The 1st quarter of 2008 is almost over.

Sales kickoff meetings are done.

Quotas have all been assigned for the year (hopefully).

So how are you doing on building up your pipeline?

Are you proactively contacting lots of new prospects?

Do you have a solid system for networking and finding new leads through current and past customers and business contacts?

Do you have a system of rules in place to qualify and introduce new prospects to your business and into your pipeline?

The thing about sales is that it really is all about you.

Read the rest of this entry »

The other day I asked "What would your customers think of Persuasive Selling?"

Well a salesman out in here in California who sells industrial water treatment products and services wrote back with an answer from a real customer of his.

Here's Bill Kelly's story:

Shamus, I purchased your program and it helps to bring the customer to a conclusion faster, whether you decide to work with them or not. 

A customer walked me to my car last week and on the passenger seat in my car was the CD case for the Persuasive Selling Skills Audio Program. 

My customer looked at case, then at me, and then asked 'Am I being manipulated?'

I looked into his eyes and asked him 'What do you think?'

He thought for a second and said 'No, you got right to my problem, addressed it with no BS and helped me move to fix the problem.' 

I told him that is the basis of your program. 

My customer purchased from me because I fixed his problem. Thanks."

The customer didn't feel manipulated.

He wasn't angry.

He didn't feel ripped off.

Read the rest of this entry »

Whoo boy, by the time you read this, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer just may be known as former Governor Spitzer, or else the soon-to-be-impeached Governor Spitzer.

In case you been hidin under a rock the last two days, you must know by now that Mr. High-and-Might himself, the Sherriff-o-Wall-Street, is tumbling down from the mountain top by his own hubris and hypocrisy.

Seems he just couldn't resist sampling the candy.

Turns out Sherriff Spitzer is client number 9 of a high priced international call girl ring known as the Emperor's Club VIP.

Prices are rumored to be as high as 5500 bux an hour.

Man!

Do ya think he got a discount?

Read the rest of this entry »

Ever wonder what your customers would think if they knew you studied how to be a better salesman?

What if you told your customers that you took a course called Persuasive Selling Skills, how do you think they would react?

Do you think that they would get mad?

Do you think that they would feel ripped off?

Manipulated?

Taken advantage of?

Read the rest of this entry »

Oh boy, are these lame.

I just read an article from a real old school sales trainer about how to overcome sales objections.

I am in a good mood right now, so I am going to spare the guy the embarrassment and not mention his name.

But here's what he suggested…

Read the rest of this entry »

Do more sales calls make you a better salesman?

Does more activity give you more sales?

Well the answer is yes, and the answer is no.

More sales calls can bring you more sales.

If you have a systematic method for qualifying your prospects, generating interest and desire, and getting commitments then, yes, more sales calls equals more sales.

If on the other hand, you have a haphazard approach to selling with no firm rules about who you will sell to, and who you will NOT sell to, then making more sales calls will not necessarily give your more sales.

How about becoming a better salesman?

Will more calls make you better?

Read the rest of this entry »

Early on my sales career I became well known for dropping my pants too fast.

Dr. discount, one of the other sales reps called me.

As soon as I had a prospect on the hook and ready to close, I would use a discount, sometimes a big one, to get the deal to close fast.

In other words, I would "drop my pants" anytime I thought it would help me to close a deal.

Hindsight it 20-20.

And in hindsight, I coulda done a lot better.

But hey, I was green and I didn't know.

I was selling software, and the final decision-makers were pretty experienced businessmen, usually older than me.

And they knew enough in the negotiation to pose as if they didn't need what I was selling right away. They played as if they could wait a few more months, and they would be fine.

Read the rest of this entry »

Negotiating can be one of the highest tension moments in a sale.

Whether it is or not for you depends entirely on your attitude.

Yesterday I negotiated a contract for a new office space.

My wife picked up the contract for me in the morning, and then I sat down to read it before meeting with the property manager.

Uggh. This thing was pages and pages of small boilerplate print, with lots of options and checkboxes.

After spending a considerable chunk of time reading through this thing, I called the property manager and set an appointment for the afternoon to review the agreement and the "questions" that I had.

Most of the doc' turned out to be fine. Lots and lots of legalese, but most of it was reasonable. There were a few key things though that could have cost me hundreds of dollars had I let them go.

So I didn't.

Read the rest of this entry »

Guess who talks more: Men or Women?

If you guessed women, you would be wrong.

The results of a recent study show that men talk (slightly) more than women, particularly with strangers.

Now for sales purposes, this ability can be a good thing.

The good in this is that selling is about opening up and maintaining relationships with strangers.

The less fear one has around making conversation with strangers the better success you'll have as a salesman.

On the other hand though, I am sure that you have known as I have salesmen who talk too much.

Read the rest of this entry »

Time for an attitude check.

How do you see yourself performing this year?

Are you going to have a great year, are you confident of it?

Or are you just hoping to get through this and hold on to what you have?

Confidence is a wicked thing. When you have it, it propels you forward makes your life and work fun and exciting.

But when you don't have it, when you are scared, confused, or just have generally crappy expectations, then going to work sucks.

Read the rest of this entry »