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Pre-Call Touch

A creative way to make prospecting appointments Pre-Call Touch: Here’s a situation. You have created a list of 20 highly qualified prospects. You’ve researched them, and you know that these 20 people hold your prosperity in their hands. But they don’t know you, have never spoken to you, and aren’t inclined to drop everything and […]

What’s A Professional Sales Person?

I often hear my clients lament that they wish they had a more professional sales force. That idea of a “professional sales force” gets a lot of conversation in sales management and sales executive circles. But what exactly does it mean? And why is it a good thing? First, let’s eliminate those things that don’t […]

How To Close The Sale

You’ve Got to ‘Open’ Before You Can Close How To Close The Sale: Every salesperson talks about “Closing the sale.” The best salespeople understand that before you can close the sale, you must open it. “Opening” means using well designed and delivered questions to thoroughly uncover as many aspects of the buying decision as possible. […]

On Preparation and Presentations

On Preparation and Presentations: In my first professional, full-time sales position, the company brought all the new sales people to a six-week training class in Mill Valley, California. There, we memorized three, four page, single-spaced sales presentations. Most days consisted of practicing those presentations in role-playing scenarios, having them video recorded, playing them back, and […]

A Passion for Sales

One of my clients recently mentioned to me that, when hiring prospective sales people, he looks for a “passion for sales” in their personality. The idea struck me. I had never really thought in those terms before. What is a ‘passion for sales?’ What does it look like? Is it really an indicator of a […]

The Ultimate Success Skill

In the last 12 months, only one out of every 20 sales people have spent $25.00 or more on their own improvement! Incredible. Let me repeat it to make sure you read it correctly: In the last 12 months, only one out of every 20 sales people have spent $25.00 or more on their own […]

Closing the Sale

Whenever I ask sales people to rate themselves on their competence at all the different parts of the sales process, they invariably rate themselves low at closing the sale. Unfortunately, sales people who don’t close consistently waste a lot of their time, waste their customer’s time, and are not nearly as effective as they could […]

Are Your Customer Relationships An Asset Or An Obstacle?

Positive customer relationships are the basis of much B2B business, right? Positive business relationships ensure us an audience with the customer, make every step of the selling process go easier, and even provide us with a competitive edge. It’s not unusual for the business to come your way just because they like you the best. […]

Gaining an advantage by collecting information about your competitors

As sales people, we love to complain about the competition. Unfortunately, complaining doesn’t do us any good. A better approach is to create a system to learn about the competition. Knowledge of the competition — not only their strengths and weaknesses but also their patterns and tendencies — will provide you with a distinct advantage, […]

It’s the Risk, Not the Price!

It’s the Risk, Not the Price! “Low price, low price, low price.” It’s the mantra that sales people in every industry segment are hearing more these days than ever before. Customers, looking for ways to contain costs, naturally pressure their vendors for lower costs. But, is low price the motivating factor in a customer’s decision […]