OnTrack with Shannon Ward

Excited to be presenting my workshop "Selling in Uncertainty" at Social Venture Institute (SVI) Virtual next week! The theme of this year’s event is "This is Not Business as Usual: Leading through Change with Courage and there will be a roster filled with interactive skill-building workshops, peer coaching circles, and 1:1 Advisors over all three days with a focus on how to navigate these unprecedented times as a business owner. Interested? Find out more and register here: https://hollyhockleadershipinstitute.org/svi-virtual/

Join me today for the next (no-fee) Zoom Q&A: Selling in the new COVID Reality Sign-up to get the Zoom link here: ontrackco.com/qa When: Tuesday, April 14, 2020 at 2pm PDT

Join me for the next (no-fee) Zoom Q&A Tuesday, April 14, 2020 at 2pm PDT. Sign-up to get the Zoom link here - ontrackco.com/qa For the past few weeks, I’ve been hosting an open Q&A on Zoom specifically to help people responsible for sales in their organizations. ... Why? Because we face a unique set of challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Topics last week included: - How can I determine if my market is ready to hear from me yet? - How do I strongly reposition my offering to solve a new problem created by COVID? - Should I be discounting right now? If so, how much is appropriate? - How do I get my market’s attention right now? - Is it a good time to launch something new right now? Who is it for? - Anyone who is responsible for selling and/or marketing in their business (business owners AND salespeople) - People who are solutions-focused and ready to take action

New week, new questions, new Q&A session! Last week I held an open Q&A on Zoom for people responsible for sales in their organizations. Why? Because we face a unique set of challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Topics last week included:... * What can I do to stay in front of my target market until they are ready to buy from me again? * Will I be seen as taking advantage of the situation if I sell? * Do I need to discount? If so, how much? * Will it hurt my business to provide my service for free right now? The feedback was positive and I want to continue to help, so let’s do it again! Join me for the next (no-fee) Zoom Q&A April 7, 2020 at 1pm PDT. Sign-up to get the Zoom link here - ontrackco.com/qa Who is it for? * Anyone who is responsible for selling and/or marketing in their business (not just business owners) * People who are solutions-focused and ready to take action You want to keep your business healthy and you also want to do the right thing. It’s hard to know what to do today, let alone in the coming weeks and months. If you’re looking for answer to sales questions, I’ll do my best to help you on this call!

Normally I’d be presenting today in downtown Vancouver at the New Venture BC Competition to a room filled with over one hundred start-up entrepreneurs. Today, it all happens online. People learn differently online. Sales has forever changed. Being a start-up means something completely different for many in the COVID positive world. So, my Sales Fundamentals presentation for today has changed considerably. ... Doing my best to provide value and insight in these unprecedented times.

In between riding the emotional rollercoaster we’ve all been on for the past couple of weeks, I’ve also been having many conversations with salespeople and entrepreneurs about what do do next in their business. People who are responsible for sales in their organizations face a unique set of challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. You want to keep your business healthy and you also want to do the right thing. It’s hard to know what to do today, let alone in the coming... weeks and months. Tough questions salespeople now face can include: * Is it ok to sell right now? * Will I be seen as taking advantage of the situation if I sell? * Should I be offering something different? * Should I be giving my product or service away for free or discounting? * If I can’t sell right now, is there anything else I could be doing to set my business up for success after the isolation period ends? * What can I do if the face-to-face events I used to network and/or market my business have moved online or are canceled? Who this open Q&A is for: * Anyone who is responsible for selling and/or marketing in their business (not just business owners) * People who are solutions-focused * People who are ready to get into action and not just lie on the couch watching Tiger King on Netflix When?: Tuesday, March 31, 2020 at 1:00 pm Pacific How do I get the link?: Send me a DM with your email address and I'll send you the link. IMPORTANT NOTE: This is NOT a forum for discussing virus symptoms, signs etc. or spreading fear.

I was having a conversation with a colleague today and we were both feeling personally nervous and also a bit lost as to what to do next in our businesses. All we know is that tomorrow is unknown. The best we can do today is ask ourselves, "How can I be of service today?" That is the next best step for you and your business. #sales=love

People say that traveling changes you. I’ve believed that to be true but never really understood how that change occurred, until now. I’m reading a book called Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself while on this solo trip to Colombia. Dispenza writes about the subject of quantum surprises. To quote Dispenza directly, To change our reality, those outcomes we attract to ourselves have to surprise, even astonish us, in the way that they come about. We should never be able to ...predict how our new creations will manifest; they must catch us off guard. They have to wake us from the dream of the routine reality that we’ve grown accustomed to. These manifestations should leave us with no doubt that our consciousness made contact with the quantum field of intelligence, so we are inspired to do it again. That is the joy of the creative process. Travel is inherently a creative process, and what Dispenza calls quantum surprises are built in. Therefore, travel is an amazing manifestation tool. We can always count on travel to "wake us from the dream of the routine reality. This trip has held so many quantum surprises, like a beautiful fireworks display going off across the street from my hotel randomly on a Thursday night as I was headed out to dinner or meeting a gentleman named Sebastiano at a beach club on a tiny island off the coast of Colombia who happens to be from the same town I visited in Malta last year. These quantum surprises have really inspired me to leverage this trip and future travel as a tool for powerful future manifestations in all areas of life. Here’s to traveling and to waking up! #womenwhotravel #solowomentravel

Great group for the Spring Activator sales workshop today in Vancouver.

Good times in San Francisco the past few days supporting the Sensai team to launch their new brain training product at the TransTech Conference. This conference features the latest and greatest in tech for mental health, well being and human performance. There were some crazy looking products there!

Following up on leads can be an emotional and psychological minefield. Think about the last time you texted someone and they didn’t get back to you right away. You may have filled in the blanks with all sorts of ideas of what they were thinking on the other end, right? Our imagination tends to take us to dark places in the absence of communication.... This can be deadly in sales, because it can keep up from following up as diligently as we need to tp help our prospects to a yes. Did you know that it takes on average 7-9 touches to get to a conversion with a prospect? Around touch 2 or 3 is when most salespeople stop reaching outeven though they may know better. Why is this? Because their mind fills in the blanks with negative thoughts like, Don’t be so pushy! Stop bugging the poor guy! He obviously doesn't want what you're selling. She’s going to think you’re a stalker! And they get stopped in their tracks, by their own brain! What to do about it? Small But Mighty Tip: Use Your CRM to Tell You What to DoAnd Do It If you know you need to follow-up with a prospect in 3 days, add the activity to your CRM. When the activity alert comes up that morningsimply DO what the CRM says! Turn off the voice in your brain and just do it.

Ever feel like you're endlessly chasing prospects, trying to get them to do the next thing you need them to do in your sales process? For instance, you've provided a proposal and they were supposed to get back to you with a decision two days ago but you haven't heard from them. You start to doubt whether the sale will go through, wonder why they haven't responded to your follow-up email and try to push down the panic rising in the back of your throat. Did you know all of this... drama can be easily avoided? Today's Small but Mighty Sales Tip: Make a NAP (Next Action Plan) with your prospect How to Apply NAP to Your Sales: Whatever the next action is you need from a prospect, agree to the following BEFORE you end the current call or meeting: - Agree on what action is required next - Agree on a deadline for that action to be completed by the prospect - SCHEDULE a check-in call or meeting on the deadline date While it may seem counterintuitive to add a step to the sales process, it increases the prospect's accountability to take the next step toward working with you and you'll also ensure that you get a chance to talk them through any obstacles that could get in the way of you closing the sale. The best part? Nobody needs to get chased to progress the sale...saving you and your prospect time, energy and frustration!