Sales 101 teaches the importance of features and benefits. But before you talk about them, you need to identify the value an individual stakeholder is looking for. And they're going to be [...]
What do you believe makes a really effective salesperson? On a continuum, is it someone with deep product knowledge at one end or someone with the gift of the gab [...]
If you provide any form of consulting, one of the most neglected (and arguably easiest) ways to grow is to go back to your previous clients, telling them what else you can [...]
Ultimately sales is a people business. We want to buy from people we like and trust. So most sales training focuses on people skills. How to create rapport, make people comfortable with [...]
Many people have an issue with silence. It plays out in sales conversations where one of the biggest mistakes that I see people constantly make is they ask a question, [...]
Trust is a key ingredient in business. It takes time to build up and can be destroyed in an instant. A common scenario occurs when arranging meetings with people you know, possibly [...]
Taking a transactional approach to sales is a classic mistake which will severely impact your revenue and profitability. Ask these 4 questions to increase your deal size. Transcript: Do you [...]
What is your knowledge, expertise and experience worth to your clients? meter level expert 3d rendering The clients we work with are experts in their field and unconsciously competent. They [...]
Would you challenge a client if you firmly believed they were going down the wrong path? How about a prospect during a sales conversation where you know they’re barking up the wrong [...]
The biggest impediment to a sale is the status quo! It’s often easier to live with something than spend the emotional energy on changing. Even if it’s in your best interest to [...]
There’s an old axiom that a confused prospect never buys. Well, the same applies to us as vendors. The first sale is always to ourselves. If we’re confused as to the problems [...]
A major mistake I see in business is confusing efficiency with effectiveness and productivity. Streamlining a process without considering if it produces the results you want. Especially in sales. 20 years ago [...]
Have you ever caught up with a friend for “coffee” only to find they launch into asking you for business? You weren’t expecting this so how did you feel? Possibly somewhat misused? [...]
Want to get your message heard? To masterfully persuade? Build your business by attracting high quality clients? People buy from people they trust. When buyers trust sellers, they depend on them, listen [...]
Donkey’s years ago I heard this from a friend’s mother, “The man may think he’s the head of the household, but we’re the neck that turns him”. Never a truer word was [...]
Over 60 years ago Japanese buyers made an art form of winning negotiations. Western companies meeting with Japanese businesses would find themselves negotiating with a room full of people. Vendors interacted and [...]
One of the biggest traps in B2B sales is not taking into account the personal agendas of every stakeholder involved in the decision. We’re all driven by WIIFM what’s in [...]
Simon Sinek famously asks “What’s your big why?” So following on from that theme, what’s your big why for being in business? While there are likely to be as many reasons as [...]
Speaking about sales with lots of business owners, there’s a common theme emerging. The sales process has become more complicated. Things are taking far longer. It’s harder to get people to make [...]
In sales we all talk about “adding value” to our clients. But what constitutes value? At its core, value is in the eye of the beholder – your prospect and client. They [...]
Objection handling. It’s a major focus in any sales training. Type it into Google and you’ll get about 134 MILLION results! At their core, there are only 3 reasons people raise objections. [...]
Barbara and I have been thinking a lot about sales lately. Specifically, when the sales process actually starts. And it’s far earlier than you might think. Traditionally we think selling starts when [...]
Would you buy your own product or service at full price? Are you absolutely convinced in your heart of hearts that it delivers the value you claim? If not, why would anyone [...]
Ever had a salesperson obviously lose interest if they believe you’re not ready to buy? That’s incredibly short term thinking on their part as your prospect may never come back. [...]
There’s a common trap I see lots of technically based organisations fall into. They believe their technology is the be all and end all and the reason people Hand trying catch [...]
Every gardener knows there’s a lag between planting and harvest. Which is exactly the same in sales. Your activity today will reap clients in the future. Do nothing today and your future [...]
I’m sure you’ve heard of the “Golden Rule” Treat people the way you want to be treated. It’s a great rule for life in general, but in my opinion it’s not the [...]
I speak with a lot of business owners who tell me they have a booming business. Turnover between $1M to $5M+ per year. While this looks great on paper, when I ask [...]
Ever been in a meeting where the salesperson whipped out their laptop and insisted in going through a long presentation? Slide after slide of boring detail of how their solution worked. While [...]
If you sell highly complex, technical products or services, should you hire a salesperson with relevant technical and industry experience and train them in sales, or hire someone with sales aptitude and [...]
Sales is the lifeblood of business. Your goal as a leader is to take charge, Lead Your Business to maximise sales revenue while reducing the time it takes for prospects [...]
I speak with a lot of business owners about growth. A surprising number say, “We’re doing really well – got lots of big projects in the pipeline. Don’t need to worry about [...]
A huge risk to growth in business is the number “one”. Dependency on one major client. One key employee. One product. One major supplier. A client is facing this with a supplier. [...]
There’s a major misnomer about sales. Sales is not something you “do to someone”. Sales is about helping someone make a decision to buy from you. So here are 7 rules which [...]
What do you do when a prospect says, “I’d like you to present your solution and you have 30 minutes”? Do you immediately jump in, create a 50 slide PowerPoint presentation and [...]
There’s only one commodity you can’t get more of – time! You can always make more money – but you can never get wasted time back. So spend your time wisely. Start [...]
I love this description of sales from Col Fink. “Sales is the process of coaching someone through a buying decision.” I would add that “all sales is leadership”. Our job in sales [...]
“Could you send me some information?” How many times have you heard this from a prospect you’ve just contacted? And how do you answer this? Do you say, “Sure – where would [...]
One of the biggest impediments to sales success is buying into the “tall poppy” story. Where we either don’t believe in our own value or just underplay it thinking we’ll come across [...]
Ever met a truly great persuader? The quintessential, “Could sell ice to Eskimos”. They all tell stories knowing we primarily make emotionally based buying decisions. They take you on a [...]
