Sales Techniques
« Previous EntriesUnderstand Your Client’s Beliefs to Learn How to Sell More
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008I was listening to an audio version of Dave Lakhani’s book Persuasion today and he made a point which really made me sit up and think.
His point was that when persuading - or in our case when selling - it’s critical to understand the underlying beliefs of the person you are trying to persuade.
People tend [...]
Warming Up Cold Contacts
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008I’ve been “tagged” by Ford Harding to take part in an interesting concept: a “blog meme” – a series of posts by different bloggers on the same topic. You can see Ford’s post here and the original idea from “Bizzie Guye” here.
So here goes……
Warming Up Cold Contacts
In “Managing the Professional Services Firm”, leading professional services [...]
The Importance of Good Follow-Up
Monday, October 20th, 2008We all know that good follow-up is vital in sales. According to the Gartner Group, almost 70% of leads are mishandled in some way. So great follow-up will give effective salespeople a huge advantage over less rigorous competitors.
But how many times have you come back from a meeting or networking event and received this [...]
Forget Your Competition
Friday, September 26th, 2008It’s really important to think about your competitors when developing strategy and trying to develop a unique differentiated position for your products and services.
But when you’re selling - actually communicating with customers - thinking about your competitors, or even your differentiators, can be a huge mistake.
What customers are primarily interested in, of course, is what [...]
Avoiding the “Treacle Effect” when Selling to Big Companies
Monday, September 22nd, 2008Selling to large companies can often feel like you’re “wading through treacle”. Progress is slow at best, and it often feels like you’ve taken one step forwards only to take two steps back.
Often the challenge is not the company itself, or even their slow decision-making processes - it’s the salesperson’s lack of knowledge of how [...]
Sales Tips from Angelina Jolie
Wednesday, August 6th, 2008One of the featured resources on Rainmaker Resources is David Maister’s series of podcasts. In his Business Masterclass episode “Cultivate the Habits of Friendship” he shares a lovely anecdote about building relationships that bears repeating:
The actress Angelina Jolie was interviewed on television and asked if she had to like the characters she was portraying in [...]
Selling Without Slides
Sunday, May 11th, 2008It’s a scenario played out in millions of sales meetings every year. The eager salesperson has finally managed to get a meeting with one of his A list target customers. The customer meets him at reception, takes him to a meeting room and opens with “tell me a little about your company”.
Ask for that meeting - and grow your sales!
Wednesday, March 12th, 2008Early in my sales career I learnt a very simple tactic which made a significant difference to my sales - and I noticed recently that I had stopped using it. So as well as restarting its use for myself, I thought I’d share it. It’s most appropriate for consultants or other professionals who have to [...]
Beating your #1 Competitor - the Status Quo
Friday, February 22nd, 2008No, not the band, of course.
If you’ve read any of Stephan Schiffman’s Sales Training books you’ll know he believes the number one competitor of any sales person to be “The Status Quo”. In other words, rather than going with you or a competitor, the customer decides to do nothing. Either not buy, or stick with [...]
Turbo-Charge Your Sales Stories;
Monday, February 11th, 2008Selling with Stories proved to be my most popular blog post yet. Not surprising really - it’s a brilliant sales technique - one I almost felt guilty giving away.
Shortly after I posted it I was alerted by a post on Carol Bentley’s B2B Copywriting blog to an even better template for these story-come-testimonials. She highlighted a [...]
