Michael D Goodman

Sales Training in Phoenix

Attend this half-day seminar and discover the Sales Pro inside you. Whether you are a sales professional, a solo business owner, or a CEO with a sales team, the key to prosperity is being able to think like a salesman.

At this informative and fun seminar you will learn the simple secret that successful CEOs and Sales Pros know: Sales are the direct result of a process that is scalable, repeatable, and duplicatible. You will leave this seminar knowing exactly what you have to do to make a difference in your company's sales.

'Making Sales Easy' is taught by Michael Goodman, an active sales professional, trainer, speaker, and coach with over 30 years experience in the sales trenches. Michael has implemented his systematic sales framework in dozens of companies with dramatic results. Don't miss this opportunity to put his system to work for you.

Because of the small class size, seating is limited. Sign up now.

February 23, 2010 - Making Sales Easy - Tempe

March 2, 2010 - Making Sales Easy - Scottsdale

March 6, 2010 - Making Sales Easy - Tempe

It's not about Manipulation

The adjectives most often associated with the word 'salesman' are ''pushy' and 'manipulative'.  That's a shame, isn't it?

I recently read a blog that put it very well:

"Sales Isn’t About Manipulation. It’s About Caring: While I was acquiring the clients I brought into the branch, I had never done anything to manipulate anyone. I asked to meet them. I listened to the problems they were experiencing. I talked over how they thought their problems might best be solved and then helped them to do so."

Michael D Goodman is the founder and CEO of Revenue Kinetics and the author of SolomonRK, a unique system for training sales professionals, business owners, and CEOs. SolomonRk is a whole company solution to revenue and teaches you how to create a revenue-producing mid-level pipeline in 90 days in any selling environment. SolomonRk is currently available as sales training in Phoenix Arizona.

Do You Want to Be a Good Sales Manager or Do You Want to Keep Your Job?

Is your primary intent to keep your job, or is your primary intent to become a good sales manager?

If your primary intent is to keep your job them get a sense of what your company wants from you and give it to them, because they are your customer also.

But if your primary intent is to be a good sales manager, then coach and train your sales people as well as hold them accountable.

In reality, most sales managers have to walk a line somewhere in the middle. Most sales managers take heat from executives in the company for not producing enough, and they have to be supportive and a little pushy with their salespeople to not dis-encourage them, but to still drive them to the maximum degree of efficiency, and not let the executive unawareness of what happens in the world of sales stop him from doing the right thing.

Michael D Goodman is the founder and CEO of Revenue Kinetics and the author of SolomonRK, a unique system for training sales professionals, business owners, and CEOs. SolomonRk is a whole company solution to revenue and teaches you how to create a revenue-producing mid-level pipeline in 90 days in any selling environment. SolomonRk is currently available as sales training in Phoenix Arizona.

In Search of the Killer Sales Pitch

Time after time, I see people who say “This is my first dales job I’m selling xxxx, What’s a good pitch I can use?”.   If you don't believe me, spend a little time on the forums and message boards for sales people.  It's probably the number one topic.

Instead of spoon-feeding you a pitch, how about if I teach you how to come up with your own pitch? That way no matter where you go, you'll be able to figure out your product's value proposition and what to say.

Michael D Goodman is the founder and CEO of Revenue Kinetics and the author of SolomonRK, a unique system for training sales professionals, business owners, and CEOs. SolomonRk is a whole company solution to revenue and teaches you how to create a revenue-producing mid-level pipeline in 90 days in any selling environment. SolomonRk is currently available as sales training in Phoenix Arizona.

Can You Help Me With a Pitch for My Product?

The Pitch is a term used to describe your initial conversation with a prospect.  In times past, this conversation was the Cold Call.  In any case, your pitch must be very short.  You've got just a few seconds before your prospect tunes you out.

The primary element of your pitch must be your product's value proposition - why would someone buy your product.

Unlike most sales training, SolomonRk teaches you a process for determining your product's real value proposition. SolomonRk teaches you to sell in any industry.

Once you've figured out the value proposition, you'll need two other elements in your pitch:

• Trust
• Credibility

There is not much time to develop trust in the few seconds worth of attention your prospect will give you.  Your best course of action is to let your prospect know that if they say 'no' then they can trust you not to continue.  So incorporate language structure that gives them permission to say 'No'.

Credibility is usually easier. You simply need to mention the name of some other well known company - preferably in your prospect's industry - that your product has benefited.

Finally, remember that the objective of the pitch is not to sell your product. The objective of your pitch is to get them to say 'Tell Me More'.

Michael D Goodman is the founder and CEO of Revenue Kinetics and the author of SolomonRK, a unique system for training sales professionals, business owners, and CEOs. SolomonRk is a whole company solution to revenue and teaches you how to create a revenue-producing mid-level pipeline in 90 days in any selling environment. SolomonRk is currently available as sales training in Phoenix Arizona.

How does SolomonRk Compare to Hopkins or the Sandler System?

Neither the Hopkins or Sandler material give entry-level salespeople what they need.  

For example, the most often-asked question by new salespeople is, "can you help me with a pitch for this product?".  The core of that pitch is the product's value proposition - why someone would buy the product. Most company-provided sales training will provide the new sales guy with the product's value proposition or USP.

SolomonRk is different because it operates at a higher level.  SolomonRk teaches you how to determine the value proposition.  It teaches you to fish.  It equips you not only fr your first sales job, but every one after that as well.

Michael D Goodman is the founder and CEO of Revenue Kinetics and the author of SolomonRK, a unique system for training sales professionals, business owners, and CEOs. SolomonRk is a whole company solution to revenue and teaches you how to create a revenue-producing mid-level pipeline in 90 days in any selling environment. SolomonRk is currently available as sales training in Phoenix Arizona.

Sales Training For Life

So you've decided to try your hand at Sales.  The company you are talking to even offers sale training.  A lot of entry-level sales people get sucked in.

Usually the training is product training, not sales training.  After that it's sink-or-swim - and they've tied a cement block to your leg.  Some people will make it but most won't.  Companies know this and hire large numbers of people and live with a high churn rate.

True Sales Training teaches you how to sell irregardless of the product or service.  For example, every good respectable sales training system teaches you the importance of qualifying prospects.  Most internal company sales training will provide you with a canned opening pitch.

SolomonRk is different.  Call it Sales Meta-Training.  Instead of giving you a canned pitch, we teach you a methodology for determining an effective 'pitch' that works with any product. We teach you a methodology for determining the appropriate qualification criteria for your company and product.  We teach you a process you can apply so that you can determine if a prospect is ready to close - and what to do if he's not ready to close.

We teach you how to wake up in the morning knowing what you have to to that day.

we teach you how to have a mid-level pipeline in 90 days in any industry.

Michael D Goodman is the founder and CEO of Revenue Kinetics and the author of SolomonRK, a unique system for training sales professionals, business owners, and CEOs. SolomonRk is a whole company solution to revenue and teaches you how to create a revenue-producing mid-level pipeline in 90 days in any selling environment. SolomonRk is currently available as sales training in Phoenix Arizona.

Handling Objections

The term Objection Handling was coined in the 1940's and 1950's.

People come up with objections as a way od saying, "You're closing me too fast."

That’s the bottom line.  Prospects that perceive sufficient value in your product or server will practically close themselves. Objections mean that they don't perceive sufficient value or they feel that the salesman is is operating on his own agenda instead of the prospect's.

There is a reason that the adjective most people associate with 'salesman' is 'sleazy'. It's because they see 'sales' as a way to convince or manipulate people into doing something they don't want to do. People who hate sales people do so because they feel the salesman is always on his own agenda and doesn’t give a damn about the customer. 

Salespeople who focus on overcoming objections are effectively saying to their prospects, " I don't care about what you want, I just want to close this deal."  I think that's a fundamentally wrong way to operate in our profession and it's a fundamentally wrong way to approach revenue growth as a company.

SolomonRk trains salespeople to be effective and highly successful sales professionals and operate with dignity and integrity at the same time.

Michael D Goodman is the founder and CEO of Revenue Kinetics and the author of SolomonRK, a unique system for training sales professionals, business owners, and CEOs. SolomonRk is a whole company solution to revenue and teaches you how to create a revenue-producing mid-level pipeline in 90 days in any selling environment. SolomonRk is currently available as sales training in Phoenix Arizona.

Toxic Marketing

Your mission fellow sales professional, should you decide to accept (and you should) is to take the following term, shout it from the rooftops, write it on the doorposts of every house in every nation and make the world aware of a virulent poison attacking business and sales professionals everywhere.

The term is “Toxic Marketing”

Well perhaps not as fast moving as Ebola but certainly as deadly to our profession and more than certainly as deadly to people who sell with integrity.

The definition of Toxic Marketing would be any kind of marketing that attempts to “pitch” a product or service for revenue, with no regard for how many potential customers it loses or turns off. Simple examples are bank clerks who “offer” additional programs or services from the bank or wait staff who “upsell” desserts or fancy drinks. More egregious versions include irritating television lawyers pandering to accident victims as if they had won the lottery or religious zealots knocking on the door way too early on Saturday morning.

The distinct hallmark of Toxic Marketing is that it is common to organizations and sales people that have no regard for their customer base and the toxicity level is in direct proportion to the un-avoidance and the incapacity to say ‘thanks but no thanks” to the marketer. This is the spawning of social marketing and social sales with its own rules of cultural behavior requiring more value than marketing to be successful.

Certainly a fair argument can be made that a waiter offering dessert is doing his duty and being concerned for the customers welfare, even though we know companies train that behavior for the express purpose of raising the cost of a meal, but a recording at McDonald’s that ostensibly greets you at the drive through and “suggests” your order for you is a thinly veiled intrusion attempting to wrest control of your order from you in favor of taking more of your money than you had intended. Multiplied by the thousands of people who drive through, it can result in significant earnings to those who bite.

The problem for these marketers is that they can easily measure how much gain they have received from these efforts but have no way of knowing how many people are irritated to the point of not returning. How many people have they poisoned rather than gaining trust and credibility as a provider or vendor to the customer? That is what makes it toxic. That is what destroys our capacity as companies or sales professionals to do our job as effectively as possible. The toxic marketers have already destroyed our capacity to be trustworthy providers

The Game of Sales is Won During the Prospecting Phase!

This is a “Solomon Says” sales proverb and a teaching moment for many sales students. I teach it to share with people a number of lessons that I think are critical including;

• If you don’t have enough clients you are at the mercy of those you do have.
• You are in a stronger negotiating position if you have the power to say no which comes from another client in line.
• Strong prospecting allows you to qualify your clients more effectively
• Prospecting gives you control of your own revenue stream
• Prospecting well develops good closing skills
• You don’t have to sell a cashew to an almond eater to make your nut
• You will sleep better at night
• Your boss will respect you more.
• And many more

I was fascinated with this notion though, when I was listening to a lecture this morning and the guy referred to his out of work wife. She had worked in the Pharma world in a culture of “farmers” where accounts were nurtured. A Pharma company, made up of a culture of “Hunters” had bought them out and released all the “farmer” sales people. I remembered back to my own experience in the technology education world. When the education technology bubble burst, right along with the “Internet Bubble” the only education technology companies left standing were the ones that had a culture of hunting for new business. The ones who were great at providing the product failed and faded away.

Think of it, a single sales professional, with a habit of constant prospecting for new opportunities, multiplied across a culture, can save a mega-billion dollar company.

I don’t know, I guess it just kind of grabbed me, the importance getting in the game and doing what it takes to succeed. It didn’t matter if it was an individual or a Billion dollar company. The power to win the game we all play is in simply prospecting for more opportunity.

Sales Obedience School

I was on a plane recently, sitting next to a guy who had been in sales as long as I have though he was happy to remain a field guy. Unfortunately, his company was “promoting” him to a manager. He was going reluctantly but was uncertain how best to be a manager. When he found out what I do he asked my advice. I had to think about that a bit, and then I remembered one of my 30 second intros. I told him to get a book on Dog Training and pretend it referred to his salespeople. He loved the notion, got the point and I am anxiously awaiting the results.

Have you ever taken a dog to obedience school? I'll let you in on a secret: Dog Obedience School isn't for the dog; it's for the owner. My work is pretty much the same thing, you can call me a sales obedience school.

It always gets a chuckle (albeit sometimes just a polite one). It always gets knowing nod because they understand that as salespeople, they will almost always do what they are asked on behalf of the company.

Unfortunately, often companies aren’t quite sure what to ask them to do. So salespeople by default go and do what they think they should do and then hope it both works and it doesn’t get their boss mad at them.

In well run companies a sales process exists that is well known by all, flexible, customized to both the industry and the company and has legitimate milestones along the way. On the other hand, some companies believe that because they have purchased Customer Relationship Management software (CRM) that they now have a process. High producing sales professionals will complain the process slows them down and most companies, who do go to implement a process, do so often only for the capacity to generate reasonably accurate forecasts.

Companies and sales managers miss the critical values a well structured and customized sales process can be and often really don’t want to go through, or more realistically afraid of, the complaining from the existing sales force that have brought in all the revenue for the company.

I am currently in the process of implementing a company wide sales process in multiple divisions and multiple CRM databases with around 40 sales people overall. The highest producers exceed a million dollars a year in production and have ignored the CRM for the most part. The mechanics of implementation include make the CRM products look alike, getting all the sales teams to use it as similarly as possible and most importantly, encourage the use of it throughout the entire company. This is not an overnight project…

To make it work, we have implemented customized training for a hundred percent of the sales assets, we have created a milestone based process and taught that to everyone and then customized the CRM to recognize the assets and the value. We have been careful enough to create a process that recognizes both individual styles and provides flexibility for the sales rep.

Then we made it fun. We have created a game that when used correctly, rewards the sales assets for not only using the process, but frankly doing their job.

So what is the result? In the first 30 days of the process, in one division where the game is going, the people playing the game have an activity rate five times greater than people not playing the game. In this company there is a 6 month selling activity season and then a three month “harvest” or “closing” season. A five times greater activity rate at this point will result in at least a three times uptick in revenue for this group even accounting for brand new reps working alongside seasoned veterans.

Why? Because every morning the sales reps know what they have to do to “win” this day. Most are field reps, and they now know what is expected of them and more importantly, what activities will bring them the greatest success. The process tells them what to work on and what to leave alone, it tells them when to drop a non-performing sales and where to work the hardest on ones that can close. That part of the process also supports forecasting for the company, sure, but for the rep it is critical information on where to spend their time AS EFFICIENTLY AS POSSIBLE for those that choose to. Guess what. All the reps choose to know how to be as productive as possible. Now they know how.

For the company, this process has created a common language for selling, a database where all customer centric activities can be found and tools to manage both remote and local sales people. It gives control of the sales effort back to the company and denies prima donnas’ from holding the company hostage by its sales effort. Embedding this process has trained the low and mid level performers on what and how to act and given high level performers the freedom to act on their own, in concert with the company.

I almost hate to say it though, the training was really never about the sales people, it was about helping the owners.