Questions are the backbone of qualifying any sales opportunity. Yet, many salespeople seem to flounder with this approach and I believe it comes from over coaching/training. Ask this series of questions, use this linguistic trick, turn the tables on them…improper use of these “moves” stands out to every prospect. To that point, here is an excellent excerpt from a recent Eye on Sales article: We’ve all been taught the difference between closed-end and open-ended questions. We’ve been given instructions on when to use which type question. Some trainers have given us formulas; others have given us specific questions to ask. It’s these detailed guidelines that seem to get many sellers… Read More
Continue Reading3 Ways The Brain Handles Info
This article is from Eye on Sales with some key points about how our brains handle information (emphasis mine): It all goes back to how your brain is wired to work. Despite how advanced our technology has become, the brain inside your head is brilliantly primitive. There are really only three ways that our brain handles any information that it receives: If it’s boring or expected, the brain ignores it. If it’s too complex, the brain dramatically summarizes it. If it’s threatening, the brain makes you fight or run. So what you’re saying doesn’t really matter. Especially if the brain in the person listening to you is feeling threatened or… Read More
Continue ReadingCoffee House Creativity
Sometimes stories come along that just land in the wheelhouse. This article would be one of them – Study of the Day: Why Crowded Coffee Shops Fire Up Your Creativity. Hello. I don’t need a study to tell me this fact. In case you didn’t know: Compared to a relatively quiet environment (50 decibels), a moderate level of ambient noise (70 dB) enhanced subjects’ performance on the creativity tasks, while a high level of noise (85 dB) hurt it. Modest background noise, the scientists explain, creates enough of a distraction to encourage people to think more imaginatively. Which leads to this assertion: The next time you’re stumped on a creative… Read More
Continue ReadingLeadership Jargon
Oh does this Sales & Marketing Management article hit me where I live. The gist of the article is the corporate speak many leaders use in hopes of sounding…smarter? I really don’t know why they do it. I have encountered this approach when working with leaders and their teams. Assessing teams provides insight into how the team interacts and how the leader interacts with the team. There are many leaders out there who seem preoccupied with the latest buzzwords and corporate speak. A waste of time in my opinion. Apparently the author shares this view: “My leadership philosophy is to optimally leverage the passions of my people such that at… Read More
Continue ReadingRapport Sells More
This is one of those topics I always believe people inherently know…and then I come across a robotic salesperson. Apparently not everyone is aware of this truth. This quick post from Selling Power speaks to the importance of rapport-building and successful selling (and I lifted the title from them). A quick refresher: 1. Match your customer’s style. Pay attention to how your customer prefers to communicate and get in step. Does your customer prefer to get right down to business or warm up by engaging in some small talk? What kind of a sense of humor does your customer have? If your customer talks fast and loud, you certainly won’t… Read More
Continue ReadingHunters Will Negotiate
I have come across this fact with many of my customers and it always surprises me that they are taken aback by candidates who want to negotiate. One thing that business development salespeople do is negotiate. They live for the hunt which includes qualifying a deal and influencing the money structure to their benefit. Generally speaking, a good hunter knows he or she is good at what they do and they also know that companies are willing to pay for their skills. That being said (or written?), hiring managers should not be put off by sales candidates who want to discuss (i.e. negotiate) the salary of the position. Salary.com ran… Read More
Continue ReadingA Shorter Presentation
Here is a great, short article from Selling Power about an ad agency’s sales call with Steve Jobs at Apple. A taste of the setup: When Steel and his two partners arrived at Apple, they were met by two senior members of Apple’s marketing department-employees Jobs had inherited from the former CEO. "Steve’s running late," announced one of the executives. "We’ll get you up-to-speed while we’re waiting." And they ushered Steel’s group into a darkened conference room. They droned on for 2 hours as you will read. The saving point in the article is the second Steve Jobs entered the meeting. You’ll have to read it to see the marked… Read More
Continue ReadingMost Overused Word
My vote for the most overused word in resumes: Dynamic It has become cliché in my eyes.
Continue ReadingIt Is All About Communication
From today’s Herman Trend report (emphasis mine): The other highlights of the study are fascinating: the least happy of the generations is the Baby Boomers. They expressed the strongest discontent with their employers and the greatest frustration that their loyalty and hard work have been neither recognized nor rewarded. “Almost one-third (32 percent) of Baby Boomers surveyed say a lack of trust in leadership is a top turnover trigger—the highest ranking by any workforce generation.” Employers are most vulnerable to lose their Generation X workers. Lack of career progress is their top exit trigger (65 percent). Only 28 percent of Gen X employees surveyed expect to stay. This intention to… Read More
Continue ReadingThey Always Reference The Top Salesperson
I’ve encountered a common question in recent interviews which pertains to the current level of performance from the existing sales team. This economy is wreaking havoc on many salespeople in terms of their commissions. Sales candidates are aware of this situation and are diligently asking the question regarding where the current team is performing. I find it to be a most appropriate question. The problem often lies within the hiring manager’s response. It is simply difficult to hide a grossly underperforming sales team. If the economy is cratering their success, the problem is even more difficult to contain in an answer. This usually leads to a pseudo-answer that deflects the… Read More
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