Selling Skills
A Sales Conundrum: Do We Need a Sales Meeting to Sell Nowadays?
Friday, August 22nd, 2008If there’s one thing I know about selling professional services - it’s that my chances of making a sale go up exponentially if I can meet my prospect face to face. In fact in my 20+ years in business and over £20m of consulting projects sold - I’ve only ever sold one engagement (and a [...]
Sales: It’s the Small Steps that Count
Thursday, August 14th, 2008The element of sales most visible to outsiders is the “big win”. The “rainmaker” seemingly works some magic in a presentation, or big meeting and returns home with the sale in the bag.
This often leads to a belief that the crucial element of the sale was that final event. When people look at what the [...]
On Passion
Thursday, June 5th, 2008The 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, 2008There 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 [...]
“Banner Blindness” in Real World Sales
Monday, May 19th, 2008In 1998 researchers Jan Benway and David Lane coined the phrase “banner blindness” for the newly observed phenomenon that web users tended to ignore the colourful, animated banner adverts that had previously been thought to be more likely to be seen.
Over a relatively short period of time, web users had discovered that ad banners tended [...]
Rejection – sometimes it really is personal
Sunday, April 27th, 2008It’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, 2008Selling 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 [...]
Selling With Stories - A Powerful Tool for Building Trust and Credibility
Monday, February 4th, 2008The 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 [...]
Finding your own style - a key to sales success
Friday, January 4th, 2008One of the best pieces of advice I received early in my sales career was from a consulting industry veteran who urged me to “find my own style” in order to sell effectively. I’ve found the advice to be as relevant today as it was over a decade ago when I was just making the transition from [...]
In Praise of Passion: Selling’s Secret Weapon
Monday, December 17th, 2007The 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.
