How do you deal with training inside sales reps who tend to think they know everything (but don’t)? That’s the training question asked of Geoff Alexander. He explores the mysteries of salespeople and furthering business development on his blog. Alexander goes down a list “regarding today’s younger working generation,” providing possibly overlooked traits and suggestions on how to work with them—not against them. For the most part, they didn’t choose this career. It chose them. They pro forma don’t trust authority figures. They are teaching themselves to learn, making mistakes, and learning…
The assumption in sales is that its methodology should hinge on creativity. How else will your team rake in huge numbers? But according to S. Anthony Iannarino, creativity may be overrated. Iannarino posits: “While there is much creativity that you can bring to the process of prospecting, it isn’t being creative to avoid the tried and true prospecting methods that are still supremely effective. Your sales 2.0 campaign may be very creative, but not applying the old-fashioned sales 1.0 effort required to succeed in prospecting isn’t being creative; it’s being lazy by…
The value of gathering intelligence before you engage in a plan is immense.
Yet many people forego this step in order to hastily launch their plan. When it comes to managing top-tier customer accounts, this can backfire in a plethora of ways. If you’ve ever seen a colleague fall flat on their face or if you’ve done it yourself, the mistake is typically rooted in a lack of information. For this reason, it’s vital that you collect as much information as you can to provide better customer service to your largest accounts.…
You’re embroiled in a heated negotiation. All cards are on the table. But something goes wrong. Did you make a mistake? Would you know it if you did? Recognizing common mistakes is the best way to overcome them, and Jonathan Farrington has put together a comprehensive list of The 40 Most Common Mistakes Made By Negotiators. Some of the best bits: Being intimidated by rules set by the other side Believing everything the other side says about you, your service, your competition, etc. Paying too much attention to price, rather than value…
Traditionally, the sales funnel has gone through few, if any, changes. Essentially, at the top of a sales funnel is a wide inlet that allows salespeople to drop in gobs of prospects, indiscriminately. The prerequisites for these prospects are minimal, and for the most part, any prospect with a direct line of contact will do. In this model, your main motivation is to increase the quantities without considering quality. Naturally, this leads you head-first into some issues, as Seth Godin explained. Your main problem will eventually become the shrinking pool of prospects. Because you’re sapping so many prospects from a…
Inside the sales funnel, roadblocks usually come in familiar forms. One of the most common issues that arises deals with uncertain prospects. Whether through the sales process or because of their particular disposition, the prospect gets cold feet well into the process and becomes indecisive. This presents an obvious issue for anybody looking to get any sort of decision out of that prospect. This troubling conundrum is all too familiar to Bill Caskey, who gets calls asking him to resolve this sort of issue all the time. In short, he says, there is no quick, fix-all solution. It takes more…
Focus on more than price comparison to gain a competitive advantage.
If your competitor offers a lower price, it is up to you to shift your prospects attention from price to cost. The two are different and “unequal” according to a recent Sales Blog post by S. Anthony Iannarino. One key way to give clients a clearer understanding of cost benefits, is to show them the value. Iannarino writes, “If your product or service creates more than $133,400 in value by saving your client more in direct costs, by increasing their…
Success in sales boils down to the beliefs you hold.
And if you are holding onto counterproductive beliefs, they’re going to hinder you and your sales process. But the problem is that many people believe in things that don’t help their sales. What are these bad beliefs and what can be done to avoid them? Here are some ideas: If you believe that you’re losing sales to competitors because they run a bigger operation, you’re wrong. Size alone will never determine whether or not you can usurp a competitor for a sale.…
Sales meetings do not have to be dull, dreary time-wasters.
Sales meetings are the perfect opportunity to inspire your sales team for the coming week/month/quarter, according to a recent blog by Jonathan Farrington. Farrington presents ten suggestions to help you change those dull, dragging sales meetings into dynamic, inspiring events. Three of his suggestions for firing things up include: Start meetings on-time and set a zero-tolerance policy for late arrivals. Start the meeting with a tone that is relaxed, encouraging and inspiring. Do not deliver negative performance criticism during the meeting.…
If you’re susceptible to distractions, it’s vital that you ensure you’re prioritizing properly.
What’s the best way to do this? By delegating duties as needed. The first question you must ask when deciding on who should tend to a problem is, “Who’s the best person to resolve this issue?” If it’s not you, then you need to pass along the assignment accordingly. The pattern that you will see forming is that, most of the time, you will be pawning off duties on others. For those of us that are easily distracted, the opposite…
