Willy: I don't know why - I can't stop myself - I talk too much. A man oughta come in with a few words. Charlie's a man of few words, and they respect him. Linda: You don't talk too much, you're just lively. Arthur Miller - Death of a Salesman We all have sympathy for poor Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman. He knew he talked too much, but he couldn't figure out why. And he couldn't stop talking too much even though he wanted to be like Charlie, a man of few words, who was respected by all. Let’s face it. Salespeople talk too much. And when sales people talk too much, they generate too few customers. So why do those of us trying to grow our pipelines constantly find ourselves in this position? Perhaps because, we do not understand why we talk too much. Let's start there. Why Do You Talk Too Much? I need to pitch my product or service: Of course you do. How else will the prospect know if you and your products are any good? However, prospects at first want to know whether you are a good fit for working with them as much as evaluating your level of technical competence. Remember, "no one cares how much you know until they know how much you care."      

We haven’t said much about the launch of our new book on this blog, and it’s certainly not for a lack of excitement about it. In fact, we’ve been incredibly busy since the beginning of this year preparing for the launch of the book, which will be next Tuesday, April 19, and in the midst of all the activity, we haven’t even mentioned it yet here on the blog. The book just hit bookstores! Thus you can buy a copy now. But if you wait until next week, you will have the opportunity to access a ton of special bonus gifts we’re putting together for you from ourselves along with authors and experts including Jill Konrath, Jeffrey Gitomer, Dave Kahle, Art Sobczak, Tim Wackel, and many, many more.      

Our new book is finally here: Rainmaking Conversations: Influence, Persuade, and Sell in Any Situation. After close to a decade of research, training tens of thousands of people, and a year in the writing process, we’re thrilled with how it came out. If you want a guide to leading masterful sales conversations this is it. We cover everything from generating initial discussions to uncovering needs to overcoming objections to winning the sale. We wanted to bring sales conversation to life, so each chapter is peppered liberally with examples, stories, and tips.      

Look in the mirror, and ask yourself these 6 questions. Imagine for a minute you’re a master carpenter. You’ve been building houses your whole life, trying your best to hone your craft and deliver the highest quality work every day that you possibly could. Then one day, you’re presented with the opportunity to teach your craft - a craft you’ve been honing for 30 years - to someone else. Let’s say for argument’s sake that this person has positively average talent! They have no better raw abilities than anyone else you might run into that barely knows the difference between a router and a miter saw. But they’ve told themselves that they’re going to be the best carpenter that’s ever walked the face of the planet. They’re going to prove to themself, and in the process everybody else, that they will become a master craftsman, a craftsman with the skills that rival the best carpenters in the land. Now imagine for a minute that they really mean it...      

Earlier this week we announced the launch of our new book, Rainmaking Conversations and we’ve been absolutely thrilled with the response so far. The book has reached the #1 bestseller spot on Amazon in a number of categories...      

Are you giving yourself a chance of a bullseye? "Like a poor marksman you keep…missing…the target. Kaaahhhnnn!!!" - Admiral James T. Kirk There was this one sales person I know that worked very hard, but he always seemed to be middle of the pack when it came to results. He had good skills. He was a good guy. But the results just weren’t there. One day I got a chance to watch him in action. Early in the day I asked him what his plan was for the day, and he said, "Sell, of course." There wasn’t much rhyme or reason to it as he plowed forward. At the end of the day, I asked him if he met his goals for the day, and if he felt like he was on the right track to hit his sales and personal income target. He didn’t have much to say on either point...      

Confused why your value prop doesn't work? You shouldn't be. "We build brands…" Back in the late 90s when I was a running a marketing firm, this was the beginning of our value proposition. We thought it was brilliant… until we started using it. This was how we were going to engage prospects. The only problem:  nobody found it all that engaging. You can’t sell what you can’t describe, and in prospecting situations, where you may have just seconds to make an impression, if you’re not engaging and easily understood, you’re toast. I now know we were expecting too much from one simple statement...      

I write to you today, seller, because I want you to succeed. Dear Seller, Sorry it didn’t work out this time, but I have to say "no." I tried to buy from you, but too many things got in the way. You made too many sales mistakes that ended up losing you the sale. This has happened to me more times than I’d like to admit in the last few months. If you’re trying to sell to me, and you’re willing to change a few things in your sales process, we have a good shot at making it happen next time.  Reading this letter is a great start. If you want the next time to turn out differently, here are a few things you can do to tip the scales in your favor:      

I really wanted a new basketball for my 6th birthday - so big sis went to the sidewalk to talk influence strategy... When I was 6 I wanted a basketball for my birthday. I didn’t ask my dad for it myself. I sent in the big gun: my sister Allyson. I gave her the 411 on what I wanted and why, and we proceeded with a white board session where we mapped out all of the possible ways to get the decision makers to rule in our favor. (OK, as talented an 8 year old as Allyson was, maybe no white board. But we did talk about it, and she was a mean sidewalk chalk girl.) Shortly thereafter, we green lighted operation Cedric Maxwell. A few hours later, the qualified decision maker (a.k.a. Dad) came to see me. As he tells me the story, he asked me why I sent my sister in to lobby for me. My answer, "She’s the better convincer."      

How would you like to get sales advice from some of the top sales experts in the world for $5.00? You can by attending the online presentation of your choice during the 2011 Sales & Marketing Success Conference beginning Monday, May 9th through Friday, May 13th. Organized by Jonathan Farrington, over 35 sales experts are each giving 30-minute presentations on critical sales topics. What’s even better than the price is that, all the proceeds go to the recovery efforts of the recent Tohoku earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident in Japan by way of the Red Cross Japan Disaster Funds. Help yourself while you’re helping others! Check out the full schedule now.