You probably don’t ask your prospects directly on sales calls, “Can we get vulnerable for a minute?” But in reality, that is what you’re requesting. Vulnerability. When you sell something, you’re asking your prospect to make a change and admit that they could be doing something better than they are now. Change requires admission that [...]
Maybe this sounds familiar: you’re working with a great prospect. You know you can serve them in a way no one else can. You’re sure can help them achieve outcomes far beyond their expectations and you’re pretty darn sure they’re committed to working with you, but they haven’t pulled the trigger on signing the contract [...]
My wife is a big fan of author Rob Bell’s perspective on wisdom, spirituality, and life, and I often overhear his podcast playing in the living room. The RobCast is loaded with perspective, and not surprisingly, it translates well to the business world. I’d like to share a few gems from this particular episode on [...]
When quotas and deadlines loom, the temptation to press your prospects can be strong. These are the frantic, palms-sweating moments that throw some of you (you know who you are) into a tailspin. But hitting the panic button and deciding to press is counterproductive. The key to getting home is not a frantic push. It's [...]
Your prospecting mode means a whole lot less than you think it does. Fundamentally, effective prospecting happens when you interact with people who can say yes to you. Prospecting methods have evolved over time and continue to differ across industries, but the principle remains: the mode doesn’t matter as much as the message. The evolution [...]
Selling is hard. There is no way around it. Even high-achieving salespeople fail twice as often as they succeed. It’s critical to keep your wits about you in this line of work. That’s where swagger comes in. I could write an entire ebook about swagger (and someday I might). Swagger is your inner rock star. [...]
At many gyms, you see a lot of people there for show. When you peak behind the curtain, it's clear there's no foundational strength. It's not that different in sales. There are many salespeople who are loud and flashy, but when you dig a bit deeper, you see that the people who are yelling the [...]
As a sales professional, you're always working to earn attention. One of the most effective ways to earn attention is by establishing a reputation as a trusted industry expert. When you’re recognized as an expert, you can enter into a business relationship as trustworthy resource and peer. Trust is gold, because you must establish trust before [...]
Successful sales prospecting starts with understanding your unique value proposition. But no matter how great your pitch is, it will be ineffective if it doesn’t reach the person who can say yes to you. This goes well beyond the traditional “making sure you're in front of the decision-maker” conversation. The concepts in this post will [...]
Do you want to grow your business this year? (I’m assuming you do) Do you have a detailed plan to do it? (I hope you do) Do you have a consistent, repeatable sales process that will help you achieve it? (you might) Can you describe it? …without saying “it's all about relationships…"? (you probably can’t) [...]
In sales, you're often asking someone to change the way they're doing something. In order to change, they first have to admit they're not doing something as well as they could be. Admitting that requires vulnerability. When is the last time you got vulnerable with your prospect or customer? If you want your customers to [...]
I get calls all the time from salespeople who immediately jump into a self-serving pitch. These people are glossing over the fact that value is subjective and it means something different to every prospect they talk to. A canned pitch won't do if you're truly want to resonate with your prospect and convey your unique [...]
When an opportunity is lost, it’s tempting to play the blame game. Maybe you’re tempted to blame your company’s high price or someone in marketing for not giving you the collateral you needed to your message across. That approach is fruitless. Instead, if we shift our perspective and think of lost sales as opportunities to [...]
An object at rest will remain at rest until it is acted upon by some outside agency. In selling, that outside agency is need. That need is exacerbated by some sort of tension. Unless there is tension, you rely 100% on your prospect being ready to buy. At that point, the selling is already done. [...]
What's worse than an impersonal email blast? An email blast that tries really hard to seem personal, while remaining painfully, obviously, automated and impersonal. An outreach solution like this is nearly always a reflection of the actual solution it's offering. If the email is distant, insubstantial, and unthoughtful, it's likely the solution it's selling is [...]
What kind of questions are you asking on your sales calls? Are you still trying to figure out who the decision maker is and get the timeline for when the decision will be made and how much they will spend? What would happen if you differentiated yourself by not asking the same questions that have [...]
Successful sales prospecting requires an acute understanding of what you’re selling. I’m here to break the news: you are not selling your product or your service. You are selling your unique value proposition. That is, you are selling the difference between what you are offering and what your customer is currently doing. Whatever your product [...]
Following up with prospects is arguably the most-missed sales opportunity. You may think of follow up as sending a note or calling to check in. I think about follow up as continually providing value after initial contact. You are probably an old pro at establishing a first meeting, but all too often, momentum (and your [...]
I listen to a lot of different podcasts, and I’ve noticed that some of the best interviewers out there are professional comedians—Bill Simmons, Marc Maron, Joe Rogan—they all host great podcasts, they’re all great interviewers, and they’re all professional comedians. I don’t think it’s the fact that these people are funny that makes them great [...]
You've got an assignment or a task. You know what you need to do, but you just don't want to do it because it's going to be difficult. In fact, you're practically twitching, looking for anything else to do that seems like it will be productive so you can put off the real work that [...]