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Listen, respond and be normal…..

I’m always shocked how weird people can be in “sales” meetings. It’s interesting to me why people change and act in the ways they do when they know someone is after the “sale”. And it goes both ways. Sales people and clients are both at fault. But it’s up to the sales people to tear down the walls of tension immediately. I think a lot of this tension and can be resolved by having some very simple…

150 high performing reps had this in common……

I’m sitting in a conference room in 2013, waiting for the Vice President of Sales to enter the room. I’m 28 years old and I’m one week into my new sales role for a multi-billion dollar home care company. I’ve only been official working for 5 years and had been only working in sales for the past 2 years. The VP enters the conference room with a warm greeting and introduces himself. Before he gets…

Maintaining a positive mindset

I recently interacted with a reader who asked me about stress management and ways of staying motivated and keeping a positive frame of mind while selling. I think it’s clear that if a sales person is able to maintain a truly positive mindset, that in itself is the best antidote for sales related stress. My first reaction when thinking about this was, “I think I wrote about this, didn’t I?” I…

How to appreciate Cold Calling (Part II-My Script)

Here ya go folks. A step by step guide to cold calling. This is exactly what I do everyday. Yes, everyday. I’ve been using this formula for about 2 years now and it hasn’t failed me yet. I only spend about 30-45 minutes cold calling each day. I’ve covered a few areas as they relate too cold calling listed below under: Mindset, Preparation, Strategy, Gate Keepers. These sort of complete the whole…

This cost me a huge sale

A few months back I learned a hard lesson. Looking back on it, I can’t believe I missed it. But I did. And it cost me the sale. Well, it cost me distribution for my product that would have resulted in big sales. Either way, I failed. The good thing is after replaying the meeting back with my manager, we were able to pin point where I went wrong. I obviously didn’t realize it at the time but I now…

Educating customers without making them defensive

We all sell something. Products, information, services, the list goes on. Part of selling our stuff requires us to provide information to our prospects. Asking pointed questions and being inquisitive is an important exercise to help us gain information from the prospect. We need their information in order to solve a problem they have, I’m sure we can all agree on that. But at some point we have…

Sales Guilt. Do you have it?

Do I have your attention now? I hope so because this is a topic I’ve struggled with for years and I know new and experienced reps fight this everyday. I don’t see this discussed very often and I’ve tried to find resources to help but I typically don’t find much so I’m excited to discuss this. What is “Sales Guilt?”  I define Sales Guilt as the slow building, anxiety plaguing guilt that stems from…

How to appreciate cold calling

Let’s face it, Cold Calling might be one of the most awkward and difficult tasks to complete in sales. It’s interruptive, nerve racking and unnatural. It can also be the secret weapon for lead generation when used properly. Many will tell you cold calling is dead. They’ll tell you it’s not effective and even damaging to your business. Let me be the first to tell you that Cold Calling as been the…

3 ways to achieve the ultimate sales mindset

Your mindset sets the tone. It’s your temperature gauge. It drives your sales activity day in and day out. In sales, mindset is akin to the body’s need of water. As a sales people we need to refuel with motivation techniques and daily reminders of why we do what we do. If we go long enough without mindset fuel it gets harder and harder to operate at the level we want. Below are 3 tips I use and…

Closing like a professional

When did closing a sale become so complicated? If you find yourself in a closing situation, you’ve done the heavy lifting. You made the call or email. You set the appointment. You showed up. You asked the right questions. You answered their questions. You brought them value and solved their problems. Now it’s time for the easiest part, ask for the business! But ask for the business like a human…

5 underrated tips for the sales newbie

Whether you are a new business owner or early in your sales career, finding the right sales education is important. There’s no shortage of sales advice out there but the problem is entry level sales advice is typically shallow and rarely gives explanation as to why certain techniques and strategies may be more effective than others. “Ask questions….” “Have a goal in mind…” “Ask for the sale….”…

Do you respect yourself? (as a salesperson)

Are you pushing product? Are you interrupting someone’s day to reach your sales goal? Are you wasting other’s time? Are you allowed in the building? Are you are too aggressive? Is your product/service necessary? If you’re a sale’s professional then at some point these questions have popped in your head and maybe you’ve answered yes to all or some of them. But are the above questions your…

Finding purpose in the Status Quo

This post is not about ways to improve your attitude, it’s about illustrating what’s possible when you master a purposeful and positive mindset and apply it to your current sales role. Attitude specifics are not important yet because you’ll likely never fully commit or engage in attitude best practices unless you fully grasp how this mindset can impact your daily activity. This is about the…

Do you respect yourself? (as a salesperson)

Are you pushing product? Are you interrupting someone’s day to reach your sales goal? Are you wasting other’s time? Are you allowed in the building? Are you are too aggressive? Is your product/service necessary? If you’re a sale’s professional then at some point these questions have popped in your head and maybe you’ve answered yes to all or some of them. But are the above questions your…