Posts from — April 2006

So, you have set up your business, got all your stationery printed, got the premises and office sorted and now you have to get out there and …sell! Suddenly you break into a cold sweat but you persevere, pick up the phone or approach your first customer and it all goes horribly wrong! This really sets you up for the next one!

The fear of selling is something which most first time business owners suffer from. Selling is not something we are taught in school or shown by our parents (unless you are immersed in business from an earlier age!) and so the whole process is alien to us. In this article we are going to look at exactly why we have this fear of selling and what you can do to overcome it.  Read more...

Confucius observed, “He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.”

Learning and thinking are fundamentally linked. They need to be.

Let me state a working assumption, that is, people who choose to work in sales have been through a selection process to identify competencies and the individual has a realistic understanding of the sales role, responsibilities, and challenges.

When starting a sales career, sales training plays a critical role. Development usually focuses on three key areas, technique, process, and product. Layered over these are marketing components that address networking, prospecting and promotion. Together they form the technical components of sales training. Once mastered, they only improve with practice and repetition.  Read more...

Too many salespeople are losing sales due to one simple mistake and they don’t even realize it’s happening. The mistake is in not giving equal attention when there is more than one decision-maker.

Never assume that the partner or committee member who speaks the most carries the most weight in decision-making. It’s easy to get caught up in conversation with a member of the same sex as you. Or with a decision-maker with whom you have the most in common. Or, the one who is most excited about your offering.  Read more...

Smart business owners know that providing great service to their patrons is an essential ingredient to their overall success. They also recognize that without a certain level of revenue they will not stay in business.

Unfortunately, many people think that selling and service are two distinct activities and mutually exclusive. So, where does the service part of the job end and where does selling begin in a retail store?

I believe that service and selling work hand-in-hand to create the entire experience for a customer. According to Webster’s dictionary, one definition of service is “to be ready to help or be useful”.  Read more...

Why Your Self Image is a Key Part of Your Personality – Your self-image is the way you see yourself and think about yourself. It is often called your “inner mirror.” You look into this mirror in every situation to see how you should perform on the outside. You always behave on the outside in a manner consistent with the picture you have of yourself on the inside.  Read more...