Did you know that you can scrimmage sales appointments? To scrimmage is to practice and try new things without real negative consequences, such as the loss of a sale. A great scrimmage will not be a perfect routine sales call; in fact, it should have some new and creative twists. Have you thought about trying…
Black Friday deals, great as they can be, are no substitute for the constancy of likeable, trustworthy, and influential sales professionalism. Remember to establish these traits as you meet today with prospective customers and together consider whether your product or service is right for each of them.
Yesterday we quoted baseball star Wade Boggs on having a positive attitude. Today we turn to Kobe Bryant: “Everything negative – pressure, challenges – is all an opportunity for me to rise.” Notice that he views as opportunities what most people would approach negatively. Now that’s a positive attitude! Everyday will bring its hardships. You…
“A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary results.” – Wade Boggs This is very true. A positive attitude is more than a cheery smile painted on your face every once in a while; it signifies positivity radiating from the core of…
You may be wondering, “What do I do if I want to practice, but my boss doesn’t demand it of me?” You demand it of yourself. If you need the extra motivation, get together regularly with fellow team members or friends in the business, people who can hold you accountable, and organize regular practice sessions. …
Imagine a salesperson makes an appointment with you, but then shows up aloof, half-asleep, uninterested in you, heedless of what you have to say, and displaying an obvious inferiority complex. If you had any inkling to do business with him, it vanished with his dignity. He’s simply unlikeable, and we avoid unlikeable people in our…
Lisa Earle McLeod explains: What I call a noble sales purpose spells the difference between a sales force that’s merely effective and one that is truly outstanding. To understand why purpose-driven sales people outperform their quota-driven counterparts, compare these two scenarios: Salesperson A works for a quota-driven company. When he goes to the national sales…
“It’s unbelievable how much you don’t know about the game you’ve been playing all your life.” – Mickey Mantle Think about that quote by Mickey Mantle. Here’s an athlete who had tremendous talent recognizing the limits of what he knew about the very game of his profession. He was a baseball star admitting that he…
Selling obviously involves risk. You’re not guaranteed a certain amount of closed sales, except maybe zero, assuming you do nothing. There are, however, healthy risks and unwise ones. If you have a skill or two that needs some work, the actual sale isn’t the place to practice. If you goof, then, boom, sale lost. Practice…
You may have heard the news that Disney has bought Lucasfilm and plans to release a new Star Wars movie in 2015. Fans of the original trilogy were largely disappointed with the prequels, so they’re apprehensive about today’s breaking news. If the filmmakers are smart, they’ll consider the “sales” aspect of releasing the movie even…