Eliminate Your Competition Early

Change is difficult.  Don’t let your prospect use it as an excuse not to buy from you. When a company has a long-term relationship with a vendor, often it has developed processes around doing business with that vendor.  In addition, close personal relationships are developed with vendor personnel that can be painful to sever. Frequently [&hellip

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“Your Price is Too High”

One of the most common objections salespeople get is about price.  Typical comments are: “That’s a bit more than we were thinking about   ” “Your prices are kind of high.” “That just doesn’t fit our budget.” Salespeople tend to be very aggressive in their attempts to overcome price objections, and quickly begin dropping their price [&hellip

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Improving Your Closing Average

A recent survey by CSO (Chief Sales Officer) Insights revealed the following dismal forecasting facts: 94% of forecasted sales are incorrect (they don’t close when forecasted or for the $ amount forecasted) 54% do not close at all, with… 30% of forecasted sales going to the competition, and… 24% of the time the buyer does [&hellip

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Clearing the Objection Minefield

The military clears a minefield before they move forward on the battlefield.  They know (or suspect) that landmines exist and realize that failing to clear them will spell disaster.  Selling is no different.  Often we suspect that a landmine (a potential objection or roadblock) exists, but we typically ignore it in the hopes that it [&hellip

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The Pain Conversation

The best investigators are the best closers.  What you do before you make the presentation, the diagnosis you perform on the prospect, is the most important element in a complex sale.  When prospects believe you understand their challenges better than your competition does, they have more confidence in you as a solution provider.  Think of [&hellip

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Common Sense Selling® – An Overview

You’re familiar with the buyer’s process and the traditional seller’s response.  The traditional feature and benefit selling approach has seen its better days and is not effective in complex sales today.  Obviously, if it’s not working it needs to be changed.  So, here’s a sales process that has been proven to work well in over [&hellip

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The Buyer’s Trap

It takes two to tango, and here’s a dance that’s been going on for a very long time.  The leader is the prospective buyer, and his salesperson “partner” eagerly follows in perfect rhythm.  This scenario is played out tens of thousands of times every day, to the point that it has become conventional wisdom that [&hellip

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Referral Prospecting

Referrals are the best way to increase your sales.  When you begin to build your business through referrals you will lessen your dependence on cold calls and other less productive (and frustrating) prospecting activities. However, a prerequisite for getting referrals is that you must provide outstanding service, superior products, and be professional in every way [&hellip

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Using Voice Mail Effectively

Voice mail can be a tremendous asset, if used properly. However, most voice mails are not returned because the salesperson failed to create a compelling reason for the recipient to call back.  Think of the voice mails you receive from salespeople.  Most make unsubstantiated (and ridiculous) claims or are so lame that that the message [&hellip

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Do Your Beliefs Support Your Sales Mission?

Change your beliefs and win more business.  Your beliefs (or attitudes) cause you to behave in a certain way.  Your behaviors determine your results. Therefore, beliefs play an important part in how successful we will be in our selling career. Are your beliefs helping or hurting your sales effectiveness? Negative Beliefs Positive Beliefs Everybody needs [&hellip

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