Shane Gibson’s Needs Analysis talk

(02/16/2009)  Powered by: CoveritLive

  

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6:40	Greg Kettner is MC-ing the Sales Performance Meetup (featuring Shane Gibson from Knowledge Brokers International, speaking on Needs Analysis)

6:41	Shane is now taking the floor. Today is really about our capacity and engage with our clients and people around us. We spend too much time perfecting our pitch and not focusing on our clients.

6:42	What’s your credibility model? Why people will buy from you is very different from each other person.

6:43	Listening – We get more out of the questions we ask than the stories we tell. We hear about telling stories, brilliant entertaining. But people are concerned that we are interested in THEM than we are interested in who WE are.

6:44

Closing is a process, not an event. There is no brilliant, silver bullet that you can follow to sell. Selling is about creating an environment where an act of faith can take place. What is faith based upon? Trust. Longevity. Capacity to prove that we are going to stick around. Rapport, empathy. Believing that I will indeed do what I promised YOU that I would do.

6:45

Needs Analysis Approach – A number of us, we start as rookies and we forget about this as time goes. 1.- Forces you to listen. 2. – Makes the customer think and explore 3.- Pertinent questions are not missed 4.- Sufficient information is gathered. 5.- You personally receive education from the real world.

6:47	A 20% closing ratio is pretty good. But this was as a group. Shane’s ratio decreased to 1 out of 20. Then Shane learned that great sales professionals listen 60% of the time.

6:48	You really need a solid process for listening. Shane mentions an anecdote that he needed to remind himself to listen again (drawing a little clock in each page of his notebook).

6:50	Shane makes emphasis on this particular point You personally receive education from the real world. Shane learned about the lingo that his clients used through repeated contact with his clients.

6:50	The power of interviewing questions Intelligent questions will - demonstrate that you are a professional - show that you are competent - build trust - prove that you are concerned about the client’s needs

6:52

Selling doesn’t mean that we close EVERYBODY. The Needs Analysis Questionnaire follows three stages (the Larry King method). In the beginning, general standard easy questions. 20% of the questions gather 80% of the vital information. More focused opinions that begin to tell a story. At the end of the questionnaire - you can delve into confidential, personal, financial information.

6:54	The timing of when you ask the questions is key as well. You can’t ask the personal, confidential questions right away.

6:56	The Needs Analysis Questionnaire - Direct - Never sell - Be aware of rapport - Mix it up.

6:57	Never sell during a needs analysis. You are assuming that you know what they need. You may actually break down the momentum. No more information will be shared with you.

6:59	If you go through a Needs Analysis and you falter, or your voice cracks, or you sound non-confident, then the rapport might be broken.

6:59	You have to mix it up (not all closed questions – some open questions).

7:02

In summary - Very few sales people listen their way out of a sale. - Too few sales people actually listen at all. - It’s a free education that competitors can’t buy. - People don’t care much how much you know until they know how much you care about them and their organization. - Always think “What’s in it for me…” from their perspective.

7:03	Make sure that our needs analysis is focused on HIGH RETURN ON INVESTMENT questions – where we can paint a picture to our prospect where we can build the business.

7:04	Some of us are overtrained at pitching and undertrained at listening

7:05

Related posts:

1. Vancouver Sales Performance Meetup October 2008
2. The Vancouver Sales Performance Meetup for July 2008
3. How fast is your typing speed?

Meetups:
- Vancouver Sales Performance – Comedy and Technology for Sales Pros at Ceili’s Pub – Nov 17, 2008 (Probably will recap this one)
- Third Tuesday Vancouver – Rebecca Bollwitt speaks on Building a Brand, at Granville Room – Nov 18, 2008 (I’ll be liveblogging this one)
- Vancouver Bloggers Meetup - I’m the organizer, so of course I’m going to be there! – Nov 20, 2008, 6pm, Gene’s Cafe (corner of Kingsway and Main) – I will do a recap, but doubt I can liveblog it.

Non-meetup events:
- Green Drinks Vancouver – As usual, third Wednesday of the month. I’ve been to the past few ones and I’ve felt them really, really “networky” and less social than I have expected them. Sure, I’m on the job market, and sure, it’d probably help if I attended. But I’m feeling ABSOLUTELY NO DESIRE to do so. I’ll see how I feel by the time Wednesday hits.

Related posts:

1. Upcoming events in Vancouver – early Aug to early Sep 2008
2. Upcoming environmental events in Vancouver – September 2008
3. Upcoming events – Geeky and non-geeky

I was quite impressed by Anthony McAleer’s talk for several reasons, but two main points stuck in my head and I’m putting them into practice here. The first one, to just keep moving, is really important. No matter what you do, even if you feel stuck, just keep moving ahead. Don’t stop. The second one was that you attract the energy you seek, so you have to associate positive energy with you if you want to attract that kind of energy (e.g. if you want to stay positive, be around positive people).

I couldn’t liveblog it, but here are some of my notes.

- You need ACTIVITY (if you’re not going out, meeting people, making sales calls, then you’re not doing anything). Pushing paper is being BUSY but NOT PRODUCTIVE. Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone.

- Engage in NETWORKING. It is about relationships with people so that they trust you. It’s like being an old-school phone operator – buliding connections, generating goodwill. DON’T focus on the money.

In the financial industry there is no differentiation on the basis of product – you differentiate yourself by having a process. In the sales process – it is important to learn how to deal with SAYING NO. When they tell you NO, you haven’t given them enough information to make a YES decision, get across the value of the product.

Key factor contributing to sales – understanding relationships – 75% of sales based on trust/rapport/likability/trustworthiness. People pick very subtle cues. You have to operate from a position of integrity. Do the best for your clients.

CONGRUENCY – The field – we are all connected. We communicate information to everyone – communication at a level that is not so conscious. So you align with your clients – resonance – vibration – communication in your field. So, for wealth, if you want to attract wealthy clients – immerse yourself with high resonance for wealth.

In life you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you believe you deserved. It’s all about INTENTION. Positive thinking is PART but not ALL of it. Learn to speak the language of the universe. Immerse yourself in the feelings of being rich.

VERY IMPORTANT – Communicate your gratitudes. Experience the success of getting the types of clients you know (more specific) – ask the university for the answers – and it does work. It’s having faith that it will work – simple, but not easy. It’s impossible to explain and impossible to deny.

You can find the video here courtesy of Shane Gibson.

Related posts:

1. The Vancouver Sales Performance Meetup for July 2008
2. Liveblog – Shane Gibson on Needs Analysis (Sales Performance Meetup)
3. Recap of Vancouver Bloggers Meetup Nov 2008

CHARITABLE CAUSES

- Karen Parker is doing the Bicycle Trek for Life and Breath, and you can sponsor her here. I am not sure if you can still participate in a draw she was having, but trust me – 4 hours of her geeky tech support is equivalent to gold, so sponsor her and get a chance to get some tech help from Karen!

- Barbara Doduk and Keira-Anne Mellis are doing the SPCA Paws for a Cause on September 14th (the day that my flight back is scheduled, though not sure if I’m actually going to be back in Vancouver then) and you can donate to their causes here (Barbara) and here (Keira-Anne).

- Tanya Davis (aka NetChick) is joining Team Diabetes, and you can pledge her here.

LOCAL EVENTS

- The Vancouver Queer Film Festival takes place from August 14th to … Unfortunately, I am in Mexico and won’t be able to attend, but if you do attend and want to do a movie review on my blog, you can be Hummingbird604.com’s official correspondent Actually I kinda need an official correspondent. I could even find something to throw as a reward… how about a free beginners’ salsa lesson? Even if you think you have two left feet, I’ll teach you how to dance at least the very basic 2 steps, how’s that? Or one or two hours of conversational Spanish/Italian/Portuguese?

- VinoCamp is taking place on August 16th, 2008. I am not able to participate but you really should attend. Wine and geekery, what else do you need?

- Travis Smith just sent me an email about an upcoming event (the ExpressionEngine Road Show) that you can check out here.

VANCOUVER MEETUPS

- I am a big supporter of Vancouver meetups, particularly since I frequently organize them (Vancouver Bloggers Meetup), live-blog or recap them (Vancouver Young Professionals Meetup, Sales Performance Meetup and Real Estate Tech Meetup). And since I missed this month’s Vancouver Real Estate Tech Meetup (where Steve Jagger gave a presentation), I was feeling bummed. Fear not, Steve himself uploaded a recap!

- I will be missing the Third Tuesday and Net Tuesday meetups, but I’ll be linking to them as soon as I get any scoop. I am particularly bummed about Net Tuesday as I am a total non-Drupal geek, but I want to learn.

- Jordan Behan has been organizing impromptu, informal Tweetups sorta regularly (I hope you keep doing it at least until I can make it to one!) around the Gastown area. You may want to check on Twitter what’s going on (or search Summize for #GastownTweetup)

NOT SO LOCAL EVENTS, BUT STILL…

- WordCamp San Francisco 2008 is taking place this weekend too. Two of my Vancouver friends, Andy and Duane are going down. Andy is presenting on the status of his project BuddyPress and Duane is attending the whole Camp, although given that Duane and Dale’s BraveNewCode project, WPTouch 2.0 for the iPhone was just released, I would have thought that Matt would have invited Duane to speak. Next year, I’m sure. I will link to Andy’s talk if he (or anyone else) uploads video. Heck, who knows. If I become really proficient with WordPress, maybe I will be presenting at WordCamp!

IF YOU MADE IT THIS FAR…

And somehow I didn’t highlight your event, fear not – drop me a comment or send me an email or a tweet. And while I am sure that most of my readers follow her blog, Rebecca usually has the comings-and-goings in Vancouver, so if I missed something about an event here, I could almost bet she has it there

Related posts:

1. Upcoming environmental events in Vancouver – September 2008
2. Upcoming events – Nov 16-20th, 2008
3. Upcoming environmental events in April 2008 – Metro Vancouver

In a completely different fashion to what I would normally do (either live-blog, or write notes on my laptop and then upload a summary), this time I took notes by hand (thank you grade 3 handwriting courses!) which I’m summarizing here. If you weren’t there, you missed a great talk. But not to worry, because I got notes here.

Fred’s topic, “Real Success – Breaking Through Performance Plateaus in Business and Life” actually couldn’t have come handier to me even if I had tried. I have often felt that I am in a plateau, in different stages of my life. When I was playing competitive volleyball, I frequently thought to myself that I was never going to be a better power hitter and that I had reached my plateau. I recently have been feeling as though I reached a plateau in my personal/professional life, surprisingly. But these are great tips that Fred offered and that I now share with you.

The first step is RECOGNIZING THAT YOU ARE IN A PLATEAU. The key is – if you’re happy with your plateau (in harmony with it) then it’s not a plateau. Think of one thing you’ve always wanted to do but you NEVER have done it. People focus constantly on the problem – that doesn’t really help you. Focus on TODAY – raise the vibration that happens (it only works if you are moving). [RAUL’S NOTE – Very interesting – keep moving, don’t be static).

If you want to move your cells, move forward. Fred talked about seven elements, but I missed one:
1. Environment
2. Behaviors
3. Capabilities
4. Beliefs
5. Values
6. Spirituality
7. …

And 5 addictions (failures – hinder your progression towards the future).

1. Food
2. Alcohol
3. Drugs
4. Gambling
5. Sex

Addictions pull back your progressions. Focus on your strengths rather than your weaknesses. Fred spoke about Pete Sampras’ lethal serve, indicating that you can’t block something you can’t see.

GET OUT OF PLATEAUING – Do little bits of momentum (moving forward) – gotta watch plateauing. Ask yourself:
- Who is in your industry/field?
- Who is the best of the best?
- What do you need to do, what has to happen for me to move forward from here to there (HAVE A CLEAR OBJECTIVE).

If you don’t feel like training, feed your brain with little snippets of stuff that will help you succeed in the long run. Do something that gets you closer to your goal. Constantly moving in the right momentum. As long as you acknowledge where you are going and you know where you are at you are NOT in a plateau.

Using different mentors helps as well. But it’s always important to ask yourself – does each one of your moves put you forward and get you closer to your goal?

ALWAYS MAKE A DECISION WHEN YOU ARE ON A HIGH, NOT ON A LOW. If I want to reach a goal, I need to reach the intermediate goals, so that’s important so that you can make a real calculation to reaching your goal.

ONE STEP AT A TIME – There is no unrealistic goals, just unrealistic planning. 20 mins everyday vs. one big chunk fo time – preferably continuous (20 mins every day) – continuous effort everyday.

When you start visualizing success, it starts happening.

— this is the end of Fred’s talk —

I have to say that he was excellent, and he mentioned many points that I know my PhD supervisor has always taught me, so I’ll have to concede that there is always something new I learn about my mentor, every day, even if he is not there physically (in the room where I was attending this presentation).

Related posts:

1. Vancouver Sales Performance Meetup October 2008
2. Liveblog – Shane Gibson on Needs Analysis (Sales Performance Meetup)
3. Vancouver Bloggers Meetup for July 2008 – What a success!