Archive

Frustrated with the response you are getting from prospects?  In classic “David Letterman Style”, here are a few things you may want to evaluate: 10. You left your 60 or 90 second commercial on their voicemail, and it sounds like a marketing brochure. Marketing Brochure Speak does not sell. It is appropriate for collateral materials [...]

While in Europe, I became fascinated with the pub lifestyle that is integral to the English culture.  The number of “Public Houses” per capita is staggering, and each is christened with an intriguing moniker such as The Eagle, The Mitre, The Flying Pig, The Coach and Horses, The Lion and Rose, The Rat and Parrot, [...]

Oh the woes of networking!  Lots of time, money and poundage all in the pursuit of more business!  It’s the best thing and worst thing that’s ever happened to sales people. The allure is obvious: comfort and camaraderie of a group, promises of help and introductions, and more sales and revenue—OK, who did I lose [...]

Attributes of Revenue Rock Stars is a topic I am frequently asked to speak or write about.   When discussing the attributes of top revenue producers, it’s also important to understand the most common disablers of sales people who otherwise look good on paper. One of these disabling factors is Need for Approval. Need for Approval [...]

Many companies, sales teams and individuals come to me because they’re very frustrated with one issue.  They’re sick and tired of having to “buy” the business by dropping their prices. It seems that there is no industry that’s immune to competitors who will engage in a race to the bottom on pricing. Thanks, Competitors, nothing’s [...]

Take a look at the picture, and what phrase comes to mind? Unfortunately, this is how a lot of sales people feel right before they pick up the phone to start making cold calls. I think we’ve all had this feeling, however this “insert your favorite phrase here” moment is quickly replaced by the thrill [...]

I often open a training session with a very simple question: “What is every person in this room selling?”  The typical answers I receive are “ourselves” “trust” or “solutions”.  All are good answers, but not the answer I’m looking for. CHANGE is what every hunter-salesperson is selling. The change can be from an existing provider, [...]

This blog is inspired by a great blog written by Ragen Chastain, http://budurl.com/peng.  It tells the story of a little boy who went to the zoo with his 1st grade class and managed to entice a penguin into his backpack, zip it up, conceal the wiggling backpack on the bus and bring it home. I’m [...]

There are three dimensions to getting a good answer to a question: THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH & NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH! Unfortunately many sales professionals ask a question and accept the first answer at face value.  This is because their typical personality style is characterized by high optimism and trust.  Additionally if the information [...]

This will definitely make you laugh!  Last week I trained a class on how to create Cold Emails That Get Results.  It reminded me of the email below which is the perfect example of what NOT to do. This is an actual email that was received by one of my clients. The italicized smart alec [...]