You are afraid to press send. You have written an email to your client to notify them of your impending price increase. You are worried that it may jeopardize your relationship—and potentially cost you their business. Over time, your costs have…

Hustlers value themselves. And they’re not afraid to capture some of the value that they create.

Hustlers create so much value that people are willing to pay for it. The hustler knows this, and they know that because they create so much value,…

Your competitors sell at a lower price. It’s tough to win when your competitors are willing to give away what they should be selling. But there is nothing you can do about your competitors.

If this is your struggle, one or more of the following…

The reason so many people want to be transactional and agree to a discount their price is that it eliminates one of the major areas of conflict in sales. If you agree to your prospective client’s price, then there is no conflict, you just say…

You don’t really buy your prospect's business by giving them the lowest price. When you live by the sword that is price you die by that same sword. And when you allow price to be the issue, you confirm what some buyers really want to believe,…

You fear the wrong dangers.

You fear asking for commitments: Your fear of asking for commitments is based on your belief that your prospective client will say “no” and that you are unprepared to respond appropriately. Your fear of asking for…

When you engage a new prospect for the very first time, you have to decide whether or not you are going to be a transactional salesperson or a consultative salesperson. Your dream client doesn’t know who you are, and they are going to do their…

There are many good reasons to turn down business that you could win. But the most important reason to turn down business is when taking it would mean unintentionally changing your business strategy.

Some sales organizations end up changing their…

What follows is a true story.

The salesperson called his contact after learning that he lost the big opportunity for which he and his company were competing. After a long bid process and a tough competition, the low bidder was awarded the…

This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet.

The last thing you want to do is to