How to get some to "tell you more about that"

In order to build rapport and maintain momentum there are nine ways to say “tell me more about that” using a question:

1. Why is that?
2. What are your ideas /opinions /thoughts) on _________?
3. What did you mean when you said __________?
4. Why is that important/ essential/ relevant in your opinion?
5. How does that look /feel/ seem to you?
6. What are some examples of _________?
7. What’s your definition of __________?
8. Can you elaborate on _________?
9. What does _________ mean for you?

As with most conversational sales skills, delivery is all-important. There are three keys to using these questions effectively:

1. Be really curious. If these questions are going to build rapport, you’ve got to be able to communicate (non-verbally and verbally) that you are truly interested in the prospect. If you really do care, the prospect will sense this and (being human) feel flattered.
2. Do your research. I hate to keep harping on this point, but every sales conversation needs to come from a place of knowledge and authority. Without research, you’ll end up asking a question about something obvious and end up looking ill-informed or foolish.
3. Use a cue card. Unless you’re some kind of sales savant, you’re not going to be able to remember all nine questions. Post a copy of them by your telephone and in your day-minder. Flip to the list when you’re in the meeting. Use different questions at different times during the conversation.

Why do so many doors that request you to push actually have handles?

Axiom:
It is more cost-effective to manufacture, inventory and distribute a single version and have users under utilise those superfluous features versus creating 2 distinct versions.

Example:
It would be more costly to have multiple versions of doors for pushing and pulling. By creating one version manufacturing, inventory and distribution costs are reduced.
This is viable as under-utilising the product feature has a 0-cost for the user.

Why don't freezers have lights when fridge compartments do?

This comes down to the Cost-Benefit Principle, which states: an action should be take if and only if the extra benefit outweighs the extra cost.

Producers have no incentive to add an extra feature to a product unless it adds sufficent value to a product to allow them charge enough to more than cover its cost and complexity.

This is the technically feasible versus commercially feasible evaluation companies must under-go. Just because we CAN do it doesn't mean we should.

Axiom:
The perceived value of having a light in the freezer compartment of your refridgerator does not justify the added cost and complexity.

Example:
The light in a fridge compartment is useful only when their is no additional lighting. This is typically late at night when you stroll into the kitchen for a midnight snack. Given this "primary usage scenario" it would be very unlikely that individuals would be "midnight snacking" on ice lollys, ice cream and frozen peas. Therefore they would require lighting only for the fridge compartment and not the freezer compartment.

Possible Exceptions:
On a rare occasion they may require a light in the freezer, but these instances are so few and far between users would not typically have sufficent usage to justify the additional cost. For those that do have that requirement there exists such high-end refridgerators with a starting price at around £10,000.

Why do people appear less friendly and more rushed in large cities like London and New York vis-a-vis smaller countryside towns?

Axiom:
The opportunity cost (the potential value you are missing out on) of people in larger cities is much greater than the opportunity cost of those living in smaller country towns.

Example:
Asking for directions on a busy street or in a busy train station may result in you being ignored or brushed off. Do the same in a small town and people are likely to take their time to help you out.

Because London has a higher wage rate and a wide array of activities to partake in, stopping to chat or stopping to help others has a larger opportunity cost than it might have for those in a less activity rich town.

Why does it not make sense to design shoes in banana yellow or tomato red colours en masse?

Axiom: It is a lot less costly to hold a single inventory & have a simple delivery process versus a an array of various variations.

Example: Most shoes and bags are found in the colours brown and black. This is because most consumers more commonly purchase shoes of this colour. Now, there are a small percentage of individuals that could easily wear shoes in banana yellow or tomato red. However these individuals are so few it would not make commercial sense to produce shoes in these colours for the following reasons:

a) Any excess manufactured shoes would not be sold even in a sale unlike the more common colours of brown & black. This is because most users would not be disuaded to chose these because of the price but rather because of the colour. Changing the price would not influence their decision. It would be costly to be forced to make a loss on these excess shoes.

b) We know a smaller amount of these colours would need to be manufactured. Now, because fewer are manufactured using this different process to that of the more commonly sold black and brown shoes these shoes would suffer from diseconomies of scale as each unit would be manufactured at an increased per unit cost.

c) We know the more common colours of black & brown will sell more frequently. This will free up shelf space for other items. On the other hand, the less frequent selling shoes will take up the costly inventory place of shoes with a higher turn over.

Possible Exceptions:
Some stores actually specialise in such unique shoe wear. Inorder to justify the increased per unit cost and the lower turnover they charge a much higher premium for these shoes. Such stores are know as boutique stores.

Elevator Pitching!

An "elevator pitch" is a concise verbal executive summary of an idea or a proposal. The name is derived from the notion that if, one day you were to meet an executive in the elevator (we assume this is the only time you would have the opportunity to share the same air as an executive!) you would have 20 -30 seconds of their undivided and unescapable attention to pitch your idea. So you better be brief and you better be good!

Here are some steps to get you perfectly geared for that occasion:

''Starts with an intriguing truism - The prospect begins by agreeing with you.''

In today's workplace everyday we are bombarded with reams of information.

We have inboxes overflowing with emails, gigabytes of documents on our disk drives and shared drives.

There are web articles to read, newsletters to scan, and internal documents to study.

''How do we help them mitigate this truism? - What is the need?"

If you want to be able to keep your head above the sea of data you need an effective way to avoid "overload"

by aggregating, digesting and mining this information in order to extract only those pieces of information that are most pertinent to you and your particular context.

"How can we help you satisfy that need? - How will that benefit you?"

We specialise in enabling large distributed global organisations quickly pull together all their information

to extract all content relevant to them and only that content.

This allows for quick informed decisions based on the best possble information.

"How can we prove our credibility? - Quantifiable and Qualifiable proof"

We have enabled companies like Citi Bank, RBS, Barclays, Reuteurs, Dow Jones, The Financial Times, Dell, IBM, Cisco to increase productivity, eradicate information management costs and launch new business strategies using our technology.

"Close with a call to action question"

Would you be interested in learning out how you could increase profits and reduce existing costs using our technology?

[TEACS] Truism.Example.Action Required.How Help.Credibility.Successes.

#1: The lead-in. This is the set-up statement for the conversation. It’s intended to spark initial interest from the (potential) prospect. If interest is shown, you move to…
#2: The differentiator. This identifies the sales rep, the sales rep’s firm or the firm’s offering as a unique resource that deserves immediate attention. You them move immediately to…
#3: The engagement question. This is an open-ended conversation starter that allows the sale rep to assess the prospect’s interest level. Based upon that level of interest, you move to…
#4: The call to action. This is the request for a meeting to discuss the matter further, thereby moving moving the opportunity into your pipeline. These vary according to the level of interest that the other person shows.
If you’re interested in learning more and seeing some examples, I suggest the original post “Craft a Killer Elevator Pitch in 6 Easy Steps“.
Now that you understand the concept, here’s the sample that I received from the Sales Machine reader, who’s a newly-minted sales professional:
Lead-in: “We make quality parts for die cutters at a fair price, saving our customers 25% of what they would have paid for brand-name parts.”
Differentiator: “We have a unique innovation called the “Plus Bar,” which has its components bolted rather than welded to the shell. That way, when something breaks, it can be fixed immediately and the bar is still intact-saving time and money.”
Engagement Questions: “Ha, I guess you can relate to that problem! What kind of die cutters does your company use?” or “You must know the industry. What’s your story?”
Call to Action (if prospect skeptical): “If we could really trim down your maintenance budget and save some money, what would your thoughts be on having an initial conversation with us to hear more?”
Call to Action (if prospect neutral): “What would your thoughts be on having an initial conversation with us about trying the Plus bar? What is your availability over the next few weeks?”
Call to Action (if prospect obliging): “I would love to have an initial phone conversation with you about saving some money with the Plus Bar. What’s the best way to get on your calendar?”
Call to Action (if prospect interested): “How can I get on your calendar?”

What do I need to know to give kick-ass presentations and speeches?

As part of my role I am required to give presentations at least 3 times a week. These are not always the same presentations and almost never to the same audience. Over the past year I have identified some of the key steps to conducting successful presentations, that is not to say I have implemented them myself, however I have discovered them .. this coming year will be implementation ..

''Open Strong''
'Start with the content that you are most confident and familiar with. First impressions last. This will give you the confidence to nail the other pieces'

''Open and Close each section with outlines. Have clear transitions''
- "I have 5 things I want to share with you today. They are .. So let's get started."

- "The first thing I want to share with you is ..."

- "So that was X ..., and that was the first thing I wanted to share with you today."

''Know your story and build Milestones'' - Rathermemorizing your script use milestones. These milestones will be the key points on your slide. Don't just repeat verbatim each milestone as you come to it, rather echo it x3 using different words and describe "what does this mean" .

E.g. for the key point - "less aware of opportunities" we can use the talking points:

- They were less aware of opportunities, less cognosent of market dynamics, less up to date on their industry. What did this mean? This meant that there was an opportunity cost as they missed out on potential windows of opportunity.

''Clear Theme + 3''

Have a single clear theme and 3 main points that speak to that theme.

''Have a chat''

Speak to the audience as you would to friends. Be conversational. Don't speak like Steve Hawkins. Albeit, he can't help it.

''Begin with the End'' - Identify the key messages you want to leave the audience with. Use this to work backwards and create your Story.

- Incresed Productivity = increased profit

- Reduce time spent gathering = More time on high-value tasks

''Narrate'' - We all like to listen to stories and they make absorbtion of information so much easier. [SPADO]

- Set the Scene - What could be HEARD? What could be SEEN? What could be FELT?

- Identify the Players and what they were hoping to do/Achieve

- Describe how the plot Deviated from expectaions

- Describe what was the result of this Other Outcome

In addition to Stories, the use of Analaogies, Facts, Examples and Metaphors [FAMES] can realyy be used to enhance a presentation, facilitate understanding and ensure recall.

Create a dialogue between parties "She asked, How did you manage to improve search" "To which he responded.."

''Strategic Pause'' - During your presentation you may need to pause, so have a few options:

- use "OK?", "Right?" at the end off each sentence.

- have a glass of water strategically placed. They will just have to wait for you to finish your drink.

- Ask a question to them.

Pausing after a statement or fact also has powerful effects. A la Clinton and Obama - Try it!

''Engage The Audience''

- Use descriptive language - onomatopoeia, analogies, metaphors, anecdotes, examples.

- Relate and refer to thier realities

- Ask them questions:

• Is this making any sense or am I speaking technicalese ? Don't be afraid to say no!'
• Are you getting a feel for what it is/what it can do? Don't be afraid to say no!'
• 'What would you like to see/hear?'
• 'Is there anything you would like covered in more detail?'

- Make the presentation appear personalised - using their examples - use inclusive words - You, Our, We

- Use Humour: It puts you at ease and the audience.

‘’ WOW the audience - be Passionate‘’ Use phrases like:

"This is really awesome.." "The really cool thing here is.." "The extraordinary thing about this is.." "The amazing thing here is .." "What I find really cool is.."

‘’ Make numbers meaningful‘’

"It is a 12GB memory stick" vs. "It has enough memory to allow you listen to new music tracks all the way to the moon and back"

‘’ Use Personification‘’ e.g. it comes into the pipeline and the readers sitting in there say, hmmm, there's a company give it a company sticker(tag), there’s a person’s name give it that person's name sticker(tag), .. At results processing time when a user clicks the company BBC: we are essentially putting a shout out for "all the documents that contain the query term microsoft and yahoo that have the company sticker BBC report to the front page, please" they assemble ordered by relevance..

''Rhytmic Voice'' When speaking, create a repeatable rhythmic tone for sentences. e.g. Barack Obama, Bill Clinton

- High tapering to Low pitch through sentence and emphasize the last word.

- Breaking the sentence into n-part pieces and hopping through them. e.g. "We need, to be, the best"

- Emphasizing certain words and drawing them out.

- Pausing to control the audience, it is a powerful tool that can be used by regular people who wish to appear dominant.

Aim to sound conversational; warm, sincere and convincing – as though you really mean what you're saying.

''Open Slides with questions'' So, How do we believe we can assist ACME Co.?, How do we go about achieving this? , What are the methods involved?

''Repeat 3'' Fire home the key message by repeating it in 3 times using different words/analogies.

- "We need to be in first place; We need to be number 1; we need to be the best; "

- "We strive to be better; challenge the process; push the boundaries"

''Use Visuals''
- Use powerful images to describe key concepts - a la Steve Jobs - NO CLIP ART!
- Create an image in the audiences mind

• If you picture in your mind a a graphical equalizer
• Visualise for a moment a large stack of paper

"Pave the way for Key Points"
"- I would like to highlight ..."

"- This next slide describes ..."

"- Let me show you how ..."

"- If there is anything you should take away from this session it is this ..."

"Summarise Key Points"
"- So what did we learn there? We learned ..."

''Close Strong''
'Are there any areas where you believe FAST fall short of your requirements?'

"Map Features to Benefits"
- Never simply read off a feature list, Instead,
Map the features to Value-Added benefits that will resonate in their particular reality
Its better to alleviate real-life negatives vs. create abstractpositives - No longer have to spend time..versus It saves a lot of time.

"SLIDE CONTAINS THE WHAT – SPEAK TO HOW WE COVER THE WHY & HOW"

''Prepare, Prepare, Prepare'' - Even the best presenters that look natural have spent hours preparing, know your content so well that you simply need prompters to move you along. Steve Jobs spends at least 10 hours preparing.

''Smile, Smile, Smile & laugh'' - Think of some funny clips before each presentation - Borat, Ricky Gervais. Make a light joke and laugh at it lightly. Its contagious!

''Believe, Believe, Believe''

Wide Eyed - Makes you look interested and engaged. Try not being engaged with wide eyes! Just doesn't happen.

Tense Abs - This deepens and projects your voice further.

Listen to yourself speak - Listen to what you are actual saying, don't just say it from memory. so that you do not jump words. Help you sound thoughtful. Alows you visualise the next section ahead of you.

Give a gift - If a user answers your interaction questions give them a gift. This will incentivise others to interact and enable you to engage your audience more effectively. Providing the gift is decent that is!

How can I work less hard and more smart?

Being lazy, I like to avoid work like the plague. When I first heard of Maual Labour I thought it was the name of a Spanish Musician! I really don't like to do hard or extra work...
So then, how can you get away with being "lazy" and still be effective and productive? The answer is, you gotta work smart. The following tools will help you achieve this:


What steps do I need to follow?
1. Identify the tasks that need to be performed. (Use a WBS - see later post).

2. Estimate the effort of each task
Give each task an effort measurment score occuring between 0.0 and 1.0. Where 1.0 is the greatest effort.

For example, copying the annual report by hand because the printer is broken.


3. Apply the impact of each task

Give each task a weighted value between 10 and 1 depending on how much of an impact it would have on the overall success.

E.g. Developing a prototype on the customers infrastructure using their data has an exteremly high impact versus telling them what we can do on a power point presentation.

Plot these values in a table as below. This will allow you to understand the impact contribution and effort associated with each task.

WB Task	Effort	Impact1 being greatest 5 being least	Smart Score
Interview Employees	0.5	3	1.5
Write up and deliver Results & Findings Presentation	0.2	3	0.6
Develop a Prototype for evaluation	0.9	1	0.9

Using the below chart we can start to place the tasks into their corresponding square on the chart. The numbers indicate the order in which we should perform these tasks.

	Low Effort	Medium Effort	High Effort
High Impact	1	2	3
Medium Impact	4	5	6
Low Impact	7	8	9