I had a customer complain about one of my competitors during a sales call earlier this week. Complaining is really too gentle a word in this case. She was really on a roll and ripping them to shreds. I listened without making any comments of my own, noting her complaints for … [Read more...]
100 Ways to Succeed in Sales: #8.1 Sell Within Your Own Organization II
July 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment
What about up? In 100 Ways to Succeed in Sales 8: Sell Within Your Own Organization I, I noted how important it is for a salesperson to wire their own company exactly the same way they wire the prospect's: by building relationships, delivering value before claiming … [Read more...]
100 Ways to Succeed in Sales: # 8 Sell Within Your Own Organization
July 28, 2009 By 1 Comment
There may be no harder lesson to learn in sales. Half of the sale takes place with the prospect. For great salespeople the other half takes place within their own organization. These professionals use the same skill sets that allow them to penetrate and create relationships deep … [Read more...]
100 Ways to Succeed in Sales: # 7 Don’t Sell to Those With No Orders
July 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment
During tough economic times, it is easy to fall into the trap of simply doubling your effort. If your closing percentage fell by 50%, then you must double the number of prospects in order to generate the same sales. This is an activity-based solution that isn't always sound … [Read more...]
Is Your Sales Closing Percentage Too High?
July 25, 2009 By Leave a Comment
It's easy to know that you have a closing percentage that is too low. You compete for a lot of deals and you don't win many. Diagnosing the problem is a bit more difficult. A low number of wins can be the result of poor sales rep performance, competing for deals that you … [Read more...]
Still an Effective Close (mostly): The Puppy Dog Close
July 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment
One old close that is still effective is the Puppy Dog Close. If you have the kind of goods that you can allow the prospect to take home and fall in love with, it is rare that you ever get them back. My wife and nine year old daughter came across this little girl at the local pet … [Read more...]
The Sales Blog’s Five Most Popular Posts
July 22, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Welcome to The Sales Blog. If you are new to The Sales Blog, you may want to consider starting with the five most popular posts. 100 Ways to Succeed in Sales: #6 Make a List of Dream ClientsWhy I am Sales Process Agnostic (and why you should be too)There Is No Right and Wrong, … [Read more...]
Business Lessons from the Bicycle (Seth’s and Mine)
July 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Two weeks ago I gave a speech titled Three Lessons I Learned from Riding a Bicycle. Today, Seth Godin has a post called Winning on the Uphills, also about lessons learned from riding a bicycle. The gist of Seth's post is that the uphill sections are where you make the most … [Read more...]
Listening to the Customer
July 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment
This weekend I attended a wedding with my wife. It was catered by a very popular steak house, and they served a wonderful dinner. The main course was, as you might expect, filet mignon. I am a vegetarian, and so, I ate the salad, the vegetables, and the bread. I left the steak … [Read more...]
Top 20 Sales Books Missing Top 5 Sales Books for B2B Sales Professionals
July 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Sales HQ has posted a list of the 20 Best Sales Books. It is a great list, and well worth your time to explore. Glaringly omitted from this list are the Five Books Every B2B Sales Rep Must Read. Both of the Rackham books, SPIN Selling and Major Account Sales Strategy are among … [Read more...]
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