We’ve all heard the Golden Rule of Business: “He who has the gold makes the rules.” That’s especially true in sales! Your customers have the gold you’re after, so you must play by their rules. To do so, you must also apply the Platinum Rule: “Do unto others as they would have you do to …
Many sales managers have become frustrated with sales training programs and have largely given up on pursuing training for their reps. They have paid thousands of dollars for training in the past and received little or no return on that investment. Unfortunately, instead of trying to find the root causes behind why the training didn’t …
Many organizations unwittingly suffer from a bad habit that greatly diminishes sales performance: sales managers who spend too much of their time trying to manage a sales rep’s outcomes. You may ask, “Well, isn’t that a sales manager’s job?” The answer is “no.” A rep’s outcomes are impossible to manage. It’s like a football …
As a business owner or VP of Sales, have you been frustrated with your CRM utilization or forecast accuracy? You are not alone. Let’s talk about one reason you may not be getting the results you wanted. The advent of Customer Relationship Management software (CRM) has made it possible for sales departments to develop …
Problems are a normal part of doing business. If you do not have any problems with customers now, you will in the future. Someone in their organization, or yours, will eventually create one. How your people handle it when the time comes can make or break your relationship with them. How do your sales …
At sales meetings, I like to hand out Double Stuff Oreos and watch people enjoy them. At least half the group wants to know where the milk is! I enjoy seeing how people eat them. Some eat them whole, and others pull them apart and eat the cream first. After they have enjoyed their cookies, …
In this post, we discussed how to identify the different types of buyers in a complex sale, and how to use the questions they ask to pinpoint what their buying concerns are. Understanding each type of buyer’s decision criteria is key to winning the business. This can be challenging, even if everyone involved is a …
In my last post, I discussed the communication problems that arise when a person who thinks one way speaks to a listener who thinks in a completely different way. The person doing the talking is presenting the kind of information that is important to him, but he doesn’t get his message across because what’s important …
Have you ever been discussing an idea or explaining something to someone, and – no matter how eloquent you were – had the feeling that you weren’t being understood? Have you ever planned the perfect thing to say to someone, only to have them look at you like you were speaking Latin? Have you ever …
It’s Christmas Season – Why Bother will all the rush? This blog is based upon a blog I wrote several years ago on Why bother with Christmas. It is worth reading again. Last night we watched the Grinch That Stole Christmas which is one of my favorite Christmas stories. The Grinch hated Christmas for he …
