Why is building rapport so important in sales
When I opened my sales training company in 1998, I taught building rapport as the first step in a sales process designed to sell a prospect on buying products and services. However, looking back, it was something that was taught in order to close business, and not meant to be a manipulative technique. Today, prospects […]
Habits Not Hope
Yeah, yeah, yeah… new year, new you, right? Every year we have high hopes, but we also know hope is not a strategy so… how about we focus on habits rather than hope. Here are some new habits I started that have worked… I mean it’s day five of the new year and I’m still […]
Are you fighting for your limitations or open to your limitless possibilities?
Therapist/author/Hall of Fame speaker, Connie Podesta, in a recent interview for The Smarter Sales Show podcast said, “so many people fight to keep their limitations” and it made me wonder how much that impacts sales professionals. Consider the roller coaster ride that is so prevalent among sales professionals on a commission based compensation plan. You […]
3 Parts to Effective Prospecting
Typically when clients have enrolled in sales training, coaching and consulting programs with me over the past two decades, one of the first things they want to improve is what they say to prospects to start the sales process. It’s a great question but there are two other questions that are critical to consider on […]
Know When To Stop Prospecting
Getting out of sync with a relatively new habit is easy. Getting back into the flow with that new habit is exceptionally hard. Two habits I have started, stopped and restarted several times are daily writing and prospecting. So today, I’m going to write about prospecting… I’m not sure that counts as actual prospecting, but it’s […]
Take a New Look
For the past few weeks on The Smarter Sales Show, our conversations have been on the topic of Sales Differentiation. What makes you different, not just what you offer, but how you conduct yourself through the entire sales process and what prospect’s experience that stands out about doing business with you. It is a timely […]
What Makes You Different?
Don’t you just love when prospects ask you that question? If you recognize the question as the true trap that it is, and you know how to deal with it, then you love it. If you don’t treat that question as the trap that it is, you’re toast. For example… Prospect: What makes you different? […]
If All You Have Is a Hammer…
Meet your clients where they are… then move them to where they want to be. No clue where along my professional journey I picked up that little gem, but it has served me and my clients well over the past two decades. Back in the days when I was selling radio advertising (and even before […]
You Set a Goal To Have Your Best Year Yet… Now What?
We are three weeks into the new year… how’s that “best year yet” plan coming along? If you are like most people you’ve already skipped a workout, eaten a donut, postponed that important call for another time, let your mom’s call go to voicemail and stayed up too late watching mindless TV. All in spite […]
Happy New Year: Get Set Up For Big Sales in 2021
Every year we attempt to convince ourselves that this year we will be different, better, stronger, richer, faster, more productive, fitter, more caring, more generous… we’ll get more sleep, more business, more sex. We’ll eat less and save more. We’ll wake up earlier and fall asleep easier. Gimme a break. Oh, and this new year, […]