Archive for Category: Backoffice

4 reasons why blaming ‘They’ in Sales weakens you and your sales

Respect yourself, respect the customer and honour your profession—quit passing the buck. “Your account was to be credited yesterday but “they” haven’t done it.” “They” had said that “they” would email you the ticket but it appears they did not. “They” were supposed to have sent you the cheque book last week, you mean “they”

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4 practical ways to resolve Sales vs Operations fights

“Field gets the glory, support gets the job done.” I laughed when I heard this line, by a fellow in IT, in a movie I recently watched. “Field gets the glory, support gets the job done.” Hilarious as I found it, it’s a source of irritation and conflict in many businesses, and the cause of

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Sell internally and externally to succeed in the selling

Sell internally and externally, otherwise you will soon be piping these common lamentations by salespeople. “I was let down by back-office?”, “ Whose job is it?” “Why me?” As a salesperson, where does your job end? Is it after you have delivered the cheque (sold externally)? Is customer service your work? More importantly, is back-office

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How to sell professional services like a plumber

Plumbers, doctors, carpenters, auditors, electricians, accountants all benefit from knowing how to sell professional services First, let’s take a break from matters disease and talk about my plumber. The man is living testimony of how professionals and technical staff can deepen the sale. Now then. Sellers initiate the sale’s relationship; technical staff deepen it. When

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Sellers should understand the buying process

Sellers find processes boring and unnecessary, to their detriment. Yet, as a buyer, do you really want to understand the buying process before you buy? Confused? Read on To begin with, selling is results oriented; buying is process oriented. So? Not understanding this difference may ruin relationships and delay completing the sale (closing). Here are

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How to overcome buyer excuses for not buying in January

Sales people that buy into this, “Bado mapema” mantra struggle with jumpstarting their selling batteries, the more post their holidaying. Buyers have the luxury of excuses for not getting into the thick of (business) things in January but you don’t. The favourite ones include, “Bado mapema, boss” (It’s still too early in the year) and

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What the World Cup teaches us about selling

Strikers in the football team are remembered more than, say, goalkeepers and defenders. Strikers ‘close’, and spectators crave that-goals. The World Cup is a week in, today. Football mania is in the air. And with it, plenty lessons on selling. Here are three. Numbers 64 teams. 32 matches. 1 winner. Those are the numbers that

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