What do you think of when you hear the phrase, “closing the sale,” what comes to mind?
Force? Intimidation? Persuasion?
To me “closing the sale” means… Read More »
Author Archive
The ABCs of Sales
The closing of the sale is by far the most important step in the selling process.
It should also be the most natural part of the process. Everything else you do leads to it.
But, the biggest complaint I hear is… Read More »
How To Keep Your Boat Afloat
How many times has this happened to you?
You’re having a great day. You’re being productive and doing the things you set out to do for the day. You have a smile on your face and nothing can get in the way of your business’ success.
That is, until someone who’s having a horrible day comes around and tries to… Read More »
4 Reasons You’re Not Making Any Sales
If you’re a current or aspiring small business owner, you probably already know one of the biggest challenges you’ll face is how to keep in balance.
Most business put more emphasis on getting new business instead of spending their time, and money, where it could generate better results… Read More »
The Missing Link To Your Successful Sales Strategy
No matter what your line of business is and what product you sell, you’re still dealing with the same thing as everyone else in sales.
This roadblock to success is inevitable for most small business owners. But if you can find a way to prepare for it in your sales strategy, you’ll discover how to unlock unlimited profits. One of the keys to small business success is overcoming… Read More »
3 Foolproof Tips For Achieving Sales Success
I get asked a lot of questions by my curious students: How can I make more sales? How can I close more sales? How can I find more clients?
But the one question in particular that seems to always seem to want to know is… Read More »
How To Perfect The Art Of Closing Sales
I like the word consummate… I like the sound of it and the image it brings to mind. In the dictionary, the word “consummate” means “perfect ending.”
And it really is the perfect ending—it means everyone is happy, at least for sales, that is. Read More »
How Anticipating Buyers’ Concerns Brings In More Sales
When I was still a bit green in my selling career, I had this dream. In my dream, I went to sell my product to a married couple, and they were such a pleasure to visit with!
They thoroughly enjoyed my presentation, and they agreed to everything I mentioned. They didn’t ask any questions, and they didn’t have any concerns. They even helped me fill out the paperwork! Read More »
The Key To Better Time Management
How many times has this happened to you?
You decide you haven’t been as efficient as you could be, so you decide to take charge.
So, you open your calendar (or grab a pen and planner if you’re old school), and get to work setting up a new system.
30 minutes later, what you have isn’t a better grasp on your time, but rather a messy calendar with overlapping time slots that’s all too difficult to read.
10 Sales Killers To Avoid In 2011
Any sales veteran can tell you a story about the one that got away. Veterans who are successful today learned valuable lessons from those situations and, hopefully, never repeated them. As challenging as the business of selling might be for some, losing sales is unbelievably easy. Learn from the mistakes of others so you won’t have many of the sad stories to tell.
Sales Killer #1 – Lack of professional appearance. If you want people to listen to you and heed your advice regarding your product or service, you have to come across both in appearance and demeanor as a professional expert. This includes grooming and the level of confidence you exude. People will buy from you based more on your conviction and enthusiasm for your product than they will your product knowledge.
Sales Killer #2 – Talking too much. When you’re talking, you’re telling. When you ask questions to get clients talking about their needs, you’re selling. You’re finding out what they want to own. Only then can you guide them to the right product or service.
Sales Killer #3 – Your vocabulary. Words create pictures in our minds. Certain words that are inherent to selling turn people off. For example, I caution people in business to avoid using the word “contract” when handling the details of a large sale. We all know that contracts are legally binding documents and require legal efforts to get out of them. If appropriate, call your contract an “agreement,” “form,” or “paperwork.” The mental image is less threatening. Think about other words you use and replace any negative word-picture images with gentler, more positive ones.
Sales Killer #4 – Not investing time in building rapport. Establishing good rapport builds trust. No one will want to make a purchase from someone they don’t like and trust. Don’t just jump right into a presentation on your product. Get to know your client a bit.
Sales Killer #5 – Lack of a qualification system. A certain percentage of the people you talk with will not be good candidates for your product or service. Your challenge is to figure this out as early in your communication with them as possible. Come up with at least 3 or 4 questions the answers to which will tell you if they’re qualified to own your offering.
Anyone who’s ever sold anything – whether toothbrushes, printers, or stocks – can tell you a story about “the one that got away”. You know that story – the sale you were this close to closing – the one that would’ve made your year -only to have your potential client interrupted by an all too familiar distraction.
If you’ve ever sold, you also know if you had changed just one thing – your story might have ended up a lot differently.
