Posts from — November 2005

How can I get greater productivity out of my salespeople? In one form or another, that’s a question every owner and sales manager
ponders regularly.

As a sales trainer and consultant, it is the basic question that I confront. And it is the underlying question behind every attempt to train salespeople. Investing in training and developing your salespeople is always a good idea. But it isn’t the entire solution for many organizations.

Often, enormous improvements in sales productivity can be achieved by sharpening the structure of your sales organization.  Read more...

Anyone who has done any selling realizes that some forms of rejection are inherent in the selling process. Obviously, not everyone will buy.

When a sale doesn’t close, two types of salespeople emerge. One knows that his/her best has been done, but factors beyond their control may have caused a blockage to making the sale. The other type of salesperson is one who takes rejection personally, experiencing residual low self-esteem, and self-doubt about the future or the next selling opportunity.  Read more...

What is selling? In its simplest terms, selling is the process of helping a person to conclude that your product or service is of greater value to him than the price you are asking for.

How Markets Work
Our market society is based on the principles of freedom and mutual benefit. Each party to a transaction only enters into it when he feels that he will be better off as a result of the transaction than he would be without it.  Read more...

It never ceases to amaze me how few sales people make the time to follow-up after they have made initial contact with a prospect or customer. In the last few months, I can think of at least eight different situations in my own life (business & personal) when a salesperson did not bother taking this initiative.

These included a landscaper who designed plans for our property, two different people who spoke to me about creating a promotional piece of literature for my business, a sales rep for a pool company, and a men’s fashion salesman who was asked to send information. In each of these situations I was very interested in the product or service offered by the vendor.  Read more...

I just came across some good advice from Jill Konrath in her article, Sales Is Not For the Faint of Heart.

Here’s a brief overview…

Jill recounts a time early in her sales career where she attempted to bypass a lower level employee of a company that she was dealing with on a particular sales decision — by getting an appointment with the CEO of the company. Ultimately as she says the entire thing blows up in her face when she finds herself face to face in the lobby of the company with the person she’d originally been dealing with.  Read more...

We do not advocate cold calling in High Probability Selling. However, cold calling is necessary at times.

You do need prospective clients and customers: If you don’t have a customer list from which to solicit referrals, and you also lack an advertising/marketing budget, cold-calling to a highly targeted list is the fastest route to finding High Probability Prospects.

A High Probability Prospect is one who wants, needs, can afford, and is ready to buy your product or service- now. Those who only want, need, and can afford- but are not ready to buy now- are prospects that you’ll continue to contact in the future.  Read more...

“What do we hate most about salespeople?”…..they simply, never stop talking.

How many salespeople have come into your office, sat down and proceeded to tell you every benefit about what they are selling, without ever knowing what you need.

Typically, they don’t ask the questions, but rather tell you what they want you to know. So, the result is, a frustrated prospect who feels as if their needs have not been met.

Difficult as it may seem, this very common problem can be addressed rather simply by just asking questions and listening effectively.  Read more...

Most salespeople I know consider cold calling a dreadful, but essential activity in our profession. Even those who are good at it rarely like it.

Nevertheless, those who are successful in sales do it regularly because without prospects, one does not sell anything.

If you hate cold calling to the point where you won’t do it, you’ve got a serious problem. Let this go on long enough, and you’ll watch your commissions drop from low to zero as you lose your job.

If you truly hate cold calling to the point where it is really hurting your sales, I may know one of the reasons why.  Read more...

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.  Read more...

His eyes were narrow and bloodshot from staying out late and partying too heavily the previous night. A two-day old stubble framed his face.

He was wearing a dark colored tee shirt, which he hadn’t tucked in, a pair of jeans, and scuffed loafers which had probably never seen shoe polish. It was the second day of my Sales Academy seminar, and this participant in the program was complaining to the group that his customers were only interested in low price.  Read more...