Recommended Resource – The Pocket Small Business Owner’s Guide to Negotiating

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The Pocket Small Business Owner’s Guide to Negotiating

by Richard Weisgrau

About the Reference

The Pocket Small Business Owner’s Guide to Negotiating by Richard Weisgrau provides readers with a complete set of practices and strategies for successfully negotiating through numerous situations. Richard explores both the psychology and activities occurring before, during, and after a negotiation. Through his book, readers learn to:

  • Differentiate between principle and positional bargaining
  • Negotiate contracts, purchases, and service deals
  • Resolve conflicts
  • Barter
  • Assess risk
  • Take advantage of the psychological aspects of negotiating
  • Employ rhetorical tactics and body language successfully

Benefits of Using This Reference

StrategyDriven Contributors like The Pocket Small Business Owner’s Guide to Negotiating for its thoroughness in covering a multitude of negotiating situations. We found Richard’s book a good ready reference for small business owners and large company division and department managers.

The Pocket Small Business Owner’s Guide to Negotiating covers the psychological and behavioral aspects of negotiation, both being critically important to a successful outcome. Additionally, Richard provides an easy-to-follow method for negotiation preparation, execution, and follow-up. By using the prescribed methods, readers should find their negotiations more successfully resolved.

If we had one criticism of The Pocket Small Business Owner’s Guide to Negotiating it would be that the negotiating approach seeks an equitable outcome; precluding the opportunity for overwhelmingly positive terms.

The Pocket Small Business Owner’s Guide to Negotiating provides readers with actionable steps to negotiate the situations most commonly encountered by small business and business group leaders. While not intended to inform the actions of those negotiating ‘super-deals,’ the thoroughness of the methods and real world examples conveyed makes The Pocket Small Business Owner’s Guide to Negotiating a StrategyDriven recommended read.

What’s your proactive marketing approach to loyalty?

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Dear Jeffrey, I am a huge fan. I recently had a WOW experience that completely coincides with your philosophy on customer loyalty versus satisfaction. Today, I received the following email from Amazon:

Hello, We noticed that you experienced poor video playback while watching the following rental on Amazon Video On Demand: The Hunger Games. We’re sorry for the inconvenience and have issued you a refund for the following amount: $3.99. While Amazon Video On Demand transactions are typically not refundable, we are happy to make an exception in this case. This refund should be processed within the next 2 to 3 business days and will appear on your next billing statement for the same credit card used to purchase this item.

This is amazing to me for a few reasons. Yes, I did notice that my movie was buffering more than usual and, yes, it was annoying. However, it was nothing more than a minor frustration. I didn’t complain. I didn’t complete a survey or give any feedback about this experience. Truthfully, until I received this email, I hadn’t given it a second thought.

When I got this email, it stopped me in my tracks. THEY NOTICED. They noticed that this particular experience was below their normal standards. But what’s more important, THEY NOTICED WITHOUT ME TELLING THEM.

Good companies would refund my money if I complained. Of course they would, that is expected. I never have had a company refund my money without being prompted. Never. And this, this was a surprise.

Would I have used them again even if they did not refund my money? Yes, often. So what’s the difference? I wouldn’t have REFERRED them. I received this email today at 2:18pm. Since then, I have told all my coworkers I came in contact with, posted this on my Facebook wall, and now am writing you.

Amazon lost four dollars today, but they gained a customer for life! It was so impressive, I had to share. Make it a great day, Candace

Brilliant, eh? Proactive, memorable service.

Amazon is monitoring the quality of their streaming bandwidth and can identify quality issues. Then, they DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. No waste of time and money “survey,” no phony empty apology, just a good, old fashioned admission of guilt, and a proactive refund for poor performance.

My bet is Amazon has given thousands of these, and the same customer response has happened with every one of them. What a strategy! Let’s make sure the customer experience was great, or let’s give them a refund.

Simple. Powerful. Profitable. Give up $4.00 to earn thousands. I wonder who thought that one up? Certainly not their advertising agency.

Look at the elements of business and sales as a result of Amazon’s action, and customer reaction: a huge wow, several social postings, more social proof, an amazing testimonial, customer loyalty, and pass along value that cannot be measured on any ROI scale. Amazon’s actions breed return on proactive, memorable service – the WOW factor, social response, and customer word of mouth. It’s WAY beyond ‘priceless’ – in the long term, it’s worth a fortune.

HERE’S YOUR LESSON: You can invest in some marketing program to reach new people – or you can invest in giving your existing customers the best service possible, and let THEM find new people for you.

PREDICTION: I’ll bet the investment in existing customer experience is one-tenth the cost of any marketing program. In fact, I doubt this type of outreach is even on a marketing team’s mindset. They’re still in the Stone Age measuring ‘ROI.’

Amazon has lead the Internet all the way with vision and tenacity. Quality and value. Ease of doing business, buy with one click. Suggestive buying and published reviews. Not just price, delivery.

And now add to that list: proactive WOW interaction. They dominate because they differentiate. They dominate because they innovate. They don’t study the market – they create it (like Apple). Most marketing studies are a CYA act of companies afraid to make mistakes, let alone be bold.

Take this lesson to heart – and take it to your customers. If you come up with something creatively compelling, you can also take it to the bank!

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].

Your sales voice. What is it saying to you? What is it saying to others?

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I was recently at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, giving a seminar sponsored by Sales & Marketing Executives International. I had an informal logistics meeting with some of the association members before the event when Jamie, the young woman who directed me to my preparation room, talked to me about her career. I asked her what she was seeking to become.

Her response startled me. She said, “I’m still trying to find my voice.”

I was taken aback because I expected some alternate career choice, or something along the lines of ‘make a lot of money,’ or ‘get a job in event planning.’ But no, she was seeking something much higher.

Jamie was seeking to gain control of her self and her power first, and find her career path second. We talked about ‘voice’ for a while, and I began to type to capture the thoughts. What came out of the brief conversation will benefit you and your career, and help you understand who you are and who you seek to become.

Jamie was looking for her voice to come from something she believed in that would make her voice stronger, more resonant, more powerful, and more believable.

How do you speak?

Not the just words, the voice that you project. Your voice is a statement and picture of your character, your poise, and your persona. It’s a statement of belief, confidence, and personal power.

Where does your voice come from?
How do you ‘find’ it?
And once you do, how do you master it?

BE AWARE: Your voice has nothing to do with your selling skills or your product knowledge. Your voice is way beyond that.

GOOD NEWS: You don’t have to look far. Most of your voice is right at the tip of your tongue. The rest of it is mental and emotional.

ANSWER: It STARTS with your inner voice. It’s the language you speak to yourself BEFORE you say a word.

Your voice becomes yours, and authentically yours, when you…

  • do what you believe in.
  • do what you’re passionate about.
  • work in your chosen field.
  • find your calling.
  • discover something you feel you were made or born to do.
  • do something you love.

EASY WAY TO START THE DISCOVERY: Write down the hobby or sport you love best, or the sporting event you go to because you love to see your team play and cheer them on.

My friend, Hall of Fame baseball player Dave Winfield, said it as simply and as completely as I have ever heard it, “I loved baseball and baseball loved me back.”

Here are the elements of voice:

  • You have decided to pursue your chosen path.
  • You have belief in who you are.
  • You have belief in what you do.
  • You have a desire to succeed.
  • You’re personally prepared – attitude, enthusiasm, friendliness, and ideas.
  • You maintain self-confidence that comes from your heart, not from your head.
  • Your enthusiasm is real.
  • Your sincerity is evident.
  • You’re eager to master every aspect of what you do.
  • Your passion is contagious.
  • Your moxie engages others.
  • Your desire to improve is never ending.
  • You love what you do.

NOTE WELL: Your voice is not about how to make sales faster – your voice is how to make sales forever. For your voice to appear, you must possess ALL of these elements. Most people have a ‘weak’ voice because they don’t love what they do, or lack sincerity, or they don’t fully believe in themselves, their company, or their product.

SUCCESS ACTION: Go back to this list and rate yourself on a 1-10 basis. Ten being the best, your highest possible score is 130. My bet is you’re 90 or below.

SUCCESS ACTION: Record your spoken voice ONCE A WEEK, and listen to it actively – which means take notes. By listening to yourself – arguably one of the toughest things on the planet to do – you will gain a true picture of where you are right now. Your jumping off point.

And for those of you living in the dark ages still trying to ‘find the pain’ in your sales presentation, just record and listen to yourself – THAT’S the pain. The real pain of selling is listening to your voice trying to make a sale – it’s also funny as hell.

You’ll know your voice when you hear it.
It will speak to you before you ever say a word.

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].

Recommended Resource – Act Like a Sales Pro

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Act Like a Sales Pro: How to Command the Business Stage and Dramatically Increase Your Sales with Proven Acting Techniques

written by Julie Hansen
and published by Career Press

About the Reference

Act Like a Sales Pro by Julie Hansen reveals the behaviors exhibited by effective salespersons that create a memorable buying experience. Julie teaches readers the art of selling through easy-to-follow exercises then enable them to more effectively prepare and execute on all types of sales engagements. By reading her book, one learns how to:

  • Gain an appointment using audition techniques
  • Draw interest from reluctant prospects using secrets of the performer
  • Deliver memorable presentations
  • React to the unexpected and control the sale using the rules of improvisation

Benefits of Using This Reference

StrategyDriven Contributors like Act Like a Sales Pro for its fresh approach to effective selling. Julie’s book engages the reader and translates for them the insights she’s gained from the acting world into that of the sales call. And her step-by-step exercises make these ‘acting behaviors’ immediately implementable by even those who don’t consider themselves to be good salespersons.

What makes Act Like a Sales Pro truly different from other books on selling is its focus on personal behaviors. Other quality books focus on the process of selling whereas Julie’s book teaches readers the physical and verbal behaviors they should exhibit while executing the selling process. We put some of Julie’s recommendations to the test and found they did help secure a positive outcome.

Act Like a Sales Pro effectively fills what is often a void in other sales books and training programs. Filled with immediately implementable recommendations and real world examples, Act Like a Sales Pro is a StrategyDriven recommended read.

Additional Resources

Complimenting Act Like a Sales Pro, StrategyDriven provides an abundance of information on the consultative selling process within the StrategyDriven Consultative Selling Knowledge Center.

Creating an internal sales mastermind to make more sales

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Calls not getting returned?
Prospects telling you your price is too high?
Prospective customers asking for three bids?
Unable to get to the real decision maker?

Do you think you’re the ONLY salesperson facing these issues? Come on, really now?! My bet is every one of your colleagues has exactly the same issues. So, eh, why are they reoccurring?

Why aren’t your calls getting returned? Why is your price continuing to be too high? Why are you having major blockage to get to the decision maker? Huh? Why?

Another bet: there are a few people on your team who are able to get through. There are a few people on your team that are able to get their price. But in spite of that or them, you go out every day banging your head against the wall and the world, trying to make your sales and your quota.

Here’s how to have a better, easier, more fun, more productive, less frustrating (sound good so far?), more bountiful, and more profitable sales life: Create an internal sales mastermind.

One of the most powerful principles Napoleon Hill wrote about in Think and Grow Rich is the ninth step: Power of the Master Mind. He defines mastermind as a “Coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose.”

In other words – people working together in harmony to get to ‘best answer’ or ‘best response.’ In your case: sales barriers or objections in common.

Take one objection at a time and have single subject meetings…

  • Everyone has two to five minutes to discuss their issues and whatever form of success they have had.
  • Everyone takes notes.
  • No one interrupts.
  • Everyone has a chance to have two minutes to share their best idea based on their homework, their past experience, and what they’ve just learned.
  • Everyone takes notes.
  • No one interrupts.
  • Each person in the group shares their personal opinion of what they believe will work best, either by what they’re doing in the field, or what they have just learned.
  • Everyone takes notes.
  • No one interrupts.
  • One or several answers and strategies are agreed upon, and all participants agree to try them – and RECORD them as they’re being executed.

The next mastermind session (one week later) should begin with ‘what happened’ in the past week…

  • Everyone has two to five minutes to discuss their application, what happened, and what form of success they have had.
  • Everyone takes notes.
  • No one interrupts.
  • Everyone gives their refinements based on actual circumstances, applications, and results.
  • Final tweaks are offered and agreed upon.
  • The entire sales force now has a set of answers they can use.

    • When applying new strategies in the field, or on the phone, do them a few times to get familiar. Depending on your situation, and who you’re talking to, wording may be critical. Make certain your language is positive. Make certain all language is non-manipulative.

    For example, if you’re trying to find the decision maker and you ask, “Are you the decision maker?” it will breed inconsistent answers and half truths. But if you ask: “How will the decision be made?” followed by asking, “Then what?” a few times, it will bring real results.

    Pretty cool, huh?

    If you wanna make certain to get the best results, follow these rules and guidelines:

    MASTERMIND GROUND RULES:

    • A mastermind is NOT a corporate meeting.
    • A mastermind is not a politically correct meeting – it’s wide open.
    • A mastermind IS a real-world meeting designed to generate answers in less than 60 minutes – and those answers are to be taken out into the field, or delivered over the phone, the same day or sooner.
    • A mastermind is all about what CAN BE DONE.
    • If a member acts like a jackass, toss them IMMEDIATELY.
    • Keeping the focus on ONE SUBJECT PER MEETING cannot be stressed enough.
    • • At least three consecutive meetings on each topic.
    • Let the laughs flow; the answers and ideas will follow.

    CHALLENGE: If you have balls, invite your CEO to attend your mastermind. He or she will not only be impressed, they will get to see how their paycheck is created.

    Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

    About the Author

    Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].