Figure out what customer wants, and leave the rest out of proposals

I love watching salespeople present a proposal, especially the newer ones. It is like giving someone the book "War and Peace" or "Moby Dick" and saying: "OK, take a look at it now. I'll wait."

So many salespeople think that the longer their proposal, the more professional they are and the better the proposal looks.

I remember when I was a salesman at Xerox, and in my first year selling, I did the same thing while I was presenting proposals. I handed out books -- thick proposals that resembled books -- and I was so proud of all the work I poured into them.

Now, the reason I was so excited is that we have to go back to 1977 and the invention of the word processor.

Yes, I said it, the invention of the WP, or the computer that really was not the computer we know today.

It was a fancy typewriter with memory. It stored our documents for us with a tiny monochrome screen, and it spit out proposals, so we did not have to type each one again and again.

All we had to do is ask for this page or that section, and it was done. Basically, all I had to do to the proposal was add the last couple of pages myself or the actual numbers.

I went to my closing appointment and had copies for all the parties involved. I was so excited because it looked like I had invested hours of work on these proposals while I was actually letting "new technology" work for me.

What I witnessed time and time again is that no one really cared about all the "stuff" I included in the proposal.

They totally skipped over the features or benefits section or why they should buy from our company.

They didn't even care about the history of our company or even how long we have been in business!

What I did notice is they really cared about the numbers or how much it was going to cost them. So, I quickly realized that I should construct the proposals around what they want and not what I wanted them to be impressed with.

I completely changed the way proposals should be prepared. Here are my concepts, two ways to save time on proposals:

REMEMBER K.I.S.S.

A lot of times, when salespeople prepare a proposal, they include everything but the kitchen sink.

What's the result? When the customer looks at the proposal, it's too much to absorb, and if the customer has to present the proposal to someone else in the company, it can become confusing or even get "lost in translation."

Think about the junk mail you get. Don't you read what's quick and throw out what's thick and bulky? The same thing is true of proposals.

My message is simple. Ask yourself: How simple can I make this proposal? K.I.S.S.: Keep It Simple, Stupid.

During the past 30 years, I've found that the shorter my quotes or proposals were -- the more concise -- the more business I got.

This can make your life easier -- and more profitable.

You don't have to impress them with what you want. Instead, find out what is important to the customer.

SPEED UP, LISTEN UP

Let's spend a moment on a second time-saver on preparing proposals: For the money you have already invested in your computer, you can have your proposals done in no time.

Make up one big proposal that covers all the different types of benefits and services your company can provide.

Give each item a different letter: benefit A, benefit B and so on.

Put it in the computer in a Word program or something similar, and when you have a proposal, all you have to do is select the parts you want and put them into your proposal, instead of writing that proposal from scratch.

You make one investment of time, and the job is basically done. But do not forget that the less you put in there the more you say.

Don't just print out the proposal. When you talk to customers before you present the proposal, ask them what they would want included and what they would not.

Now you have a customized proposal on what is important to them and not just you!

Source: BizJournals.com

7 clues that someone is lying to you

How many times has your business suffered because you trusted the wrong person? If you're like most people, you've been lied to thousands of times.

Deception hurts in many ways. There's the emotional stress from being betrayed, the loss of self-confidence and the increased suspicion or even paranoia. Not to mention the financial cost.

A deceptive supplier may promise that a shipment will arrive by your deadline, all the while knowing that delivery by the promised date is impossible. Trusting this supplier could cost your company thousands of dollars or more. Deceptions like this can be deadly to a growing business.

But you don't have to be a victim. Here are seven subtle cues that often mean a person isn't being completely honest with you.

1. Nose touch: We have erectile tissues in our noses, which engorge with blood when we lie. This causes a tingling or itching sensation that requires a nose touch to satisfy. The absence of a nose touch doesn't guarantee truth, but the presence of a nose touch often means deception. Of course, sometimes a person will touch his or her nose because of a non-deceptive cause, such as a cold. With some practice, you can quickly learn to distinguish a deceptive nose touch from something innocent.

2. Speech disturbances: When we lie, we force our brain to pretend that the lie is true, that the truth is a lie and simultaneously remember that the real truth is that each is the other. Are you confused? So is your brain when you lie. The process of deception taxes our cognitive ability to think efficiently. So when we lie, we pause longer and speak slower than normal and often experience speech disturbances that serve as gap fillers, such as "um," "er" and "ah." Train yourself to look for deception when you hear this kind of verbal cue.

3. Incongruent behavior: When our words and our body language don't agree, our communication is incongruent. Imagine that you ask a salesman if he can assure your delivery will be on time. If he explains how certain he is about it being on time while also shaking his head--as if non-verbally saying "no"--he is incongruent. When this sort of incongruence occurs, you would do well to believe the person's body over his words.

4. Neck rub: We rub our necks because of the stress we experience when we feel that an obstacle may be insurmountable. Let's say you're interviewing a potential employee for a key leadership position and the prospective employee verbally emphasizes his interest in the job. However he also begins to rub his neck when you explain the expected duties. This probably means he doesn't feel he'll be able to accomplish the duties. He might be wrong, but if we know anything about human psychology, it's that if someone believes that they can or can't do something, they're probably right.

5. Eye rub: An eye rub is an indicator of disbelief. Let's say you have an important computer keystroke sequence to teach a new employee. The employee begins to rub her eyes even while verbally affirming your statements. This probably means that she doesn't believe you or disagrees with your instruction. It would be wise to stop and ask a question to allow the employee to verbally object. Many subordinates feel uneasy about disagreeing with the boss, but their bodies don't hesitate. Perceiving a potential problem and dealing with it early can be the difference between a simple misunderstanding and a business disaster.

6. Upward inflections: We upwardly inflect our words when asking a question. You may have noticed that some salespeople will upwardly inflect certain statements of fact. This is a red flag that should alert you to potential deception. The salesman might say, "Your competitors have seen their profit margins increase by 30 percent by using our product." If you notice that he upwardly inflected the words, "30 percent," you should disregard this statistic and be suspicious of him altogether.

7. Stabbed hollows: In the study of graphology--or handwriting analysis--hollow letters represent honesty. Anything that disrupts a hollow letter could indicate deception. Let's pretend you enter your office to find a note from your top salesman on your desk. His note indicates that he had to go out of town to visit his sick mother and won't be able to go to the annual trade show. You notice that every "o" in his note has some sort of mark interjected into the hollow space of each letter. You would be right to be suspicious of the facts in the note and a phone call or meeting would likely expose some sort of deception.

With some practice, these new awareness tools will give you greater confidence in your perceptive ability and new peace of mind when deciding to trust others.

Source: Entrepreneur Magazine