can ask “Is there a day or time that I should not call?”  This is a great question.  If the gatekeeper says that the decision maker is always in a managers meeting on Tuesday mornings from 9:30 to 11 they think they just told you when to NOT call.  The truth is that means the decision maker IS available just before 9:30 and just after 11 am.  The gatekeeper just told you exactly when to call and reach the decision maker.

The last cool way you can get past a difficult gatekeeper is to ask them.  “When do you normally take your lunch break?”  The reason you ask is because someone else will be handling the incoming calls during that time and you will be much more likely to get to speak with the decision maker.   Having the skill to get past the decision maker will give you an edge on your competition and give you more chances to increase sales.

BONUS – Get more sales techniques,  Just click HERE to watch your FREE video the “Trojan Horse Technique”

Kristoffer Thompson

Master Sales Coach

Increase Sales Training

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To Increase Sales Do You Really Have to “Sell Yourself”?

I hear a lot of statements when I am helping people like you increase sales.  I hear that you must “sell yourself” if you want to increase sales.  I hear that the key to increase your sales is to get them to “buy you”.  Is it true that people buy you or is there more to increasing sales than that?

They Like You But Does That Mean They Will Buy?

When I first started my sales career I was good at talking and I was good at getting people to like me.  You are probably like me in that you genuinely like people and enjoy trying to help them.  I was really good at getting people to like me.  There was a problem though.  They wanted to have me over for dinner but they didn’t buy from me.  My first sales manager told me that my job was to make sales, not to make friends.  He was right that I was good at building rapport but something was missing.  Maybe you have had the same experience where you felt like you got along extremely well with your prospect but they didn’t end up buying from you.  You might have been like me and felt upset or maybe even a little betrayed.  You knew there must have been a problem but what was it?

People buy from those they know, like and trust

It is true you must have rapport with your prospect.  People buy from people that they feel they know, like and trust.  I will repeat that.  People buy from people that they feel they know, like and trust.

Increase Sales By Selling The Benefits

So if your prospect doesn’t “buy you” then what do they buy?  They buy BENEFITS.  Your prospect doesn’t buy you, they buy BENEFITS.  What does that mean?  It means that if you want to increase sales you must get your prospect clear on the benefits they get when they buy your product or service.  Don’t sell your product; sell what your product DOES!  When I first started I lost sales because my competition was better than me at getting the prospect clear on the benefits of working with them.  I thought I just needed to get them to like me.   I don’t want this to happen to you.  I want you to learn from my mistakes.

Your prospect doesn’t “buy you”;  they buy BENEFITS

Your prospect does not “buy you”.  You are not “selling yourself”.  What you are really doing is getting your prospect clear on the benefits they will get when they buy from you.  This skill will give you an edge over your competition on every sales conversation you ever have.

BONUS – Click HERE to watch your FREE increase sales video “The Instant Sales Master Blueprint”

Kristoffer Thompson

Master Sales Coach

Increase Sales Training

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Increase Sales: Why Sales “Slip Through The Cracks” & What To Do About It

To increase sales you can’t afford to let anything slip through the cracks, especially your prospects.  You may be a top producer or some one brand new and eager to increase sales.  It makes no difference how successful you are.  You cannot afford to give any prospect less than your best service and best effort to solve their problem. If you are having a bad day you can’t allow it to affect any of your prospects.  Why?

Increase Sales By Treating Your Prospect Better Than Your Boss

To increase your sales you must be a true professional.  Your prospects turn into clients and they allow you to feed your family and send your kids to college.  You are a professional and even if your prospect rubs you the wrong way you must treat them like they are your boss because THEY ARE.  Sales is a business and you must put your personal feelings aside even if a prospect is rude to you.  You must respect that your prospect is the boss if you want to increase your business.  Never discuss politics, religion or sports unless you 100% sure you and your prospect are in total agreement.  It is very easy to turn off a prospect discussing those subjects.  EVERY single prospect counts!

Avoid Politics, Religion & Sports!  Especially On Social Media

One of my mentors taught me that the average person knows 250 people and they know 25 people just like them.  In fact a lot of people know a lot more people than 250.  Let us say you meet 25 people a week and 3 of them are unhappy with how you treated them.   At the end of the year there are 150 people who are unhappy with you.  Each of those 150 people know 250 people who they will tell NOT to buy from YOU.  With Twitter and Facebook the word about your poor service instantly gets out to thousands of people.  All those thousands of people have 1 thing in common that matters to you.  They ALL know NOT to buy from YOU.   Increasing sales is very hard that way.

The average person knows 250 people and they know 25 people just like them.

Your prospects talk with other people when they have a need to buy something.  It’s a normal part of life.  They post on Twitter and Facebook to get advice from their network about who is a good real estate agent or plumber, etc.  I have done it myself and you have probably done it yourself as well.  Also, don’t post political, religious or sports topics on your Twitter or Facebook.  It WILL cost you sales.

To increase sales long term you must get business from people you have contact with or you will always have to cold call. You must have prospects who like you to tell the 250 people in their network good things about you.  You are a true professional and you must act as a true professional every hour you are in your business.

BONUS – Click HERE to see your FREE video the “Instant Sales Master Blueprint”

Kristoffer Thompson

Master Sales Coach

Increase Sales Training

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How to Increase Sales Like A Las Vegas Casino

How do you increase sales like a Vegas Casino?  When you go to Las Vegas or to any casino you know you are probably going to lose money.  It’s been said the only way to win at gambling is to quit after your first victory.  Why?  Because the odds of success favor the Casino.  The odds are against the player.  To increase sales you must put the odds in your favor.  How do you do that?

Increase Sales By Watering Your Grass

A lot of people switch slot machines to try to find a hot one.  They think it will increase their odds but it won’t.  You may even have done this in your sales career.  You might have switched locations or sales jobs because you thought the location or the pay plan was better. Most sales jobs or business opportunities are about the same as far as pay plans, leads and pricing etc.  What will help you with increasing sales will be HOW you work, not WHERE you work.  So don’t always be complaining about how you can’t make more sales because of someone or something else.  Don’t keep looking for the hot slot machine.

Create Your Own Leads

Don’t gamble with your chances to make more sales.  You may get leads from your company and that’s great if you do.  Don’t just sit there and wait for them to give you leads.  Instead create opportunities for yourself.   It does not specifically matter what you do to create your own opportunities to increase sales.  There are lots of tips on this blog.  You can even watch a FREE video HERE.  You pick what fits your style, personality and what you like the most.  The tactics to create sales opportunities don’t have to be done perfectly to work.  What does matter is that you do them and you do them daily.  Otherwise you sit there hoping for the “luck of the draw”.  Don’t gamble with your income and the future of your family.  Increase sales by taking control of your destiny and turning the tables on the system, putting the odds in your favor.

Kristoffer Thompson

Master Sales Coach

Increase Sales Training.

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Increase Sales: How Being A “People Person” Can Kill Your Sales

You learned a lesson to increase sales on your first day on the job.  By now you have almost certainly forgotten it.  You must learn it again to increase your sales.   Would you consider yourself a “People Person”?   When you first started your sales job you didn’t know anyone so you didn’t really socialize with them.  Instead you probably listened to company sales training.  You listened to the top producer give his sales presentation to help you increase sales.  You probably spent time learning the new product or service you were starting to sell.  You may even have made prospecting calls or contacted your network to get leads or referrals.  It was common sense to do at that time since you just started.  Since then you have likely stopped doing those smart things.  Why?

Increase Sales Like Your First Day In Sales

Your focus was to increase sales to show you belonged when you first started your sales job.  After a while you started being friends with the other sales people.  In the morning everyone gets their coffee and talks about what they did last night or family problems or anything that has nothing to do with increasing sales.  Pretty soon after that it is lunch time and everyone has to decide where to go for lunch.  Of course it is a place where other salespeople like to go for lunch so you won’t make any sales there. After lunch everyone has to talk to decide who owes who money to cover the bill.  Next thing you know the day is gone and you’ve lost your chance to make more sales.

Are You A “People Person” With The Right People?

You must get away from being one of the boys or girls in the club at work.  You can still be friendly.  If they go to lunch don’t go with them.  Go to lunch with people who can help you make more sales by getting referrals or have a network with your customer in it.  If you are already are one of the boys or girls, start to get out a little at a time. If you don’t get out it will just encourage other bad habits and attitudes that will continue to cost you sales.  Be nice to them and don’t make enemies of the other sales people you work with.  Just don’t hang out with them more than necessary because you won’t increase sales by being one of the boys or girls in the social circle at the office.

BONUS – Click HERE to watch your FREE video to increase sales, the “Trojan Horse Technique”

Kristoffer Thompson

Master Sales Coach

Increase Sales Training

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Increase Sales: A Common Costly Mistake Top Producers Never Make

One way to increase sales in your business is to get more “good sales”.  What is a good sale?  When you want to increase sales ANY sale is a “good sale” right?   When you get a sale you are pretty excited because you got what you wanted and that’s good, it’s just not good enough.

Prospects buy for a lot of reasons.  Sometimes they even HAVE to buy.  Why? Because they have to have an air conditioner in 100 degree weather and they have a newborn baby for example.  The point is that just because someone buys your product that does not make it a good sale.  The purpose of making a sale is not just to have your prospect buy.

Don’t Settle For Just The Sale

Virtually anyone can get a sale once in a while by being in the right place at the right time.  In fact, you may have had it happen to you.  You get the sale but then you have to go out and get another one.  You may have to cold call or knock on doors.  Either way you have to do things you don’t want to do and get a lot of rejection before you make your next easy sale.  That’s fine to do some of this in the beginning of your career but if you want to increase sales in the long run you will need to do more than just get a sale when you meet a prospect.

Increase Sales By Improving The Buying “Experience”

Most average sales people are just happy to get a sale because that commission is all they are thinking about the whole time.    Top producers think differently than everyone else.  If you want to be a top producer you don’t just want to increase your sales for today.  What you really want is to keep increasing sales in the long run.  Top producers get lots of good sales.  What is a good sale?

A “good sale” is…

  • A sale where the prospect gets what they came to you for.
  • It’s a great experience for your prospect.
  • They view you as their solution for LIFE in what you do.
  • They become a raving fan for you and are so happy they tell their friends, co-workers and family about you.
  • They bring you referrals without you even asking (You still ask anyway).
  • They become a raving fan for you and your business.
  • They will come back to you and buy again.

Take some time right now and brainstorm what you can do better to make the buying EXPERIENCE better for your prospects.  Ask your clients.  Find out what the top people in your industry and even other industries are doing.  Do what they do to make the buying experience better.  Hold yourself to a higher standard of performance and increase sales in the long run.

BONUS – Click HERE to watch your FREE increase sales video the “Trojan Horse Technique”

Kristoffer Thompson

Master Sales Coach

Increase Sales Training

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Increase Sales: Is Your Prospect Really Who You Think They Are?

A secret of top producers to increase sales is to view your prospect for who they really are.  You or some in your company may have a negative view of the prospects you are trying to help with your products or services.  I’ve even seen some salespeople come up with mean names for prospects.  Why could you find yourself calling prospects mean names?

Why You Might Think Badly Of Your Prospect

Your time is valuable and you are probably reading this article because you want to increase sales for your business.  You may talk to a lot of prospects that seem to just want to waste your valuable time.  They may not seem serious about buying your product.  Maybe they are “just looking” or they ask a bunch of questions that don’t make sense to you.  Maybe they seem interested but when you follow up with them you feel like they don’t respect you enough to return your phone call.  This attitude will get in the way of increasing sales in your business.

Increase Sales By Seeing Your Prospect For Who They REALLY Are

What attitude toward your prospects will help you increase your sales?  Understand who your prospect really is.  They are just like you.  They are a human being with feelings and needs just like you are.  Most of them work very hard for their money.  If they purchase from you they feel they won’t have that money for something else they would like to have.  Also salespeople don’t have a very good reputation.  So that means your prospect is scared or defensive when they talk with you at first.  They think you are trying to take advantage of them because that is what all the bad salespeople do.  They think they know they are not going to get what they want and it’s going to be a bad experience.  They are afraid you are going to try to force them to buy something they will regret later and they will feel dumb.  They do not know they can trust you yet.

So your prospect thinks you are trying to get something from them and rip them off.  You feel they are going to waste your time or lie to you.  There are bad salespeople and there are prospects that waste your time and lie to you.   I’m not denying they exist.  You can’t increase sales if both you and your prospect have bad feelings for each other.  So what do you do about it?

You think the best of your prospect.  They aren’t bad people trying to waste your time and lie to you.  They are human beings who work hard for their money and are really interested in buying your product or service to solve their problem.  Tell yourself that before you speak to every prospect. That HAS to be your mindset if you want to increase sales and have a satisfying business with clients that keep coming back to you.

BONUS – Click HERE to watch your FREE video the “Instant Sales Master Blueprint”

Kristoffer Thompson

Master Sales Coach

Increase Sales Training

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