Selling to Technical People – How well do you work with Engineers? By Babette Ten Haken
It’s well known that engineers are conservative, risk-averse, overly cautious and extremely rational. So what’s wrong with that? Unless you both don’t have the patience to communicate with each other. Yes, communicate.
If you are in a position of selling to engineering-intensive companies, or working with a sales engineer to close a sale, it’s imperative that you take the time to understand how to communicate with technical professionals. And it’s more than rattling off a bunch of techie-sounding sales spiel.
The 4 Obstacles to Closing Sales By Brian Tracy
Did you know that there are 4 common obstacles that salespeople face when closing sales? There are several other reasons why the end game of selling is stressful and difficult, but here are a few that are most common.
Fear of Failure…
There are several other reasons why the end game of selling is stressful and difficult. First and foremost is the fear of failure experienced by the prospect. Because of negative buying experiences in the past, over which you could have no control, prospects are conditioned to be suspicious, skeptical and wary of salespeople and sales approaches. They may like to buy, but they don’t like to be sold. They are afraid of making a mistake. They are afraid of paying too much and finding it for sale cheaper somewhere else.
Sales Tips: Never Ask a Prospect These Questions By Andrew Sobel
You finally got the meeting you sought with a top executive at a prospective client. You prepare well for the session, researching the company and the individual you’re meeting with. After the small talk dies down, you ask your “killer” question:
“I’d like to get a better understanding of your issues. So, what keeps you up at night?”
Terrible question. Awful. Clichéd. One of my clients, the CIO of a large bank, told me that he kicks people out of his office when they pull out that question.
Selling Strategies: Develop the Habit of Going the Extra Mile By John Boe
There are only two ways to beat the competition; lower your price or increase the quality and quantity of service you provide to your customers. Customers who buy from you because of a low price are not loyal and will jump ship when your competition offers them a lower price.
One of the biggest reasons most salespeople fail to succeed is because they view customer service requests as unpaid, administrative burdens rather than golden opportunities. By going the extra mile, you will stand out from the crowd because most salespeople are unwilling to even go the first mile let alone the extra mile.
Sales Skills: What Are You Really Selling By Ty Bennett
I’m sure that many of you who speak, lead or teach don’t view yourself as being in sales. The truth is, however, we are all in sales. Whether its a product, a service, a vision, an idea, a strategy or ourselves that we are trying to promote, it is all sales. I think we would do better to embrace that principle and learn to sell effectively.
With that in mind – what are you selling?
Selling Strategies: Top Traits of Successful Salespeople By Steve W. Martin
If you ask an extremely successful salesperson, “What makes you different from the average sales rep?” you will most likely get a less-than-accurate answer—if any answer at all. Frankly, the person may not even know the real answer because most successful salespeople are simply doing what comes naturally.
Over the past decade, I’ve worked to determine just what those differences are. I have interviewed thousands of top business-to-business salespeople who sell for some of the world’s leading companies. I’ve also administered personality tests to 1,000 of them. My goal was to measure their five main personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and negative emotionality) to better understand the characteristics that separate them their peers.
Sales Strategy: Engage Your Prospect’s Learning Style By John Boe
The successful outcome of your next sales presentation will be determined largely by your ability to do two things very well; develop rapport with your prospect and adapt your sales message to engage his or her preferred “learning style.” The “learning style” theory was developed back in the early 1970s and has proven to be an extremely powerful communication model that every school teacher, parent, manager, and sales rep should have in his or her toolbox.
Simply stated, the “learning style” theory promotes the concept that people have a natural preference, based upon their dominate sense, in how they choose to learn and process information; visual / seeing, auditory / hearing, or kinesthetic / touching.
Collaborate with Technical Colleagues and Close More Sales by Babette Ten Haken
How many sales dollars have you left on the table, chasing around decision makers and aligning their availability with that of a sales engineer from your organization? While this may be something you avoid like the plague, or only engage in when all else fails, don’t short change yourself of a great opportunity.
Be Proactive
Regardless of the corporate culture of your organization, if you sell solutions involving any type of technical interface, you are going to have to work with a sales engineer sometime during the sales process. My advice to you is to engage these resources early on in the sales cycle.
Selling Advice: Be Prepared! By John Boe
It’s been said that salespeople don’t plan to fail, they simple fail to plan! How much time do you currently spend preparing for your client appointments? If you’re honest with yourself, the answer is probably not enough.
In my opinion, the single most common characteristic shared among all successful salespeople is the value they place on pre-appointment preparation, research, and planning. I believe that when W. D. Boyce founded the Boy Scouts of America in 1910 he selected “Be Prepared” as the organization’s motto, because he understood that preparation was the key to unlock the door of opportunity.
Why Avoidance of Rejection is actually Sabotaging Your Sales Success by Richard Fenton & Andrea Waltz
I refuse to go down the path that you have heard a million times before: “Sales is a numbers game.” Okay I have to go down the path – but just a little!
Because it’s true that the more you get out and tell your story, the greater your chances to sell more. However, there is a deeper more psychological issue under lying all of this.
We all have been taught and trained over the years to do everything within our power to avoid failure, rejection, and having people say ‘no’ to us. We have been trained to operate in a world where ‘yes’ is the only acceptable answer and ‘no’ is well… not yes, that is for sure.
