“Dave Kurlan’s guest on this week’s program is Sales Development Expert, Bob Waks.  And what’s special about Waks is that he also has a background in marketing.”

I’m going to let you in on a secret. There are hundreds of consultants out there that will tell you they fully understand Twitter and other trendy “social media” tools. They will also tell you exactly how they can help you use these tools—at a steep price, of course.

Well, most of them are blowing smoke.

The fact is, we live in a time of rapid technological change and a great deal of confusion. Nobody knows what tomorrow may bring, in terms of technological change, but also in terms of the economy and foreign affairs.

Sales professionals need to remember this whenever they are talking to a prospect because an awareness of these realities will make them smarter and more sympathetic listeners.

And the skill of listening, I’ve learned through the years, is much more important to sales success than talking. You can lose a sale by talking too much, but you’ll never, ever lose a sale by listening too much.

Unfortunately, most salespeople yak and yak and yak because they think that’s how you “capture the prospect’s interest” in their product. But prospects aren’t interested in your product. They are interested in their own problems, and it is the sales professional’s job to share that interest—and to show how the product can make their problems go away. You don’t do that by droning on and on about features and benefits.

It’s also the sales professional’s job to help prospects become aware of problems they aren’t even aware that they have. And the way to do that is to listen carefully and ask questions—leading questions. Only when you’ve understood what the prospect is saying should you start to talk.

Remember what I said a moment ago about Twitter? Just as people these days are worried about really big things, like the possibility that we’re headed into a repeat of the Great Depression or that we could face another terrorist attack, they are also worried about smaller things, too. Like whether their careers will be wiped out by tidal waves of technological innovation.

Most businesspeople in positions of responsibility live with a kind of quiet dread. Once they have reached a point in their careers that they can make significant decisions about the products and services their companies purchase, they are at an age that the pace of technological change scares them. And they can’t talk about this confusion and anxiety for fear of seeming “out of it” and professionally vulnerable. This is their “pain.”

You should never exploit these anxieties, but as a sales professional, you need to understand them. The questions you ask can, in subtle ways, probe the depth of their anxiety, with a specific goal in mind. That goal is to make them understand how the product or service you represent can remove some of their worry. Once you’ve convinced them of that, the sale is all but made.

The world is scary place. The pace of change, uncertainty about the future, and the worries of day-to-day work create a lot of tension. Your prospects are experiencing pain and facing a lot of problems. You can be part of the solution.

We don’t ordinarily think of sales as one of the “helping professions,” but maybe we should. People tell their problems to psychologists and clergymen. They pour out their hearts to their neighborhood bartender. But they tell their troubles to sales professionals, too, so we should develop our “helping profession” skills.

I have often noticed, when a sales pitch is going well, how the conversation resembles what I understand a therapeutic session to be like. That is the way it should be, if the salesperson knows what he or she is doing.

For one thing, there are times when—acting as a counselor might—it is best to answer a question with a question. It’s even important to pause thoughtfully after a question has been asked, which isn’t easy for salespersons. Many are fast talkers, eager to make their pitch as quickly as possible. That’s a mistake.

It’s important, before answering a question, to know why it’s being asked. The only way to find out is to follow with a question of your own.

Let’s say you’re selling an ad agency’s services to a restaurant chain, and the potential client asks how much experience you have with restaurants. Too many salespersons, without bothering to find out why the client wants to know, immediately answer by citing the vast number of restaurant accounts the agency has handled.

When they are done, the prospect says, “Well, I hope you aren’t planning to present me with recycled ideas.”

Now the salesperson is cooked. If he had asked why the prospect was asking about his experience, he might have learned how important it is for the restaurant to be seen as unique.

Answering questions with questions allows you to learn as much as possible about the prospect’s needs so that when you do respond with definitive answers, they are the right ones.

There’s at least one other reason to take a therapeutic approach to sales calls. They create an atmosphere in which the prospect is likely to talk about the problems their business faces—that is, their pain.

Once you understand their pain, you can explain how your product or service will remove it.

Approach your sales calls this way, and you’ll make friends and sales.

Planning on an economic rebound, companies in the U.S. and Canada are beginning to up their investments in new product and service introductions, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey released in August. Businesses are also investing more in information technology and in marketing and sales promotion.

That’s encouraging, especially since it should mean more purchases of the kinds of good and services high-level sales professionals represent.

No one should get overly excited, though. The recovery will take time and—even in boom times—salespersons always meet more rejection than acceptance.

In times of economic hardship, they meet a lot more rejection than acceptance. It’s like baseball, where even Hall of Famers make three times as many strikeouts, flyouts and groundouts as hits.

Win When You Lose
But somewhere along the way in my sales career, I discovered a way to way to win even when I lose. And this method has enabled me to do better than I ever expected precisely because I learned to turn rejection to my own benefit.

Here’s the idea. Never forget that most of your prospects won’t buy your product or service. You can even let them know you understand this. Then get them to let you make your presentations anyway, but do so with a secret goal in mind—one they will never know you have.

This secret goal is to turn every presentation—especially those that have a good chance of ending in disappointment—into a learning experience. That way, you will never go away empty-handed. You might not earn a commission, but your chances of earning lots more commissions down the road will begin to increase.

Valuable Lessons
With this attitude, you will begin to view even the most resistant prospect as an ally, as a friend, and as someone who might teach you something very valuable. You’ll learn lessons that you will be able to include in your selling system for the rest of your professional life.

For this approach to work, you will always need to anticipate a prospect’s reasons for rejecting your offer, some of which may be totally legit. They might tell you they are already working with someone else, for example, or that they are happy with the way this need is being filled.

In that case, ask them if they would be willing to put those considerations on hold for a couple of minutes to hear what you have to say. That way, you won’t have to waste time, as many salespeople do, trying to overcome their resistance before you schedule the meeting, and you get to make your pitch anyway. You’ve also let them know that the old brush-off won’t work with you.

And if they still won’t buy what you’re selling, try to figure out what you might have done differently to improve your chances. You can even ask them to help you understand that.

This determination to add some new piece of knowledge about my sales presentation from every call I make isn’t something I was born with. I learned that I needed to do it, early in my career, after a “failed” sales call of my own. It became part of my selling system. Now I give it to you.

Remember, too, that the lesson you will learn from each sales call needn’t be some deep philosophical truth about life. It can be something very simple.

But no matter how small, once you learn that lesson, your chances of making a sale next time have increased.

You’ll find that the lessons learned from what I once thought of as “unsuccessful” calls compound over time.

They have for me, and they can for you, too.

Yes, back-to-school sales at the big chain stores are rotten. The housing market in many areas is lousy. Consumer confidence is weak and may be even weaker by the time you read this. I don’t disagree with any of that. Facts are facts.

What I do take issue with is the notion that this can’t be a time of strong productivity for the sales professional. It can be and should be a great time, no matter how discouraging the economic indicators may be.

Pessimism may be contagious, but it shouldn’t be.

There are at least two reasons this should be a period of profit and productivity for the savvy sales professional.

First, most sales people are paralyzed in today’s environment. They don’t have a system for success and, facing a difficult environment, are merely reactive. They’re shot-gunning their efforts. If you have a process or system, and you trust it and embrace it, you enjoy a distinct advantage over others sales people.

Second, you need to identify the real issues facing CEOs in this environment. When you have identified those issues, you will be able to position your product or service so that your prospects must have it to resolve the problems they face. Most CEOs right now are trying to streamline processes, decrease expenses and increase revenues. So you will need to help them discover that your product or service is necessary to their success in meeting those goals. That’s how you distinguish your product or service. It goes from being a nice-to-have to a need-to-have.

This is not a time to talk about your product or service’s features. This is a time for a pain-based approach. You need to identify your prospect’s pain and demonstrate how what you are selling removes that pain.

Here’s why the prospect’s discomfort works to your benefit. A lot of veteran salespeople have never learned this, but successful sales depend less on the sales professionals’ ability to talk rather than on their ability to listen. (Many sales people who rely almost exclusively on their own gift of gab tend to burn out quickly—and needlessly.)

The secret of selling lies in getting prospects to talk about their pain. That’s because the way to make a sale is to identify the prospect’s discomfort and then to show how the product or service you are selling makes that discomfort go away. Simple, isn’t it?

And it is in down times like these that prospects are most likely to speak with the greatest candor about the problems they face. Sometimes they will pour their hearts out to you, which is not often the case when they’re flying high.

Plus, they’ve got the time. Now it’s up to you to seize it.

By Dave Mattson, the author of the best seller The Sandler Rules, and CEO and a partner at Sandler Training, the leading provider of sales and management training, with 200 licensed trainers throughout the world. Sandler Training has been named Entrepreneur Magazine’s #1 franchise for training programs eight times, including in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Sandler Training, the world’s leading provider of sales, management and

leadership training, has announced the release of its iPhone app, which offers users access to a plethora of helpful content—including tips, tools, charts, feedback functions and other features—from its heralded sales-training program.

“We recognize that salespeople today are using their iPhones as they navigate their schedules of meetings, sales calls and other business activities,” says Dave Mattson, CEO and a partner of Sandler Training. “Our iPhone app gives these users 24/7, fingertip access to tools that allow them to accelerate their learning process and support their sales success.” Those who have received training in Sandler methodologies or would like to get a taste of Sandler methodologies will find this convenient resource particularly useful, he explains.

This is just another way,” says Mattson, “that Sandler makes sure our clients receive the
reinforcement they need.”

Austin, Texas-based business-technology firm Live Oak 360 built the app. Notably, Andy
Meadows, CEO and founder of Live Oak, who has previously received Sandler Training,
participated in—and championed—the app’s development.

“Since our beginnings in the early 1970s, Sandler Training has been on the cutting edge of technology and thought, so this app is a natural next step for us to make,” says Mattson. Regular updates are planned to keep the Sandler Training iPhone app ever-more current and relevant.

The Sandler Training iPhone app can be purchased through Apple’s iPhone-based app store and through iTunes. Two versions are available, including a free demo that allows for use of the Sandler glossary, among other features. The comprehensive, full app is priced to sell at $4.99.

“In offering users valuable, useful training materials on the go, no other company can compete with Sandler’s new iPhone app,” says Mattson.

A free “LITE” version gives users a sampling of what the application can do, including a reduced version of the Sandler glossary.

Sandler Lite – Free (opens in iTunes)

The “Full” version is a comprehensive application loaded with Sandler reinforcement tools. This version retails for a price of $4.99.

Sandler Full Version – $4.99 (opens in iTunes)

The rotten economy, if you haven’t noticed, may be taking a toll on your health.

“Today’s economy is stressing people out, and stress has been linked to a number of illnesses—such as heart disease, high blood pressure and increased risk for cancer,” according to a new study in the July 15 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

A lot of this stress is understandable—but also unnecessary. If you are in sales, a sales system can help you reduce that pressure you are under in a big way. You will be as productive as ever, which should mean less anxiety.

A sales system will help you stop confusing your real self with what I call your “role self.” Most sales professionals take the inevitable rejection that comes with their work personally. They can’t make the necessary distinction between the role they play as a salesperson and who they really are.

But those who can make that distinction—and it takes practice to do it—find that they worry a great deal less. That makes them more effective. They are happier and healthier, and the confidence they show inspires others to have confidence in them. Sales increase.

A sales system will also help you adjust the goals for each call you make in your prospecting efforts. Your only goal, besides establishing rapport, should be to determine if your prospect has any interest at all in your product or service and, if they do, to set up an appointment for a later date.

You should make a point not to begin the selling process at this stage of your relationship. This is not the time to talk about features or benefits, price or delivery. That comes later.

All you should try to do is schedule the appointment. The rest should wait.

Try this, and like those with a selling system, you’ll see immediate benefits. “Going for the appointment” will take the pressure off you, and it will also take pressure off your prospect. You won’t have to second-guess which aspects of your product or service to bring up. And because he or she isn’t confronted with a premature “sales pitch,” your prospect won’t have to think about putting up a defensive wall of delaying tactics.

When you get your prospect on the phone, be up front about what you want. Make sure they understand that all you are trying to do is to determine if they have any interest in what you are selling and, if they do, to set up a time to talk further. That’s it.

Your prospect will appreciate the fact that you understand how busy they are, and that you are not jumping the gun, so to speak, in making your pitch.

Your sales system will lighten your stress, and theirs too, helping you remain productive in challenging times.

What an exciting season it has been for Sandler Training sponsored golfers. On Sunday, John Rollins and Woody Austin finished competing in the prestigious BMW Championship, one of professional golf’s most elite events. This marked the end of their campaign, but such a big season deserved a big end. So far this year, Rollins has earned $2,229,408 and Austin has earned $1,137,331. Rollins enjoyed a T1 finish in the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open, and Austin enjoyed a T6 finish in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

Now these PGA golfers will be taking a few weeks off to prepare for their upcoming fall tournaments. They will return for events this October. Stay tuned!

This coming weekend, Rollins and Woody Austin will compete in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas. Over $6 million is up for grabs—don’t miss a minute! Tune in to GOLF on 5/28 and 5/29 from 3-6 pm and to CBS on 5/30 and 5/31 from 3-6 pm.

“Sandler Training is a resource for businesses on the road to economic recovery,” says Mattson. “In this broadcast, we will address the sales issues that AZkeep leaders up at night and talk about what companies can do to ramp up their sales during this crucial time.”

David Mattson is the CEO and a partner at Sandler Training, as well as the bestselling author of 2009’s The Sandler Rules. Since 1986 he has been a trainer and business consultant for management, sales, interpersonal communication, corporate team building and strategic planning throughout the U.S. and Europe. His domestic and international clients include top-name organizations in many different industries. Clients often describe his enthusiasm, problem solving and creative curriculum design as the particular strengths Mattson brings to training programs.