SalesHQ

Despite your desperate hopes and prayers, business isn't just going to wander into your business. You need to get out there and hustle, and we've got the tips to help you do it. The Basics 1. Create quality marketing tools. This doesn't mean you need to allot 75 percent of your budget to printing costs, presentation slides and a Web site. ...

When is the best time to reach new prospects? When they are sitting at their desk, blank cheque in hand waiting for your call of course! All kidding aside, industry trends change and sometimes its difficult to know how and when to keep up. A recent study conducted by MIT and Inside Sales uncovers some of the surprising stats about when ...

Like Angela Lansbury in “Murder, She Wrote,” I run into cases of murder everywhere I go. Unlike Lansbury who faced cunning villains who intentionally murdered, the cases I come across are unintentional, but with the same deadly results. Lansbury’s villains used guns, knives, and other assorted weapons; the killers I come across use words. She dealt with homicide; I deal with ...

I have seen many articles, blogs, and books professing to help sales people never cold call again. I like the idea myself. In fact, I wish people would give me business without ever writing a proposal or having another meeting again. Unfortunately as the old cliché goes: “Sales is a contact sport.” Networking, publicity, great websites etc. are all great tools ...

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 ...

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 ...

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. ...

Prospecting rejection hurts. Some targets are gentler with their rejection than others, but the message is the same – “NO”. Once rejected, you'll be annoying if you keep pushing which could burn a future opportunity. Oh, there are those that attest to their tenacity in turning rejection into a sale. Unfortunately those instances are rare - ½% - 1%. Prospecting rejection ...

A conference is a huge opportunity to build relationships with extraordinary people -- people who might have a significant impact on your professional or personal success. To make sure you maximize the return on your (or your organization's) investment of time and money to attend, you can't afford to be a conference commoner. You have to be a conference commando. Here ...

It's a common misconception that prospecting for new customers means contacting as many people as possible. The reality is that more calls do not necessarily generate more sales. Sales reps rarely get lists of potential customers that have been boiled down to real prospects. Tom Roth, coauthor of the classic management book, Creating the High Performance Team, explains in Selling Power ...

Nineteenth-century Danish physicist Hans Christian Oersted gave the world a legacy of discoveries, including one that all of us in sales today can appreciate. Hear me out here, I promise this will be worth it! Oersted discovered electromagnetism, which we can all credit as the basis for many of the comforts of modern life. However, there’s another angle to Oersted’s story ...

Contrary to popular belief “FEAR” doesn’t mean “Forget Everything … And Run”! But, what are you supposed to do when negative thoughts creep in, force you to live in stress, and cancel out peace of mind? If you’re like most sales pros you’ll be tickled pink to know that fear can indeed be conquered. You can greet every single day with ...

We've found the perfect marketing solution for you. First, close your eyes. Now hug your computer monitor. Using top-secret technology, we'll instantly transmit lists of bottomless-pocketed customers to your brain and your home-based business. Well, OK, maybe not. But it's not because we don't have the technology (only one more logarithm to go, we swear)-really, we want to help you help ...

If you are currently in a situation with a weak pipeline and few, if any, resources available to generate leads for you, you may have to do what so many salespeople avoid, and that is to prospect! I'm finding that more of my clients are placing some or all the responsibility of prospecting on their salespeople. Although some salespeople say it's ...

Companies that sell lists of sales leads promise that if you use their list, you’ll gain instant access to the right person in your target company. These companies imply that with their list, you’ll learn more about your prospects before you pick up the phone. But, in fact, lists are not leads. Lists are lists. They may be a way for ...

Part I, Active Networking For salespeople to be effective lead generators, they must have both active and passive marketing programs. Now (1) their marketing program must be their own -- not the company’s (although the two can be in sync with each other), and (2) they will do both, halfheartedly or not at all unless you the sales manager shows them ...

Emerging salespeople typically believe that all business is good business and to an extent, I can understand this viewpoint. If you are trying to make a name for yourself, being put under pressure by your sales manager to get “runs on the board” and earn the respect of the more experienced and successful members of the team, it is difficult to ...

Every sales leader needs to consider their market value. Not only should sales leaders regularly evaluate and determine areas for growth for their staff, but also for themselves. When I talk about market value, I am referring to the two critical areas that will help you increase your value to your organization and as well as up your personal value. Your ...

“The only way to have a friend is to be one.” Ralph Waldo Emerson It seems everyone is trying to get more business today—now more than ever. Yes, we in small businesses are constantly working the phones, pounding the streets and doing what we can to generate new business regularly. Today it is heightened because of the state of the economy. ...

No one could hit a baseball the way hall-of-famer Ted Williams could. He knew there was a lot more to becoming a home-run champ than just swinging hard at every pitch. “To be a good hitter,” Williams once said, “you've got to get a good ball to hit.” Here’s a lesson in there for all of us as sales professionals to ...