When it’s football season, one saying you often hear is, “Offense wins games. Defense wins championships.” That is also true in sales. Offense — or outbound selling — gets new accounts, but defense keeps them producing revenue year after year. What does playing a strong “defense” mean for a sales pro? It comes down to…
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Sales can seem difficult and out of control unless you know the keys to making the sales process easy. Always be in control. Here are the 3 keys: 1. On every sales call, before the call is over, you must agree on next steps. You can never assume your prospect will follow up. You must discuss…
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I love Dan Pena. He tells the unvarnished truth. He has a great short (30-second) speech that you are 2,000 cold calls from being a millionaire. He’s right. But the problem, as he so truthfully says, is that most people don’t want to be a peddler. Check it out: Yes, most buyers are happy…
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Labeling has become a marketing and branding tool every bit as critical as any other tool in a marketer’s toolbox. Distributors who understand the label market put themselves in a position to expand their books of business and add more value to their customer relationships than ever before. They can do this by helping their…
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About 10 years ago I had some discussions with the owner of a company interested in learning more about Proforma. After a few conversations, he decided to maintain the status quo and not move forward. Fast forward 10 years. I get an email from a consultant telling me that the owner of that company has…
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Three true stories… No. 1 A car salesman is working at the Cadillac dealership on a Saturday afternoon. In walks a man who looks like he just fell off a turnip truck: The man is older, diminutive at about 5’5” and both his overalls and hands are filthy, caked with dirt. The rep thinks, “Well, Pigpen is here. Where are the rest of the Peanuts characters?” before going back to his newspaper. The man circles a few Caddies, looks around, and leaves the showroom. The sales rep watches as he…
Read MoreA while back I asked if it was time to re-think the structure of your sales and client facing teams. Maybe you’ve had some reservations about how to make the transition. If you’re like many company owners, you’ve got an experienced group of sales folks who’ve been selling for years and have some great accounts. They undoubtedly have been with you for years and are great people. They provide the service your clients expect and that has helped to build your company to what it is today. Your frustration though…
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We have all heard the saying that “experience is the best teacher.” While sometimes it may be true, I believe that far more often experience is not the best teacher. First, I’ve met thousands of distributors and sales reps whose sales are very low. Sometimes they will tell me that they have been in the…
Read MoreMy daughter turned me on to Lenny’s Podcast. Lenny Rachitsky has the #1 business newsletter on Substack and is a quiet, unassuming model of what a podcast host should be. He interviews “world-class product leaders and growth experts,” blah, blah, blah. Anywho… One podcast featured an Etsy exec name Tim Holley. Listening while mowing the lawn, I heard Tim say, “We are constantly trying new features. Our failure rate is 80%.” I smiled. That number gave me great comfort. The hardest part about being a sales trainer is coming up…
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I love Ed Mylett. Recently, I heard Ed talk about identifying the individual who holds the greatest importance in believing in our worth and potential. Most of us may think it is of the utmost importance that our prospects believe in us and our value. Fact is, as Ed said, the most important person you…
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