Category - Sales

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 …

Complex sales where there are numerous decision-makers can be difficult to navigate.  Closing such a deal requires an understanding of the different types of buyers, what their concerns are, and what influences their desires.  It also requires the ability to anticipate, identify, and address the factors each individual cares about. There are three players in …

One week this month my family was out of town. I had great opportunity to really “get some things done.” What happened was just the opposite; I let the mundane, the trivial eat up my time. I rarely watch TV. I spent every night watching TV. Does that happen to your peoplle at work? It …

After you’ve completed your sales presentation or product demo, the buyer enters the evaluation phase of the buying process, and a scary monster frequently rears its ugly head: risk.  Risk can kill a deal, and its threat can increase as your prospect evaluates your offering. What is the opportunity cost of going with this solution …

You’ve just made a great sales presentation for a great prospect.  The whole sales process has gone smoothly from the beginning.  You like your buyers, and they like you and your offering.  They definitely want to do business with you!  If only you can agree on a price. It’s easy and natural to get a …

The Internet.  That – in one word – is why cold calling is dead, even for B2B sales. Before the Internet, the role of the sales rep was to educate a prospect through a presentation.  If it generated interest, the sales rep would qualify the prospect and then focus on closing the sale.   Back then, …

In his book, Achieve Sales Excellence, author Howard Stevens set forth “The Seven Rules of the Customer.”  These seven rules emerged from comments recorded in over 80,000 interviews his company conducted as part of a fourteen-year study of 7,500 sales reps from 2,500 companies.   One of the things study participants – all of whom …

Many sales reps who have been in the business for a while have been experiencing a steady decline in their performance for the last decade or so.  Unfortunately, most of them cling to the ways of selling they learned two or three decades ago, despite the fact that these techniques are no longer effective.  These …