Commitment > Consequences

February 29, 2016 By

Success is only possible when you have a greater commitment to achieve the goal than the consequences you will experience if you fail.  Do you know the consequences if you fail?  Are you willing to accept them?  If you cannot live with them, your commitment is the means of overcoming them.

Commitment is transferable in all roles of your life.  Commitment to play the role of a husband or wife, mother or father, salesperson or sales manager.  And there are consequences of failure in every role. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cold Calling, Commitment, News, Prospecting

7 Words to Remove From Your Sales Vocabulary

October 6, 2015 By

Will Rogers said, “You never have a second chance to make a first impression.”  Often salespeople can use one seemingly innocent word that immediately defines a conversation as a sales-pitch and triggers the defensive shields of suspicion in the prospect.  Words have meaning and we want to make sure the words we use as content accurately represent our desired intent.  Just as important, words hold different meanings and significance based on one’s past experiences.  If we use one of these “trigger” words, we could easily insult a prospect and devalue the service we provide.  Here are the 7 in no particular order: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cold Calling, Featured, Questioning, Word Prohibition

What Makes You Think I Need Your Help?

December 11, 2013 By

There are two types of answers prospects will give a salesperson.  One will position them in the best light, which means they will not share their ‘warts’ or problems with you.  Tough to work with anyone that is not completely honest with you.  The other one is when they are upfront about the challenges and struggles they are facing.  The one the prospect uses is decided by the way the salesperson positions themselves at the beginning of the conversation. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cold Calling, Prospecting, Questioning, Rapport, Technique

Top 7 Mistakes Salespeople Make on LinkedIn

July 8, 2013 By

LinkedIn is like most business tools and sales techniques.  They are only as good as you use them.  And they want to be used.

Below are the top mistakes salespeople make when attempting to build credibility and demonstrate their professional commitment to their sales career, employers, clients and the marketplace.  All are possible with the free version of LinkedIn and you can start applying them today.

Attend our Workshop on Thursday, April 24th at the Better Business Bureau from 8:30 to Noon.  For more information  → CLICK HERE [Read more…]

Filed Under: Change, Cold Calling, Prospecting

Why Now?

June 17, 2013 By

It is common knowledge that people buy emotionally and justify the purchase intellectually.  And people will buy based in their reasons, not the salespersons; which is why you will want to focus your conversations on them, rather than yourself.

Rule #1 in sales is; “It’s about them.”  It is about their needs and wants, not what you have and offer.  When you focus on them, you will ask more questions, while you focus on listening.  You will let them talk and tell you their story.  People love to talk about themselves.  Let them be the storyteller, again, while you listen. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Beliefs, Change, Cold Calling, Prospecting, Questioning, Rapport, Technique

What is the Goal?

June 4, 2013 By

When I ask the entire sales department hierarchy, from the CEO to front line salespeople the question; “What is the goal,” the answers are not the same from everyone.  This can cause a lack of focus and collaboration from everyone trying to work together.

I recently attended a growing your business seminar with Alan Klapmeier as the keynote speaker and he defined personal success as 1) have a lot of fun, 2) make a lot of money and 3) change the world; and if you achieve 2 out of 3 you would be moderately successful.  If you only had one of them, you would have failed.  For instance, making a lot of money, but not having any fun or changing the world would be defined as an unhappy life.

Is that your definition of personal success?  Is there anything missing?  Take time to reflect.  (I will do the same and send an update if I find something.)

Let’s look at incorporating personal success and our professional career as a salesperson or CEO and answer to the question, “What is the Goal?”  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Beliefs, Change, Cold Calling, Failure, Price, Prospecting, Technique

5 Outcomes of a Sales Call or Appointment

October 9, 2012 By

Every sales call or appointment ends with one, sometimes more, of these outcomes.  Knowing this will help guide your call and make yours and your prospects invested time more effective.

1)      YES – The best outcome!  You got the sale, closed the deal and the prospect signed the agreement.  Just don’t spend the commission until their check clears.  Now go make another 10 calls with this renewed enthusiasm.  Call on the ‘bigger’ prospects that you have been postponing until the timing is just right.  Now is the time.  Don’t take a break to celebrate when there is still time in the day to sell.  If you keep a journal, which I highly recommend, write this in it and refer back to it when you receive the 20 no’s in a row in the future. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cold Calling, Failure, Questioning, Role, Technique

Common Reverses and Softening Statements

February 8, 2012 By
  • A lot of people ask that.
  • And
  • And because of that?
  • And if I could do____, what do you see yourself doing at that point?
  • And that would result in…
  • And what you want from me is…
  • And you’re pointing that out because?
  • Boy, I feel stuck. [Read more…]
Filed Under: Cold Calling, News, Prospecting, Questioning
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