A Crucial Contributor To Building Trust

Today we are finishing up the numerator of the trust equation.  For those that don’t remember, the numerator is all of the variables above the dividing line in a fraction.  So far, we have talked about credibility and reliability in building trust.  The third and most important numerator variable is vulnerability.  

I was raised in a single parent family for most of my younger years and being vulnerable was not a soft skill I was taught. I was taught to “man up”, “suck it up”, etc.  We didn’t show emotions that often except for anger and sarcasm.  Vulnerability was something I have and continue to work on to this day.  This was one of the hardest skills for me as a man, but one of the most beneficial skills as a person of influence.  If you can be vulnerable and go deeper with people you will gain more trust and influence with others over time.  

I know what you may be thinking at this moment.  I don’t have time to be vulnerable.  I just need to push through with my team or my customers and get the job done to move on to the next task.  I understand business and getting work done. What I am talking about is building a trust with your team or customers that gives you the benefit of the doubt in bad situations.  The kind of trust that will provide you help when fighting against the competition.  This kind of trust is more than the superficial arm-length kind of relationship.  It brings people in to get to know us on a deeper level.  A level that when the chips are down, they will step in to help without question.

Now let’s talk about what vulnerability is.  Vulnerability is a soft skill that is not typically taught.  Vulnerability is about going deep and opening up ourselves to be potentially judged, let down, hurt emotionally, and disappointed.  It is that uneasy feeling when we are about to disclose something about ourselves to someone because we are risking our comfort level.  Vulnerability is deeper than honesty. 

When being honest, we can speak the truth, but still not show our true self.  People can be rubbed the wrong way with honesty and not trust us.  We can’t gain the connection with others when we are just being honest.  We need to develop our level of vulnerability with those individuals to gain the next level of relationships.  Vulnerability is a scary place for most people because there is that risk of being hurt, but the payoff is definitely greater than the risk.

I have worked with ex-navy seals, business owners, entrepreneurs, engineers, contractors, etc. and those that are most successful are vulnerable to those they need high levels of trust with.  Leaders learn how to be vulnerable.  Leaders strive to grow the relationship with those around them so that when the time comes to dig down the leaders will have the buy in from those around them to work together and accomplish great things.

The reason why I have had such great success in sales is because I am vulnerable with my customers and team members.  I trust them and pushed through my comfort zone to allow others in to see who I am.  By doing so I have gained great relationships and trust with those around me and built strong bonds that helped me when working on new businesses, growing a men’s ministry, my marriage, and some close friends that would drop everything and run to help if I truly needed it.  

This week I want to challenge us to open up when we are trying to bottle up things that we don’t want to let others know about.  It’s okay to take off the mask of perfectness and let others see our true identity.  Let others open up to us while we use active listening and not just give solutions.  I should also say that “suck it up buttercup” would not be the best phrase when someone opens up to us and is vulnerable.  That might get you quickly thrown out of their circle of trust.  My commitment this week is to listen and be more vulnerable to those around me and not jump in to fix it and move on.  What is your next step today to be more vulnerable with those around you?    

Go ahead and post your next step in vulnerability in the comments below.  

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with higher profits!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lWIVasmkFsoYL4h0AqIZgH6LC3qaw_gI/view?usp=sharing – client profile sheet

https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Process-Uncovered-Success-Influence/dp/0578421518 - Book

https://kevinsidebottom.kartra.com/page/5AF12 - Sales Process Uncovered Online Training

https://kevinsidebottom.kartra.com/page/68N10 - Trustworthy Online Training

Reliability, The Second Variable In The Trust Equation

Ever think it’s no big deal if I pass up on this one meeting with a customer?  Ever think that it’s just one appointment in my busy schedule that I can just skip?  What about that promise that we broke to our family to do something fun that we are going to have to push back on the calendar yet again?

The road to eroding trust is paved with good intensions.  It is sealed with no follow through.

My father once told me that I should do the right thing no matter if anyone was watching.  At the time as a young adult, I was thinking that what does it matter if no one is watching.  In today’s age with technology, someone is always watching.  Just do a google search on yourself and you’ll find tons of websites with all of your information out there.

If we want to be considered trustworthy, we need to make sure that we are showing up in a consistent manner each and every time.  We need to be Reliable.

That’s right Reliability is key to trust building.  People begin to trust us when we are consistent in how we show up.  That can be personality, work ethic, promises, etc.  The more consistent we are the more reliable we are.

Think of that restaurant that you have visited multiple times because the food was great and the service was fantastic.  We can’t help but tell people they have to go visit that establishment because of the great experience.  That is what others want of us.  They want to know that they can get a consistent experience from us when they interact with us.

Whether it is our boss, our significant other, our kids, etc.  It doesn’t matter who we are interacting with, they want to have consistency with us.  That makes the reliability go up.  If we are consistently showing up with our work, we get to stay employed and more money with raises and promotions.  Children get more freedom when they are reliable.

If we are there for our friends in times of need, they will open up to us more and we have more influence.  If our kids know that we will be there for them they will have more confidence in us as parents.  They will trust us more.  

We need to be constantly showing up in the same reliable manner if we want trust.  Yes there are times that we fall short and have to ask for forgiveness, but if we have been reliable more often than not, we will get the benefit of the doubt. When we can have a minor slip up, but still be considered trustworthy and reliable that is when we know we are doing well.

In sales too often the customer is provided all of these reasons why this interaction will be different from other suppliers.  Delivery will be exceptional and on time, our customer service team will support them and not leave the customer on hold for hours on end, etc.  

Far too often in sales we over commit and under produce.  We have this grand promise that falls short of expectation for the customer.  Guess what happens…Trust goes down and we are put into the commodity bucket on the next time we are thought of as an option for suppling goods and services.  In sales and business, we also need to make sure that we are showing up in a reliable manner if we want to be considered the best option and maintain good profit margins.

When we are considered commodities, the only differentiating factor is price.  We need to make sure that we are providing exceptional service to help the customer along through their lives and support them in a reliable manner.  If we do that trust will go up and we will gain more opportunities in the future.  That is why I try to under commit and over produce for my customers as much as I can. 

If I am not able to guarantee something, then I don’t.  I am not like one of those informercials from the 90’s promising that this product will solve everything from small messes to world hunger.  I make sure that my customers know how, when, and what my product / service will do and make sure that it achieves those goals.  I have built solid levels of trust with customers and friends by being consistent and reliable.

The final thought is yes, we need to commit to something and push hard to make that happen.  Never committing to anything will stop trust in it’s tracks.

Be reliable and you will gain trust with those you interact with.

Have a good week!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with higher profits!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lWIVasmkFsoYL4h0AqIZgH6LC3qaw_gI/view?usp=sharing – client profile sheet

https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Process-Uncovered-Success-Influence/dp/0578421518 - Book

https://kevinsidebottom.kartra.com/page/5AF12 - Sales Process Uncovered Online Training

https://kevinsidebottom.kartra.com/page/68N10 - Trustworthy Online Training

To Build Trust You Need To Have The Letter C

The last couple of weeks I have been helping you with understanding that there are different levels of trust needed for different levels of relationships and the three questions that we need to answer to build trust and influence.  Today I would like help you with a concept that I created for people to visualize an easy way to understand what goes into trust.  I call it the “Trust Equation” and it has helped many people start building trust easily by understanding the components of trust.

There are four main components of the trust equation and I will break down each of them in the next few blogs so that you can better understand each and excel at building higher levels of trust in 2022.   Without trust we can’t make movements, sell, lead, or do anything of substance with others.  We need trust.

Without any more delays let’s get into the first component of trust:

Credibility  

We have have credibility before people will trust us on a specific topic of concern.  This is crucial, but does not mean that we have to go to school to learn about everything and anything.  No one knows everything.  

Credibility is typically linked to knowledge.  A person goes to school, gets a degree and then they are finally credible on a subject.  While that is very true, there are other aspects to Credibility that many do not think about.  One is effective communication and the other I call “being the bridge.” 

I have seen very intelligent individuals lose credibility because they could not effectively communicate their topic.  That’s right, just because they have a great deal of knowledge, does not automatically grant them credibility.  Everyone needs to be able to communicate effectively!  

There are many courses that help on effective communication topics, but the biggest effect on communication is the ability to break complex topics into simple understandable pieces.  That means not using really big dictionary words when a simple word can be used.  If we can communicate effectively then we can build trust and generate credibility.  

Now the other component I mentioned earlier is what I call “being the bridge.”  This is something that I learned when I first got into sales.  If I was able to connect people needing help in a certain area with those that had the knowledge, I actually built credibility.  That’s right because I was bridging the gap for them, then I am deemed a credible source as well.  

When we bridge others together, we are associated with credibility because we are associated as one that adds vallue. Adding value is key in trust building and being a bridge will help us gain influence.  This is one of the main ways I have been so successful throughout my career.  I have built a great deal of credibility by bridging others together.  

Bring knowledgeable, communicating effectively, and being the bridge will allow us to become more credible with others.  Consistently showing up to add value and help others is the way to growing trust with anyone we interact with.  

If you would like more information on building trust reach out and set up a call so we can discuss and I can point you in the right direction!

The next few weeks I will discuss the other variables in the trust equation.  Look forward to helping you gain more trust and influence in the weeks to come!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with higher profits!”

https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Process-Uncovered-Success-Influence/dp/0578421518 - SPU Book

https://kevinsidebottom.kartra.com/page/5AF12 - Sales Process Uncovered Online Training

https://kevinsidebottom.kartra.com/page/68N10 - Trustworthy Online Training

Trust begins with three questions

If you want trust, you must answer three questions every time you meet with others.  Too often people focus on how others will answer these three questions and not how we need to be answering them.  The three questions are:  

Do I like You?

Do I trust You?

How can you help Me?

Those three questions that everyone asks at every interaction are crucial for us to put our best foot forward.  Otherwise, we will not grow trust levels with others and possibly erode trust with others. 

The first question has a lot that goes into it, but the main thing is that if people do not like us then they will not trust us.  There is a radar in our fight or flight system that has likeability as a key indicator.  Ever have that feeling that something was wrong with someone you just met and you needed to leave.  That is the radar trying to keep you alive.

Likeability is crucial.  The colors we wear, the way we make others feel, our pace of speech, and even the scents we wear can affect the likeability factor.   See we don’t know other people’s pasts, experiences, and triggers.  That means that we can subconsciously step onto land mines that we did not know where there.  A land mine is an explosive that is buried under the surface that when stepped on creates a large explosion usually killing the person that stepped on the land mine.

 This does not mean that we just avoid contact with others.  What we need to do is make sure we are consciously approaching those that we come in contact with awareness and humility.  We can’t avoid contact with others, but we can however focus on understanding and help them.

The more we put the focus on learning about others and minimizing ways to trigger others the better we can build relationships with them.  

When I first meet with others, I tend to wear colors like light blue, whites in my shirts.  I don’t wear power ties, dark colors, or a ton of cologne.  I also focus on learning about them by asking a great deal of questions.  Not so I can sell them something, but to learn and help if possible.  I want to help people and by investing in helping others, I have also benefited in my careers and personal life as a by-product.

The first step in taking the focus off ourselves and onto others is start by learning about them.  The best way to do that is build a profile about them.  That means we are focused solely learning about them (not to leverage them, but to help them).  I use a profile sheet when I prep for meeting with individuals and do research on them prior to the meeting if possible.  I have also asked if I could take notes and 9 times out of 10 the people are receptive and actually get more engaged by me attempting to learn about them.  

I have attached a link to the profile sheet I use to learn about others a.  If you’d like a copy just click here and you can have it.  No, I am not trying to track your email through this.  It is free to you.  There are some questions you might have on this sheet so if you haven’t read any of my blog posts about the client profile sheet you can look back at those, or reach out.  I would be glad to help you.

For today, focus on not stepping on land mines and learning about others and you will start building trust with others.  

Have a great week.

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lWIVasmkFsoYL4h0AqIZgH6LC3qaw_gI/view?usp=sharing – client profile sheet

https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Process-Uncovered-Success-Influence/dp/0578421518 - Book

https://kevinsidebottom.kartra.com/page/5AF12 - Sales Process Uncovered Online Training

https://kevinsidebottom.kartra.com/page/68N10 - Trustworthy Online Training

How Trust Works

I hope you are doing well this week and ready to move forward with others that you interact with.  In order to do that we need to make sure we are elevating the trust levels with those we interact with.  

In order to do that we really need to understand how to build trust, why others give us some trust levels of trust, and what effects trust over time.  Even though some people say they just give people trust when they meet them, would they trust someone to hold them a high rise building with just a rope?

We give some levels of trust to people, but don’t typically put our lives in their hands right away, unless there is some kind of emergency.  I have made a diagram for trust levels that is in the picture of this post above.  This gives an idea that the closer we are to people the more trust that is needed.  That is why we do not have as many people in intimate relationships with us like our significant other and children.  

We would not tell the world our deepest secrets like we would those in intimate relationships with.  

That means that we have different levels of trust and we have to grow trust with others if we are going to learn more about them.  Not to leverage them with their secrets, but to learn about them.  Sales professionals for years have learned how to build rapport with customers and grow the relationships as well as trust levels.  Sales professionals know that if business transactions are going to occur then there must be high levels of trust established. 

Investments of trust take a lot of work and we need to be ready to do the work to grow trust.  People will only interact with those they know, like, and trust.  So, in order to build trust, we need to answer three questions on every interaction.

Do I like you?

Do I trust you?

How can you help me?

In order to build trust levels, we need to focus on these three questions and what I can tell you is the techniques that sales professionals use (not the sleazy ones) will help you understand how to do this effectively.

I would encourage you to pick up a sales book, or take and online training to help yourself learn and equip yourself to succeed in growing trust with others.

If you’d like to use mine that is great, but not a necessity.  My links are below for my book “The Sales Process Uncovered” and the link to my trainings are also below:

https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Process-Uncovered-Success-Influence/dp/0578421518 - Book

https://kevinsidebottom.kartra.com/page/5AF12 - Sales Process Uncovered Online Training

https://kevinsidebottom.kartra.com/page/68N10 - Trustworthy Online Training

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

Influencer or Influence, What Do You Want?

Have you ever thought about how to build influence in your marketing efforts?  Have you ever thought about using an influencer to endorse your product / service to gain more customers?  

Marketing has made a shift in the past few years relying on those social marketing influencers to endorse their products / services.   Marketers believe that followers of these influencers will buy whatever that influencer has mentioned.  Unfortunately, there is a limit to this theory?

By using an influencer, we are essentially using social proof with customers.  That is the basis of gaining trust from someone else’s endorsement that others trust their recommendations.  It’s literally a exchange of trust.  This will work for commodities, but if you are offering a service, you may find it difficult to capitalize with this type of marketing.  

When it comes to influencers, they hold up products, but to show how a service works it may be difficult and take time for them to really show how it works.  When getting our marketing plans secured, we really need to understand what we are offering before we just throw money at the effort.  If we believe we have a commodity then we have already lost because a commodity is only differentiated by price.  That is why we need to make sure we have figured out how we are different from others in our same product / service demographic.

Successful organizations that have focused their efforts on customer service have secured reoccurring customers.  That’s right the customer experience is more impactful than having a super star wear our products.  We need to focus on building customer service and trust with our current customers and yes this takes time.  We live in an era with two-day shipping, moves on demand, and grocery shopping online world, but the one true way to gain reoccurring customers is to serve them consistently over time.  

Ever try to get a chicken sandwich from Chick-Fil-A at lunch or dinner?  It’s a chicken sandwich, not a new cure for cancer, but because they have focused on customer service over time, they have passed up the other fast food competition with fewer locations.  That’s right the golden arches which have been a staple were passed by Chick-Fil-A.  Their customer service has accomplished this cult following.

We need to focus on the long-term vision of building trust with our customers.  Without trust we will not gain influence with our customers.  We need to have high levels of trust with our customers before they will tell their closets friends and family members to use us.  That is also still the best form of referral.  I am also not talking about bribing the customers with a coupon if they share with others.  

I am talking about natural raving customers that can’t help but tell others to do business with you.We need to serve our customers well consistently if we are going to having reoccurring customers and eventually partners that will only buy from us and all that we sell.  Wouldn’t it be nice to not have to market because our customers are buying everything we sell and partner with us?  

That is why I consistently post blogs every week for over three years and consistently post videos online to help customers gain more knowledge and understanding about sales and influence.  I am here as a guide to help you become successful in your endeavors. 

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Why all successful leaders know sales and how it can help you gain momentum

Have you ever wondered why certain friends, managers, executives just seem to have a certain way about them that people engage and follow them so easily?  Ever wonder if you could have people working with you to that capacity?

Did you know that all the successful leaders know sales?  Now before you stop readying because you got a cold shiver about sales people, let me ask you this.  Have you ever been on a job interview, or a first date?  In each case you were selling yourself as the best option.  See that phrase, “selling yourself”.  That is right you are selling during those two examples and many more scenarios.  We are actually all selling anytime we are interacting with others.  Whether it is our ideas, a product/service, or that your son to not stick his tongue to a frozen metal fence won’t end well.

I know the persona that is out there about sales people.  Unfortunately, a few bad seeds and various movies have bruised the sales persona.  Not all sales people are bad, just look in the mirror after an interview J  We are not inherently bad are we?  Most of the not so successful sales people is just plainly, they just don’t know how to sell well.

I am not what some people would think of as a sales person.  Most people think of sales people as the life of the party, extroverts, and people that like attention.  I am an introvert and hold an engineering degree.  Not what you would think about when you think of sales person right?  I can tell you that I have secured multi-year multimillion contracts in my career and all the way down to thousand dollar deals.  Anyone can sell and everyone sells all the time, including leaders.

Here is how I got into sales which was something that I never thought I would do.  I was sitting on a boat on one of the great lakes when a well-known business owner that wanted to have “the talk with me”.  See I was dating his daughter so he was wanting to know what my intentions were.  The question started with “where do you see yourself in five years.”  I know, not the kind of question you’d think a father would have, but as a business owner and successful person he thought about business al great deal. 

Being fresh out of college and in a job… I thought about it and said, “I want to be a manager.”  I know high aspirations right…  What he said next was definitely not what at the time I wanted to hear.  He told me that I needed to know sales if I wanted to cast my vision and get people to follow my lead.  I didn’t like that idea because I had that same mindset when it came to sales people.

What I learned through the process of learning sales has actually helped me to understand why people can build high levels of momentum in movements.  It’s because they had influence.  A great deal of influence.  In fact, the more they have the more people wanted to follow these individuals. 

What does sales have to do with influence? 

Sales is actually the art of building influence.  Not in a sleezy way, or creating leverage over people either.  Selling is about helping people with their current situation and understanding their issues as well as helping to avoid the ramifications with not making the best decision for them.  That’s right, sales is about helping people get to where they want to go.  Helping them make a difference in their lives and others.  I know at this point you may be thinking that this guy is on something, but hear me out.

People ask three questions at every interaction.

Do I like you?  Do I trust you?  How can you help me?

It has been programmed into our brains since the beginning of time.  Not for selfish reasons, but for survival.  We ask these questions and form answers in the first seven seconds of every interaction.   

If we want to be successful and have momentum with others we should at least learn about sales.  We should understand why certain colors, the environment, and how we interact with others affects trust.  In the sales process uncovered training that I teach it is how we take the focus off ourselves and focus on helping others.  Zig Ziglar once said, “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.” 

That is what sales is meant to do.  Help people find solutions to their issues and avoid the ramification of making the incorrect decision.  That is what a true sales professional is supposed to do.  Help others and not focus on just selling something.

Selling well will start building influence with those that we help.  It has worked for me with over 15 years of sales experience in multiple industries, in different demographics, and different regions. 

If we focus on helping people through the sales process, we will gain influence and momentum with people.  I’m not sure where you are and where you want to go, but if you want to go anywhere with others, you need to learn sales.  There are tons of books, podcasts, and blogs out there.  You don’t need to know everything, but having a basic knowledge will help you grow your influence levels and lead well.

Have a great day and if you need anything feel free to reach out with any questions!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Goal Setting with Purpose

Wow, just like that 2021 is gone and we are in 2022.  Can you believe how fast 2021 went?  All of the events that happened in our world, the good, the bad, the ugly.  How about you, did you accomplish all your goals in 2021?

Chances are that 2021 had us stumbling a bit in our goals and we also needed to shift our goals with the everchanging environment. 

This year when we sit down in some of our quiet time to think about 2022 we need to make sure we have some firepower behind our goals.  That’s right just because we have a goal does not mean we will achieve the goals.  We need to have a “WHY” behind our goals.  The why will keep us moving forward when times get tough.

There are areas we can grow and should be focused on that for 2022.  I will be taking the next two weeks to plan out 2022 to make it a better than this past year.  The reason why, is if we are not growing, we are dying.  That is right we need to constantly be growing.  I choose growth and for that I need a plan for whatever I am shooting for.  Even if I do not hit the bullseye ever time. 

I will be sitting down to make a plan for 2022 by looking at where I want to be.  It’s like shooting a long-range shot, we need to plan before we pull the trigger to hit the target accurately.  To do this I start with the end in mind.  When I was a child, I used to do mazes all the time.  I loved them.  I learned early on that to find the path through the maze, it was easier actually start at the finish and work my way back to the start.  Try it if you don’t believe me.

I was able to attend an event at the church I attend and there was this thing called a “purpose statement” that they were talking about.  Before you leave because I talked about church, hear me out.  This purpose statement aligned with my DISC profile, my passions, and my gifts that I have.  This purpose statement is “WHY” I am here.  Why I am on this earth and why I matter.

This purpose statement is a compass when things get tough, or we get knocked off course by something like a pandemic.  This purpose statement will allow us to focus on why we are here so we can dust ourselves off and get back to putting one step forward at a time if needed.  It will keep us moving forward.  Those that do not have purpose are easily tossed back and forth like a boat by the waves.  Those that know where they are going and why, will keep moving in the direction they need to go and find that extra strength from within to keep going.

This means yes, we need to pause and really thing about our why before we just start throwing goals up on the wall.  We really need to focus in on this target if we want to hit it.  Take time to understand your purpose and you will have more energy and determination to achieve your goals.

I will have quite a few stretch goals for myself and my business to grow in 2022.  I have personal goals that I will also be putting in for this year.  All of them will align with my purpose which will give them more strength and foundation. 

I will also use the EOS system (insert link https://www.eosworldwide.com/hubfs/EOS-VTO.pdf) for planning goals.  This is a fantastic system that anyone can use for work, or personal goals.  I have adapted it to work for me in both areas of my life. 

The key is to still plan because if we don’t aim at anything, we’ll hit it every time.

We need to make plans even if we do not hit them all.  It’s okay not to hit all of our goals, but we need to try to grow and move forward, not get down on ourselves, and have that target we are trying to strive for each and every day.

Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

What is Your Why For Your Marketing Strategy?

Welcome back.  Today I’d like to talk about what a good marketing strategy is in order to increase sales.  I will also write about what doesn’t work and why so that you can figure out how you want to move forward with your strategy.

Since the creation of mail advertising, tv, and the internet there has been a great focus on marketing.  Now that we as a society have evolved and become smarter, the old way of marketing features and benefits has had to evolve. Just buying the biggest ad in the yellow pages will not work these days.

When people meet us as sales professionals, organizations, institutions they are asking three questions.  Today let’s focus on the third question with the assumption that we have answered the first two correctly.  This third question is “How Can You Help Me?”  If we are going to market to people about us being the best option, we better be focused on answering that question correctly.

If we don’t answer that question, well they will move on down the road to the next person in line.  They will also start thinking about what we offer as a commodity if we are not answering that question.  If we become a commodity then the only differentiating factor is price.  There is no winning strategy for commodities.  We need to differentiate ourselves from the competition.

People do not buy features and benefits as the answer to the question above.  We must focus on answering the needs of the customer.  That is right customers want a solution to their needs.  To figure out what needs our offering answers, then we need to ask questions, but to who? 

The answer to that question is ask our current customers why they buy from us.  What is it that made them desire our offering?  Why do they stick with us when there are other offerings out there?  Why do people still flock to Apple for their products when there are other products out there that compete on the same performance as Apple?  We need to understand why our customers love our offerings and stick with us as repeat customers.

To do that there are tons of tools out there, but I recommend two.  Surveys and testimonials are what I recommend.  Surveys upon purchase helps in the later steps of the sales process as I teach, but also help get fresh feedback at the time of purchase as to why the customer decided to do business with us.  This is fresh insight without outside influence and time that will allow our customers to forget.  The other is testimonials.  These testimonials work so great because of the law of “Social Proof” that others will follow because of that influence. 

That is right, we need to be asking our current customers why they are doing business with us because this is the key to understand how and what we should be marketing.  We will see a trend as well with all of the surveys and testimonials that will show us the path to our marketing strategy. 

I know this seems backwards in the process, but our customers are the ones that can tell us the why so that we can structure out strategy.  Many organizations fail to understand why the customers do business with them and march in a totally different direction leading to mediocre results.  We need to understand so we can chart out course correctly to attract more of our tribe.

Answer that third question by asking questions to current customers will allow us to win at this marketing game.  Especially when there is so much noise out there to confuse and turn off customers. 

Start today to understand your  current customers and then you will overcome the competition and stay out of the commodity arena!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Why You Need Customer Trust

Have you ever bought something from a salesperson you just didn’t like or trust?  If you did, how did it make you feel afterwards?  When is the last time you made a large purchase from someone you didn’t trust?  Likely never.

Today we are talking about why building trust with the customer is important.

There are three questions that everyone asks themselves about us when they meet with us.  Every time!  These questions are:

Do I like you?

Do I trust you?

How can you help me?

See that second question?  Trust is a highly important question that has to be answered by us for the customer.  If we don’t answer that question with our actions and words lining up, then the customer will move on down the road to our competitors that offer similar products / services. 

Trust is extremely important with most of our major decisions.  I define major decisions as decisions that cost over $500, or life changing decisions.  Some use gut feelings, some use research, and some use advisors.  The fact remains that trust is a part of every major decision.  If we do not have trust, we do not act.  This is why most consumers ask friends and family who they should talk to about a product / service.  They are searching for a trusted advisor.

Today it is so easy to find options for a product / service that we need.  Just hop online and do a quick search.  When the customer is coming in to talk to us, they are trusting that we will help them.  We need to make sure that we have that in mind when we serve the customer.  We as sales professionals need to be showing up to serve the customer and being open and honest of where we can and can not help them.  Focusing on how we can better grow the relationship and trust with that individual / organization. 

Customers are not just looking for a transactional experience.  They want to be known and heard.  They want people that will advocate for them to find solutions that will benefit them the best.  Customers want a relationship.  We as humans are born to crave a sense of community and value.  Customers want that as well.  Why do you think there are so many Facebook groups out there today?  People want community.

When people trust us, they share more information with us.  Not their deepest darkest secrets, but they will share more and more as trust is built.  I have had customers tell me about future RFQ’s that I could look forward to and worked with my teams to be more prepared so I was able to achieve success.  That would not have happened had I not built great levels of trust with these customers. 

To build trust I use a simple equation that I call the Trust Equation.  It uses variable such as credibility, reliability, vulnerability, and selfishness and puts them into a simple equation to help us build trust effectively and quickly with customers.  This equation also focuses on a long-term approach to building a great amount of influence with the customers. 

Now, there is a great deal to discuss on trust such as how to build it, the different levels of trust needed depending on proximity to others, and how to keep growing trust.  That is why I created the “Trustworthy” training to help people like yourself understand and build trust quickly. 

If you’d like to check out it click here to be taken to the training.  It’s worth the investment. 

Today, lets make sure we are focused on building trust with our customers. 

Build trust with your customer and you will reap greater rewards! 

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

What is the Best Sales Strategy

Welcome back,

Today we are going to go through what a good sales strategy is because this comes up quite often with sales teams.  What is your strategy to win the sale?  Most of the time the sales person is thinking on the fly and often falters when pressed for details.  This is also when the sales person is confronted that thinking on the fly is not going to work.

With the sales landscape ever evolving, sales people need to have a good sales strategy. 

Here is what I have use as my sales strategy: 

Have a plan to serve the customer with a process that walks with them through their five buying decisions

That’s my sales strategy.  I want to serve the customer and walk with them through their five buying decisions in a way that allows them to buy the best product that meets their needs.  In order to do this. I must do a few things.

I must build rapport and trust with the customer.  If I know who I am meeting with, I can do research on them to learn about them and their families.  If I don’t have that option, or want to learn more, I can ask questions.   A great deal of questions to understand them and their needs.

The easiest way to build trust and rapport is to learn about customers.  We need to make sure we are learning about the customer because if we are not doing so, the three major questions that the customer has will go unanswered.  Do I like you? Do I trust you? How can you help me?  These three questions if unanswered spell defeat for a sales person because the first buying decision for a customer is in fact the sales person.  If we do not know, like, and trust the sales person, we are not going to buy from them.  Especially when there are so many options out in the marketplace.

The sales person is essential in growing the product line.  People buy from people. 

To help sales people I have created “The Sales Process Uncovered,” to help the sales person use the roadmap on how to sell effectively to customers.  It starts by asking a great deal of questions and the different types of questions needed to uncover the customer’s needs.  This process has worked in different industries, in different markets, and B2B as well as B2C sales.

That is right I use a process to solidify my strategy.  All the successful people use a process whether it for championships, expeditions to uncharted territories, or business.  Even those amazing Navy Seals that are the elite of the elite use a process for preparing for a mission.  Those individuals use a process to plan, action, review, and do it over again. 

If you want to have a great sales strategy, you need to implement a sales processes that will help us walk with our customer.  By doing so influence actually increases with the customer and if we do a great job selling, the customer will start telling others why they need to do business with us.

Who wouldn’t want that? 

If we want to gain sales success, and achieve great goals, we need to have a plan and the easiest way to do that is have a process in place that is simple and repeatable for success. 

If you want to gain some more insight about the sales process uncovered and how it can help you, click here.

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Why Trust In The Workplace Is Essential

Ever have a team that did not have trust?  Ever work with others that would step on you just so they could shine brighter and show off their awesomeness?  Ever been sabotaged by another team member to make you look bad?

Unfortunately, sometimes have these situations which makes us question if we in fact actually on a team? 

There are many factors that go into trust in a team.  We have to trust that team members will be able to do their job well, we have to trust they will not sabotage us, we have to trust things will be communicated effectively. 

If we are a manager that does not have trust for our employees then we are going to micro manage them.  If we do not trust the employees, we spend much of our time checking and rechecking their work.  If we do that, how can we continue to grow ourselves, and still move the group forward?  It’s like rowing a boat with our hands instead of an oar.

If we do not trust our colleges enough then we are doing extra work as well to make sure we hit the outcome we desire.  That means more stress, longer hours, less efficiency, and drain on our attitudes.  Then comes the mixed emotions of stress and disengagement with work and family.  When teams are not in a high trust environment, they are not working efficiently.  People are not communicating well and issues are sometimes hidden.  The only time management sees an issue is when a major event occurs.

If we are in a large organization and the engineering team is not trusted by other teams, then the design will be delayed to launch.  If this is a publicly traded entity and launches are delayed guess what happens to the stock price valuation… 

We need to make sure we are forming a trusting environment because speed and cost are the two variables in business that are affected by trust.  When we are in a high trust environment speed goes up and cost goes down.  When that happens, guess what happens to profits…they go UP!

When we are in a high trust environment people will be allowed to move quicker without having to get tons of approvals and tons of double checking.  Everything flows faster and work is completed with less bureaucracy.  It’s like a river that is allowed to flow, it is clean, but when it is blocked up, everything becomes stagnant and scummy.

We need to make sure that we are working on ways to build trust throughout our organization so that we can work more efficiently.  If trust grows, the outcome will be increased profits. 

If you’d like to know ways to improve trust, check out this link that will take you to my training on building trust that will allow you to build trust around you and form great levels of trust with your teams.

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Avoid This if You Want Trust

Ever been told you are being selfish?  Ever tried to take a toy away from one child to give it to another?  The response is most likely “It’s Mine…”  We are born selfish which is why sometimes it is hard to build trust with others.

We have come to the most important variable when discussing trust.  It’s in the denominator of the trust equation as well.  This means that the larger this variable is, the more it pulls down the other variables in the numerator.  Yes it is math based. 

We can be very creditable, reliable, and vulnerable, but if we are only doing this to help ourselves “WIN” we will actually “LOSE”.  We will not be able to gain trust and sustain it if we are only out for our own gain.  True we may be able to fake our selfishness for a little while to obtain short term gains, but trust is actually more like a marathon.  People will figure it out fast enough as selfishness is like a spotlight shining bright into the night sky.  There is no way to truly cover selfishness.

Selfishness tells people that we do not value them and do not care about them.  Have you ever been around someone that you tried to give more and more trust and it just seemed to blow up in your face each and every time?  It is really hard to keep wanting to extend them the benefit of doubt.  After a while trust is just not an option anymore.

I had to come to this realization with someone that I have bent over backwards to help on quite a few occasions.  Each time resulted in being taken advantage of due to their selfishness.  I am very helpful by nature and want to help people from hitting some of the pitfalls that I have had to endure.  This person was only focused on their wants without a care for anyone else. 

By being selfish we can quickly turn relationships sour.  In sales or leadership if this happens, we really start losing influence.  Influence is the key ingredient to success in sales and leadership.  Without trust there is no influence.  Leverage is a term of is a term often people use as an influencing tool of holding something over someone so that they will do what we want, but once leverage is gone these people will revolt!  When we do not have trust, people will be less willing to give us the benefit of the doubt and promote us to customer.   Even Steve Jobs was asked to step down at one point at Apple.

I am constantly taking inventory in my life to gauge how selfish I am being.  I’m sure I fail to live up to my standard, but my focus is on not being selfish.  Instead, my focus is on trying to help everyone that I can.  I put my expertise out there to help others gain knowledge.  I do not do it so I can say that I have done it, but to share so that people can avoid mistakes that I have run into in the past.  My goal is to help you become more efficient and successful especially with areas of sales and leadership. 

The key is to really take an inventory of our relationships and see if there are any areas where we are being a little selfish.  Are there some relationships that we need to apologize for selfishness?  Have we made any recent mistakes that an apology will help start the road back to building trust?  Selfishness can be fixed when we take an honest look at how we have behaving with others. 

When we lower selfishness relationships and influence seem to increase at a rapid pace.  We need to place value on others and not do anything to just advance ourselves, but humbly help others get to where they need to go.  “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.” Zig Ziglar

So here it is the full Trust Equation.

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Don’t Fear The V

How hard is it for you to share your true feelings of fear?  Ever informed someone that you were uncomfortable?  Have you ever been told you are too vulnerable? 

My guess is that if you a man in your 40’s and older, that has not been something you have ever heard.  It just was not modeled for the most part by our fathers.  We were taught how to change the car oil, get a job, and fix things.  Vulnerability was not something that most of us were taught.

I was raised in a single parent family for most of my younger years and being vulnerable was not a skill I was taught.  I was taught to “man up”, “suck it up”, etc.  We didn’t show emotion.  Well we did show anger and sarcasm.  That was about it.  Vulnerability was something I work on daily as I enter my fourth decade of life.  This was one of the hardest skills for me as a man, but one of the most beneficial assets as a person of influence. 

You may be thinking, I don’t have time to be vulnerable.  I just need to push through with my team or my customers and get the job done to move on to the next task.  I understand business and getting work done.  What I am talking about is building a trust with our teams or customers gives us the benefit of the doubt in bad situations.  This kind of trust is more than the superficial arm-length kind of relationship.  It brings people in to get to know us on a deeper level.  A level that when the chips are down, they will step in to help without question.

Now let’s talk about what vulnerability is. Vulnerability is opening ourselves to be potentially judged, let down, hurt emotionally, and disappointed.  Vulnerability is sharing details and emotions to show the real us.  It is also an uneasy feeling when we disclose something about ourselves to someone in an effort to build deeper trust levels. 

Vulnerability is deeper than honesty.  When being honest, we can speak the truth, but still not build trust (just ask my wife).  People can be rubbed the wrong way with honesty.  We can not gain the connection with others when we are just honest.  We need to develop our level of vulnerability with other individuals to gain deeper relationships.  Vulnerability is a scary place for most people because there is that risk of being hurt, but the payoff is definitely greater.

I have worked with ex-navy seals, business owners, entrepreneurs, engineers, contractors, etc. The most successful people are vulnerable to those they need high levels of trust with.  Leaders have to be vulnerable with those they lead.  Leaders strive to grow the relationship with those around them so that when the time comes to dig deep, the leaders will have the buy in from those around them, and accomplish great things.

The reason why I have had such great success in sales is because I am vulnerable with my customers and team members.  I trust them and pushed through my comfort zone to allow others in to see who I am.  By doing so I have gained great relationships and trust with those around me.  Together we have accomplished great things like a men’s ministry, winning multi-million multi-year contracts, and solid relationships that have stood the test of time.

This week I want to challenge us to open up instead of trying to conceal things.  It’s okay to show the real us to others.  We can share some of the things we struggle with and ask for help.  Being vulnerable with where we are at will allow us to grow stronger and have others come along side of us to accomplish much more.  My commitment this week is to listen and be more vulnerable to those around me and not jump in to fix it and move on.  What is the next step you can do today to be more vulnerable with those around you? 

Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

You Need The R in Trust

Ever have someone tell you they will do something for you and they don’t follow through?  Ever been that person that says they will be somewhere at a certain time and you forget?  These types of situations actually affect trust.  It’s when we don’t do what we say we are going to do that trust actually decreases.

Today, let’s talk about the second variable in the trust equation, Reliability.  How reliable are you?  When you say you’ll do something will you do it?  Will you do it to the best of your ability?  Do you forget to do it?  Will you do the right thing when no one is looking?   Do you think it is that big of a deal to be reliable?

It's a BIG DEAL!!!  Trust is won or lost by our actions, not just our words. 

I remember when I was younger, my father telling me to always do what you say you are going to do.  Do not waiver.  He also stated to do the right thing if everyone is watching and when no one is watching.  Don’t tell me, show me is the slogan I have heard all my life from my father.

I remember when I first met my wife’s parents.  We were up at their cottage grilling steaks and I was assisting my future father-in-law.  I told him that I usually every spring season the grill grates after the first steaks have been cooked by applying foil to the top of the grates and turning the heat up high while I ate and then it would bake in all the flavor.

What I didn’t know is that his grill grates on his expensive grill were actually anodized aluminum and not steel… 

Did you know when you crank up the heat and use foil that reflects the heat back into the grates that are anodized aluminum, they actually can’t take that much heat and melt and then break in half?  Yep, it was an awesome first time meeting them let me tell you… 

I told him that I would replace them even though my future father-in-law said don’t worry about it.  The next day I was on the phone with the grill manufacturer ordering the new grates.  I was originally going to order just two, but they informed me that they had two different sizes in that grill…. so, I ordered a complete set.  Did you know that anodized aluminum grates cost more than any grill I have ever bought?  Yep that’s right almost $300 for grates.

That weekend was the most expensive steak dinner I have ever had, but by doing the right thing and doing what I said I was going to do our relationship has grown and he has put a great deal of trust in me.  He knows that if I say I will do something that I will get it done. 

When we interact with our teams, customers, family, or friends we need to make it a constant effort to be reliable.  Without being reliable it is almost impossible to have a trusting relationship.  Especially when we are first getting to know others.

Here are a few things I do to make sure I follow through:

List it and do it – As you can see from the picture of this blog, I love to utilize post-it notes for my action items.  I will literally list out something I need to do and stick it to my wallet when I leave so I do not forget what I set out to do.  Some people use an app, but I am low tech.  A side note is that when people cross things off list they feel good and empowered.  If you are someone that keeps forgetting to do things, then maybe making a list and keeping it with you as a reminder might be a good tool.

Action It – I am bombarded with requests regularly and if I set something to the side I tend to forget about it, so I make sure I do it right away if I can.  CEO’s have utilized this method of acting right away of forgetting it.  Emails are a way they sort through action items to either take action right away, or throw it in the recycle bin.

Delegate it – If you are unable to do something and someone else is better equipped to handle the item then delegate it.  John Maxwell has endorsed this idea of delegate to elevate.  My wife and I set up weekly meetings to look at things that need to be done and delegate things that each other can do.  It allows us to work more efficiently, communicate effectively, and flow in our strengths.

L.A.D. are three helpful options that I we can all utilize to make sure we are reliable.

Is there a time that pops in the back of your mind where someone else has fallen short being reliable?  How did it make you feel?  Did you lose a little trust in that person? 

I know I will fall short sometimes, but I make it my best effort to do what I say I am going to do and if I am going to come in short, I communicate the situation and try to better the situation to the best of my ability.  We need trust in order to keep moving forward with others.  We need to focus on how we can make sure we are doing what we say we will do and apologize to anyone that we may have fallen short with. 

Being reliable is essential in building trust.

Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Sales People..., don’t fear it, embrace it

How many of you like to hear the word no?  No is not typically something people want to hear when they are trying to sell a product or service.  While working through the sales process with the customer we are envisioning the finish line, checkered flags waiving, confetti, and then we hear…”No”

Most sales people have had the experience early on in their careers to keep sitting in the selling phase of the sales process and not asking for the order.  They do not want to hear the word “no” from the customer.  During this buying decision far too many sales people will start spouting off more benefits and features, price dropping, etc. before the customer even provides feedback.

When we start justifying our price as soon as we send it, we immediately devalue our proposal.  Now the customer has no other course, but to challenge the price.  The old saying less is more applies here.  When the sales person sends over the price, they need to stop speaking.  Just like in a negotiation, the first person that speaks loses. 

Now I temper that with a statement that submitting pricing is not an us vs. them situation.  We are trying to help the customer here, but we need to also be paid for our services.  What I am saying is that when we submit the pricing, we need to not devalue our proposition to the customer.  Now the discussion should be on the customer to decide if they see the value of the investment, or if they have more questions.

Maybe the customer needs a little more information because we did not answer one of their needs that is high value.  That’s okay because we can address that need quickly to help them make sure this is the best product / service they are about to purchase.  Maybe the customer is in the research phase of decision making.  This should have been discovered early on in the first buying decision, but maybe they are trying to budget.  Then it is up to us to make sure we identify the next step for them to take and how we can help the customer.

There is nothing wrong with hearing a no right after we have provided the price.  This is how we adjust and understand what may be limiting the customer from making the purchase.  Just like shooting a rifle from 1000 yards away from a target.  Sometimes a small adjustment needs to be made to hit the target in the center.  This is our opportunity to correct and address the customer’s needs and help them see the value.

It is our job as sales professionals to help the customer’s needs get answered and help them win in this investment.  If we simply walk away when we hear “no,” we are missing a large opportunity to correct and help the customer.  Maybe a large need changed due to the organization’s direction.  Maybe the purchasing team has been reshuffled and there is a new buyer.  That happens quite often doesn’t it.   

If we don’t sell the product / service right after the first time we submit a price, that is okay.  Sometimes there is a better option for the customer, but if we have done a great job, the customer will tell us why we may have lost this sale, but they will tell others how we helped them if we walk with them through the five buying decisions correctly. 

As a side note most sales people never go back and find out why they lost a sale.  This is valuable information if that happens to adjust the sales approach going forward!

We just need to make sure we do no devalue ourselves, or our offerings while working through the sales process with them.

Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Why Trust starts with the letter C

Trust is in high demand today. 

Some would say that it is harder than ever to build trust with others.  Far too often people let us down and keep moving on as if they don’t even care.  It’s not true, but that is what our feelings tell us.  Trust is a very expensive commodity.  Businesses can lose large accounts because of trust.  CEO’s are let go for violating trust.   

Employees and management need to establish trust more than ever especially with the working remote situations.  In uncertain times, it is trust that is the key ingredient in moving forward and achieving desired goals.

There are many aspects to trust and how to build high levels of trust.  Different environments also require different levels of trust.  I have been asked many times for a simple roadmap in building trust.  Something simple for people to remember and be able to apply.  I have also spoken to Multi-Billion dollar organizations to help teams build trust by using this equation.  That is why I have created the Trust equation. 

For today let’s focus in on “Credibility.”  Yes we need credibility to be able to build trust.  Ever read an article that states I had a credible source?   Credibility actually has a few components to it and some that most people don’t think about.

Credibility is typically linked to knowledge.  A person goes to school, gets a degree and then they are finally credible on a subject.  While that is very true, there are other aspects to Credibility that many do not think about.  One is effective communication and the other is what I call call “being the bridge.”

I have seen very intelligent individuals lose credibility because they could not effectively communicate with others.  That’s right, just because they have a great deal of knowledge, does not automatically grant them credibility.  Everyone needs to be able to communicate effectively!  There are many courses that help on effective communication topics, but the biggest effect on communication is the ability to break complex topics into easy to understand language.  That means not using really big dictionary words when a simple word can be used.  If we can communicate effectively then we can build trust and generate credibility. 

Now the other component I mentioned earlier is what I call “being the bridge.”  This is something that I learned when I first got into sales.  If I was able to connect people needing help in a certain area with those that had the knowledge, I actually built credibility.  That’s right because I was bridging the gap for them, then I am deemed a credible source as well.  When we bridge others together, we are associated with one that adds value.  Adding value is key in trust building and being a bridge will help us gain influence.  This is one of the main ways I have been so successful throughout my career.  I have built a great deal of credibility by bridging others together.

Knowledge, communicating effectively, and being the bridge will allow us to become more credible and help others trust us more.

If you’d like to learn more about trust and the trust equation I have a click here for my online training.

Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

How Good Is Your Why When Goal Planning?

Ever wonder why 80% of new years resolutions fail?  Ever wonder why your team just doesn’t seem to hit goals?  Why do most people not even set goals?

The main reason is that growth whether it be personal, professional, or physical is painful.  Growth is not easily achieved which is why there are so few people achieving the next level results. 

I recently took my son to the orthodontist to start his journey for a better smile while getting braces installed on his teeth.  He asked me what it was like since I had them twice.  Yes, it typically takes me double to achieve results than most people 😊  I told him that the initial process is not very hard as they apply the torture devices to your teeth, but that he should expect to have a 6 out of 10 on the pain scale for his teeth for the following few days.

His response was that he was okay just not getting braces.  He didn’t care that it would improve his smile, or fix some issues in his mouth that would help him.  He just wanted to avoid pain and discomfort.  It dawned on me in that moment that I am not alone.  I don’t always want to do the hard things because it will cause me discomfort. 

Most individuals will avoid pain at all costs to live an comfortable lifestyle.  What I’ve learned is that nothing worthy is every easy.  There is some level of pain and risk associated with any worthy venture. 

If we want to grow financially for most cases, we need to gain education, work hard, and budget.  None of this seems fun or comfortable either.  My mother always said, “ nothing ventured, nothing gained.”  I added to that that no pain, no gain.  Okay I may have borrowed that from some weight lifter somewhere. 

If we want to grow, we need to put in effort and accept levels of discomfort / pain.  When we want to gain muscle, we are actually ripping apart muscle strands during weight lifting exercises that repair themselves when we are sleeping that increases their size.  The same is true with anything we want to grow in.

We must accept that we will have some levels of pain to grow ourselves in whatever venture we take on.  We need to review our why and figure out the cost of achieving that why.  If the why is not greater than the costs, then we will have no chance at success. 

We should be adding to the process of goal setting what our why is next to each of our goals to decide if this is a good goal or not.  Otherwise, we are just hoping that we will make it and likely will fail to hit that goal. 

Over the pandemic I had to review quite a few things I wanted to do with my business and had to go through quite a few pain points when I created all my videos, online trainings, marketing ideas, and personal decisions like losing weight.

Each and every one of these things required me to sit down and figure out my why.  If I had a great why I have achieved my goal, but if my why was small or something superficial, I did not achieve that goal.

If you have a goal for yourself, it is a great step to review your why before setting out the goal.  Yes, we need to make goals that are easy to understand and measurable, but we also need to make sure we factor in the pain level we will have to endure to make these goals possible before we set out.  We risk a higher levels failure when things get tough if we have not done this planning.

As we are heading into the fourth quarter of 2021 lets start reviewing our goals that we created for the year and understand why we failed at some and why we succeeded at others.  The why will be a great area of focus. 

If you’re curious I did lose quite a bit of weight during 2021 by dieting which was very painful, but worth it!

If you have any questions, or would like to discuss this topic more, feel free to reach out, I’d be glad to have that conversation.

Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Making Great First Impressions

Hello Everyone!

Ever wonder why some people just seem to be able to make great impressions on others while others don’t?  Ever struggle to make a great first impression yourself?

I have been thinking about this topic for a while now and decided that it was time to step up on my soap box.  I firmly believe that we all need to know how to sell in order to make great first impressions.  Whether we are going for a job interview (selling ourselves), out on a date (selling ourselves), leading an organization (selling vision and ourselves), or selling a product or service which means we need to know how to sell (ourselves), etc. 

No matter what we are doing, we are selling ourselves as the best option for those around us.  We share stories, build friendships, engage with coworkers etc. all of the time.  Some people do this really well and some unfortunately do not.  This is not simply determined if you are an introvert, or an extrovert to determine if you will do this well.  What I am saying is that some just don’t sell themselves well enough.

There are three questions everyone asks at every interaction and they are as follows:

Do I like you? 

Do I trust you? 

How can you help me?

In seven seconds, a perception is formed about the other person based off these three questions.  Now there are so many aspects to how one can affect those three questions, that it is key that we know how to sell and why these three questions are affected.  Learning the sales process if even just for only buying decision 1, we are definitely on solid footing to move forward with other people.

How we are dressed, what environment we are in, our posture, our speech patterns, and many more aspects affect how people form their decisions about us.  Have you ever heard the phrase. “we only get one chance to make a first impression?”   This is because once someone makes that impression about us, it is extremely hard to change.    

The sales process is the key to mastering the art of first impressions, building rapport, and likeability.  Once we master the first buying decision of the sales process, we can build rapport with those around us faster!  This will enable us to make great first impressions, obtain engagement from those around us, and create stronger relationships.

Wouldn’t it be nice to know how to sell and build relationships to make our lives better?

If you’d like to learn the sales process and how to gain influence, I have launched my online courses.  It will enable you to master sales, implement the simple to use process, and become a top performer as well as how to build great levels of trust quickly.

Below are the two links to my online trainings to help you build rapport and influence with others. Both can be completed at your own pace and in the comfort of wherever you have a an internet connection.

The Sales Process Uncovered

Trustworthy

Have a great week!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com