Minneapolis, MN - Sales Training, Seminars, Workshops, Classes, Coaching, and Sales Management
When I interview salespeople, whether they are an existing employee, or a candidate for a sales position, one of my most resourceful questions is, What’s a perfect week look like for you in your current role?
Often they will tell me “it depends.” This tells me how much of their time they are being proactive or reactive – letting other people determine how they spend their time. [Read more…]
Last week someone came up to me at a networking event and introduction themselves and shared they first heard me present at a chamber event in 2002. I asked them what they remember from that talk, because I may have to walk some of my advice back.
Our market changes everyday and sometimes the advice I gave, is no longer true. [Read more…]
But that’s how I describe what I do! I help people. Stop it!
When you help people. It’s like you’re up here and their down there. “Here, let me save you, you need to be rescued.” As if to say, “hey moron, you’re doing it wrong.” Ever help someone that is not as committed in solving a problem as you are? That only leads to frustration for us, right? [Read more…]
Ever have that salesperson call on you. How do they know! They don’t know anything about me. How much I’m spending, why I’m spending it there, what else I’m buying, etc.
It’s insulting to tell someone you can save them money, without knowing any information.
What turns people off the most is assumptive salespeople. These are the salespeople that assume everyone wants their product; and everyone has a problem, and everyone wants to change. It simply is not true. Don’t assume. Ask. [Read more…]
Lately I’m hearing a lot of salespeople say they call prospects, leave messages and they never call them back. Most times the prospect doesn’t answer the phone. In an age where every phone has Caller ID it is a split second decision to quickly ignore the interruption. When this is true most of the time, we want to ask ourselves, “Why?”
The strongest influence in personal behavior is weighing the consequences of any action. What are the consequences of answering the phone or returning a voice mail message of any unknown person? Another factor in determining what we do and don’t is fear. Combine those two and here is what the prospect is thinking; “I don’t know this person; I don’t know why they are calling; I’m busy; I’m afraid if I answer, I’ll never get that time back; and if I avoid it, it will go away.” And guess what, you do. You stop calling. The prospect was right! [Read more…]
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…]
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…]
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. 
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…]
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…]
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?”
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…]
