4 Tips to be Successful in Sales

January 23rd, 2012

I was asked recently by a prospect “How do I become successful in sales?”And believe it or not I get asked this question a lot. Many times I’ll ask them what they think they should do to be successful and many times I get a very long and complex answer to this question. To be successful in sales it boils down to focusing on these four things: Read More

Top 3 Reasons Why Salespeople get “Sent Down”

January 9th, 2012

When it comes to “calling at the top” there are countless numbers of books available for sales professionals who are looking for ways to accomplish this.  Any sales rep can find techniques on how to get past gatekeepers or executive assistants, how to deliver ‘value propositions’ that may or may not work and find statistics on how many touches it takes to reach Mr/Mrs C level.
When you look at this critical topic, it boils down to 3 main reasons on why salespeople struggle talking to the top. Read More

Auction Selling

November 28th, 2011

I have become addicted to a show on Discovery called ‘Auction Kings.’  This is a show where people bring items in for consignment and they (the company is called Gallery 63) auctions them off.  It is amazing to see some of the historic items and very unique items that are brought in and actually sell at a higher price than expected.  I don’t watch much TV but the episodes I have caught of this show have intrigued me. Read More

Adversity was no Obstacle for this Creative Hippie

November 21st, 2011

It’s easy to forget the time before we had iPads, iPhones and iPods. Or a time when corporate America considered Steve Jobs a long-haired hippie who talked nonsense about personal computing. Or when Jobs was a failure. Read More

The Power of Our Beliefs

November 7th, 2011

I contend that if you hold a belief, you will act on it nearly every time.

In the next two weeks, my family will begin our annual tradition of “The Elf on the Shelf.”  Our Elf, named “Ellie,” is a small Elf that hides each night behind objects, on top of cabinets, hanging from light fixtures, and in other places where she can watch what goes on in the house.  Each night she returns to the North Pole, reports the good and bad behavior to Santa, and returns to a new spot in the house. Read More

How to Get Bitten by Asking the Wrong Questions

October 31st, 2011

Many situations in our lives revolve around asking and answering questions. For example, for a doctor to diagnose your illness, he or she needs to ask lots of questions. When you order food at a restaurant, the server asks you questions, because he or she wants to make sure that your food order is correct. Your three-year old learns by asking all kinds of “why” questions. Peter Drucker, one of the best known and most widely influential late 20^th century thinkers and writers on the subject of management theory and practice, helped change the direction of General Electric by asking Chairman and CEO Jack Welch only two critical questions. Read More

6 Ways to Improve Sales Manager Performance

October 24th, 2011

Part of your responsibility as sales manager is to help your sales team increase their capacity to perform and improve the outcomes of their performance. In other words, help them become better salespeople. To that end, you conduct regular sales meetings to hold them accountable, you provide coaching to keep them on track, and your provide training when needed. Read More

Defining a Good Fit in Sales

October 17th, 2011

In today’s business environment, selling is more complex and prospects more sophisticated. Continually pushing for the “yes” – ignoring the possibility that your product or service may not be the best fit – and refusing to take a “no,” will lead you down a path to a dead end. The result will be wasted time, effort, and resources that could have been invested in other opportunities. Read More

Qualifying Prospects in Sales

October 10th, 2011

As Halloween approaches my kids are starting to “size up” the neighborhood again.  Anytime we walk or ride bikes around the neighborhood they like to keep mental note of who has the most decorations since these tend to be the families who pass out the most candy.  When the big night approaches this year and Spiderman and Tinker-bell hit the streets it will be a 2-way qualification game.  They will be qualifying the houses to find out who will pass out the most candy and our neighbors will qualify (or judge) them on their costumes.  History tells us the better the costume the more candy we get! Read More

Pests R Us

October 3rd, 2011

Interesting title? Confused a bit? Probably… but it got you to read further. Well guess what it also got me through a gatekeeper to talk to someone I had been chasing for weeks. So the story goes like this. One afternoon as I sat down to make my calls I made the choice to have the mindset of no excuses, to be emotionally detached from all outcomes and decided to just have fun with my calls. What is the worst that could happen right? Read More