“Rainmakers don’t have excuses. You either made the sale or you didn’t; no-one wants to hear why you didn’t bring in the sale” “Don’t get too excited about this New Year stuff. Only the calendar has changed. The spouse, the job, the targets remain the same.” And since this is a sales, not relationship, column,…
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“Because of Corona…” is fading to an excuse
“Corona, after all, is no longer “imported” but “locally produced” If you’re thinking it, they’ll ask it. So instead of wishing it away, or resigning to fate, address it instead. Think of an appropriate response, dwell on it, experiment with it, iterating it to perfection with every attempt. The result is a liberating experience and…
Continue readingDial into your sellers’ emotions
“Employees are not hugely motivated by their employer’s reasons for change.” As askaris continue to check our body temperatures, so too employers should, their sales people’s emotional temperatures. This article is for those employers that have chosen to retain their sales force in this crisis. We may be mentally settling into the acceptance stage of…
Continue readingDon’t ‘sell’ in this uncertainty, prospect instead
These happy-go-lucky prospecting sellers are adversely affected now. They are the ones that are most likely to say, “We aren’t selling because people are not buying.” If you don’t prospect you ‘die’. If there was ever a time prospecting was key, it is now. But how do you prospect in these uncertain times we’re in?…
Continue readingWhat Nairobi Women’s Hospital saga teaches us about selling
“Because all the greedy bank wanted was accounts, the salespeople went into survival mode. Forging customer signatures, they proceeded to open two million accounts and put them down as ‘cross-sells’.” What does Nairobi Women’s Hospital (NWH) have in common with Wells Fargo and Microsoft in the United States? Proof that when you run a business…
Continue readingFirmly tie discounts to payment duration
You cannot pay school fees or buy food with a signed contract. In any case, a sale is considered closed when cash is received. Before agreeing to that discount, find out how long the payment will take. Duration as a bargaining chip is elusive to most sellers, and the consequences can be frustrating; some even…
Continue readingDecember is the month for closing, not selling
December is not the time to say, “Is a meeting next week on Thursday at 10am a good time to meet, or is Friday same time better? I’d like to present our product?” If the latter is your lingo, you have 2019 to amend that. December not only closes the year but ‘hanging’ sales too….
Continue readingHow exams results’ queries rhyme with buyer behaviour
In many ways the obsession with total marks and not how they were arrived at, is reminiscent of how buyer’s buy-selectively. “What did he get?” This question was asked by millions of Kenyans last week immediately after the results for the national examination (KCPE) were announced. The expected response to a child’s performance in the…
Continue readingAdequate preparation is the cure for most sales mistakes
In all three instances, the seller let down his guard. What about you? What mistake has cost you the sale Let’s talk today of mistakes that can cost us the sale. Years ago, as a novice insurance sales agent, I once landed a huge prospect. I was now in his office, this Chief Engineer of…
Continue readingGatekeepers can make or break the sale
Gatekeepers exercise the basest form of leadership-position authority. Gatekeepers are a challenge to overcome in selling. Not an excuse why you shouldn’t. I’m referring here to askaris (security guards), receptionists and such other personnel who have the capacity to deter you from meeting the buyer as you must go through them. So what to do?…
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