Sales Philosophy & Psychology

Thinking vs Doing : Thoughts on Different Personality Types

Tuesday, October 14th, 2008

In my experience, sales is mostly about doing - about taking action.
Thinking in advance is important, vital in fact, to focus action on the right things, and to make action “automatic” when it’s time to act.
But at the end of the day, sales happen “in the moment” face to face with clients.
In line with this, [...]

Ethics in Sales

Friday, June 13th, 2008

A recent post by Colin WIlson - Are You Lying Comfortably - got me thinking about ethics in sales.
It’s something people new to, or outside of sales often worry about. How ethical is it to “manipulate” people with salesmanship to buy a particular product or service?

On Passion

Thursday, June 5th, 2008

The importance of passion for salespeople seems to have sparked the imagination of many sales bloggers recently - myself included. Reading the posts reminded me of my all time favourite Winston Churchill quote:
Before you can inspire with emotion, you must be swamped with it yourself. Before you can move their tears, your own must flow. [...]

The Impossible Question - What Makes a Good Salesperson?

Monday, May 26th, 2008

There comes a time in every consultant’s life when for some unknown reason they feel the need to document their thoughts on the defining characteristics of successful sales people. Well, now it’s my time.
Of course, this is a very risky proposition. Inevitably, we all see the world through our own biases and prejudices. No individual’s [...]

Rejection – sometimes it really is personal

Sunday, April 27th, 2008

It’s one of the oldest sayings in sales – “rejection isn’t personal”. But sometimes, more frequently than we’d care to admit, it really is personal. As salespeople we need to accept that sometimes people may just not like us or get on with us, and learn to live with that.

You Are What You Sell

Tuesday, April 1st, 2008

Selling services has always been difficult.
The intangible nature of services means that potential clients cannot “touch and feel” or test the product before buying - so all the great benefits of the service can often be viewed as simply salesperson’s claims rather than hard facts. Worse still: even if your services are unique, highly differentiated [...]

Another Classic Book to Boost your Sales Skills

Wednesday, February 13th, 2008

It’s book recommendation time again!
Normally I go for the more academic type book. But this week I have been re-reading Brian Tracy’s Psychology of Selling (well, reading for the first time - I listened to it on audio originally).
Personally, I think it’s a modern classic. Simple,to the point, and full of great advice.
For those who [...]

Selling With Stories - A Powerful Tool for Building Trust and Credibility

Monday, February 4th, 2008

The Power of Storytelling
The art of storytelling is dying.
We live in an age of soundbites, special effects, snappy comebacks and the 30-second attention span. It seems that no one is interested in taking the time to listen to, or tell a good story.
Yet think back to the last time you were truly moved by [...]

In Praise of Passion: Selling’s Secret Weapon

Monday, December 17th, 2007

The stereotype many people have of salespeople is of an amoral hired gun. A sharp-suited, sharp-talking huckster who doesn’t care what he’s peddling as long as it brings in the money.
But in reality, the opposite is true of all truly successful salespeople: they have a real passion and belief in the products and services they sell.