Blog

There’s been much talk about the future of the sales profession. Yet, there are steps salespeople can (and should) take right now, not just to survive, but to thrive!

Many cars today tell the driver when it is time to perform maintenance. Even better, some tell the driver that maintenance is needed in 1,000 miles with updates along the way. It would be great if as a business executive or small business owner, you had this kind of technology at your fingertips. Unfortunately, managing a sales organization will always be a manual effort. Sure, CRMs and contact managers help, but there is no technology that replaces the leadership associated with sales management. Not sure where to dig into your sales organization? Here are twelve areas that will show just how game ready you are.

Here’s a typical exchange between a prospect and a salesperson when this common sales objection is raised

“I’m confused. I’ve had great meetings with the right people in the organization. They said that our product looks terrific…but that was 8 months ago. I’ve continued to call…followed-up by email…still no decision. I know that the competitor hasn’t gotten the business. If they love the product, why aren’t they buying?”

Let’s be honest, sales is hard, and nobody really plans to get into sales. For many of us, a career in sales was not our dream job. We didn’t stand up in front of our Grade 1 class and announce our intentions to be sales people. We all wanted to be astronauts, doctors, scientists, policeman or veterinarians.
A profession in sales often kinda just happens. We graduate school, don’t know what we want to do or be and get a job selling something.  Next thing we know, 30 years has passed.
Now that you are in sales, the question becomes what kind of sales person are you? Are you a

What are the biggest mistakes salespeople make with PowerPoint presentations?

Too Product / Service Oriented and Too Many Slides

Most salespeople totally miss the point of their presentation, thinking that the more they can cover about their company and its products and services, the better they’ll be. As a result, their presentations have ballooned to 40 – 60 slides.

Everyone knows and expects prospecting to be laborious. Often we hear people say that it’s a “numbers game”. Well … that is true. If you don’t make the calls & put in the effort you won’t success no matter how good your strategy & skills are. But … imagine your results if you put forth the necessary effort in an effective and productive way. Here’s how:

Maybe? You read a lot about differentiation in sales, there is almost an obsession with it. But is different better, or just different? Sales as an industry or tribe seems to think that different is better, maybe even believe that it is, or they just need to feel that it is. But as with many things, the reality will vary based on the specifics. Many sellers and marketers want to believe that their buyers want something “different”, but that is not always true, certainly not anywhere near the degree that sellers and marketers want it to be.