Archive for Category: Managing Sales Process

Forget job titles! You grow through profitable service

“Forget job titles. There is no sales. There is no service. Choose wisely. There is only profitable service.” “Which is superior? Sales or Service?” I get asked this question, or a variant of it, a lot. It’s also a never-ending debate between field sales people and office staff (commonly referred to as customer service, technical

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Research and explore to find out your buyer’s hidden need

“Research and explore to get close to the need with the focus of a rifle than hope for the best with the pellets from a shotgun” The umbrellas are on sale in the streets. With the chronic blackouts lately, lanterns and emergency lights are too. Hawkers seem to always have just what you need. And

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Think like a business owner for success in sales

One of the challenges many salespeople face is the inability to think like a businessman.This happens because their buyers are businessmen and they are employees. One of the challenges many salespeople face is the inability to think like a businessman. In most instances they get by without having to, but in some they struggle when

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Graduate from courtesy calls to business calls

Buyers are busier than ever; buzzing here and buzzing there to meet deadlines; submit reports; and catch up on WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook. Therefore, “I just called to see how things are” is a misplaced (and irritating) disruption. Graduate from courtesy calls to business calls. You must have missed the funeral. And not just that,

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Change your behaviour in meetings to boost sales

It’s official! Even with the drastic changes in the sales landscape over the past decade, success in selling still depends on what it used to and has always done: adequate preparation. This verdict derives from professors of strategic sales from leading business and management universities globally, backed by practical, primary research from observing over 800

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How to increase your sales at zero cost

There’s good reason why sellers must remain open to possibilities. You increase your sales at zero cost. Wearing blinders to only what you know lends itself to limiting the possibilities of a sale It’s a humid 34 degrees in Malindi. I must obey my thirst. I ask this vendor to sell me pineapple slices. Although he

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Learn the customer habits from January blues

Learn the customer habits. The customers’ habits are not for the seller to judge but for him to work with. This starts by understanding them. January blues offer an opportune time to study the peculiar Kenyan customer and what some sellers have done to accommodate him and progress the sale. The media understands him so

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How to meet your new year sales resolutions

Today you are at the peak of your desire to see through your 2015 resolutions. And 2015 promises to be exactly what you plan it to be. For many, this means that having reached the peak, the only way is down, and January will end with the intense desire dissipated. Many, but not you, the

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Love what you hate about selling and be wowed by the results

Love what you hate. Instead of complaining that the walk-in client only wanted a quote and won’t buy, invite him on a tour of the showroom as the quote is prepared. I drove though three successive fuel stations seeking air for my tires and received three successive, “haifanyi” (the pressure pump isn’t working), and, therefore,

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What qualities make a good sales manager

The qualities of a good sales manager are different. The person who finds themselves in the position of sales manager more often than not gets shocked by the transition. The qualities of a good sales manager are unusual. A sales manager’s job is not everyone’s cup of tea. Selling isn’t a desk job and management

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