Tel-E Sales Tip of the Week
January 29, 2007

Published By Art Sobczak, Business By Phone Inc.
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Greetings!

When I coached young athletes, both males
and females, and being the parent of
one who played at an elite level through
high school, conversations among coaches
and parents often included the "want to"
when describing skill and performance.

The "want to" is the individual's attitude
and resulting work ethic.

You really can't coach or teach the "want to."

It must come from within.

And I maintain it is more important than
talent. The list is long of kids who had
great God-given talent, but were lazy
and never developed it, or even used it.

And the list is almost as long of the kids
who were not blessed with natural ability,
but WANTED so passionately to play and
succeed that they surpassed the more
naturally-talented kids.

I was that kid in high school. I blew
out my knee as a sophomore at football
practice and couldn't play basketball, my
real love, my sophomore and junior years.

I had rehabbed it adequately by my senior
year but missed two years of playing time
and development. I went out for the team
anyway. The coach told me that he never
kept kids who didn't play all three prior
years, and that I should not even try out.

But I wanted it more, and hustled harder
than anyone else in the week-long tryouts.
When the final cut list was posted, he
told me that he had no choice but to keep me.

The "want to" also applies to adults and
sales. I believe that your attitude
contributes much more to your ultimate
success than any ability. Because, if
the "want to" is there, you will do what
it takes to be successful.

So how do you work on your own "want-to"?

In addition to being a sales-information
junkie, I also love motivational and
inspirational books and audios. We do
need to continually toss logs on the
motivational and inspirational fires to
keep them burning. And that's a long
lead-in to today's message.

Today I have two book recommendations for
you (I am receiving no compensation from
the sales of either, by the way), and a brief
excerpt from one that will serve as this
week's Tip. It inspires, and also ties into
sales, particularly on the phone.

_________________________________________

"The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a
Powerful Business Idea"
People often ask me, “What’s the most
important thing I can do to be more successful
in sales.” If I told them, “Give more,” they’d
probably dismiss it as a nice but impractical,
“touchy-feely” zen-like, tofu-eating out-there
sort of thought. If they only knew!

My friend Bob Burg, along with John David Mann
have written a powerful little book entitled
"The Go-Giver" which was just released for
the new year. It is inspirational, motivating,
and perhaps even life-changing.

To get the message of this book out into
the world, they had a one-day sale
where they were offering the book at a nice
discount and giving away a $297 set of amazing
videos as a bonus.

Well, I screwed up and missed mentioning it
to you, but convinced Bob to let me offer
it now. For details, go to
http://www.thegogiver.com/amazon

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This Week's Tip: 
He Asks "How Are You" And
Really Means It
One topic that is always discussed at my training
workshops is the "How are you today?" question at
the beginning of sales calls.

I've addressed that topic in a previous Tip, but
today a good friend sent me an email with a story
that really makes a point regarding its use, and
and inspired me to put it in my own email to you.

The following is an excerpt from the book,
"The Richest Man in Town." I was so moved by the
story that I immediately ordered the book. Here
is the excerpt.
__________

The Handshake
(Excerpted from "The Richest Man In Town")
By V.J. Smith

It's amazing what can happen just by paying
attention. Besides, I never thought I would
have a life-changing experience at Wal-Mart.

I don't remember the exact date I met Marty
for the first time. Up to that moment,
nothing that day seemed particularly important--
certainly not what brought me to the store
in the first place.

Like a lot of people who want to get through
a checkout line, my thoughts were on speed,
nothing more. The line I was standing in
wasn't moving as quickly as I wanted, and I
glanced toward the cashier.

There stood an affable-looking man in his
seventies. Slightly stooped and of average
build, he wore glasses and a nice smile.
I thought, well, he's an old guy and it
probably takes him a little longer to get
the chores done.

For the next few minutes I watched him.
He greeted every customer before he began
scanning the items they were purchasing.

Sure, his words were the usual, "How's
it going?" But he did something different--
he actually listened to people. Then he
would respond to what they had said and
engaged them in brief conversation.

I thought it was odd, but I guess I had
grown accustomed to people asking me how
I was doing simply out of a robotic
conversational habit.

After a while, you don't give any
thought to the question and just mumble
something back. I could say, "I just found
out I have six months to live," and
someone would reply, "Have a great day!"

This old cashier had my attention. He
seemed genuine about wanting to know how
people were feeling. Meanwhile, the high-
tech cash register rang up their purchases
and he announced what they owed.

Customers handed money to him, he punched
the appropriate keys, the cash drawer popped
open, and he counted out their change.

Then magic happened.

He placed the change in his left hand,
walked around the counter to the customer,
and extended his right hand in an act of
friendship.

As their hands met, the old cashier looked
the customers in the eyes. "I sure want
to thank you for shopping here today." he
told them. "You have a great day. Bye-bye."

The looks on the faces of the customers
were priceless.  There were smiles and some
sheepish grins. All had been touched by
his simple gesture - and in a place they
never expected.

Some customers would walk away, pause for
a moment, and look back at the old cashier,
now busy with the next customer. It was
obvious they couldn't quite comprehend
what had just happened. They would gather
their things and walk out the door smiling.

Now it was my turn. As expected, he asked
me how I was doing. I told him I was having
a good day. "That's good", he said. "I'm
having a good day, too." I glanced down at
the name tag on his red vest, the kind
experienced Wal-Mart cashiers wore.

It read, "Marty."

I said, "It looks like you enjoy your
job, Marty."

He replied, "I love my job."

Marty told me how much I owed and I
handed him some money. The next thing
I knew he was standing beside me, offering
his right hand and holding my change in
his left hand.

His kind eyes locked onto mine. Smiling,
and with a firm handshake, he said, "I
sure want to thank you for shopping here
today. Have a great day. Bye-bye."

At the moment I wanted to take him home
and feed him cookies. It was as if Sam
Walton had come back from the dead and
invaded this old guy's body.

I left the store, walked through the
parking lot and got into my car. On the
drive home I couldn't shake what had just
happened. I had been in the store a
hundred times and had never walked away
feeling like that.

Who was that guy?

You can read about Marty in "The Richest
Man in Town," a true story that
captures the important things
in life in an unforgettable way. It is
beautifully written and will make you
laugh, make you cry, but most importantly,
it will make you reflect on what life is about.

Get it here or paste this entire link in
your browser:
http://www.motivationinaminute.com/-p-27.html?MIAMSRC=W080130

(Reprinted with permission of Simple Truths,
LLC. Copyright 2008, all rights reserved)

________________________________________


QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"It is not because things are difficult
that we do not dare, it is because we do
not dare that they are difficult."
Seneca

By the way, would you like to sample over $500
worth of my proven sales techniques, including 21 podcasts,
36 monthly subscription newsletters, and more, for less than
4 bucks? Right now go to
http://www.TelesalesSuccess.com

_______________________________________

Planning Your 2008 National Sales Meeting,
Beginning-of-Year Kickoff, Or any of Your 2008
Training? Let Me Help You Make It the Best Ever
If your company or association would benefit from a content-packed,
entertaining, interactive, how-to customized workshop on any
part of, or the entire telesales and prospecting call and process,
let's talk. I specialize in developing and delivering programs
that get sales reps saying and doing the right things, right
away, to get more YES answers from prospects and customers.
Isn't it time that the organization does something special
for the most important part of the sales process? Size of
group does not matter; I've done programs for as few as three
people and as big as 2000. If your people are not saying and
doing the right things by phone, nothing else matters. Let
me help you ensure it.

For more info, go to http://businessbyphone.com/art.htm, or
contact me at ArtSobczak@BusinessByPhone.com, or call
me at (402)895-9399. (Special incentive for Scottsdale/Phoenix
programs) 
 

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Reprint These Tips In Your Own Publication
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request. Contact: Art Sobczak, President, Business By Phone Inc. 13254 Stevens St.,
Omaha, NE 68137, (402) 895-9399.  Or, email:arts@businessbyphone.com

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