You’re hiring salespeople, right? So, at a minimum, the sales candidate should know how to sell himself. That’s why, when you’ve completed all the rest of the interview and testing process, you should ask what I call the last question, “Why should we hire you?” This gives the salesperson one last opportunity to sell himself…
DetailsThat’s it! If it’s that simple, why aren’t more people successful in sales? Once again, the answer is relatively simple: They either don’t fully understand or know how to apply the basic fundamentals. So, just what are these mystical basic fundamentals of selling that seem to elude so many people? Well, before we explore some…
DetailsWhy do we use social media, be it personally or professionaly? To be heard. This was my takeaway from the recent Edison Research survey, which indicated that 25% of Facebook users visit the network five times or more a day. And when they visit, they pay more attention to interactions with their posts than the…
DetailsThe winds of change are impacting the sales profession. These changes are being brought about, for the most part, by the changes that are occurring in the buying arena. Unlike selling which is a full-contact sport, buying has moved to being a non-contact sport for many things. The Internet and other media have replaced the…
DetailsEvery great author has a trilogy and this is mine. Well actually I’m not really a great author, but this is part of a trilogy. This is the third article on the topic of onboarding salespeople. For the uninitiated, “onboarding” is what happens after you successfully complete the arduous process of hiring a new salesperson.…
DetailsAccording to an article in the Harvard Business review, 33% of all hiring decisions are decided on appearance alone. This is great for people who use this technique as all they need is a photo or video of the candidate to make their decision on.
DetailsAt the beginning of every sales call your prospect is making two critical buying decisions. The first decision is about the salesperson. Behavioral research states that initial impressions are created within the first 20 seconds of meeting someone. So it is critical to differentiate oneself and one’s offering in the initial phase of a meeting.…
DetailsWhy in the world would you want to take your prospect’s temperature? You’re not a doctor. Well, it’s not your prospect’s body temperature I’m suggesting you take. It’s your prospect’s buying temperature. Testing the Water Just like you might test the water before you jump into a swimming pool to see if the water temperature…
DetailsThere is absolutely no doubt that persistence is a key element for sales success. But where does persistence stop and being a pest begin, and when is being persistent just plain dumb? This is not a problem for most salespeople because, as a general rule, they give up far too soon in the selling process.…
DetailsIf you’re going to sell anything, you must deal with real prospects. Your challenge as a salesperson is to separate the real prospects from the unreal ones. That’s what qualifying a prospect is all about. Finding real prospects is not difficult but too few salespeople do it and end up wasting their time trying to…
DetailsIt’s been almost ten years since I last went on a rant about the sales “profession” and what we can do to make it even more professional. So, here I go again! First off, I want to say that I’ve been in sales for over thirty years and I’ve been proud to call myself a…
DetailsNo one likes sticker shock, not you and certainly not your prospect. The last thing you want when you mention your final price is for the prospect to gasp, clutch his heart and keel over. That’s why it’s wise to prepare your prospect for what’s to come in terms of the financial investment he will…
DetailsI’ve blogged in the past about sales candidates who have a propensity to be verbose and why you may want to avoid them (huge timewasters). Whenever I’m tasked to do an interview with someone who our Sales Temperament Assessment has flagged as being over-social, I use the following technique to see if the person has…
DetailsRemember the old saying, Sell the sizzle, not the steak? Well, it’s still alive and well but not used by many salespeople. Most of them are still trying to only sell the steak. How boring! “Sell the sizzle” is just another way of suggesting you use a bit of showmanship in your selling. Mind you,…
DetailsEvery salesperson eventually falls upon slow times. Whether it’s a regular seasonal slump, marketplace readjustment, or economic downturn, it happens to all of us. What salespeople do during these slow selling times is what separates the wheat from the chaff, the good from the bad, and the professional from the amateur. Slow Time Blues In…
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