Archive for Tag: #SalesLeadership

Your product isn’t the problem: your sales offering might be

Your competitor isn’t always beating you because they have a better product. Often, they have a better sales offering. Sometimes they respond faster. Explain better. Follow up consistently. Make buying easier. Remove friction. Keep their promises. Or they do all six—or, more likely, a combination of some of these. Sales is rarely just about what

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Challenge the customer: push back to add real value

If you just accept what the customer says you aren’t adding value. Challenge the customer. Push back. Respectfully. Let’s unpack that. Challenge the customer: being agreeable isn’t the same as being useful “I want a drill.” “Sure, here.” “Jaza tank” “Sawa, nifungulie.” “I want a Money Market Fund.” “Sure, fill out these forms.” Yes, I

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The sales handoff process: where sales are won—or quietly lost

Most business leaders won’t admit this: their sales team isn’t really closing sales. They’re just starting arguments between departments—and losing “closed” sales in the process. And at the centre of it is a broken sales handoff process, where Sales lands a sale, celebrates it, then tosses it over to Logistics like a hot potato, “It’s

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Here’s how to break the sales-back office stalemate

“Re sales-back office stalemate, remember that back office is there to help, not hurt you—they are a customer just like the paying one.“ The sales-back office stalemate is a scene straight from a cockfight. Back office sees sales as a necessary evil, and Sales sees back office in the same light. Yet the two must

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Your sales attitude shapes your success. Now. Always.

Statistics are an amazing thing-they show you what you want them to. The year ahead promises to be exactly the type of year you believe it will be. The operative word here is believe and your sales attitude is the filter that determines what you see. . There will always be two kinds of salespeople.

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A salesperson’s job never ends: thrive beyond the order

In selling, practice doesn’t make perfect, it makes better. The sales ecosystem being imperfect is something to think about, not dwell upon Dear salesperson, constantly complaining that the system—process or product— is imperfect will only get you sounding like a dripping tap. Repeatedly lumping your entire dismal performance on “the inadequate system” may be what

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Three lessons on risk taking from the Papal visit

Risk-taking comes with the sales territory; it is inevitable if the seller is to grow The Pope was in town several years ago. The Catholic faithful brought Nairobi to a standstill. The last time a religious event experienced that much hype was the beatification (first time I ever heard that word) of Sr. Irene Stefani

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Keep sales momentum: show continual value to win buyers

Buyers are like patients. Assuming they know the root cause of their problems leads to a misdiagnosis— a hit-and-run One of the most self-defeating assumptions sellers make is that the buyer has all the answers about him or his (the buyer) business. Well, breaking news: he doesn’t. Assuming so, kills the sales momentum. To keep

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No budget? Think like a startup and fuel your career growth

When your marketing budget is slashed, selling with no budget becomes a necessity—but it can also become your greatest competitive advantage. Businesses evolve. Sometimes they go through a rough patch and the angry CEO blatantly exposes the thorns and not the roses. “The industry is going through a difficult time. And, as you can see,

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3 lessons in selling from matatu crew

3 lessons in selling from matatu!? You must think I’ve lost it, huh? What lessons can one possibly learn from the manic matatu crew?! Well, here’s three. 1: There is always a way Somehow, the matatu driver will always find a way forward. He will overlap, use the wrong lane to get on to another

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