Saleslife Magazine September 2016 Edition #1 by SalesLife Magazine

The Magazine for Sales Professionals and Entrepreneurs on the move

SALESL IFE www.saleslife.co.za

4 Reasons Sales is still earning respect today Got what it takes To be a selling machine? Take our 10 step survey & find out now! P. 34

Defeat your arch-nemesis

Procrastination! 5 Hacks to start now!

The Call Center of Tomorrow Wires begone!

Issue #1

September 2016

BONUS! Close the deal in 3 steps!

iNFOGRAPHIC The Fundamental Sales Prospecting Flowchart 9 steps to success

Redirect your Life 4 Questions to escape default living

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In this months issue.

4 questions to escape default living

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10 questions to find out if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re a selling machine

Sales is still earning Respect today

12 16 Wires begone!

JO IN U S >

@Saleslifemag

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;The starting point for improvement is to recognize the need.â&#x20AC;? Masaaki Imai

Close the deal

In 3 Easy steps

40 The fundamental sales Prospecting chart

Defeat your arch-nemesis

September issue | Contents 5 Editors note 6 Letter of the week 7 New Stuff 8 Redirect your Life 10 Take the test-Are you a selling machine? 12 4 Reasons Sales is still earning respect today 16 The Call Center of tomorrow 21 Close the deal-in 3 easy steps 23 Infographic-The fundamental sales prospecting flowchart 24 Defeat your arch-nemesis Procrastination in 5 Easy steps

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Letter from the Editor

Welcome to SalesLife Magazine So here we are and what an intrinsically satisfactory feeling to have this issue realized and under the watchful gaze of your appreciation.

Visit us at www.saleslife.co.za To subscribe to our magazine.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m so amped to share with you all the latest in the sales, marketing and entrepreneurship industry. We are legion and are the cogs in just about every industry there is, from automobiles to tech, insurance to construction. In SalesLife Magazine you will receive the latest success psychology combined with skills and tools, second to none in the world of sales, marketing and entrepreneurshiprolled into one with lifestyle trends. I get goose bumps when I consider all the life-changing potential this magazine has in store for its readers heading into the future and beyond. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like alchemy for a salesperson and entrepreneurs soul. Be sure to read our article on redirecting your life and the 4 questions you can pose to your inner-self to gain that clarity on page 7. Having said that, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s positively mind blowing, to realize that we are on the precipice of a digital revolution which will take our business world of sales and marketing into new, never-thought possible realms of commerce. We are accelerating our learning at an unprecedented pace as everything we know takes us into cyberspace, including our sales, marketing and entrepreneurial challenges. Innovations in technology, business models and systems that challenge and change the way we do business in the now, swirl around us with such positive promise. Promise of an abundance in sales, an abundance of clients to help and be of service to. Closer connections with clients and business partners from the friendly oceans of South Africa to Australia and the jungles of South America to Asia.

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The mission statement of SalesLife Magazine is to foster a powerful sense of spiritual purpose and thus clarity to take action and become fulfilled in resonating with purpose in both career and personal life. Adding value and being a support system to the millions of Sales professionals and entrepreneurs out there, we hope to inspire you all to take action and believe purposefully in what you are doing and where you are headed. One thing is clear. We are on the same team. Sales professionals and Entrepreneurs are faced with countless distractions and tasks and SalesLife will help you meet those opportunities with triumph and resolve, head-on. You are becoming the best version of yourself and reading this publication is a step towards that goal. Your challenges and your successes will be addressed in each issue moving forward, inspiring you and shaping you. I hope you enjoy reading this issue as much as the SalesLife team enjoyed putting it all together for you. Thank you for reading...

SalesLife Magazine Managing Editor youshaa@saleslife.co.za

Feedback

letter of the

Connect with us. Your chance to share your thoughts and ideas with other SalesLife Magazine readers We would love to hear from you and share your stories with the world regarding your life in Sales, Marketing and Entrepreneurship. Remember to keep it concise and we will publish your winning letter covering your experiences in terms of successes and challenges in your sales life. Connect with us. Tell us what you think of our magazine and just how our articles have helped you in your sales life!

We love hearing from you online! Find us here. @saleslifemag

Remember that SalesLife Magazine fosters a “mind-body-spirit” combined with a “sales-marketing-entrepreneurship” approach to your sales life, so we would love to hear from you in that regard. 200 words max. We reserve the right to edit. All the best!

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Write in & Win! The writer of this months winning letter will receive a 100ml his or hers 1 Million Fragrance from Paco Robanne valued at R1350.00 ZAR.

In 2008, Paco Robanne first presented the masculine fragrance,1 Million that soon became extremely popular. It has since been worn by successful executives and entrepreneurs the world over. Smell like a million bucks with the perfume which was inspired by Paco Rabanne's metallic fashion and created in cooperation with three famous noses for perfumes, Christophe Raynaud, Olivier Pescheux and Michel Girard, who mixed this year's edition from the notes of sparkling grapefruit, red orange, mint, rose, cinnamon, spices, blond leather, blond wood, patchouli and amber. Divine!

(South Africa only) The opinions expressed in these letters are not necessarily those of SalesLife Magazine. We reserve the right to edit letters. While we respect the wishes of writers who wish to remain anonymous, we will not publish any letter unless we have the full name, address and contact details of the writer.

September | www.saleslife.co.za

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Redirect your life Escape default living with4 questions Question 1: What do I want from life? Have you ever sincerely and introspectively asked yourself this question? From the countless conversations and open questions I have asked family, friends and clients I can tell you with confidence that less than 10 percent of them know the honest answer to that question. Is this not your life? What do you want it to look like? Where do you want to live? Who do you want to be with? What do you want to be doing every day? What makes you happy? Do you want to build a legacy? Do you want to leave something behind that you can be proud of? Pen and paper time. Answer these questions one by one. Read over them first thing in the morning and upon going to bed. You will attract them into your life by default. Tip: Write down only positive-tense statements. Here’s the secret: You won’t figure this out today. You might not figure it out tomorrow, or next week, or even by the end of this year. That’s OK. It isn’t even the answer that’s important, its the active practice of affirming to yourself the answers to living your purpose. That way, the next time a bright shiny opportunity comes your way that will require a great deal of your time, you can ask yourself, Is this really what I want? If it isn’t, you move on. If it is, then you take it by the horns and make the most of it. You’ll be armed with the most powerful tool of all: the ability to say no. This question offers unparalleled clarity and direction, so ask it now.

J U S T A L K IN G !

Here’s how to rewire your life by pulling your uncertainty and doubt towards living with purpose with just 4 simple questions. A little problem we all have with the way that most people live their life: Instead of living the life they want, people settle for and live the life they are given. They start living by default. Get up by default. Have kids by default because everyone else is having kids by default and the mother-in law(by default!) thinks it’s a great idea. Followed by going to sleep by default and finally kicking the bucket, by default no less! Most of the time, we react to situations by following the path of least resistance. It makes sense that this happens and we take the easy way out. We’re only humans with limitations right? When a job opportunity opens up, and we need the money, we take the job without really considering the long term. The problem is, if you repeat this behavior cycle enough times, one day you wake up wondering how you “got here” and “whose life is this that I’m living?” Hence the term "midlife crisis.” To redirect your course and your purpose, you need to grow intention with positive thought and energy. Interrupt that pattern of behavior-take control. You can do that by asking these 4 simple questions. asking yourself the following four questions every single day of your life. The four questions will form the box that you will jump into and intentionally live a live with purpose. In a way, you can say that I want you to think inside the box. The answers to these four questions will serve as your mindmap—and with it, you’re less likely to be distracted to take a wrong turn by opportunities that don’t move you closer to your goals. By SalesLife Magazine

Question 2: Who can I serve? Here’s the secret to getting everything you want in life: Find people who are hurting, and help them. In the world of business we call this “adding value.” Its what we’re here for. To add value and be of service to others and the world. To serve a higher calling. Every successful business, every successful career and every successful organization exists only because it serves others. Here’s how to figure out who to serve: Look at the people you love to be around. The people who energize you and fulfill you. Ask them what hurts in their life and what troubles they face. Ask them how you could help provide solutions. You will make others feel significant and you will feel fulfilled. If you make a practice of doing this, asking people how you can help, you’ll discover an endless supply of opportunity to add value. It really will be limitless. If you can take action on even a small portion of this unlimited supply of opportunity, you’ll give yourself the leverage to live whatever life you desire. That’s a sincere and honest promise from me to you. I’ve seen it happen in the lives of countless successful individuals. I know it works.

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Question3: Why not now? Don’t ignore asking yourself this question every single day. Here’s why: When your brain sees a long list of“to do” items, it is asking the opposite of this question.It wants to know,“Why not tomorrow?”And because you are only human,the voice in your head responds with rebellious aplomb,“Yeah,why not tomorrow?” Some people label this procrastination,the thief of time. Know that it’s really just your brain asking the wrong question. Tryit out for yourself right now. You’ve just spent the past few moments thinking about the life you want to live.Then you thought about the people you might be able to serve that will allow you to live that life.

Question 4: What’s holding me back? If your brain spits back a list of reasons,write them all down.Stick that paper on your desk and revisit it tomorrow.When you wakeup in themorning, look at that piece of paper and laugh at yourself. It’s amazing what a good night’s sleep can do to show you how silly and hurtful and useless your excuses are. Seeing them on paper,disconnected from the chatter in your brain,will prove to you that you can and should pursue your dreams. I guarantee your mind is firing with ideas right now? I guarantee that you’ll find it was only your fear… Replicate this activity every single day. Monday through Sunday.Gain momentum. At first,your actions will feel trivial,even minuscule. Maybe you’ll send an e-mail to a friend to find out what’s hurting them.Perhaps you’ll find some online training that will show you how to achieve more. But over time, this simple exercise will etch away the stone and reveal the singular roadmap for your success. It’s the most simple way I know to strategically design your dream lifestyle. Now get out there and do it! This is how to reinvent yourself.

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Got wh 10 Questions to find out If you’re a Selling Machine? “Soft skills are a persons personal attributes which allow them to relate to other people in a likeable, positive manner.” In Sales, these skills are the difference to being a top performer Rocking the sales floor or struggling along with little results. Professional salespeople need to possess and apply a plethora of finely-tuned skills to achieve the desired goal, which is to help others by providing solutions and making a sale in the process. Successfully and efficiently applying these soft skills will see you well on your way to becoming a selling machine. Rate yourself in these 10 essential attributes of sales megastars.

Do you have what it takes to be a selling machine? Take the test. On a scale of 1 to 10, rank your abilities in each of these key areas. Use the blue bubbles to rate yourself on each question out of a possible 10. Then tally all the blue bubble scores out of a possible 100. Do battle with the urge to give yourself the score you want. Be aware of your thoughts and feelings about these questions and the answers you decide on. Rate yourself with honesty. Good luck!

● How badly do you want success? ● Is it a smouldering desire? 2. ● Do you believe in your product? ● Do you believe in your own ability as well as your

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hat it takes Rate ___|10 3. ● Can you express what your clients are feeling? ● Can you now put those feelings into words? 4. ● Are you focused on your clients needs? ● Do you walk away from a sale that doesn’t feel right? 5. ● If asked would your clients say they like you? ● Do you have solid relationships with them? 6. ● How much do you love serving others with solutions? ● Just how much do you honestly love your current job? 7. ● Is hard work with your customers a measure of success? ● Are you the last to leave at work? 8. ● Do you continue to reach out to decision-makers if they are struggling to decide? ● How well do you understand the art of delayed gratification? 9. ● Can you consistently stay focused on your goals? ● Do you whatever it takes to reach them? 10. ● How well do you function without management? ● How accountable are you to yourself?

Total-___|100 80-100-You have the character of a sales superstar. 70-79- You have the potential to be very successful in sales. Use your strengths and manage your growth areas. 60-69-This is where salespeople rank early on in their career. Integrity is an attribute. Keep pushing forward to level-up. 50-59- Re-evaluate your reasons for being in sales. Are you happy selling? Less than 50- Be honest with yourself and consider another career while you’re ahead. Do some real solid soul searching.

September www.saleslife.co.za

Earning respect today They see selling as a legitimate pro career and personally so should we all.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

How many parents encourage their child to become a sales professional by career choice? I know I was never pushed to become a salesman. Instead I was poked and prodded by society to study Law or become a doctor of some sorts. How many parents pushed their kids to be doctors and lawyers and pilots? Sales was to be studied as a precursor to some great and noble profession but never as the final destination or goal of the student. Here's a bigger question: What if being in sales could propel you to the dizziest heights financially and spiritually? Supplying on demand a service or product and fulfilling your clients expectations as well as generating self-fulfillment and great personal wealth? Many sales and marketing professionals should be respected as future thought leaders as well as potential entrepreneurs in waiting. After all, someone who is selling your product one day can go on to sell their very own product or service in the future. The entrepreneurial spirit exists within and once sparked can ignite the next big startup and perhaps conquer the first world markets. What a thought! When speaking to other entrepreneurs, managers and business people, they seem to have immense respect for top sales professionals. They see selling as a legitimate pro career and personally so should we all.

www.saleslife.co.za September

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Case studies of success are snowballing.â&#x20AC;?

reasons why sales is a career with clout for the future.

1 | Case studies of success are snowballing Entrepreneurs and big business names of the present have almost all been linked to sales before they broke through and made a name for themselves. Warren Buffet, as a teenager worked as a sales assistant in his grandfather's store whilst Mick Jagger worked as an ice - cream salesman as a teen himself. The immensely famous actor, Johnny Depp sold personalised ball - point pens over the phone via cold - calling and Hollywood heavyweight, George Clooney himself was a B2B insurance salesman selling life - insurance. Sales is not only a stepping stone to greatness, but a foundation upon which legacies can be built. If success case studies such are these are anything to go by, it illustrates the powerful nature which sales possesses in todays world, always relevant and evergreen. 2 | Tertiary education academies are fine-tuning focus on sales and marketing degrees & diplomas Having a degree or diploma in anything requires considerable time and effort. Medical doctors, attorneys and engineers all have degrees in their chosen work. Decades ago, the sales leaders of the corporate world such as Dale Carnegie were writing books about knowledge they had learnt from generation to generation of trial and error. I assure you Mr Carnegie had no degree in selling. Only now are institutions starting to incorporate sales and marketing in the same arena as top degrees of the times. Too many sales professionals of the past learnt their skills through niche training regimes and trial and error application. Now in 2016 and beyond we are going to see that change. With the world going digital,e Books, audiobooks and the like are being used by institutions to fast-track sales success. Degrees and diplomas in sales will be a booming business in the futures, YES! Today,employers are looking for trained and optimally skilled and educated salespeople very much the same way they would employ an accountant or attorney to handle a pain point in their business. Salespeople directly create revenue. Money is the oil which keeps the wheels and cogs of the business processes running. Salespeople generate the money which grows businesses and if you generate more with better salespeople, you grow faster. Salespeople will be required through recessions and civil war. Buying and selling is inherent in humans. September www.saleslife.co.za

4 Reasons sales has clout in the future

Salespeople are the lifeblood of any company

3 | Sales qualifications a norm In the same way as an attorney requires a law degree to practice, professional salespeople are more and more needing accreditation to sell products and services. The FAIS or Financial advisory and intermediary services act of 2002 in South Africa as an example, introduced standards which protected the employer and the client from unqualified and unethical salespeople. Each respective field has their own organization to govern the rules and processes around receiving the designation, and this standard is becoming the norm in sales as well. 4 | The general publics opinion is swaying The distinction between the grimy,bloated used car salesman and a suit and tie executive salesperson who sells with integrity is becoming a greater divide. The future demands that even the sleaziest of used car salesman evolve into an arena where people are connected through social networks or loyalty programs and hence even unqualified salespeople will have to make the jump inevitably towards educating themselves through a more formal and controlled process online or through courses at an academic or training institution of choice. The time of being tricked into purchasing draws to a close as information is readily available to make the consumer more discerning. Consumers will be cognizant about the training and talent it requires to be a very top salesperson. With the advent of solution selling and social selling, we’re now seeing sales as the supporting pillar of business it is. The average sales team makes up about 30% of the total headcount for large corporate companies and 40-50% for smaller companies. Salespeople are the lifeblood of any company. The oil to the engine! Salespeople are digging the trenches and then fighting for sales within them. Blood,sweat and tears stuff, provided you have the right sales team within. This is why the right qualifications and the appropriate sales knowledge are so important. They guarantee sales success and with that the success and growth of the company's. Today and tomorrow and beyond, we hope to see salespeople being referred to as sales professionals and earning the respect they earn and deserve. “Go get ‘em tiger!”

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The Future

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The Call Centers of the future: Looking forward to never tripping over wires ever againâ&#x20AC;Ś in the next decade!

The Call Center of

Tomorrow Wires begone!

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What does tomorrow hold?

In the brilliantly poignant and thought-provoking 2013 nouveau movie from Spike Jonze, aptly titled â&#x20AC;&#x153;Herâ&#x20AC;?, we are transported into a not-so-distant digital world of tomorrow and more so into a futuristic love story between an organic man, played with admirable awkwardness by Joaquin Phoenix and a circuit board operating system portrayed and brought to life by Scarlett Johannson. Phoenixâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s character works in a call-center of sorts which specializes in personal greeting cards-digital to be more specific. The desktop computer survives sans a keyboard and instead is operated mostly via voice instruction. Touching the screen seems to be less optimal than speaking your command...hence from the thought realm directly to voice command one eliminates the need to exercise physical hand and arm movement to be actionable with your computer or turning down the lights at home or turning off the telly for the evening. In the movie computers work seamlessly and automatically with human beings to optimize their lives and as you would have guessed, making their lives easier and more functional. What will the call center of the near future look like? Quantum leaping into a decade or two from now, how much will sales and customer services call centers have changed? Well, to start with, it's unlikely to be a central physical center with servers and dozens of keyboards and agents sitting in cubicles and congregating over copiers anymore. The rise of cloud technology is predicted to lead to an increase in remote call center agents where agents simply work from home or any other designated workstation. Customer service will be of paramount importance as social media will be leveraged to capitalize on sales and service, taking into account surveys and reviews from clients and potential future customers. As a consequence, awesome customer service seems set to become key from hereon, and the call center will be at the forefront of this strategy. The customer service approach is going nowhere and sales and marketing will rely on sound customer service and positive experiences.

fact.

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VR everywhere…! For the past few decades call centers have become rather reactionary and instead of being proactive in eliminating problems that develop along the line and are always inevitable, the call centre agent of the past and present seems to put out fires as and when they start. This approach has been seen by some as good as shooting yourself in the foot! This gives the company a tremendous disadvantage as it places them frankly on the back foot and almost surely always ends up with a high percentage of irate and disgruntled clients who ultimately drop off as clients and take their business elsewhere. This loss, when quantified will be seen as unnecessary and inexcusable in the future as data is analyzed and measures are taken pro-actively and systems implemented to alleviate these problems in an attempt to eliminate this loss of business opportunity. As opposed to waiting for things to go wrong and then patching things up quickly, the call-centers agent will be in a position to diagnose and treat the problem with the appropriate action to retain the business which once upon a time would have been lost and good social network and customer-supplier relationships will be focused on with magnified and concentrated accuracy. CRMs of the future and Internet and voice technologies will all seamlessly integrate to give the optimal user experience for the client. All due to the call center agent, of course!

As the call-centers takes it place at the core of every business, so to will the agents who make up its numbers become more empowered and skilled to handle all elements of the business. Multi-talented and multi-skilled operatives are the way of the future as they wield the power of social media in real-time while they respond to complaints and bad reviews overturning them to keep the companys reputation sterling on social platforms and online as the digital revolution takes business online. Additionally, with the escalation of self-help systems and online user communities, only the most complex of problems will make its way to the call center. Agents will quite necessarily be armed with the best tools, skills and knowledge to traverse these perilous pitfalls of complaints and problems. Agents will be more evolved and pro-active. Possessing excellent communication skills blended with the skill to blend their knowledge with technology and the chosen systems the company they choose to work for utilizes and employs. The agent seek to add to their skill sets by attending online courses which the company will pay for-saving time and money and resources.

Intelligent and data-driven statistical marketing will see the appropriate target market directed to the appropriate channels and ultimately generating never before seen revenue as leads are analysed through social media and analytical tools researching and sorting data to take each client by the hand, so to speak and channel them into the appropriate funnel. Cold-calling will become easier as companies have access to movement of the client via social media and Internet searches along with their history of purchases and interests. Corporates and organizations will begin to publish their agents' availability online and in real-time, so that clients can pick the agent that best suits their needs and deal with them directly-kind of like the old adage goes…”A one-stop shop.”

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The Sky is the limit

In sunny South Africa, good customer service is lacking in certain sectors as a standard, yet the levels have picked up over the last few years with training incentives from private companies and government. In a recent survey more than 50% of the population said that they would take their business elsewhere if they experienced poor customer service from a service provider. Quite similarly, we find in the U.S.A that 44 percent of consumers confess that they’ll take their business elsewhere when faced with poor service. The growth of social media has transformed customer service from a one-on-one interaction to a public conversation. Competition is healthy and companies will compete for customer reviews and endorsements. “He said-she said,” will accept a whole new meaning. With customer service becoming open and transparent and broadcasted to billions in the blink of an eye, businesses realize that bad business cannot be kept from people anymore. The minute a Rothschild or Rockefeller sells off oil shares, we know and we have an opinion about it. Each and every business will have a global and online footprint of their successes and glaring failures for the world to see. Consequently, companies will have to start to compete to offer the best customer service—with social media reviews and recommendations being the ultimate prize and their holy grail.

The minute a Rothschild or Rockefeller sells off oil shares, we know and we have an opinion about it.

How will your customers most likely get in contact with you? Well via email, live chat, social media, or in a voice call of course, however customers will use apps on their mobile phone second only to social media widgets as their primary method of communicating. Instant gratification society will take on a new meaning as people take to their phones to communicate. Instant results from an app on their smartphone or wearable smartphone device.

September www.saleslife.co.za

The Sky is the limit

The minute a Rothschild or Rockefeller sells off oil shares, we know and we have an opinion about it.

September www.saleslife.co.za

VR everywhere…!

You heard it alright. 60% of all humans are under 30. We are 7 billion strong and growing! In America alone they account for over $1.6 Trillion in business. Millenials are well known for switching between various channels of marketing as they search for instant gratification hacks to life and its optimization. Predicting the purchasing habits and intuitively automating the process for millenials will be the key factor for call centres of the future-both in sales and customer service. Knowing your client takes precedent and this is no exception. I predict and sincerely hope that the trend we see in millenials awakening to a sustainable and spiritual future in business and leisure will continue to grow and the once revered ethics in business and commerce will become law again and commonplace.

Voice pitch, tone, pace will play a huge role in how we use our hardware and smart devices. Call centers will use voice biometrics to streamline the process of cumbersome dialing and entering data via clicking and punching on keys. Voice to text programs are already a dime a dozen and are easily available for download on the Internet. We are witnessing the early stages of its implementation and development. “Ask and you shall receive…” the old adage goes.

With the rise and ever growing advancement of systems and apps and social networks and the integration of all of them through the internet, we are seeing the tip of the iceberg only now. Call centers will harness all the data obtained from these mediums and leverage it to generate never before seen profits and resolve issues that in the past would have taken a considerable amount of time and resources to sort out. As seamless payment gates pop-up and people gain trust in using these mediums for payment after their favourite meal at their favourite restaurant such as Zapper, we see ourselves standing at the doorway to a blending of all things sales and marketing and social media along with technology merging and becoming one with each other.

I think we can agree. The future looks promising for the call center agent. Exciting times lie ahead for an industry which will only evolve and become the heart of any business and a resounding Yes! Humans will still be part of the equation for the next few decades. Call center sales WILL skyrocket like never before. All computers and phones will be wireless and virtual. No more tripping on twisted telephone cords running in and out of cubicles and workstations. Paperless systems employed and more use of online templated documents in a virtual in and out tray on the desktop. Streamlined processes. Universal CRMs and report tools all seamlessly integrated for analytics and connected on a cloud for storage as the world of commerce becomes one. “Now if we can only stop killing each other over oil and paper - money...I’ve got a client to attend to...Pass me my VR headset will ya? “Hello...How can I be of service to you?”

www.saleslife.co.za September

The Future

The Call Center of

Tomorrow

Now if we can only stop killing each other over oil and paper-money… I’ve got a client to attend to… Pass me my VR headset will ya? “Hello...How can I be of service to you?”

www.saleslife.co.za September

We all want to be able to close more sales and do it faster. Too many salespeople wind up spending all of their time chasing sales that simply take way too long to close. Optimization of time and energy is the future. Let’s look at 3 things you can do now that will help you close more sales faster…in 3 simple steps. Step 1- Focus energy on those people who can buy. Too many times the salesperson finds out too late that the person that they are dealing with is not honestly in a position to buy or even afford your product or service. This is a waste of time. Test Close early by asking clearly and sincerely : “What is the benefit for you to have this now?” Focus on clients that respond positively. Step 2- Introduce the element of time into the sales process very early. When we’re talking time, we’re looking at it from both your end as the salesperson and the customer’s end. The easiest manner is again by asking questions to get the customer thinking that buying now or earlier than they initially expected is going to help them. Once they provide you with a fact, run with it by asking a follow-up question — with the idea to begin magnifying the importance of buying soon. A few sample questions you can ask early might include: ● “What is the value for you to have this now & how will it benefit you?” ● “If we can get this early, how would it help you with everything else you have going on right now?”

Smarter Not harder Be still, listen actively. Express the urgency of their decision with calmness, sincerity and clarity. Step 3-Ask for the order now-Test close early.

Make it simple and easy. Offer the customer the means to step into the buying process in a way that requires minimum risk on their part. Your goal here is to gain the initial sale, which you can then leverage into the next sale. It is always far easier to gain a second sale from a customer who has already bought once from you than it is to find a totally new customer. With that being said, the easier you make the first sale, the easier and even faster it will be for you to secure the next sale. 1-2-3…Sold!

www.saleslife.co.za September

In 3 easy steps! We all want to be able to close more sales and do it faster. Too many salespeople wind up spending all of their time chasing sales that simply take way too long to close. Optimization of time and energy is the future. Let’s look at 3 things you can do now that will help you close more sales faster…in 3 simple steps. Step 1- Focus energy on those people who can buy. Too many times the salesperson finds out too late that the person that they are dealing with is not honestly in a position to buy or even afford your product or service. This is a waste of time. Test Close early by asking clearly and sincerely : “What is the benefit for you to have this now?” Focus on clients that respond positively. Step 2- Introduce the element of time into the sales process very early.

● “What is the value for you to have this now & how will it benefit you?” ● “If we can get this early, how would it help you with everything else you have going on right now?” Be still, listen actively. Express the urgency of their decision with calmness, sincerity and clarity. Step 3-Ask for the order now-Test close early. Make it simple and easy. Offer the customer the means to step into the buying process in a way that requires minimum risk on their part. Your goal here is to gain the initial sale, which you can then leverage into the next sale. It is always far easier to gain a second sale from a customer who has already bought once from you than it is to find a totally new customer. With that being said, the easier you make the first sale, the easier and even faster it will be for you to secure the next sale. 1-2-3…Sold!

www.saleslife.co.za September

Smarter Not harder

When we’re talking time, we’re looking at it from both your end as the salesperson and the customer’s end. The easiest manner is again by asking questions to get the customer thinking that buying now or earlier than they initially expected is going to help them. Once they provide you with a fact, run with it by asking a follow-up question — with the idea to begin magnifying the importance of buying soon. A few sample questions you can ask early might include:

procrastination

Defeat your arch-nemesis

procrastination

Defeat your arch-nemesis

5 step Plan! When we procrastinate we often work intensely for long stretches just before our deadlines. Working long and hard is the opposite of lazy, so that can’t be the reason we do it. So,why do we procrastinate and, more importantly, what can we do about it?

Some say they procrastinate because they are lazy. Others claim they “do better” when they procrastinate and “work best” under pressure. Virtually everyone who offers this explanation habitually procrastinates and has not completed an important academic task in which they made a plan, implemented it, and had time to review, etc. before their deadline. So, in reality, they can’t make a comparison about the circumstances under which they work best. Still other people say they like the “rush” of leaving things to the end and meeting a deadline. But they usually say this when they are NOT working under that deadline. They tend to make such statements long after cramming when they have forgotten the negative consequences of procrastinating such as feelings of anxiety and stress, fatigue, and disappointment from falling below their own standards and having to put their life on hold for chunks of time. Not to mention, leaving things to the end dramatically increases the chances something will go wrong – like getting sick or a computer problem – and not being able to pull off the desired grade. So, procrastination can be hard on us and actually increase our chances of failing, but we do it anyway.

September www.saleslife.co.za 28

First, to overcome procrastination you need to have an understanding of the REASONS WHY you procrastinate and the function procrastination serves in your life. You can’t come up with an effective solution if you don’t really understand the root of the problem. As with most problems, awareness and self-knowledge are the keys to figuring out how to stop procrastinating. Just knowing our true reasons for procrastinating makes it easier to stop. Time Management Techniques is one piece of the puzzle and finding motivation for productive reasons in engaging in tasks. Here is a 5 step superpower list to defeat your arch-nemesis, once and for all! • Commit If you feel really stuck, start simply by committing to complete a small task, any task, and write it down. Finish it and reward yourself. Write down on your schedule or “to do” list only what you can completely commit to, and if you write it down, follow through no matter what. By doing so you will slowly rebuild trust in yourself that you will really do what you say you will, which so many procrastinators have lost. • Surroundings When doing school work, choose wisely where and with whom you are working. Repeatedly placing yourself in situations where you don’t get much done and are easily distracted– such as “studying” in your bed, at a café or with friends – can actually be a kind of procrastination, a method of avoiding work. • Goals Focus on what you want to do, not what you want to avoid. Think about the productive reasons for doing a task by setting positive, concrete, meaningful learning and achievement goals for yourself.

Defeat your arch-nemesis

procrastination

September www.saleslife.co.za 29

• Be Realistic Achieving goals and changing habits takes time and effort; don’t sabotage yourself by having unrealistic expectations that you cannot reasonably meet. • Self-talk Notice how you are thinking, and talking to yourself. Talk to yourself in ways that remind you of your goals and replace old, counter-productive habits of self-talk. Instead of saying, “I wish I hadn’t…” say, “I will…” Be positive. Positive thoughts attract more positive outcomes. • Un-schedule If you feel really stuck, you probably won’t use a schedule that is a constant reminder of all that you have to do and is all work and no play. So, if your many attempts to make a schedule have failed miserably, make a largely unstructured, flexible schedule in which you slot in only what is necessary. Keep track of all the time you spend working toward your goals, tally it up, and reward yourself for it. This can reduce feelings of being overwhelmed and increase satisfaction in what you get done. • Swiss Cheese It Breaking down big tasks into little ones is a good approach. A variation on this is devoting short chunks of time to a big task and doing as much as you can in that time with few expectations about what you will get done. For example, try spending about ten minutes just jotting down ideas that come to mind on the topic of a paper, or skimming over a long reading to get just the main ideas. It won’t seem so huge because you’ve punched holes in it (like Swiss cheese). In short, it’ll be easier to complete the task because you’ve gotten started and removed some of the obstacles to finishing. Not this time procrastination! Goodness wins! Good self management triumphs today! “Now remember…There is no time like the present moment… Start Now! Well!? Why are you just sitting there!?”

Defeat your arch-nemesis

procrastination

September www.saleslife.co.za 30

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