You Can’t Do That!

http://www.mnsales.com – Watch me. That’s what a prospect is saying when a salesperson says you can’t do that. Or we share our product or service will ‘allow them to’…really, the prospect is saying. You are going to give me permission to do something I want. I need your approval to proceed. [Read more…]

What is it going to take to win your business?

If you must ask, “What is it going to take to win your business?” you have lost the battle.  Pack up and go home.  You need to and should know the answer to that question BEFORE you submit any proposal.

This is a sign of a desperate salesperson.  A person that needs to make quota, save their job, or save the company by making quota.  No matter the reason, value and/or profitability are absence from the equation.  Plus, you have lost control of the sales process, winning any future negotiations, or selling on value through any referrals.

The sales process is structured in a way to determine and define value.  What is most important?  What are the reasons for someone to change?  What are the risks if someone does not change? [Read more…]

What Are You Willing to Tolerate?

Last week I spent a day on a ride-along with a sales rep visiting existing accounts and meeting new prospects. The conversations during the miles we covered were mixed between business and personal topics. One personal story was about how the rep can’t find her hotspot at home, so she has been using the cell phone as a hotspot. I asked her how long the hotspot was missing and she said about 3 months. She was not sure if her daughter hid it or the dog ran off and buried it in the backyard.

The following week when the sales report came out, she fell short of her weekly goals.  I reminded her about the story she told me about the missing hotspot. I asked her if she is willing to tolerate substandard results at home, she will also accept substandard results at work and she will never succeed if she continued to believe she doesn’t deserve anything better than what she is getting. [Read more…]

Whom Do You Admire?

I remember growing up and wanting to be a doctor. My grandfather was a doctor and was allowed to smoke Dutch Masters President cigar’s in the house after dinner. I thought that was pretty cool. I’m sure there were other reasons I aspired to be like him, but cannot recall them today.

Recently I asked a new client who they admire and they were caught off guard. They replied with, “Well, I guess my father.” I asked, “How often do you see your father?” “About two to three times a year, I guess.” they answered. “What do you admire about your father?” I asked. Silence. He couldn’t think of anything. [Read more…]

Not Everybody is at the Cabin

How many people go to the cabin every week during the summer?  I don’t know the answer and I’m guessing it would be hard to know for sure, but I’m positive not everyone does.  Businesses are still open, people are still working, budgets are being determined and spent, challenges continue to exist and problems need to be solved. [Read more…]

Define Yourself

During a political season, each candidate defines himself or her­self before their opponent does it for them. As the campaigns heat up and issues are tossed around in the media and discussed with friends and neighbors, you can base your beliefs on what you believe to be true, based on your evaluation of each candidate.

The effort to “define yourself ” is not limited to just political fig­ures. You do it for yourself as a salesperson who constantly opens yourself up for acceptance and rejection in the role you play. You also take the risk of letting others define you, causing you to live according to their definition of you instead of your own. But by defining yourself, when you are rejected by prospects, criticized by others and judged by strangers, you will know their judgments to be untrue because you have decisively defined yourself. who-am-i
When you define yourself, you are consciously deciding what your goals and values are now and in the future. To help stay on track when you are tempted to accept and believe criticism, these goals and values determine your daily behaviors and priorities. Here are three questions to ask yourself about who you are and want to be. [Read more…]

Fight and fail; the only option worth taking

Lately it seems I’ve be learning a lot of lessons.  Which is another way of saying; I’ve been attempting new activities and not achieving the preferred outcome.  This is frustrating for me and I imagine the same for others who are constantly doing the same.

I don’t want to learn anymore lessons for a while.  I want a normal day of mediocrity, filled with a calm contentment and no surprises; like working on an assembly line for a few months. [Read more…]

I’m a First Responder to a No Soliciting sign

Last week I made a visit to my neighborhood mobile phone carrier’s retail store and noticed a ‘No Solicitors’ sign in the window.  This gave me pause before entering.  I thought – “I’m a Solicitor, what’s wrong with me.  Why don’t they want me to come in?”

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I peered through the glass like a school boy at a peep show, wondering what is going on inside that I was forbidden to see.  Others inside the store began to look at me and I finally mustered up the guts to pull the door open and walk in.

I stopped as everyone looked at me and said, “I saw the No Solicitors sign.  I’m a salesman.  I sell for a living.  What do you folks do behind the counter?  Are you salespeople?  Can I come in?”  [Read more…]

The One Word to Stop Using

One of the services I offer clients is selecting and hiring superstar salespeople. I work with them on weeding through resumes and asking questions during interviews. During one of the interviews, last week, I asked a candidate to describe a superstar salesperson, and they replied with, “someone that is helping customers solve problems.” Is this how you describe a superstar salesperson? [Read more…]

Leaders Never Stop Learning

This time of year there is a buzz with back to school and back to business, like the beginning of a new year.  As you probably know the school year was established around the harvest season, yet it has not changed as our country has evolved into a more industrial age.

Watching successful sales leaders, one of the first questions I ask is “What books have you read recently?”  There is never a hesitation to share a title or author.  Every day delivers an opportunity to learn something new if we have the Wonder.  The Wonder is the first step of change.

We have to ask ourselves, [Read more…]