How You Can Quickly Engage and Connect with Your Buyers. With Jim Keenan. #352

Welcome to Sales Kick-Off Week on Accelerate!

Joining me on Day Three of the Accelerate! Virtual Sales Kick-off Week is my guest Jim Keenan.

Jim Keenan, (known to friends simply as Keenan) is the Sales Guy, an author, speaker, and consultant, who runs a burgeoning sales empire. You can find him online at ASalesGuy.com.

On Day Three of our 2017 Virtual Sales Kick-off Meeting, Keenan is focused on helping you become the best, and most productive, version of yourself in 2017.

In this episode, Keenan provides strategies to help you more quickly and effectively engage with your prospects; to teach you how to really focus on the needs of the prospects and how to build authentic relationships with your buyers that lead to orders.

Are you ready for some inspiration to take your game to the next level in 2017? Start today by listening to this episode now!

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

[1:15] Jim is a teacher at heart and an agitator, who loves change and motivation. He applies it all, in the world of sales and social, through his company and the online tools available.

[3:07] Jim does not want salespeople to worry about what might be ‘the big thing’ coming up. He wants people to ask themselves, where is their greatest opportunity for growth as a salesperson, within their industry, space, and product set.

[3:56] Some of the important concerns of salespeople are being able to connect with buyers, manage their own time, and master all the tools at their disposal.

[5:02] Engagement doesn’t come from a tool. It is difficult, and is becoming more so, as more of your competitors try to engage your prospects. It’s an attention war.

[7:35] Authenticity is the key factor. Authenticity says you are being real, and intellectually and emotionally honest. It isn’t manipulation. It puts the prospect’s needs first.

[11:59] Remove yourself from the equation. When you reach out to a prospect, offer value to them, do not ask for yourself. This requires research, to know what help they need.

[14:01] When you’re authentically committed to their end result, engagement is easier. If you know nothing about their business, they will see you cannot help them.

[15:25] You know that you’re a brilliant salesperson, if a company would hire you, for your expertise, as a consultant to solve the problems in their company that your product solves.

[18:28] The best salespeople are Renaissance people, with a vast knowledge of all kinds of stuff, that they can pull out in the sale, that enhances the conversation.

[21:43] As a salesperson, don’t let your quota be your goal. Own your job. Build over your quota, and include personal mastery and development goals. Plan and calendar how and when to execute your revenue goals and mastery goals.

[23:57] Write down your planned steps. Reverse-engineer them to your goals. Will the things you wrote down get you to the numbers in your goal? If not, re-work them, until you come up with executable steps that will hit your goals.

[29:58] Sales managers need to start focusing on their team as individuals, not on the revenue numbers. Ask, where is my team in relation to the success factors they need? Then build a coaching plan for each representative.

MORE ABOUT JIM KEENAN

Is it easier to teach a technical non-salesperson how to sell, or to teach a salesperson how to sell a technical product?

A real salesperson how to sell a technical product. Easy.

What is one non-sales book, even a novel, that you think every salesperson should read?

Animal Farm, by George Orwell, or Lord of the Flies, by William Golding. Both books are about influence to shape decisions.

If you could change one thing about your business self, what would it be?

I’m too easily distracted. I need to get better at being more focused, longer, and not be distracted.

Do you have a favorite quotation, or words of wisdom, that you live by?

“The value of something is measured, not by how badly you want it, but by what you are willing to give up for it.” ― Keenan

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