SalesHQ

I received a call from an ex-student this week who is designing an induction program for new recruits about to embark upon a career in sales. He asked that if I had to create the "12 golden principles of selling," what would I come up with? Clearly, this is not only a very subjective view, but also I found it terribly ...

The responsibility for ensuring that every member of the sales team is successful and performing at optimum levels lies entirely with management and below are the eight reasons why sales people fail. In fact, I usually ask just three very straightforward questions, in order to identify why a salesperson is underachieving i.e., • Are they visiting/talking to enough clients/prospects? In other ...

"I always hear people talking about how e-mail is today's 'killer app,'" my coaching client Janice told me when we were discussing ways of making contact with prospects. "But I'm afraid that people will think I'm spamming them if I try to e-mail them when we haven't met yet. I know I hate spam with a vengeance!" "You're not the only ...

An objection can be looked upon as sales resistance, and without it you cannot expect to make a sale just as in electricity, you cannot expect to have current flowing from one end of a conducter to the other without resistance. Making a sale is like driving a car from A to B, where you accelerate and decelerate according to the ...

"My salespeople need to get better at closing," the Vice President of Sales said to me shortly after I arrived in his office. If I've heard that line once, I've heard it a hundred times. Despite being on an important sales call, I couldn't help but cringe. You see, I will never, ever train people on closing techniques if they sell ...

More and more e-mails are arriving in my in-box from people who hate cold calling. Here's what they're saying: • “Cold calling terrifies me.” • “The phone feels like a 10,000-pound weight.” • “Every time I have to make a cold call, I freeze up.” • “I feel like a fraud when I’m cold calling.” • “I can’t take the rejection ...

I’m a salesman. I sell sales training, management consulting, coaching and speaking presentations. My clients are companies, individual salespeople, business owners, and business and industry associations. I prospect. I have to if I want to stay in business. I, like every other salesperson, am constantly looking for potential new business. I also market my services and myself. I have to invest ...

If you're like most sellers, silence drives you crazy. When you're talking with a prospective customer and there's a brief lull in the discussion, I bet you jump right in to fill it. Am I right? Research shows that the average salesperson, after asking a question, waits no more than 2-3 seconds before rephrasing the question, answering it themselves or moving ...

You may look good on paper or in your suit, but if you're looking to nail your big interview, looks aren't everything. How you sound is often more important. But many job seekers let careless speech habits sink their chances of landing that plum job. The Bottom Line: You don't have to study elocution to speak well. Simply slow down, take ...

Although we may want to better our lives and accelerate our productivity, many of our decisions are governed by fear. We want more, but avoid risks, so we continually produce similar results over again. We fear change, for we may lose some degree of control over the outcome. We fear expressing how we feel or what matters most to us, in ...

Detach From The Outcome If you were ever in a situation where you’ve walked away from a conversation feeling drained or exhausted, chances are there was something you were attached to in the conversation. An attachment is: • How a person relates with a behavior or another person that gives them some sense of self worth or purpose. • A way ...

[photo:42331] Stanford University School of Business conducted a study that monitored a group of MBAs 10 years after graduation. What did they learn? That their ability to converse had a huge impact on their success and grade point averages had no bearing whatsoever. These are not traditional public speaking skills, but the way you interact with people less formally. The ability ...

Sales Creed • I call my best prospects first • Each and every call I make I start with an incredible level of positive expectation and prosperity I know that right now somewhere someone's life is better and more prosperous because of my products and services. • Every day and in every way I am continually improving and growing. • The ...

Sooner or later, we all backslide into old ways of thinking about selling that lead us down the wrong path with potential clients. A few weeks ago, I had a phone conversation with Julie, who has been struggling with the old-style selling methods that her manager insists are the only way to sell their company’s technology solution. Regardless of what product ...

Admit it! There are some subjects related to your product, service or solution that you dread talking about. Perhaps your offering isn't the most "leading edge." Maybe your pricing is much higher than competitors. Or maybe you're a boutique firm without the full spectrum of services of the bigger companies. Whatever it is, you hope like crazy that your prospects won't ...

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 ...

I was recently asked, "If you were mentoring a new salesperson, what would be your top five sales tips and how did you learn those?" Good question! It really got me thinking. There are so many things I'd like to tell a new seller. But what are the most important? What things could I recommend that would have the highest impact ...

Imagine being in a crowded concert or bar. All of a sudden, a fight breaks out between two men who’ve had too much to drink. You happen to be a few steps away, and the next thing you know, one of the men turns to you and looks as if he’s going to take a swing at you. What's your first ...

The story you are about to hear is true. With the implementation of one well-crafted sales tactic, Gene surprised himself by making one phone call and getting a meeting with a senior executive. A man Gene and his team had been pursuing for more than one year! The contract ended up serving the executive so well he had no reason to ...

Are you like over 85% of all salespeople, professionals, and business owners who find acquiring high quality referrals from your customers and clients difficult and frustrating? You’ve heard the sermons about how referrals are the best marketing method there is—and then discovered that few generate enough high quality referrals to actually make referrals a significant part of their marketing plan? Like ...