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If Businesses are viewing ‘cold calling’ as a sales activity that they don’t wish to do they are gravely mistaken… If they are not doing some sort of sales activity in the genre then they are missing an important part of their business growth.. Cold calling is a term that sends shivers down most sales peoples spines. And since my last blog it has become apparent that businesses and consumers alike find it horrific to do and horrific to receive. Mindset needs to…

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Over the past few years ‘Cold-Calling’ had become a favored activity of choice to generate Sales as it is believed you can contact large numbers of ‘prospects’ in a short space of time. BUT, I heard that ‘Cold-Calling’ is dead… I have to disagree and here’s why; I was recently at a Seminar when one of the business owners at my table said “cold-calling is dead”. I asked what had replaced it, he had no answer, but to tell me it was a…

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With 2012 off and running, many small businesses are looking to make their return on investment (ROI) more productive than the last 12 months. In the event your company’s sales are lagging behind where they should be, it never hurts to stop and look at the head of sales and see if he or she is properly managing the team. First let it be known, no one is out to criticize the head of sales; just help them to be more productive, not only for individual benefit, but also the team. If your…

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Recording the details of a sales meeting with a pen and paper divides a lot of professional salespeople. Some fear that it can be off putting and that it may even prevent the prospect from sharing information. They say that it can ruin the natural flow of the conversation and makes their questioning technique disjointed and less effective. I remain a firm believer in the value of taking notes, here’s why: Taking notes helps ensure correct selling structure – It assists you to…

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You don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to but… how’s your blog different than others? I mean really different. I don’t mean the design, the content, or even the topic. What gives it an edge over others? Here’s the thing. As the web gets increasingly saturated with blogs – 175,000 created every day; two every second! - we have to find some angle to position your blog. Otherwise, it’s doesn’t get past the noise, right? The first answer is… find a Niche. But that…

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An old professor had a simple, yet powerful formula for pre-qualifying opportunities and markets – that is the 3 Ps of pre-qualification.  Can its application earlier in the sales cycle avoid a lot of set-backs and surprises? Some Professorial Wisdom On Pre-qualification ‘A market is three things, the sales and marketing professor of an international school of business was often found saying: people who fit your profile with a problem and a purse’. While I first heard this definition…

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With many small businesses fighting to keep their heads above waters in today’s trying economy, paying the bills takes on added importance. For those companies who are having trouble collecting payments from clients, the option often turns to hiring a collection agency. But how do you go about hiring the right agency, an agency that will in turn have your best interests at heart? The simple goal of a collection agency is to locate the debtor and acquire the payment while abiding by the Fair…

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In today’s fast-paced sales world, every business is doing pretty much whatever it takes to land and maintain clients. While it oftentimes comes down to finances and customer service, don’t be surprised if some clients are not taking a second look at how your salespeople are showing up dressed for important meetings. As more and more businesses turn to a casual look, it is important to remember that how employees dress inside the office and when they go out for a presentation or follow-up…

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More and more professional buyers are adopting a ‘fortress mindset’ in their approach to dealing with sellers. In short, they have erected defences that are designed to keep sellers at bay. In this article, we examine how you can encourage buyers to lower their defences. Buyers have grown increasingly protective of how buying decisions are made. As a result, they may go to great lengths to guard information and access. They are also resolute in their defence of the competitive…

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So, has business changed much for you over the past few years? Regardless of where you are in the world, if you answered “no” to the question above, you can stop reading and go and do something more beneficial with your time. Otherwise you will read the rest of the post, get upset and possibly waste yet more time thinking about how wrong I am. Are you still reading? So you may be intrigued… well that’s healthy. Welcome to my world! For those of you who have been reading my…

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