Posts from — December 2005

Preparation is the key to becoming confident when speaking with prospective customers. Handling an inquiry, placing a follow-up call, or making a presentation, are all situations where you can expect your prospects to ask questions. Unfortunately we sometimes prepare for only the questions we want to hear, and not the tougher ones clients will ask.

Here are some questions often heard in marketing conversations, and suggestions for how to respond:

Q. How much does it cost?  Read more...

Do you get all of the referrals you want?

Most professionals don’t because they’re afraid. Afraid they’ll hurt their client relationships. Afraid they won’t cultivate any new business. Or afraid they’ll appear cheap or salesy.

It’s an imagined psychological line in the sand you’re afraid of crossing with people. It’s in a concept I teach called “D.V.”, or Damage Verge. You’re frightened that by bringing up the word “referrals” you’ll push your clients, cross that line, and create damage.

Let me give you an example.  Read more...

There Are No Buffers
Selling is one of the toughest jobs in the world. There are no buffers between you and the reality of daily difficulties, delays and disappointments. You often ride an emotional roller-coaster, up and down, that never seems to stop. You are all alone.

You Must Motivate Yourself
Like a front line soldier, you must get yourself up every day and go out to where the bullets of rejection fly. You must continually deal with the possibility that all your sales efforts could turn out to be in vain through no fault of your own. And you must keep on going in spite of this because your profession of selling requires it.  Read more...

Over the past few weeks, I’ve found myself on the receiving end of a series of particularly heinous sales techniques – all of which were aimed at getting through a gatekeeper to a decision maker, and all of which ended disastrously for the sales reps involved.

I firmly believe that, to improve our skills and the relationships we have with our prospects and clients, it’s just as important to know what not to do as it is to know what to do. In that spirit, I decided to recount and dissect these painful experiences, in the hope of sharing with you where these sales people went so wrong – and what they could’ve done instead!  Read more...

As conflicting a statement as it may seem many would be wise to subscribe to this advice.

If you are a sales person, you are in one of the toughest professions out there. It has been said less than 1% of the population has what it takes to be successful in sales. Those are not great odds. But many of us are attracted to the sales arena. We are the modern day gladiators who face daily challenges, survive and often thrive. We like helping people; we enjoy the competitive nature and recognition that comes with being successful at what we do.  Read more...

To improve your sales performance, adopt the Golden Rule mentality. The Golden Rule says to, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It also says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The Golden Rule mentality in sales, says simply, “Sell unto others as you would have them sell unto you.”

Different Strokes For Different Folks
What does this mean? Aren’t there all kinds of different personalities that require different approaches and techniques? Well, yes and no. Practicing the golden rule in selling simply means that you sell to other people the way you would like to be sold to. You sell with the same honesty, integrity, understanding, empathy and thoughtfulness that you would like someone else to use in selling to you.  Read more...

Many times a potential client is just hesitant to make a decision. They procrastinate. They have other things on their mind. They just don’t focus.

This close is designed to help them focus just long enough to make a decision, then get on to other things. Try these words:

I understand that you’re hesitant to make a decision today about my product, John. You probably have a lot on your mind. I learned a saying once from a speaker that makes a lot of sense when it comes to handling situations like this. We all want to be as productive as possible with our time, don’t we?  Read more...

There will be times that you’ll encounter a client who is a perfect candidate for your product. They may even agree. However, a bad past experience either with your company or another company’s similar product is stalling the sale. They just can’t get past that experience.

The “make it better” close can also be used when customers tell you that they’ve done business with salespeople in the past who didn’t call back and didn’t give them good service, and they’re afraid the same thing will happen with you.  Read more...