“The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.” Vidal Sassoon “The world remembers Thomas Edison as an inventor, but he was also a spectacular salesman. Edison understood that simply inventing a product, no matter how useful, was not enough. He knew that he also had to sell his product to the […]
If You Love Sales—Then Pass This On
“We are all salesmen every day of our lives.” Charles M. Schwab Whenever I’m at a used bookstore, I always browse the business section. There is gold in those isles. I found a short book called, The Salesman’s Book of Wisdom, by Dr. Chriswell Freeman, and the introduction on “The Joy of Selling” was so […]
Summer Sales Slow? Five Things to do NOW!
I don’t know about you, but right after July the 4th business seems to slow down and then it limps along until September. There is business to be had, of course, but the excitement and urgency of the first half of the year seems to have evaporated in the heat of the days. What happened? […]
The 5 Secrets to Get Your Email Returned
Tired of your emails not getting returned? If you’re a sales rep who is sending emails and waiting….and waiting for responses that never come, then why not use some best practices that will give your emails the best chances of getting a response. Here are 5 things you can begin doing right now: Email Secret […]
Three Ways to Get a Prospect to Respond
I received this question from a reader of my blog last week: “Mike, I have a question for you. “Being that people are more accessible with iPhones, text, laptops, computers, email, messenger, FB, Instagram to name a few, why are business owners/decision makers so hard to reach? It’s almost like they are hiding. They don’t even […]
One Technique to Avoid Ghosting
We’ve all been through it: You set an amazing demo or presentation call and, and…they don’t show up! Or, you have an amazing and, what you think is an, engaging demo call and you set a call back and, and…they don’t show up! “What’s wrong?” you think. “Why didn’t I see that coming?” Wouldn’t it […]
Gatekeeper Best Practices
Last week I was contacted by the American Association of Inside Sales Professionals and asked if I would share my best practices for dealing with the gatekeeper. Sure! I said. In under 10 minutes they recorded a slide presentation, and I want to share that with all of you. Do pass this on to others […]
Getting Buy-In Before Going Over Price
Want to instantly make asking for the sale easier? Then make sure and get buy in that your prospect is sold on your solution before you go over pricing options. If your sale cycle involves giving a demo or presentation that includes showing pricing options, then a mistake you may be making is moving into […]
The Harder You Work, The Luckier You’ll Get
I was working with a sales manager last week—he manages a team of 20 inside sales reps with a direct report manager who helps manage half that team—and I asked him what kind of producer he was when he was selling. “I was number one!” he answered proudly. “And if you look at your team […]
Metrics—Which One is Most Important?
Feeling a little overwhelmed by all the new technology that seems to come out every month (almost every week)? If you’re like most companies, then you’ve probably got enough technology in place to measure just about everything: talk time, conversion rates, number of demos being given, lead flow and lead placement in the funnel—top end, […]