Master Salesman
A Napoleon Hill Story: The Man Who Quit Too Soon
By now most of you know that Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill is one of my favorite books I've read it and reread it more than a 100 times over the past 46 years. It always inspires me. I believe it's the single most important book I ever read it certainly has influenced me, benefitted my career, more than any other tome. Today I want to relate an important story from Think and Grow Rich , which Mr. Hill subtitled The Man Who Quit Too Soon . I think those of you who have never read Mr.
Zig Ziglar's Poignant “Railroad Story”
I've had the pleasure of listening to a number of great speakers in my time, some of them storytellers extraordinaire but no one holds a candle to the Great Zig Ziglar. From my late 20s through my 50s, when Mr. Ziglar came to Chicago to speak, more than likely I was in the audience, soaking up his wisdom, reveling in his wonderful stories, which not only made his point, it caused you to remember it for the rest of your life.
The Inevitability of Impossible - by Kelly Riggs
Recently, I was talking with a sales manager at a high-end auto dealership who was telling me how his salespeople are often guilty of pre-judging a potential client based on their appearance and the car they currently drive. One morning, he said, a very casually dressed customer drove up in a much older car, one that had clearly seen it's better days. Worse, the customer was a female. And she was by herself. DING-DING-DING Single mother in crummy car.
Discovering the Dominant Buying Motive
Perhaps the greatest mistake salespeople make is this they meet a prospect and they're in such a hurry to make a sale that they instantly dive into a presentation of their product or service, detailing every feature and benefit to the Nth degree. They do this without first taking the time to get to know the prospect, ask the necessary questions to ascertain what's at the heart of the matter, what's the prospect's Dominant Buying Motive.
What Measures Can a Salesperson Take to Perfect Her Craft?
My friend and colleague in the STA group, Don Perkins Don's website is mindmulch.net recently had a LinkedIn friend ask him the question that is the title of this blog (however, the gender notation is all mine). Don asked all of us in STA to do a group blogging project on this, with back links to each other's blogs. Happy to oblige, Don if there are no back links, it's because I'm first out of the blog box.
Nine Reasons Salespeople Discount When They Shouldn't
One of the most frequent complaints I hear from sales directors, VPs, and CEOs is that their sales team whether it's internal or their distribution channel discounts too much and too often. While it's maddening, it's also excruciatingly common. Here's what drives that behavior 1. Fear of losing the sale Every salesperson fears losing the sale. So when a prospect asks for a discount, the salesperson often thinks the sale hinges on whether or not they give one.
How to Get Powerful LinkedIn Recommendations
One of the first things I do with a coaching client is rework his her LinkedIn page, which includes getting a minimum of 20 Recommendations. Not endorsements, Recommendations and a specific type of Recommendation, at that one that tells a story about a specific event when my client helped that individual solve a great problem or brought tremendous value to the individual in some concrete way, as opposed to the typical general, generic Recommendations that are usually given.
Don't Confuse Activity with Selling
Create Value with Each Customer Interaction I read a blog posting recently about what a salesperson could do to increase sales. The title was something catchy like A Billion and One Tips to Increase Sales. It was hard to argue with the premise of the post. Everyone in sales can use good advice on increasing sales. It's the reason I continue to read everything I can about sales. There is always something new to learn.
5 Common Mistakes Sales Leaders Make On LinkedIn And How To Fix Them
Why isn't it working That's a question you often hear in training, especially when someone is starting to test the limits of a new skill that he or she just learned. Social selling is no exception. This new approach to dealing with buyers takes time, practice and repeated course corrections. Similar to their teams, sales leaders should lead by example and adopt the same prescriptive routine that their team is supposed to follow.
Your Authentic Self is Good Enough
At the ripe old age of 68, I have been, to quote my late father, around the block a few times. And since I've always been a people watcher, it's been my observation that most human beings are not satisfied with themselves, with what I call their authentic selves and because of that, they usually embellish their resumes, accomplishments, stories to the point of absurdity they exaggerate about their level of education, military service, work experience, you name it.
Why Great Sales Managers are Almost Impossible to Find?
This question was posed over at the small business question and answer forum Focus.com. What are the essentials to become a great sales manager The answers ranged from being a good communicator, to moving from getting results yourself to getting results through others, to accountability, to providing support and setting high expectations. The answers to the questions were good but to be expected.
Twitter Automatic Direct Messages-Bah Humbug!
I once posted a blog entitled How are You Using Social Media In it I said It's been my experience that usually when I follow someone on Twitter, I either get no response at all, or I get a Thanks for the follow, along with a link to something I can read or purchase no expression of interest about me, none whatsoever. This nonsensical approach, which lets me know the person I've expressed interest in by following has no interest in me other than to see me as a customer to sell something to.
What for God's Sake is it Going to Take to Motivate You?
Many years ago, when I first began studying how to write fiction, I read John Braine's Writing a Novel. Brain was British his most famous novels are Room at the Top and The Crying Game . It was from Braine that I first heard about another British novelist, Anthony Burgess (his real name was John Burgess Wilson), whose best-known work is A Clockwork Orange . When I researched Burgess I was blown away by his fascinating personal story what caused him to become a novelist.
7 Leadership Lessons That Took Alfred from Good to Alfred the Great - by Steve Suggs
A great leader of particular interest was Alfred the Great, king of Wessex (Southern Britain) 871-899 AD. Through his son and grandson, his throne expanded to rule over the entire island of Britain. He not only drove the Vikings from his homeland, but he understood the needs of the nation and gave all he had to supply the needs.
Sales Reps Need To Know The “Why” Behind The “How”
Salespeople and sales managers would benefit from more sales education. There is a vital difference between sales training and sales education. And, it has a direct impact on the decisions you make about how to invest in boosting your sales performance. Sales training is all about the how. Sales education is about the why. Sales education provides the context and framework for sales training.
Sales Manager: Why Don't You Formally Meet 1:1 Monthly with Every Salesperson?
Leading the team and creating a healthy sales culture are primary responsibilities of the sales manager. Very often, I'll ask a vice president of sales or the sales manager how often they meet 1 1 with their people. And the typical answer sounds something like this I am in touch with every one of my people on a regular basis. Some will proudly state, I speak to or email every member of the team almost everyday.
Master Salesman's Secrets For the One-Call-Close Salesperson
Actor John Wayne said, Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway. If you're a one-call-close salesperson, this post is for you. If you're not a one-call-close salesperson, I suggest you read Sam Richter's Take the Cold Out of Cold Calling. If you've ever perused sales-job ads, you've probably noticed many promising leads, leads, leads no cold calling. Even successful salespeople can be terrified of cold calling they freeze up like a Popsicle at the thought of it.
The Idiocy of Throwing Salespeople to the Wolves Without Any Training or Materials
Jill Konrath just may be the smartest, most knowledgeable, sales expert around. If you do a survey, you'll discover that that just isn't my opinion I think the vast majority of us in the sales training coaching business think the world of Jill. I'll tell you flat out, when she has something to say, I listen. I also read all of her posts, watch her videos. I don't have all that many heroes in my life, but Jill Konrath is certainly one of them.
Hit the Mark with Bullets on your LinkedIn Profile
We all work on a shorter schedule nowadays. More and more often we try to ingest knowledge in bite-sized increments. The LinkedIn environment is no exception. When we glance at LinkedIn profiles, we tend to only read more if it passes the glance test if the ease of reading pulls us in. One way to draw people into your LinkedIn profile is to use bullets, like in a list.
Understanding the Importance of Decision Triggers in Selling to Your Prospects
A key component of effective target marketing involves developing deep insight into the decision-making process influencing how your customers make their purchasing choices. For organizations working with diverse customer needs, moving your prospects from, I'm interested, to I'll buy, is a highly complex process. What is significant and how this will impact each of your prospects in their buying decision can vary.
23 Questions That Will Improve Your Sales
What questions should sales people be asking to increase their sales and improve their results Certainly this depends on your industry and or product(s). However, there are many questions that are generic in nature or that can be easily modified to your specific sales environment. Here are 23 high-value, tough, penetrating and powerful sales questions that will help you grow your sales. Let's start with high-level questions these are important if you sell to senior executives.