SalesHQ

How often have you heard the hype that if you just buy this list of prospects your problems will be solved, or if you’ll just get this book, pay $899 for this sales ‘secret,’ or use this sales system you’ll only have to work three days a week? How many websites have you gone to that have a never ending sales ...

  As a sales trainer/consultant I  believe in paying a sales rep straight commision. Why? because most salespeople (approx. 80%) should not be in sales. And thats a whole new topic. I believe you should get paid for the results you achieve. Most, not all of sales reps want the salary for when they don't sell. Well should the kid at ...

Becoming a referral-based salesperson has tremendous benefits: • You spend far less time prospecting • Your sales increase • You spend less on mass marketing activities • Your income increases substantially. But referral selling isn’t about you. To become a truly successful and profitable referral-based salesperson, your focus must be on your client and their needs. Your client, no matter how ...

You don't have to be a showman, but to be memorable, you HAVE to be entertaining. This doesn't mean telling jokes or stories unrelated to the selling process. It means you HAVE to be interesting. The best way to be entertaining is to ask interesting questions and let the prospect or customer entertain themselves. NEVER tell a joke. There is too ...

Small-business owner Julie Ruvolo is certainly tech savvy. She worked in ad sales and strategy for digital media companies AdBrite and DivX, and as a freelance writer for interactive media publisher iMedia Communications. In 2008, she co-founded Solvate, which helps folks find "virtual assistants" online that help with administrative tasks such as bookkeeping and travel planning. Ruvolo uses many gadgets to ...

Putting PowerPoint (or any of its presentation cousins) into the hands of some sales reps is like putting matches into the hands of some children. The results often lead to disaster. As members of the Information Age, we may have come a long way in our presentation technology, but one could argue that some reps are no better at creating visual ...

Statistics show that more than 75% of sales calls end without the sales person asking for commitment. Believe it or not most customers buy rather than sales people asking for the order. The purchasing discussion usually goes something like this: "Send me a proposal." Then there's some follow-up and the customer agrees or not. The sales person never really knows why. ...

We are living in a time when honest discussion is often drowned out by the noise of partisan cheerleading. More and more, cable TV shows, blogs, radio stations, Web sites and magazines exist to openly advocate a political agenda, ideology, candidate or product. Journalistic institutions are in decline, and many professional reporters are looking for new careers. As an old reporter ...

    A customer who is already giving you a substantial amount of business will often listen to you more readily than competitors if you want to sell them more. Point out to them how giving you more business rather than your competitors will increase their profitability and help enhance their ordering procedure, and your on your way. Make it ...

The ‘relationship building’ aspect of networking is a long-term commitment to knowing more about yourself and others and what you may be able to do together that you couldn’t do (or couldn’t do as well) alone. The reality is that anyone can systematically adopt effective networking as an individual strategy. It can play a key part in linking you with a ...

The explosion of online social media can feel daunting. Not only do you have to figure out how to use Twitter, you have to figure out how to use it effectively. Is Facebook a prospecting gold mine or a monumental waste of time. With new web technologies cropping up almost every day, it is even harder to figure out which ones ...

Wouldn’t you like to make cold calling pleasant for both you and the other person? The best way to achieve this is to completely eliminate sales pressure. Whenever potential clients feel sales pressure, they almost always respond with defense and resistance. Hidden sales pressure takes many forms. If we can avoid the ways we bring sales pressure into our cold calling, ...

Introductions The proper way to make an introduction is to introduce a lower-ranking person to a higher-ranking person. For example, if your CEO is Mrs. Jones and you are introducing administrative assistant Jane Smith to her, the correct introduction would be "Mrs. Jones, I'd like you to meet Jane Smith." If you forget a person's name while making an introduction, don't ...

Do you fear the phone? Whenever I ask this of sales people, I can almost hear the internal command that says "Ego Engaged!". Responses range from dirty looks that resemble someone smelling something stinky, to testosterone induced "Hell No's!!!". On the surface, you'd think there were just scattered incidents of this fear of the phone and yet according to Behavioral Sciences ...

I’m tired of reading and hearing about how to get past the gatekeeper. Emails, articles, news flashes, blasts, webinars, podcasts—they make my blood boil. These “gatekeeper” tactics are insincere, duplicitous, unprofessional, offensive, and a waste of sales time. A waste of your time. And, really, who has time to waste? The gatekeepers—receptionists, administrative assistants, and executive admins—field calls for the decision-maker. ...

You know that I am passionate about good customer relations, any of my clients will confirm that fact, and I fervently believe that the focus of all modern management thinking and strategic business practice has to be the customer. Common sense suggests that keep your customers happy and your sales will continue to soar - neglect them or take them for ...

1. Change Your Question Once you've targeted an account to go after, instead of focusing first on "How can I sell this to them?" ask yourself, "How can I improve their business?" When this question is at the forefront of your thinking, you start behaving different. You can't make calls until you've researched their firm, know their company's objectives and understand ...

What's the difference between the rising star whose career is picking up speed and his counterpart who can't seem to get the engine to turn over? Often, the star has mastered the nuances of business etiquette - the subtle but critical behaviors that can make or break an important meeting, influence a first impression or impress a potential client. According to ...

You’ve put in hours researching this account’s unique challenges, crafted a solution that perfectly addresses those needs, honed your approach and delivered a top-notch presentation. Now, finally, the decision is in — and you lost the sale. Before you tear out your hair, rend your garments and hurl your laptop out the window, remember that all is not necessarily lost. Professional ...

Early in my sales training career, I used to do about an hour on how to work with gatekeepers. Today, you no longer talk to live gatekeepers. Instead, you go straight into the prospect's voicemail system. Polite, patient executives who would never think of hanging up on you feel nothing when they delete your voicemail after one sentence. The typical businessperson ...