7 Ways to Appear Smarter in Meetings

Here are 7 easy ways to come out of a sales meeting smarter than your colleagues and other managers:

 

1. Draw a Diagram

It doesn’t matter if it is accurate or wildly inaccurate. In fact, the more inaccurate it is the better. The best sort of diagram is the Venn Diagram. Before you put your pen down, you’ll notice how colleagues will start to fight over how big the circles are or aren’t and what data should and should not go in the circles etc.

 

2. Encourage Everyone to Take a Step Back

All you have to say is “Can we take a step back”. There comes a point in almost every meeting where everyone is chiming, except you. Follow up your statement with “what problem are we trying to solve?”

 

3. Nod While Pretending to Taking Notes

Always come equipped to a meeting with a notepad and pen. Your rejection of the use of technology will be respected by all colleagues and managers. Take notes by writing down one word for every sentence you hear.

 

4. Ask: “Will This Scale?”

No one ever knows what scalable means, but it’s a good way to catch your colleagues’ attention and drive them nuts thinking what the word means. Then take the lead!

 

5. Ask the Presenter to Go Back One Slide

This will immediately make you look like you’re paying closer attention than everyone else in the meeting. Don’t have anything to say? Just say “I’m not sure what this means.”

 

6. Make Fun of Yourself

Colleagues love self-depreciating humour. Say something along the lines of “Maybe we can just use the lawyers from my real estate deal” Or “Gosh, I wish I was on vacation”. Everyone will probably agree and start laughing.

 

7. Don’t be Afraid to Speak Up

The more you can contribute to a conversation, a meeting, or other discourse, the smarter you’ll look. Do it with oomph and expression and everyone will love you for it.
What are your goals as manager or leader of your department or business? If you feel like you need to work on working smarter and more productive, contact Carmel Vision. We have just the right solution for your business needs. It is our belief that change does not always have to necessitate breaking the bank.

Download free trial of our Customer Relationship Management tool here.

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Indifference and its Purpose in Sales

Indifference is probably the most effective of all 4 impulse factors. I’ve made an incredible amount of sales on my ability to convey indifference alone! If you can portray GENUINE indifference to your prospects, they will be compelled to buy now and not even think about asking if they can buy it later.

This is a basic psychological fact and it can’t be denied. If you want to compete with the pro’s then you must master indifference in your sales pitch. You can’t get around it!!

I believe, indifference is best portrayed non verbally, it is instilled in the reader by the context of your written words on a sales page and not by the actual words themselves. Face to face or in “copy”, indifference is basically something you imply. The best way I can explain this is by saying that indifference is the “It doesn’t matter to me.” or “I don’t care.” attitude. It’s the aura that you project which makes the prospect feel like it’s of no worry to you if they choose not to buy. INDIFFERENCE IS VERY IMPORTANT IN SALES!

Indifference is the opposite of over-zealousness or being desperate for the sale. It is the cool, nonchalant twin of “Fonzy” from the tv show “Happy Days.” This is extremely powerful simply because you are making the prospect feel like you don’t care if they miss out on the product. Your job is just to show them the product and nothing more.

People inherently want what they unfortunately cannot have. That being said, if you make it too easy for them to have it or you try too hard, they won’t want to purchase from you.

“You have to PULL the string… Not PUSH it!”

For example, if you’re struggling to hit a goal, you’re probably frustrated and its showing all over your face. And if it’s showing all over your face, then you have lost all of your indifference. All the customer sees on your face is desperation, “please buy this from me.” You have to keep your business posture at all times and remain indifferent about the sale. You must portray that it doesn’t matter to you if they buy your product or not.

Many times, marketers and sales people make the mistake of getting overly excited when they feel they have a prospect on the hook. Don’t get too excited until after the sale is closed.

Experience has proven to me, that on the days where I was care free about hitting a goal I made more sales. That’s because I didn’t have desperation written all over my face.

It’s because I set out those days with fun on my mind. My body language was telling people: “I don’t care if you buy from me or not.” People will be drawn to that type of attitude and behavior. Prospects will want to buy from you just because they like who you are. I’ve had people buy from me when they didn’t even need or want my product but simply liked me. Bottom line, you are selling yourself!!

Did you ever have a crush on someone in school but the more you tried to talk to them the more they played hard to get? Then when you gave up on them and moved your attention to someone else suddenly the first person pops up and shows interest in you? That’s because you became indifferent to them and people inherently want what they can’t have!

Home shopping channels use indifference by displaying a picture of the next product that they will be selling. Almost as if to say “It doesn’t matter if you don’t buy this because we’re about to move on to something else anyways.”

“We’re just about done with this item but don’t worry because coming up we have …. ” Again this is impulse building through indifference. The sales people are not done selling this product yet, but they are already talking to you about the next one.

Have you used indifference in sales? Share your experiences with us and see how a comprehensive CRM software can fit into your cycle.

Contact Carmel Vision today. We have just the right solution for your business and sales needs. It is our belief that change does not always have to necessitate breaking the bank.

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10 Steps To Successful CRM Implementation

Here are our 10 essential steps to successfully transitioning to a CRM-centric enviornment:

CRM Software

1. Build Your Team

Your implementation team should comprise of the following people: a member of the executive team, a project manager, an IT administrator (if applicable) and 3-4 representatives from the front line and sales teams.

 

2. Identify and Document Existing Processes

All companies rely on a set of processes that help move their business forward. Part of initial deployment process will consist of asking yourself these questions:

  • How does my company collect leads?
  • How are our deals guided through the sales process?
  • How does my company maintain relationships with current customers?
  • How does my company identify our most important clients?
  • How does my company handle customer service inquiries?
  • How are contacts stored and shared?

The answers to these questions and others will help you gain an understanding of your current business processes and allow you to understand how a CRM solution can help improve and automate some portions of them.

 

3. Conduct a Gap Analysis

Conduct a gap analysis. Take a look at where you are currently standing, where you are willing to head and examine the gap between the two paths. Think of how you can close that gap using CRM tool.

 

4. Define Your Vision

Set high goals and make sure that they are viable and measurable. Example of goals may include better reporting, increased conversion, improved retention rates, more marketing leaders etc. Make sure to also define how CRM will fit into the overall direction and strategy of your organization.

 

5. Prioritize Your Goals

Plan your CRM implementation with a staggered approach that focuses on quick wins for your team.  Goals that you feel can be most improved with the implementation should come first. Remember, Rome was not built in a day and neither will be your CRM. In the implementation phase, your project team will need to determine what you want CRM to do for you. Think big picture.

 

6. Partner with the CRM Consultant

Buying and deploying a CRM tool can be made easy with the guidance of an experienced CRM consultant and vendor.  If you want to have the greatest chance at success and the highest ROI from your investments, it is wise not to go through the process alone.

 

7. Share your Vision

Share your vision with the rest of your team. It should be no secret that you are trying to improve businesses processes and make working more productive. Don’t forget to also provide training to staff who will be utilizing the software in order to ease their mind and prevent reluctance in adopting the change.

 

8. Data Migration

Depending on your current processes and the tools you use to store your data, data migration can be the most challenging and expensive part of the entire deployment. The cost of your data migration effort can be affected by a number of factors, including the size, complexity, and format of your existing backend database. A savvy CRM consultant can help you do it in the most cost-effective way possible.

 

9. Test

The second last step is to test the system thoroughly before it enters into production in order to avoid the heartbreak of failure or unexpected glitches.

 

10. Don’t Stop!

CRM is an ongoing effort that never stops and neither should you. To be successful you need to continually coach users, re-state expectations and introduce new features. Offer a “suggestion box” within CRM that users can request new features and then give them credit when those new features are rolled out.

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