Encouragement for the Entrepreneurial Soul – 3 Strategies to Turn the Boat Around

Posted by Kira Callahan º April 19, 2016 º Kiras Blog º 0 comments

With the ups and downs of owning a business, there are going to be those times. Days, weeks or even months when you are struggling. When you’ve been working your tail off but can’t see the fruits of your labour. Where are the sales? The referrals? Where’s the respect? Where’s the money?!

You may be asking yourself: Why, exactly, did I think starting my own business would be a good idea?

It’s sort of a running joke with entrepreneurs: ‘If I knew then what I know now, I never would’ve started the business!’ Of course for most of us, that’s not really true. But it’s a phrase that encompasses the sheer volume of sh*t you’ve had to deal with since you began.

You are not alone. I’m sending you deep love and respect. Thousands of entrepreneurs on the same journey are cheering you on at this moment. You’ve chosen a heroic path. Look in the mirror and take pride in that. Hang in there!

If you’re in the trenches right now, here are three strategies to help you turn the boat around:

Prioritize Self-Care. This is no joke. You are the engine of your business. If you’re not functioning well, neither is your business. If you’re currently feeling at the end of your rope, take one healthy, loving action to care for yourself and it will set you in a positive direction.

Some suggestions: Turn off all media, the lights, and any other distractions for ten minutes. Close your eyes and take deep, slow breaths; slowly drink a cool glass of water; walk around the block; go to bed early; do ten minutes of stretching to get your circulation going.

I like to call these little breaks ‘sips of sanity’. They aren’t rocket science, I know. What is radically effective is the leap of faith it takes to implement them when you’re pressured, instead of reaching for unhelpful habits like coffee (my go-to), TV (another go-to) and snacks (Okay, crap. These are three of my go-to’s!). I have begun replacing these old coping habits with the quieter, healthier choices and the difference from using even just one of these each day is remarkable.

Reach out. Running a business can be incredibly isolating. If you don’t have a community of like-minded people to lean on and celebrate with, you will suffer unnecessarily. The benefits I’ve received from my community are immeasurable!

Just some of the advantages: Fast-tracking decisions – being able to leverage the collective experience and wisdom of your community allows you to avoid costly mistakes, find creative solutions and better leverage the opportunities coming up; Emotional support – no one understands the challenges you’re dealing with like other entrepreneurs. They will share their own war stories and help you see the light at the end of the tunnel when you cannot. And of course business opportunities – sharing resources, making referrals, forming joint ventures and many other ways of collaborating are all available when you get to know fellow entrepreneurs more deeply.

Charge up your cash flow. If cash is the issue, make some radical – if temporary – changes. Cut out all non-essential activity. Brainstorm an exhaustive list of ideas to get the money flowing again. Call two or three trusted friends and colleagues who believe in you, and brainstorm again with them.

Here are a few you may not have thought of: Send out a one-time special offer to your list. Call all your previous happy clients with a short-term special ‘thank you’ offer. While you’re on the phone with them, ask them who else they know that is experiencing the challenge that your service fixes, and ask for an email introduction.

Offer friends and relatives to do odd-jobs for quick cash.

Look around your home and office and see what you can sell. Take a picture of each item and get them up on Kijiji or Craigslist. Don’t have time for this? Hire a student and tell them they get half the proceeds from each item sold.

Here’s a creative idea that my coach used when she was in a money crunch early on: drive around and pick up the high-quality cast-offs you find at the curb in wealthier neighbourhoods and sell those online.

You will notice that some of these ideas require a lot of humility. Your ego may scream in resistance. Take a deep breath and keep your eyes on the long game. Allow yourself to be vulnerable and ask for help. When you’re willing to step up and do what it takes, you’ll be amazed at how much support there is for you.

From the trenches…hang in there – you can do it!

Phone Sales – 5 Ways to Start the Call Right and Book More Business

Posted by Kira Callahan º December 8, 2015 º Hot Tips and Resources | Kiras Blog º 0 comments

When we’re stuck in the grind of sales, one fundamental fact that’s easy to lose sight of is that our prospects are people first, just like us. As sales people, it’s a perfectly natural instinct to put defensive layers up to protect ourselves from the rejection we face every day, but in doing so, we’ve constructed a barrier that gets in the way of real connection – and lots more sales!

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The opening moments are the hardest. You won’t get anywhere until you get your prospect to make the internal decision to have the conversation! Once they commit to being on the phone with you, you both relax. Now you can get to know them and share what you’re offering from a place of genuine service.

So to master your opening, start by asking yourself – how can I help them relax and make the decision to take the call?

Here are 5 tips to start the call right:

Dissolve their screening objections. We all listen to the radio station WIIFM – What’s in it for me. This isn’t being selfish – it’s simply how the human brain tries to manage the constant barrage of information we’re confronted with every day. This is the filter you have to get through in the first few moments of any sales call.

Your prospect’s screening objections (objections not to the sale, but to having the conversation) are the same ones you and I have when we don’t know the caller: Who is this? Why are you calling? Is this of value or an interruption? What’s in it for me? Your opening lines should answer these questions. If most of the people you call are impatient and irritated with you, this is a strong indication you haven’t answered one or more of their screening objections. Go back and re-jig your opening.

Never make someone work to remember you. If this is your first call after meeting someone at a networking event, even if you had a substantial conversation and exchanged cards, it’s important to make it easy for them to remember you. Doing this the right way will help them relax and ‘anchor’ the good feeling they remember from your meeting. Example: ‘Hi Janet, this is David, the financial planner you met at Wednesday’s Board of Trade breakfast. Your question about xx really got me thinking, and I had to call and tell you yy.’

Maintain your status. You made a connection when you met. If you fail to personalize the start of your conversation, you are demoting yourself back to a cold-caller, so it’s important to get this right.

Prepare engaging questions. Remember, your intent for nailing the top of the call is to help them relax and commit to the deeper conversation. Forcing someone to listen to a pitch or jumping immediately into a meeting request will put them in a defensive posture. Instead, prior to each call, prepare two or three open rapport questions that will help you both enjoy the conversation. We’re looking for genuine engagement, so instead of asking ‘Did you like the speaker?, ask ‘What did you think of the speaker’s comments on xx?’ Notice the first question will get you a yes/no answer and kill the conversation. The second one will get them talking!

Have your call to action ready. Before you pick up the phone, decide what you want the next step in your relationship to be. Meet for coffee? Attend your wine & cheese networking evening? Book a presentation? Practice saying it out loud a few times so that your call to action comes out in the same relaxed tone as the rest of your conversation.

Be present! Once you have the above technical pieces in place it’s time for the alchemy that builds lasting relationships. Producing this alchemy is not for the faint of heart! To get there, you need to be truly present with the human being on the other end of the line. Eek!

We cannot know or control exactly how the conversation will play out, so that makes us vulnerable. This is why we resist it! But ohhhh, it’s worth it. The courage to surrender to this unknown in order to be truly present will propel your sales forward like nothing else. There is real joy in authentic connection!

Instead of having a death-grip focus on your sales target, let that go, be in the moment with them and listen. Remember – we are all people first, and we all naturally want to connect. Challenge yourself for one day to be fully present with the people you call and watch what happens.

You have done your due diligence. You are prepared. Now enjoy the alchemy!

And remember… Speak from the heart. It’s good business.

Kira Callahan is an expert sales conversation coach for the financial industry. Her private clients typically experience 30% – 100% increase in appointments and business. Click here to learn more about Kira.

3 Tips to Reel In More Clients From Sales Meetings

Posted by Kira Callahan º December 1, 2015 º Hot Tips and Resources | Kiras Blog º 0 comments

So you’ve generated enough interest and rapport to book the meeting, and now your prospect is sitting in front of you waiting to see what’s what. You are in the driver’s seat.

In industry parlance, you are about to take them through a QP – a qualifying presentation – with two desired outcomes: one, you uncover enough potential business for them to be a welcome addition to your book and two, you persuade them that you’re the advisor for them, and that now is the time to take action.

This is a critical moment. You are close to a lot of potential business, and yet this is when many advisors blow it by sliding into a rote delivery of company marketing.

Does this sound familiar? Here’s what we’re going to cover today (you hand client Agenda). I’ll tell you about myself and our company and how we serve our clients, and then we’ll go over your goals and concerns and decide how you want to proceed. Then you walk them through a long-ish presentation, page by page (or slide by slide), with you doing all the talking.

And your closing rate sucks.

Setting up the meeting this way almost guarantees your prospect will tune out. How much attention do you have when being educated ‘lecture style’? In order to improve your closing rate, you must dramatically increase your Prospect’s level of emotional engagement.

Here are 3 strategies to get you there:

1. Create context. As adults, we take in new information in relation to what we already know. We rate that information as valuable when we recognize it as immediately applicable to a need. The more urgent the need, the more likely we are to act on the new information.

So in order for your prospect to listen avidly to the information in your QP, start your meeting by asking your prospect which of the financial goals they mentioned in your initial conversation feels most urgent.

With this one question, you’re accomplishing two things. First, you’re getting your prospect emotionally involved in the conversation and second, you are setting up a powerful filter through which they will view the entire presentation. Now you can fold their urgent goal into your agenda.

2. Tailor the QP. Instead of a rote walk-through of all that content, keep in mind your prospect’s urgent goal and spend more time on the information personally relevant to them and less time on describing service areas they don’t currently care about.

3. Connect the dots. When you are taking them through a bullet point or illustration you know is important for their goals, don’t assume they understand the significance. Instead, help them see the importance by connection the dots with a key message. For example, if you are sharing that your firm ‘manages xx billions of dollars’ put it in context by saying What this means for you is that we are a top, respected firm and you can trust make sure you have enough money to maintain your lifestyle in retirement. Wherever possible, use your QP material to show them how working with you will lead directly to them getting what they want more quickly.

Of course nailing your QP and getting the business doesn’t happen without a little preparation and practice.

Use the hot buttons you uncovered during your prospecting conversation and set aside 15 minutes prior to your meeting to scan the QP and decide what bullet points you will highlight to get them excited about moving forward.

As you implement these strategies you’ll notice that you’re having more meaningful conversations, getting more emotional investment from your prospects, and you’re closing more business!

And remember… Speak from the heart. It’s good business.

Roadmap to Getting the Sale – Start Strong!

Posted by Kira Callahan º November 24, 2015 º Hot Tips and Resources | Kiras Blog º 0 comments

Typically, when I ask my clients what their objective for a sales call is, they say it’s to ‘get a meeting’. This is fine for an end goal but it’s not specific enough to help you structure the conversation in a way that will get you the meeting.

There are steps involved to quickly building a relationship. You’re taking a prospect from unfamiliarity to enough comfort to meet with you and eventually, to trust you with their money and their future. So to make that happen, break down your objectives for the call into 3 steps.

11-25-15 pic two These steps are important whether you met at a networking event or through a referral or even through your warm market. All of these situations require you to go on a little journey of emotions with your Prospect. There is a ROADMAP, with steps along the way to get you there. If you skip them or SKIMP on them, your closing rate goes down. Take moment and think of someone you’re prospecting right now. You’d had the initial contact but you haven’t won them over yet. As we go through each of the stops on the Roadmap, think about that Prospect. Got your name?

Okay! Here are 3 stops on that relationship journey – there are more of course, but here’s what you need to start strong. You MUST GENERATE CURIOSITY, BUILD RAPPORT, AND Build TRUST AND CREDIBILITY.

Now before you think – ‘Oh, I do all that’, take a moment and think about a sales conversation you had in the last week where you weren’t able to get a meeting. Got it in mind? As we discuss each of these points, think about your conversations with your Prospect. Think about the beginning stages of that relationship journey.

Generate Curiosity. I’m going to talk like a Prospect now – if we meet and you haven’t grabbed my attention or made me curious in some way and you start talking about insurance, I’m gone. Know your target audience and make sure your attention-grabbing opener addresses their needs.

Build Rapport. If you generate some curiosity, but don’t bother to make a genuine connection with me before you start asking questions about my needs, I’ll take my curiosity to another Advisor. Prepare a couple of rapport-building questions before the conversation, and practice being fully present while you listen to your prospect’s response. Paraphrasing what they said and asking follow-up questions, will make them feel valued and help to create a strong connection.

Build Trust and Credibility. If you do generate curiosity and your prospect finds you charming, that’s still a long way from feeling in their gut that you’re the guy or gal to trust with their financial information and their future. Have 2 – 3 strong credibility facts ready to weave into the conversation – including something about the stability of your firm, and something about your own expertise.

How are people responding to you during sales calls? Take a moment and think about your ROAD-MAP – your typical approach to a sales conversation, and make a note about which of these stops on the ROADMAP you could be spending more time on.

Once you start thinking about your Sales Conversations in terms of the emotional journey your Prospect goes on, you can adjust your approach to make sure they get what they need to move forward with you – and you’ll close more business.

And remember… Speak from the heart. It’s good business.

Hot Tip: Amplify the Discomfort

Posted by Kira Callahan º February 24, 2014 º Hot Tips and Resources º 0 comments

Amplify the Discomfort

Think about how many things in your life, your home, your health or your relationships you put up with. Minor annoyances or major problems that yes, somewhere in the back of your mind you have an intention to do something about. But life is busy, and you’ve gotten so used to managing, you almost don’t think about them anymore.

This is the same for your prospects. When you’re pitching them, it’s important to bring those ‘pain points’ into sharp focus. Ask questions like ‘What’s that like for you?’ ‘How is that getting in the way?’ ‘Tell me more about that.’ Your prospect will realize that they do want the problem fixed and they will be motivated to make a change.

Archive for Resources

Encouragement for the Entrepreneurial Soul – 3 Strategies to Turn the Boat Around

Phone Sales – 5 Ways to Start the Call Right and Book More Business

Here are 5 tips to start the call right:

3 Tips to Reel In More Clients From Sales Meetings

Roadmap to Getting the Sale – Start Strong!

Hot Tip: Amplify the Discomfort

Amplify the Discomfort

Sales Breakthrough