Everyone has experienced the sales blues, when everything seems perfect and you are confident the sale is going to close until you hear the words, "sorry, we're going ahead with someone else." It is important that we take the emotion out of the sales loss and learn something for it, in order to learn from our mistakes and create more successful closes in the future. Always remember that you cannot always control what happened to close the lost sale, but you can chose your response. The success of your sales future is made by these choices, it is important that you make the right ones. photo credit: gerwitz When you've lost a sale, it is good to go through the following steps: 1)Be a hero-try with lots of digging to save the sale, if possible until you've determined that the deal is dead. Amazingly, studies indicate that 75% of deals lost can be resurrected if the salesperson will continue to be upbeat and persistant. 2)Find out why. This information is essential because it can help you get better and make the loss give you a return on investment for your future deals. Be direct with the customer and ask: "What could I have done ...

Although having a successful business sounds great, it is not for everyone. Some people lack the necessary traits to run their own business. You don’t have to be particularly smart to have your own business, but you need certain other qualities. Following is a list of the 7 traits of success that most business owners possess. photo credit: shlomp-a-plompa 1. Motivation. You have to be motivated to be successful. Most successful individuals are driven to succeed and make money. They feel a need to do more and become better. 2. Competitive Nature. Almost all successful entrepreneurs are competitive. They want to be among the biggest, best, and most successful. Being just average is not good enough. 3. Self starter. There is no one standing over you with a whip when you have your own business. You have to work long hard hours, particularly when you are just starting out. Successful business owners know what has to be done and they do it, no matter how long it takes. 4. Decisive. Most entrepreneurs will quickly analyze a situation, decide on a course of action, and get to work. They don’t have the time or patience to research a situation for weeks before making a decision. 5. Optimistic. Most successful business owners ...

I love sales training. I also love listening to sales trainers speak. They radiate enthusiasm and motivation that ignites passion for excellence. The methods they teach are often of the highest quality, however, they are usually no longer in the business of sales. Their marketing methods tend to be old, and old marketing styles are as useful as an airplane with no wings. photo credit: Dale Gillard That doesn't mean the airplane wouldn't work if it had wings. We can give wings to old methods by integrating new twists and spins on classic marketing. Successful businesses, however, learn to recognize several common myths that some sales training continues to teach. Some sales training teaches that you just have to "get more people in front of your offer" or "make twice as many calls and you'll double the results" or even "just pump up the numbers." All of these sayings are catch-phrases for "work harder", and nobody likes to do that. These three phrases are circulated everywhere and it really makes me sad to see so many people working so hard and then even harder but still getting weak results. This is how people burn out and give up on sales and marketing. There is ...

In business, the primary goal is to succeed. Competition is fierce in both online and offline businesses. Using four basic principals can increase your sales by up to 300% or more. photo credit: masochismtango The first principal is pretty easy. Call your customer by his or her name. By doing this, your customer feels that they are more than just a sale. It is a way of personalizing your service. Customers tend to give more of their attention when you use their name. Principle # 1 - Call your customer by his name. People feel more comfortable when you call them by their names. If your target customer is a complete stranger, ask him politely about his name. Pronounce his name correctly and mention it throughout your conversation. This way you can get his or her attention and make him or her listen. Principle # 2 - Make your customer feel the need. Demonstrating your product to a target market is the best way to introduce it to the market. Many people will be curious if you set up a stand and show them how the actual product works. It is important that your demonstration is clear and concise. Nobody wants to walk away thinking that ...

Most or many people now day's, the thought of working at home is the ultimate dream. After all, many of us really dislike our jobs; and perhaps we dislike the compensation we receive for doing those tedious jobs even less. Some of us also have a hard time dealing with our upper management, who may or may not be good people. Given all these factors, working at home, in the peace and comfort of being in your own realm, seems like an incredibly awesome idea. Photo credit: Jeff Henshaw If you are thinking about working at home, then you must first consider all of the variables that will be involved in your possible decision. Working at home, like working outside in the real world carries its own set of advantages and disadvantages. It would be good for you to scrutinize each individual argument, and examine how much weight certain arguments should have on your decision. Some of the best advantages of working at home include: 1. Being your own boss for. Most people resent having to work for the benefit of someone else because in reality you are just working hard to maximize their profits. We are all naturally selfish in our own ways. ...

All too many of us have dealt with an organization that we were interested in buying a product or service from, only to find out that there was simply little or no follow through after a proposal was generated. You may be asking yourself, "Why?" This is such a simple thing, however few salespeople actually do it. Photo credit: andersdenkend Unfortunately for customers, few salespeople realize that the time spent showing a genuine interest in the client's needs and concerns only makes your product/service offering stronger. It always amazes me when I am looking to make a purchase yet only one out of ten organizations never even send a thank you for taking the time to look at their product/service. "How does that make you feel you will be treated as a client? Not very good." "So, what are some easy ways to keep in touch with people?" First, thank them-it's just that simple. When you set up a meeting, send a card to thank them for talking with you and confirming your appointment time. This sends the message that you are organized and that you appreciate their commitment to talking with you. After you meet with them, send a card thanking them ...

Selling is one of the essential skills that I need to learn if I want to achieve financial freedom. This is what I have realized from reading the Rich Dad's series by Robert Kiyosaki. Selling skills allow me to sell my ideas to other people and persuade them to invest or become my business partners or become my mentors. In this way, I will be able to accelerate my path to financial success. Since selling is an important skill to acquire, thus I decided to enroll in a few selling courses and seminars. And I have learned quite a few things about selling. Firstly, I need to change my perception regarding rejection. It is normal to encounter rejections in selling. When a prospect rejects me, he is rejecting the product or service that I am representing. The rejection is not about rejecting me. There is always a hidden reason behind the rejection of the product of service. I should take this opportunity to find out the actual reason and see if I work around the issue. For example, I am trying to sell someone the idea to start an online education business. He rejects the idea. After more probing and conversation, I understand ...

As an employee you know how much time is wasted each day. The wastefulness begins before you even set foot inside your office! You are stuck in traffic for hours on end, and instead of being on the telephone talking with customers and clients you are forced to inch at a snail's pace closer to the exit that will take you to yet another clogged highway. Photo credit: wrumsby It is therefore no surprise that so many employees clamor to get a chance at telecommuting. If you have what it takes to work diligently and without direct supervision of others, then this mode of work will most likely yield great benefits for your. Some of these benefits are of course quite obvious: the ability to spend time with your family is perhaps the one advantage most often mentioned by those who telecommute. Yet the very fact that you will be able to take a greater sense of ownership from the job will spur you on to give it your all. You will most likely work even more closely with customers and clients to cultivate the important relationships that ensure future growth for the company and that will also help you to personally reap ...

Being a better salesperson is more than learning new skills and techniques. Here are my top ten ways to become a better salesperson. 1. Smile and Walk Tall Changing your physiology is a great way to feel better about everything going around you. I want you to try an experiment. I want you to think and act as if you are totally depressed. Come on do this with me. Stand up and act like you're totally depressed. Notice how you are standing. Your shoulders are slumped. Your head is down. Your face is sad and your breathing is shallow. Feels pretty awful doesn't it? Photo credit: aloshbennett Okay, Now I want you to imagine a time when you felt on top of the world, when everything was going your way, you couldn't lose. How are you standing? Your shoulders are back, head is up, your breathing is deep and you've got a big smile on your face. Feel the difference? 2. Surround Yourself With People Who Support You One of the most important steps you can take in your life is to build relationships with people who genuinely care about you and will support you as you go through life. I'm talking about people who will love you during hard ...

Have you ever wondered, "What exactly is that virtual assistant that you keep hearing so much about?" The answer is simple. A virtual assistant, or VA, is an administrative professional who provides immediate professional support, services, and skills to busy entrepreneurs and business managers via the Internet. But "What can a virtual assistant do for me?" is a little more complicated. The ways in which a VA can help you and your business are as unique and diverse as the individual VAs are themselves. To help narrow down the possibilities, the virtual assistants at the Virtual Assistant Networking (VAN) forum were asked to list the top 10 things they could do for their clients. This is what they said. Photo Credit mberezhkova 1. A VA can assist you with marketing support, increasing you clientele and freeing up valuable time to service your customers. They also can handle all your marketing and publicity helping you to spread the word about your product or services. 2. Many virtual assistants specialize in web design and search engine optimization. Once you work with a VA, they know your business inside and out, who better to help you prepare your website. 3. A virtual assistant can make your next presentation ...