You’re a new sales manager. Now what? No one wakes up in the morning determined to do poor job. But what if you don’t know any better? I’ve seen great sales managers and not so great ones. Here’s what I’ve observed in the ones that are great sales managers. Give effective instructions. Giving effective instructions is more than simply giving clear instructions to your … [Read more...]
Sales Mistakes to Avoid
Practice makes perfect, right? Wrong. You know if you’re an athlete that perfect practice makes perfect. Nothing good happens if you do the wrong things again and again. It is the same if you’re in sales. You must do the right things and avoid doing the wrong things if you want to get better and sell more now. Here are 2 sales mistakes to avoid. It's a mistake when … [Read more...]
Deception in Sales and Business
Honesty is the best policy, but unfortunately you’re not going to always find honesty in business and sales. Being able to detect deception in sales is a useful skill. Knowing who can’t be trusted or relied on is important if your goals depend on others. Here are some deceptions in sales that I've seen. Non-answers are deceptive. Working in a group presents challenges … [Read more...]
Disasters Can Help You With Selling
You may have seen the reports of destructive weather lately in the Dallas, Texas area. Over 750,000 people were without power after the storms. Trees fell on homes. People lost their lives. I live in Dallas. This storm confirmed that being prepared for a disaster makes a huge difference. Here’s what I learned dealing with a disaster and how disasters can help you with … [Read more...]
Do you have what Artificial Intelligence (AI) says for sales sales?
What does Artificial Intelligence (AI) say about sales? A lot. Some of it was obvious to anyone with sales experience. Yet the answers highlight what AI says for sales success. What does AI say are sales challenges? I asked ChatGPT a few different ways about the challenges that salespeople face and what they find difficult in selling. Here’s what ChatGPT … [Read more...]
Are You a Great Sales Manager?
Your sales team may already think you are a good sales manager. Perhaps there’s room for you to become a great sales manager. Here’s what it takes to be a great sales manager. Great sales managers know their subordinates’ career goals. A great sales manager’s job is to get subordinates to the next step of their career. Remember, some people want to continue as sales … [Read more...]
Questioning Strategy Is What You Need to Sell
The best salespeople ask the most productive selling questions. They ask their questions in a way that gets results. Forget being a military interrogator! Yelling and sleep deprivation won’t work in a sales call. Your questioning strategy is what you need to sell. Here are a few ideas to create your best questioning strategy. Use persuasive words in your questioning … [Read more...]
The Organized Salesperson
You might have heard someone say the key to sales success is to work smarter, not harder. One way to work smarter is to be an organized salesperson. Here is how you can be more organized. Organize your travel. Certainly you plan your travel in advance so you maximize the customer time you have in each city. Travel today is more of a hassle than ever. One way to make it … [Read more...]
Small Sales Strategies That Mean Big Results in Sales
They say good things come in small packages. In sales big results can come from small strategies. Why not think about these small strategies so you can get better sales results? Follow up can be a small sales strategy. I find that misunderstandings come with poor follow up. The old saying is correct that even the faintest ink is better than the strongest memory. … [Read more...]
Dealing With an Angry Customer
You are going to have to deal with an angry customer no matter how responsive you are in sales or how well you anticipate customer problems. Sure, it would be nice to be able to prevent angry customers, but that is not realistic. Communication is hard and misunderstandings happen. That’s when emotions run hot. You can still work with an angry customer and keep your … [Read more...]