How much do you know about your client’s organization? Just a smart question or two can mean the difference between a sale or not. https://s3.amazonaws.com/TopSales/sales-library/2014/may-27/Get+smart+VST16.mp4
Have Your Best Mentor The Rest
It’s an open secret: mentorship is the number-one investment you can make to dramatically improve the performance of your existing sales team within a relatively short timeframe. After all, mentors are the best of the best in your salesforce: they’re well positioned and uniquely experienced to help guide inexperienced or less knowledgeable salespeople within your… Read More
Have Your Best Teach the Rest
I wished I had learned this lesson earlier on in my sales career: the best way to learn how to become a top sales performer is by being mentored by those who are inside your company. In my case, I had to wait a while before I got the opportunity to work with a mentor…. Read More
Healthy Sellers are Profitable Sellers
You know how it goes. You’re having a hectic week of client meetings or at a tradeshow and things begin to slide in the self-care department. Eat a greasy meal here, pull a late night there, and then load up on caffeine to push through. A few days of this and you’ll be feeling pretty… Read More
High, Wide and Deep: Better Buyer Relationships
In sales, the relationship you build with your customer is much like dating: what you start with is something you can make even stronger with time, as long as you work on it! It’s an ongoing process. As Zig Ziglar wisely observed: “You will get all you want in life, if you help enough other… Read More
Hosting an Educational Event
Learn an easy and inexpensive way to position yourself as a thought leader https://s3.amazonaws.com/TopSales/sales-library/2014/may-27/Hosting+an+VST14.mp4
How Much is a Client Worth to You?
With so much competition for your time, learn the key factors in deciding which clients to invest more time which and which to ween. https://s3.amazonaws.com/TopSales/sales-library/2014/may-27/How+much+VST7.mp4
How to Close 17 Times More Sales Than Your Competition
Technology in sales is not a solution to a problem. It’s a means of solving a problem, and it hinges critically on how well you apply it as one part of your revenue generation system. Do it wrong and you’re spinning your wheels. Do it right and you sell to more customers in a way… Read More
How to Fire a Client
Sometimes, you have to let a customer go. Learn the three key steps to making that happen professionally and effectively. https://s3.amazonaws.com/TopSales/sales-library/2014/may-27/How+to+Fire+VST6.mp4
Ignoring Your #1 Lead Source?
Learn how to turn your current clients into your number one source for new leads and sales growth. https://s3.amazonaws.com/TopSales/sales-library/2014/may-27/Ignoring+Your+VST8.mp4
Make Yourself Interesting!
It goes without saying, but the more interesting you are, the more clients and prospects will want to engage with you. To be clear, being interesting doesn’t simply mean having the best stories on a Monday morning after a busy weekend. But, you don’t have to start jumping out of airplanes or start setting world… Read More
Measuring a Sales Pipeline in Percentages
It’s common for leaders to measure their sales pipelines by the probability of the deal closing. And, a common mistake. Probability of close is a subjective measurement that requires the sales rep to make a judgment about their chances of making a sale. It requires interpretation, bias and is ripe for abuse. Instead, you should… Read More
Networking While Traveling: Part 2 – Prospects & Clients
Sellers nowadays are on the move. Those in B2B solution sales are hitting the road or hopping airplanes an average of one to two weeks each month for client meetings. Even inside sellers are stepping out more often to visit key contacts. As mentioned in Part 1 of this series (about tradeshows), increased travel means… Read More
Optimize Your Networking While Traveling: Part 1 — Tradeshows & Conferences
A top seller once told me an excellent story about networking at tradeshows. He arrived at an event, aimed at hospital workers, and spotted yoga on the list of extracurricular activities. So, each morning at 7 a.m., he did mountain pose with fellow attendees. Now, bear in mind this was a burly, ex-Army tank man…. Read More
Pay Attention to Growth Clients!
How often do you track your growth accounts? In order to be successful with your growth clients, you should be tracking them on a regular basis. More specifically, you should update yourself on their progress on a monthly basis. This may seem counterintuitive, especially because I recommend tracking key accounts on a quarterly basis. But,… Read More
Pick Up The Pen!
Believe it or not, the answer to more sales could be as simple as picking up a pen. That’s right, you may simply need to write a letter to a prospect or a decision maker in order to get a response. What I’ve been noticing about the top sellers and sales teams is that they… Read More
Pipeline or Pipe Dream?
You may be surprised to learn that many salespeople and business professionals spend less than one hour a month prospecting for new business. One thing you must always keep in mind is that there is no sales problem that good prospecting skills can’t solve. Unless you’re rude or have a bad attitude (in which case you… Read More
Pipeline Reviews: Asking tough questions to close more business
Music teaches us valuable lessons we can apply to a sales organization. An accomplished musician will tell you that one of the most important skills they need to have in their profession is the ability to listen to the music. It’s not enough to just play your instrument. You need to have a critical ear… Read More
Prospects to Disqualify
Thinking back over 20 years of my sales career I’ve met five kinds of people whose behaviors lead me to believe I should disqualify a them as prospect forever. I write about them in my recently released book Nonstop Sales boom available now at www.engageselling.com/salesboom. You may have run across them in your work as… Read More
Questions To Avoid
Believe it or not, you can easily alienate, disengage and confuse your prospects within the first few seconds of a sales call. How you open a conversation with a prospect can truly make or break your chances for success with them. Unfortunately, most salespeople start sales calls in ways that repel prospects and clients. It doesn’t… Read More
Raise Prices Without Losing Customers
After three years of selling products and services at the same prices, your company decides a change is in order. It’s time to make a few price increases to better reflect the current market and rising costs. Of course, anytime prices go up sellers are bound to hear complaints from long-term customers. Some companies, in… Read More
Sales Team Harmony
One of the biggest mistakes that sales leaders can make is neglecting their sales team. It happens more often than you think. Sales management becomes so preoccupied with results and numbers that they neglect the one thing that is most responsible for those numbers. Your sales team may be composed of a group of individuals,… Read More
Sales Tip: Adding the Right Scope, the Right Way
What if you know the customer needs to buy something else to be successful? Learn this strategy to raise the issue constructively. https://s3.amazonaws.com/TopSales/sales-library/2014/may-27/Adding+the+VST21.mp4
Sales Tip: Try This “Second Last” Resort
Sometimes, you just don’t get along. It could be your client or it could even be you. See what you can do to salvage the situation without destroying the relationship.