I’ve been doing a cold calling campaign to increase my consulting business and to refine my training materials, and it’s nothing less than exhilarating.

You might wonder why someone like me, a best selling author of classic titles such as YOU CAN SELL ANYTHING BY TELEPHONE! and REACH OUT & SELL SOMEONE would bother making his own calls.

Practice makes me better, I can tell you that.

Moreover, when I immerse myself in cold calling, my scripting abilities soar.

Let me give you an example.

Today, I resolved to cut to the chase and to boil down to one question, my pitch to sales managers and VP’s of marketing:

DO YOU CARE?

You know all about needs-based, consultative selling which owes its power to probing, to asking questions. The problem with it is it forces us to try to be too darned clever.

Who can come up with four or five brilliant questions that lead prospects merrily down the garden path?

And which prospects, I mean today’s prospects, which of them has the patience to be led into such a nice verbal trap?

No, my friend, we’re lucky to be able to articulate one great probe: what I term, a “perfect question.”

DO YOU CARE?

That’s a perfect question because it doesn’t matter whether a prospect has or can get a budget, or even if he has a pressing need, if he’s indifferent or even hostile about solving it, with or without my help.

If he doesn’t care that’s the end of the story.

Today, I asked this question, with a suitable tag line attached, and my prospect raised his voice and declared, YES I DO!

I know a live one when I hear one, and this guy is it, the real deal.

He woke up, focused, and convinced himself he has a need, it’s important, and he’ll be open to receiving my help to address it.

In Part Two of this four part series, I identify that Major Account Management is not a single act but a series of actions which link together to produce a powerful, professional and profitable result.

There are two ways of looking at this process. One is to examine each element of Major Account Management; the other is to create a model which can be applied flexibly but effectively across a range of situations. We will first look at the elements of Major Account Management. We created this approach for a major institution that wanted to break down the different elements of the process to be sure they were doing everything as well as possible.

• Identify

• Understand

• Plan

• Influence

• Deliver

• Manage

Identify:

Many organisations do not know who their major accounts are. Certainly many of the people who manage the relationships do not know and even if they know, very few people understand why this customer is a major account but that one is not. A quick way to test this is to ask ten people in your organisation who your ten most important accounts are. You can be sure that you will receive more than ten answers. In one company we worked with, we received 56 different answers from 10 senior managers! The clarification of major accounts has been a critically important part of our work with a number of the organisations with whom we have worked.

Understand:

We need to understand our major accounts better than our ordinary customers. We need to understand the world they work in, the challenge of their markets, the competition they face etc. We need to understand the individual projects (be it fighting to win new business or managing an existing project for maximum profitability). Major Account management involves understanding who takes decisions and how, who are our competitors, how does our offering impact on the customer’s business? Those who manage, need to keep developing their skills of questioning and listening, of networking and analysing.

Plan:

If a customer is worth being called a major account, then they are worth a plan. It is of course possible to sell successfully in an unplanned way, there are always opportunities to be seized by chance. But if we are serious about developing a long term relationship and if this customer is really important to our success as a business, then we need to plan. We will look later at two types of planning. One of the most encouraging spin-offs in our work with clients is when we see the emergence of succinct, professional business plans for major accounts that cascade down into satellite plans for other parts of the business.

Influence:

There are many people to influence. We need to influence technical people and commercial people; we need to influence our customers, their clients and our colleagues. The major account manager often has little authority to tell people what to do. Instead he or she needs to influence and persuade.

The first element of connectivity is attraction. As superficial as it may be, we feel more connected to people we find attractive. Did you know that research shows that ugly convicts get longer sentences than better looking ones? Did you also know that better-looking students get better grades? It's totally illogical, but that's what the research shows. I'm not saying that in order to be an effective persuader you have to look like you should be on all the magazine covers, but you should take care that you are well groomed and professionally dressed. A polished appearance truly does make a difference, even if only on a subconscious level.

The second element of connectivity is similarity. It's just basic psychology that we are drawn to people we view to be similar to ourselves. This similarity could come in the form of hobbies, interests, beliefs, etc. An interesting study shows, for example, that smokers buy from smokers and that people of certain religious backgrounds buy from others of the same religious background. Again, you want to cultivate the ability to readily establish your similarities with individuals on a one-on-one level if you hope to be able to do so with an entire audience.

Another way you can cultivate your connectivity is by being sure that your language and tone are always positive and empathetic. People want to know that they are being heard and understood. The want to feel uplifted and like they are in a better mood for having spoken with you. Always try to exhibit a positive, spirited aura about yourself. Besides the fact that others will notice that aura and like being around you, your optimism will help you in your own life as well.

Kurt Mortensen’s trademark is Magnetic Persuasion; rather than convincing others, he teaches that you should attract them, just like a magnet attracts metal filings. He teaches that sales have changed and the consumer has become exponentially more skeptical and cynical within the last five years. Most persuaders are using only 2 or 3 persuasion techniques when there are actually 120 available! His message and program has helped thousands and will help you achieve unprecedented success in both your business and personal life.

The airline industry has some good examples of creative packaging, too: "delayed" instead of "late" and "flotation device" instead of "life preserver." If we examined other industries, the list could go on and on. You can take a cue from these industry giants by employing a bit of your own verbal packaging. That is, it would be a great idea for you to develop your own list of words and phrases that are relevant to your industry or topic. That way, you will have alternatives in your persuasive toolbox for words that may be jarring or have negative connotations. Other ways you can make your language more effective are to use words like "we" and "us" more. That way, you can engage your audience and create a cooperative, "we're in this together" feel to your presentation.

You might also consider making your language verb-oriented. Doing so gives your speech a feeling of energy, momentum and vitality. When you're really trying to paint the picture and help your prospects feel like they're in the actual situation you're describing, use vivid language. Lastly, as a generally rule, and particularly when you're trying to get a key point across, always lean toward being concise rather than verbose. If you can get the point across in five words instead of ten, then don't complicate your message by trying to be flowery and clever. Chances are people will start thinking about how pretentious you are rather than focusing on the point you're trying to get across. As we were discussing in relation to structuring your message, it holds true here as well that clear and concise are your safest bets.

Kurt Mortensen’s trademark is Magnetic Persuasion; rather than convincing others, he teaches that you should attract them, just like a magnet attracts metal filings. He teaches that sales have changed and the consumer has become exponentially more skeptical and cynical within the last five years. Most persuaders are using only 2 or 3 persuasion techniques when there are actually 120 available! His message and program has helped thousands and will help you achieve unprecedented success in both your business and personal life.

Your financial success in life will be largely determined by your ability to communicate with other people. Everything you want, but don't currently have, you will have to get from others. Your ability to effectively communicate and persuade will be your key to riches.

Persuasion is also your golden ticket to promotion. Communication skills rank number one of all the personal qualities employers seek in college graduates. While most people shy away from overtly persuasive situations, master communicators welcome such opportunities. Master communicators feel in control of challenging situations because they understand the art of persuasion and they know how to recognize and use persuasive strategies.


If you want wealth, if you want to be ultra-prosperous, take the time to study and practice the art of communication. Take yourself out of your shoes and try to see what others hear and feel as you speak. Are you getting your point accross? Are you clear and coherent? Are their gaps in your story? Remember that what may make sense in your mind doesn't necessarily mean that others will understand what you are saying. You have a lot of background information that pieces data together. Is your prospect understanding everything you say?

Kurt Mortensen’s trademark is Magnetic Persuasion; rather than convincing others, he teaches that you should attract them, just like a magnet attracts metal filings. He teaches that sales have changed and the consumer has become exponentially more skeptical and cynical within the last five years. Most persuaders are using only 2 or 3 persuasion techniques when there are actually 120 available! His message and program has helped thousands and will help you achieve unprecedented success in both your business and personal life.

Some people desire to win at any cost, using any available tactics including misusing the laws of persuasion. These individuals are willing to use guilt, violence, intimidation, temptation, bribery, and blackmail to get the desired result.

However, when used properly, persuasion is our best friend. Through persuasion we create peace agreements, promote fund-raising efforts, and convince motorists to buckle up. Persuasion is the means by which the coach of an underdog team inspires players to win. It is also the method employed by the Surgeon General to convince people to have regular mammograms and prostate examinations, by managers to increase employee performance and morale, and by hostage negotiators to convince criminals to free their captives.

Misuse of the laws will only come back to haunt you in the long run. You might get short-term instant results, but your long-term future will be bleak. The tools outlined in this book are powerful and are not to be used selfishly. They should not be considered a means of gaining a desired result at any cost. Rather, you should use these tools to get your desired outcome only when it is a win-win situation for all involved.

The fable of the sun and the wind provides an excellent example of properly implemented persuasion. The sun and the wind were always arguing about which of them was the strongest. The wind believed he was stronger because of his destructive power in tornados and hurricanes. He wanted the sun to admit he was stronger, but the sun held fast to his own opinion and could not be convinced. One day the sun decided he wanted the matter settled once and for all, so he invited the wind to compete with him in a contest. The sun chose the contest carefully. He pointed out an old man taking a walk, and challenged the wind to use his power to blow the man's jacket off. The wind felt this would be an easy contest to win and began to blow. To his surprise, each gust of wind only made the man cling more tightly to his jacket. The wind blew harder, and the man held on tighter. The harder the wind blew, the more the man resisted. The powerful blows of wind even knocked the man down, but he would not let go of his jacket. Finally, the wind gave up and challenged the sun to succeed in getting the man to take off his jacket. The sun smiled and shone radiantly upon the man. The man felt the warmth of the sun, and sweat began to appear on his forehead. The sun continued pouring out warmth and sunshine upon the man and, at last, the man took off his jacket. The sun had won the contest. If your attempt to persuade is a win-win, others will be eager to do what you want them to do.

Everyone persuades for a living. There's no way around it. Whether you're a sales professional, an entrepreneur, or even a stay at home parent, if you are unable to convince others to your way of thinking, you will be constantly left behind. Get your free reports at Magnetic Persuasion to make sure that you are not left watching others pass you on the road to success. Donald Trump said it best, "Study the art of persuasion. Practice it. Develop an understanding of its profound value across all aspects of life."

Conclusion

Persuasion is the missing puzzle piece that will crack the code to dramatically increase your income, improve your relationships, and help you get what you want, when you want, and win friends for life. Ask yourself how much money and income you have lost because of your inability to persuade and influence. Think about it. Sure you've seen some success, but think of the times you couldn't get it done. Has there ever been a time when you did not get your point across? Were you unable to convince someone to do something? Have you reached your full potential? Are you able to motivate yourself and others to achieve more and accomplish their goals? What about your relationships? Imagine being able to overcome objections before they happen, know what your prospect is thinking and feeling, feel more confident in your ability to persuade. Professional success, personal happiness, leadership potential, and income depend on the ability to persuade, influence, and motivate others.

Kurt Mortensen’s trademark is Magnetic Persuasion; rather than convincing others, he teaches that you should attract them, just like a magnet attracts metal filings. He teaches that sales have changed and the consumer has become exponentially more skeptical and cynical within the last five years. Most persuaders are using only 2 or 3 persuasion techniques when there are actually 120 available! His message and program has helped thousands and will help you achieve unprecedented success in both your business and personal life.