This week Salesopedia is highlighting time-management with multiple authors providing articles. This one by Mike Brooks provides a couple of truly elementary, overly-simple suggestions: Key #1 – Begin each day with a written list of three to five priorities. Ask yourself: “What are the five things that are crucial for me to accomplish today?” (Hint: ask yourself what five things you can do today that will most affect your bottom line, i.e., dollars in your pocket?) Write them down — in order of importance and then…. Key #2 – Start each day with your top three to five priorities and work each one through until it’s done. Then cross it… Read More
Continue ReadingPersuasive Tips
Persuasion is a key ability of any successful salespeople. Think of the worst car salesperson or door-to-door salesperson you have encountered and you will know why this ability is so critical to success. CNNMoney.com’s article – How persuasive are you? – interviews an individual who runs the Persuasion Institute who brought up this fine point: Let’s take, for instance, how we handle objections, whether from a customer or some other audience, such as a boss we’re asking for a raise. Early on in life, we learn to perceive objections as opposition, so we get defensive. An unskilled persuader, often without realizing it, will show tension, uneasiness, or irritation when someone… Read More
Continue ReadingGood Selling Is Subtle
Have you noticed that the best salespeople are usually subtle? They have a way of moving through a discussion that is conversational in tone, but focused in purpose. Some are so good at it that you don’t even notice if you are involved in the discussion. ManageSmarter.com offers up an article with a direct analogy of sales questioning – comparing it to dating. What I appreciate is the author’s description of how salespeople are trained to ask leading questions. This is not a subtle approach as you will see from his example in the article. The primary issue here is that you lose rapport quickly when you go down this… Read More
Continue ReadingLook, It Sounds Like It Hurts
I’m not well-versed in the rapport-building technique (my phrase) known as Neuro-Linguistic Programming. In fact, I’m not certain that is the correct definition of the acronym NLP. But it is fascinating information. Geoffrey James discusses this topic in his blog post Ten Seconds to Better Rapport: This method based upon the scientific observation that people have what are sometimes called “thought modalities” or, more colloquially, “have their brain wired different ways.” Research has shown that most people favor one of the three different modalities: Visual. The person values and responds to what he or she SEES. A visual person will tend to dress flashy, talk quickly, and use plenty of… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Evil Known As Reverse Auctions
Those two words should make every salesperson shudder. I remember when we first encountered the phrase about 5-6 years ago at one of our customers. Their top salesperson’s top account is a local company that shall remain anonymous (retail giant with a bullseye for a logo). When this salesperson first mentioned “reverse auction” to me, I had no idea what he was talking about. Once he explained it, I was taken aback. It is the ultimate commoditization tool. Dave Stein posted on this topic with an example of GE’s colossal IT budget for procurement. One of the quotes from GE’s CIO cuts right to the core of this issue: On… Read More
Continue ReadingSales 2.0
I read often about web 2.0, recruiting 2.0 and sales 2.0. Math was never my forte so numbers scare me. But I did come across a very informative article in Sales & Marketing Management article titled A Step-By-Step Overview of Sales 2.0. The first pull quote: With instant access to corporate Web sites, search and social networks, your customers have company and product information at their fingertips, which give them much more control over the sales process than they had in the day when brochures and pricing were only available from a sales rep. Many prospective customers postpone talking with a sales rep, believing that they’ll get a better deal… Read More
Continue ReadingFictitious Selling
Ok, the title is a bit of a minomer. The reference is to a Kelley Robertson post on the S&MM SoundOff blog. He provides 3 sales tips based on a fiction writer’s boot camp he recently attended. Here is an abridged version of those tips (my bold): Start with a hook. The best novels usually start with a great hook. The more compelling your opening statement or question, the greater the likelihood your prospect will listen to the rest of your message. Show, don’t tell. Showing characters in action instead of telling the reader what the characters are doing creates a more interesting story. Show the results your prospects can… Read More
Continue ReadingClient Or Customer?
This has been a topic of discussion here at Select Metrix several times. So how do you refer to the companies with whom you do business? Kendra Lee, guest author for Jonathan Farrington has this to say. From my perspective a client is a person whose business you have a vested interest in, and for whom you perform as a partner within their business. Not everything you provide is billable. And not every opportunity you are awarded was shopped with the competition for the best price. In contrast, customers are people who you help meet a need. They have a problem. You address the problem. You may invest long hours… Read More
Continue ReadingQuality Of Questions
I had a sales candidate ask an excellent, subtle question yesterday – “What other positions is this company currently hiring?” Again, the subtlety of this question provides a view into a company’s needs, growth and possible turnover. It is an excellent question to ask in any interview. The second part of this equation is for the hiring manager to appreciate the question. What I mean is this – listen carefully to the questions being asked by the candidate. We often watch hiring managers trip over themselves to answer a good question without appreciating the question itself. Some times the hiring manager cannot even recall the questions asked in the interview. … Read More
Continue ReadingA Needed Trait – Resourcefulness
I’ve been dealing with many different sales candidates of late and one thing that is starting to stand out – a candidate’s resourcefulness. This trait comes shining through on some candidates and is little more than a dull luster on others. The less resourceful a salesperson, the more wary you should be in considering their candidacy. This trait has always been important in sales. Resourcefulness feeds networking, prospecting, qualifying and competitive knowledge. Recently I have encountered a couple of candidates who just plain lack this ability. The lack of resourcefulness shows up in not finding email addresses or cell phone numbers. One salesperson wasn’t able to recall the position for… Read More
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