I ran into an old coworker, whom I consider a good friend, at a coffee shop this Friday morning. He is the VP of Sales with 75 or so direct reports. His company is international with a majority of their revenue occurring in Asia. He was telling me about sales training he held for the entire sales team. The focus was on negotiating and, more specifically, how to ask the right questions to qualify the opportunity. The Asian sales reps balked at some of the questions based solely on their approach to qualifying. Let’s just say they prefer to take a more passive, unquestioning approach which leads to prayer rug… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Lost Art of Decorum
Maybe I am aging faster than I will admit, but I have seen a trend in the professional workplace that is unsettling. Decorum. As defined by Webster, it is “correct or proper behavior that shows respect and good manners.” One of the things I tell hiring managers is that the initial candidate interview is as good as it will get. The candidates’ behavior, manners, etiquette, communication, etc. will never exceed their level as observed in that first interview. Therefore, the candidate’s decorum should be exemplary in that interview to the point where it is memorable. Sadly, I simply am not seeing this exemplary decorum nearly as much as I used… Read More
Continue ReadingSilence Kills Deals?
My mouth is still agape after reading this article in the MSP Business Journal – How to close a sales more effectively. The first howler: Anyone involved in sales knows silence can kill deals. If you present your best recommendations to a prospect and stop talking, he might say, “That’s food for thought. Let me think about it. I’ll get back to you.” What? No, not true. The problem the vast majority of salespeople have is the inability to use silence. A pregnant pause is a powerful tool that helps bring forth information. It is important to remember that the person asking the questions is actually the person controlling the… Read More
Continue Reading4 Social Age Selling Skills
I don’t consider myself old, but I am starting to waver on that belief after reading this Selling Power article. I started selling back in the days before cell phones and Internet, when the fax machine was viewed as such a timesaver. Frightening by today’s standards. The article identifies 4 selling skills you need in today’s socially-connected world. Here are the first 3: Social Listening Social Researching Social Networking Those 3 are critical and hopefully most salespeople are aware of these needed skills. However, the 4th point is most interesting: 4. Social Engaging This is the newest skill for sellers. Consequently, it holds the biggest competitive advantage for sellers who… Read More
Continue ReadingInterrogating A Prospect
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 ReadingOf Authenticity
I have encountered this issue of authenticity recently in a handful of situations and it has captured my attention. Here’s why – Gen Y is all about authenticity. As a Gen Xer, I would argue that it is high on our list also. Yet, some Baby Boomers have a different approach to authenticity and it stems from one key approach – they believe they have to have the answer to every question. Now I’m not talking about aerospace-grade questions, but questions regarding their field of expertise. Recently I witnessed 3 different situations where different Baby Boomer-aged experts encountered a difficult question. The question was clearly beyond what they knew yet… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Money Trap
-Discounting is a hot topic in sales especially in this prolonged, down economy. However, discounting is never the best choice regardless of the situation. Here is a good Eye on Sales article speaking to that point. Here is a good suggestion: The first question I ask anyone who thinks they need to lower their price to close a sale is if they know at least 3 needs the customer has and if they have been able to measure the real value of those needs with the customer. Exactly. The author is speaking to qualifying which is the core of all successful selling. This is why it is of the utmost… 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 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
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