Sales Perspective

Effective Listening “Cold Call Training” 1. Clear all distractions a. Set aside time for warm, cold, and client calls b. Close office door c. Post a sign d. Have calendar handy and internet access to make a series of uninterrupted calls 2. Pay attention to the details a. 100% attention to every thing the prospect says at that moment i. Listen for fact or statements ii. Record my impression and feedback what you heard iii. Don't think ahead or think behind, focus iv. Clarify and feed it back 3. Notes, write down important ideas a. Circle key words after the conversation 4. Paraphrase what the speaker is saying in your mind -“If I understand what you're saying is…” or -“Help me understand…” -“Let me make sure I understand…” or -“Let me make sure I heard you…” 5. Listen for opportunities a. Clues b. Needs of the prospect, not what I want to sell 6. Write down questions be...

Jeffrey, I have a customer that I have been servicing for two years, and quite well I might add. I have been available on holidays, weekends, and even help them with design work on product that I don't provide to them. Last week I lost an order for a $65 price difference. Apparently my efforts, at this point, don't override the almighty dollar. How do I address this with my customer? Corey Corey, Meet with them as soon as possible. Review all of your work together. Include everything that you have done for them and with them. Ask them if all of that work was worth $65, or not. Ask them if they will just do business with you and not ask for bids or quotes in the future. If they refuse, that tells you exactly where you are. Keep doing what you're doing and seek relationships with their competition - just like they're doing to you. That might be just the wake-up call they need. Be friendly, but be realistic. This customer is not loyal to you - and you need to find customer...

Persuasion is the process...getting your way is the outcome An excerpt from Jeffrey's newest book,The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way The prime strategy for getting your way is implementing a persuasion process that leads to a positive outcome. The two-word secret of how to be persuasive and how to implement persuasion strategies is manipulation free. Manipulated persuasion is short lived. True persuasion exists when it lasts beyond the moment. Persuasion is a science. You can learn to persuade. You can learn the best ways to persuade in each given situation of your business life, your sales life, and your personal life. Persuasion is an art. Never crossing the line to "pushy." It's showing reserve and poise. In short - being cool. Persuasion is excellent questioning skills beyond excellent communication skills. It's getting the other person to clarify what you want in their mind. Rather than tell them "This is why that happened..." ask "Why d...

When people let you down, and you let it bother you -- it will destroy your long-term relationship with that person. You become frustrated because your expectations are not being met. That frustration will turn into a seed of resentment if you focus on how they let you down (again and again in some cases). Here are some ideas to help align your expectations with their performance: Remember to focus on forgiveness and understanding when people make mistakes. Let people off the hook. Sometimes you just need to give people a pass. It's not always important to show someone they screwed up. Let people make mistakes. Always try to understand. Judge yourself based on your intent. Judge others based on their actions. Try to understand how they could have (or why they would have) forgotten to pass on the message or not called back the customer. Be realistic with what you expect from others. Be forgiving and try to understand when people make mistakes (especially when it affects you), they a...

E-Mail advice from Gitomer There are 100 potential customers in my industry, and they all require my service every ten years. Qualifying them is a matter of finding out who's ready for my service, so I use e-mail. I'm down to, "Are you up this year?" What's the best way to "cold e-mail" without ticking off a potential customer for nine consecutive years? Jason Jason, Pick up the phone! If you have 100 customers -- that's two calls per week for a year. If you can't do that, get out of sales. E-mail is worthless and will be deleted if you have no value-based relationship. Ostensibly, what you're saying in a cold email is: "Can I have some money? Are you ready to give me some money?" Typical of salespeople unwilling to work -- or too foolish to understand that it's the relationship, not the e-mail.

This question came in May 8 from long-time Rule #1 Blog reader, Shane. Phil,I do have a question. I have looked at TSM http://moneycentral.msn.com/detail/stock_quote?Symbol=TSM >. I did the analysis and everything looked good. I got the three greens back about 3 weeks ago. I bought at $10.94. The stock has dropped but I do not have red arrows yet. Should I have sold when it started dropping even though I didn't have red arrows or should I have sold it already? I think this company is just great and plan to continue watching it but I'm afraid I am getting ready to lose some money in the short term on it. Thanks for your advice. My response:Hi Shane,I just looked at the chart and assume you got in at $11 and out at $10.75 - $10.50. I'll grant you that the numbers are decent. A bit scary to see the earnings growth way outpacing the bvps growth but ROIC is awesome. And the MOS seems to be there if you believe in a 20% growth rate and an 18 PE. Now the question is, what's...

My 30 second Forklift Sales Commercial Power and Transportation I provide solutions to help make your warehouse more effecient. My job is to make you look good. So you can attain your personal goals. You might be pursuing more tasks to gain a promotion, wanting more money or having a sense of achievement and accomplishment at the end of each day. We know the chicken crossed the road eventually. The deeper question is HOW did this bird cross the road. And what goods and materials did he take to the other side with him. Most importantly, how quickly did he get there? If you will give me 20 minutes out of your workday, I can demonstrate how you can transport your goods across the road every time with fewer trips.