- 25 Sales Fundamentals For Success
Want to know the 25 basic keys to sales success? - 52 Weeks To Sales Success
The following 52 behaviors when mastered as a part of your personal and career development will guarantee increased sales. Each of the 52 topics are critical to your continued sales success. - Are Salespeople Becoming Obsolete?
Will the continuous advances in technology replace the profession of selling in the foreseeable future??I am not a fortune teller or a mystic, but I do believe that we will see dramatic changes in the roles salespeople play in their organizations and the economy in general. During the next several years and stretching into the next few decades there will be dramatic and all encompassing change in every industry, field and profession. No one will go untouched by the swath that will cut across every age group and discipline. - Are You A Self Promoter?
I am telling you, education is important. Talent is important. Effort is important. Timing is important. The right contacts are important. But even if you have all of these, you can still never achieve greatness or sustained success without the willingness and ability to be a relentless self-promoter. - Are You A Victim Of Sales Cycles
Many products and services have different sales cycles – from the first prospect meeting to the close of the sale. Some cycles can be several months to a few years. Some can be just a few days. - Are You An Order Taker Or A Sales Pro
What is the difference between a clerk (order taker) in sales and a professional salesperson? A definition I have used can be summarized as follows: - Are You Changing With The Times Or Are You Going To Be Left behind?
The profession of selling is changing and has been for a number of years. This change is being driven by - Are You Creating A Favorable First Impression?
There is an old saying – "you never get a second chance to make a first impression". I don't really know whether it is true or not. Many old cliches have a way of hanging around for years and people seldom question them. Point is, first impressions do matter especially in business. - Are You Guilty of These Common Sales Mistakes?
Every day thousands of salespeople annoy their customers and prospects with a variety of actions, behaviors and decisions. Are you guilty of any of the following? If you are you might want to re-evaluate your selling behavior. Why lose sales or customers needlessly when all that might be necessary are just a few minor changes in your selling style or communication methods. - Are You Looking In The Right Direction?
Are you looking in the right direction for the answers to your life's questions? Often we are tempted to look outside ourselves to our: spouse, company, church, friends, gurus and wizards for the answers to the burning questions about our life: - Are You Losing Control Of The Sales Process?
One of the common sales traps that many salespeople fall into is the loss of control of the sales process. Here are a few common examples. - Are You On The Right Path Into Your Future?
What can we do to ensure we are on the right path, we stay true to it regardless of the pressures form others or our environment and find satisfaction in the journey along the way? - Are You Practicing On Your Best Prospects
How much time do you spend practicing and developing your skills? Do you practice a new technique on a prospect or on a fellow salesperson or your supervisor first? Do you not practice at all, but just show up? - Are You Spending Too Much Time Getting Ready To Sell?
Selling today is easier in many ways, but it is also more difficult in other ways.It is easier because of the internet, globalization, improved customer education and sophistication, better quality products and services, improved organizational management and increased selling skills training. - Are You Using Technology As A Crutch
Many salespeople are relying too heavily on technology today as a sales tool to - Avoiding The Year End Sales Push Is The Best Sales Strategy
Every year thousands of salespeople spend the end of the year in a frantic push to reach their quota and or satisfy the demands of management to hit a specific number. I am not suggesting that this is necessarily a bad approach to increasing sales, but there may be a less stressful and more successful way to approach this challenge that I would recommend you consider in future years, if it is too late for this year. - Can You Compartmentalize Your Life And Career
An ongoing challenge for many salespeople is the ability to ‘compartmentalize’ areas of their life. Let me explain. - Customers Are Your Best Prospects
Many salespeople treat customers or clients as one-time sales opportunities. When they have this limited view, they fail to achieve additional sales opportunities with these customers. Not only is a client a client, but also they are always a prospect for something more. - Do You Have A Lost Sales Strategy Or Do You Just Let Them Go Without A Fight?
Lost business does not necessarily mean lost forever. Many salespeople unfortunately neglect this lucrative source of new business. I say new because, if you learn to treat these past customers as brand new prospects, you may just regain their business. There are a number of reasons why customers leave you. Some of them are: - Do You Have A Sales Advisory Board?
Becoming successful in sales and staying motivated without the help of others in some type of support system - formal or informal - can be a difficult assignment for anyone - Do You Have Any Elevator Questions?
If a prospect gave you one minute to sell them what would you do with your minute? - Do You Know What The Number One Cause Of Failure Is In Sales
What is the number one cause of failure in sales? The inability to overcome- - Do Your Clients See You As A Valuable Resource?
In a highly competitive international business climate, it is essential that salespeople become even more creative in finding ways to service their clients to improve customer loyalty and repeat business. One principle to keep in mind is that it is easier, less stressful, less time consuming and less expensive to do more business with a present client than it is to keep looking for new clients. - Don't Become A Victim Of Voice Mail
Voice mail is the scourge of the American salesperson unless you have a voice mail strategy. - Don't Get Talked Into An Economic Decline
The media is doing their best to talk us into another recession. If they have their way we will find ourselves in a full-blown economic decline. I don’t know about you, but I refuse to let the people who report the news determine my destiny. - Don't Just Close Sales - Close Relationships
Poor salespeople focus on just closing the sale. Successful salespeople focus on closing the sale and the relationship. Which is your approach? - Don't Lose Control Of Your Sales Cycles
I will bet you have a prospect right now as you are reading this where you have lost control. You are waiting for them to respond to your offer, appeal or whatever. I know because I teach this stuff and I am guilty from time to time of making the same mistake. How do you get and keep control? It is simple but not easy. - Don't Overcome Objections - Sell Value
Most prospects or customers want their problems solved. They know that you get what you pay for and that the distaste of poor quality lasts far longer than the sweetness of low price but- - Effective Sales Letters Can Make The Difference
One of the weakest areas of poor salespeople is the ability to communicate on paper - whether it is a letter accompanying a proposal, a follow-up letter after a sales visit, or a letter or memo to a prospect on a new product, service or policy. - Elevator Questions Are The Key To Your Sales Success
If you were able to get an appointment with the president of an organization that was a potential customer who could give you more business in one sale than all of your other customers combined and when you sat down in front of their desk they said to you, "OK salesperson, you have 3 minutes, why should I do business with you and your organization?" What would you do or say? - Ever Been To A Pow Wow?
Selling today has, in many cases, become like a giant shell game, or what I refer to as the Big Pow Wow. For those of you who haven't got a clue as to what I am talking about, let me explain. - Ever Lost A Sale?
Ever lost a sale? I mean a sale that you were really counting on? I mean a really big sale, one that could make your entire year? If you haven’t, then you might find it difficult to relate to the pain that other people who have had just an experience feel. Then again, you might have been discouraged for other reasons and know the tremendous doubt, feat, uncertainty and often hopelessness from another life experience. - Getting Below The Truth Line
Let’s suppose your prospect says, “The price is too high.” Is that really what she or he means, thinks or feels? How about, “I need to think this decision over?” Are they really saying they need to think it over, or is there something more going on beneath the surface? How about, “I want to talk with some additional suppliers before I make my decision?” - Good Negotiation Skills Don't Make Up For Poor Selling Skills
Effective negotiating is not a substitute for selling skills. Many salespeople believe that they need to be better negotiators, when what they really need is improved selling skills. - Have You Ever Computed The Cost Of Your Lost Sales?
There are only three ways to sell more. Do more right. Do less wrong. Do both. Doing none of the three will guarantee that the value of your lost sales each year far exceeds the total of your closed sales. - How Can You Improve Your AIM?
O.K. it's almost 2007 and it's time to make sure you are heading in the right direction. No time like the beginning of a new year to re-evaluate your goals, purpose, strategies, behaviors and ultimately your aim in life. - How Do You Determine Your Value?
Many salespeople and organization's business relationships are in jeopardy because they fail to give their clients and customers what they really want. These people give them what they have in inventory, can produce without too much effort or expense, can deliver, need to get rid of, are comfortable with etc. Problem is, what you want me to need and what I want may be two different things. - How Many Times Have You Heard . . .
In 2006 I heard 58 times from prospects – "It's not in the budget, that's more than we had planned to spend, maybe next year we'll have more available cash, we need to do it but can't afford it at this time but keep in touch, get back to us next year - whatever," or something similar. Ever heard any of these? Well, if you have been selling for more than twenty minutes I'll guarantee you have heard something similar until you are blue in the face. - If You Are Not Selling To Decision Makers You Are Losing Valuable Time.
One of the biggest time wasters in sales is when salespeople fail to get to the real decision makers and present their products and/or services to people who cannot say "yes" or can only say "no." Since many organizations are undergoing sweeping changes in management and in the way they purchase from vendors, it is increasingly difficult to identify who is really in charge. - If You Don't Know Where You Have Been, It Will Be Hard To Get Where You Want
Have you ever experienced a sales slump? Or just not achieved the results that you thought you should have? If you have been selling for at least 4-5 years, I guarantee you have had some tough months, or even a difficult sales year. - If You Want To Sell More, Go The Extra Mile
Scripture teaches us that when we are asked to go one mile, go another one.Every self-help author I have ever known or read has in some way espoused this critical philosophy.Let me take an excerpt from one of the books by one of my mentors, the late Og Mandino. (A Better Way to Live.) - Improve Your Selling Time
Each of us gets 24 hours to do with what we will. Some people wish they had more, while others wish time would pass a lot quicker. Some salespeople act like they have an unlimited time bank available to them, and that their prospects or clients will see them whenever the salesperson would like. Other more successful sales pros understand the importance of using every available selling minute to its best advantage. - Is After Sales Service A Myth Or Reality In Most Organizations?
Effective after sales service is not a slogan, advertising program, button that everyone wears or a banner touting a, "We Care attitude". It is a consciousness or attitude that penetrates every nook and cranny of the organization. - Is Following Up A Waste Of Time?
Follow-up in today’s world can be a waste of time and energy or it can guarantee a closed sale. Sound like a paradox? Read on. - Journal Your Way To Success
It's never too late to start a business, career, life or relationship journal. You would be amazed at the results it can help you achieve. - Losing Control Of The Sales Process is The Kiss Of Failure
Control is one of the key elements for success in sales. Successful salespeople understand that control is not manipulation, but is in the ultimate best interests of the prospect or client. - Re-activating Past Clients
Lost business does not necessarily mean lost forever. Many salespeople neglect this lucrative source of new business. I say new because, if you treat these past customers as new prospects, you may just regain the business. - Sales Goals Are Not Etched In Stone
For years - thousands of managers, hundreds of speakers and trainers and dozens of authors have been preaching the benefits and value of: Self-motivation and goals as a way to achieve success, wealth and happiness. - Sales Objections are A Good Thing - Don't Hide From Them
How many prospects do you have in your funnel now who are stalling? How many excuses for not buying have you accepted during the past thirty days? How often do you think your prospects lie to you about why they are not really buying? - School Is Never Out For The Pro
Over forty years ago, I made what I feel is one of the significant decisions of my life. I decided that for the rest of my life I would invest 10% of my time and income in my personal growth. - Spending Too Much Wasted Time In Your Car?
The average salesperson spends over 30,000 hours in their career in their car. Most of these salespeople are spending this time listening to music on the radio. Can you possibly imagine what 30,000 hours re-directed to another activity than listening to music could have on your career success and income? Think for a minute; - Success Is Between The Pages
During the past 100 years there have been more than ten million books published on some aspect of success, wealth, and happiness. How many have you read? - The Basics Are All You Need To Succeed In Sales
Want to succeed in selling? Master the following 25 concepts. - The Books You Don't Read Can't Help You Sell More
The teenager who goes into the classroom unprepared will fail. Salespeople who go into the marketplace unprepared will also fail. The only difference is that in the classroom you get to repeat the class. In life, the circumstances may be a little more dramatic. - The Customer Is Always Right - Phooey
For years I have heard the comment that the customer is always right. Baloney! There have been many times that I as a customer have operated under false assumptions, bad advice, unrealistic expectations, rumors and hearsay. Ill bet if you think about it, that you too have not always been right as a customer. - The Myth Of Closing Sales
"You will never turn a poor prospect into a customer with a good product, slick presentation or tricky close. However, a well qualified prospect will make up for your incompetence and or inexperience." - The Natural Born Salesperson Is A Myth
There is no such thing as the natural born salesperson, any more than there is a natural born pilot, athlete or physician. There has been a myth circling for years that people who are successful at selling have some natural skills, attitudes or personalities. - The Price, Cost Value Relationship
People don't want cheap. They want value. People don't really want things that rust, break, are inconvenient or difficult to understand. They want life to be easier, less complicated, less stressful, happier and more fun. Show them how your product or service can do all of these, and I guarantee price will never be an issue. - Time Is More Than Money!
Time is more than money. Time, when used effectively, will guarantee that you will always have time for what is really important in your life. There are two critical areas to ensure that you turn your time into money and more available time for other important life areas. - Warning - Pay Attention To Early Signals
I'll bet every one of you has at least one customer you wish you didn't have. Right? If so, when did this customer tell you he was going to be like the way he is? Yep, you guessed it - early in the game. - What If
What if this year- - What Is Your Real Intent?
Intent is important but your success comes from your action - what you do. I believe it is important to have positive (good) intentions but show me what a person does and I will show you what their REAL intent was. - What's In Your Success Toolbox?
There are many traits and attitudes required for enduring and satisfying sales success. Ultimately your personal definition of success will become the primary factor determining whether you have achieved success or not.There are five factors to consider when defining your success. - When You Lose Your Walk-Away Power - You Lose Your Objectivity
All prospects are not created equally. Some are worth the continued investment of your time, resources and energy, while others will only sap your motivation, as well give you ample frustration and send you to an early grave. (Sales grave, that is.) Why do salespeople give these poor prospects more time than they deserve? Here are a few reasons for you to consider - Who Are Your Role Models?
Who are your role models? Your heroes? And do you even have any? I believe one of the problems we have in society today is that we lack positive role models who influence us in a healthy way. Just look at many of the successful people today in: sports, entertainment, politics, business and religion. You don't have to look very far to find numerous examples of - negative role models. So why bother having a hero or role model? Role models can help us a great deal as we move through our careers, relationships and lives. They can: - Why People Don't Buy
People buy for their individual and personal reasons, not for the reasons the salesperson's (or the organization's) marketing department think they should. You cannot turn a poor prospect into a customer with a great product or persuasive sales appeal. The key to increasing sales is to identify why people buy and what will cause them not to buy. - Why Prospects Challenge Price
For over thirty years, I have surveyed my sales audiences and asked them what they think is most important to consumers, and the results have been consistent: low price first, quality and service last. We seem to have a difference in perception here! - Your Competitors Are Not Always Who They Seem
Salespeople tend to think of their competition only as organizations that sell the same products or services as they do. I suggest you to see this issue from another perspective.
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