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Matthew G. Sikich II is The Official SelfGrowth.com Guide to "Sales Training". You can find complete information on Matthew G. Sikich II and his products by visiting The 5 Buying Habits.
- Five Intelligent Risks for Sales Professionals - by Submitted on Jan 02, 2010 from Jim McCormickAscending to a new level of performance in any endeavor is a matter of taking intelligent risks well. Sales is no exception. Having written a book on intelligent risk-taking called The Power of Risk and often speaking to sales professionals, I’m regularly asked by ambitious sale people what ...
Views: 2537(2 votes) - Desire is the Key to Success - by Submitted on Dec 27, 2010 from Erik TherwangerA sales professional without desire is like an engine without fuel. Even the best engine will fail to perform when it is lacking the necessary fuel. An idle engine creates no momentum. Your sales efforts need momentum, not only to get things started but to keep things moving. Desire is your ...
Views: 2535(1 vote) - ***What's a Professional Sales Manager? - by Submitted on Aug 29, 2011 from Dave KahleI was in the depths of a major depression. As a third year sales person with a good company, I was doing well, and was on my way to becoming the top sales person in the nation for that company. But business had slowed down a little, and I didn't have my usual number of proposals out for ...
Views: 2531(2 votes) - Why Beauty Suddenly Matters Online - by Submitted on Mar 23, 2012 from Lisa SasevichThe other day, my amazing copywriting director, Michele PW, shared something that really got me thinking. She told me that the tide has turned and that beauty has finally come into its own. The reason? Women. Ugly Used to Sell In the old days, copywriters, like Michele PW, who ...
Views: 2528 - Sales Prospecting Techniques - How to Use Google So You Never Need to Cold Call - by Submitted on Jun 09, 2011 from Peter O'DonoghueIs there an alternative to cold calling in sales prospecting? There is and it's good old Google! Ah, Google! Possibly the greatest invention of the 20th Century. What did we ever do without it? I know what I did without it because I was selling before it existed. I can remember spending a whole ...
Views: 2526 - Better Go Buy a Saddle - by Submitted on Mar 24, 2009 from Michael O'GradyA short time ago, I was listening to co-workers discuss the current state of our economy, how it will effect people’s purchase decisions and the concern that our product and service prices are too high. The discussion reminded me of an old adage: If one person tells you, “You are a horse”, ...
Views: 2524 - 10 Tips for a Successful Sales Day - by Submitted on Feb 15, 2011 from Vanessa SimpkinsWhether you’re in sales as a professional, an entrepreneur or a service professional these 10 quick tips from Vanessa Simpkins author of “From Bankrupt to $900 a Day Selling Mops” will make a HUGE difference to your bottom line. 1. Make an Intention for Your Day Get into the habit of ...
Views: 2523(11 votes) - Closed-Ended Questions - by Submitted on Apr 23, 2009 from John AOVClosed-ended questions allow you to get definite answers and move toward closing the sale. Start Sentences With Verbs Closed-ended questions allow you to get definite answers and move toward closing the sale. Closed ended questions start with verbs, such as "Are," "Will," "Is," "Have," "Did," ...
Views: 2520 - Personal Marketing: Lone Ranger Leave Behinds, by Doug Grady - by Submitted on Mar 12, 2012 from Doug GradyDo you remember the Lone Ranger? Everywhere he went he would leave something behind. No, it wasn't Tonto. It was a silver bullet. He would be riding off into the sunset and invariably someone would ask, "Who was that masked man?" The response always went something like, "I don't know, but he ...
Views: 2509 - How to Close Powerfully - by Submitted on Apr 11, 2013 from Lisa SasevichRecently I’ve shown you how to get comformation product, mentorship, etc. Today I’m going share with you three principles for a powerful close so that you can inspire on-the-spot action in your ideal clients—those people who are perfectly matched to you—without being salesy. You can give them ...
Views: 2508 - How to Warm Up Prospecting Calls by Using “Social Engineering” - by Submitted on Mar 25, 2010 from Laura MonzoOne reason that most “cold” calls fail and result in rejection is that sales reps start their pitch the same way to everyone they speaking with, sounding like a talking junk mail piece. A much better approach, one that stimulates interest, attention, and engagement, is to use personalized, ...
Views: 2507(2 votes) - The SMART Steps to Increase Sales - by Submitted on Mar 03, 2010 from Frank O'TooleLike so many things we learn on all types of training courses to improve our skills, sales is no different. The answer to the old age question of ‘are salespeople born or taught’ in my opinion is obvious. Definitely sales people can be taught. Day in and day out the skills of sales are taught ...
Views: 2503(9 votes) - Stop Losing Your Customer's Trust - by Submitted on Apr 15, 2010 from Susan EnnsIt's been said many times that prospects must feel they can trust you before they will buy from you. But what does "trust you" really mean? It's simple. Prospects need to know you and your company will do exactly what you tell them you will do, when you said you will do it. Every time you ...
Views: 2501(1 vote) - ***C-Level Relationship Selling - 9 Active Listening Steps to Effortlessly Sell Prospects - by Submitted on Sep 07, 2011 from Sam ManferInterviewing is the most important step of sales calls and relationship development. Interviewing requires asking stimulating questions that get prospects to discuss their wants relative to what you’re offering. However, interviewing also requires active listening. That is, listening with and ...
Views: 2489 - Suggestions for Using PowerPoint Effectively – or Not at All - by Submitted on Jan 02, 2010 from Jim McCormickAs a professional presenter for over fourteen years, I’ve seen PowerPoint used well and poorly. Unfortunately, is seems to be used poorly more often that well. Here are some suggestions for making PowerPoint a positive part of your presentation. The secret to using PowerPoint successfully ...
Views: 2487(2 votes) - ***C-Level Sales Tip 18 – Good Interviewing Leads to Great C-Level Presentations - by Submitted on Mar 04, 2010 from Sam ManferThe best way to capture the attention of a C-Level executive is to interview him. Senior exec’s loved to be interviewed. Additionally interviewing serves many other purposes. 1. It puts the focus on the executive and high level people like to be the focus of attention. 2. They get to do ...
Views: 2484(3 votes) - Basic strategies for successful B2B sales - by Submitted on Apr 19, 2011 from Nick CassellsSalespeople come in many shapes and sizes, and generally speaking, different sales techniques are right for different markets. Consumer selling is a good example – some sales staff takes their product directly to the customer, while others let the customer come to them. However, selling a ...
Views: 2479 - Ask for the order without feeling “Yucky” - by Submitted on Apr 11, 2013 from Lisa SasevichSo many people tell me that they feel “yucky” when attempting to close a sale. They don’t want to feel that way and they don’t want their prospects to feel yucky either! The key to erasing that concern is what you do before you make your irresistible offer. And this is: Give them a ton of ...
Views: 2474 - Pump Up Your Persuasive Powers - by Submitted on May 15, 2013 from Arnold SanowPump up Your Persuasive Powers! Arnold Sanow – www.arnoldsanow.com The art of persuasion is the ability to gain trust. It’s cultivated when someone believes you’re honestly communicating with them, and that you understand their needs. This is influenced by a complex combination of factors, ...
Views: 2471 - ***C-Level Relationship Selling – Lower Levels Can Sell Easily to C-Levels - by Submitted on Feb 10, 2011 from Sam ManferA CEO is working with a lot of papers on his desk. Underneath the papers there’s a sharp letter opener. As he slides the papers over to do another task, he hears the scrape of the letter opener on his beautiful wood desk. He looks and is distressed because it has left an ugly mark. He calls ...
Views: 2462(20 votes) - Winning In The Big League – Sales Legends - by Submitted on Jan 20, 2010 from Terrie AndersonYou are a professional sales person, you generally reach on or about target, and life is good. Have you ever wondered just how some people become a sales legend? What secret do they have that is not common knowledge? Why do the same people win the competitions and make club year after year, ...
Views: 2462(1 vote) - Cold Calling Is Dead - Manage Google Alerts to Provide Warm Prospects - by Submitted on Jun 09, 2011 from Peter O'DonoghueOne of the greatest advances in sales prospecting techniques is the ability to use Google alerts to track prospects, customers and sales trigger events. If you set up a few of these alerts the amount of data gathered can begin to get overwhelming but don't fret there are easy ways to manage all ...
Views: 2447 - High Performance Sales Starts With Confidence - by Submitted on Feb 07, 2012 from Patrick MorinJim Miller, an entertainment industry sales rep, burst into the room. He couldn’t contain himself, "I pitched a client today and actually walked out with a signed deal for $50,000! I couldn’t believe the confidence and the way that it works." Confidence is a curious thing. We know it when we ...
Views: 2443 - ***C-Level Relationship Sales Tips – Increase Sales by Stealing Competitors’ Accounts - by Submitted on Feb 18, 2011 from Sam ManferIncrease your sales by using these simple C-level relationship selling, sales tips. Steal your competitors’ accounts. They are qualified, and they buy your type of products / services. Your competitors sell to these accounts. So what’s not to like, except they are not buying from you. To ...
Views: 2431 - Three Keys to Using the Power of Visualization to Increase Your Bottom Line - by Submitted on Jun 22, 2011 from Pat AltvaterDid you watch the Dancing with the Stars finale this season? Yes, I admit it; I watch that show. I love the waltzes that are so graceful with the beautiful dresses and flowing fabric. Hines Ward, of Pittsburgh Steelers fame, won. The cool thing about Hines is that when he danced, it ...
Views: 2422 - How You Can Create Urgency Without Giving Discounts - by Submitted on Sep 11, 2011 from Matt VassarIt's a well-known sales technique to create urgency in order to get prospects to make a decision. For instance, a salesperson might say "Buy in the next 30 minutes, or the price will go up!" The reason why creating urgency works so well in sales is because very often, people won't make ...
Views: 2418(2 votes) - ***Selling to C-Levels - 8 Interviewing Tips to Easily Close Sales - by Submitted on Aug 09, 2011 from Sam ManferMost sales people know enough to ask questions. And every sales person has heard a thousand times to listen more than they speak. However, most sales people interrogate rather than interview. The difference is; interrogating is about the sales person, and interviewing is about the prospect or ...
Views: 2417(1 vote) - 6 Strategies for Getting Past the Gatekeeper: Part 1 of 2 - by Submitted on Apr 06, 2012 from Justin McSharryAhh the dreaded gatekeeper. For most salespeople, gatekeepers just might be the most emotionally frustrating and professionally challenging of all sales encounters. They can say “no” but they can rarely say “yes” to a value-oriented relationship with you. While getting to the decision maker ...
Views: 2402 - Tracking Your Sales Activities - by Submitted on Feb 01, 2010 from Susan EnnsChances are, as a job requirement, you must submit a weekly sales report to your sales manager. Some sales representatives, normally those not at quota, perceive these sales reports as a policing action. “The boss is only checking up on me to ensure that I am doing my prospecting calls.” ...
Views: 2400 - ***Selling Tips, 4 Steps for Closing Phone Inquiries - by Submitted on May 25, 2011 from Sam ManferTelemarketing Tips, Closing Incoming Telesales for Call Centers Interest and credibility are the keys to successfully leading incoming callers to buy your products or services. When someone calls into your business, be it your, receptionist, multi-person phone bank or home office with an ...
Views: 2394 - ***C-Level Sales Training Tip 21- Eliminate Low Price by Differentiating - by Submitted on Apr 09, 2010 from Sam ManferYour presentation requires two key components to win. The first is to show your prospect you can give him or her what s/he wants. The second is to describe how you can do it better than any alternative. Better in an area of importance to someone is worth more money. Keep in mind, doing ...
Views: 2391(21 votes) - The Road to Excellent Salesmanship - by Submitted on Sep 05, 2011 from Nick CassellsPerhaps one of the greatest myths about selling is the idea that a good salesperson is born not made. Many still believe the old idea that if you have got the gift of the gab, and can talk to anyone at any level, then you could probably sell sand to the Middle East. Unfortunately in the modern ...
Views: 2389 - Using Sales Resistance To Sell - by Submitted on Sep 29, 2007 from Harlan GoergerTwo Keys for using oscillation in selling Now you’re talking with a potential customer and looking for the closing opportunity. You have used the same approach many times and sometimes it’s an automatic “yes” and other times it’s a stall. You may have asked at the “no” end of the oscillation ...
Views: 2387 - Do This and Lose Sales - by Submitted on Jan 07, 2010 from Harlan GoergerDo This and Lose Sales Focus on products lose sales, solutions make sales The North Country is dumped on, 17 inches worth of the white cold stuff. Procrastination has hit, those slick road-hugging sports tires still on the car prove to be highly useless in the slick and hard packed ...
Views: 2380(13 votes) - C-Level Selling – 2 Steps to Own Existing Accounts and Steal Competitors’ - by Submitted on Feb 17, 2016 from Sam ManferYour buyers from the top C-level echelon to lowly subordinates will stick buy you if you continue to meet their needs. Likewise, they will switch to competitors if you don’t. This means, if you want your competitors’ accounts, get to the c-level leaders and show them you can satisfy their needs ...
Views: 2368 - C-Suite Selling Is Where You Will Win the Sale and Cross Sales - by Submitted on May 18, 2015 from Sam ManferThe reason for C-Suite selling is to attain the final yes on a contract or sale. Additionally, C-Suite selling is the most effective way to generated excitement to start a project or sale. So what excites C-Suite executives to buy and/or initiate projects? It’s the expectation to eliminate ...
Views: 2363 - Leveraged Selling Versus Leveraged Delivery - by Submitted on May 13, 2016 from Lisa SasevichEverybody’s talking about the need to be leveraged, but most people aren’t making the distinction between leveraged selling and leveraged delivery. Therefore, they’re missing half of the picture. Leveraged selling means you’re selling to more than one person at a time. You do that when you ...
Views: 2359 - ***C-Level Relationship Selling – 3 Steps to Handle the “Too Busy” Selling Objection - by Submitted on Jan 04, 2011 from Sam ManferHow many times have you heard the executive who’ll make the final decision is too busy to meet with you? C-Levels and top executives have so many things to do. Well, something is wrong here because at some time the C-Level will have to take the time to learn before s/he makes the final ...
Views: 2335(3 votes) - The War Is Won Before It's Begun - by Submitted on Oct 23, 2007 from David Oswald www.theoutsourceking.comIn his great military treatise, The Art of War, Chinese general Sun Tzu laid the plans for victory in any battle. Whether you’re a real estate investor, a top salesperson or anyone who goes to work for a living, we are all on a missions field. To be ready for that mission on a daily basis, ...
Views: 2328 - Driving Interest: What’s Missing from Your Marketing Strategy? - by Submitted on Dec 21, 2016 from Eileen O'ShanassyIs your marketing strategy currently producing dismal results? Are you stuck trying to figure out what you need to do to reach your audience and get them to respond? Sometimes you must take a step back and really assess why a marketing strategy isn’t working. Here are some of the most common ...
Views: 2314 - Internet marketing - Why do people refuse to listen to the truth? - by Submitted on Dec 02, 2014 from Kathleen GageIf there's one thing that pushes my buttons more than just about anything it's the people who absolutely refuse to listen to what the truth is about Internet marketing and making money on the Internet. No matter how many times they hear the truth, read it or watch it on a video, for some reason ...
Views: 2312(1 vote) - ***Networking Magic for C-Level Relationship Selling - by Submitted on Sep 07, 2010 from Sam ManferNetworking produces leads, contacts, and C-Level relationships better than anything. So use your resources. You know people that know people who can get you to where you want to be. However you have to stop and think about this for a minute because you’re not used to using these contacts. ...
Views: 2298(3 votes) - ***Your Next Sale Is the Game of Your Life - by Submitted on Jan 08, 2010 from Sam ManferToday's sale, this month's target, your yearly quota -- this is the game of your life. Why, because you're only as good as your last accomplishment. If you win, you're praised and rewarded. If you lose, you pay a toll no matter how bulletproof the excuse. More importantly, it carries you ...
Views: 2293(37 votes) - Sales Prep: Before You Start Your Engines - by Submitted on Mar 17, 2012 from Patrick MorinThere was a moderate crush of people, but it wasn’t the fans; it was the pit crews. Watkins Glen soon enough would be filled with 50,000 cheering NASCAR aficionados for the afternoon race. The crews were there now. They moved quickly and with purpose to their team’s designated position on ...
Views: 2288 - The Top 7 Marketing Mistakes New Consultants Make - by Submitted on Aug 01, 2010 from Barbara WaymanBecoming self-employed can be liberating, exhilarating, frustrating and terrifying. Often all at the same time. Most entrepreneurs I meet know they need to be doing marketing. They just often lack a clear sense of what marketing is, or they have no idea where to start. Here are the seven ...
Views: 2286 - Spirituality Conflicts With My Career As A Salesman - by Submitted on May 16, 2009 from Stephen CraineSpirituality, religious beliefs, and a sales career can oppose each other and cause internal conflict. One of the people I recently coached had a clash of beliefs when he moved from a customer service job to a role in direct sales. His beliefs about using selling techniques to influence others ...
Views: 2281(1 vote) - Sales Legends Qualify Hard, Win More! - by Submitted on Feb 24, 2010 from Terrie AndersonEver wondered why some people consistently make millions at the top of the sales ladder and others struggle to meet quota? In this series of articles, based on 999 Legendary Selling For The 21st Century, we review the differentiators between those who consistently over achieve and those who ...
Views: 2259(3 votes) - Why Will Your Prospect Buy Today - by Submitted on May 18, 2010 from Susan EnnsWhat is it that will make your prospect buy today? Why didn’t he buy yesterday? Why won’t he wait until tomorrow? To answer that, you must first define what exactly a prospect is. There are four common characteristics that all companies share in order to be described as a ...
Views: 2258(1 vote) - The Only True Disability In Life (and sales) Is A Bad Attitude - by Submitted on May 28, 2015 from Dr. Alan ZimmermanYears ago, I heard Zig Ziglar say, “It is your attitude … more than your aptitude … that will determine your altitude.” When he said it, a lot of people saw it as a bit of fluff from a mere "motivational speaker." After all, Zig was a salesman. What did he know? Apparently quite a bit. The ...
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