If you do business with people from cultural groups different than your own, you would be wise to invest some time understanding their cultures as well as their needs in terms of your products and services.

You may not necessarily be doing business with people in another country, but with those from other countries who have relocated near your place of business. If you want their business, you have to understand their needs on many levels. Read More »

“I hate sales. I don’t like being rejected.”

Does that lamentation sound familiar? How many times have you heard it? How many times have you said it yourself?

I don’t want to be rejected. I want to be loved.

Yes, wouldn’t life be wonderful Read More »

He said that would be fine and it would go out on Monday for our next meeting was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

During our Tuesday meeting I asked if he had sent the package of information, which I had not yet received. He said, “Yes, it was sent yesterday morning.” We let it go and moved onto other things.

When we got together on Thursday afternoon, he asked if I had received his package which had been sent by overnight delivery three days earlier. It still hadn’t arrived. On Friday afternoon it showed up. Read More »

I spend Fridays in an upbeat little café meeting with prospects and customers and sales training team members. Last week, I asked my newest team member, Molly, to join me in a meeting with a prospect while I introduced him to the customer retention tool I use. At the end of the meeting I asked Molly for some feedback.

She said, “I’m amazed how little you talked! You asked a couple questions then sat back and just listened intently while the prospect talked.  He told you all the reasons he needs what you offer and you hardly said a thing! Read More »

Tom has been selling for 13 years to businesses in the building and construction industry.

His approach was to be a bull dog. To persist. To NEVER take NO for an answer.

He was going to call on them till they Buy Or They Die. Read More »

When I’ve written about the 80/20 Rules I was taken to task by several readers who vehemently disagreed with the concept that 80% of one thing comes from only 20% of something else.

One reader we’ll call him John, wrote : “I’ve just read your most recent success newsletter. I must say that I’m appalled that you refer to and believe in the old Pareto law.”

“Did you know that Mr. Pareto lived in the 16th century? Believing in the 80-20 law is like believing that Earth, our planet, is flat.” Read More »

The Alternate of Choice is a questioning strategy I teach in every seminar, every book, and audio recording. It’s truly a staple. The reason for that is simple: It works.

Typically, I teach it as a question with two answers. Either answer is a minor agreement leading towards the major agreement, which is a closed sale. The critical element of this question/close is to offer only two answers, both of which move the sale forward.

It’s most often used for things such as getting an agreement for an appointment, the location of your appointment, a color choice, payment options, and delivery dates. It might sound something like this: Read More »

After an Ogilvy & Mather board meeting in Frankfurt, 18 years ago, David Ogilvy told me over dinner that “Rosser Reeves and I were talking one day, and we agreed that everything we knew we had learned from John Caples.”

Rosser Reeves, who was Ogilvy’s brother-in-law, coined the initials USP that everyone now uses with such gay, and often inaccurate abandon.

John Caples, besides being a very good copywriter – They laughed when I sat down at the piano is one of the most copied lines ever – popularised systematic testing, though not enough to penetrate the thick skulls of most corporate drones. Read More »