Two women are at the bar catching up, and a cheesy looking guy swaggers up. Without introducing himself or asking their names, he immediately says, “Did you just fall from heaven? ‘Cause you must be an angel.” As readers, we’re pretty sure what happens next… discomfort, dismissal, and disappointment- probably some laughter. For those of you who never want to be THAT guy, check us out at “Sales and Dating: The Same Rules Apply!” this week!

Sales Dating: The Same Rules Apply!
Wednesday March 20th from 10:00-11:30 am
Accion Learning Center | 225 W. Poplar, San Antonio, TX, 78212

CEO Erik Darmstetter will walk you through the common mistakes salespeople make, how to avoid them, and how to ask the right questions.

The focus of both sales and dating is the transfer of trust.

What language sells and produces trust faster and more effectively?
What behaviors un-sell in sales and dating?
Learn to ask the right questions and how to build trust in relationships.
Learn how to communicate your value, overt benefit, and dramatic difference most effectively, and inspire genuine interest.

Bar stories will be told, and better ways will be taught! Don’t miss it- rsvp for this complimentary event here.

Can’t make it to this one? Next week we’ll be at Amegy Bank on Wednesday the 28th for a igh Octane Lunch and Learn, teaching on how mastering your actionable core values, brand promise, BHAG, and company purpose can make company growth easier and faster. Seats will go fast!

The post March 20th – Sales and Dating: Sell Yourself with Success appeared first on Sales By 5.

A returned call is one of the hardest things to get today in 2012.
Why? Our recent polling of clients and friends shows that only 1 person in 10 likes or wants to receive a voicemail! Does that extend to getting calls too? YES. People just don’t like phone calls. Telemarketers and overzealous sales people as well as automated calls ruined the phone.

So what do people want? 90% of them want an email, or if they know you, a text.

What can you do? Spend your time getting to know e-mail addresses instead of phone numbers. Stop calling and stop leaving voicemails until you know how people want to be reached.

How do you do it? Getting an e-mail these days is very easy. If you call a prospect and get a receptionist, ask her how to spell the name of the person you are trying to reach. Then ask if the e-mail is first initial.last name@theircompany.com If the receptionist will not tell you, google! Look up @theircompany.com and see what comes up, as most companies standardize their email address format.

We all used to use the phone and in person to do business. Now I cringe when the phone rings. Silly? Yes, but it happened. We need to adapt fast and ask people how they like to communicate to avoid leaving voicemails that are never returned.

-Written by Erik Darmstetter, Business Growth Expert at Salesby5

The post The Death of Voicemail appeared first on Sales By 5.

There are a lot of do’s and don’ts when it comes to social media. Many people blur the lines between their professional self and their personal opinions. 3 panelists at the recent “Act Right Online” Young Professionals event gave great advice on how to use Twitter successfully.

1. Molly Cox,Owner, non-profit FancyPants:

“Make sure you are always speaking in the right voice.” Own what you say.

2. Elizabeth Anderson, Social Media Strategist of The Deberry Group:

“Treat online like it’s lunch.” Be yourself, but have some boundaries.

3. Nan Palmero, Top graded Twitter user and CIO of Sales By 5:

“Don’t be afraid to tweet. Don’t let what we’ve said discourage you in any way from experimenting with your online voice.” Just because you have to think about what you say doesn’t mean you should stop talking.

Ellie Leeper of Downtown Alliance summed it up well in her article on the event entitled Navigating the Social Stratosphere: Branding Yourself Online -  Online, “be passionate, personable, professional, but don’t share your political preferences, and keep last night’s crazy party to yourself.”

Employers and the world are looking at what you say as part of your personal brand. Do you think before you tweet?

The post Don’t be Afraid to Tweet appeared first on Sales By 5.

When people ask you what you do, is your response: “Uhhh…”? Or worse, do you spew forth meaningless words? Do people stick their headphones in or roll their eyeballs ironically? For all you word vomiters out there, we made something for you. Our 10 Second Pitch Barf Bag “marketing piece” is an airline-grade barf bag with a Sales Safety Information card inside of it.

We once handed these out in Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Later in the trip, someone overheard our company name, Salesby5, and said “Oh yeah, the barf bag guys!” So for all of you without a barf bag *ahem, that means you*, check out our Sales Safety Card tips below.

Sales Safety Information
1. 10 seconds: Time it should take you to peak someone’s interest in what you do.

2. Listen twice as often as you speak.

3. Numeric precision greatly increases your credibility and dramatic difference. Ex: We return your calls in less than 5 minutes.

4. 5th grade reading level clarity in marketing messages ups odds of selling by 70%.

5. Focus on one thing in your marketing increases your odds of selling by 60%. Eliminate the irrelevant.

6. Your image matters, so do the features, but your overt benefit and the real reason to believe you can deliver that benefit matters the most.

7. If you have dramatic difference from your competition, you have 370% greater odds of success and profitability. Source: Harvard Business Review. Not sure if you have dramatic difference?

8. Salt and Pepper: If you were helping a restaurant get more customers, you would not advertise that you have free salt and pepper. Is your company selling salt and pepper to your industry?

9. Does everyone in your organization know what to say when asked what you do? These sound bites should be artwork on your walls!

10. Does your business card tell the recipient how you benefit them?

Our 10 second pitch barf bag may be more familiar to you as the 10 second elevator pitch. But nowadays, you don’t even have the attention of others in the elevator anymore. AngryBirds, anyone? People’s attention is at an all time low. Do you show up and throw up?

The post 10 Second Pitch Barf Bag appeared first on Sales By 5.

I was reading Spirit magazine on a Southwest flight recently and came across these survey facts by IJL (It’s just lunch).

What are the easiest/best topic for conversation on a first date?
51.6% Hobbies/interests
24.4% Travel
9.7% Family
8.4% Movies
5.9% Food

What is the biggest “don’t” on a first date?

39.83% talking about an “ex”.
35.38% using cell phone, texting, etc.
19.23% Not making eye contact.
3.23% Name dropping
2.33% Talking business/Money/Career.

We un-sell others by assuming we know what they want to hear, and by making the conversation all about us. Listening and asking questions is key to building lasting relationships! Do you listen the way you want people to listen to you?

The post Are You Listening Like You Want to be Listened To? appeared first on Sales By 5.

Sales and Dating Questionnaire Responses:

The post The Worst Pick-Up Lines appeared first on Sales By 5.

Sales & Dating Survey Results: Chart 2

The post How to Un-Sell a First Date: Chart 2 appeared first on Sales By 5.

No man is an island…Well, maybe Roy Bragg. Other than Roy, the rest of us depend on others. Sometimes with large needs and sometimes with the trivial. Wrapped with our needs is busyness. We have our friends and family with us, the phone ringing, the email inbox filling up and the social network messages piling up. Amongst all these people vying for your attention there have been those people who have helped you, both near and far. How do we thank them? Typically, you’ll see a cheap and embarrassing “ty!” or “thx!” After my conversation with the caring Liz Strauss a few years back in Vegas, I try to never say “thanks” but use the full “thank you” instead. It feels more meaningful, there’s less chance that someone can read it sarcastically online and I don’t lose that much time for including the word “you.”

I’d like to call for the end of these poor abbreviations. If someone has helped you, wait until you have a moment and truly thank them for what they’ve done. Try a “Thank you so much for .” Something to the extent of “Thank you so much for turning your cap backwards and arm wrestling for my honor, you saved our relationship. I really appreciate it.” or “Thank you tremendously for hitting 88 miles per hour and sending me back to good ol’ 1985. I couldn’t have made it home without you.”

All joking aside, consider your social graces, especially when trying to convey your appreciation with electronic devices. Let your gratitude shine through in the large and small.

Nan Palmero | BlackBerry Power User

The post The Battle Between Laziness & Gratitude appeared first on Sales By 5.

Our purpose at Salesby5 is to inspire others. We talk of inspiration often, as it has so much to do with sales. One of the stars on our team is Kya, who is our Brand Evangelist. She has radar that picks out “REAL.”

She has a unique strength to know if someone is sincere (real) or fake in seconds, where most are about 100 times slower. Why does this matter? She can pick off someone trying to get a date, sell copier toner or attempting to get in your wallet faster than my computer can get an Internet connection. Tomorrow’s success is today’s real. This is why we fire customers who are rude, lie or don’t pay when they say they will pay. This is why we do not take a customer or vendor who we do not feel has the REAL Win-Win attitude versus just WIN. We need to feel good about making them prosper or there are plenty of others.

A few thoughts on being real regarding sales:

If you have to remember your pitch: Fail
If you can’t remember the prospects problems and your opportunities: Fail
If you remember a client’s child’s name because you care: REAL!
If you remember they love Papouli’s Greek Grill’s Mediterranean Salad for lunch on Thursdays: REAL!

The point: Get real or get a new job. Today is about transparency and about being real. Fake billboards or sales pitches that leave me wondering don’t work anymore. Do you need some REAL in your life?

photo by Korrigan

The post Increasing Sales by Being Real appeared first on Sales By 5.

I was talking to one of my best friends today. He sells insurance for a company that shuts off the phones during lunch and at 5pm (they stay there later). He said he got his biggest accounts ever due to answering the phone during lunch. Can you imagine shutting things down in sales during lunch and after 5pm? I freak out when there is a message on our answering system that has not been attended to in minutes.

I talked to three different people last week that had made a call regarding sales but had “not gotten a call back yet, so they were waiting.”  Other times, they had not gotten a “return e-mail.”

Here are a few tips on what not to do:

1. Don’t assume that people care. Hope they do, but facts can show you yes or no.
2. Don’t stop after the 8th phone call. End at 12 instead.
3. Don’t be afraid to let your prospects know that it is ok to say NO! I love to add that to my requests, as gives them an out or a reason to stay engaged!
4. Don’t think people care that you need lunch or are off at 5pm. We do! This is not like it used to be (except in West Texas) where you must eat lunch between 11:30am and 1:30pm due to restaurants closing.
5. Don’t think people will change and conform to your old ways. This is the new normal. You will hear about technology, you will think it does not apply to you, and you are right if you live on the Moon.

The post The Call that Matters appeared first on Sales By 5.