Sales tip no. 24 - No pain? Sell the gain!

Interesting situation with a sales team I am coaching at the moment.  They have been taught to find the technical, business and personal pain - exactly the right thing to do.  Recently on a particular campaign they were finding the people they were approaching had "no pain". When we dug down into what their solution actually did we found they delivered benefits that could be "of gain" - not just "address a pain".  So when their prospects were saying everything is great we don't ... Read more

CRM – are you solving your Relationship Management problems or simply automating them?

Do you want to ......... Annoy and upset more customers? Give out wrong information faster? Pass the caller to the wrong extension efficiently? Get your customers' name wrong with increasing frequency? Handle complaints with no empathy? Keep your customers on hold for as long as possible? Generate sales leads you don't contact for ages? Completely screw up your sales forecasting?   Then you need........... A Customer Relationship Management system.   There are many benefit ... Read more

Get out of your comfort zone

Just when you are expecting the order the competition side swipe you by being politically aligned with the decision makers, unfortunately you were speaking to the wrong people - has this ever happened to you? Time and time again we see sales and business development people doing a great job at presenting their products, services and solutions but sadly they are doing a great job with the wrong people.  They are in their comfort zone - talking with IT and technical people, administrators, ... Read more

Business Planning - you'll never take a business plan seriously again, once you have read this!

Business Plan Speak Plain English True Meaning     Acquisition strategy The current products have no market Broadly on plan 20% below plan Complex architecture Unworkable design Core business Only activity Currently revising the budget Financial plan is in total chaos Cyclica ... Read more

Social Media – are you forgetting you still need to sell?

In my long, and some would say illustrious, sales career I have seen two paradigm shifts in the sales business.  One was the in the early 1990's - the adoption of en masse telesales in the B2B market, the second is Social Media Networking.   Telephone selling is, by and large, great.  Over the past two decades my company has developed for and with our clients many skills and techniques for B2B solution selling by telephone it can be productive, increases profits and lets you wi ... Read more

A passion for selling!

I come from the old school literally; my post high school education was a traditional 5-year apprenticeship, during which time I went to college one day and one night a week to get my electronics qualifications. At the end of this period which seemed like an eternity to a teenager I had my "tickets" but I was sick of school and sick of fixing things. Mostly, I was sick of seeing the sales guy in the sharp suit doing the talking, driving the nice car, and earning all the money whilst I drove a ... Read more

How to Start Your Dream Business Despite Previous Financial Setbacks

Photo Credit: Pexels.com   Starting a business costs money. If you've had financial problems in the past, you might decide to hold off on entrepreneurship due to monetary concerns. However, there are affordable ways you can pursue your dream, even if you don't have a perfect financial record. It requires cutting costs appropriately and knowing where to invest.  For example, sales is one area you can't skimp on. Your business success relies on it. IF As ... Read more

ARE YOUR SALES CALLS CONVERSATIONS OR INTERROGATIONS?

How many sales visits do you make where YOU do all the talking? Especially on a first appointment! Its back to basics but you may want to take a look at the importance of questioning techniques.  You need to ask open questions (how, what, why, where, when, who) and then listen. There is a time and a place for  closed questions (will you, would you, do you, did you and have you) but as they typically get "yes" or "no" answers if you are not careful and you ask closed questions t ... Read more

SELLING VALUE – PRICE VERSUS COST

WHY DO WE HAVE TO JUSTIFY THE COST In a complex solution sale, a professional services sale or for something intangible such as training and education services, a cost justification argument is quite likely to be a key element in enabling the prospect to make a decision and you to close the deal.  As working capital within most organisations becomes a scarce commodity it is highly unlikely that they will commit to any level of expenditure without first justifying the cost. If your com ... Read more

Knowing when you have won!

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