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How much time should I spend entertaining my customers? Good question. The world of the field salesperson is changing rapidly these days, and everything is in question. The practice of entertaining customers is one of those issues that needs to be rethought. First, let’s consider whether or not you should entertain your customers. In these […]

“Selling is more difficult now that it was just a couple of years ago.” Most of the participants in my sales seminars nod solemnly when I make that statement. And then they begin to fidget in their seats when I follow that up with this: “And it will be more difficult next year than it […]

Are You Serious About Your Job? “I wish my people were more professional,” executives and managers often commiserate to me. Even with those who don’t voice it, that unspoken yearning often hovers just-under-the-surface of their conversation. Ah, if only the people around us were more professional. Our lives would be easier, our businesses would grow […]

Nurture Helpful Relationships Early into one of my sales positions, my boss informed me that the operations manager was upset with me. I was too focused and task-oriented in my dealing with the company’s internal personnel who made things happen in the business. I’d come into the office, drop projects and requests on everyone’s desk, […]

I’m spending more and more time dealing with information. It’s squeezing out my selling time.” Welcome to the information age. You are not unique. This problem of information inundation is a relatively new but almost universal threat to your livelihood. Four or five years ago, salespeople were not too concerned with it. Today, dealing with […]

“Ready, shoot, aim.” Unfortunately, that’s the all too common description of the field salesperson’s modus operandi. In a misguided attempt to stay busy and see as many people as possible, too many salespeople subscribe to the theory that any activity is good activity. There was a time when this was true. Customers had more time, […]

Over the decades that I’ve been involved in sales, I’ve worked with tens of thousands of salespeople. Certain negative tendencies — mistakes that salespeople make — keep surfacing. Here are my top five. See to what degree you (or your sales force) may be guilty of them. Mistake Number One: Over concern with strategy instead […]

The Value-Added Sales Call “My customers seem to have less time available for me than before. They are harder to see, and when I do get in front of them, they often seem rushed or preoccupied. What can I do about this?” Sound familiar? It’s a question that I am hearing more and more often. […]

Good time management for salespeople has been an obsession of mine for more than 30 years. In the last decade, I’ve been involved in helping tens of thousands of sales people improve their results through more effective use of their time. Over the years, I’ve seen some regularly occurring patterns develop – tendencies on the […]

I had just finished sharing some of my perceptions about the state of the economy and the challenges facing most salespeople in one of my recent seminars. One of the attendees sitting in the front row anticipated the next portion of the seminar when he said, “Dave, what’s the good news? Where is the silver […]