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Guest post by: Leanne Hoagland-Smith Become an Author

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To avoid being pocket poor, sales people including small business owners to C suite executives look to increase sales every month. At the close of each month, the question is simple:

Have the sales targets, quotas or goals been achieved?

If there is an ongoing struggle to increase sales, maybe now is the time to start thinking differently. For example, when you are asked "What do you do?" What is your response?

• Do you begin with your canned elevator pitch or 30 second infomercial.
• Does your response begin with the word I or We?
• Are you confusing how you do what you do with what you do?

What would happen if you responded with what you do instead of how you do what you do? And better yet what results could be achieved if you removed the word "I" or "We" because that places the focus on you and maybe that isn't the best place to begin a relationship?

Imagine adding an “ers” or "ors" to describe what you do such as:

• Accelerators?
• Builder?
• Grower?
• Helpers?
• Partners?
• Streamliners?
• Workers?

Sales Training Coaching Tip: Using words that end "ing" is also another way to describe what you do.

You would then finish your marketing message using another 6 words because the human brain can only process about seven to ten bits of information. More than that is lost.

Would such a marketing statement get the attention of your potential customer better than what you are currently saying? Sales Training Coaching Tip: Having an executive marketing summary helps you in this endeavor.

One of my coaches once said "If you are telling, you ain't selling." When we provide long, detail rich answers to that first simple question we are not building a relationship.Just think about attempting to remember someone's name. Sales Training Coaching Tip: Ask yourself this question: Is my response memorable?

Your marketing challenge to increase sales begins at the very first moment to grab someone's attention and start to build a relationship. Excess verbiage only confuses the person standing opposite you.

As you construct your seven to ten word response consider these three communication tips.

Accuracy - Your response needs to be accurate. This means you need to answer the question. Now some may answer the question with a question. Depending upon your communication style, this may work for you.

Brevity – Being brief in 10 words or less helps the other person to remember what you said. Again your goal is for the other person to speak so you learn more about her or him.

Creativity - Saying what others have said such as "we grow health and wealth" (a common financial advisor response) or "I turn potential into performance" (an often heard statement by business coaches, executive coaches or business consultants) only reaffirms that you are just another gray suit in the Sea of Sameness. To stand out, to be the Red Jacket, demands an investment of your time to develop a truly creative and compelling message. Also, this marketing message may require updating as some others may copy what you say, word for word.

By applying these communication tips to your marketing message, you can be the Red Jacket where people remember you and truly want to become better acquainted with you. Sales Training Coaching Tip: The words you speak along with the behaviors you take are critical to your ability to increase sales.

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