I come from the sales world. I grew up professionally around salespeople. At the core I’m a sales guy and proud of it. My friends are salespeople. I like salespeople. So salespeople, listen to me when I tell you this. Be very, very careful about how you celebrate your sales victories online. For example, be […]
The Sales Truth I Learned Managing a Band
When I was a younger (and hopefully cooler) man, I played in a band called The Jesters. I started the band with my friend Jim, and we split the duties – he would work on the music and I would get us gigs. Here’s what I learned that would help me sell in every other […]
3 Keys to Creating a Great Sales Contest
I’ve coached a lot of sales managers and leaders on how to drive business with their teams. One of the most common tools they reach for is the sales contest. They tend to think that a good sales contest is the panacea for all their issues – that the only thing keeping their people from […]
5 Rules from Zombie Survivors for Business Development
An undead zombie is shambling towards the lone survivor, arms outstretched, low moan coming from its chest. The plucky hero raises a machine gun in an attempt to ward of the attack and fills the zombie full of lead…but the zombie keeps coming! Because the hero didn’t shoot it in the head! And everyone who’s […]
The Joy of Sales Scripts
Over the years I’ve heard thousands of sales professionals say, “I don’t like using a sales script – it sounds so robotic and stiff and it just doesn’t work.” Actually, let me restate that: Over the years, I’ve heard thousands of unsuccessful sales professionals say that. Successful sales professionals understand that having a script – […]
The Magic Phrase to Handle Sales Objections
One of the reasons people don’t like to sell is that we don’t like rejection. As young children we develop a deep-seated fear of being abandoned by those that we love, and it follows us into adulthood. There’s this subconscious connection that’s created between this fear and a prospect saying no. You’re going to need […]
Back to Basics
I coach and train a lot of salespeople on how to build their business, increase their volume … basically, on how to sell more and sell more often. They are often top performers who have stalled and hit a plateau. When digging in to find what is missing from their business, that gap which has […]
Leaving a Business Voicemail the Right Way
With our headlong rush into social media and email, it seems that it’s become rarer and rarer for us to actually speak to others on the phone. This has definitely led to a decrease in phone skills, and unfortunately for many professionals it’s destroyed their ability to leave a good voicemail message. This problem is […]