As a kid who grew up in Louisville, I rode the city bus downtown to watch young Cassius Clay box, a couple years before he won the gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics.
At that time, who would have guessed that four short years later he would become Muhammad Ali? Who knew he was on his way to becoming the first man to win the world heavyweight boxing championship three times?
Because of his trash talking he earned the nickname The Louisville Lip. He would repeatedly remind the media covering him who he was by chanting, “I am the greatest.” He even began predicting correctly which round he would knock out his opponents, woven into a catchy poem. “Archie Moore will go in four.” By the way, he did.
He was one of my heroes because he did what he said, which means it isn’t bragging. I followed his boxing career into my adulthood all the way to his retirement in 1981. Ali’s final lifetime record was 56 wins, including 37 knockouts, and only 5 losses.
In 1999, Ali traveled to Madison Square Garden where he was recognized as Sportsman of the Century, a well-deserved designation for a truly great athlete and a noble human being.
As a professional boxer, Ali was definitely different and a breed apart. As professional salespeople, you too, should strive to be different in order to WOW your prospects. When you WOW it separates the strong from the weak, separates the sales pros from the cons, and separates the yes’s from the no’s.
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Gene Hilger, Orkin franchise owner in Bloomington, IN. said: “Doug, on the YTD Trend Report thru June 2015, you coach 5 of the top 8 operations and 8 of the top 17. I believe you can pound your chest and say all of your coached operations are in the top 1/3 of all Orkin franchises.” See how Doug earned his “chest pounding” here.
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Here are some ideas to help you WOW your prospects and become a champion:
- Be doggedly persistent in every area of selling including appointment setting.
- Use questioning to become knowledgeable about buyers and to establish needs and hot buttons. Get the upper hand by determining buyer temperament through observation.
- You should be totally prepared by having all the necessary sales tools. Be well-rehearsed, including responses to every possible objection you may encounter.
- To display professionalism, operate on Lombardi time, arriving 15 minutes early for every appointment.
- Be totally professional in your dress, your language, and your preparation for every contingency that might surface.
- Question, listen, and then get to the point quickly without rambling or repeating what has already been said.
- Separate yourself from the competition by eliminating pain in ways the other guys would never consider.
- Display confidence by building rapport, using humor, and selling in an assumptive manner, all without cockiness.
- Don’t be afraid to use sales strategies. Use tie-downs, ask for commitments, and secure next step agreements as sales calls wind down.
- Be memorable by exuding enthusiasm, focus, and polish in order not to be soon forgotten.
As you sharpen your ax in order to improve your performance, ask yourself the following questions:
Would you buy from you?
Will you stick with it, stick to it, and do it until it’s done?
Will the prospect be moved by your presentation?
Will your prospect talk about you to others after you leave?
Once you identify weaknesses in any of these areas, double down to improve them one by one through role play practice until you achieve the needed changes. This is the way you get on the path to WOW!
©2015 Robinson Training Solutions, LLC
