Salespeople are often sloppy, particularly when it comes to structuring and conducting initial/discovery sales calls. What’s perplexing is how many sellers simply take for these hard-earned customer/prospect meetings for granted. Today, it takes so much effort and energy to secure a meeting with a key prospect, yet salespeople don’t prep or plan anywhere near as much …
Readers, be warned. I am angry and frustrated from seeing way too many initial/discovery sales calls/meetings that are supposed to be dialogues turned into presentations. Point to all the insight selling data you want. Quote the (great book) The Challenger Sale all day long. Yes, we need to bring value to sales calls and be prepared …
Bad Things Happen When You Turn Discovery Sales Calls into Presentations Read More »
A few times per year I write a post that I’m pretty sure will be unpopular. Based on how many salespeople I see wearing embroidered logo shirts, this one certainly will ruffle a few feathers – at least that’s my hope. Here’s my premise: Way too many salespeople wear their company logo (golf, polo or …
Why Wearing a Company Logo Shirt Sends the Wrong Sales Message Read More »
Pain is a good teacher. Fourteen years ago I suffered the most painful experience in my sales career – so painful, that it’s burned in my memory as vividly as the birth of my children. And so powerful and formative were the lessons from that experience that it’s not an exaggeration to say it changed …
This Boardroom Disaster Was the Most Painful but Formative Lesson in My Sales Career Read More »
In the past few weeks I’ve led several sessions for various clients around structuring and conducting more effective sales calls. It’s such an interesting topic to tackle because so many salespeople have become complacent about how they prepare for and run an initial/discovery, face-to-face meeting with a prospective customer. I find this is particularly true …
One of My Favorite Probing Questions: I am Just Curious, Why Did You Invite Me in? Read More »
Hate is a strong word, so strong that many of us won’t let our young children use it. But it has its appropriate place in our lexicon. There are things I hate and I’m sure you have your own list, too. I hate cancer. I hate the herb rosemary. And I hate the word “presentation” …
I lost it during a client’s sales team meeting this week. Words I don’t normally use came spewing from deep within with great intensity. I was with a wonderful company for whom I did good deal of consulting and coaching earlier this year, and it was fun to join them for their late summer sales meeting …
Please Stop Showing Pictures of Your Building During Sales Calls and Presentations Read More »
This past year I’ve consulted and coached more companies with territory manager sales forces than is typical. While personally I gravitate more toward hunting and new business development, I still love working with territory sales teams and salespeople who manage existing relationships. But recently, I am seeing several disturbing trends among many who manage territories. …
The Sales Milk Run and Other Behaviors Killing the Results of Territory Managers Read More »
Salespeople love to complain that all the customer cares about is the price. When we don’t get a deal, we’re quick to point to our higher price as a major cause of defeat. My friend Anthony Iannarino has written extensively on the topic of price, and he points out that this excuse is usually a …
Who’s Making It About Price, You or the Customer? Read More »
A couple weeks ago, I was selling alongside a client CEO and his new director of business development. We had an enlightening experience that as soon as it happened, I knew it would become a blog post. For this particular client, I serve as a consultant, but also play the role of senior vice president …
A Fantastic Sales Call on the Wrong Prospect! How Strategic is Your Target List? Read More »
