Posts from — August 2007

The other day while doing a little networking on Facebook I re-connected with Author, Speaker and Sales Strategist, Jill Konrath.

So we exchanged an email and after I asked her about any new projects she was working on she shared a new community site she’s started which is geared towards women in the sales profession and said if I knew anyone that it might interest to pass it along — well… me never being one to shy away from the chance to share a worthwhile resource I had a look over the site and it didn’t take long to figure out that I’d be sharing it with everyone here  Read more...

One key to becoming a great conversationalist is to pause before replying. A short pause, of three to five seconds, is a very classy thing to do in a conversation. When you pause, you accomplish three goals simultaneously.

The Benefits of Pausing…
First, you avoid running the risk of interrupting if the other person is just catching his or her breath before continuing.

Second, you show the other person that you are giving careful consideration to his or her words by not jumping in with your own comments at the earliest opportunity.  Read more...

I’ve seen salespeople develop the attitude that referrals are sure things. They visit with referred leads believing that it’s a “done” transaction. This attitude is wrong… very wrong. It can lead you to take shortcuts when just the opposite is needed.

The referred lead deserves the same attention, the same level of professional service you gave to the client who gave you the lead.

Not doing so is not only unprofessional, but does a disservice to the original client. If you don’t make a good impression, their name gets dragged into the muck with you and you’ll never get another lead from them.  Read more...

The Communication Process …
The ancient Greeks taught that all conversation involved three ingredients: Ethos, or the character of the speaker; Pathos, connecting with the emotions; and Logos.

The logos discussed by the Greeks refers to the factual content of a message, the words used. It refers to the argument that you present on behalf of your point of view. (However, we know that the facts themselves, although they are important, are not as powerful or as influential as the emotions are.)  Read more...

When you walk into your prospect’s office, begin a cold call campaign or otherwise approach a potential customer, are you always entirely sure of your objectives?

A glowing presentation that ends without a clear direction can almost never be effective. At the beginning of any sales presentation, it is necessary to ask yourself two questions that, at first glance, may seem to have obvious answers:

What are you selling?
What do you want?  Read more...

Like most business people, I receive my fair share of cold calls. During a more recent call, the person calling said that she worked for one of North America’s largest website developers. She then asked me two questions;

“Was I the person in charge of web design for my company?”
“Did I currently have a website?”

After I responded positively, she began blabbering on and it was evident that she was reading a script. Eventually, there came a point in time when she asked me if I was interested in learning more about their company. I agreed simply to see how she would handle this next phase of the conversation.  Read more...