Why is it that a steak in a 5-star restaurant costs more than a steak in a 3-star restaurant, even though the steak may be of similar quality? It’s about what goes on around the steak. It’s about things like the ambience, decor and service. In essence it’s about the difference in the experience. And [...]
Why then do so many salespeople sound like lecturers rather than conversationalists? Ignorance perhaps. They don’t know that the best communication is two-way. Or perhaps they think that conversational means unstructured and/or aimless. Good selling is about creating a structured business conversation. Structured in the sense that there is a beginning, a middle and a [...]
This is one of the great sales truths. Any sale exists first in the unsatisfied/dissatisfied needs, wants, preferences and/or prejudices of our customer. The only way we can identify these is by asking questions and listening to the answers. If we do this we have the opportunity to really ‘get’ our customer. There are two [...]
When it comes to sales training, nobody likes Role Play (aka Drill or Rehearsal). However, it’s the most effective way for a sales-person to learn how to conduct a sales discussion with a prospective customer. It’s the way to learn. Role Play is not about turning sales-people into parrots. However, there are key steps to [...]
At one level at least, the results you achieve as a salesperson reflect your ability to manage your time effectively. Obviously, the more time you spend in front of prospective customers ‘selling’ the more you will sell. It stands to reason therefore that, as a salesperson, you should maximise the amount of time you spend [...]
As we know, weeds can easily take over a garden; weeds can also take over a customer list. What’s a weed in a customer list? It’s a little foothold developed by a competitor as a starting point in making your customer theirs. It’s the small ‘trial’ sale that they make in an attempt to convince [...]
We’ve all heard the old chestnut “Who is right? The person who says they can, or the person who says they can’t?” This serves to underline the importance of maintaining a strong mental attitude in everyday life; it is especially important for those of us who have chosen sales as our vocation.A great illustration of this point [...]
Remember to Engage The initial Engage step is critical to the success of every EASE-based sales discussion with a prospective customer. This is so whether you approached them or they approached you; whether you are meeting them at their premises or they are visiting yours. It is even important when dealing with in-coming phone enquiries. (We can [...]
In selling we have to deal with some harsh realities. One of these is that, in many organisations, there are people withimpressive-sounding titles who have very little authority. They certainly don’t have the authority to make a buyingdecision. They may be able to say ‘No’ but they can’t say ‘Yes’. In these circumstances you are [...]
There is no substitute for ‘making the calls’ Regardless of our product or service we need to be as pro-active as we can possibly be in our sales activity – we need to ‘make the calls’. Figuratively speaking, this means making other people’s phones ring – instead of waiting for ours to ring. (While considering [...]