sales tips
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Gaining Sales Traction is Like Talking to Kids
- February 29, 2012
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
On a recent coaching call, I was explaining how to handle the prospect who doesn’t admit to having an issue on which they need help. During a first call where the salesperson is taking a consultative approach, it’s not unusual for a prospect to become protective or defensive by denying having issues. At this point, most (74% according to Objective Management Group) salespeople will choose one of the following three paths:
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Sales Courage and Resilience
- January 3, 2012
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Hope isn’t enough, but faith and courage are. If salespeople can apply the 20 seconds of courage rule to every challenging or scary situation they encounter, and simply do what they are afraid of, good things will happen. When things go wrong – and they surely will – if they can have the faith to hang in there for one more minute, one more hour or one more day, knowing that if they do everything in their power (with their fate in their control) rather than relying on hope, they will achieve the desired outcome.
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The Biggest Mistake That Salespeople Make at Year End
- November 30, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Your actions can not be dictated by the time of year. Your actions must be dictated by where you are in the sales process and the step or stage that must occur next.
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Top 10 Questions for Salespeople to Ask and Stay Away From
- October 12, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
The theme of my recent posts has centered around links sent by readers, asking me to weigh in with a counterpoint to the conclusions drawn in the articles. Today, I address yet another Harvard Business Review Blog article (how many misguided HBR Blog articles are there?), this one about the Single Worst Question a salesperson can ask.
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Steve Jobs Legacy on Selling – 10 Criteria to Sell Itself
- October 6, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Steve Jobs left many legacies and I thought it might be useful to discuss the one he left on sales.
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Top 15 Questions That Prospects Ask Themselves
- September 27, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Two questions for you: Are your salespeople consciously aware of the 3 mindsets and two categories, and have you checked as to whether they have appropriate approaches for each?
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Stalled Sales Opportunities: When Your Prospect is Hiding
- September 13, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
This happens to every single salesperson on the planet engaged in a sales cycle of longer than one call.
“My prospect won’t return my calls”.
“I can’t get my prospect to the phone”.
“My prospect is ignoring me”.
Those of us who train, coach or mentor salespeople probably hear one of those three even more often than “I’m having trouble scheduling appointments.” What should you do when it happens to you or your salespeople?
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How to Add Value to Your Sales Offering
- August 17, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
We often discuss the importance of adding value as well as how to sell and build value. Last week I was asked if I could provide an example of what added value could be.
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Busy Salespeople are Lazy Salespeople
- August 8, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Things aren’t always what they seem with your salespeople. Sometimes, the busier they are, the less they are doing! I had several conversations in the past week that explain my opening comment.
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Top 6 Keys to Closing Big, Difficult to Close Sales
- August 3, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
If I think back on most of the big deals I have closed, helped others to close, or trained and coached others to close, there are several common themes we can discuss that you can incorporate into your sales and sales management world. For the purpose of this article, we will assume that the opportunities are actually closable, that your salespeople teed these deals up in an appropriate way, and that they didn’t have happy ears: