‘What this means is that…’ Such a simple phrase, so rarely used, so costly to selling. Here’s what I mean. Technical language necessitates lay explanation Technical language can be found in every industry. This could be industry or institution specific. And what it means at industry level could be different, institution. For instance, Q1 to
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Prospecting is a science, not an art. Prospecting is the never unending quest to seek buyers for your product or service. I’ve said it before, and will keep shouting from the rooftops. If you don’t prospect, you die. If you do not have anyone to buy your product, it’s as good as useless. Quite unfortunately,
When you don’t sell, you close through delivering service excellence. This is what selling through service is. The more if your service or product is sold as a reaction to a query. Not because of any fault of yours but because the nature of your product deems it so. Think selling moving services, coffins, mortuary
Sales contests. The magic ingredient in sales. The importance of sales contests cannot be gainsaid. But what do you mean by sales contests, you ask? Sales contests are, well, contests like any other, in which some win, others lose but overall the team and therefore institution thrives. Or should. The importance of sales contests Why
If you don’t measure it, it won’t happen. If you don’t measure sales performance, it won’t happen. And if you don’t measure process, choosing to measure results instead, good luck! Measuring process is King, measuring results is vanity. Believe it or not there are institutions that don’t measure sales processes. They measure results. Even I
Salespeople take risks. Scratch that. Successful sales people take risks. Mediocre ones colour within the lines. And their (mediocre) results show it. If you are recruiting for a sales person, capacity to take risks should be high on your checklist. If you are recruiting compliance officers, then acting in accordance with set rules it is.
“But we’ve never heard of you, customers keep saying. We could sell more if only Marketing did their job.” Not an uncommon accusation from sales people. Today, I’d like us to look at some sales problems marketing gets blamed for-unfairly. In fact, some problems are simply objections that need handling. They don’t know about us
Insist on face-to-face sales meeting. At the meeting, dialogue, listen, take notes. Get to the nub of the issue. Then consensually agree on way forward. After all, even in a pandemic, we are still social creatures. This piece of advice should be Holy Grail for two sellers. The business to business (B2B) one for whom
To what extent does the product service mix, or service product, mix affect your selling? You see, your product attracts your prospect, but your service retains your customer. A majority of products carry with them an element of service but in varied degrees. The hospitality industry, for instance, has a heavy dose of both. Take
Ask for sales referrals. Prospects don’t volunteer them unsolicited. A sales referral is perhaps the most powerful weapon in a sales person’s arsenal. A sales referral happens when an existing customer or prospect gives the name (that is, refers) of another potential buyer, to the sales person. This means that asking for referrals is a