Selling Smarter and Leaner
There are reasons why people worry about selling on price.
Shame and Embarrassment – Most sales people are afraid to be labeled as the price focused sales person. Client Retention – If the investment is low… then the client will be just as willing to buy from someone else when presented with an even better deal. Margins, Quotas, Commissions – If we cut the revenue, we have to sell more to achieve our goals. These are all viable concerns, and that’s why the next paragraph is very important…
That’s a Bunch of Sales Talk
I recently had the opportunity to join Joe and Mike on the SalesRoundup Podcast. Checkout the rundown of all the things we talked about during the podcast… then press the play button at the bottom of the post to listen to the show!
Selling on Price
I often notice managers and executives frown upon sales people who sell solely on price. The sales rep gets into a situation where the prospect’s entire decision making process hinges on the cost.
Managers and trainers often look for ways to steer the sales person away from a price driven sale and try to teach a “value” based approach. So I have two questions for everyone this week…
8 Tips for Overwhelming Your Negativity
Earlier in the week I promised to share an “old school” tactic that I use to overcome negative thoughts and emotions. I’ll start by admitting there is one main thing that affects my attitude. I expect to produce massive results and make a lot of money. At points where I am not producing these giant results, I find myself fighting negative frustrations and emotions. So what is this old school technique? Once I get past the venting stage, I launch a full scale attack and overwhelm “the enemy” with…
Overcoming a Negative Attitude
I’ve been thinking a lot about how the economy… summer time… and various other challenges have been affecting sales people and their attitude lately. It seems like decision makers are either already on vacation, or they are overwhelmed with completing projects just before going on vacation. Then there are those who are just plain dragging their feet or waiting until year end to make a decision. It can be pretty frustrating to think you have a lot in the pipeline and then have very few deals closing… and in my experience, the minute results begin to suffer, attitudes follow suit.
10 Leadership Principles for New Managers
1. Power – It isn’t about who has the most authority. It is about who has the most influence. Develop unity among the most persuasive members of your team.
2. Character – Integrity is the strongest foundation when building long-term success.
3. Opportunity – It’s easy for people quit if they can’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. The leader must…
It’s Nothing Personal, It’s Just Business
If you walk into a room of hard core sales hunters and say, “It’s all about relationships,” your audience would likely cringe. Not necessarily because they don’t like the idea, but because they can’t relate to the concept. On the other hand, if you were to make the same statement in a room filled with account managers and business owners, you’d likely get a lot of head nodding and agreement. I believe that “generally speaking” the relationship begins after the sale, not before.
Building Relationships: What Does That Mean?
People often say, “It’s all about building relationships.” The concept is one of those things you often hear about, but rarely get an explanation of what it means. I think a lot of people… whether they know it or not… are confused by the whole thing. Who really knows what it means? If you ask 10 people, would they all provide similar answers? What if you asked people of varying degrees of performance… How would their answers compare? While we are at it, does job function play into this?
Killer Sales Questions
Some sales people believe that it is their gift of gab that makes them successful. Sure, the ability to pitch a prospect is effective when closing quick, transactional, non-complex deals, but as the as the level of complexity rises, it requires the sales person to take a more sophisticated approach.
The top sales people ask great questions!
6 Ways to Improve LinkedIn Groups
Who is LinkedIn listening to for new ideas? I am still scratching my head over the decision to add subgroups. Maybe I’m seeing it wrong, but it appears to me that subgroups are nothing more than another group within the group.
I think there are so many other group management tools that need to be added before a subgroup option becomes valuable. Here is my list of 6 ways to improve LinkedIn groups!
