-•- HomeOfficeDigest.com Newsletter - Issue 133 -•-
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THE HOME OFFICE DIGEST NEWSLETTER
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BE YOUR OWN BOSS
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When you run your own business you must be aware of any state
and national laws you have to follow as well as your tax requirements.
It seems that far too many people who work at home don't realize
that a home business is subject to the same laws and tax codes
as a brick and mortar business. It may cost you a few dollars to
consult with a lawyer, file the proper documents, and comply with
the law but you'll thank your lucky stars that you're in compliance
if the tax man or FTC ever comes calling. Trust me, I realize that
this section can be a downer from time to time but running a home
business isn't all fun and games. Since you probably spend 
thousands of hours a year promoting your business I'm sure you
can find a few hours to ensure its long term prosperity.


FEATURED ARTICLE
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Quit Telling Me How I Feel
by James Maduk

Objections are a reality for every sales rep and for the most 
part consist of two distinct parts. The first part is the actual 
concern of the prospect. The second part is how we as sales people 
respond to that concern. The more proficient we are at identifying 
and responding to these concerns the more successful we will be in 
building sales and customer relationships. 

For some reason however the sales training profession has done a 
pretty poor job at training sales reps for both of these distinct 
parts. 

Many sales reps have the sensory acuity of a brick wall. A real 
objection is like a land mine. If you realize you've stepped on one, 
it's often too late. An objection must be identified and then handled 
with care. It amazes me how often sales reps step on objections 
without even know it. They barge through the sales call without 
listening to what the customer has to say, trying to make it safely 
to the end of their sales presentation. You hear with your ears and 
listen with your emotions. Identifying an objection means that you 
are emotionally involved and listening clearly to what the prospect 
is saying. If you hear and react to the objection wrongly, the answer 
you give, no matter how eloquent, will not be sufficient to overcome 
their area of concern. 

I Know How You Feel..... 
What really gets under my skin, as a customer though is how 
traditional sales training suggests we respond to the customers 
concern. A look through my sales library landed this gem of a 
technique that was guaranteed to "turn objections into dollars". 

It's called "feel-felt-found". It features 3 sentences, where each 
should ideally be linked with a winning example from your (or your 
company's) experience: 

I know how you feel. 
Other prospects have felt the same way. 
I'll show you what our customers have found. 

First, how can you possibly know what I am feeling? and Second, I 
don't care about your other prospects! 

This approach was obviously designed by the seller, not a customer. 
Sales reps are instructed to use canned responses to then "Handle" 
the objection. 

A much better way is to use the AGREE-ADD-EXPLAIN method. This 
method requires that you actually listen and allows you to confirm 
what their objection was to insure you had understood it properly. 
Second, it enables you to align with the customer before redirecting 
them to a new possibility. These first two steps also confirm that 
the customer has a valid objection as well as some time to formulate 
alternatives and an appropriate answer. The final step then is to 
explain why or how the situation can be changed or alerted to meet 
the concerns of the customer. This is not a canned approach to 
"handling" objections but a process that allows you and the customer 
to solve a problem. 

Objections are an integral part of a sales conversation and an 
opportunity to move the sales process to the next phase. When a 
prospect is sharing their concerns with you they are presenting 
you an opportunity to further the call. Join the ranks of the 
highly skilled and highly paid professional sales professionals. 
Quit telling customer how they feel. Change your mental approach 
to objections by viewing them as the opportunity to move the sale 
conversation forward. Put on your problem-solving hat and make 
some sales. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------
James Maduk is a nationally recognized sales trainer based in 
Ottawa, ON, and the author of a number of successful business 
books, including Customer Blueprinting and Small Simple Steps. 
Visit a complete catalog of online sales training at 
http://www.jamesmaduk.com/train/course.asp . Call him at 
(613)825-0651, or visit his company's World Wide Web site at 
http://www.jamesmaduk.com. 


DOWNLOAD OF INTEREST
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If you download a lot of free software you can be sure that your
every move on the net is being tracked. You should know by now
that there are very few truly free things available on the internet
today. Although you may not be paying these companies with money, 
you can be sure that the company offering the free software is getting
payment from you in one form or another. The most common way
these free software vendors generate income is through tracking
your online activities and selling that information to advertising
firms.  Would you like to stop them from tracking you? If you would
then you have to get the SpyBlocker. This program will detect, and
if possible, disable the spyware on your system while still 
allowing you to utilize the free software you really wanted. If 
you don't want to be constantly spied on then download SpyBlocker
at http://www.morelerbe.com/spyblocker/


WHAT ARE THEY THINKING
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FAQ pages ... Why in the world do so many people not read them
before submitting questions? To me, having a question answered
quickly is extremely important so I always read the FAQ pages
to see if my question has already been answered. I simply can't
understand why so many people ask questions that have already
been answered in the FAQ pages. Yes, this really gets me mad!
I do my best to answer the over 300 questions I get daily from
potential clients, but it takes me twice as long as it should 
because I have to answer so many questions that I've already
answered. Please! Please! Please! Read the FAQ page, if 
available, before submitting questions!


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