Do you keep information from your customers? I hate to pile on the post office, but they really hurt their sales efforts. I recently needed to purchase a certified letter for a business document I was mailing. I made the purchase at 10AM. I was instructed to go to the U.S. Postal Service website, usps.com, enter my tracking number and I would be able to see the letter’s … [Read more...]
What to include in your sales proposals and RFPs?
You probably don't like it very much if you find yourself having to sell by submitting an RFP or sales proposal. Most salespeople spend a whole lot of time generating their RFPs and miss the opportunity to be strategic about the RFP. You might also wonder what to include in your sales proposals and RFPs. Here's a recent column on how to be strategic when you have to write … [Read more...]
27 Key Sales Performance Drivers
In a recent AchieveGlobal report they identified 27 Key sales performance drivers. How many do you think you have mastered? This is a good topic for your next sales meeting. Your sales team can discuss how to develop more of these sales performance drivers. If successful salespeople master these sales performance drivers, you should be more successful if you do, too. Key … [Read more...]
2 Important Rules for Your Selling Success
Here are a few rules for you to shorten your sales cycle and ensure your selling success. Here’s how you can make more money in sales. Rule #1. Have a plan for every sales call. How will you know your sales call is a success? It’s not when you feel like it was a great call. It’s only when you’ve left the call with more than you had when you went in. That … [Read more...]
Avoid Lowering Your Price
Consultative Selling: The Questions to ask to avoid lowering your price Sales miracles do occur. In 1995, I was brought into a distributor’s account where they were having equipment problems. I planned to begin the sales call by discussing a product that could solve their problem. As I suggested the product and before I could go into any detail, my customer said, “Send me … [Read more...]
So what are you thankful for?
I'm getting ready to celebrate National Salesperson's Day on December 6. (You will be, too. Right?) More on that in December. Meanwhile, which of your customers are you saying thanks to? I'll bet that when you say thank you to a client you get back even more. I see too little appreciation being given in business. Maybe it's because some people don't know how to say thank … [Read more...]
Why You Should Bring Bagels to a Sales Call
Did you know that a hungry, tired judge is much less likely to grant a defendant's request than one who has just eaten or taken a break? At least that's the finding of an ingenious new study looking at the rulings made by parole board judges in relation to when they had taken a meal break. Overall, prisoners saw a 65 percent success rate if their cases were heard early in the … [Read more...]
What’s your pricing strategy when you sell?
It's always important to consider your pricing strategy when you sell. Recent research shows that in negotiations, higher first offers from sellers drive up sale prices—reversely, buyers benefit from lower first offers. You can increase that advantage by stating your offer as a precise, rather than a round number. Here's what they found. In an experiment involving customers … [Read more...]
Want to be more persuasive?
One of the basic principles of persuasion and influence is that we tend to comply with people we like. Why? We trust people we like. You need trust to influence others. How does this apply to you? The next time you meet someone new at a business function, a Chamber of Commerce meeting, or other business function, do something that gets you to be liked. What would that be? Stop … [Read more...]
Did you forget about your most important customer?
I often marvel how salespeople spend so much time managing their customers. They will prioritize them by size, revenue, profits and all types of criteria to see where they should be spending their time and effort. Of course that's a good idea. What they're forgetting is that they have another very important customer. It's their manager. Even if you're on commission, your … [Read more...]