A salesperson’s most precious resource is their time -- it’s all they have to sell. And yet because of the independent nature of the world of selling, most sales professionals are not good time managers. The number one challenge sales professionals face today is time poverty; people feel there is not enough time to do all that they need to do. The focus of the podcast is to address key challenges facing sales professionals today, including managing priorities between servicing existing clients and selling new clients, territory management challenges and overall organizational skills.
Strategy is a plan to deploy your resources in a way that brings your strengths to bear, creating momentum that leads to victory. You can win without strategy; it’s called luck. Most organizations turn their sales strategy over to their sales force without clear definition. The three point sales strategy of “here’s your cards, here’s your brochures, there’s the door” is still quite common. Salespeople need a mental picture and map of how they plan to win. And, then they need to effectively implement the plan. Strategy is how you intend to achieve your sales objectives; it’s your plan of attack. It is how you plan to allocate resources, what you’re going to sell to whom, where and when. Tactics are the day-to-day detail actions your sales team does to execute the sales strategy. Competitive advantage doesn’t come from awareness of a sales strategy, it comes from consistent execution of your strategy faster than the competition.
Mission, vision and values are qualities that separate top performing companies from their competition. Leaders within companies have a clear picture of the kind of future they want to create, and they have the ability to communicate this vision to others in an exciting way. During this podcast, learn seven keys that that keep your sales organization motivated to achieve higher levels of performance year after year.
Old style prospecting consisted of closing and overcoming objections, essentially arm wrestling prospects into seeing you and eventually buying from you. Today, in a few minutes you can send out e-mail broadcasts to qualified prospects and clients. And while you are wrapping up a sale, your computer can crack out twelve letters a minute. And who knows how many people can check your latest quote on your web page? During this podcast, learn a client acquisition system including email, fax and internet strategies.
In a sales conversation, the person who asks the questions has the control. Top performing salespeople are invariable those who confidently and deliberately control the sales process, leading rather than following. The quality of the sales professional’s questions and his/her ability to ask them in a logical sequence is what demonstrates to the prospect that they are a complete professional, knowing what they are doing every step of the way. In this podcast, you will learn a common sense strategy to prepare specific questions in advance, to improve the likelihood of uncovering real wants and needs that move the sale forward.
The winning edge principle says small differences in ability can lead to enormous differences in results. The difference between top performers and the average or mediocre performers is not a huge difference in talent or ability. Often, it is just a few small things done consistently and well, over and over again. We know that human beings are extraordinarily influenced by suggestive elements in their environments, especially the human elements. In this audio session, learn the suggestive influence skills of a calm, confident, relaxed sales advisor that communicate value to the client at every step of the sales process.
We all make our livings selling something to someone. Everyone works on commission. All of us are paid both tangibly and intangibly, on the basis of how well we sell ourselves, our ideas, and our products and services to others. It is not a matter of whether you sell or not, it is only a matter of how good you are at it. All sales success is based on these three principles. They are practiced consciously or unconsciously by every top performing sales professional. The regular application of these principles is guaranteed to dramatically improve the performance of any sales person.
The sales world is changing, and you should be aware of the impact of the changing tastes of your customers and how it effects your business. Age plays a critical role in customer buying decisions. In fact, the generation into which we are born has as much impact on buying and purchasing decisions as income and education. Our shared experiences determine what motivates us toward or away from a sale. By selling effectively to the next generations, you in turn, effectively sell to all the generations. By honing your message, becoming more technologically proficient and using multiple communication channels, you will not only reach the Millennials, but all generations. Draw inspiration from this influential generation, and create a business and sales strategy that is not only innovative, but relevant.
Sales coaching is the key ingredient that makes your performance improvement strategies, your training program work. Without commitment from managers to inspect what they expect, there is little chance that the sales team will change their behavior. Coaching utilizes the same skills as effective selling: listen carefully, make recommendations, and follow up. With Sales Coaching, follow these steps even more carefully than usual.
Whether you are in manufacturing, distribution, financial services or technology, it is becoming more and more difficult to remain competitive. One of the untapped areas for competitive differentiation is your service approach. In this podcast, I present 21 ideas on how to create a sales and service culture, where everyone in your company is committed to creating a terrific customer experience.