Published By Art Sobczak, Business By Phone Inc.
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This Week's Tip:
Others Just Like You Show
Success With This

Greetings!

I almost fell off the elliptical machine
at the gym, laughing this morning while
watching the news.

People apparently were lined up all night
long, all over the country to get one of
the first copies of--get this--the VIDEO
GAME, "Grand Theft Auto." I guess there is
even a simulated hooker in it. That's about
as close as many of these geeks will get to...
Oh never mind.

These people are too easy of target to
pick on. How many different ways can you
say "LOSER"?

I wonder how many of these same people have
ever waited in line at, or even been in
a bookstore.

Also wonder what their ratio of time and
money invested in video games is compared
to what they do for their own physical,
intellectual, and career self-improvement.

It's no secret that the most successful
people in any area are those that invest
in themselves.

Jim Rohn says that "Poor people have big
TV's. Rich people have big libraries."

In the biography of Harry Houdini, the
author writes that Houdini needed many moving
vans for his library of books when he moved
into a new home. He was one of the greatest
magicians of all time, and not coincidentally,
one of the greatest students.

And one characteristic I've seen in all of
the most successful, and wealthy sales reps I've
been around over the past 25 years is the
appetite for information, and the desire to
always get better.

Conversely, I just shake my head at those
that say, "I've been in sales x number of
years. I'm experienced. I've had training."

Kind of like, "Yeah, I had the measles. I
won't get that again."

Personally, I probably have more books on
sales, communication, self-motivation, and
marketing than 99.9% of the population. Wall-to-
wall libraries in one main office and two
home offices. I admit, I'm a compulsive
book and information buyer, and always
realize there is so much more to learn.

Any time I read or hear about a book that
will help me, or you, I immediately go to
amazon.com. And that is what this Tip is
about today: how Amazon use that cool technique
of giving you other choices of books based
on the one you look at or purchase.

I always impulse-buy a few other titles because
of this headline screaming at me:

"Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought..."

From a sales and psychological perspective this
is brilliant for two reasons. Two reasons you
can use as well to make more sales.

"Social Proof"
In his must-have book for anyone in persuasion,
"Influence: Science and Practice," Dr. Robert
Cialdini discusses the principle of Social Proof.
He says, "95 percent of people are imitators and
only 5 percent initiators, so people are persuaded
more by the actions of others than by any proof
we can offer."

What this means is that if someone else has done
it or said it, it carries more credibility than if
we say it.

So, if other people liked this book that I'm buying,
they are probably like me, know something about these
other books, so I guess I should as well.

When you want to make a claim about the value of your
product or service, giving examples of the experiences,
or better yet, the exact words of others carries
tremendous weight.

The "People are Interested in Other People" Principle
I don't have any psychological studies or scientific
textbooks to prove this point. Just my own observations
and experience. You could also call it the "People
Magazine" theory. Or the "Reality TV Rule."

Bottom line, people get obsessed with the lives of
others. Why, otherwise, is there a long-running TV
show where the premise is watching a bunch of people
live in a house together? Why are there TV shows and
magazines devoted to what "celebrities" do, wear, and
where they go?

Well, tweaking this a bit for our sales purposes, I believe
that in business, we are interested in what others who
are similar to us, say and do.

OK, so how do we use these two principles in sales?

First, you can use a version of the Amazon.com technique
on opening statements to calls to regular customers.

This type of call, by the way, is often mishandled,
often started out with something lame like, "Well, I
was checking in with you," or, "Hadn't talked in a while
and thought I'd touch base to see how you are doing."

No value there. Instead, use something like,

"Mike, I've been studying what you have been purchasing
from us over the past couple of years--and thank you by
the way for the opportunity to work with you--and I'd
like to run something by you that others in your situation
really have taken advantage of with us."

Or, "Pam, thanks for your recent order of the X84
hair removal appliances. I was talking to another store
owner whose shop is exactly the same size as yours in a
similar market, and he told me about something he's doing
in combination with those products that has really
exploded his sales."

And in the recommendation phase of the call you can use
these principles and techniques as simply as,

"I was just talking to another defense attorney who has
the same challenge that you're running into, and here's
how we were able to help him..."

"We've worked with 12 other similar accounting firms
specializing in audit work, helping them cut down their
duplication of paperwork and increase their billings,
ranging from 10% to 40%."

ACTION STEP
Think of the ways you can use Social Proof and the
People Principle to make your own openings, and
other parts of your message more interesting, and
persuasive.

And oh, revisiting my point earlier about the best
and smartest people investing in themselves, right
now I'd like you to watch the video message I've
taped for you, making you a crazy offer in celebration
of my 25 years in business. Go to
http://www.businessbyphone.com/25A.htm
_________________________________________________

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"It is impossible for a man to learn what he
thinks he already knows."
Epictetus

Go and have your best week ever!

Art

Planning Your 2008 National Sales Meeting
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?

I've done a number of these so far this year, and the calendar is
filling up for the rest of 2008. To ensure you get the date you
want, get in touch with me.

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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