Slowhand Selling

From Selling Power’s latest sales manager newsletter – Does Your Needs Development Need Development? One of the important early steps in the sales process is uncovering a prospect’s needs. Unfortunately, most reps take that step literally and ask a prospect about his problems and challenges, then check off that step and move on to the next one. And later in the article: Freese just worked with a group of reps from a major, global software company who said they were trained to develop needs by asking, “And what else is important to you?” until the prospect ran out of answers. And then they figured they had all the needs. These… Read More

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The “Drop Trouser” Sales Move

First off, I have an interest in the Boeing vs. Airbus rivalry. Boeing used to be a customer of mine in a previous role and I have seen their amazing production facility in Everett, WA. The building is unbelievable huge. Anyway, I caught up to this Foxnews.com article – Airbus CEO Dropped Trousers to Seal US Airways Airplane Order. Here is the money excerpt (emphasis mine): Pierson, who ran Airbus from 1985 to 1998, was at US Airways’ headquarters for what he thought would be a short meeting to tie up a 400-plane deal, the anecdote runs. At the last minute, US Airways’ then-chairman Stephen Wolf started arguing for a… Read More

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The Sales Glossary

The JustSell.com guys put out a helpful, quick-read daily newsletter that I recommend salespeople and managers subscribe to. The quotes are poignant and their free resources are extensive. Their salestools section is overflowing with great tools. Today’s newsletter directs us to their Sales Glossary. I have to admit, I was stuck on the site for quite some time. Here’s the first (and most important) sales term I searched: qualify to determine the purchasing potential of a suspect, prospect or customer I love it. That definition cuts to the quick of qualifying. The next one I searched: disqualify to determine the purchasing potential of a prospect or customer as unlikely and… Read More

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Communicating With The CEO

In Selling Power’s latest Sales Manager’s Newsletter there is an article from Anthony Parinello, author of Selling to VITO and Think & Sell Like a CEO. As a sales manager who is working with a salesperson on their messaging, Anthony makes some great points about assumptions CEO’s hold about the business world. He provides seven assumptions – if your sales approach aligns with the CEO, he/she will not feel you are wasting his or her time: Knowledge is power. CEO’s seek knowledge. They understand that the more they know, the better their decisions. Thus your message must expand his or her flow of critical information, not clutter that flow. Passion… Read More

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Strategy vs. Tactics

Seth Godin offers a clear delineation between strategy and tactics. This post reminds me of a company I used to work for that provided sales training. The tactical level of the training was excellent and provided the salespeople with a toolbox of powerful moves. Unfortunately, the strategy behind the process was never coherent and the salespeople never grasped the process. The end result was salespeople who could use one or two of the tactics, but would then get shut down by the prospect. The frustration in the salespeople manifested itself in their concise criticism, “I don’t know what to do next.” Mr. Godin speaks in marketing terms, but this point… Read More

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Working the “Santa Shift”

If you think your job is tough, check out this article from CareerJournal.com – Santa-Shift Workers Wrestle Perfectionists. The article provides a glimpse into the Vermonters (is that correct?) who come down to New York City every Christmas season to sell their Christmas trees. A day in the life: But unlike full-time jobs, the Santa shift poses a unique challenge: working for a perfectionist — the customer — each with an exacting calculus on what amounts to a perfect Christmas purchase. Nothing seems to conjure a desire for perfection more than a Christmas tree. It has to be tall enough, small enough, full enough, sparse enough for ornaments, and shaped… Read More

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The Truth About Closing

We’re working with a new customer who has brought up a topic which merits discussion. His contention is that he needs a salesperson who is a strong closer since their company competes in a somewhat commoditized market space. A fair conclusion. But a wrong one. Closing is the eventual outcome of a selling system but it is not the most critical phase. Qualifying is the stage at which most deals are won or lost. In fact, here is a bit of a shocker – qualified deals close themselves. It’s true. If a salesperson can qualify a prospective deal effectively, they can navigate to a successful close. Salespeople who only know… Read More

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Coffee Shop Culture

I write this post from a coffee shop in one of Minneapolis’ suburbs. I’m chuckling because just 6 feet from me is a salesperson doing a presentation to a customer while sitting on overstuffed furniture. His laptop is sitting on the coffee table between both people. This scene is replayed thousands of times every day across the country. My quick analysis is that the salesperson is doing quite well and the customer seems to be sold. We conduct many meetings in coffee shops and it is a great meeting location for informal sales meetings. I don’t think this is a revelation for many sales managers, but if you aren’t taking… Read More

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Disqualifying Prospects

Selling entails many skills and aptitudes, but one thing that is often overlooked is the ability to disqualify prospects. Selling Power offers up this article – How to Disqualify Leads – which provides a thorough explanation of techniques. First, a great image that I have not heard used in this context: Brooks says top performers are so guarded about who goes into their pipeline that their pipelines look more like cylinders: fewer opportunities going in one end and a higher percentage of them closing on the other. Contrast that with the other 80 percent of your reps. Typically this group aims to prop up every lead that comes their way,… Read More

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The Most Important Thing in Communication…

…is to hear what isn’t being said. -Peter Drucker We have assessed hundreds if not thousands of salespeople and the vast majority of them are extroverted in some form (High I being the most common). We have also assessed a handful of purchasing/financial employees who tend to have introverted tendencies (High S or High C being the most common). I mention this because selling, at its most basic level, involves good communication. Yet there is a natural problem that surfaces when a High I salesperson attempts to sell a High C purchasing/financial/operations person — their 2 styles are the worst possible communication match there is. The High I salesperson wants… Read More

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