Weekly News Flash

"Do what you’re afraid to do. Go where you are afraid to go. When you run away because you are afraid to do something big, you pass opportunity by.”

            --W. Clement Stone

Five Time Management Tips.

Gary Korisko – Director of Sales Operations, Security National Life

Tip #1 – Identify your top two priorities each day and don’t stop working until you’ve done them.

Each day identify the two things that you could do that would make the biggest impact on your sales- and make sure you get them done.

Tip #2 – It doesn’t matter how – but record your to-do’s.

Record your to-do items somewhere. It doesn’t matter if you’re a pen and paper person, a spreadsheet fan, or an iPhone notes addict. What is important is that you record the tasks you need to accomplish.

Tip #3 - Start with the most difficult or unappealing task first.

Once the “hard” one is out of the way, everything else seems easy. Most people do the opposite, so they wind up with that big, ugly task looming over their heads all day…and maybe for a few days after that.

Tip #4 – Tackle the rest of the list.

After the big tasks are out of the way, you can start tackling the rest of your list.  Save the little “busy work” items for the end of the day – or non-prime selling times. Get them done, but fill your prime selling time with prime selling activities.

Tip #5 – Each night, rotate the list.

As mentioned before, at the end of your work day take five minutes to review what you accomplished. List the new tasks that have sprung up – and pick your new top two for your new day tomorrow.

 

Weekly News Flash

"I will do today what other people won't so I can have tomorrow what other people can't."

                                                      - Zig Ziglar

Six Ways to Get into a Sales Slump

Gary Korisko – Director of Sales Operations, Security National Life

I read a lot of sales articles and many of them are titled, “10 easy ways to improve your whatever” or “12 tips to a better such and such.” Just to be different this week, we’re going to cover six rules that a salesperson can follow to get into a slump. So if you are tired of the tedium of making sale after sale, follow the six rules below for a little change of pace.

1.        Stop asking exploration questions.

Asking probing questions can be time consuming and most prospects don’t cooperate anyway. Since every prospect chooses to buy or not buy for the same reasons, it’s probably better to just start talking product early on, right?

2.        Assume things.

People who have said no in the past surely will say no today. Those people aren’t worth calling on because they probably can’t afford our product. And those other people…don’t even get me started…they’re too young. (You get the idea.)

3.        It’s all about the price.

Most people buy things solely based on the price. Consumers don’t care about value, so why waste your time demonstrating value?

4.        Listen to surface level information.

When a prospect makes a statement, it is what it is. So instead of reading between the lines or asking for clarification to see if there is any deeper meaning in their comments, assume there is nothing below the surface.

5.        Use the exact same approach for every customer.

We have an endorsed sales presentation, so why not just spit it out verbatim at every appointment? Customizing it for each individual prospect in order to make the buying experience personal for them seems time consuming. Note to self: Just send the prospect the link to our online sales presentation.

6.        Give up on learning and trying new things.

There’s nothing new under the sun. I’ve been doing this for years so there’s not a lot I don’t already know. If you honestly believe that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, then you are totally on board with this rule already.

Clearly, these rules were written with a good deal of sarcasm. However, these are just the type of bad habits that even the most seasoned salesperson can slip into if they are not paying attention. So this week, check yourself. Are you inadvertently following any of these six rules and setting yourself up for a slump? By always paying attention to your activity and habits you can avoid these slumps and sell more consistently over time.

2012 Trip - Where would you go?

I'm asking for input for our next trip - what would be your choice?  Fiji, Brazil or Thailand?  All three choices have so much appeal.  Go to www.Facebook.com/SNLpreneed and "Like" you favorite!  Thanks for your opinion!

Viti Levu – the main island of Fiji

 Jesus the Redeemer over Rio de Janeiro

May Bay, Phi Phi Island, Thailand