Order Takers vs. Influencers
Sales Job Titles In all walks of business, there are sales people. There are some sales-phobic, mathematically challenged folks who believe that the word “sales” is a frightening, four-letter word. So they cleverly avoid using the s-word in job titles. Their sales people have more professional sounding, euphemistic titles like… Business Development Account Executive Community […]
The Five Dreaded Words: How Do You Respond?
What are the Five Most Dreaded Words in Sales? If you sell for a living, you are destined to hear the Five Dreaded Words. “Your price is too high.” Many of us are hearing these five dreaded words more frequently in a challenging economy. In some cases, we’re lucky if we hear them at all […]
How to Answer the Question: “What do you do?”
What’s Your Answer When asked “What do you do?” – What do you say? Does your answer inspire interest and added discussion? Or is it a show stopper? If you say something like: “I’m a ______ consultant” or “I sell ________”, you’re leaving potential money on the table. Your answer can make the difference between opening doors to a […]
Real Sales Opportunities: The Four Critical Qualities
How much time to you spend pursuing opportunities that never come to fruition. What if you could avoid the potential losers and focus on your high probability prospects? It’s All About Qualification Unless you can check off all four of these qualification categories, your opportunity will NEVER bare fruit. It’s critically important to be aware […]
When Being Smart is Stupid
Getting Prospects to Take Action We’ve all been there. You know how much your prospect needs what you have. It’s so clear to you. Why won’t she act? What is Your Assumption? Most of us ASSUME that if your proposal makes logical sense to your prospect, the logical conclusion is to act and buy. But […]
So You’re Sayin’ There’s a Chance!
Sales people have a common, frequent fear: Losing the Sale. They go to great measures to keep their deals alive. Their efforts are too often wasted pursuing the unattainable. In the film, Dumb and Dumber, Jim Carey’s character, Lloyd Christmas pursues his unattainable love interest, Mary Swanson (played by Lauren Holly. Lloyd asks Mary about […]
Determining Sales Skills Competencies
Interviewing and reference checks are an important part of preliminary hiring decisions. However they are inherently biased. How do you know how candidates really stack up in the skills that will determine their success for your situation? Our Sales Strategy Index is an objective analysis of an individual’s understanding of the strategies required to sell […]
I Don’t Have Time To See Some Crazy Salesman
Decision Makers Have Always had Gate Keepers Your project or service may be a potential game changer. But you still have to overcome the status quo. This cartoon of the medieval king preparing for battle captures the challenge of gaining an audience with important decision makers. In the 80’s our commercial insurance broker used this […]
Selling Ice to Eskimos: Not all it’s Cracked Up to Be
Old World Selling There was an old saying about the prototypical star salesperson. He can sell ice cubes to Eskimos. Considering the climate and lifestyle of Eskimos, does it makes sense to try to sell them ice cubes. The essence of this saying is that the salesperson can induce people to buy something that they […]
The First Commandment of Selling
Are you Puking on Your Prospects? We all understand the act of regurgitation. I’m referring to the metaphor that means pitching without permission. When you make the assumption that others need what you offer and proceed with an unfiltered pitch, your prospects get puked upon – by you. When you exhibit such a complete lack […]
Identifying Potential Star Sales Performers
New, Groundbreaking Research on the Attributes of Top Sales Performers I’ve heard various theories and opinions. Some companies use DISC profiles, which can predict style and behavior. One business owner proudly shared his secret to hiring sales people. He told me: “I look for people who have the gift of gab.” He also proceeded to […]
