The days of the business culture based on greed and corruption are numbered!

Yes you read the heading correctly.   I personally believe that over the next few years you will see a substantive shift to the need for high ethics in business dealings and accountability to customers rocketing to new heights.  Look around you in your office, you have the world at your finger tips.  Your computer can give you the information you need. 

Last week I had to call a client in Puerto Rico and I was able to shop for the best rate on the phone call right from my laptop.  I had four prices and a call that ended costing me  less then a $1.00 for an hour call.  Imagine doing that three years ago.  

You now must partner with your customers to succeed whether it is through actions or systems or both.  It is not how can I trick you into buying my product but how does my product help to make your life and business better.

 You can now validate what you are told from any number of sources.  People will find your digital dirt.  You must make your choices but ultimately the truth about you and your service or product will reign supreme.  

What has this got to do with the Joe Factor.  The Joe Factor is the system to encourage your customers and prospect to learn and the sooner you master it the brighter your future will be   Education is slowly becoming the watch word of the new business community.  Tangible assets in a business are being replaced with intangible things like process, systems and talent.  Buckle up, it is coming and if you are a manipulative sales or business person you will be caught and could literally be destroyed over night.   My suggestion is deal with it now!  Adapt or become the Dodo Bird

Just some thoughts from Joe “Factor” White.  Tell me what you think and how you are preparing for this new era of business.   This will be the great global community of business exchange

Thanks

talktome@thejoefactor.com

 

Talk about an upfront approach.  I was absolutely blown away. 

I was home grinding it out on my computer and the phone got my attention with  the ghastly ring.  I was in the midst of an important program I was developing but I always answer the phone.  After all it is the sound of opportunity. 

It was a telemarketer but this telemarketer was different.  He was not in my area or trying to give a free trip to who knows were.   

Here is what he said “my name is _______and this is a sales call about. ”  I listened in shock as a listened to his pitch.  By the way he asked to pitch. 

What made it even more interesting is he was selling an intangible service of financial planning.  His goal was only to have me accept a call from his consultant.  Of course I accepted. 

My head was spinning as I asked him how this unconventional approach worked.  (being upfront).  He told me he does not waste time and most people will at least listen.  

Here is why this works we are all too busy to play  games.  Just clearly state the purpose of your call and be professional and it is stunning what can happen.  It is fundamental to real people doing real things. 

I am convinced that straight facts base on the desire to have people learn about your product is critical

Tell me about a time you took a call and why?  I would be interested because we all like to talk about the guy we blew off.

talktome@thejoefactor.com

Joe “Factor” White

I just returned from Washington from a Trade show and before I went I recieved this interesting note from Kelly Robertson and you recall I have spoken about his organization in other entries.  Here is what he said. 

I love going to conferences and trade shows and watching people sell their goods and services. This is particularly true when I have delivered a presentation such as a keynote speech or breakout session because I invariably get approached by a variety of people trying to sell me their products afterwards. In virtually every situation they thrust their marketing materials into my hands and say something like, “If you ever need my product or service call me.” However, their product or service is seldom relevant to my business so their materials usually end up in the trash. What a waste of money. Why is it so difficult for sales people to grasp the fact that they are wasting their time and money when they talk to someone who has no interest in their products or services? Unfortunately, it seems that most people still believe that telling is selling.Do yourself and your prospect or customer a favor. Don’t talk about your product until you have learned whether it is of value to the person you are speaking to. In the words of a television commercial for a financial institution, “Save your money.”Kelly RobertsonThank Kelly, It all makes sense and that is consistent with what we do in the Joe Factor model

Have a great week

talktome@thejoefactor.com

Joe “Factor” White

 

Tips for Marketing an Intangible Service 

Henry Devries  a self marketing specialist www.henrydevries.com wrote an article in the San Diego Transcript July  9th 2003 and here is a summary of the key points he sees on selling intangibles.

These steps come from  the office of Dr. ArLyne Diamond of Santa Clara, California.

A trained clinical psychologist.  www.diamondassociates.net

Before you read these tips I must say they are not about the Joe Factor but about good solid methodologies to use in getting candidates for your business.  I can provide the techniques and methodology to use when you are inside the candidates arena. These are the practical approaches that work.   Some of the ideas presented are a little to sales like for my taste.  However with right technique of questions they can be very useful.  That is just one of the many tactics  that the Joe Factor uses, how to ask the right questions that yield results.

So, what are some steps you can do to mitigate the risk for your prospects? Here are Diamond’s top 10 tactics for selling intangibles:

1. Get references and leads from people who have experienced your best work.

2. Ask satisfied customers if they will write you a letter of reference to use in part in your brochure to give to prospects.

3. Be visible — give speeches, write articles, attend functions.

4. Volunteer. There is no better way to establish a relationship with someone than through doing work together. Get involved and get known for being a competent, pleasant and intelligent worker.

5. If you get a foot in the door and prove yourself, offer one or two hours of your services for free.

6. Offer a “pilot project” which will enable your customer to determine how well you work and how much he needs what you have to offer.

7. Help smaller clients share expenses by suggesting a consortium to use your services. This is an especially good technique if you are offering information and/or training services for nonproprietary information.

8. If you are developing a new product for a client, offer generous support services.

9. Network with others and become part of their “virtual” organizations. Include them in yours as well. Remember, you have to give to get.

10. Above all else, be ethical, careful, competent, helpful, pleasant and fun to do business with. Being fun to do business with will result in doing more business.

I hope this produces some thought provoking ideas for you to take action on.  I am open to discuss any or all of these techniques and show you how to really leverage them using my technique and getting the outcomes you desire and have earned the right to.

Thanks

Joe”Factor” White

talktome@thejoefactor.com

 

Tell me, and I will forget…  Show me, and I might remember…  Involve me, and I will understand.  

This is a very famous quote that I am sure many of you have heard in your past.   I simply want today to break this down and demonstrate to you how this is the fundamentals of the Joe Factor approach to selling intangible products.

1. Tell me and I will forget….Interesting, because this is what most people in sales do and think they are selling.  These people get the results they deserve and never make the income they desire because they never get more than the low hanging fruit. You will be forgotten by your client as well as your service.  Ask yourself now, is this me?  How memorable are you or are you forgotten?

2. Show me and I might remember….The operative word is might.  Your product might be remembered and you might be remembered and if all things are the same you might get a commitment to buy.  You see this is called the produce demo stage and many believe that once you see the product or service in action you will buy.  No it is not enough!   But better than the first one and you may make and okay living just using this technique but you better hope your competition is a bunch of tell me type sales people

3. Involve me and I will understand….Now we are riding the winning horse.  Involve the client and educate and create understanding of your system and process.  Get the buy in both verbally and mentally and physically and you are on your way to being a success at selling intangibles.  Who does not want something that they have taken the time to learn about and are an expert on.  You follow this path and you will make an above average income.  You see the key is force the client to learn in your environment.  

That is what the Joe Factor technique is all about we create the environment were the client must learn and understand to buy.   

Now go backwards, Make your clients understand through involvement and demonstrate that it works and they can see it and then you tell them to buy.  It is so much more logical. RIGHT?If you want to learn more send me an email to talktome@thejoefactor.com

Joe “Factor” White

The Winner Is 

These two little words can change the way you communicate to your clients and prospects.  I was on a teleconference with Carl Gould (an exceptionally skilled communicator who has a great grasp of the the dynamics of human communication) he was talking about this topic.  I could not help but think that this is all part of the strategy around “The Joe Factor”.  It is using the right words to  to help and to facilitate learning while building relationships with our clients.  It is all about trust and rapport.

What is don’t?  It is do not  disguised under the apostrophe banner.  It sneaks into our conversations under this mask.

Here are some Don’t phrases to ponder.

Don’t care!

Don’t think so!

Don’t want to!

Don’t have an interest!

That should be enough, but I am sure you can think of hundreds, but what are these phrases?  You are right! They are negative statements and that lead to dead end streets with no way out. 

Here is the most intriguing concept. We as professional sales talent will you use the word Don’t  and it leads us nowhere.  I will almost guarantee that in your conversations with your client you will use the Don’t word more than your client. I really believe that to be true.    A good example is “I don’t think you should go down that path.”  Now search how you felt or what you thought about when you read this phrase. What ever it was, it had a negative feel to it along with what ever action you would need to take to respond to it. Right!

Now think of the word DO

It is an action word to be taken very seriously. For example we seldom ask people what they don’t do but what they Do?

Do you care!

Do you think so!

Do you want to !

Do you have and interest!

Now look at the difference.  The  word Do is positive by its nature and it requires action or demands open response.   It begs the question why and a because response. 

Do you think you would learn more about your clients if you incorporated this word?  Why do you think so? What will it Do for you in your sales programs. 

I trust you get the point. It is so easy to change this habit just say the word Do instead of don’t and let the flow of the conversation happen.  As always I am here for you.

Talktome@thejoefactor.com

Joe “Factor” White    

Kelley Robertson has again addressed a key element of learning a new methodology and I want to go on record and say I fully agree with this quote from The Robertson Training Group. 
“Very few people who implement a new idea or strategy see great results immediately. That’s because it takes time to perfect that particular technique and most people simply don’t give the new technique enough time to work. In my workshops and presentations, I hear how most people usually experiment with new ideas on a regular basis. Then, I usually hear how quickly they discard them when they don’t generate the desired results. Unfortunately, it seems like the majority of people are looking for a quick fix. The difference between successful people in business (and sales) and everyone else is that they keep working with the new approach. They evaluate the results, modify and tweak their approach, and give it ample time before discarding that particular idea.

Contrary to popular belief, there is no quick fix or solution that will instantly generate great results. It takes time. It takes persistence. And above all, it takes patience.”
Thanks again Kelley. Please do you self a favor and subscribe to this newsletter at http://www.RobertsonTrainingGroup.com
The
Joe Factor is a fully supported program and recognizes that change is tough. That is why the
Joe Factor is not just a sales course but a program of ongoing support and coaching.  This is a necessary method because we need to change an entrenched habit of conventional sales strategies engrained over the years. This is despite the fact that they no longer work. This is not easy and we can only work with a few.  But for those few they will change and achieve by learning and committing to this sales methodology called The
Joe Factor.  You must first want to change we can help you through the rough spots.  You can do it and we will show you how. Talktome@thejoefactor.com
Joe “Factor” White 

One of the key components of the Joe Factor on selling intangible services is building trust and rapport.   It is critical to success.  The other day at the Franchise company I am working with I listened carefully to  a call being made.  It was very interesting and you could feel the rapport building and the trust.  The client was using all the tools in the program.  I was very proud of the individual until the end of the discussion.  We had missed the whole point.  We had worked hard.   We had the prospect enamoured with our program.   The consultant was sending out the information in the email and he thought the necessary response would magically appear and the process would continue. 

Oh boy!  No urgency no timelines but more importantly no expectations an no leveraging of the hard earned trust and rapport. 

If you have been reading my blog you know the phrase “let me ask you a question.” In this situation it was easy.  All the consultant had to say was based on our discussion and your interest are you prepared and interested to work with me on determing if franchising is a good fit for you?  This is the pay off for all the work and the test to see if you have built rapport and trust etc.  More importantly is this someone who is interested in following direction and working with you.  It the answer is yes then you can dictate the terms of the process and how it will move forward.   It is done!  It is over!  You now are in control of the sales cycle and process. 

How often as consultants or sales people do you fail to simply ask, are you interested in working with me?

In the Joe Factor we can get you to this stage but you have to ask.  You know, it is a pretty logical outcome is it not?  Oh! and by the way the next call the consultant got this agreement and dictated the terms of engagement.   Many great sales talents miss capitalising on their abilities to build straight, thoughtful and honest relationships with their clients.  Just ask if you want to deal with me.  It is pretty cut and dry.  Do not fear the NO!  We can help.  Contact me for a free consultation on your sales process.

Joe “Factor” White

taktome@thejoefactor.com

Charles Green on his Website www.trustedadvisor.com makes the following key points about building trusted relationships and breaks them into five categories from his extensive research.  I have added comments in Italics about how the

Joe Factor meets these opportunities with a methodology.

1.      The single greatest factor affecting sales and business success is the level of trust in the customer relationship. 

Joe Factor agrees whole heartily with this comment and creating trust then is the next step in this model.   Nobody wants to be sold anything.

2.      The level of trust between businesses and customers is very low these days.
Joe Factor again says of course this is true because too many people have  been   dealt with in sales model that predicates the philosophy of anything for the sale.

3.   Business focused too much on competition—and not enough on customers.
Joe Factor says that focusing solely on price detracts from doing the right  thing for the customer and ultimately you end up in a contest that is only won by lowest price.  The customer gets what he deserves.   The real question should be what competition and what can I do for you.  Mr Green you are right on.

4.   Business has gotten very good at faking trust which is cynical and destroys trust.

Joe Factor again says the system is wrong and has cynicism build right in.  Most people selling intangibles or a product for that matter follow the Mantra  “fake it ‘til you make it”

5.      Genuine trust-based relationships are based on a desire to see the customer succeed—not on a desire to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.
Joe Factor says you are right on!

You see how clearly Mr. Green has identified the issues you confront and begs the question what is the methodology to overcome this harsh realities.   You will find answers in his website and by carefully committing to a program of self discovery about your methodologies.  One of the solutions is to learn a methodology that builds trust and rapport.  
TheJoe Factor can give you this methodology.

Thank you Mr. Green

Talktome@thejoefactor.com

Joe “Factor” White