When you meet new people, you are invariably asked what it is you do for a living. For occasions when you meet people with whom you may want to do business, in situations where you have limited time and access, the common wisdom recommends that you have an elevator speech, an … [Read more...]
The Elevator Speech Revisited: Why One Good Question Is Worth Five Great Statements
April 10, 2010 By 7 Comments
You Are Already Using Scripts. Now Write Them!
April 9, 2010 By 2 Comments
Every salesperson uses a script. Period. Many salespeople deny that they are using scripts. This is not true. What is true instead is that they use a script that they have never spent the appropriate amount of time or energy to craft as well as they should have and one that … [Read more...]
Coaching to Close the Gaps in Performance
April 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment
No sales process is perfect. In fact, they aren’t supposed to be. The sales process is a road map that can be followed, marking the milestones that need to be accomplished on the way to a deal. Regardless of the process, the sales organization still needs to be passionately … [Read more...]
What Do You Sell? A Lesson in Personal Branding
April 7, 2010 By 2 Comments
Yesterday, a story about Tiger Woods’ lost endorsement deals appeared on Yahoo! Sports. The title, “Woods Financial Losses May Be Short Lived,” caught my attention, but it was really two lines in the story that are worth thinking about. The first line was a quote from … [Read more...]
Off the Tracks
April 6, 2010 By 3 Comments
A quick follow up to this morning's post about dealing with client problems in execution and delivery. I received this question: "What about email instead of a call or visit?" How About Email? NO! Let me rephrase that so that I can be absolutely, unequivocally clear: No! No! … [Read more...]
What To Do When the Train Comes off the Tracks (or How To Make Clients for Life)
April 6, 2010 By 1 Comment
Salespeople are responsible for managing the outcomes that they sell their clients. If you sold anything even remotely complex, like a real business improvement, it is inevitable that the execution comes with built-in challenges and problems. Despite all of your foresight, all of … [Read more...]
People Are Talking About You Behind Your Back (Five Ways To Make Sure They Say Something Nice)
April 5, 2010 By 2 Comments
In business-to-business sales, most decisions are made by consensus. There often isn’t a single decision-maker. Instead, there are teams of subject matter experts who make the decision together. These decision-influencers all spend more time with each other than they will ever … [Read more...]
Stop Checking In with Your Prospects (and Five Better Ideas)
April 4, 2010 By 3 Comments
About every 90 days I receive a call from a company that sells a service that I use. I am more than qualified. Each time they call, they say the very same thing: “I am just calling to check in.” And each time they call, I politely thank them for checking in and tell them that … [Read more...]
Would You Buy a Brick from Ogilvy?
April 3, 2010 By
Yesterday David Brock wrote two posts on his blog, the first post on Ogilivy’s The World’s Greatest Salesperson Contest which requires contestants to make a two-minute video selling a brick. This first post generated quite a few comments, including a comment from Ogilivy, and … [Read more...]
No Single Encounter Beats Nurturing (And Why You Should Be More Like Richard Nixon)
April 2, 2010 By 2 Comments
If you have read this blog for anytime, you know that it stands for the practice and execution of the fundamentals that lead to success in sales, and it is opposed to gimmicks, tricks, shortcuts, and secrets of all kinds. There is no doubt that toughest prospects to engage are … [Read more...]
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