People make it complicated. How many salespeople do you know who demand to be taught the "advanced" stuff because they already know the basics? Probably quite a few. This is partly due to ego but is also due to the gap between knowledge and skill. Take open questions as an example... Very few sales or business people do not know what the difference is between an open and a closed question yet few consistently ask good open questions falling back on bullying, predictable closed questions in the heat of a tough sale... This … [Read more...]
Why People Think Salespeople Are Stupid…
May 6, 2008 By 4 Comments
Last week I was on the train travelling back from London having run two of my sales seminars – No Fear Cold Calling and Professional Selling Skills – and I was reading the Evening Standard. On page 12 (Comment - Thursday 1st May 2008) there were a few pieces written by Charlotte Ross and a picture of Kevin and Sara from The Apprentice. Underneath it was written the following… A bunch of true believers Salespeople have always mystified me. This year, most of the Apprentice contestants are drawn from that world, so … [Read more...]
Dealing With Voicemail, 10 Tips For Outwitting The Electronic Sales Prevention Machine
October 15, 2007 By 5 Comments
Do you ever get bored of listening to your clients’ voicemails? Do you grow tired of repeating the same old same old and never getting any call backs? Do you wish there was some magic way to get clients to ring you back? You’re in good company! Complaints about voicemail, the electronic gatekeeper, are one of the biggest issues that many of my seminar delegates face. If only they could avoid voicemails! If only they could speak to more decision makers! If only there was a magical technique for guaranteeing that their prospects … [Read more...]
How Not To Close A Client
April 2, 2007 By Leave a Comment
I love everything about sales and the psychology of selling and I read as much as I can on the subject. I always have a book with me to learn from, to inspire me and to keep me on the sales edge so that I am constantly refining the processes and strategies that I teach in my books, audios, DVDs and seminars... As you might expect I am not particularly squeamish when it comes to closing people down however over the last few nights I have been reading a book on closing written in the mid-1980’s. It is appalling and what’s … [Read more...]
Sales Training Strategies From The Politicians? Whatever Next?
March 25, 2007 By Leave a Comment
So come on - hands up. Who´s been following the shenanigans of our governing politicians? Everyone? No-one? And who cares…? The general consensus of opinion seems to be that people don´t care enough about politics to force politicians to do anything about the current state of affairs. Because few people are saying anything, no-one thinks it really matters whether a politician is true to their word or not…. So what if we’re not in the streets shouting and rioting! Now I don´t think this happens to … [Read more...]
