Articles for Sales Professionals

Have you noticed offering high quality products backed by great service is just not enough today to gain a consistent competitive edge? Today you also need to be focused on speed, simplicity and ease of use…the Amazon model.

Join me as I discuss the difference between the steps of a sales call when applied to the multiple-call selling environment compared to the retail single-call sale…so your team can sell even more!

A great way to increase the effectiveness and impact on your customers is to make sure all members of your team interacting with buyers have all the persuasive and problem-solving skills needed. Whether it be a delivery person, inside salesperson, administration, or counter sales.

Is there any seasonality to your team’s selling efforts? What can you do prior to a season’s start to coach, remind and fine-tune your team’s selling skills and messaging? 

How many of your reps sell utilizing a self-focused approach? How many were taught a “feature-benefit” presentation style?

Ever read the book “The Challenger Sale” by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson? It was one of the hottest sales books twelve or thirteen years ago that had a big impact on a lot of sales teams. The authors did research on the best personality styles for a sales rep to have to be successful and win the most business.

What can you do to help your reps realize how late they’re entering a new buyer’s decision process today? How can you help identify the best questions to ask early in their call to identify buyer decisions already made?

It's tough finding exactly what you want in a new salesperson. A great way to achieve better hiring decisions is to ask better questions.

Where are your sales reps positioned in the eyes of your customers? Too many salespeople are not functioning as trusted advisers in their customers eyes but are just seen as order takers and fulfillers of what their customers need. This is a key differentiator in selling today between the successful reps selling as trusted advisors and those struggling as order takers and reactive responders.