The Selling Newsletter for Sales Professionals
“The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it is the same problem you had last year."
-John Foster Dulles, Former Secretary of State
For Salespeople…
Sales especially is a profession that requires constant growth and development. Unless your competition is sitting idly by, you have to keep up. That means continung to challenge yourself and learn new concepts. Revisit your product offerings. Read a business book that makes you a more valued consultant. Staying in place is not an option. If you think you can do nothing to grow, like Dulles observed, you’ll be facing the same problems again and again. That makes it very difficult to be successful in sales.
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THE BLOG S AND OTHER COLUMNS
I’m now writing The Real Deal, a column on women in business for Allbusiness.com Hope you’ll read more ideas so you can achieve your success in business.
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THE SELLING IDEAS FOR THE MONTH TO SELL MORE NOW
Another Holiday Party? Your Career Depends on It.
Free food. Free drinks. Lots of people. Are you ready for your company’s holiday party? Some of you might dread it. Others are thinking of how much fun you’re going to have at the festive event. Whether you dread it or not, you had better pay attention to what happens at your holiday party.
I recently heard something alarming about company holiday parties. A presenter at a conference said that one of her corporate clients told her on average that he fires three people after each holiday party. Why? They drink too much, act inappropriately or say something stupid. In today’s work environment you don’t get a warning when you do things like that. You get fired. Do you still think the company holiday party isn’t work related?
Parties are serious business. You’ve got to behave yourself. If you think you can’t hold your liquor, be sure to have a drink in your hand that’s non alcoholic. I think it’s a much better plan to not drink alcohol at the party even if you can hold your liquor. Why? You may have some savvy management and they make the rounds at the holiday party. Do you think you would create a better impression mildly buzzed or completely sober? If you think the former, I would suggest you in particular need to be drinking bottled water with a wedge of lime.
Then there’s the question about what you’re supposed to do at the party. You’re not supposed to be a potted plant stuck in one place. Your job is to mingle. Spend a little time with different people. Why not use the party to go out of your way to meet people in other departments if your party has more than one department represented. Connecting a name and a face is a nice way of making it easier to work together in the future.
You might be wondering what you’re supposed to talk about with people you don’t know very well. Keep the conversation light and festive. A holiday party is not the time to be talking serious business. Unless a manager asks you a specific business related question, your job is to have a few questions ready to speak with anyone. You could ask whether someone plans to stay in town for the holidays. You might ask if they’re done with shopping. Ask if they found any unusual gifts this year. You can talk with anyone when you have these generic questions.
Your job is to be social, but there are people who you do want to avoid. Stay away from the office complainer and any other toxic people. I knew one guy who chose to complain to my boss’s wife at one holiday party. She immediately put her hand up and said, “Stop. I’m not taking any complaints today.” I tried to avoid being with him because I didn’t want to hear his complaints either. Stay away from people like that. You’ll be judged by the people you socialize with.
Careers are made or destroyed at company parties. You can have a good time at your company party. Keeping your job might be the most fun of all.
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ACTION ITEMS
1. Plan for the unexpected. What will you say if someone from senior management is introduced to you?
2. Watch what you wear. (Ladies this is for you.) Your company party isn’t a bar crawl.
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DID YOU KNOW?
Predictions From Retail Industry Trade Groups and Associations:
Holiday shopping season sales will increase 4.1% compared to the 2011 holiday shopping season, according to National Retail Federation predictions. That would be a total of about $586 billion, if the NRF is correct in its predictions. The NRF has stated that it will not be revising its prediction due to Hurricane Sandy.
The International Council of shopping Centers predicted a 3% increase in sales in brick-and-mortar retail stores before Hurricane Sandy struck, damaged, and temporarily closed retail stores along the east coast.
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Programs
You can check for current programs.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Here are some selling tools to help you sell more now. Click on the photo to find out more!
Monday Morning Sales Tips : A book that has quick ideas for you to be more successful in sales. Real-World Selling: A book with selling skills and strategies that work in the real world of sales. Secrets of Persuasion: Audio CD for the clues to use to speed-read people and close more business.