Someone has to do the selling or you don’t have a business. There are lots of people who have great ideas, skills, processes or inventions but hate the thought of selling. These people usually come from two camps: Camp 1: Those people who understand they have to sell in order to have a business but just don’t know how to do it. They often harbour some fears and anxieties about […]
Someone has to sell, or you don’t have a business Read More »
In a time poor world, many people including sales leaders and salespeople often bemoan the fact that they cannot seem to make time for important things like continued professional development, coaching, and thorough planning thus leaving their evolution and sales results to chance. Rushing through the day, responding to ‘urgent’ matters and deadlines, getting in and out of sales meetings as quickly as possible, doing the bare minimum with CRM
Using Intelligent Practice to improve sales results Read More »
Sales managers are regularly looking for negotiation skills training for their salespeople. However, digging into their team’s situation and development priorities, it is quite clear, 90% of the time, that their people do not need negotiation skills training, what they really need is consultative solution selling skills training instead. The reason many sales managers and sales teams find themselves in this situation is they think every time their salespeople hit
Key guidelines for Negotiations in Sales Read More »
Do other people stand to gain from your sales tactics and actions? Do your sales tactics and actions have a positive influence on your own and others’ well-being and self-esteem? Do your sales tactics and actions move you and your customer closer to your respective short- and long-term goals? Would most people approve of how you prospect for new business and sell? If each of us can honestly answer “yes”
4 Questions to Test if your Sales & Prospecting Tactics are Ethical Read More »
If your organisation is like most companies, some effort is usually invested in product training but not usually in ‘how we sell around here’. Selling is an unusual profession in that selling is ubiquitous – present everywhere; essential for businesses to succeed – yet poorly understood especially when it comes to effectively transferring skills, knowledge and capability to others. Most salespeople will tell you they learn selling by default, not
Is your sales team sinking or swimming? Read More »
We all want better sales performance and there are different ways to get there. A good starting point to understand what your team needs to sell better and improve their performance is assessing where they need help. For example, through an attitude and activity based questionnaire you can measure if people avoid making phone calls to prospect, if they hesitate to prospect, and self-promote for new business. You can also
Are your salespeople stumbling at hello? Read More »
After years of study and polishing technical skills to be a competent professional in a chosen field, it can come as a shock to many people that they need to sell their services and capabilities. The topic of selling and growing a business doesn’t often feature in university lectures. But in today’s market, a competent selling capability isn’t a nice-to-have add-on, it is an essential business and life skill. You
I’m not a salesperson but I have to sell Read More »
Sales is a demanding profession. Top performers know that to sustain a high level of performance, they need to keep fit and well – both physically and psychologically. And there’s a body of research showing that keeping an optimistic outlook and having the physical energy to meet the demands of working in sales are critical to a salesperson’s effectiveness, success and overall well-being. Something many of us know intuitively, but
The Optimistic Sales Professional Read More »
Maintaining momentum in a sales career requires a proactive, disciplined approach. There are many things to consider and put together to achieve an effective selling week and sales year. The onus is on us, the salesperson, to make the most of what we have. However, many sales people unfortunately adopt the approach that it is their company’s responsibility to train and educate them, to provide everything they need before they
One important Item to keep your Sales Wheels Turning Read More »
Highly effective sales people do not happen by chance. Top performing companies across industries provide their sales teams with no less than 8 days of focussed sales training per year, excluding product training. Of course, larger businesses can afford to invest in the development of their sales teams and appear to have the upper hand when it comes to highly skilled sales and service teams. Having regular and quality training
How much Sales Training should I have? Read More »