How good a listener are you? When I ask this question of experienced sales pro’s the overwhelming majority immediately identify they’re great listeners and identify their listening skills as one of the reasons for their long-term selling success. But the reality is significantly different for most salespeople, even the most experienced and successful ones. The […]
Sell More By Strengthening Your Listening Skills MORE »
Do you have professional salespeople on your team? Of course almost all sales managers would answer yes, even when it’s not really the correct answer. What’s your definition of a professional? The best definition I’ve heard of a professional is based on their consistency of performance. Describing someone as a professional is also saying there’s
Help Reps Shift From Intuitive to Structured and Consistent MORE »
Everyone agrees with new business prospecting being a critical component of any sales territory. However, even during tougher economic conditions the majority of sales people still tend to over-service their existing customers and do as little as possible to find new clients. What about you? How much new business prospecting have you been investing in
As a Sales Professional, Look for New Smokestacks! MORE »
Where do you focus all of your selling efforts? The immediate assumption would be to respond by answering that of course you’re spending as much time as possible selling to your customers! But there is a better long-term answer! I got some of the best advice for my sales career as I started my first
Spend Half Your Time Selling to Customers, Half to Your Company MORE »
How many different people from your company talk with your customers? Consider asking your team to evaluate and discuss two different selling scenarios. The first scenario deals with your newest customers. Ask your team how many different people from your company will talk with a new prospect (either by telephone or “face-to-face”) from the time
Is Everyone Talking to Your Customers Properly Trained and Coached? MORE »
How high is your competitive awareness? On a scale of one to 10…with 10 being strongest…pick a number you feel most represents your current level of competitive awareness. Most experienced sales professionals identify their competitive awareness level as around a seven to nine…what’s your number? Having a comprehensive understanding of your competition and how they
You Can Sell More,With a Strong Competitive Awareness MORE »
Cold calling, or contacting prospects you have never talked to, is one of the single toughest activities any salesperson can do. It’s not that cold calling is hard, it’s just takes a lot of work to generate a little new business and involves the highest rate of selling rejection. Most salespeople hate cold calling, not
Increasing Your Cold Calling Efforts MORE »
In my sales programs I describe most sales people as being like the “Hellarewe” bird. That’s a three foot bird living in four foot grass…who keeps saying “Where the hell are we?” How many of your salespeople act like “Hellarewe” birds? But selling is a lot like the game of Chess. If you think more
Are Your Sales Reps Hellarewe Birds? MORE »
