Your prospect signed on the dotted line! All your hard work… the sales calls, the meetings, the sales presentations… it’s a done deal! No it isn’t!!! Have you ever noticed your customers who are the most enthusiastic and pleased on day one are the most likely to suddenly be dissatisfied on day two? What precipitates … Read full article
People in sales should know the importance of making a good impression: without it you can’t earn the right to do business with people. Each customer contact provides us as sales people the opportunity to make a good impression. Remember the maxim in sales and marketing: the prospect must be touched five to ten times … Read full article
The role of the Therapist in sales is to understand and resolve the buyer’s fears. Here is the Therapist’s Four Step Treatment Process to help the customer work through the fear of buying: 1. Be sensitive and observe 2. Explore concerns 3. Empathize with feelings 4. Discuss alternatives You cannot resolve a buyer’s fear until … Read full article
Spend less time trying to close the sale — and more time positioning your solution as the customer’s best choice. If you don’t know by this point in the sales process at least three reasons why your customer should buy from you — reasons that have been connected to explicit customer needs (so you know … Read full article
If you don’t know your customer’s buying criteria, or if you find yourself guessing, consider it a signal that you haven’t placed enough emphasis on uncovering customer needs. You will have added significant value to your customer’s buying process if they come away with a better understanding of their buying criteria and with a greater … Read full article
Years ago I was selling an office equipment solution to the CEO of a 100-person company. I was selling to him the way I had been taught: I established comfortable conversation while building trust, asked questions to diagnose his needs, then presented my solution as an answer to his needs. Everything, seemingly, appeared to be … Read full article
People who recently bought from you after scouting the competition are a rich source of information. It’s worth talking to them to see what they can tell you about how your product or service compares to the rest of the market. Ask them if they would explain why they chose you, what strengths they perceived. … Read full article
Negotiating power plays a major role in every type of sales negotiation, whether it’s a labor negotiation, political negotiation, or a buy-sell negotiation. Both the buyer and the seller have power in a negotiation. Power is each side’s perception of its strength or weakness in comparison to the other. This perception of power affects the … Read full article
In this time of economic struggle, creating a unified sales force with a common sales language and single sales message becomes imperative if your company is to achieve its goals. When you bring together different sales cultures and levels of sophistication within a newly-merged organization the result is often reduced sales, erosion of trust with … Read full article
Words of Wisdom from Lou Holtz You must understand they every person you will meet for the rest of your life will ask three questions. Every customer, every spouse and child is going to ask these three questions. It is absolutely imperative that you be able to answer “yes” to each of these three questions. … Read full article