HARDISON’S TIPS – MAY 13, 2021 – PHONE SALES SKILLS (PART FOUR) 2. Research, Research, Research! Similar to calling at the same time, a big phone sales mistake I see too often is calling without the proper research. (Actually, this applies to cold calling and emailing.) When you fail to research your prospect, you are likely going to be pushed off for one of two reasons. First, without research into who your target is and what they do, you can’t deliver value. Not doing proper research into the prospect communicates that you don’t care about them — you only care about what you can get from them. Even the smallest efforts are appreciated. Let’s say you reach out to a prospect and lead with a recent achievement — say, an…

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CHAMPION STRATEGIES – PUBLIC SPEAKING WORKSHOP – MAY 13, 2021 Public Speaking Tips Getting an Audience to Listen View an invitation to speak as an opportunity, not a summons that appeals to you about as much as an IRS audit. Compose a statement of purpose as a starting point to your writing. Your purpose can be to entertain, inform, inspire, advocate, motivate, educate, persuade, and yes, even to SELL! Audiences are primed to listen at the beginning so craft an opener that will establish rapport, set the tone, enforce your authority to speak on the topic, and arouse interest. Write your speech as a conversation, not a lecture! Use plenty of pronouns: you, I, us, we. Engage your audience; be interactive. Choose gut vs. brain…

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HARDISON’S TIPS – MAY 12, 2021 – PHONE SALES SKILLS (PART THREE) Step 3: Tone In phone sales, you have to be mindful of your tone. This is a soft sales skill that’s vital to your success. When teaching coaching callers how to sell over the phone, this lesson almost always elicits the same response: “Oh, so you want me to sound fake?!” My reply? “No, not to sound fake, but to sound genuine and upbeat.” When you’re selling over the phone, people will immediately sniff out when you are being “salesy.” Don’t be that person. Be yourself, and people on the other end will genuinely appreciate it. Tonality plays such a key role in selling over the phone because your voice is your biggest asset. The…

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HARDISON’S TIPS – MAY 11, 2021 – PHONE SALES SKILLS (PART TWO) Confidence Builder #1: Belief This was something I struggled with early on because I was so green to the world of selling. I would find myself stuttering, losing my place in the script, looking around for cheat sheets, etc. Belief came in the form of countless training sessions I attended. We would often be randomly pulled off the phone for quick training sessions, and each session gave me more confidence and belief in the skills I had learned. This allowed me to fully grasp that I was capable of a career in sales. Confidence Builder #2: Action Once I learned the skills that led to success, I make sure I took those same actions over…

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CHAMPION STRATEGIES – PUBLIC SPEAKING WORKSHOP – MAY 11, 2021 Speaking – From FREE to FEE Corporations typically hire trainers and workshop leaders. They generally do not hire keynote speakers for “in house” programs. They are looking for people who can provide some type of training for their staff. Associations generally hire keynote speakers, lunch time speakers and after dinner speakers for one of their regular meetings or special annual meetings. Some associations will also offer some special training seminars to their membership in conjunction with their event. The speaker who can provide both a keynote and training session will often be hired because they can meet the needs of the client for both speaking situations. For example, in October of this year I will…

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HARDISON’S TIPS – MAY 10, 2021 – PHONE SALES SKILLS (PART ONE) Phone sales is about mastering two things: Your mindset, or your approach, to the day-to-day drudgery of phone sales The specific, tactical things you do every day to have better conversations and close more sales Both of them are essential, and both require active, intentional effort to improve upon. Today, I’m going to share my approach to staying upbeat and productive in the face of rejection, as well as 5 tips to ensure phone sales success. Let’s get started. How to Sell Over the Phone The process for selling over the phone is easy: pick up the phone, dial a number, and go through your script. When the call is done, do it again.…

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CHAMPION STRATEGIES – PUBLIC SPEAKING WORKSHOP – MAY 10, 2021 Speaking – From FREE to FEE Many people often ask me what it takes to get people to “pay” you to speak. Before an organization is willing to pay a speaker they need to feel there is value in what the speaker has to say. Keep in mind speaking for free does NOT mean that you do not offer something of value. The goal of speaking before a group should not always be motivated by money. I can remember situations during my career where I would have been willing to pay for the opportunity to speak to a group. One thing that always occurs when you are speaking before a group, whether being paid or…

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CHAMPION STRATEGIES – PUBLIC SPEAKING WORKSHOP – MAY 9, 2021 (PT.2) Some incorrect assumptions about those who are expert public speakers: That expert speaking is innate. Instead, all public speakers have a learning period — it is just that some got an early start than others by participating in social activities that forced them to develop a comfort zone (i.e. church, debate, theater, recitals — even living in a large family) That great speakers are fearless. All speakers have fear — they just learn to manage it. Fear management requires reinterpreting public speaking environments in ways that promote positive performance. See the following handouts for specific examples: fear management tips samples of reinterpretation Examples concrete ways to manage fear: Channel a coach-like pep talk…in your head Breathe…

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CHAMPION STRATEGIES – PUBLIC SPEAKING WORKSHOP – MAY 8, 2021 (PT.1) Lecturing Without Fear Public speaking, it is commonly said, is one of the most pervasive fears (in some surveys, second only to death). It is estimated that 75% of all people suffer from fear of public speaking. In academic training, speaking skills are rarely taught in any formal sense, which may increase anxiety and discomfort. Yet public speaking is one of the most important skills for scholars, and hence a skill which is commonly tested—from lectures to formal research presentations. The goal of this module is to provide some core materials one can use to begin the journey of becoming comfortable with speaking in public. Each section, below, contains specific tips for how to…

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