All posts by The Irreverent Sales Girl

Dignity, Goals, Irreverence, Loving Life, Performance, Purpose, Self Care, Uncategorized, Winning, Wisdom

So many times it happens, we live our life in chains…

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and never even knew we held the key.

NOT ME!

I was working with my business partner the other day, working on our strategy and business planning. A break from the selling to get more focused on the bigger future.

We started to explore some of the “low-hanging” fruit for ways to generate revenue. Things we could start marketing NOW and building a larger income base.

And then it struck me! These were all good ideas. And they could be sold. BUT, I WOULD HATE DOING THEM. Besides, they don’t give us any leverage to scale. They would only be a way to make a little more money in the short term, and they would lock us into commitments and marketing development and product development for at least the next nine months.

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

Something in the back of my head yelled STOP! (Thank goodness!)

It is OK to demand of my created business that it be fun and that I enjoy doing what we’re doing. I can always get a job that demands me to do stuff I don’t like. Why would I dare bring that into my own creation?

And then I saw, if I am patient and I keep doing the things I love, the money WILL take care of itself. I don’t need to worry about that right now. (Fortunately, I don’t need to worry about that now).

The point is – I realized how quickly I build prisons for myself when I am pursuing the the things I love. I approach my beloved projects with conversations from THE PAST which is exactly where I am moving away FROM!

Today, I will have the courage to envision my ideal future and keep trusting that it is mine to claim!

Hand me those keys, will you?

Appearance, Creativity, Customer Service, Dignity, Goals, Irreverence, Loving Life, Top Ten Principles of Selling, Winning, Wisdom

Are you HOT?

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Hot Selling
Be hot, sell more

Are you HOT? Let me clarify.

When you are HOT, you have great attitude! People want to buy from confident, self-possessed, passionate people. That’s HOT!

You do NOT need to look like the woman in this pic (who does, really, look like her?) But, the attitude is there!

She is confident, knows who she is, and is going to make sure that YOU look like a ROCK STAR when you buy her products. (This applies to men, too, BTW!)

You may “feel” less-than-confident when you are selling. We all do. Seriously!

One of my best friends once told me — “You can’t judge a person’s insides by their outsides”…meaning, they may LOOK all put together, but it doesn’t mean they are.

Go find your attitude. Find your passion. Find where YOU are HOT (and it may be that you are the EXPERT who CANNOT be denied! See Mike Kunkle as an example)

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

Find it. And go forth and be awesome! Let your HOT shine through (everyone’s got it!)

Love your hot UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

 

 

 

 

Customer Service, Dignity, Loving Life, Performance, Purpose, Top Ten Principles of Selling, Uncategorized, Winning, Wisdom

Making a difference

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I was reading some research today about why people volunteer. I mean volunteering with nonprofits – getting involved with a cause. In every age group, the overwhelming reason that people say they volunteer is that they want to make a difference. It wasn’t a surprise to me. Mostly, I think people are wired to feel they are part of something bigger and that they make someone else’s life better.

It’s the same thing with the greatest salespeople I’ve ever known. They are out to make a real difference – for their customers, their society, their company, their families, themselves.

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

Here are the top characteristics of a salesperson who is out to make a difference:

1. They understand the big picture of what happens when people buy their products – the jobs it creates, the efficiencies it allows, the satisfaction that is achieved, the industry it improves.

2. They keep themselves educated in their field and their industry, so that they serve as a real resource to their prospective clients – whether they buy or not – because they are committed that people get the right solution.

3. They make sure they have a REASON to call on someone before they pick up the phone or write the email. A REASON that will matter to the person on the receiving end.

4. They stay in communication with customers to make sure that they are up-to-speed on the new things their customers may need, make  sure that what they have sold is still working, and to fix issues that might have gone wrong. They are in the relationship for the long-term and interested in the performance of what they sold.

5. They make good on their promises and do whatever it takes to make their customer “whole” when they haven’t delivered EXACTLY how their customer expected them to. THEY take responsibility for the outcome of the sale. 

Isn’t selling fun? It is wonderful when I know that I have made a REAL difference for people.

Love your peeps UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

Goals, Irreverence, Loving Life, Performance, Purpose, Winning, Wisdom

A common sense reminder: Urgent v. Important

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Any of us who have read anything about time management, success principles, and managing activities know this one. Be sure you know how to distinguish between Urgent action items and Important action items.

Urgent items keep the ball in play.

Important items move the ball forward.

What can you move onto your list and do it before 5 pm today that is IMPORTANT and would move the ball forward in YOUR game?

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

I am placing a personal call directly to a Fortune 500 CEO today. What about you?

Love the Important stuff UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

Authenticity, Creativity, Performance, Winning, Wisdom

A life without limits?

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I have been contemplating this a great deal lately. What do I admire? Who do I admire?

I look at Richard Branson (who doesn’t?) and wonder…what do we admire so much about him?

I think I most admire that he seems to live his life without limits.

But, it’s an illusion. I think.

When I look at my own life…what makes me shrink back…is that it *seems* rough when I confront my limits. I am looking for what is comfortable, so I stay away from the “limits”.

Yet, when I GO FOR IT and confront the limits…it is as if they disappear!

Am I living in an illusion of limits?

I watch my dog, unable to cross the boundary of my laptop cord plugged into the wall. It is illogical. He could easily cross over it. In fact, my other two dogs cross over the cord without a thought. Somehow, this one dog has created that crossing over that cord is impossible.

What have I created as impossible that is as simple as crossing over a laptop cord? Do my two dogs look like a “Richard Branson” to my other one dog?

I hope you will join me in this inquiry. What have we created as barriers, in our minds, that aren’t actually barriers?

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

Hmmmmm…….

Love ’em UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

Irreverence, Loving Life, Performance, Purpose, Uncategorized, Winning, Wisdom

Why is sales important? Can we eliminate it?

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I hate to tell you this. You will hate to hear it.

Sales is EVERYWHERE.

If you are proposing to your beloved…”selling” is involved.

If you are working to get your kids into a great school…”selling” is involved.

If you are applying for a job…”selling” is involved.

If  you are buying something important…”selling” is involved.

This is where The Irreverent Sales Girl comes in.

I REALIZE that “selling” exists in EVERY part of our lives. It is important. It is the way we transact with each other.

So, if you *thought* I was the person who is out to make salespeople more slick, you got it wrong.

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

I am about people getting more comfortable, more alive, more self-expressed with their daily transactions of buying and selling. I am about you loving your life. I am about communication skills that work. I am about people having the resources they need, at their fingertips, to make their lives work better and faster.

I am about cutting through the stigmas that hold us back from being TRULY GREAT!

When people get REAL about their lives, they understand that “selling” exists at least three times a day in their real lives.

I am the person who helps you remember how best to “sell” your three-year-old into sleeping in their own bed.

I am the person who helps you get that job you really want.

I am the person who has your back at eliminating the barriers to you living the life you love through extraordinary and clean communication.

I help you break the rules that hold you back.

I give you permission to go for what you want.

And, you give all of that back to me.

Together, you and I can transform the art of “selling” and make sure EVERYONE has access to the things they want to get in their ONE PRECIOUS LIFE.

Let’s do this together. Let’s ALL become Irreverent Sales Girls (men included)!

Love LIFE UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

Creativity, Goals, Loving Life, Performance, Winning

Time for the whiteboard…the end of the year CRUSH IT!

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Tomorrow I bring out my favorite FOURTH QUARTER sales weapon. My way to Bring It On Home for the end of the year.

My good old tried and true magnetic whiteboard.

I will write the goal I intend to reach on the far right. I will list every deal I have closed underneath and subtract to get me to the number I desire.

Then, I will create a magnet for each and every prospective customer in conversations with me right now. I will divide my whiteboard into Monday _ Tuesday_ Wednesday_Thursday_Friday and I will move my magnets to the last day I interacted with my pipeline peeps!

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

Nothing slips through the cracks. I can visually see where I am at all times. It works like a charm.

What I can move, I can measure. What I can measure, I can manage.

What do YOU do to keep your business in front of you and moving? I would love to hear!

Love your systems UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

Buyers, Creativity, Customer Service, Dignity, Education, Goals, Irreverence, Performance, Presentation, Top Ten Principles of Selling, Winning, Wisdom

Everybody skims…

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This post is designed for YOU to get your message across to the customers that matter.

A recent a-ha moment! 
I recently got advice from the SPECTACULAR Erika Napoletano (of www.redheadwriting.com fame – or infamy – you choose).

Erika gave me the AWESOME offer of submitting a guest post to her blog. So I submitted one. And she generously front-stabbed me (Front-Stabbing: the generosity you offer when you tell people how it REALLY is – to their face. Antonym: back-stabbing..you get the picture).

Her advice about the article I had submitted? Her words…”… try adding some subheadings that make it easy for the reader to skim (we ALL skim!)”

Then I realized…

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

I may not be a great author, but I DO THIS IN SALES!
It occurred to me. I am CRYSTAL CLEAR that people SKIM my messages … in email, letters, and voice mail.

That’s why I get such a high level of response in my sales messages. I give it to ’em the way they want it.

I use BOLDED text for each new point. I use bullet points to make my points. It works!

The best part of the story…
In fact! I had a very interesting challenge a few years back. My “prospect” (for lack of a better term) was WILDLY busy. Beyond busy.

So, every email I sent her was the whole message in the subject line without scrolling. With back-up support in the body – if she could get to it. 20 words MAX.

She LOVED it. She told me that I was the ONLY person who “got” the way she wanted to be communicated with! She always got right back to me – a salesperson’s dream.

Still no guest post
Nearly every day, I revisit the guest post I am to send to Erika. Thank goodness, she is not counting on me for content!

But a great realization!
Please, please, please…when you are sending sales emails, think of the sheer amount of emails that everyone has to read. Put your requests first! Put your backup information in clear, concise terms. GET TO THE POINT!  Remember that the reader is probably emailing from her phone.

This requires work, you will have to think about what is IMPORTANT to THEM. Do NOT expect them to read every line. Boil it down to the juice.

You will ROCK over those TEDIOUS emails your competition is sending.

They will love you. They will read you. They will get back to you. They will buy from you.

And you will WIN!

Love your peeps UP!

And remember, EVERYBODY SKIMS! 

The Irreverent Sales Girl

Authenticity, Buyers, Creativity, Customer Service, Dignity, Education, Irreverence, Performance, Winning, Wisdom

The BUYER makes the biggest difference of all…

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A true story that involves a Real Estate Agent
I had dinner with a very good friend of mine on Saturday. She is a ROCK STAR real estate agent. She works her fanny off for her clients and she KNOWS the market where I live. She knows simply everything about everything in our neighborhood. She is a great connector. She is the REAL DEAL. She IS an Irreverent Sales Girl (meaning she says it straight and she produces results).

Here’s the story she told. My good friend has a problem, one that most real estate agents face. She was talking about the inherent disloyalty of representing a buyer in the marketplace. NOW, no matter what you think of the value of real estate agents or the commissions they make or any of the rest of it, I want you to put that aside for one minute. It will be worth it.

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

Buyers are often disloyal. They will work with an agent to get educated, have that agent schlep them all over town looking at the houses that fit their desires, and then they go find a property they love, act on it, and cut the agent out of the deal. It’s not wrong. It is how the system is designed.

(MY advice: If you are so smart that you can ‘go it on your own’, then ‘go it on your own’ the whole way through.)

But, here’s the inspiring part
She went on to tell a story that I loved. She told me of a client who she had been working hard for. He was in the market. He tripped across a home he loved. It was For Sale By Owner. He was ready to buy.

Know what he did?

He said, up-front… “I don’t make a move without my agent. I want HER to manage the deal..from inspections, to attorneys, to reviewing the deal.”

He was no dummy. He has his own business. Something HE knows everything about. And he REALIZED that she does, too. She actually KNOWS something about the pitfalls of buying, the places he could get screwed up, the team of professionals required to make the deal go down, so that it benefits HIM.

He honored her professionalism and valued her expertise. She got paid. He got what he wanted.

So, what’s the point?
Here’s the point. By now, you probably know that my MISSION IN LIFE is to transform the world of selling. For everyone!

When you think about it…People LOVE to buy things they want or need, and they especially love to buy from people they LIKE!

So, where did it all go wrong? Where did sales get such a bad rap?

Well, I think we all know where…from crummy snake oil salespeople who took advantage of trusting buyers.

BUT, times they have a-changed.

From Buyer-Beware to Buyer-Be-Great
I am going to say something radical now.

How YOU are, as a buyer, makes a difference.

If you honor the expertise, the wisdom, and the education you receive from a GREAT salesperson, you will make the world better for yourself, and for everyone else.

Yes, go out and get the best deal for yourself. Yes, work with real pros. Yes, say NO to salespeople who are not getting you what you want.

BUT, be a person who is WILLING to be great in the sales process. Send thank you’s to those who have put their time in – even if you aren’t going to use them. LISTEN for just a minute to what someone has to say. Put aside the need to “protect” yourself (you are bigger than that, anyway.)

Value the work that people do on your behalf. If you are willing to wear the big-boy pants and hold people accountable for doing their work well, AND you are willing to take FULL responsibility for your choices, then we actually HAVE A SHOT at making sales great. By all means, cut OUT the salespeople who are doing it badly, and cut them out FAST. Learn to do business with style and courtesy. As a buyer.

The buyer, more than anyone else, can transform the world of sales into a beautiful and celebrated profession. One where we can ALL get exactly what we want. Please start today. That person SELLING you something may actually have your best interests in mind. Take the time to find out.

Love buying UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

Creativity, Goals, Loving Life, Self Care, Winning, Wisdom

What am I doing anyway?

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I woke up yesterday morning feeling a bit bemused. Can I stay in bed just a little longer? What would it hurt?

What SHOULD I be doing?
And, then, it struck me! I am living with far too many SHOULDS in my day. Nothing is pulling me out of bed – no voice saying “let’s do this today” “let’s take a chance” “let’s GO FOR IT”.

Huh! I wonder where that voice went? As I canoodled with this question, it started to become clear. So many things I do in my life are “in order to get somewhere else”…well, maybe not quite that. More like “in order to have my life NOT suck” just keep the wheels in motion to not backslide, to prevent chaos and dismay.

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

Then, I thought, well….what IF I sat down and thought about what I would LOVE my life to look like in a year, three years, five years. I started to canoodle on this, too. Little alarms started going off in my head. “Danger! Danger! Danger!” I found out that I don’t know WHAT I want my life to look like in five years. Or even tomorrow.

This is the pitfall of living a life I always imagined. I have the great job that I do pretty well. I have the love of my life. I have a beautiful home. I have amazing friends. I have three wonderful dogs.

So, why do I feel so “blah”?
Well, I think the reason I feel so “blah” is that my life is just far too much about me. My eye is far too much on my stuff.

Do I have everything handled? Is my home in perfect shape? Am I financially free? Am I in optimum health? Is my business even remotely where I want it to be? Absolutely not! But getting by seems to be suiting me just fine.

What is going to fire me up? It is not going to be a new car…that’s just not enough. It is not going to be more money…I would LOVE more money, but it’s not enough to get out of the lovely cocoon of my warm and happy bed.

Is there life beyond FEAR?
In the past, what always got me out of bed was ABJECT FEAR. Fear that I was going to lose my job if I didn’t perform. Fear that I wouldn’t be able to pay the bills. Fear that I would look bad if I didn’t show up on time. Fear that I would fail a presentation if I wasn’t prepared. Surviving.

Now, I am faced with the challenge of living a truly invented life. Designed for no other reason than that I say it is important. I have to look inside and outside to see … what am I here for?

I have gotten so good at performing for others on their agenda. Do I have enough character to strike out on my own and claim a created life. Do I have what it takes to LIVE LIFE?

Learning a new skill
It is time to learn a new skill. And, what is that new skill? The one I have no facility with?

I don’t know how to have FUN. I take everything far too seriously. No wonder I want to keep the status quo and do the bare minimum. No wonder it all looks like drudgery. I KNOW how to do that! I know how to be stressed out. I know how to “pull it off”.

I don’t know how to be free! In love with life! Kick-up-my-heels delighted!

Frankly, I am not sure even where to start. What if I start having fun and everything else falls apart? (Can you hear the survival kicking in?)

Today I declare that I am learning the new skill of HAVING FUN. That is worth going for. That will be the voice that whispers in my ear and gets me out of bed in the early morning hours to go dance in the dew of the new day. It is my new mission.

Any suggestions on where to start? Are you good at having fun and living a full, abundant life where it all works? I want to hear from you. I want to interview you. I want to learn.

Love your life UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl