Call reluctance is something that almost every salesperson can feel at some point. Sure, picking up the phone and calling warm contacts or leads is no problem. But when it is time to make the true cold calls where the prospect does not know who you are, there can often be an uneasy feeling. This [...]
Have you ever had someone say, “Now you’re speaking my language”? This is a really good thing to accomplish as you are saying something that the other person understands and is completely in agreement with. Imagine arriving at this place with prospects when selling. What a great place that would be, huh? Believe it or [...]
When you are cold calling a prospect, the contact will have their guard up at a medium level when they answer the phone. Everything that you say will either increase or decrease their guardedness. If you can simply improve your ability to not trigger their guard so that it either stays level or decreases, you [...]
Effective networking is the best way to generate leads and improve sales. Follow these 12 easy steps, and you will see an immediate improvement in results. 1. Set a quota for yourself It is easy to find an excuse to not go to a networking event. To help with this, set a quota for [...]
When some people think about the act of selling something, they often think that the salesperson is going through a process of convincing the prospect to buy what they have to offer - that they are “talking them into it”. With this frame of mind, the belief is created that the best salespeople are the [...]
There was a point in my sales career when I sold enterprise software and the message coming down from my management was to have “business conversations” when you are sales prospecting. This was actually a really good directive from the top as what they were saying was to get away with talking about products and [...]
Whether you realize it or not, you likely experience someone giving you a sales pitch just about every day. I experienced one yesterday, and I was very impressed with the salesperson’s approach, so I thought it might be good to point out some of the things he did well. Quick Background I was in [...]
Having strong value propositions is critical to successful selling. Many people will spend time trying to come up with the perfect value prop. But the reality is that you can have multiple value propositions. This means the value you offer to different types of buyers can be different – You help a manufacturing company in [...]
Here are 9 cold calling techniques that are easy to implement and can help you to immediately improve your results. 1. Focus on the right goal It is very easy for us salespeople to “always be closing.” But what are you trying to close when you are on a cold call? Don’t try to [...]
Looking to sell like a pro? Begin by stopping to think about a professional football player or professional athlete. How does he (or she) prepare? Does he jump right into the game without taking any steps to prepare ahead of time? Of course not. There are actually two things that he will invest time and [...]