ABC of Sales By Tammy Stanley At most health clubs you receive a free fitness evaluation and training session with your membership. By taking advantage of this feature, you'll have an hour long session with a trainer, who will assess your level of fitness and your fitness goals, and then he/she will propose a plan for you. The purposed plan will include a personal trainer - TAH-DAH - the person who just worked with you for that hour, which of course is an additional fee. Our middle daughter, Audrey, recently took advantage of one of these "free" sessions. Her goal is to become a professional ballerina, so now in addition to working out 20 hours a week in the ballet studio, she wants to do some specialized training. The trainer she worked with seemed perfect for her, but in order to secure Audrey as a client, this trainer had to close the deal with my husband and me. The trainer's name was Jesse, and she did a fine job of telling us everything she would do for Audrey. My husband and I asked a few questions. She answered them. Then my husband said, "Okay." Then he waited. (Remember from my article a couple weeks ago, we like to observe other people's selling process) There was a rather long silence. Then Jesse said, "Well, but there's a cost." My husband, Jim, said, "What is it?" Then she told us. Now think about that. Okay, that's enough thinking... at least I hope it is. I hope it didn't take much thinking to figure out that Jesse's way of closing that possible sale wasn't one you ever want to copy. Even if you are a superb personal trainer, you won't have a surplus of clients, if you don't know how to close. There are better ways of asking for the sale than saying, "There's a cost." I'm reminded of the story of the man who stood on the sidewalk of a busy street and sold books everyday to passing pedestrians by constantly saying, "Wanna buy a book? Wanna buy a book?" One day a gentleman stopped and said, "Young man, why don't you get a job at my company, Encyclopedia Britannica. We'll give you training and start you at $35,000 a year." The young book salesman said, "Golly! Is that right? Cuz I already make $80,000 a year doing this. Wanna buy a book?" The moral of that story is the ABC of sales - A-lways B-e C-losing! If you wait until the very end of any sales presentation to close the sale, you'll probably find it as difficult as Jesse-the-personal-trainer did. However, by closing all throughout your presentation, you'll not only avoid those awkward long silences, but you'll also discover that your prospects often close themselves. In next week's issue, I'll give you an example of how you can Always Be Closing during a home demonstration! WANT TO SEE MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE? WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER OR ON YOUR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Author, Sales Trainer, and Professional Speaker Tammy Stanley publishes the propelling 'Sales Refinery Insights' weekly ezine for direct sales professionals. If you're ready to jump-start your direct sales business, make more money, and create more value, get your FREE tips now at www.tammystanley.com/ezine/ezine_offer_ds.htm

Have you ever worked with a life coach? I have. In fact, I've worked with several powerful coaches, and all of them have made a wonderful impact on my life. One of the easiest ways to significantly impact your direct sales business is to become a coach to every hostess you schedule in your calendar. Even if your hostess has been a hostess before, even if she's been a hostess for a consultant in a different company than yours, and even if she's a representative with another direct sales company, she needs your coaching. Imagine for a moment that you want to teach me how to play poker. You deal out cards to me and to you. What would you do to show me how to play? I propose that you begin by showing me your "poker hand," so that I'll better understand the "rhyme and reason" of how you play and why. In order to be a great coach for your hostess, you have to show her your hand. You need to explain the rhyme and reason of what's required to have a profitable home party for both her and you. My hostess coaching CD is a complete system that will enlighten even the highly experienced sales consultant. If you want to learn how to stop postponements, improve guest attendance and increase your profits, order my Stop Postponements in the Home Party Business CD today! Learn more about it by clicking on this link: www.tammystanley.com/ebook.html.

Tammy Stanley, founded and directs The Sales Refinery, a sales training company that assists direct sales consultants to generate more business and build long-lasting sales teams through powerful marketing, selling and leadership strategies.

Tammy has been coaching and training since 1994 and has a deep understanding of the challenges and needs of the independent sales consultant. While raising four children, Tammy built a multi-million dollar direct sales organization, reaching her company's Circle of Excellence 7 consecutive years in a row. She earned numerous sales and leadership awards, world travel, and promoted 11 offspring managers.

The Tammy Stanley Sales Refinery
Tempe, AZ 85283
Call Today: 480-775-4866
tammy@TammyStanley.com