Have you ever tried to figure out what might go wrong before a meeting? That might be one of the smartest things you could do to win more sales. Rather than waiting till the end to find out that you lost – and why – you can think about it way ahead of time when you… Read More
How to Know if Your Prospecting Mail Message is Effective
Salespeople spend an inordinate amount of time developing cold call emails, hoping they’ll create the perfect message that will get prospects to say, “Yes! I want to meet with you immediately.” That would be great, but it takes a lot of practice to find the best way to pique your prospects’ interest. Here are 3… Read More
How to Leverage Trigger Events for Faster Sales
Have you ever heard of trigger events? If not, you’re in for a wonderful wake up call. A trigger event is a sudden change in a company’s priorities. Your prospect may have been happy with the status quo yesterday, but these new circumstances create or deepen business issues that can no longer be ignored. Here… Read More
How to Write Emails that Get Meetings
“Today’s crazy-busy prospects delete nearly all emails from salespeople in a nanosecond. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Crafting effective prospecting emails is a skill that you can master” says Jill Konrath. Download your free Email Sales Kit
I Hate LinkedIn Profiles Like This …
Every time I do a Sales Acceleration workshop with a new client, I go to LinkedIn to check out the profiles of people who will be attending. Invariably, I see Summary sections that read like this: Big Deal’s innovative solutions are blah, blah, blah. Our extensive client list includes these marquis organizations. We specialize in… Read More
I Sell Like a Girl
Special note: This article was inspired by a Super Bowl XLIX advertisement that posed the question: What does it mean to do something “like a girl?” Initially, it mocked how girls run, fight and throw balls. Then, it showed young girls throwing themselves into these activities with passion and intensity. Finally, it concluded by saying… Read More
If You Think Sales is a Numbers Game – You’re Wrong
We’ve been told for an eternity that sales is a numbers game. And it’s still a popular belief today. The theory is that all we need to do if we want to be successful in this business is to call, call, call. If we do that, we’ll fill our pipeline with a gazillion suspects, who’ll… Read More
Is Your Prospecting Email Spam – or Not?
Is it spam to send a prospecting email to someone you don’t know? I get asked about that a lot. Nobody wants to be seen as a spammer. So, let me give you some guidelines. Officially, an email is spam when you’re blasting a huge number of people with the same message. It’s also spam… Read More
Jill Konrath’s 3 Keys to Mastering Rapid Learning
As a sales professional, you’ve probably encountered this situation: You’re interacting with a prospective customer, and they seem genuinely interested in your product. Multiple missed calls and unanswered emails later, you hang up the towel and accept they’ve vanished into the sales black hole. These days, businesses are changing faster than ever before. Customers are just as… Read More
Leveraging LinkedIn Connections
Connections matter. Big time. Recent research from Reachable.com shows just how much it impacts you’re ability to get a callback from a “stranger.” In fact, you’re: 3x more likely if you contact a mutual acquaintance. 4x more likely if the connection calls to make an introduction. 11x more likely if they have an actual connection…. Read More
LinkedIn Connections With Customers Leads to More Business
In our 2013 Sales & LinkedIn Survey, we found out lots of great info on how top sellers are leveraging LinkedIn. (Download Cracking the LinkedIn Sales Code here.) One statistic that really stood out was the difference in LinkedIn connections with customers. As you can see, top sellers were connected to almost 3x as many customers… Read More
Master Sales Meetings…advance to the next round
Top sellers know the first sales meeting is a make-or-break situation for them. If they do well, they’re given an opportunity to advance the sales process. If they don’t, they’re shoved out the door as quickly as possible. This ebook walks you through the 5 steps necessary to pass the first test with important accounts. Through… Read More
My Fear of Failing – And How I Deal With It
Like many sellers, I look calm, cool and collected. But underneath that exterior, I’ve often felt far differently. If you really knew me, you’d know that I’ve worried about many things, including: Meeting my quota. Succeeding in a new sales position. Giving an important presentation. I’ve fainted in sales calls. Once I even dropped 10… Read More
One Easy Tip for a Successful Sales Conversation
You’ve probably heard that being a good listener is the key to being successful in sales. While I agree that it’s essential, I’m here to tell you that your ability to ask good sales questions is even more important. Why is that? Let me give you a little bit of scientific fact. Your brain is… Read More
One Mind-Boggling Sales Statistic
Two weeks ago I spoke at LinkedIn’s SalesConnect Conference in San Francisco. Over 500 sales leaders came to learn more about leveraging LinkedIn to drive revenue. Mike Derezin, VP of Sales at LinkedIn, shared one statistic that was mind-boggling: Sales professionals who use social selling are 51% more likely to exceed their quota. Got your… Read More
Selling at Trade Shows: A Lesson From a Hot Shot High Tech Company
Last year I spoke at Dreamforce with my client DiscoverOrg.com. (If you sell into the IT area, check them out.) Over 130,000 Salesforce.com customers, developers and partners were there. After our talk, I went to DiscoverOrg’s booth for a book signing. The exhibit hall was a zoo. When all my books were gone, I spent time observing… Read More
Tackling the Impossible Sales Challenge
How do you get a targeted account if all your previous attempts have failed? If you want to catch a big fish, perhaps the sports fishermen of New Zealand can give you some ideas. After all, they face a very difficult, if not insurmountable, challenge that would stop most fishermen entirely. The coastline, off the 90… Read More
Value Proposition Examples – Words That Get Meetings
Jay is the owner of a massage therapy company. He’s trying to figure out how to sell his services to the corporate market. Like many of you, he doesn’t have a strong business case to capture a company’s attention. That’s why he recently asked me: “I’m have trouble figuring out my value position for selling… Read More
What if Your Competitive Situation Just Got a Lot Tougher?
It’s so easy for us to get stuck in our ways and only think of incremental changes to what we’re currently doing. But to be effective today, we need fresh sales strategies – and those only come when you start asking yourself different questions. Here’s a challenge to get you to expand your thinking: What… Read More
What to Say to Get Prospects to Think “That’s Really Interesting!
I’m often asked, “Which is better – an elevator speech, unique selling proposition or value proposition?” All are effective at different times, but there is one clear winner for piquing prospects’ interest in your offering. An elevator speech is great for casual meetings, networking events or any other time you want to strike up a… Read More
Why Half-Baked Ideas Are Perfect Sales Conversation Starters
It happened again last week. I was speaking at a sales kick-off meeting, stressing a key message—that sellers, not their products or services, are the key differentiator today. I said, “Be an idea person. Today’s crazy-busy prospects love it when you bring them ideas on how to improve their business.” That’s when the hand popped… Read More