Mastering the Basics is the Future of Selling w/ Tom Hopkins [Episoded 631]

Tom Hopkins, Speaker and Sales Trainer at Tom Hopkins International and author of How to Master the Art of Selling, and 18 other books on selling, joins me for the second time on this episode.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Tom says the single biggest challenge facing sales reps today is keeping themselves disciplined to keep their momentum up even at the end of the year, so they start the year with new prospects. Send a Thanksgiving note!
• Following up and keeping in touch to show appreciation has never been more important than it is today. Tom has 10 sample thank you notes for all occasions. Find them on the free resource page at TomHopkins.com.
• Tom divides his clients into three groups: A, B, and C. He sends Christmas gifts to decision makers in the A group, letters to the B group, and emails to the C group. These create relationship feelings. Holiday parties are also good.
• Besides following up and keeping in touch, Tom recommends giving more service than the customer expects, as great ways to keep yourself on the customer’s mind when they buy again or have referrals for you.
• A key differentiator is to build a personal human touch. Make sure they have reasons to know, like, and trust you.
• Tom talks about habits. At the end of each day he reviews the day’s activities, and the six priorities for the next day in order of importance. He sleeps better and wakes up better prepared. His days are more productive.
• Don’t choose a job by income; find what you want to do when looking for a job. Wayne Gretzky told Tom “I had a burning passion for all aspects of hockey.” The happiest people are doing something they have passion about.
• To go into sales, start with enough money set aside to support you for six months while you build a client base.
• The greater the risk, the greater the reward. Tom got into real estate and had to become a master at selling. In his fifth year he sold 365 houses and was celebrated for it. Now he writes books and gives weekly seminars.
• Tom wrote his first book in 1979. Since then the consumer is much more knowledgeable today than ever before. Sellers need to be better than in the past, and keep your attitude up.
• Tom suggests a new salesperson should go to a bookseller and ask what book on sales goes out the door the most. That’s one to get. Tom suggests his own Selling for Dummies. Become a student of the art of selling.
• In the future salespeople will have to be smarter, sharper, more talented, and skillful than ever before, to keep up with consumers. Master prospecting and the other basic fundamentals of selling and getting referrals.