Just because you received the news that you didn’t get the sale doesn’t mean there still isn’t an opportunity for you. By taking the right actions, you could change your prospect's mind this time or set yourself up to win the next time. Here’s how to do it:...
Best Practices
Prospects are People, Too!
What's another word for a decision maker in a sales situation? It is a prospect, a lead or a potential client, etc. These are all names we use to describe those we want to buy from us. However, something is missing from these words. It’s the human element. We need to...
Is it a blow-off when your Prospect says, “Send Information?”
Many Business Owners and Salespeople express frustration, when they reach prospects on the phone only to find the conversation cut short by the decision maker’s request, “send me some information.” I’ve heard stories of sellers who hang up and never send the...
Spotting Sales Imposters
Simply put, 100 percent of the top performers prepare, while imposters are content to improvise. This is not just true in business; you see it in everything from sports to politics and the performing arts. Olympic gymnasts train thousands of hours for four minutes of...
What else? Who else? What’s bigger than that?
Maximizing relationships means you find ways to get new dollars from existing clients. Generally speaking, you want to work to increase your share of sale with your clients that may need more from you. You want to purposefully work toward getting a bigger “piece of...
The New Paradigm of Selling
We can’t control the economic climate we work in, but we can face it and make the most of it. Ten years ago, you could offer to save a company 10 percent on a product or service, and that might have been enough to close the sale. Now, that kind of savings is not worth...
Protecting One of Your Most Valuable, Yet Overlooked Assets: Your Sales Pipeline
One of the most important decisions a business owner can make is how to protect one of the company’s most valuable assets…the sales pipeline. The relationships that you and your team have built with customers and prospects will lead to future income. Some prospects...
When Your Prospect Chose Someone Else
I was recently training a client’s sales team. One seller asked me for ideas on keeping in touch with a prospect AFTER he was told “no”. He had competed for an RFP and was not awarded the business despite developing a great relationship with the prospect. I suggested...
What’s Better…Transactional or Consultative Selling?
What’s better, consultative or transactional selling? It depends on the situation and the company’s goals. The problem comes when you need one approach and miss sales because you have the other. As an example, a seller can sell one item to one decision maker OR sell...
It’s NOT over! There’s still time to ignite business this year!
Executive decision makers have until year end to make things happen before their reviews. Not only do they need to complete initiatives on their list to get their bonuses and great scores, but also, those looking for promotions must showcase themselves to management....
A Surprisingly Great Time to Connect Directly With Senior Corporate Execs
Who likes to work on the weekends? No one does. Who does work on the weekends? Senior level corporate decision makers do. More and more we’re finding the high level execs plugged in on weekends. It’s not just the teenagers who are glued to their devices. I was...
Tips for Fitting New Business Development into Your Busy Schedule
Finding time for new business development can be difficult. There’s always something else that seems to be more important. I’ve found that people who don’t carve out time for this find themselves with an empty pipeline down the road. Here are 10 tips for fitting new...