Top Sales Library - a resource of all things sales

Deb Calvert

Is Insight Enough?

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In selling, the latest rage is “customer insight.” Consider what leading sales experts have to say about this emerging essential. From Changing the Sales Conversation by Linda Richardson: “Client insight is a marketing term that refers to the data that is gathered about clients to predict their future needs and shape their current ones… You… Read More

Is It Time for Service Check?

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(This article originally appeared on Deb Calvert’s blog) In a previous CONNECT2Sell Blog post, we talked about what can happen if you stay in sales mode all the time. It’s very important to check in with your customers occasionally, to make sure that they feel their service needs are being met. You might wait for… Read More

Is the Customer Always Right? Really?

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Buyers are more empowered than ever before. They have more choices, more leverage in a tough economy and a competitive environment. They also have social media, a powerful new way to share their experiences – good or bad – about the companies they buy from. With all that power, buyers make demands and set high… Read More

Is Your Sales Manager a Micromanager?

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Being a Sales Manager is one of the toughest jobs there is. Few other jobs have as many competing interests to consider. Few roles have the pressures coming from as many different stakeholders. Few positions carry as much burden for the company’s financial success. But the hardest part of the job is striking the balance… Read More

It’s May Be Time for a Check Up

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(This article originally appeared on Deb Calvert’s blog) You’ve been working with the same clients for a good, long time now. You’re satisfied. They’re satisfied. Smooth sailing… Right? Or could there be a festering little grain of dissatisfaction? Is there a little something you do that is annoying or inconvenient to a client? Is there… Read More

Keep Buyers from Thinking You’re Tricking Them

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There are 12 ways that a seller can build or erode trust with their buyers, demonstrated by the 12 Dimensions of Trust. Each associated action creates a connection or causes a disconnection. We’re reviewing all 12 dimensions each week, so that sellers can be empowered to create strong connections founded in trust, and avoid creating… Read More

Leaders Encourage Learning

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Throughout the series, we’ve been writing about the ins and outs of encouragement. We’ve also talked about what to encourage. In this final post in the series, we need to talk about one more thing that absolutely must be encouraged by every leader. Leaders understand that learning encourages others. So they provide learning opportunities. They… Read More

Listen Up!

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Active listening may be the single most important selling skill of all. It’s also what’s known as a “compensating competency.” If you’re lacking in some other skill, buyers will give you grace so long as you compensate by actively listening. This eBook, drawing from blog posts in the popular CONNECT2Sell Blog by Deb Calvert, will… Read More

Logic + Emotion = a Compelling Case

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(This article originally appeared on Deb Calvert’s blog) In a recent blog post, we described what’s really happening when buyers say “no” even though you’ve laid out a compelling case. It all comes down to a difference of opinion. Knowing how to present information in a way that buyers can understand AND respond to favorably… Read More

Maybe It’s Not about Gender

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Stereotypes about sellers and the sales profession are not changing for the better. After conducting extensive research with buyers about preferred seller behaviors, I’ve started thinking that B2B buyers – now more than ever – have an extremely negative perception about sellers in general. I recently tested this theory with a group of 22 senior… Read More

Move from What and How to Why

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Any seller who lasts longer than a day in the job can explain what their product does. Any seller who makes it through a few commission checks can explain (or bring in experts to explain) how their product works. They may even be able to explain how their product works better than the competitors’. A… Read More

Negotiate Smoothly by Understanding Conflict Styles

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(This article originally appeared on Deb Calvert’s blog) In sales, ever meet someone who seems to have a natural finesse for smoothing out the rough edges in a sales negotiation and an ability to defuse tension in any conflict situation? I’ve come across a few sellers who can do this and, by watching them, I’ve… Read More

No! I Don’t Have “Just a Moment!”

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It happened no fewer than four times this week. We recently registered for two additional URLs, and that information is apparently available to website developers and designers. E-mails, voice mails and phone calls have been abundant. I don’t mind receiving sales calls and admire the sellers who are making contact to look into this potential… Read More

Really, Truly Creating Customer Value

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Value Creation is more than business jargon. But it’s one of those trendy phrases that lots of sellers use… and that few actually deliver. Join your on-air sales coach Deb Calvert and her guest, Andre Harrell, CEO of AH2 and Beyond Consulting, for this frank discussion about what value is, what it is not, and… Read More

Redefining The B2b Buyer Experience

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It’s increasingly difficult to establish meaningful connections with buyers. They don’t trust sellers and aren’t interested in meeting. So, what’s a seller to do? The pervasive, negative stereotypes about sellers affect how people initially react to you. The Glengarry Glen Ross and Wolf of Wall Street movie personas of sellers are reinforced in real life… Read More

Ride the Wave of Encouragement

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When you’re hot, you’re hot. When you’re not, you’re not. Success breeds success. You know what it’s like when there’s no stopping you. You’re on a hot streak, and your confidence carries over from one sales appointment to the next. It’s true that it’s easier to win when you feel like a winner. That’s why… Read More

See a Need, Meet a Need

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(This article originally appeared on Deb Calvert’s blog) I heard about a family once who had only one house rule. The rule was “see a need, meet a need.” No one in the family had any assigned chores, there weren’t any “you better or else” conversations, and there wasn’t any mess and fuss in their… Read More

Selling Starts with Inspiring Others

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(This article originally appeared on Deb Calvert’s blog) What inspires you? Not “what gets your attention?” Not “what interests you?” But what stirs you? What compels you? What moves you into to action? Notice the difference in those questions. Selling isn’t about getting someone’s attention or even about causing them to be interested. That’s the… Read More

Stop Talking!

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 Over-communicating is epidemic, running rampant in sales professionals. I don’t mean over-sharing or over-listening. I mean over-talking, as in saying more than needs to be said. That’s talking over, as in not letting buyers get a word in edgewise. Many people who gravitate toward sales have the “gift of gab.” Many also have a certain… Read More