On this Mother’s Day, remember to treat your prospects as you would your mother. You don’t try to “sell” your mother, and you don’t just try to find her the best deal; instead, when you’re out shopping with your mother or for your mother, you do your best to find the product or service that…
Mike Myatt highlights the important difference: Engage me, communicate with me, add value to my business, solve my problems, create opportunity for me, educate me, inform me, but don’t try and sell me – it won’t work. An attempt to sell me insults my intelligence and wastes my time. Think about it; do you like to be sold? News…
Coaches of professional athletes demand their players practice far more than they play. This is true whether we’re talking about baseball, basketball, football, and especially if we’re talking about the Olympics. The latter features some of the most talented and skilled athletes imaginable, and yet each of these promising stars spends countless hours over many…
The word “manage” is related to the term “control.” It’s a type of control, specifically operational control. Managers are focused on their control of the organization. Coaches have control as well, of course, as management is part of their job. However, the origin of the verb “coach” tells us something about what coaches do. The…
When you give your team members instruction, tasks, and evaluations, what is your underlying intent? Are you making sure they are worth the money you’re paying them? If so, then you’re a manager. If, on the other hand, you are intent on 1) helping them develop their abilities and skills and 2) guiding them to…
Before going on a sales call, you must be prepared, but “being prepared” means more than having an agenda, the relevant information about your prospect, and whatever items you may need. Be prepared like a football star is prepared for the big game: scrimmage the call with a coach or team member prior to the…
August Turak highlights the traits he’s found it takes. Money quote: I often hear the argument that being coachable is a dangerous trait unless we are “certain” that we have the right coach. But while I am sympathetic, authentic change is a journey into the unknown, and a journey into the unknown is by definition…
To be a successful sales professional, you need both the relevant attributes and the pertinent skills. What’s the difference? Attributes are those talents with which you’re born. You have them or you don’t. They’re what you are capable of, so you may not realize all of your attributes at a certain point in your life;…
Don’t think role-playing is the property of geeks; it’s an effective method of team practicing, and it gives sales leaders a sense of each team members attributes, skills, strengths, and weaknesses. All of these come into play when sales professionals practice. Brainstorm some situations you know your team members will face at one time or…
As you may know, I stress the importance of sales leaders and professionals practicing, but the idea is not mine: it goes back thousands of years. The ancient philosopher Aristotle wrote scrolls about how practice was important to finding happiness in life. According to him, when people make a habit of good actions under the…