“I Need to Think It Over”

Salespeople continually hear prospects say, “I need some time to think it over.”  Typically this occurs after the salesperson has made a proposal and is looking for the prospect to make a decision.  It’s as if any closing attempt automatically triggers this response from the prospect even if he feels predisposed toward buying.  Unfortunately, it [&hellip

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Common Negotiating Mistakes

In a business-to-business environment negotiating can be everything from a simple, one issue “give and take” to a very complex process requiring multiple meetings.  Since most salespeople seldom enter “formal” negotiations, the intent here is to provide you with some basic negotiating tactics that will help you level the playing field. The biggest barrier to [&hellip

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The Qualified Prospect

Most salespeople can’t tell the difference between a suspect and a prospect! A suspect is a company or person who would seem to have the right demographics, psychographics, etc. to be a prospect, but has yet to be qualified.  Some suspects do not become prospects. A prospect is a company or person who has been [&hellip

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The Trust Formula

Selling is a business of trust.  Typically the more complex the sale, the greater the financial investment necessary to resolve the problem.  With more financial resources on the line, the greater the need to have absolute trust between the buyer and the seller.  You simply would not spend large sums of money on an important [&hellip

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Common Mistakes that Destroy Trust

Selling is often characterized as adversarial; there’s a winner and a loser.  No wonder selling has a bad reputation. It’s amazing the number of ways salespeople have found to shoot themselves in the foot and mess up trust and rapport. If the salesperson wants to become a valued resource to the buyer, open communication is [&hellip

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Marketing v. Selling

Most salespeople have their “Top 10 Prospect List” – important companies in their territory that could generate significant sales revenue for the company.  These companies are usually difficult to get an audience with, especially if you have had little or no prior contact with them.  After all, they may not know who you are, and [&hellip

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Emotions and Their Role in Selling

In the 1960’s Eric Berne developed the concept of Transactional Analysis.  The foundation of this theory was that people have three primary “ego states” (Parent, Adult, & Child) that are developed in their early years from observing other people, and these ego states are subconsciously accessed based on various stimuli that people receive from their [&hellip

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Overcoming Self-Limiting Beliefs

Many of us carry around negative beliefs (head trash) that keep us from being successful.  As Albert Einstein said, “Imagination is a preview of life’s coming attractions.” That means if you think you can, you most likely will, but if you think you can’t, the odds will be stacked against you. To quote Henry Ford, [&hellip

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