Business Energetix

The Ultimate Sales Machine

by Chet Holmes (2007)

Notes compiled by Marti Benjamin, MBA, Professional Certified Coach

This is not just a book about sales techniques; it is about "tuning up every aspect of your business to run with precision." (Page 154) The author is considered a business growth expert and his secret weapon is focus. In The Ultimate Sales Machine, Chet Holmes offers twelve critical areas for business improvement and advises the reader to apply them with what he calls, "pigheaded determination and discipline". He offers a journey of mastery, based on that determination and resolve, in the areas of marketing, management, and sales. Whether you are leading a large corporation or, "an army of one" the lessons of this book apply to your journey of mastery.

"Time Management Secrets of Billionaires"

Begin by identifying the relevant impact areas of the business—a part of the company that has a direct impact on the bottom line—and holding weekly, one-hour meetings in each area, focused on improving that area.

The six steps of time management Holmes offers are:

Touch it once. Don't start and stop a task several times; start it when you can finish the task or when you can spend a dedicated block of time on it.
Make lists. Only the six most important things you need to accomplish each day get on your list and then you find a way to complete them.
Plan how much time you will allocate to each task. Determine how much time will be needed or, if the item(s) is too large to complete in one day, decide how much time you will devote to that task during the day.
Plan the day. Now you assign a specific time slot to the task. Build into your daily schedule two, ½ hour slots to check email, have brief check-in meetings with others and other reactive tasks.
Prioritize. Put the most important task first, not last, in your daily schedule. Police your schedule and stick to it—you are the only one who can make your prioritized daily schedule work while others try to interrupt and disrupt.
Ask yourself, "Will it hurt me to throw this away?" Most of the material you file and store will never be used again. If you can retrieve it from some other source—the Internet, a central file, a colleague or other resource—throw it away. (Page 12-19)

"Instituting Higher Standards and Regular Training"

Without training, you can expect inconsistent results from employees. Consistent training on the standards of the business results in better client relationships, greater confidence among employees, less stress and clear metrics to measure and reward employees for exceeding performance standards. (Page 25) Holmes advocates workshop style training that is mandatory, as well as enthusiastic, fun, interactive, visual and auditory.

"Becoming a Brilliant Strategist"

Know the difference between a tactic and a strategy. "A tactic is a method or techniques used to achieve an immediate or short-term gain…A strategy is a carefully defined and detailed plan to achieve a long-term goal…the overall impact, the ultimate position you would like to achieve in the market." (Page 58) The big idea of the strategist requires the discipline of the tactician to achieve success.

Holmes employs an education-based marketing strategy to create brand loyalty, with the selling company establishing trust, respect, perceived value and buying urgency. The first and most important step is to define the ideal person in your audience, your Ideal Customer. (Page 63). "You will attract way more buyers if you are offering to teach them something of value to them than you will ever attract by simply trying to sell them your product or service." (Page 65)

The ultimate strategic position is to help your clients succeed. Holmes' education-based marketing strategy accomplishes several objectives:

Makes it easier to get appointments.
Enables you to get to see just about anyone (if your educational offering is packaged well)
Establishes the salesperson (and company) as an expert, not merely a salesperson.
The quality of the education adds credibility to the salesperson, product and company.
Unseat the competition in the prospect's mind by focusing on your advantages.
Creates brand loyalty.
Motivates people to want to give back to those who gave them valuable information.
Standardizes the presentation material for all salespeople on the team. (Page 69-70)

"Hiring Superstars"

A hiring mistake is costly when you consider the time to train and re-train, supervision, manager time spent reviewing applicants and interviewing, the hard costs of temporary labor to fill the gap and/or lost customers due to poor service. Holmes has developed and advocates the use of personality profiles to determine how successful a potential sales hire might be (www.chetholmes.com). Some human resource professionals take exception with Holmes assessment and interview style which creates stress to see how the interviewee will respond to pressure.

The most talented salespeople will perform best, according to Holmes, in a performance-based compensation system with little or no base pay. "You must reward top producers handsomely." (Page 95) You must also manage the superstars and retain them in your organization in spite of the inherent restlessness of a top producer. "The key to keeping superstars is to never say no to them. Instead, redirect their energy or give them a few hurdles to jump in order to get what they want." (Page 98)

"The High Art of Getting the Best Buyers" "Best buyers by more, buy faster and buy more often than other buyers. These are your ideal clients." (Page 103) Holmes explains the importance of knowing who these clients are for your business, and pursuing them constantly and relentlessly until they buy from you, utilizing the following strategy:

Begin with your objective to truly serve the buyer!
Develop a powerful and valuable educational offering.
Be persistent in follow-through, especially after they become your customer.
Focus, focus, focus!

"The Seven Musts of Marketing"

"The key for all of these marketing weapons is that they work together." (Page 152)

Advertising: distinctive, attention-getting headlines, body copy that keeps the reader reading, a call to action
Direct mail: use color, benefit-oriented, focused on prospect's needs and problems
Corporate literature: a miniature version of your core story (data that sets buying criteria)
Public relations: newsworthy information
Personal contact
Trade shows and Market Education: get noticed by your ideal clients, attract traffic with your display, capture leads
Internet: information-based marketing, focus on ideal clients needs (not on yourself), use your product/service as an example of the solution

"The Eyes Have It"

Tell your story with visual aids and graphics to increase the attention and retention of the audience. Make it simple, fast-paced and full of powerful facts and statistics that leave the client with something they did not know before. Use market data, not product data. Create curiosity and choose your words and images for the strongest positive impact.

"The Nitty-Gritty of Getting the Best Buyers"

The first element is pigheaded determination and discipline. Holmes' strategy uses clever gifts, sales letters, regular follow-through (assuming they will initially reject your offer), phone calls and education that address their needs and problems. Remember to serve your clients, not yourself. "Remember that getting the best buyers is a process—not a single event." (Page 191)

"Sales Skills"

"Sales is a science that has been studied and well defined." (Page 192) Memorize, repeat and practice these seven steps, set procedures that support these steps and polish each skill area.

Establish rapport: create an emotional bond or friendly relationship based on mutual liking, trust and shared concerns; provide information that helps your client succeed.
Qualify the buyer (find the need): develop a list of questions to address the six to ten things you want to know about your client and use them to guide the buyer to choose your product or service.
Build value: target the information to the buyer, not to your product or service.
Create desire: motivate your buyers using a combination of problems and solutions; they need to be uncomfortable with the current situation and see an unsolved problem; paint the picture of their future, not your product.
Overcome objections: an objection raised is always an opportunity to address a concern or problem; agree with the objection, isolate it and address it.
Close the sale: help people make the decision to buy; ask for the sale, know how to reduce or eliminate the buyers risk and identify ways to add value for the decision to purchase now. (Pages 193-208)

"Follow-up and Client Bonding Skills"

"The real success formula for selling:

Trust and respect = Influence = Potential for control = More market share at every mutually beneficial opportunity." (Page 211) You need to continually remind your customers of why they bought from you in the first place through follow-up letters and phone conversations. The bottom line: structure your follow-up so that you continually build the bone with your clients.

"All Systems Go" Set your goals and measure your effectiveness in order to make all of the skills mentioned above work more effectively. Develop your success attitude and manage your perspective. Develop and repeat 10 affirmations, stated positively and in the present, to maintain focus on your goals. Track your progress in concrete, measurable ways and modify the tactics to achieve the strategy.