Many studies, such as Amen Clinics Research, illustrate the importance of a positive mind for physical health, mental health, creativity, productivity, focus, discipline, fulfillment, imagination, and dedication. All of these benefits have a direct impact on living more fulfilling lives and experiencing better results in business.

Brain scans show that a positive mind is much more active than a negative mind, and active in the areas critical for many of the benefits above. My focus here is on how to be more positive and if you are already in a positive state, how to enhance it further.

Below are a few approaches that may be helpful for you. Try them out and find what works for you.

Question the negative thought.
1. Ask yourself what it feels like to experience this thought?
2. How does it limit you?
3. What would be different for you and what becomes possible without this negative thought?
4. Flip the negative thought upside down to create a positive thought.
5. Consciously decide which thought feels better for you.

Acknowledge the negative thought.
1. Choose to separate yourself from the negative thought and view it as separate from your true self.
2. Notice your negative voice, (ie- “I can’t do this” or ”I will fail”) and then ask yourself what you truly believe.
3. Consciously decide which way of thinking is right for you.

Ignore the negative thought and tell it to get lost!
1. Tell your excuses or negative thoughts to go away and back off.
2. Then you can focus on what is most important to you.

Enhance your positive mind-set by asking these questions.
1. What is going well for me right now?
2. What keeps my energy going?
3. What values, natural gifts, or talents are present when I am feeling positive?
4. Who else can I count on to have positive energy?
5. Is there a place in my business or life, where I can tap into positive energy?
6. How would being more positive benefit me?
7. What changes can I make to put more focus on a positive mind-set?

Would you like to have more positive energy at your business? Learn more about my team building programs.

Spread positive energy throughout the world. Please share this with others who may benefit from reading this.

Picture: Make sure you add one if you don’t have one on your profile yet. Headshot is best.

Personal Tagline: Write one, and update it. Click on the blue text, “What are you working on”  Maybe place your elevator pitch here?

Don’t Cut and Paste Your Resume: Describe experience/abilities.

Elevator Pitch: Make sure it is within your introduction section. You have 5 seconds to grab attention.

Specialties: This section is where you put your most important keywords for SEO, and searches within LinkedIn. Make sure you use variations of the keywords as well, so you will appear in LinkedIn searches.

Additional Information: Add websites, (customize it, don’t leave it as “My Website” and it can help with Google page rank) Add awards, passions, other abilities. Round out your profile.

Recommendations: Write them and request them.

Answer and Ask Questions: You will get more clicks on your profile when you ask thoughtful questions or give helpful answers. Establish your expertise and credibility in a field.

Add Connections: This boosts visibility and when people scan your profile, they will look to see who you know in common. If you know someone in common, your profile is often viewed in a higher regard.

Profile URL: Make a custom URL, to reflect your name or tagline. (Edit-’Public Profile’ near the top) You can then add this custom URL to your website or email signature.

Groups: Join groups that you wish to participate in their discussions. Ask questions and answer questions there. Be aware that many of the groups have turned into job boards or free advertising. So if you start a group, make sure to specify the rules/regulations. Starting a Group for yourself can be a great way to network and drive business as well.

Applications: There are some great new applications within LinkedIn that enable you to post presentations, travel information, attach your blog to your profile and many other ways to add depth to your profile.

Here is my profile as an example: www.linkedin.com/in/jeremyulmer

Do you want to take your Linkedin Profile and Linkedin Results to the next level? Contact me for a free consultation or learn more about my Linkedin Coaching program.

Jeremy J. Ulmer, Professional Coach, Sales Coach, Sales Mentor, Business Coach, Life Coach, Executive Coach

“I absolutely believe that people, unless coached, never reach their full potential.” - Bob Nardelli, CEO, Home Depot

“Many of the world’s most admired corporations, from GE to Goldman Sachs, invest in coaching. Annual spending on coaching in the U.S. Is estimated at roughly $1 billion”. - Harvard Business Review

“Recent studies show business coaching and executive coaching to be the most effective means for achieving sustainable growth, change and development in the individual, group and organization.” – HR Monthly

“A major benefit of coaching is having someone who helps you see your strengths and weaknesses and uses them to accomplish your goals.” – Minneapolis Star-Tribune

“Using [coaching] instead of sending executives and managers to seminars two or three times a year can be more beneficial to ongoing career development, not to mention less expensive…” – PC Week

“Coaching takes a holistic view of the individual: work, corporate values, personal needs and career development are made to work in synergy, not against one another.” – British Journal of Administrative Management

“Coaching started in the business world to help stressed out executives cope with their professional and personal lives, and it still thrives in the corporate environment. But, increasingly, individuals are turning to coaches for help with every sort of problem.” – Boston Globe

“If you want to build your business and at the same time have a rewarding personal life, you call a coach.” – Denver Post

“A personal coach can help you by getting you to spell out what it is that you really want and then working with you to make the changes that actually enable you to get there.” – The Vancouver Province

“A study featured in Public Personnel Management Journal reports that managers (31) that underwent a managerial training program showed an increased productivity of 22.4%. However, a second group was provided coaching following the training process and their productivity increased by 88%. Research does demonstrate that one-on-one executive coaching is of value.” – F. Turner, Ph.D.

“Xerox Corporation carried out several studies on coaching. They determined that in the absence of follow-up coaching to their training classes,  87% of the skills change brought about by the program was lost.” – Business Wire

“In a 2004 survey by Right Management consultants, 86 percent of companies said they used coaching to sharpen skills of individuals who have been identified as future organizational leaders.” - Excerpt from “What An Executive Coach Can Do For You” – Harvard Business School.

“Business coaching is attracting America’s top CEOs because, put simply, business coaching works. In fact, when asked for a conservative estimate of monetary payoff from the coaching they got… managers described an average return of more than $100,000, or about six times what the coaching had cost their companies.” - FORTUNE Magazine

“A coach may be the guardian angel you need to rev up your career.” - MONEY Magazine

“Across corporate America, coaching sessions at many companies have become as routine for executives as budget forecasts and quota meetings.” - INVESTORS BUSINESS DAILY

“Coaches are not for the meek. They’re for people who value unambiguous feedback. All coaches have one thing in common. It’s that they are ruthlessly results-oriented.” - FAST COMPANY Magazine

“I never cease to be amazed at the power of the coaching process to draw out the skills or talent that was previously hidden within an individual, and which invariably finds a way to solve a problem previously thought unsolvable.” - John Russell, Managing Director, Harley-Davidson Europe Ltd.

“.[A coach] is part advisor, part sounding board, part cheerleader, part manager and part strategist.” - THE BUSINESS JOURNAL

“[Executives should seek coaching] when they feel that a change in behavior-either for themselves or their team members-can make a significant difference in the long-term success of the organization.” - Marshall Goldsmith, Fast Company Columnist

Sales Interview Questions

I have posted sales interview questions for various sales positions below. These questions will be helpful when interviewing a sales professional or leader of any level.

(If you are a sales professional or sales leader looking for how to answer any question an interviewer could ever throw at you, please visit here!)

Sales Representative, Sales Executive, Account Manager, Account Executive, Sales Manager, District Sales Manager, Regional Sales Manager, Director of Sales, VP of Sales, Executive Vice President of Sales, Chief Sales Officer.

Personal Sales Interview Questions:

What are your long-term professional goals? And short term goals?

What do you do personally for your professional development?

What did you do this past weekend?

What kind of goals motivate you the best?

What is your greatest dream?

What was your most significant personal accomplishment?

What would you say your one or two biggest failures or mistakes were in life? What did you learn from them?

What are you passionate about?

What fulfills you?

What are your top values?

Work Ethic Sales Interview Questions:

Tell me about your last three days at work. Please fill me in from start to finish each day.

Tell me about an experience that demonstrates your work ethic.

What was your most significant professional accomplishment and what did it take to achieve it?

What were your goals for the past three years and did you meet them?

What is the reason for your past success?

Objection Handling Sales Interview Questions:

How do you overcome buyer objections?

How do you handle price objections?

What do you say when the prospect says everything looks good, except the price?

What do you say when the prospect says send me some information?

Sales Process and Sales Cycle Interview Questions:

What do you like and dislike about the sales process and why?

What type of sales cycle is most rewarding to you? A long cycle for a large ticket item or smaller and more frequent sales?

Describe a time where you used a creative approach in meeting a sales goal or making a sale?

What is your process to qualify your prospects?

What do you do to generate leads?

How do you ask for a referral?

Sales Management and Sales Leadership Interview Questions:

As  a  sales  leader, how  did  you  go  about  recruiting  your  sales  staff?

What  criteria  did   you  use  to  evaluate  your team members?

How  would  you  describe  your  sales  management style?

Rate your management skills on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 representing excellent management skills. Provide three examples from your past work experiences that demonstrate your selected number is accurate.

Tell me about a time when you reorganized a department or significantly changed employee work assignments. How did you approach the task? How did the affected employees respond to your actions?

When you have entered a new workplace in the past, as a manager or supervisor, describe how you have gone about meeting and developing relationships with your new coworkers, supervisors, and reporting staff.

Intangible Sales Skills Interview Questions:

Describe a situation with a client or prospect where you made a mistake. How did you handle the error?

What do you think are the most important skills in succeeding in sales?

What are your top three open-ended questions for initial sales calls?

What are your 3 greatest sales strengths or gifts?

What do you see as the key skills in opening new partnerships? (“Closing”)

Want Increased Sales Results and Productivity From Your Sales Leaders or Sales Executives?

Contact Me to learn more about Sales Coaching and the Coach Jeremy breakthrough Sales Workshop: Reprogram Your Sales Mind.

Sales Interview Questions

“When prospecting via phone and the contact picks up, do you ask for their time? Or do you go into your spiel?”

This question was asked on Linkedin and below is my public answer:

This is a great question and there are many ways to approach this. Assuming this is a pure cold call and they are not expecting your call, the first thing I would recommend doing is put yourself in their shoes. What would you want to hear? How would you want to be treated? Start there and you might find your own answer…

Here are just some of the ways to approach it below, and the key is finding what works for you! If I were able to learn more about your particular style as well as objectives, we could create something more custom and authentic. That is what will work best for you. I also want to underline that it is important to know why you are calling in the first place. What is the purpose of every call you make?

Be clear on that before you make the call. For example, are you calling to set a meeting such as a phone meeting or an in person meeting? Are you calling to determine if there is a mutual fit? Are you calling to sell something on the spot? Make sure you know what you want to accomplish and your results will increase.

Here are some openings that may help you approach this from a few different perspectives:

1. “I know you were not expecting my call, so I will make this brief…”

2. “Hi John, my name is Sally with ABC Consulting. Did I catch you at a bad time?” (You are using a negative here on purpose. When are you going to catch someone at a good time? How might they respond to this question: “Yes, you did catch me at a bad time, but go ahead, quickly.” or “Yes, please call later.” or “Yes and please don’t call back.” Any of those responses are okay. You respected their time by asking the question.)

3. “Hi Jane, my name is Jim with ABC Consulting. We help businesses get in front of more qualified prospects and close more sales faster. Is that something you want for your business?” (This is a very direct approach on what you do, takes about 10 seconds to deliver, gets to the point, and doesn’t waste their time. Keep it simple.)

4. “Hi George, my name is Sarah with ABC Consulting, I help directors like you who are (struggling with or challenged with…or looking for ways to…etc…) would you like to set up a time to discuss this further to see if there might be a mutual fit/to see if we can help/to explore this further?” (Focus on their needs here, not yours, learn/listen.)

Sales people in general are often trained to simply deliver information, to give it the wow factor, to persuade, and to convince, that is an ‘old school’ approach that is not very effective. Shift your mindset. Focus your energy, listening and attention on to the prospect. All the bells and whistles don’t mean much to them, until they know you understand their challenges first. No one wants to be sold, they (might) want to buy.

You don’t need to persuade or push if you sell the way you would want to be sold to…from a place of authenticity and focus on what the prospect wants and needs. Ask questions and let the client be heard. If you can’t truly listen, you won’t be effective with your solutions, nor will you be effective in developing a relationship or partnership.

Again, these are just a few examples to get you started. There are 100’s of ways to approach this!

Are you ready to make a cold calling breakthrough and do you want to produce better cold calling results?  Contact me for a free consultation to learn more about how I can help you with my sales coaching and cold calling coaching programs.

1. Most people do not enjoy cold calling, but they need to realize it has to be done. It really is a mind-set. You have to set time daily to call, and make it part of your daily behavior/activities.

2. Not everyone will be a fit and that is ok! If they say “No” or “No Thanks!” that is totally fine. You are simply finding out who might be a fit or not. There will be less pressure on you if you keep that mind-set.

3. Celebrate the little sales. When you land a meeting or secure a conference call appointment, celebrate it on your own or with your team.

4. Get creative on the call and be yourself.

5. Recommend you attempt some calls prior to 8AM local time and after 5:00PM local time. Try some on Sat and Sun as well if needed!

6. Treat the prospect the way you would want to be treated, don’t hold them on the phone. If they don’t have time to talk now, call back. Remember, you are popping into their day unexpected, so be very courteous.

7. Focus on seeing if there is a mutual fit or not, versus making the sale. Then, focus on setting an appointment versus making a sale.

8. Gain their attention quickly, be concise and clear as to why you are calling…and then, LISTEN to their challenges/goals and struggles.

9. Quickly explain what is in it for them and the potential value of an appointment.

10. Start at the top and DO NOT GIVE UP.

Are you ready to make a cold calling breakthrough and do you want to produce better cold calling results? Contact me for a free consultation to learn more about how I can help you with my sales coaching and cold calling coaching programs.

How Life & Business May Look Without Accountability

It is essential that when setting up accountability you cover these 3 simple, yet powerful questions:

1. What are you going to accomplish?
Make sure to get very specific.

2. By when will you complete this?
Date and Time.

3. What actions will you take to complete this?
You need to use your judgment here in terms of how specific this needs to be to ensure success.

4. How will I know it was completed?
There needs to be some follow-up process in place. What will the communication look like when the task/goal is completed? Email? Phone? A Report? Get specific.

These are questions you should ask yourself as well when setting any new task or goal!

“strong consideration needs to be given to using external coaching programs to enhance internal results.”

“The study also indicates that using internal coaches to coach managers or executives is not correlated with coaching success. It appears that using external coaches for those groups is more effective and perhaps confirms that the higher cost of using an external coach may be well worth it.”

New Global Study Tackles What Really Works When It Comes to Coaching Employees

Article Source: American Management Association

American Management Association and the Institute for Corporate Productivity Provide In-depth Look at Successful Coaching Practices

June 17, 2008

At one point, having a coach carried a stigma because it was more frequently directed at problem employees. Today, it’s more likely to be a sign that the employee is on the fast track and that the organization is serious about raising performance levels and developing talent. That’s according to an extensive global study commissioned by American Management Association (AMA) and conducted by the Institute for Corporate Productivity.

Coaching: A Global Study of Successful Practices is based on a survey that included responses from 1,030 managers and executives across a wide range of functional areas. The survey was conducted using AMA’s global network, including Canadian Management Centre in Toronto, Management Centre Europe in Brussels, and AMA’s partners and affiliates in Mexico City, Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing, and Istanbul and in many other cities around the world.

When asked about the groups that their organizations coach, 60% of respondents said the coaching involved high potential employees to a high or very high extent, and 42% said the same about executives. By contrast, 37% said they coach problem employees to such a high extent.

The study defined coaching as “a short- to medium-term relationship between a manager or senior leader and a consultant (internal or external) with the purpose of improving work performance” (Douglas & McCauley, 1999). And this study showed that coaching is indeed linked to improved performance, both at the individual and organizational levels.

“Executive coaching has become one of the tools to achieve effective leadership in today’s vastly changing corporate culture. As we increasingly learn how to measure executive coaching, we will find that we manage its role in leadership development better,” said Edward T. Reilly, president and CEO of American Management Association. “In going forward, what we have learned from this study will pave the way to a clearer understanding of the possibilities of executive coaching and practice. Change will need to come quickly given the vacancies in top management that are likely to occur due to retirement of the baby boomer generation,” Reilly said.

Respondents from organizations that use coaching more now than in the past are more likely to report two kinds of advantages. First, they are more likely to state that their organizations have higher levels of success in the area of coaching. Second, they are more likely to say that their organizations are performing well in the market, as determined by self-reports in the combined areas of revenue growth, market share, profitability, and customer satisfaction.

“There’s been skepticism about executive coaching in recent years. In some cases, it’s been warranted. Coaching for coaching’s sake is probably worthless. But this study suggests that—when it’s done right—coaching can raise both individual and organizational performance,” said Jay Jamrog, senior vice president of research of the Institute for Corporate Productivity.

The study found that raising individual levels of performance is the number one reason for using coaching and that using coaching for this purpose is highly correlated with the success of coaching programs.

But there are many ways of designing and implementing coaching programs and not all are equally effective, the study found. For one, sending potential coaches to external development programs was more strongly correlated with overall coaching success than more internally focused methods. Yet, those external programs were less commonly used, suggesting that strong consideration needs to be given to using external coaching programs to enhance internal results.

The study also found that clarity of purpose counts. The more a company has a clear reason for using a coach, the more likely that its coaching process will be viewed as successful. Add measurement into the mix and you have a winning formula. The research indicates that the more frequently respondents reported using a measurement method to gauge coaching effectiveness, the more likely they were to report success in their coaching programs. The measurement methods that were most strongly linked to success are individual increases in productivity, impact on engagement, satisfaction with the program, and bottom-line results on the business.

Survey participants were asked to what extent their organizations used certain criteria to match coaches with coachees. By far, the most frequent basis for matching was the area of the coach’s expertise. Almost three-quarters of respondents (74%) said matching decisions were—either frequently or a great deal—based on finding a coach with the right expertise to address specific issues.

Matching the right expertise with the right client is associated with higher success rates.

The study also shows that it pays to interview coaches. Surprisingly, when asked about the criteria they used to select coaches, only 54% say they interview potential coaches frequently or a great deal. Yet, this basic step is more correlated with reported success of coaching than any other selection strategy. Both time and money are wasted when organizations fail to invest time up front matching clients with coaches.

Another coaching best practice is to know when to use an internal versus external coach. The research indicates that external coaches are hired most often to work with executives. External coaches are significantly less likely to work with managers or supervisors. On the other hand, internal coaches are almost equally likely to work with managers as they are supervisors. Internal coaches are significantly less likely to work with executives. Additionally, while internal coaches were assumed to coach employees at all levels of the organization (43%), very few respondents (5%) said that external coaches coach employees at all levels to any great extent.

The study also indicates that using internal coaches to coach managers or executives is not correlated with coaching success. It appears that using external coaches for those groups is more effective and perhaps confirms that the higher cost of using an external coach may be well worth it.

The study found that providing coaching to expatriates is associated with success and improved market performance. Yet, few companies report that they offer coaching to this segment of their employees, suggesting that there’s an opportunity for competitive advantage here.

The study also found that there’s room for improvement in various areas related to coaching. For example, only about a third of respondents (32%) considered peer coaching (in which each participant acts as both coach and coachee to a partner within the organization to improve growth and development) to be very effective or extremely effective. That finding indicates that most organizations have yet to determine how to reap maximum benefit from their peer-coaching programs.

In general, the researchers believe that coaching remains an untapped opportunity for many organizations. Only about half of responding North American companies said they have coaching programs in place, and the same was true for just 55% of respondents in the international sample. This suggests that there’s considerable room for coaching to expand and mature, becoming a critical variable in developing and retaining scarce talent in the future. Companies that learn to leverage coaching and build their programs on what works will have a significant competitive advantage in the global marketplace.

The complete report, Coaching: A Global Study of Successful Practices, is available at www.amanet.org/research

About AMA

American Management Association is a world leader in talent development, advancing the skills of individuals to drive business success. AMA’s approach to improving performance combines experiential learning—learning through doing—with opportunities for ongoing professional growth at every step of one’s career journey. AMA supports the goals of individuals and organizations through a complete range of products and services, including seminars, Webcasts and podcasts, conferences, corporate and government solutions, business books and research. Organizations worldwide, including the majority of the Fortune 500, turn to AMA as their trusted partner in professional development and draw upon its experience to enhance skills, abilities and knowledge with noticeable results from day one.

Many people new to professional coaching wonder how the great majority of it is done on the phone.
In coaching the focus is all on you and here are some reasons why coaching on the telephone is so effective.

1. It helps you really focus hearing yourself.

2. Less distractions, no visual distractions, total concentration.

3. Telephone coaching is much more efficient. You and your coach will get into coaching right away.

4. Neither you nor the coach will be distracted by physical actions or appearances of each other.

5. No distractions from the surroundings where you would meet.

6. You want your coach to be your equal partner and the telephone is the great equalizer.

7. It is very difficult for either you or your coach to intentionally or accidentally become the superior person over the telephone.

8. The telephone allows the coaching experience to be focused entirely on you, as it is intended.

9. Telephone coaching requires much less preparation time, because neither you nor your coach will have to spend time traveling.

10. Telephone coaching helps increase success for finding the right coach, because you will be connected with your ideal coach anywhere in the world.

11. The odds that you and your ideal coach will be within reasonable travel distance are extremely low.

12. Telephone coaching is very convenient and relaxing. You will be able to conduct your coaching sessions from any location you wish. You will be able to select a quiet, private and relaxed place to be during coaching sessions.

13. Telephone coaching is very confidential. The private and secure place you choose to be during coaching sessions will assure complete confidentiality. No one will know who you are talking to or what you are talking about.

14. Telephone coaching can be very fun enjoyable. You will be able to be yourself in private and have more fun doing it. You will be able to enjoy the moment without concern for others watching or listening.

15. People are sometimes more open to share certain things over the phone versus in person.

Jeremy J. Ulmer, Professional Coach, Sales Coach, Sales Mentor, Business Coach, Life Coach

Jeremy J. Ulmer | Sales Coach | Business Coach | Life Coach
Interview on Business Burnout & Fatigue: Tips to Achieve Better Results

Audio: Business Burnout Part 1

Audio: Business Burnout Part 2

The following question was posted on linkedin.com: “Work-Life Balance…Any suggestion on how to find symmetry?”  Below is my public answer.

Hi, these are very important questions.  As a professional coach, both for business, sales and life, I find that these areas area critical for success.  I started a linkedin.com group that is fully dedicated to “Balance & Fulfillment for Business Leaders” that you might want to join.  We are sharing and helping each other with these exact types of questions.

First, it may be helpful to look at balance from a new perspective.  What is Balance?  Balance is not about having equal weight on each part of life.  That simply is not possible.  IE- equal parts family, work, recreation, and friends.  That is not the goal.  It is a constant flow and it is never resting or idle.  The way we balance, is by being aware of the CHOICES we can make, and we can then move toward more alignment with the balance that we decide we want to have.

Jeremy J. Ulmer, Professional Coach, Sales Coach, Business Coach, Life Coach, Executive Coach

Source: The Coaches Training Institute website (articles)

Coach Training Impact on the Organization

Coach training impacts not only the person being trained, but also the employees in the company receiving coaching from that individual. While no study has measured the impact of internal coaching, the impact of external executive coaching would provide some directional evidence.

Research from Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management shows that the impact of coaching-like training can last seven years. Manchester Inc. recently released the results of a study that quantifies the business impact of external executive coaching. The study included 100 executives, mostly from Fortune 1000 companies. Companies that provided coaching to their executives realized improvements in productivity, quality, organizational strength, customer service, and shareholder value. They received fewer customer complaints, and were more likely to retain executives who had been coached.

A company’s investment in providing coaching to its executives realized an average return on investment (ROI) of almost six times the cost of the coaching.

Among the benefits to companies that provided coaching to executives were improvements in:

• Productivity (reported by 53% of executives)
• Quality (48%)
• Organizational strength (48%)
• Customer service (39%)
• Reducing customer complaints (34%)
• Retaining executives who received coaching (32%)
• Cost reductions (23%)
• Bottom-line profitability (22%)

Among the benefits to executives who received coaching were improved:

• Working relationships with direct reports (reported by 77% of executives)
• Working relationships with immediate supervisors (71%)
• Teamwork (67%)
• Working relationships with peers (63%)
• Job satisfaction (61%)
• Conflict reduction (52%)
• Organizational commitment (44%)
• Working relationships with clients (37%)

Jeremy J. Ulmer, Professional Coach, Sales Coach, Executive Coach, Sales Mentor, Business Coach, Life Coach

The question of whether a high level of empathy for a sales professional was an advantage or a disadvantage was asked on linkedin.com.  Below is my public answer to this question.

This is a great and interesting question! It looks like most people so far are saying that empathy is essential for sales people, and I agree!  I will expand on the concept and how to develop it a little further as it may be of help for those who want to enhance it.

Empathy is defined by Wikipedia as: “the capacity to recognize or understand another’s state of mind or emotion. It is often characterized as the ability to “put oneself into another’s shoes” or in some way experience the outlook or emotions of another being within oneself.  Empathy does not necessarily imply compassion, or empathic concern because this capacity can be present in context of compassionate or cruel behavior.”

From this perspective on what empathy means, it is clear that it is critical for a sales person to have or to develop a high level of empathy to have great success.  Some people, as you mention, will naturally be more empathetic than others, yet luckily, this is something that can be developed for those who lack a high degree of empathy.

Daniel Goleman, one of the experts on emotional competencies/emotional intelligence, breaks down emotional intelligence into 4 key areas.  One of those areas is Social awareness — the ability to sense, understand, and react to others’ emotions while comprehending social networks.  I’d say empathy would significant part of this.

So, how does this apply to sales? Simple, put yourself in the client’s shoes. Put yourself into their perspective and view their business, your business, their goals, and the world from their perspective for a moment.  Think about how your approach is coming off now? Should you change it? What really is important to them? Maybe you think something is so important, and you are explaining on and on about it to them, but if you pause, use empathy, get curious, and place yourself into their perspective for a moment, and then brainstorm ideas or ask questions from that place, breakthroughs are possible. 

I find that if you use empathy, and from that place, ask great questions, you can really find out what is most important for your prospective clients or current clients. The great thing about emotional competencies such as empathy is that they can be developed and enhanced. 

For those who want to learn to be more empathetic, the first step is becoming more aware of what it is to be empathetic, and then to consciously choose to translate the awareness into actual actions and changes in behavior.  There is much more to it than this, but I wanted to give a tip for starters that can help people immediately.

Jeremy J. Ulmer, Professional Coach, Sales Coach, Executive Coach, Sales Mentor, Life Coach, Business Coach

1. Be open minded and ready to move forward.

2. Think about your goals, get clear on them.

3. Be open to maximizing your potential, both in sales, business, and personally, to be the best you can be.

4. Be willing and ready to make commitments to yourself.

5. Come to the coaching session with an agenda/topic in mind that would be most important and most helpful for you to cover.

6. Think about success that will be helpful to share/learn from, think about new challenges, strategies, new skills you want to learn, areas you feel stuck, breakthroughs you want to have.

7. Complete assignments that we create together, follow-through.

8. Have fun and enjoy the sessions!

9. Be willing to think deeper and explore ideas with no limits!

10. Do not forget that what you do in-between the coaching sessions is critically important.

 
Jeremy J. Ulmer, Professional Coach, Sales Coach, Sales Mentor, Business Coach, Life Coach, Executive Coach

SPIN Selling By Neil Rackham, Huthwaite, Inc. McGraw-Hill © 1988, 197 pages.

Buy This Book – SPIN Selling

This book is a classic sales book and I have provided my own summary below.

Below are the key points from this book – SPIN Selling Summary

“There’s no doubt about it, questions persuade more powerfully than any other form of verbal behavior. And this is not just in selling.”

(I would agree that powerful questions are key, but note that “persuasion” in the traditional sense is out-dated when it comes to selling effectively. Persuasion can put the prospect on the defensive and can make the sales person uncomfortable as well. Learn more about my Sales Coaching Programs)

The SPIN Sales Stages

Preliminaries: These are the way you introduce yourself and how you begin the conversation.

Example: “Hi John, nice to meet you. Thank you for your time today. I am here to understand more about your business, goals and challenges. To do this, I am going to ask you various questions today, sound good?”

Investigating: Uncovering needs and getting a better understanding of your prospects.

• Situation Questions: Data-gathering questions. “How long have you had your present equipment?” or “Could you tell me about your company’s growth plans?”
• Problem Questions: “Is this operation difficult to perform?” or “Are you worried about the quality you get from your old machine?”
• Implication Questions: “How will this problem affect your future profitability?” or “What effect does this reject rate have on customer satisfaction?”
• Need-payoff Questions: “Would it be useful to speed this operation by 10 percent?” or “If we could improve the quality of this operation, how would that help you?”

Demonstrating Capability: Features, Advantages and Benefits.

• Features: Describe facts and data. Example: “Because of… ABC Logistics Company’s own in-house customs brokers in 140 countries…”
• Advantages: Illustrate how products or services can be used to help the customer. Example: ”You can… expedite the clearance process…”
• Benefits: Show how services or products meet the needs expressed by the customer. Example: ”Which means… your shipments will arrive to their final destination faster, increasing your customers’ satisfaction.”

Obtaining Commitment (Instead of “Closing”)

• Give a great deal of attention to Investigating and Demonstrating Capability. Spend more time in the Investigating stage than any other stage. The prospect will become more clear on their needs will realize they need to buy on their own.
• Check that all concerns are covered and addressed. Example: “Well, I think that covers everything, Ms. Johnson. But before we go further, could I check whether there are any areas that you feel I should tell you more about?” Once the concerns are raised and addressed, commitment can happen.
• Summarize all the benefits before you try to get any commitment from the prospect.
• Propose a Commitment. Simply suggest a next step to take that will move the sale forward. The suggested next step is a realistic proposal that the customer will likely accept without feeling pressure. Example: “I suggest that the next step would be for you and your partner to come see a demonstration of this copier.”

“It’s not enough to go Barnes & Noble and read the books. Jeremy puts it all together in a package that transcends the information itself, and takes you to a place where you can see how it all pieces together. Moreover, he shows how it’s not just about information, but about how people feel, and he does it in a way you just can’t get from a book. Highly recommended.” -George, PhD, Director of Consulting

Would you like to take your sales results to the next level? Contact me for a free consultation.

Learn more about: Sales Coaching or check out the breakthrough Sales Workshop: Reprogram Your Sales Mind

Create your own selling style with Coach Jeremy! We will learn together what sales methods, techniques, and philosophies will work best for you, or your sales team, to sell in the most genuine and natural way. Persuasive and pressure selling is a thing of the past!  A selling style based on your values and strengths will maximize your results!

Read what my clients are saying.

Spin Selling Summary

Source: WIKI Summaries

In Built to Last, Porras and Collins learned that their prior beliefs were misfires. During a six year research process, they “unlearned” much of what they learned with large corporations’ successes. In place of former beliefs lays a new groundwork for what exemplifies visionary companies. Here are some of the former myths removed with their research:

• A great idea is needed to start companies
• Visionary organizations need charismatic leaders
• Maximizing profits is the dominate goal with visionary companies
• Visionary companies focus on beating competitors
• Hiring outsiders as CEO’s is the best way to spark an organization

Some of the core beliefs Porras and Collins discuss in Built to Last include:

• Preserving a core ideology
• The BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) concept
• Owning a cult-like culture
• Trying new things
• Refusing the idea of a “great idea” to start a company
• Consistent innovation

Read more about Built to Last at WIKI Summaries.

Learn about my coaching programs.

Source: WIKI Summaries

The 4-Hour Workweek is divided into four sections, each of which explores one of the components to lifestyle design:

• Define your objectives. Decide what’s important. Set goals. Ask yourself, “What do I really want?”
• Eliminate distractions to free up time. Learn to be effective, not efficient. Focus on the 20% of stuff that’s important and ignore the 80% that isn’t. Put yourself on a low-information diet. Learn to shunt aside interruptions, and learn to say “no.”
• Automate your cash flow to increase income. Outsource your life — hire a virtual assistant to handle menial tasks. Develop a business that can run on auto-pilot.
• Liberate yourself from traditional expectations. Design your job to increase mobility. This could mean working from home, or it could mean using geographic arbitrage to take mini-retirements in countries with favorable exchange rates.

Read more about The 4-Hour Workweek at WIKI Summaries.

Learn about Professional Coaching.

How do you hold yourself accountable in your life or in your business?  What is accountability to you?  Where is it present and where does it not exist?  What is the impact in your life or your business if there is no accountability?

From my coaching perspective on accountability with my clients, it does not include judgement or blame.  If someone does not follow-through, I ask them what they took away from the experience and what they learned about themselves.  I help them uncover what prevented them from accomplishing a goal, so they can move forward more effectively next time. 

I help them learn to hold themselves accountable so that they can learn to self-manage.  I do help to hold my clients accountabile to their visions and goals, but I realize that the learning that takes place from the experience is what is most valuable.  Sometimes we uncover a new action that needs to take place to reach their commitments, or we find something that works great, and apply it to other areas of their business or life. 

It is also important to mention that with each client I partner with, we custuom design how much accountability is needed, and tweak it along the way for maximum results.

Think about ways that you can hold yourself accountable.  When you don’t complete a task or a goal, think about what stopped you or slowed you down.  Come up with solutions, so that going forward you can experience better results.

Learn more about Life Coaching, Business Coaching, Executive Coaching, Sales Coaching with Coach Jeremy.

Jeremy J. Ulmer, Professional Coach, Sales Coach, Sales Mentor, Business Coach, Life Coach

Research by the Chartered Management Institute and Campaign for Learning – “Coaching at Work”. Results issued in a press release dated 16th May 2002:

Top 4 words associated with Coaching (from a given list) were:

Supportive (98%), Empowering (82%), Holistic (80%), Inspirational (77%)

Top 3 words associated with Training (from the same given list) were:

Prescriptive (71%), Rigid (70%), Intimidating (50%)

80% of executives say they think they would benefit from coaching at work and dismiss the suggestion that coaching is just another fad

Virtually all managers (96%) think coaching should be available to every employee, regardless of seniority

85% of managers say the main value of coaching is in enhancing team morale

80% of managers value coaching for generating responsibility on the part of the learner Research by The Lifecoaching Company – “Coaching Today Survey”. Research took place at the HRD Show in London in April 2002, respondents all HR professionals.

86% held very positive views on coaching

86% of respondents’ organizations have offered coaching at one time or another and coaching is CURRENTLY taking place in over one third (36%) of organizations

Respondents feel that coaching achieves the following desired outcomes:

• A positive impact on other aspects of participants’ lives, both at work and outside the workplace (96%)
• A feeling amongst participants of ownership of the issues and the outcomes (85%)
• Evidence of learning being put into practice (71%)
• Readily-quantifiable and positive results, often demonstrated on the company’s “bottom-line” over the long term (62%)

Source: WIKI Summaries

In Rich Dad, Poor Dad the author presents six major lessons which he discusses throughout the book:

• The rich don’t work for money
• The importance of financial literacy
• Minding Your own business
• Taxes and corporations
• The rich invent money
• The need to work to learn and not to work for money

Rich Dad, Poor Dad revolves around three main characters: poor dad, rich dad (Kiyosaki’s second father) and the son (the author himself as narrator of the book). The essence of each character is:

Poor dad – educated but lacking the street smarts

Rich dad – very little education (eighth grade), tons of street smarts

Kiyosaki – the spectator who learns lessons from both but internalizes only rich dad’s traits

Read more about Rich Dad, Poor Dad at WIKI Summaries.

Learn about Executive Coaching, Sales Coaching, Business Coaching.

Benefits of Coaching