Sales training has always emphasized what I would call the typical “Sales Cycle” – discovery, needs, qualification, solution, presentation and commitment. Many follow this methodology, but it’s missing a vital piece – timing! Where is the business in the pipeline and when will we get the commitment – that’s what we want to know. Yet […]
What Clients Expect
What Client’s Expect Today selling is more competitive than ever. Clients are more knowledgeable; your competition is more astute at articulating their advantage; and technology changes occur so quickly that no one holds a long-term advantage. Staying current with your clients is imperative. Imagine visiting a client for your scheduled monthly meeting when they share […]
Features Don’t Sell
Facts tell, stories sell. If you want to influence your clients to act, tell them a story or give them an analogy. It’s a powerful way to paint a picture of what the client can have. It opens them to understanding how your solution can be of benefit. Years ago, one of the most popular […]
What’s Your Sales EQ?
A prospect has heard through the grapevine that your company is known as unethical and for trying to oversell beyond what the client really needs. They assume that as a representative of the company, you too must be unethical and over-zealous. How would you respond? Many of you face similar situations at times. Someone has […]
Clients or Customers?
What do you call the people that do business with you? Are they clients or customers? I believe there’s a significant difference. For example, how would you categorize someone that shops at Wal-Mart. They come to make a purchase – it’s a transaction. Now think about your CPA or lawyer.What do you think they call […]
3 “Musts” for Customers to Buy
It’s three in the afternoon and you get a LinkedIn message from someone who wants to increase your revenues by 20%. You look at the person’s name, think back if you’ve met them and realize it’s someone you’ve never heard of. What do you do? Respond back interested? Say no thanks? Or just ignore? If […]
The Art in Sales
Sales is both art and science. Science resides in the left brain, which houses process, technique and methodology. Art resides in the right brain, which has the emotional connections, relationships and the energy of possibility. Our left brain is objective and searches for the tangibles, while the right brain looks for the intangibles and tends […]
Three Sales Tips from Golfer Jordan Spieth
It’s the final round at this year’s Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in England. The last five holes turned out to be among the greatest in golf history. Dallas’ very own Jordan Spieth was 5 under for the last five holes to win his third different major tournament before turning 24, which he did only […]
3 Ways to Overcome Price Objections
You sit down with your customer to see what they think of your proposal. You’re proposing golf shirts for the company with their logo placed on the sleeve. The customer lets you know that your price is too high. In fact, she says, “It’s not even close.” She then lets you know that if you […]
Three Traits of Top Sales Performers
One of the best sales people that I ever worked with displayed three traits that still hold true to this day. Let’s call him Frank. Frank was a professional seller long before the internet existed, before the onset of social media and yet he was skilled at selling a complex solution for a company that […]
