If you are saying to yourself “But I’m not the creative type, this does not apply to me” allow me to challenge that notion for the moment and coax you to read on. People tend to like “familiarity” because in most cases it makes our life that much easier. Think about this. When you walk into your favorite grocery store, you know your way around, you know where everything is. You could run in, get what you are looking for and be out of there. But what if they...
If your answer to “How are you?” seems to always be “BUSY”, this may be a good time to take a closer look at your most valuable resource. How can you make sure that “busy” also means productive? How can you take control of your time? First make the decision that now is the time and commit to the following: Your time audit When it comes to planning, there is only one thing worse than not knowing where you are going, and that is to not know where you...
Encouraging the involvement of your whole organization in your marketing, selling and customer service efforts has this as one of its many positive results: the more integrated you become with your customer’s organization the more solid the relationship will be. The basic premise is that the more time you and your customers invest in understanding how to best work together, integrating processes, and developing effective communication channels for mutual feedback, the less likely they will be to switch suppliers when otherwise might be tempted to do so. This is...
… and one from the archives. I wrote this article a few years ago and even though the examples are a bit old, all of the principles are relevant and apply just as well today. ———- The effects of the severe economic downturn have been felt throughout the marketplace. This has lead to problems for companies in most industries, your customers included. All indicators to date show that we may not see significant improvement anytime soon. Times are still tough.So, what does your company do when the going gets...
This one is an old story and even though it’s not exactly a selling situation, it is a great example of just how important it is to 1) be prepared, and 2) ask the right questions. It seems that the wet-behind-the-ears reporter was on his first assignment covering the 1995 Grand Prix of Cleveland with his sights set on an interview with Paul Newman. After hours of hanging around the star’s tent for an interview, he finally had his chance. “Mr. Newman, what do you think of Cleveland?” squeaked...
To begin our discussion on Prospecting, let’s start with a word association game: If I said, “Closing the Sale” you’d probably respond with words such as relief, commitment, excitement, success, happy days, etc. If I said, “Prospecting” your response might not be so positive. Words that usually come up are ouch, root canal, nightmare, pulling teeth, lots of work, etc. Unfortunately you’re not going to be “Closing” much without “Prospecting.” If prospecting brings you (and/or your sales team) visions of misery, read on and keep in mind that it really...
Lately I’ve been feeling like the less I do, the more I actually get done. Allow me to explain. Real quick though, let me just check some e-mail messages that came in as I was writing this. Actually, while I’m at it, now is probably a good time to take a peek at my Twitter feed (Cool – 4 RTs!). And I’ll sign in on Facebook, too. You know, just in case a client decided to “friend” me or something. Anyways, where were we? Oh wait, one more thing,...
What is “sales channel management,” and how can we implement it in an effective manner? Before we get too far into this discussion, let’s first identify the exact meaning of the word “channel” (courtesy of www.dictionary.com): A course or pathway through which information is transmitted. A route of communication or access. Often used in the plural. That through which anything passes; means of passing, conveying, or transmitting. For the purposes of our discussion, let’s define “sales channel(s)” as “the means through which we convey (and receive) sales related information.” ...
“Can you hear me now? No? Really? How about now, better? Ok, hold on, ahmmm, how about now? Oh good, ok, so, what I was trying to say… ” No, this is not a new take on an old commercial. It was actually an attempt at a conversation I happened to overhear while waiting for a cup of coffee at a convention hall’s concession stand. There are so many points to be made about the “appropriateness” of this call but let’s focus on this: When making a call, especially...
Sales compensation is a crucial factor in motivation. It is the sales executive’s best strategic tool to drive sales performance and motivate specific selling behaviors. When designing sales compensation plans, one of the most important steps is to identify the appropriate measures on which your sales representatives will be paid. A combination of salary, commission and bonus is usually most effective. The question then becomes how to successfully blend all three that will entice achievers, as well as reward them according to performance. Nevertheless, the plan needs to be...
