How Win/Loss Analysis Can Improve Your Sales Performance
Win/loss analysis, the process of differentiating why one sales effort wins and others fall short of the mark, has long been a basic tool in the competitive intelligence toolbox. Most companies conducting win/loss analysis make some changes in the way they go to market based on findings.
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/1220.html
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12.20.04 |
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7
Ways To Stop Selling & Start Building Relationships
Sometimes
we can all use a friendly reminder to keep us from backsliding
into old ways of thinking about selling that lead us
down the wrong path with potential clients.
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/1209.html
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12.09.04 |
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Managing
The Sales Negotiation Process
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Assumptions
- The Hidden Sales Killer
Assumptions
can kill a sale. In my sales training workshops, I frequently
discuss the importance of not making assumptions about
a person before, during, or after the sales process.
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/1104.html
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11.04.04 |
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How
To Increase Sales With Automation Improvements
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Are
You Selling Value?
There
is more to selling than offering the lowest price. In
fact, sometimes "value" has absolutely nothing to do
with price. If you are not offering a total solution
that meets the critical needs of your prospect, then
your buyer will likely buy from someone who can. Value
is an extremely part of the selling equation.
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/1011.html
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10.11.04 |
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Eliminating
Objections To Increase Sales
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Is
Your Sales Process Foolproof?
A
lot of energy is expended within selling organizations
as they try to identify, adopt, and administer a sales
process that works for them.
The holy grail of selling is to find a foolproof method
for creating a customer, the ultimate finished product
of the perfect sales process. Prepare to be disappointed.
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/0902.html
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09.02.04 |
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Why
Saying No Can Make Your Sales Rate Soar
Yes,
it's true. Saying "No" is a great way of getting people
to want what you've got even more.
The problem is, most small businesses rarely say no
to anyone, so they never get to see the power of this
two- letter word in action. While it's always a risky
strategy, saying "No" can be a really good way of making
your business even more desirable.
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/0708.html
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07.08.04 |
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Preparing
Sales For The Future
Distributors
no longer have a lock on information needed by customers
to make purchasing and sourcing decisions, since manufacturers
and online sources will increasingly make such information
more readily available. As a result, the salesforce’s
perceived value in educating customers about new products
and in-use applications will be significantly eroded.
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/0617.html
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06.17.04 |
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Transforming
Objections Into Selling Points
You've
been working with a prospect, moving closer and closer
to a sale. Just before you clinch the deal, they decide
to go with a competitor's product or service. They may
say that your firm is too small, or you charge too much
or they decided to work with a friend in the business
after all, or all of the above. How do you keep this from
happening again?
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/0610.html
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06.10.04 |
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Focus
On A Trade, Not A Discount
Smart
buyers will always ask for a better price. Unfortunately,
too many sales people and business owners automatically
think that reducing their price is the most effective
way to respond to this request.
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/0603.html
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06.03.04 |
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How
To Really Make Money With Datafeed Merchants
I
am not going to describe what a product feed (or a datafeed)
is. There is a lot of information out there about how
to use one to build sites. Instead, I want to talk about
how you can actually make more sales with datafeed sites.
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/0527.html
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05.27.04 |
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Hewlett-Packard
Customers Showing "Brand Love"
Allison
Johnson is the Senior Vice President, Global Brand and
Communications for Hewlett-Packard and she delivered a
keynote address this morning on "The Changing Role of
Interactive in Global Marketing."
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/0525.html
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05.25.04 |
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Overheard
On The Street - On A "Sell" Phone?
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7
Steps To Test Prices And Convert More Sales
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Five
Things More Important To Buyers Than What You’re Selling : Part
I
No
matter what customers say they want, what they’re
really looking for is "something special." They
can’t quite describe it, but when they find it,
they know.
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/0506.html
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05.06.04 |
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New
Science of Selling and Persuasion
Bill
Brooks, one of the country’s most recognized sales
and sales management consultants, has spent almost 30
years working with over 2,000 companies to improve their
sales effectiveness - all the while quietly observing
and studying what his most successful clients do on a
day-to-day basis to dominate their market and essentially
drive their competitors to their knees.
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/0503.html
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05.03.04 |
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Losing
The Big-One: Salvaging Lost Accounts
After
careful consideration, we have chosen our vendor, and
it’s not you."
Hard words to hear. That big deal, the account you’ve
been courting for months, has fallen to someone else.
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/0429.html
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04.29.04 |
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How
To Eliminate Price Objections
Virtually
every person in sales experiences price objections. Unfortunately,
the majority of sales people take the wrong approach and
try to box customers into a corner by asking questions
such as:
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/0408.html
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04.08.04 |
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Differentiate
And Grow Rich: The Importance Of A Strong USP
"With
50 other companies selling the same products and services,
why should I do business with you rather than one of your
competitors?"
The number of competitors you face as an online merchant
grows daily. If you can’t answer that one question, it’s
only a matter of time before you go out of business.
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/0405.html
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04.05.04 |
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Who's
Driving Your Product?
A
colleague of mine is in a difficult situation - or so
he thinks! He and a partner have developed a CD-based
learning aid to be used in tertiary education institutions.
They both have inside knowledge of what students require,
they are well qualified in their field, and they know
how to produce the product. So what's the problem?
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/0401.html
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04.01.04 |
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Selling
B2B Services - Converting Warm Leads Into Eager Clients
One
of the difficulties in selling a service is that potential
clients (we'll call them "prospects" here) often don't
know whether they should be using what you provide.
Your prospect has a problem, but they may not understand
how your service can help them. And even if they've tried
a similar service in the past, or used a competitor, they're
still not sure how your service will compare to that experience.
They are full of doubts.
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/0318.html
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03.18.04 |
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Getting
Past The Price
I've
written previously about how to attract customers and
how to manage the sales process. But one thorny issue
keeps popping up for my clients… what should they do when
a potential customer asks "How much will it cost?" as
one of their opening lines.
This focus on price is often a clue to indicate the prospective
client may lack knowledge about what you really do. After
all, if you were to engage someone else to do your work,
you'd want to know more about them than just the price.
Sounds obvious doesn't it.
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/0310.html
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03.10.04 |
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Maximize
Selling Efficiency By Minimizing $PACE
Contact
ALL the market niche customers once - Play the percentages.
Do it in such a way they will want to talk to you.
This is the step where many companies are weak. However
it is not easy. All those potential customers out there
are stressed for time. They do not want to be badgered
by another salesperson. Yet you want to get their attention
and get them to act. How do you do that?
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/0303.html
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03.03.04 |
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Client
Demands That Are Tough Or Impossible To Meet
In
spite of your best efforts to meet client expectations,
requests, and demands, there are times when you can't
deliver exactly what the client wants and/or exactly when
he or she wants it. When you can't meet a client demand,
meet a time line, or deliver in spite of your best efforts,
how you handle the situation can make a tremendous difference
in how the client feels about it.
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/0223.html
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02.23.04 |
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Business
Ethics: How The Sales Function Can Transmit Company Values
I
recently got a “thank-you” call from a man who read my
new e-book Buying Facilitation. “Boy,” he said, “this
method sure helps me close more deals and make more money.
Thanks!”
“Glad I could help. Is that all you’re
looking for? To make more money?”
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/0218.html
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02.18.04 |
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Lead
Generation: What Is It Worth?
Sales
has become an ideology with the following obvious facts
denied (in service of the status quo):
1.
the act of selling is a solution in search of a problem;
2. by its nature (product sale), sales
counteracts/contradicts the ability to discover a buyer
efficiently, thereby necessitating the spaghetti-on-the-wall
syndrome;
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/0216.html
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02.16.04 |
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Sales
Call Reluctance
I
recently read of an Award winning salesman who in 1951
was known as 'The King of Cold Calls'. The article analysed
his approach and the key to his success was that to him
cold calling was actually fun.
So, why don't we all see it that way ? The answer is what
is known as Call Reluctance. Research indicates that this
is an emotional hesitation experienced by people when
selling - an anxiety that stops them taking action.
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/0211.html
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02.11.04 |
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Save
Your Breath: How To Sell In Trade Shows Without Pitching
You
stand there, in front of your great presentation material,
wearing just the right suit or logo shirt, handing out
some gimmick with your company name on it, wearing just
the right smile or look of professionalism. You might
even have a fishbowl at the table - or some type of contest
material - to collect business cards of passers by for
later use in your sales process. But the worst part of
doing a trade show is losing your voice.
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/0209.html
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02.09.04 |
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Exercise
Your Ears
How
often have you heard it said "Salespeople don't listen?"
What does it mean not to listen? When clients say salespeople
don't listen, they usually don't mean that during the
sales call salespeople zone out. Few salespeople do that.
In fact, most salespeople do try to listen. Yet they are
perceived as not listening. So for 2004 let's start by
exercising our listening skills.
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/0202.html
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02.02.04 |
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How
To Effectively Cold Call Leads
As
network marketers we do a major part of our business by
calling leads. For a person just starting out this can
be rather intimidating and too often a person doesn't
know how to "open" up a call, gets a lot of rejection,
and then decides this isn't for me.
Today I'd like to give you the opening that I have been
using with good success. It's short, to the point, friendly,
yet business like.
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/0126.html
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01.26.04 |
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What
Is A Proposal And Why Do You Need One?
Do
you know anyone who regularly wins bids? Or can boast
a balanced relationship between doing the hard work of
producing proposals and regularly winning the business?
I’m always amazed at how much energy people put into responding
to a Request For Proposal (RFP) in relation to the level
of success – or non-success – they realize. And yet they
continue to put time and resources into this relatively
unproductive activity.
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/0121.html
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01.21.04 |
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Facilitating
Your Prospect's Discovery Process
Our
job is to help our clients find their best answers. We
work hard at understanding what they need, what will solve
the problem. We study the problem and all of its ramifications,
call a colleague or two to discuss it fully, and come
up with a solution that we think will fix the problem.
We understand it's our job to offer the support and information
that will lead the customer to his/her best solution.
http://www.salesnewz.com/2004/0119.html
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01.19.04 |
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