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Listening Sells Better Than Talking

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:54:11 +0000

I'm a long-time believer in the theory that salespeople can accomplish a lot more listening to customers than they can by talking to them. The stereotypical loud-talking, glad-handing salesperson is not a model that works. So I applaud Ashley Neal's recent blog post, where she lays out the benefits of using your ears.

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Webinar Wednesday #25

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:38:58 +0000

Webinar Wednesday is a celebration of all things webinar. You will find upcoming webinars, links to recorded webinars for those who missed them on the first go-round, and occasional recaps of webinars I recently attended.

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Starting a New Job

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 00:36:55 +0000

If there's anything that can get that butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling started, it's heading in for the first day on a new job. Everyone knows that first impressions are critical. So that first day is actually the most important one, since it will determine how your co-workers and your managers think of you. Nervous yet?

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Selling Process vs. Buying Process

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 22:02:55 +0000

David Brock posted on his blog Partners in Excellence about the difference between the selling process and the buying process, and why both are critical to the sales cycle. He discussed how salespeople once focused solely on the selling process until someone realized that buyers were far more interested in the sales cycle from their point of view, and salespeople switched from a selling process to working their prospect's buying process.

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Using a Cold Calling Script

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 00:51:40 +0000

Many salespeople believe that phone scripts are strictly for minimum-wage telemarketers. There's no doubt that those telemarketers are a great example of how NOT to use a script. If you sound like you're reading from a script, you'll soon be intimately familiar with the 'click' of your prospects hanging up on you.

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Webinar Wednesday #24

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:34:47 +0000

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Sales Interview Questions

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:05:38 +0000

For every job opening today, there are dozens or even hundreds of candidates. In one sense, this is good news for the hiring team because they can pick and choose. But how do you select that perfect person from among hundreds of applications?

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Under Pressure?

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 23:06:54 +0000

I recently came across this article by Michael Pedone, discussing a situation that's become depressingly common of late. A salesperson is hired on salary plus commission, but he makes few or no sales in the first months at his new job... and finally, his employers switch him to commission only. Pedone points out that in this situation the employer isn't necessarily a villain - in tough financial times, the company may not be able to afford that salary if the salesperson isn't bringing in enough revenue to cover it.

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Book Recommendations and Social Selling

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:37:55 +0000

Atlanta Business News posted an article on their website listing the best informational books for salespeople. Most of these are the expected subjects of sales tips and techniques, but Lindgren also includes her favorite book on writing in the list. She explains that, as much of a salesperson's communication is done in writing, it's just as important to know how to write persuasively as it is to speak persuasively.

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Chambers of Commerce

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:19:51 +0000

The Chamber of Commerce is a source of leads, a networking goldmine, and a referral generating machine all rolled into one. Even if you never participate in a single event, you can recoup your membership fee just by using the Chamber directory wisely.

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