JUST TO WHET YOUR APPETITE

I don't want anyone to get discouraged about this sales series I've started writing. You REALLY CAN make MORE MONEY if you add sales to your business plan! Just to help get you a little more excited about the possibilities sales can bring, I want to share a story.

A few months ago, I had to visit the other side of our great country. While there, I set up some training time with a couple of Hira-To owners. One of these students lived in one of the larger cities on the west coast. Part way through the day we had to stop the class so he could take care of some of his customers in the area. We set aside about an hour and a half for this.

To make a short story shorter, the bugger sold two shears and picked up enough sharpening to add up to just under $900 dollars! All in just an hour and a half!!! Now this was NOT a normal hour and a half! So don't start growing really big dollar signs in your eyes! But the point I wanted to make was a full 50% of this high dollar hour and a half was because of the shear sales.

Now it's not like this fellow just sold these shears out of the blue. The lady that bought them expressed an interest in one of them the week before, and that was one of the main motivators that pulled us out of class. She was already in his pipeline! (I'll be writing more about pipelines soon) What he didn't expect was to sell two shears! A nice surprise!

Now you may be thinking that this can happen only in a big city. NOT TRUE! I've personally witnessed similar results all over the country. So don't think sales can't add up for you! A shear sale can turn a good day into a spectacular day in the time it takes your customer to write a check! If you want to add to your bottom line, add sales! I'll share more about pipelines later this week.

A GREAT VIDEO

This is a video of Seth Godin speaking at the TED Conference in California. It is a good follow up to my last post about selling. It is also a great example of how to do a presentation with Power Point. I wanted to share it with you, but it's just shy of 19 minutes long, so be sure to set some time aside before you start it up. Let me know what you think. See ya next week!

BE A STORYTELLER

We live in an information age. We have more facts and data available to us through printed material, TV and especially the internet than ever before! We even hear the term "information overload" from time-to-time. So this provides us an opportunity to be storytellers instead of salespeople (information givers).

Jeffrey Gitomer often says, "People love to buy, but they hate to be sold." He and all the other sales professionals suggest that we create a buying "atmosphere", and not just offer a sales pitch. One of the most effective ways I found to do this is with storytelling.

While we live in an information age, we also live in a conceptual age. Too often we focus on the information side (left-side of the brain) and we don't focus enough on the conceptual side (right-side of the brain). Remember! Most healthy people use both sides of their noggin! With all the "information" available to us, the left side of the brain gets a workout, but the right side is left wanting.

While facts and data are important, we need to remember that we are all born storytellers and storylisteners. We all looked forward to show-and-tell when we were kids and we all spent time on the playground exchanging stories. But somewhere along the line, "story" became synonymous with fiction or even falsehood. So most salespeople shy away from them and focus on the facts. Bad move!

So what can we do with good stories? Let's give an example:

You walk into a salon with a display case of shears. You open it and the stylists are checking them out while you're sharpening. When you finish, you return the sharpened shears to your customers and ask if anyone has any questions about your samples. You hear, "Tell me about your shears."

You can respond with all the "facts" like 440 Stainless, 59 rockwell, ball bearing assembly, different metal mixes and watch your customers eyes glaze over. Or you can start telling stories about the ones you've sold. Like that customer that called just to tell you that she is so proud of her new shears and the way they make her feel when she cuts. The edge seems to last forever, they are super smooth and her hands don't hurt anymore when she goes home at night.

Which do you think will make a better impression? The facts or the story? The Story! The facts are good, and they can and should be woven into the story, but they shouldn't be the focus.

This is called "narrative imaging" and it helps to feed both sides of the brain. The left-side will pick up on the facts and the right-side will apply the mental images of those facts to the story. So be a story collector and a storyteller. Don't worry if you've never sold a shear before in your life! If this is your first time selling a shear, there's nothing wrong with telling your customer a story based on the "facts" you know about that shear and how you believe it will help them.

Bar none, the best book I've found on the subject of storytelling and how it relates to sales and marketing is Seth Godin's book, All Marketers are Liars. If this is a method you think you'd like to use in your sales, pick up a copy at Amazon, your local library or your local bookstore. It is well worth the investment and will give you much more detail than I can give in a post like this.

Image: tlt.ab.ca

I KNOW IT'S BEEN QUIET HERE

Sorry for being so quiet over the past couple of days. Mia, my 7 year old daughter, ended up with a pretty bad kidney infection, so I've been at home helping my wife with my two boys. Mia is fine now, but she gave us a good scare.

I'll be back posting tomorrow. :)

PS - Parenting has it moments doesn't it!

CANDIDATE TAX PLANS

I found this interesting site today. Take a look and see each presidential candidates position on different tax plans.

As small business people, we need to vote responsibly. Be sure to research all the candidates positions before you decide. Tax is just one of them!

Image: McDaniel7

44/20 WILL BE AT THE BARKLEIGH SHOW TOO

Mike Mailman just e-mailed me to let me know that 44/20 will be at the show too. Be sure to stop by their booth if you go!

MAKE THE RIGHT KIND OF MISTAKES!

This post is the first in of series of sales posts I told you I'd be writing. If you have points you'd like to add, let me know in the comments section. Here we go...

A quote by Niccolo Machiavelli ~

"All courses of action are risky, so prudence is not in avoiding danger (it's impossible), but calculating risk and acting decisively. Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer."

A brilliant point! And it begs a question that any sharpener (or salesperson for that matter) should be asking. What kind of actions are we taking?

Too often we are afraid to start our businesses or take them to the next level. "How do I file my sales tax?" "What will happen if I buy a bunch of inventory and it doesn't sell?" "How will I ever be able to sell myself" "I have to cold call?!!" "I'm not a salesman!" "They won't want my shears!"

It's easy for us to come up with excuses to NOT take action. Starting a business, or taking it to another level, is rarely a comfortable process. This is because it forces us to step out of our comfort zones. Every part of it "feels" risky. This leads to fear! But that fear is often unfounded. Mark Twain said this ~

"I am an old man and have known many troubles, but most of them never happened."

All of the concerns I've heard above aren't real; they're perceived. Let's answer each:

"How do I file my sales tax?" - Just call your county offices. In ever town and state I've lived I've found the people that work in county administration helpful and knowledgeable. Most if this can also be done online or through an accountant. I'm embarrassed to tell all of you that one of the first questions I asked Lee Wolff when I started my sharpening business in the early nineties was, "How will I pay my taxes?" He said, "Why don't you worry about making some money before you worry about paying taxes?" I've applied this kind of advise to every "perceived" obstacle in my life ever since.

"What will happen if I buy a bunch of inventory and it doesn't sell?" - The great part about the kind of inventory we typically stock as sharpeners is it doesn't spoil! A husband and wife team called just the other day and were lamenting over whether to buy 12 shears from a supplier because they had to order 12 of each shear to meet their minimum. I asked, "Why are you worried about this?" They said, "What if we can't sell them?" I then pointed out that the shears don't spoil, they are buying them a 50% off list and if worst comes to worst, they can always sell them for what they paid for them. This is a classic case of VERY little risk and LOTS of potential reward.

"How will I ever be able to sell myself" or "I have to cold call?!!" - Putting yourself in front of people and facing rejection can be scary. The best advise I can give is just force yourself to do it. It is always hard to do the first few times you do it. But the more you knock on doors and ask for business, the easier it gets. Before you know it your confidence level will grow and so will your business. Don't get too hung up on this though! I could point you to all kinds of great books and videos online, but NOTHING teaches like DOING!

"I'm not a salesman!" and "They won't want my shears!" You can be if you work at it! And how do you KNOW no one will be interested in the shears you're carrying?

Part of starting a business is overcoming fear. This is a risk, but the right KIND if risk! So here are a few exercises I want you to start working on.

1. If you haven't started your business yet, go to OfficeMax or www.vistaprint.com and order some cards. Set a goal to visit 5 to 10 customers each day for the next 2 weeks if your starting part-time or 30 to 40 if full-time. Do more if you can! Don't worry if they say no, just keep knocking and don't quit!

2. If you're already sharpening and having trouble selling shears, start taking you display case into the shops with you EVERY TIME! Lay them out when you say hello. Leave it open while you're sharpening. And before you leave, ask if anyone has any questions about the shears they looked at. Sometimes they'll be too busy to look, but if they have any free time, people that work with shears LOVE to try new ones! Give them the opportunity! You will sell more of them I promise!

The next sales post in this series will be based on a quote about how to succeed. Keep your eyes open! It will be coming soon!

Image: Freedom of Expression

KENCHII ON THE WEST COAST

Andrew wrote me and asked that a post all of you that Kenchii is headed to the west coast to do a show. Many of our friends on the other side of our great country have wanted to see the Kenchii Line, and now you all have a chance! Here is the run down of where they will be:

Kenchii will be at 2008 the Groom and Kennel Expo. It will be held in Burbank California at the Marriott Burbank. The hotel address is:

2500 Hollywood Way
Burbank, CA 91505

This show is put on by Barkleigh Productions and their website is:

www.barkleigh.com

The trade show dates are:

February 8th through the 10th

Admission is only $25.00 for all 3 days or $10.00 per day ($15.00) at the door. If you can, you should attend! It will give you a chance to see Kenchii's Line and all their newest stuff. The shows are also a learning experience in themselves. If you go, let me know what you thought!