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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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, 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...
When decision makers say, “No thank you," should you keep trying or cut your losses? My experience is that as long as the prospect is someone whom your research indicates is an “A” level prospect there is no reason to give up, unless you receive new information that...
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....
For many, fourth quarter can be a time to reflect on decisions made over the last year. What worked, what didn’t? What to continue doing to meet your goals and what to stop doing? As you may be embarking on this kind of reflection as well, I thought it would be...
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...
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...