Heavy Hitter Sales Blog

How Ronald Reagan Would Change Your Corporate Presentation

After reviewing hundreds of corporation presentations over the past five years, I can honestly say that they all are basically the same. You could almost take slides from one company’s presentation and insert them in another, and no one would even notice. They are all fact-based infomercials that approach customers with the same message—we’re the industry leader with a state-of-the-art solution that partners with our customers. The problem is all the competitors are making the exact same claims. As a result, nothing unique is communicated. Therefore, the real question to ask is, "How can you differentiate your sales presentation?"

The answer to this question may be found by studying "The Great Communicator," the late former President Ronald Reagan. In 2000, Ronald Reagan was ranked as the eighth-best president in U.S. history according to a survey of 78 historians. It's not surprising that he was ranked behind national heroes such as Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt. However, the most surprising part of the survey is that he was ranked as the most underrated president of all time. What made this president so unique was his ability to communicate and persuade.

So, how would Reagan change your sales presentation?

1. Reagan would add a great "cowcatcher."
Most people associate the term "cowcatcher" with the metal grill on the front of a locomotive. However, "cowcatcher" has an entirely different meaning in the entertainment industry. It's a show's opening moments in which the performers try to grab your attention and cause you to stop and look.

Reagan, the Hollywood star, knew the importance of a cowcatcher. Before and during his presidency, he wrote more than 600 radio addresses by himself in his own handwriting. They were not the work of a team of speechwriters. Perhaps the most impressive part of every radio address was the opening cowcatcher, the first sentences of every program. Some examples:

"It has been said a baby-sitter is a teenager acting like a parent while the parent is out acting like a teenager."

"How much do you miss dinosaurs? Would your life be richer if those giant pre-historic flying lizards occasionally settled on your front lawn?"

"It sometimes seems that we can get more emotionally aroused over mistreatment of animals than we can if the victims are human."

The best corporate sales presentations start with a great cowcatcher. A great cowcatcher engages the mind, appeals to the imagination and helps the presenter gain credibility.

2. Reagan would use a captivating "hook."
Following the cowcatcher, you need a "hook." Now that the listeners' interest is piqued, you need to hook them on why they should use your product. Your best hook is to tell them stories. For example, lets take a look at how Reagan opened with a provocative cowcatcher and then hooked the audience with a story about baby seal hunts:

"It sometimes seems that we can get more emotionally aroused over mistreatment of animals than we can if the victims are human. A few weeks ago, a writer in the Los Angeles Times did an article on the 1978 Canadian baby seal hunt. One line in the article was very thought provoking: 'If seal pups were as ugly as lobsters, their harvest would go unnoticed.' Accompanying his article was a photo that proved his point. It was a snow white baby seal with its black nose and round eyes looking like something you’d put in the nursery for children to cuddle."

The sales presentation should include six to eight slides of how specific customers are using the products, the operational results that have been improved, and the financial impact on the bottom line. In addition, it should include a quote from a customer whose name and title the audience can identify with psychologically. For example, include a quote from your customer's CFO when presenting to a financial department. Finally, this section should have some eye-catching graphics that tie the whole story together and “hook” the prospect.

3. Reagan would incorporate mental imagery.
It's not enough to say that to stand out; you have to be different. Rather, you need a more sophisticated, indirect approach that differentiates your solution in the minds of customers. You can't tell customers you're unique, different, and one of a kind. You must demonstrate it to them, starting with the imagery of the corporate presentation. Reagan naturally employed mental imagery to psychologically engage his audience.

"It’s nightfall in a strange town a long way from home. I'm watching the lights come on from my hotel room window on the thirty-fifth floor. I'm afraid you are in for a little bit of philosophizing if you don’t mind. Some of these broadcasts have to be put together while I'm out on the road traveling what I call the mashed potato circuit. In a little while I’ll be speaking to a group of very nice people in a banquet hall.”

These two sentences from one of his radio addresses help create a personal receptive state where the audience is open to his thoughts. The words, "nightfall," "strange town," "long way from home," provide the mental imagery that enable the listeners to be quickly transported to Reagan’s place and mood (in an unfamiliar place a long way from home).

The second sentence is an "operator" on the first sentence. It further defines where he is physically and forces the listeners to adjust their viewpoint to the 35th floor of a hotel room. Both of these sentences are "verifiable statements." Most everyone has experienced being a long way from home and feeling homesick. Most everyone has been in a high-rise building. As listeners receive information, they check with their past experiences to verify the statement's accuracy. Assuming the listeners have been homesick before, this statement is agreed to and considered truthful. The honesty of the statement is also passed on to the presenter. These types of verifiable statements enable the presenter to quickly gain credibility and rapport.

The creators of almost all of the hundreds of presentations I have reviewed over the past couple of years come not from sales but from marketing departments. Unfortunately, these people usually have had little interaction with customers and no direct sales experience. They assume that customers think like they do and that the selection process is completely unbiased. Therefore, their presentation is a point-by-point list of reasons why a customer should select their product. As a result, the corporate sales presentation provides little mental imagery. The presentations are slide after slide of boring bullet points of information, with very few graphics to break up the monotony. This is the true definition of “death by PowerPoint.”

4. Reagan would employ "softeners."
Preapologizing is one technique for developing a receptive state with an audience. This is one form of a "softener." A softener eases listeners into the next thought or can be used to set expectations. Usually, Reagan's radio addresses discussed the economy or issues of foreign and domestic interest. When Reagan said, "I'm afraid you are in for a little bit of philosophizing if you don't mind," he is signaling that the intent of this week's message is different. He's adjusting the listeners' frame of mind from being issue based to being more reflective and introspective. Basically, he's telling them to relax a little.

He's on the road, about to give a speech on what he calls "the mashed potato circuit." How do you interpret that statement? Speaking to a group of people in the heartland of America is quite different from speaking to people from the East or West Coast. What would you have inferred if he had called it the "steak and wine circuit"? Perhaps that he considers these dinner speeches less than important and feels he should be performing his "real" job of leading the land. There's an underlying meaning that he is trying to communicate. However, the interpretation of the statement is dependent upon each listener's viewpoint, and there is no right or wrong answer. Regardless of the answer, listeners empathize with the position he is in.

Too many sales presentations are built upon black or white, all-or-nothing statements. These statements force the customer to either completely accept or reject the premise or argument being made. In reality, customers reject far more statements than they accept and this lessens rapport. Therefore, the best sales presentations incorporate softeners to lessen the likelihood of rejection. For example, instead of listing "We provide the most state-of-the-art technology" on a bullet point, you should use "Our technology offers these advantages."

5. Reagan would be sure to include some humor.
When people laugh, at some level they agree with you. Humor helps relieve the stress that is inherent to all sales calls. Like a seasoned salesperson, Reagan had a knack for making pithy comebacks that rendered his opponents' political body blows ineffective, thus allowing him to escape his position on the ropes. In the 1984 presidential debate, age figured to be a big issue since challenger Walter Mondale was 17 years younger than Reagan. To counteract potential criticism that the oldest man to ever serve as president was too old for the job, Reagan said, “I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience.”

Every salesperson should follow Reagan's lead and use humor during the corporate sales presentation. It shows you don't take yourself too seriously. If you tell jokes, the punch line should always be self-deprecating and at your expense. Remember, everyone is somewhat nervous during a sales call and humor lightens the mood and helps everyone relax.

Like every salesman, President Reagan had a product to sell. As a politician, his product was not only his policies but, equally important: himself. While each of his radio addresses had a political purpose, he also wanted to deliver a very powerful message that was camouflaged beneath the content of his story. Similar to the typical sales presentation, he wanted to use this special moment to motivate his customer to buy.

Click here to learn more about Ronald Reagan’s communication skills.

Summer Reading for Salespeople on Vacation

Entertaining Reading about Sales Strategy Based Upon the History of Warfare...

If you enjoy watching the history channel and learning about the military successes of Sun Tzu, Napoleon Bonaparte, and George Patton, then Heavy Hitter Sales Wisdom: Proven Sales Warfare Strategies, Secrets of Persuasion, and Common-Sense Tips for Success is the book for you. All salespeople must be generals who create a strategy to win their wars long before the first battle begins. The successful military leader painstakingly plans how and where he will attack in accordance with the troops and weapons at his disposal. When the fighting starts, the victorious commander achieves his objective through battlefield maneuvers to gain the advantage and countertactics to neutralize his enemy’s advance.      

   

   

                                 

The Human Nature of Persuading People to Buy...

Are you interested in the human nature of selling, sales psychology and neurolinguistics (the study of how the mind uses and interprets language)? If so, then I’d recommend Heavy Hitter Selling: How Successful Salespeople Use Language and Intuition to Persuade Customers to Buy. Using real-world case studies, examples, and exercises, Heavy Hitter Selling provides the psychological, physical, and language-based tactics you need to become more influential. The goal of Heavy Hitter Selling is to help experienced salespeople expand their influence within their local office, sales organization, and company. This requires not only winning more business but also having a methodology to explain to others how and why you win.

 

The Rise and Fall of a Company from a Salesperson’s Point of View...

The Real Story of Informix Software and Phil White chronicles the meteoric rise of Informix Software, how it became a billion-dollar software giant, and the scandal that ultimately led to its spectacular fall. This fascinating behind-the-scenes book offers an insider'ss perspective on the business strategies that succeeded, the products that failed, and how a technology industry titan ended up in jail.

Bush Leaguers: The TOP 10 Sales Mistakes

Minor league baseball pitcher John Odom was recently involved in one of the craziest baseball trades of all time. He was traded from the Calgary Vipers to the Laredo Broncos for 10 baseball bats!!! The 26-year-old right-hander said of the trade, “I’m still in shock from this phenomenon, I guess. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s mind-boggling.”

Professional baseball players who continually make mistakes are demoted to teams in the minor leagues. These obscure teams play in small towns across America. In the slang of baseball, the players are called “bush leaguers.” Sales also has its share of bush leaguers, who make the following common mistakes:

   

 

1.    They talk too much on a sales call and don’t listen to the customer enough.

2.  They present the same pitch in the same way to every customer.

3.  They don’t know their customer or product well enough to drive account strategy. 

4.  They assume information they don’t know, thereby taking the wrong action.

5.  They fidget with many accounts and don’t focus on the winnable ones.

6.  They don’t put themselves in the position of being their own customer.

7.  They don’t take the time to continuously analyze their performance.

8.  They don’t understand how to marshal their resources or use their manager.

9.  They set unrealistic customer expectations or make commitments that their product or company can’t fulfill.

10. They expect to win the deal without a coach (internal champion inside the account) or think they have a coach when they don’t.

   

Most importantly, bush leaguers don’t consistently close business. Compared to Heavy Hitters (truly great salespeople), their wins take longer, require more resources, and are less predictable. In order to become successful, Bush leaguers should model the methods and behaviors of Heavy Hitters. Click here if you would like to learn more about some “Heavy Hitter” role models.

Improve You Sales Call Memory to Strengthen Your Sales Intuition

The average person only remembers about forty major events of their entire life. However, Jill Rose has a very unique talent. She can remember every detail about every day of her life. As a result, memory researchers at the University California at Irvine have been studying Jill's memory recall for the past eight years to understand how her memory works.

      

As salespeople, we spend most of our time trying to predict the behavior, intentions, attitudes, and feelings of our customers. In essence, the goal of every salesperson is to be able to anticipate the future. The "tool" you use to accomplish this is your "sales intuition." Memory plays a fundamental role in determining the strength of your sales intuition. Your ability to store more sales call experiences in your memory will actually strengthen your sales intuition. With this goal in mind, here are six principles to help improve your sales call memory:

      

Sensory information. During the sales call, consciously gather as much information as possible from your sight, sound, and touch senses. A vivid event is more likely to be memorized than a dull one, and the more sensory information that is incorporated into your memories, the higher your likelihood of recording it.

      

Association. Thoughts and experiences are more readily recalled when they are linked to a specific association. A very simple association would be the success or failure of the call. The association may be further defined by the customer's technical and business requirements or their objections to purchasing your product.

      

Specificity. The persistence of a memory is directly related to the precision of details that are input at the time of the experience. During a sales call, you may even want to tell yourself that some information is important and is not to be forgotten.

      

Unique events. Many sales calls are free-flowing events that lack a strict organization of facts. Therefore, it is easier to remember any unusual and unique aspects of a sales call that stand out from the ordinary and mundane.

    

First and last. Most salespeople are quick to remember how a sales call began (the big opening) and how it ended (the grand finale). This is a natural characteristic of memory, whereby we tend to remember the information that is presented first and last more than the details in between. This particularly applies to longer sales calls, more than an hour. One way to help remember all of the in-between information is to mentally break the sales call into smaller segments (or chunks) either by time, presenter, or topic of discussion.

    

The good, the bad, and the ugly. Be forewarned, your brain has been trained to block out unpleasant images. However, it is critical that all information during a sales call, both good and bad, be stored.

    

Never forget, how something is remembered will determine how much is remembered.

Account Qualification: The Importance of Accurate Information

The internet and political talk shows were abuzz last week with a salacious rumor about Vice President Dick Cheney… The reason he was smiling in this photograph was because he was looking at a naked woman! However, after closer evaluation you can see that the image reflected in his glasses is not a naked woman, but his hand holding his fishing pole. In Heavy Hitter Selling, I wrote about how the mind misinterprets information. Here’s the excerpt:

Since the eyes contain more nerve endings than any other part of the body, they are not only the most sensitive but the most trusted sense. People will say, “I saw it with my own eyes!” and “I’ll believe it when I see it!” In reality, our sensory limitations negatively influence our judgments.

 

Some people will swear they have seen a flying saucer, when in reality the brain has added visual imagery in its attempt to distinguish an obscure object. The term for this is “pareidolia,” and everyone has experienced one. Perhaps the two most common pareidolias are the visualization of the face of the man on the moon and a mirage, the illusion of water in the desert. Pareidolais aren’t solely limited to images. When I was a youngster, I remember listening to the Beatles’ song “Strawberry Fields” over and over to hear what seemed to be “I buried Paul.”

   

Salespeople are not immune to similar ambiguities and delusions. Salespeople with “happy ears” tend to believe whatever they are told by the customer. Others view the world through rose-colored glasses and will always interpret information emanating from the customer in a favorable light.

   

Ambiguities and delusions are disastrous for salespeople. These conditions cause them to work the wrong deals and make mistakes. However, Heavy Hitters work their deals differently. They have a method and strategy for selecting their battles based upon the individuals they must persuade to buy.

Unhappy Customers: What to do When an Account Goes South

I have flown millions of miles on American Airlines over the course of my career. I am a loyal customer of theirs. However, this past week American Airlines cancelled thousands of flights which infuriated many loyal customers like me.  If you are in sales there’s no doubt you’ve faced your share of angry customers before. I received this e-mail from American Airlines and it provides valuable lessons for dealing with unhappy accounts. 

1. Be proactive in contacting the customer because bad news should always be told ASAP.

2. Apologize.

3. Explain what happened and why.

4.Tell them how you will get better and avoid the problem from happening again.

To: Steve Martin

Subject: An Apology from American Airlines

Dear Steve Martin,

As one of our most valued customers, please accept my apology on behalf of American Airlines^® to you, your family and your fellow AAdvantage^® customers for disrupting so many peoples' lives with the recent flight cancellations related to the inspection of our MD-80 aircraft fleet.

As you can imagine, American's decision to cancel thousands of flights this week was difficult, and it undoubtedly created concern among our best customers – even those who had no travel plans during the period.

If in your travels you were among the many who have been personally affected, I sincerely regret the inconvenience you have experienced. Our employees will continue to work around the clock to accommodate all who still need to reach their desired destinations. We anticipate returning to a full schedule by Monday.

While the media reports have documented the reasons why American took this action and the steps we're taking to re-accommodate and compensate affected customers, I've also attached an explanation of the events for your understanding. It's a bit complex, but at the end of it all, please know this:

First, your safety and the safety of our employees remains our number one priority.

Second, we will learn from this experience, and we will get better.

Finally, we wholeheartedly appreciate your loyalty to American Airlines, and we remain committed to earning your business each and every day.

Respectfully,

Dan Garton
Executive Vice President
Marketing

P.S. You may have already contacted us via AA.com^® or by writing directly to Customer Relations. Let me reassure you that we will respond directly to your contact just as quickly as practical.

Selling in a Recession: The Best Recession Sales Strategy

 

I have no doubt that our economy is already in a recession. Whether or not they’ll admit it, the Federal Reserve’s recent actions surely prove this as well. However, I would like to offer two of my own economic indicators that truly reflect the dismal state of the economy.

1.    In my recent conversations with sales leaders across all industries (technology, finance, manufacturing, etc.) there is a foreboding sense of gloom about the coming months. In most cases, they tell me that sales are down or flat since January. Regardless of their past successes, they feel saddled with annual quotas they will be unable to achieve.

2.    Over the past ninety days an ever increasing number of VPs of sales and sales executives have contacted me because they have lost their jobs through “reorganizations”. They are panic-stricken they won’t find work. For them the old adage applies, “A recession is when your neighbor loses his job, a depression is when you lose yours.”

Selling in a recession is not only difficult, it’s downright scary. Knowing how to appeal to the “Bully with the Juice” is a mandatory strategy in tough times like these because even though you may win the selection process, you still haven’t won the business.

Who is the Bully with the Juice? The Bully with the Juice is the financial decision maker who will ultimately approve the purchase. It’s the person who controls the company’s purse strings. He could be the CFO, VP of finance, VP of purchasing, or even the president. Unfortunately, this person has the economy on his mind and is less likely to approve spending money more than ever.

There are many different ways to classify people involved in the selection process during the sales cycle including title, influence, and orientation (technical, business or financial). Another interesting characterization is a person’s insistence that things be done his way. This is called being a “bully.”

A bully will get his way at any and all costs. Being a bully is not necessarily a negative term, nor does it mean that the person is physically intimidating. It is simply the description of people who will tenaciously fight for their cause.

Another concept by which people can be measured is if they have “juice.” Simply put, juice is leadership, authority, and charisma. During the selection process you will encounter bullies and evaluators with varying degrees of juice. However, only one person within the customer’s organization can be the Bully with the Juice. Even after the vendor selection has been made, releasing the funds must be approved by the ultimate decision-maker, the Bully with the Juice. Single-handedly, he imparts his own will on the selection process and will approve or deny the purchase to be made.

The Bully with the Juice is the company’s equivalent of emperor Caesar. Only he can give his thumb up or down on the life-or-death decision to spend the company’s money. So even though you have won the evaluation and been assured that a purchase will be made, you are actually in the most critical part of the sales process. You must win the approval of the Bully with the Juice.

Some people believe that the economy has changed the way products are purchased. People will argue that some purchases are truly made by committee without a Bully with the Juice. While a committee does put more fingerprints of accountability on the product selection, behind every committee (and its creation) is a bully who has the juice. In addition, every committee has to present its recommendation to someone, and that person is the Bully with the Juice.

There are four important rules regarding the Bully who has the Juice. First, if you cannot accurately determine who the Bully with Juice is in your deal and none exists, be prepared for no decision to be made. It takes a Bully with the Juice to make a major purchase happen. This is a reality in today’s economy. Second, if there is a bully with the juice in your deal and this person will not meet with you, always assume they are aligned with someone else or are against the purchase from being made at all. Therefore, the deal is lost. Third, if a Bully with the Juice does exist but you aren’t able to identify the person, be prepared to lose. You are in a position of extreme risk because you have no idea which economic decision-maker you must win-over. Finally and most importantly, you MUST meet with the Bully with the Juice as early as possible during the selection process! This is the only way to know whether or not a deal really exists.

Salespeople are constantly placed in an environment where they must differentiate themselves and their product from other attention-getting solutions. Under these circumstances, the salesperson’s job is to create a relationship with detractors as well as supporters. Ultimately, there is one person who makes the final decision and truly matters. In today’s economic malaise, it is the Bully with the Juice who reigns supreme.

Read more about the Bully with the Juice...

Managing the Installed Base

After living in Southern California nearly all of my life, I would like to share an interesting fact with you about the area. Did you know that five of the top ten Mercedes-Benz dealerships in the nation are located here? Why is this so?  Well, I think there are two major reasons.

   

First, cars are a very important status symbol in image conscious Southern California. After traveling all around the world, I I have yet to visit another place where people “are what they drive” like here. In this regard, driving a Mercedes puts you on the top of the pecking order when you sit in the inevitable bumper-to-bumper rush hour traffic.

   

But I think the second reason is equally important. In the sales vernacular, they effectively manage their “installed base.” They value customer loyalty and take care of their existing customers better than any other car manufacturer. And, I’d like to share a personal story with you that has made me a Mercedes-Benz customer for life.

   

All Mercedes come with a four year, 50,000 mile warranty. If anything goes wrong with the car during that timeframe they’ll fix it for free. However, my car needed $1,900 of repairs at 55,000 miles when my it was out of warranty. Obviously, I wasn’t excited about this. After paying for the repairs I wrote a letter to the North American President of Mercedes-Benz. Within two weeks, I received a very gracious response and a refund check for the entire amount. “Simply amazing!” I thought to myself...

   

There’s a huge lesson here for salespeople who must manage install base sales of existing accounts. Ask yourself the following three questions:

 

Do you nickel and dime your installed base customers or promote win-win loyalty?

   

Do you visit them only when a contract needs to be renewed or pamper them continual attention?

    

Do you act solely in your self-interests or put the customer’s interests first and strive to do the right thing?

    

There’s a reason why over 75% of all new Mercedes are sold to repeat customers. Because customers remember how they are treated after the sale.

Are You Likeable???

It was just about a year ago today that I wrote a blog entry about the upcoming Presidential election titled, “The Power of Likeability.” Here’s a brief excerpt:

      

Nationally syndicated columnist Paul C. Campos recently wrote a very interesting editorial on the same subject titled, “Idea that Presidential Candidates need to be ‘Likeable’ a Dangerous Cultural Idiocy.”

    

Tongue-in-cheek Campos wrote, “Getting elected President is much like winning a high school popularity contest, except that in high school the cool kids generally aren’t given access to thermonuclear weapons.” He went on to compare Barak Obama’s likeability (“articulate, and clean, and bright, and nice-looking”) to that of Hillary Clinton (“cootie vibes”).

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What can salespeople learn from all of this? Well, given the fact that your product is probably very similar to your main competitor’s and both companies are roughly equivalent, likeability becomes a key factor in customer decision-making. Sometime today, take a moment and honestly ask yourself, “What makes me more likeable in the eyes of my customers than my arch-enemy?”  Whether choosing a president, electing a homecoming king, or selecting between two salespeople, likeability is one of the most important differentiators.

            

Last November, an AP-Yahoo poll was conducted to rate each candidate on single-word-characteristics considered critical to becoming President. Here’s the result of that poll. Based upon how the campaign is turning out, it’s obvious they left off perhaps one of the most important words… LIKEABILITY.

            

Five Presidents Club Meeting Ideas

Although the Internal Revenue Service requires you to conduct business-related meetings at your annual President’s Club, there’s no reason why the meetings have to be boring, unimaginative, and dry. Instead, reward your company’s Heavy Hitters (truly great salespeople) with a unique program they are sure to find engaging, enlightening, and entertaining.

Your Presidents Club is a once a year opportunity to recognize the contributions of the key sales leaders who have helped make your company a success. These top performers don’t want to spend half of their day listening to another state-of-the-union company update. They want to learn something new about the topics which interest them the most. Equally important, they want to share a laugh or two with the other Heavy Hitters in attendance.  With this in mind, here are five Presidents Club recommendations:

1. Focus on Soft Skills Improvements. Because all the attendees have mastered the “process” of selling, the focus should be on improving their intangible and intuitive sales skills. These soft skills include the art of persuasion, building rapport, and maximizing their sales intuition. For example, a favorite topic that I like to present at Presidents Clubs is neurolinguistics (the study of how the mind processes and interprets language) and the role that psychology plays during the customer’s decision-making process.

2. Provide Sales Career Advice. The life of a salesperson is far from perfect. Everyone in the profession has trials and tribulations. They experience incredible highs, tremendous lows, and a constant fear of the unknown. Arm them with mental and emotional training to deal with the stress and uncertainty. This will not only make them a better salesperson, but a better person as a whole.

3. Conduct a Study of your Heavy Hitters. Think about it for a moment, you have assembled your best salespeople from all around the world. Why not conduct a study to understand how and why they are successful? Take some time to interview your Heavy Hitters about the strategies and tactics they use to win business. Document this information so that it can be shared with your entire sales organization. This valuable advice will help every salesperson understand and emulate the behavior of your very best salespeople.

4. Furnish Some Sales Adrenaline! Every long-term salesperson knows they need an occasional shot of sales adrenaline to renew their sense of excitement. Instead of parading the same old company executives in front of the team, bring in a sales-related motivational speaker to provide a fresh perspective and mental refreshment about the noble career of sales.

5. Give Them “Meaningful” Gifts. Forget about presenting the winners with a souvenir beach towel or company pen; give them the gift of knowledge that will last a lifetime. Furnish books about advanced sales techniques and marketing strategies that will help them succeed in the tough times of today so they make Presidents Club next year!

You want to ensure every detail of your President’s Club is perfect and the event to be long remembered because it will be the topic of company conversations for months to come. Never forget, the most frequent question salespeople ask of each other throughout the year is, “Do you think you will make Presidents Club?” Click here for more information about conducting the perfect Presidents Meeting.