In the thick of it Sometimes when we are in the heat of the battle we don’t always take time to stand back and review what the current position is. Where are we against our strategy? What tactics are going to move us forward? Etc, etc. This situation can be caused by our competitors moving into a leading position and…
Timeframe When selling complex technology solutions it is never done in a short timeframe. Quite often once you have done your demonstration there will be a lengthy period before any decision is made. During this time many things can happen including your competitors doing demonstrations, business issues and a plethora of other items. All these things will conspire against you…
I have found over the years that it is very easy for sales people to focus too much on themselves, their company and their products. They are all great, apparently!!Successful sales people although realising that a good company, good products and even being a great sales person are important these elements are only part of the success that they enjoy.What’s…
Over recent years the move to inbound marketing as the default standard for lead generation has led many to believe that there is no longer any need for traditional outbound marketing activities. The Sales 2.0 movement believes that social media, blogs etc are the only real ways to generate the leads that are required to meet sales budgets. This may…
Motivation, what is motivation! A little research will show you that the dictionary definition of motivation is “the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behaviour”. Motivation is the fuel to our desires not the route or destination. Most people confuse motivation and…
The telephone is a fantastic invention, be it traditional land line or a modern mobile, the phone allows us to communicate immediately with anyone at anytime when we want to. Brilliant, or is it! From a sales perspective the phone should make life much simpler and more efficient, but for many it does not. Making that call be it prospecting,…
Finding Problems You may find that it is quite easy in discovery meetings to uncover plenty of issues that you can provide solutions for. You can get the prospect excited quite easily. In fact when you demonstrate your solution the customer is still keen as you have shown the solution to their problems. You are being Superficial Then it stops. …
Here is something to think about. It is something I have observed many times over the years. Sales guys go into a meeting seem to get the right answers to the questions that they ask and leave believing an order is imminiment. They don’t get the order. It’s staggering and surprising to the salesperson how often this happens. It looks…
Is the ability to be a good sales closer a learned skill or a trait you are born with? This is a question a lot of us in the sales profession have pondered over. The answer is - a bit of both. We all know sales guys and girls who have the ‘gift’ they rock up to every sales opportunity…
Selling is easy (apparently) the hard bit is closing. There is all sorts of garbage out there on how to sell and close business. Although a lot of it sounds great and should work it is often just theoretical or even worse out of date. There is a great deal written on the art of selling and closing. This quite…