Does that title sound like a gimmick? It’s not. It’s about the numbers. If you truly want to double your sales, you simply need to double a key aspect of your sales performance, asserts Stephan Schiffman, sales trainer and prolific author, in his newest book, Sales Essentials (Adams Media, 2008). His advice is rooted in [...]
If you’re in sales you have come across many sales coaches, books and even podcasts about closing techniques. With all the information out there on them, do they work?
Jill Konrath writes in her blog:
The inability to close is a direct result of poor needs development. It is the symptom of the problem, not the [...]
The deal in your pipeline was huge and considerable time and resources were devoted to bring it to close – yet it fizzled out and fell through in the end. To make matters worse, this seems to be a trend, and everyone from the sales rep to the executive suite wants to know why.Large deals [...]
SalesMotivation.net put together a two step solution to the common objections of pricing. This s a great post on how to handle these objections and I recommend going over to SalesMotivation.net to see the wealth of information they have available.
Step 1: Count to three!
Whenever you’re faced with a difficult question or objection, the first thing [...]
What Is Stopping You from Closing All of the Sales You Deserve to Close?
Buyers and sellers have different jobs: buyers need to solve a business problem; sellers place product. Before you can sell, buyers must manage all of the internal, historic, and idiosyncratic elements that created their “Identified Problem.” And sellers have had no [...]
So close…
How many times have you been in this situation:
• You meet a prospect• You take them through your process• You ask them the right questions, tough questions• They reveal that they have a problem• They know it is costing them money• They think you can help them fix it• They say “NO” because they [...]
Tap into customers’ hidden wants to win their trust–and their business.
Those of us in sales are often consumed with one thing: the close. We’ve been trained to accomplish this by pushing those all-important features and benefits. From the moment we begin the sales process, our vision is focused on the end.
What [...]
This domain will be use for the development of tweaks and modifications to Salesforce.com that a company can use to customize the Salesforce CRM to help drive sales. These posts will be grow over time and will be primarily focused on the sales person and how to use your CRM to gather better information on [...]
For most sales reps, meaningful growth comes from working toward clearly defined, individually appropriate goals. As a sales manager, you probably know this. But do you know the best way to help your reps set and achieve their goals? In his book, The Inner Game of Selling: Mastering the Hidden Forces That Determine Your Success [...]
By Holly Dolezalek
Is PowerPoint evil? The jury’s still out on that. But an Australian study suggests that it is being used in the most ineffective way possible.
A study at the University of New South Wales in Australia has revealed that the common practice of showing the same words on-screen that are being [...]
I am looking for some like minded bloggers that focus on the business, leadership and sales world. If you fit in this group or have any suggestions, leave me a comment or shoot me an email with a link.
I want to start a list of links that can point to your site.
If you enjoyed [...]
“Boss, if I can just drop the price another 3 percent we’ll have ‘em.” Does that sound familiar? As a sales manager, you’ve probably heard all manner of pleas for the authority to lower your price to seal a deal. And in many cases, you’ve probably granted that authority. But do you know exactly how [...]
There are quite a few pieces to the sales performance improvement puzzle - face-to-face selling skills, management style, coaching, account strategy, and so on. One piece that doesn’t get much attention is the sales process. The simplest definition of “sales process” is “a linked group of tasks that together create customer value.”
Some sales processes are [...]
I could have used this post last week.
Learn how to ask the right questions that will help you complete each sale like a star.
Typically, when I talk with my students on a one-to-one basis, they ask me a lot of questions about how to close sales. That’s to be expected because it’s the [...]
Here are eight steps to make your software sales calls more effective:
Before the Call
STEP 1. Rethink your role. A software sales call is not an opportunity to “pitch” – a monolog that attempts to convince a customer to buy. Instead, a software sales call is a rapport-building dialog between the right salesperson and the right [...]
By David Jill.
Of course price is important to buyers, but if your product isn’t the cheapest on the market there are ways of getting around the price objection. The next time you hear your price is too high, use one of these strategies to prove that you and your product are worth it.
Determine needs to [...]
Strategic Software Sales (SSS) and Business Process Reenginering (BPR) often go hand in hand. While some types of software (like office automation) can be installed in virtually any corporate environment, truly strategic software, like CRM, ERP, or PLM always require significant organization change (i.e. BPR) before it can be truly effective. The reason is simple. [...]
You’ve just asked your prospect for the order and you got the most dreaded answer in sales: a big, fat “maybe.” There’s no worse answer for a sales rep because, unlike a “no,” which lets you know where you stand, a “maybe” freezes you in a state of limbo. To move that prospect out of [...]
Whether you sell face-to-face, by telephone, or in combination, there are eight basic steps in the process. By Helen Berman
1. Opening
2. Statement of benefits
3. Qualification and fact-finding
4. Agreement on needs
5. Presentation
6. Agreement
7. Commitment
8. Follow-through
Before the sales call, you will want to do your homework: review the account history, their market niche, [...]
I. Quantity will lead to quality. Look to contact a minimum of five new prospects per day. Only by attempting to get a hold of 50 people can you actually speak with 5. And don’t stop at five, keep on rolling, it gets easier at you get more under your belt.
II. Don’t be fooled by [...]
