Newsletter: Up in the Air
Up in the air…
I haven’t even arrived in India and three things have happened.
1) I missed my connecting flight in DC. So now that’s added 2 more legs and 6 more hours. That whole “Attitude = 93%” thing is really getting tested. But I tried to get myself into a ZEN place. (I have no clue what that means, but it sounds cool.) Next step, with a big smile and a positive attitude, I asked the gate agent if there was any chance to get a complimentary upgrade from business to first class due to the mishap. She happily obliged, “We’d be happy to take care of you Mr. Costigan.”
Lesson 1: Don’t ever be afraid to ask for help. Which also leads to don’t ever be afraid to ask for the sale.
2) It’s always interesting when you’re listening to a 5 minute dissertation in German on the status of a Lufthansa Flight at 33,000 feet while bouncing around the sky in severe turbulence only to hear the translation in English taking less than 30 seconds. “Ladies and Gentlemen, we are experiencing turbulence. Please fasten your seat belts.” It’s like they told all the German people what to do if the plane goes down – where the life rafts are located, the exits signs, all the safety features – you name it, they mentioned it. The English version, “You’re on your own.”
Lesson 2: Don’t use 27 words when 7 will work. The more words you use, the more it sounds like a sales call. “Just the facts Ma’am,” as Sergeant Joe Friday says in the old detective show Dragnet.
3) While sitting in my home airport waiting to depart to the other side of the world, I ran into another road warrior sales person. The conversation turns to business and after 20 minutes, we discuss sales training, where – here’s the fun part – he says he’s using this guy named John Costigan but hasn’t really taken his stuff to task. He asks me if I know him. I said “Yes, I’ve heard of him. Tell me what you don’t like about him?” This now gets good. He references some things that don’t fit his style and he goes on and on. Finally after another 20 minutes goes by, he asks for my card since his plane is departing. I say, “Sure,” and when I hand it to him, the look on his face was priceless. “Wow, did I put my foot in my mouth or what?” I told him I had fun just listening.
Lesson 3: God gave you 1 mouth and 2 ears for a reason. Always listen twice as much as you speak.
Good selling!
- John
join us in congratulating john costigan!
Please join us in congratulating John Costigan on being named to the list of the Top 25 Most Influential Inside Sales Professionals for 2010 by the American Association of Inside Sales Professionals. Below is the press release regarding this fantastic achievement! Congrats John!!
CARY, N.C. – John Costigan, one of the nation’s premier sales trainers and motivational speakers, is the only North Carolina-based executive to be named to the Top 25 Most Influential Inside Sales Professionals list by the American Association of Inside Sales Professionals.
Costigan was awarded the honor by his peers in May at the AA-ISP’s annual convention in Minneapolis. Nominations for the 2010 awards came from sales and technology leaders, as well as a crew of consultants, trainers and authors.
“I’m flattered and very humbled our company was chosen. It’s also wonderful when such an award can bring additional credibility to the Triangle and state of North Carolina,”said Costigan, founder of the Cary, N.C.-based John Costigan Companies. “This truly is a team effort. Our people are beyond passionate about our brand — they’re fanatical about it. Even though my name is on the award, the tireless hours that go on behind the scenes by our group are unimaginable.”
“The nominations we received for John indicated the huge influence he has had in our industry over a short period of time,” said Bob Perkins, founder and CEO of AA-ISP. “John has certainly impacted our industry by helping raise the level of professionalism and performance of inside sales reps.”
Costigan’s client list includes such high-profile companies as software leader SAS, global credit information group Experian, technology network firm Oracle, worldwide technology leader IBM, clothing manufacturer Tommy Hilfiger and the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes.
Founded in 2001, John Costigan Companies has grown into one of the most prolific and unique sales training companies in the world by combining motivation with ‘LIVE’ impromptu phone calls to create a sales experience like no other.
With the increasing cost of travel and entertainment, Costigan has seen a recent shift to more inside sales techniques and additional training needs.
“Even though our company trains both outside and inside sales reps, we have seen explosive growth with inside sales teams,” Costigan said. “When you realize it costs three times as much money for a company to get in front of a customer today than it did 15 years ago, a key driver is reducing costs while enhancing productivity. Great inside sales people solve that problem.”
shoot for atlantic bt
Yesterday, one of our local vendor companies, Atlantic BT (www.atlanticbt.com) came in to do a video testimonial shoot. They were doing things a little differently with this particular video and it was a ton of fun for everyone involved. Here are some pictures we snapped of the shoot. Enjoy!
for all of you in the raleigh area…
Thursday, May 6…mark your calendars!
Capitol Broadcasting Company is hosting a great new series of seminars called “Boost Your Business,” and they’ve asked me to be the guest speaker at the May 6 event. The breakfast seminar will be held at WRAL TV’s Studio A in Raleigh from 8:30 AM to 9:45 AM.
The topic for the event is “Choosing NOT to participate in the Recession: Unique and Creative Business Practices from Around the World.”
For more information, check out the invitation here!
hey gang…
Hey gang,
First of all, thanks for the wonderful feedback regarding our new iPhone/iPod Touch application. We’ve been hearing all positive things from you and you’ve also sent in some great new objections you’re facing that we didn’t cover in our first release. We will for sure have them covered in our next update/release. If you haven’t seen the application, check it out here!
Secondly, what an outstanding few weeks it’s been. Since a lot of my clients’ fiscal years include the first quarter of the calendar year (their fourth quarter!), January, February and the beginning of March were crazy. Lately I’ve had a few weeks here in the office to work on some things (like my book) in between other classes we had scheduled. I’m sure the “off-time” will be short-lived, though, since we’re already booking a TON of classes for the new fiscal year.
This past week was also spring break for the schools here in our area and I was able to spend some time with my kids and we had a ton of fun.
We’ve got some really cool new things on the horizon and we can’t wait to implement them this year. We’re really looking forward to it!
Great selling everybody!
sales tool iPhone/iPod application
Hey gang,
As some of you know, we’ve been working on our first iPhone/iPod touch application and it’s finally done! As of yesterday, everything’s been approved and ‘Sales Tool‘ is now available on the iTunes store. You can use the link provided or you can also search for it by typing ‘John Costigan’ or ‘Sales Tool’ within the iTunes search box.
We’re really excited about the release of this application! We truly believe this tool will help reps handle the objections they experience every day. Whether you’re in your car before your meetings or about to come face to face with the customer, the audio and/or text scripts will truly net things out and help you get your customer motivated to move forward.
When you launch the application, you’ll be presented with a list of the Top 10 Sales Objections faced daily by sales reps around the world. Within each objection we give you examples of what Sales Reps ‘do say,’ what they ‘wish they could say,’ as well as what they ’should say.’ The scripts are available in audio as well as text format with the simple tap of the volume icon.
The Top 10 Sales Objections include…
1.) “We’re already happy.”
2.) “Just send us some information.”
3.) “You’re too expensive. Why are you the highest price?”
And more…
If you’re in the sales profession, chances are you’re hearing these obstacles on a daily basis. This tool is a must-have that will help give you the confidence you need to take your deals to the next level.
Click here to see more of the application on the iTunes store…
Here’s a few screenshots to check out! Enjoy gang and let us know what you think!
Cool Idea from one of our clients…
Hey gang, check out this cool idea that one of our clients sent us. These are actual pictures from his office where he took our X-Ray Cheat Sheet and blew it up on his wall. He said this way, he’ll follow the steps on every call because it’s right there in front of his face! Really cool. Thanks Rob!
Challenge #1: How do you sell in a down economy?
Please post your comments and feedback on this video below.
Are you ready to become a PRO’S PRO?
Learn more about my 12-week Professional Selling Course here.
Challenge #2: How do you establish trust when you are small?
Please post your comments and feedback on this video below.
Are you ready to become a PRO’S PRO?
Learn more about my 12-week Professional Selling Course here.
Challenge #3: How do you break bad habits?
Please post your comments and feedback on this video below.
