Sales jobs

Freelance jobs are an excellent way to make money online. Outsourcing has become a major way to do business competitively. There are numerous ways to freelance online and several good websites that match buyers and providers for freelance projects. There are several different categories of freelance jobs, and these range from creative or descriptive article writing to complete web site design, and everything in between.

To be successful at freelancing, and to actually make money online from it, you must be able to work independently and meet project deadlines. There is no boss reminding you of things, so being organized is a plus if you plan on freelancing. Sit down and list all of the skills and qualifications that you have. Honestly assess how well you can use a computer and the Internet. Figure out what operating systems and software you are proficient with. These facts will determine exactly what freelance job categories you are qualified for.

There are a number of websites that you can join to bid on freelance jobs to make money online. Most of these sites are free to browse jobs, but if you win a bid and accept the project then there is usually a fee unless you are a member and pay a monthly or yearly fee. If you plan on doing a lot of freelance work to make money online, then it is a good idea to pay a flat fee per month and save some money. This is because the fees can add up to hundreds of dollars each month, depending on which job categories you qualify for and can do successfully. Some web design projects may pay a thousand dollars or more for one or two weeks work.

Only use freelance programs that offer an escrow feature for your own protection. An escrow account ensures that you receive payment for your work, and it also guarantees the buyer that the project is completed to their satisfaction before the money is released. A lot of these sites allow the provider and the buyer to rate each other after the project is complete, and these reviews are available to other buyers and providers. This allows buyers to evaluate the quality and professionalism of your skills, and lets other potential sources of income know how you rate as a freelancer.

To make money online by doing freelance jobs, you must first honestly evaluate what categories of jobs you would be successful at. Once you have decided this, research some of the freelance websites out there and join one or two at least. Browse through the available jobs and bid on the ones you can do. Once you have bid and won a project then you can accept it. Never start the project until the money has been deposited into an escrow account, so that you do not end up working for free. Making money online by doing freelance jobs is very possible if you know how.

When searching for an ideal career, then job seekers have a mixed experience of gone through many good & bad jobs. Job seekers (both novice & experienced) want to find a career job that they like, and for that hunting they explore every available career advice channels. Job searching to start a new career or going with your career building phase has never been a comfortable thing to do. Some people go through many careers before they finally find the one that is right for them. At the same time, many job searchers who find their career job in the first attempt. The very basic thing to finding your desired career job is to know it’s in & out. Surely, if they don’t know, then how come job seekers ever find it? Principle aim is to know what new career job you want to choose, and this can be completed by seeking through the newspapers, classifieds and internet. As many jobs that you come across, the better opening chances you have of finding your career job.

New job seekers should do these;

* Always be yourself, don’t pretend to be others!

* Search for that working place where you can thrive

* Write a powerful CV with all the ingredients about what you can do & etc!

* Rehearse your interview several times for a better performance

* Explore your strength & weakness and able to display your skills.

Work place that doesn’t value you isn’t the kind of place you want be their. By seeking out more regarding what you can do to shift your job and career on to something superior, your career jobs. A good job offers with opportunities to learn new skills not only increase your earnings but also rise to promotions. A few or be short of openings can diminish interest in the job and result in irritation and dullness. The truth is that if you at anytime feel if you are dissatisfied with your job, you can change jobs more easily. Making career changes later in life is not as difficult as it once was. In fact, it might be beneficial for you to change jobs.

Employers have said that they are more likely to be 12 percent more graduates this year than last year. It is the first projected increase since the year 2000.

In another study, a projected 60 percent of US business plan to employ the same number of graduates this year as with last year. That is an increase of fifty-five percent from last year, according to the CERI (Collegiate Employment Research Institute) at MSU.

According to recent studies, US Corporations and businesses will employ more graduates with a bachelor’s degree in business, biological and physical sciences. Those with construction management, engineering degrees, health care and accounting will also experience an increase in hiring. Other fields will have a slight decline.

On the average, companies are hiring forty three percent of its interns to fulltime and regular status. The expected increase in the hiring of graduates coincides with an expected growth forecast of the economy next year according to a recent survey by the Federal Reserve Bank.

A lot of companies are coming out of a slump and are now hiring their interns and looking for more. A lot of companies are posting jobs and coming into different campuses.

Most experts advise that during the holidays, whether you’re looking for permanent employment or internship, it is time to step up your search.

Take advantage of the holiday events you’re going to, discuss what you’re looking for and your goals. Businesses don’t want to be flooded with calls and faxes of resumes. They will probably rely on word-of-mouth to get a handful of candidates The holidays are a perfect time to network.

What to expect:

Companies will hire more students earning bachelor’s degree in business and management, physical and biological sciences. Engineering, health care and accounting degrees also would experience an increase. Other degrees will experience a decrease in hiring

Businesses expect to employ about the same volume of MBAs this year as last year. Businesses have found employees with bachelor’s degrees being able to do some work being done by MBAs.

It will be harder for graduates with computer science degrees to find work.

Companies are more likely to employ students who have undergone internships. The work experience, they say, makes a lot of difference. Federal agencies will employ more graduates but not nearly enough to offset the decrease in hiring by the state and local government agencies.

In internet marketing and direct sales the most important aspect of actually making a sale is what and how you write to your prospective buyer, in other words, the sales copy. There are many different opinions about how to do sales copy, for the majority if you really want to sell something you will need to hire a copywriter; however have you seen how much a copywriter, a good one charges? A good copywriter is worth the price you pay because they will be able to write something that will make you more money than doing it yourself. In fact it may mean the difference between actually getting sales and not. With that said, many of us can not afford the risk of hiring a copywriter until we already have some sales under our belts, so we need to learn how to write copy ourselves. Here are four tips that I have learned that have helped my sales copy actually sell. I learned these from Trevor Crook, copywriting expert and from some members of Taggzilla.

1.) Although the headline will generate about 80% of the ability of a person actually reading your copy it is not the most important aspect of the sales copy. The most critical part of the sales copy, the one thing you should spend the most time in thinking is the actual offer. Spend the time working the offer. This is sometimes called the USP or Unique Selling Proposition - what makes your offer unique or better than the next guys. Bonuses are very important in the offer, which is why you see everyone promoting their bonuses. It is kind of humorous when you think about it, here the copy is trying to sell you something and what it says is look at all the bonuses I am giving you if you buy this one thing. But the offer is what actually sells the product or service.

2.) Keep it simple. The average reading level of the English speaking world is only at a 12 year olds level. So you need to keep the language simple in your copy. Do not use big words, big words confuse the mind and a confused mind will not buy.

3.) Use bullet points effectively and here is the tip for using bullet points - they need to be exciting. Show the benefits of the item your selling through bullet points. People do not want to know the technical aspects of the product or service. They do not want to know what the item can do. What they want to know is how does the product or service benefit them. Benefits are exciting so tell them how the product or service benefits them in an exciting bullet point.

4.) Font does matter. Surprisingly font style and size does matter in an effective sales letter. Research, and believe me copywriters research everything, has shown that the headline should be large and in Times New Roman font and the actual copy should be Courier New in size 12.

I have used these four tips to improve my sales copy and I know it has improved my sales copy because it has improved my sales. I suggest if you want to sell on the internet or through direct sales use these four tips to improve your sales copy. If you want to learn more about internet marketing and selling online I would suggest finding a copywriter such as Trevor Crook who is willing to show you some tips or joining a group such as Taggzilla - http://www.taggzilla.com

Sales Metrics or Sales Balanced Scorecard is just another one of those words that does not need to be explained to anyone in the Business world, for them, it can be as simple as saying the word ‘chair’. But, for the layman, or the untrained ear, the term SALES METRICS may not make much sense at all. Sure, a basic definition can be made just by defining Sales and Metrics separately, but does it go any deeper than that? Mostly yes, but most of the time Sales Metrics is just what its name means. It is a way by which the Sales performance of a company or organization is measured. Sales Metrics is otherwise known as business metrics.

It is defined as a measurement of any type that is used to determine the progress of some components of an organization or company. Most of time, these ‘components’ are often in measurable form. By ‘measurable’ it means that it can be quantified or is in the form of numbers.

Business or Sales Metrics are used in a discipline called “Business Intelligence” which is the monitoring of how a business is performing. Perhaps the most important feature of Sales Metrics is the fact that it provides an illustrated look into how a company is doing. This is done because the data collected can easily be translated into charts and graphs that give a viewer a quick and in depth look into how a company has fared without digging into months and years worth of data.

Examples of Sales Metrics include: Employee and Customer turnover rates - this type of gauge is helpful if the company relates it success to the number of clients it has catered to or to the number of employees that have stayed on with company because they have found working for such company favorable.

Most companies who go by such metrics as customer turnovers include: retail stores, restaurants and other customer oriented institutions. Companies that gauge their success on the rate of employee turnovers are those companies that tend to pride themselves on employee satisfaction.

Another example of sales metrics is revenue. Revenue is probably one of the most common values to measure a company’s success by. It follows that the rate of a company’s revenue is directly proportional to the success of the company: the bigger the revenue, the happier a company is. Other examples include: the rate of ROI (return of investment) and the EBITDA or the Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and authorization.

The data provided by sales metrics are important to a company because it gives the company a look into how they are doing and what their standing is. It can be a gauge of the company’s effectiveness and also to see how it has improved over a period of time. These gauges are also important when the company is looking at which areas they can improve their performance. It can also indicate how a company can maintain their level of performance, especially if they are already doing well.

Several years ago I was sitting in the office of a very successful businessman. He was the CEO of the company. He had finished interviewing me for a sales managers position.

As we approached the end of the interview he turned to me and told me that he was very impressed with me …so far. He then paused dramatically and said,

"Show me that you know how to sell….SELL ME THIS PENCIL."

The next ten seconds seemed like an eternity to me. I had been selling for many years. However, this really put me on the spot.

"SELL YOU A PENCIL?" I thought. "I don’t know a thing about PENCILS!"

It became evident that the entire interview was a mere formality to this exercise.

If I passed this test I would get the job. If I flubbed this, I wouldn’t.

However in my panic there was a still small voice which relaxed me entirely and told me that I could easily do this.

Do you want to take a guess as to what I did?

Before I tell you what I did, let me tell you what I did not do.
The majority of salespeople are talkers. The public wrongfully believes that to be a great salesperson you need to talk, talk, talk. We have all been in situations where a sales person would go on and on ad naseum about something.

I can very quickly tell how experienced a sales person is by how much they talk.

Many sales trainers even emphasize this method of selling The number one complaint among customers is that salespeople "talk way too much!" The flip side of talking too much is that the salesperson is not listening to the customer.

On the other hand, great salespeople are great listeners.
What makes a great salesperson great is that they have learned to ask the questions that allow you to find out more about the customers wants and needs and then get the sale.

This is the CENTER of salesmanship.

If you look at the greatest salespeople of all time they are the ones who ASK the best questions.

I have learned in my many years of selling that I can sell anything, with very limited product knowledge, if I learn to ask the right questions.

A great example of this is Socrates, the Greek Philosopher.
If you study Philosophy you will notice that all of Socrates work is called "the Dialogues."

Socrates asked his pupils questions about life. He was not only seeking truth he was engaging the listener.

Isn’t it true that your favorite teachers in school were the ones that engaged you in the educational process.

Chances are the reason they were so good and stand out in your mind is that they understood the power of questions.

The only way you can really engage the customer is if you ask questions.

Good selling is all about exercising good control on the customer and prove to them that you are genuinely interested in them. The only way you can accomplish these objectives is to ask the customer question that demonstrate that you really care about them.

You might imagine that with this type of insight, you too could sell anything to anybody.

I smiled brightly.

Looked the CEO square in the eye.

Paused.
Held the pencil up in the air and asked,
"So tell me about the type of pencils that you normally use here in your company?"

The CEO smiled back.

He knew that that by asking the question that I demonstrated that I was a professional salesperson.

Lesson Learned. God built you with two ears and only one mouth.

Ask.

Then listen.

Demonstrate to the customer that you genuinely care.

What does this have to do with marketing on the web?
Everything!

People want solutions, genuine relationships and feelings of goodwill.

Genuinely create that and you will have a business.
Ignore it and you will be chasing income.

I was reminded of a simple way to make more sales and develop a long term relationship with prospective clients via an email I received a few days ago from Virgin Wines.

They have me on an email list from a few months ago when I purchased a one off set of wine as a present. I declined the subsequent offer of joining their wine club and I have to say I am glad I did as the follow up emails I have received from them are great examples of relationship marketing.

The email I received a few days ago was:

Dear Peter

I am not a sensitive person by nature, but I have to say that I am feeling a little hurt. We’ve invited you into our Club, but you’ve clearly decided not to.

So, as a one-off attempt at sheer bribery, I’m offering you your first, trial Club case HALF PRICE at just £47.88 (that’s a ridiculously low £3.99 a bottle!). Plus, two FREE gifts, worth £30. That’s an overall saving of nearly £80.

Sound good? Then click here to claim your HALF PRICE case and FREE GIFTS.

But you’re probably not ready to join yet.. You’re probably thinking…

I can buy the wines anywhere.

Well you can’t actually. The boutique wines we reserve for our Club Members never appear in the supermarket. And they are always offered to members at a lower price than non-members get them for.

It’s just like one of those ghastly book clubs.

Er…sorry, not correct on this one either. Quite simply, you have no obligation to take any wine you don’t want. You don’t even have to pay us for any wines that don’t blow your socks right off.

I’m not the joining type.

If we explained that the reason we have a Club in the first place is because 40,000 people can buy better than 1, perhaps you’d change your mind? If you join us, 40,001 people will buy better than 40,000.

Or maybe you’ve just not got around to it.. Which is fine. People who buy wine by the case tend to be busy.

So what would be a good reason?

Here’s one good reason to test us out right now. We’re keen to recruit new Members. So, for one last time I’m offering you your first, trial Club case HALF PRICE at just £47..88

Take our HALF PRICE case NOW, and you’ll receive a complimentary pair of beautiful Dartington Wine Glasses, completely FREE. Plus, a FREE professional lever corkscrew, worth £20.

Still not sure?

What is the worst thing that can happen? If you don’t like the wines, I promise to refund you instantly, without any fuss whatsoever. If you agree that these wines are a big step better than you can get in the supermarket, you can look forward to a lifetime of feeling superior to non-members.

So why don’t you join us now and find out what it’s all about for yourself? Not next week, but right now.

Cheers

Rowan Gormley
Founder, Virgin Wines
www.virginwines.com/reasons1

0870 050 0305

PS - Don’t forget, you’ve got nothing to lose. If you’re not 100% happy with our wines, our service or anything at all, we’ll give you your money back.

Because this is such a darn good deal, only one case may be bought per household. When you buy one of our ‘3 Reasons’ cases you are agreeing to become a member of our Discovery Club. No other promotional vouchers or offers may be used in conjunction with this offer. Full terms & conditions, including full details of our Discovery Club, are available at http://www.virginwines.com

Drinking is only fun when you don’t over do it.

Can you see why this is a superb piece of relationship marketing?

The fact that I received it means that Virgin Wine are head and shoulders over the 3 or 4 competitors I also checked out a few months ago.

It is clear they have systematized sales process that tracks every prospective customer and that they regularly have ‘touch points’ to re-activate me as a customer.

The tone of the email is superb. It is written in a friendly, one-to-one manner that speaks directly to me.

I was made an offer that I could not get on their web site - it is an incentive to take action.

As a human being I naturally have questions and objections floating around my head as I am reading the email. The writer of the email (because I don’t actually think Rowan would be emailing me) understands buyer psychology superbly and has answered many of the common sales objections upfront. With extremely persuasive points too.

Just to cap it off there is a full money back guarantee — a no quibbles refund. How could I lose?

I would say that it is an absolute certainty that I will buy from them again.

Maybe not today but sometime soon. It is almost a shame to do so as I will no longer receive their follow up offers and emails. I would bet they have a few years worth already planned into their system.

This is not the best customer reactivation letter I have been on the receiving end of. About 22 Years ago I was in one of those book clubs that Rowan mentioned in his email. I did buy a few books every year and was in the main happy with them as a company.

Along came the internet and everything changed. When Amazon became my favorite shop I no longer needed the book club. Did they give up on me?

No!!

A few times a year, I still get mailings from them offering me ’spectacular’, ‘limited time offers’ for books and DVD’s. That’s persistence considering I haven’t bought from them in 20 years.

What can you learn from this if you want to sell your way ti increased profits?

Begin sending out customer activation letters and emails to everyone who has inquired within the last year and has not bought.

Make them an offer they just cannot refuse.

Answer any niggling doubts they might still have before they become major obstacles.

If you are in a business where it is viable make sure you include cost/profit justification of your services.

Plan for the future and begin to make this a routine part of your sales system so that you never lose contact with your prospective customers.

Oh and something slightly off topic — Invest in sales and sales management training. There is no better time to invest in training than when the economy is in a downturn. A small investment in sales training will ensure you stand head and shoulders above your competition.

Your POS system generates key statistics that tell you about your Retail sales performance.
These key statistics are: Average sale, Transactions per hour, Items per sale, Conversion rate, Sales per hour.

But did you know that tracking these statistics on an individual Salesperson basis can lead you to focused clues about improving individual performance. Most POS systems don’t enable you to track individual sales performance or generate individual KPIs (key performance indicators). If they do, they do not allow you to set a Store Sales Goal for comparative purposes.

If your POS system does track these KPIs they can lead you to some very important coaching strategies:

Coaching on Low Average Sale

Salespeople need to create value in the sale by demonstrating more expensive merchandise. This usually requires more skill and more product knowledge.

Customers need to be probed to identify their needs so the Salesperson can match them with the right product. There is no point in launching into a demo unless the needs of the customer are known. This leads to unsuccessful attempts at adding on. Perhaps the sale itself is lost due to inaccurate probing.

If the Salesperson is in a hurry they may not maximise their opportunity to sell. This will usually be characterised by low items per sale and/or high transactions per hour, as well.

Salespeople need to be aware of natural product add-ons such as extended warranties, product customisation and delivery options. Lack of product knowledge again is a cause for low average sale.

Coaching on Low Transactions Per Hour

Salespeople may be guilty of spending too much time with customer and not closing sales quickly enough. This is usually due to a lack of skill or motivation.

You need to identify a specific behavior that is cause the poor performance which may be thing like too much time spent merchandising, taking breaks, smoking, or talking to customers without trying to close the sale.

Converting customer is paramount to increasing transaction per hour.

Approach more customers and try to spend less time with them

Coaching on Low Items Per Sale

Salespeople need to at least attempt to sell more than one item to a customer. Product knowledge and sales confidence are the keys to a successful add on. Lack of sales skill will inevitably result on giving up too quickly or ignoring an opportunity to add on.

Probe customers with broad questions relating to the product they are buying. You may find out something about the customers that leads naturally to the ad on.

Since the customer’s mind is most open to buying prior to making a buying decision on the primary item, a Salesperson who always waits for that commitment prior to adding on may be minimising his/her chances of successfully adding on.

Salespeople are sometimes much to careful about saving a customer’s money instead of trying to sell them more items. If the store is quiet Salespeople need to try harder to ad on. Even if the store is busy, a customer who has already decided to make a purchase is more easy to sell something to than a customer walking into the store.

Coaching on Low Conversion Rate

Lack of probing, skill in selling, product knowledge, and approaching customers is usually the cause of low conversation rate.

In most cases increasing the conversion rate of the store is the quickest and easiest way to increase the sales average. Converting one more customer per period can create a dramatic effect on the sales for the day so Salespeople need to close faster and attend to more shoppers.

Lack of clear and targeted demonstrations and a lack of product knowledge can cause wasted time with Salespeople performing the sale but not closing the deal.

Coaching on Low Sales Per Hour

Usually this statistic is low because one of the other’s is low.

Make sure you are tracking this statistic accurately. If you are measuring sales performance for an individual who is selling for less hours than being tracked this will inevitable show us a low sales per hour.

As a sale professional, what would you do in this situation?

Your new client just signed an agreement putting you way ahead of the previous year. Not only would it catapult you in your organization and the industry, your personal income was about to reach new heights. Then, the following week, the person who signed the contract is replaced and in walks a new decision maker.

His first order of business is to cancel all new contracts because of a strategic change in the company’s direction. There is no real logic to this cancellation and it can absolutely change the game. On top of that, the new guy brought all of his old relationships including your largest competitor.

How would you react? How would you handle your fears?

1. After receiving the news you go home crushed by the days events. You spend considerable time pondering how it will affect your future. You consider the ramifications of finishing the quarter at the low end of the sales rankings. Your concern grows as you review your monthly bills. Alternative strategies aren’t even a consideration. You do nothing but ponder the damage to your career that has just taken place. You feel hopeless.

2. You go home and after a few minutes alone in the mental fetal position, you question your entire identity, purpose, and career path. Although brief, self doubt rules the moment. A short time later you emerge out. You hunker down and develop your best strategy to win back the client using all of the tools available. Additionally, you identify where you are going to replace that revenue should you fail. You explore and create options. You become stronger because you know the fight is just getting good.

As you can see both options have aspects of fear. But only one option (choice 2) will help you overcome your fear and help you excel in sales. The other option (choice 1) will polarize you and your business

How Fear Can Polarize You and Your Business.

Fear can cause target fixation as we impose our will and try to force unnatural outcomes.

Fear can cause us to refuse to develop alternative plans because we struggle with clouded thinking.

Fear can cause us to replace logic with unsubstantiated emotion.

Fear can make us hostages to our nagging thoughts that create an escalated feeling of doom and gloom.

Fear usually keeps us conservative. As a result our business lives go void of any risk taking.

Even great sales professionals with tremendous track records have fear. The difference is that the best are fearful of not being the best, or not winning. They use fear to make them more competitive. The best sales people don’t let fear rule them.

Struggling salespeople are fearful of losing. They are stuck in a comfort zone. They let fear interfere with their sales careers and their personal lives.

Now, which type of sales person do you want to be?

3 Simple Steps to Overcoming Your Fears & Excelling Your Sales Career

1. Name something that you were fearful of that you absolutely didn’t get through. Can’t name anything can you? We get through everything.

2. Develop a plan B and take action immediately. Have plan C ready to go in case you need it.

3. Recognize what your mind and body does when fear pays a visit. Invite it in, and then invite it to leave.

Excelling in sales is about going where no others will go. Don’t try to tell me there’s no fear attached to that. The key is to recognize and use your fear so that it becomes your friend. Healthy fear tells us we’re on the edge of breakthrough achievement. We’re in the right place doing the right thing. That’s a little different than letting fear own us.

To become a high achieving sales professional, you must first become an expert communicator. Ask any sales person if they would like to make $250,000 a year and they universally say “yes.” But then look at the tool kit they use to pursue clients, and more than likely you will find that the sales tools are dull.

After 19 years of working with sales organizations in general, and high achieving sales professionals specifically, I’ve found that there are many tools that are prerequisite to advancing your income. These five that I will cover here are words and phrases that will create an environment with your prospect where they are telling you the truth. And since your most precious commodity is time, you can’t afford to waste it with people who lie to you.

1. “What would you like to accomplish today?”

I get called on by many sales organizations (some of them household names) and rarely, if ever, does a sales person start a meeting with, “What would you like to accomplish today, Bill.” This one question will save you hundreds of hours a year from working on things that don’t matter. It’s a way for the prospect to begin to share their problem with you. Just because the tool sounds simple, doesn’t mean it’s used.

2. “Is there any financial impact to this problem?”

I’m assuming that you’re not giving away your solution for free. And that in fact, there is a price the customer pays to buy and a price the customer pays not to buy. I want to understand the difference. By asking this question, you will start to learn what the financial consequences are for “not buying.” Then when you talk about your fee, the prospect will be comparing your fee to the cost of the problem. Sales amateurs will very rarely help the prospect make that connection. High achieving sales professionals deal with money more elegantly and eloquently. And this question will help you put money on the table without it just being about “your price.”

3. “Let’s do this.”

Get advances if you can’t close. “Lets do this” is a proven technique that allows you to talk about the next steps in the process while you move your prospect forward toward a final decision. Let’s suppose you’re an hour into the sales call and the prospect has shared with you some of the problems he has, but he’s still unsure of your product or service’s value. You want to go back to your office and study them prior to giving a proposal. In this case, you would say, “Let’s do this. I’m going to go back and put some thought into this and then let’s set a time we can come back in a week and take it a little further.” The better process manager you are, the better sales person you are.

4. “Here’s how we (I) typically work.”

Use this on the very first call where you’re laying out your process for getting them a solution. The high achiever needs to be thought of as an expert, not just in sales, but in the industry domain that you play in. Experts have processes and procedures. If you don’t have a sales process, get one immediately.

5. “I have a sense that…”

The elite sales executive pays close attention to their feelings. The “gut instinct” is a powerful internal communication device for you. If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. If something does sound right, you’ve got to call it.

“I have a sense that…” are words in your sales professional toolbox that you can use to begin this conversation. I encourage my clients to use this if they are thirty minutes into the first call and the prospect hasn’t shared any problems or pains that he wants to fix. You might say, “In the first thirty minutes of our discussion today I haven’t heard anything that’s really a compelling reason for you to change from your current source. I kind of get this sense that if things just continued on it wouldn’t be all that bad.”

Give the prospect an opportunity react. It’s a way for the prospect to come back to you and either say yes, you’re right and it’s over (which is OK because as I said earlier, time is your most precious commodity, so move on) or he will convince you that he does have a problem worth exploring. And then, you will have control.