CHAMPION STRATEGIES – PUBLIC SPEAKING WORKSHOP – DECEMBER 12, 2020 The Tell-Me Game This exercise is designed to test your speech to see if you use fillers and to identify your favorite filler words and phrases. You will need a partner to be your speech monitor to listen to you. Tell your partner the purpose of the game. His task is to identify and list all fillers as you speak. Set a timer for one minute. Your task is to speak for one minute on this topic: Your business’s products and/or services. Do not allow yourself any time to think about the topic. Just speak. Speaking impromptu will more closely reproduce your “usual” speech habits. How did you do? Are you a filler user? If you…

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Questions: The quickest way to qualify a showroom prospect Find out what’s important to your prospects before trying to sell them something.   Dealership salespeople are sometimes viewed as greedy, unethical and unscrupulous – determined to close a sale at any cost. Yet, any business cannot survive without generating sales, so selling skills become a critical competency.   Selling is an honorable profession. And the most important skill to learn is how to effectively qualify your prospect.   The most common mistake salespeople make is to immediately launch into a product presentation or “pitch” when they first meet their prospect. They extol the virtues of their vehicles and tell the prospective buyer how good, fast, reliable, inexpensive or easy to use their vehicles are. They…

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HARDISON’S TIPS – DECEMBER 10, 2020 – How to Beat the Holiday Slump & Close More Deals Do some public speaking in December. Flex your presentation muscle and look for public speaking opportunities in December. Is your alma mater hosting an alumni panel for current students? Are there any conferences you can speak at? Ask your friends, colleagues, or manager if there are any marketing or sales events you can speak at, or if there’s a webinar you can host. You could even assist human resources with onboarding new hires. It’s a good way to practice your presentation skills without having to do it in front of a prospect or customer. Test out these strategies to have a productive December, and close more deals. Your…

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HARDISON’S TIPS – DECEMBER 9, 2020 – How to Beat the Holiday Slump & Close More Deals Push new business to January. This might sound contrary to sales nature — but hear me out. Most new opportunities in mid-to-late November are not going to close by the end of the year. This means they’re simply taking up time and resources you could be using to close existing opportunities. If a prospect’s requesting a December demo or late-November trial, simply say, “I’m afraid our trials are spoken for through December, but I can get you scheduled first thing January.” Your prospect might say, “Great, let’s get January in the books,” which allows you to focus on deals that have a real chance of closing before the…

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CHAMPION STRATEGIES – PUBLIC SPEAKING WORKSHOP – DECEMBER 9, 2020 How can the Illusion of Transparency bias your audience members? While a speaker is susceptible to the effects of the Illusion of Transparency at the front of the room, audience members are also susceptible from where they sit. Impacts on your audience members may include: Simmering frustration.  Suppose that an audience member who sits in the front row is having trouble following your presentation, and further suppose that this frustration persists for a lengthy period of time, perhaps across several sessions of a course you are delivering. This frustration may build and build, causing significant internal stress. If affected by the Illusion of Transparency, this audience member may assume (falsely) that you must knowhow frustrated they are.…

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HARDISON’S TIPS – DECEMBER 8, 2020 – How to Beat the Holiday Slump & Close More Deals Make your end-of-year close December 10th. Any concessions (whether pricing or terms) should expire on December 10th instead of December 31st. This forces negotiations to take place before stakeholders in Procurement and Legal are out of the office — something your well-meaning prospect might not have considered. If you introduce an expiration date for terms or discounts and your prospect says they’ll still need a few weeks to decide, say, “That’s fine, but this current discount will expire on December 10th.” This distances you from the stress of closing deals during the holidays and shifts the scramble to your prospect. If they still can’t close by December 10th…

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CHAMPION STRATEGIES – PUBLIC SPEAKING WORKSHOP – DECEMBER 8, 2020 How can the Illusion of Transparency bias a presenter’s frame of mind? Speaking in public can be a highly emotional experience. Thus, when you present, the Illusion of Transparency can bias your thinking in several ways, including: Amplified anxiety and nervousness. Savitsky and Gilovich performed a follow-up study to specifically test whether public speakers are susceptible to the illusion of transparency. The answer is a resounding yes! Their research confirmed that when a speaker feels nervous, they tend to overestimate the degree to which the audience can sense their nervousness. To make matters worse, this leads to a negative feedback loop. A belief that the audience can easily detect the nervousness can lead to more The…

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HARDISON’S TIPS – DECEMBER 7, 2020 – How to Beat the Holiday Slump & Close More Deals   Map out your key dates. According to HubSpot Sales Director Dan Tyre, figuring out the key dates for the season as early as you can is key to getting ahead for the holidays. Planning your sales activities around the dates and days of the week of major holidays. Let’s use an example related to Thanksgiving in the US. Some businesses are off the entire week, and many start to slow down on Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving on Thursday. Additionally, 50% of companies don’t open the day after Thanksgiving. Working through your calendar can help you understand many people you are trying to sell to likely won’t be…

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