Sales Training Articles

"What do you do?"n nIn our society this is the first question we’re asked, after "What is your name?" The real question is: “How do you answer this question?”n nDo you tell people your title: clerk, programmer, driver, teacher, sales rep or receptionist — or do you answer more descriptively?n nToo many people respond to this question with a bland, unimaginative job title or standard industry classification (SIC) code. B-O-R-I-N-G! To set yourself apart from the crowd,

What is your sales tactic for your small business or sales career? Do you know? Often people start a business because of their expertise in a particular area. Since their primary motivation for starting the business was their love and knowledge of a particular craft, skill or service, they then ...

“It’s not just enough to swing at the ball. You’ve got to loosen your girdle and really let the ball have it.”– Babe Didrikson Zaharias Years ago I found this quote from Babe Didrikson Zaharias and not only did it make me laugh out loud – it became a personal mantra. Read her bio below – this ...

Do you sell features or benefits? Do you know the difference? All too often salespeople think features are key. Of course, it’s because that’s what they’ve been shown. ‘Look at all the bells, whistles, and gadgets!’ It’s as if the more gadgets, the more valuable the product or service. Well, ...

Leave a voicemail? Don’t leave a voicemail? This is a question that sellers are passionate about. Many suggest not, but isn’t that a missed opportunity? I always leave a message because how else will they know that you want to speak with them? In today’s world where it’s acceptable to screen calls, you may never reach your prospect if you don’t. Add to it that a message allows a prospect to hear your interest in talking with them and your professionalism. So why not do it?

With the coming new year, I thought it was time to take review and make some internet resolutions for the coming year.nnNow these aren't the typical kind of personal resolutions like losing weight or quitting smoking.I have in mind resolutions as they relate to thetime and work each of us spends on the internet each day.nnSo, here goes:nn-- How about dealing with others as you would want them to deal with you ? (sounds familiar doesn't it)nn-- Be helpful to those who are just

Did you know that being different is an attractor factor? It's true! Allow me a quick sidebar: Last week, Be adette, my wife and I drove to the East Coast of Florida for three days. We stayed at the grand Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. It's a five-star hotel built in 1926. The hotel was ...

It seems simple enough. “Let’s do lunch and talk some business.” But without a plan of action on how to follow up after you’ve taken your last bite, you might end up with a prospect who falls off the grid. A business lunch is a great business development tool, but it should be only one step in ...

As a small business owner or salesperson you are always on. You are always presenting, marketing, selling and producing. Failure to acknowledge this will prevent you from being as successful as you could be. I dare say it can actually do harm to your business. Let’s break it down and take a look at each area. 1. Presenting No matter where you go or who you connect with, you are always a representation of your business.

I suspect that you have heard the expression “If at first you don’t succeed try, try again.” This adage was created many decades ago and it remains true to this day. And even though many sales people understand it, they make a fatal mistake—they use the same approach although their original approach was not effective. My wife and I once vacationed at an all-inclusive resort in Cuba. One of the advertised features was an in-room mini-bar stocked with beer, water, and s

When times are tough at home, at work, or in business we as customers, business people, and as consumers become much fussier. We want more, but we don't want to part with the cash unless we are absolutely satisfied. Higher customer expectations can be frustrating for us as salespeople, and we need to learn how to deal with them. I know I have been in the situation when you think you have the sale but it is 1% not right for the customer and you end up losing it. When you have

Web 2.0 enables Sales 2.0 and many sales people can take customer communications into their own hands and to an entirely new level. Sales reps have more control over the tools that they use, and they can be always on, answering to customers questions in the matter of minutes and not hours or ...

It's been one week since we elected a new president. It doesn't matter if you are a Democrat or a Republican, change is coming to town. So what are we in for? Take a look at these headlines from the Wall Street journal last week. That's right these headlines were all in last week's ...

If you are a sales manager or business owner, then you probably know and understand that fine line between being a leader and exercising authority, and trying to fit in as part of the team and wanting people to like you. Managers struggle with this all the time, and many would be leaders lose ...

© 2004nhttp://www.copywritingcourse.com nnWhen you begin to write copy for any product or service, there are a few things you have to take into consideration. The first is always your target audience: who you’ll be writing to. Finding out about the needs and wants of the audience members, their communication styles, their lifestyles, and a multitude of other elements are “musts” before writing one word of copy.nnBut something most people neglect is giving due attention

I was at an event recently and one of the scheduled speakers failed to turn up. Never being short of something to say or a desire to help other business owners I volunteered to do a 10 minute 'open floor.' When asked what the most pressing sales challenges in the room were, One of the other attendees put his hand up and said: "Everything else is Fine but I always have trouble closing" Now this is a statement or questio I hear quite a lot.

Let's get right into our topic, shall we? To be successful, a good salesperson needs to build rapport with their customers and prospects. If you're selling to business people, and you want to gain rock solid credibility with them, nothing builds trust faster than displaying an intimate ...

At a company I’ve consulted with over the last nine months, there is a manager, Brad, who would never think of taking a full week away from the office. "Much too much to do, and I don't really need it anyway." He tells me. “When was the last time you did take off on a real vacation?" I ...

Most of us detest those weekly 1-1 pipeline reviews with our managers. Why? Because more often than not, the manager is calling you on the carpet to explain why this deal hasn't closed, or why that deal hasn't progressed, or why those deals were lost. Or at least we think he is. But in a sense these meetings are good for us - they discipline us to get from our prospects the answers to the questions we know we're going to be asked. In so doing, we develop the good practice of probing - of not only knowing what is going on with our deals, but why.

The best Multi-Level and Network Marketing Salespeople have several things in common: 1. They have adapted to the changes in the Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) business. 2. They consistently look for new (and stable) MLM Products, MLM Companies, MLM Opportunities and MLM Leads. 3. They ...

© 2004nhttp://www.copywritingcourse.com/keyword nnAfter Google’s most recent update, those in the search engine optimization (SEO) field seem to be standing at attention. As sites that have held long-standing positions in the top 10 flounder and bob around in the search results like a fishing cork in a pond, many are scrambling for answers about what to do next. I’ve been asked for my opinions about changes in search engine copywriting, so I thought I’d share some of m

They stand on the beach; 150 or so. Wings at their sides, still and straight, facing the rising sun. There is no sound save the music of the wind through the leaves. Every day they gather; at this same spot. Happening upon them, you may ask yourself – ‘What are they doing?’ Could they be ...

What kind of selling results are you getting your current selling strategy? "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." This quote is attributed to Albert Einstein, a pretty bright guy. Why do we rely on the same selling strategies that don't work? I ...

My wife and I were shopping for a new lighting fixture to hang above our dining room table. We wanted something relatively contemporary, and in our quest, we visited over a dozen stores in search of the perfect light. This experience uncovered a wide variety of mistakes that are costing retailers big money in the form of lost sales. Here's an example of some of the situations we have encountered.nn1. We walked into one store early in the evening and were greeted with a heavy

Salespeople spend their time thinking about what they aren't good at and how they can get better.nnWe are taught to learn from our mistakes as we are growing up. Today there is a "strengths" movement afoot that suggests that what we learn from our mistakes is the characteristics of mistakes. If we could shift our thinking to learning from our successes then we need to study successes.nn nLook at what you are good at....your strengths:nn1.nn2.nn3.nn4.nn5.nn nIf you could stren

You know how important it is to make plans which will propel you towards your goals but what is equally important is actually talking to your customers. Everyone one of your customers will have different requirements. Make sure you take time to listen to their requirements and decide how you will become part of these plans. There is no way you can be part of your customers success if you isolate yourself from them.

In email prospecting strategies, one of the first things I advise is that you send yourself a draft before hitting the final send. That way, you get a sense of what it's like for your prospects to receive your emails. You can quickly see where you need to make adjustments to grab your prospect's attention and get a reply.

Have you have experienced the absolute pleasure of listening to a true professional salesperson closing a sale on the telephone. There is nothing like it and it really is something you must aspire to. There is no stress or anxiety in his voice, just a smooth confident flow which you just know will lead to a sale. So, I know what you are thinking, How do I obtain these skills and come across as an expert in my field when I am on the telephone. You will be pleased to know that with practice and preparation, you too can master the skill required to get to this level.

We're at 30,000 feet and heading South to Florida for some R&R as well as business. The young lady next to me has a very interesting book that many CEO's might benefit from. One page has a listing of words while the next page starts a story and leaves blank spaces for her to fill in. She can ...

I have a friend who refers to the expectations of some sales people and their managers as requiring 'magic sales fairy dust'. The phrase has always made me smile. However, the reason most of those expectations exist is due to the fact that we all live in an age of the 'quick fix'. It's a hope thing. Teenagers want a spot cream that clears their skin of blemishes, because they didn't want to spend the time and a little effort using the preventative soap. Later on they wan

Are You Worth Another $100,000 per Year? By Jacques Werth, President High Probability® Selling n©All rights reserved. Equation Research recently published data indicating that the difference in income betwee Top Salespeople and Low Performing Salespeople is nearly $100,000 a year! Where do ...

Sales professionals usually ask a few questions in order to gain a better understanding of their prospect’s situation. However, most of them don’t probe deep enough into the size and scope of the problem. I remember hearing a great phrase from another sales trainer. He suggested that sales people “pick at the prospect’s scab” which referred to the pain or problem that a prospect may be facing. Your objective in taking this approach is to help your prospect discover

Type “free sales leads” into any search engine and you will be inundated with hundreds of listings. Unfortunately, very few are free and even fewer are leads. Let’s be honest, if you had the ability to provide a sales person with true sales-leads, would you do that for free…?nn….No, neither ...

© 2004nhttp://www.marketingwords.com nnIt only makes sense. You have an e-commerce catalog site. You want lots of visitors to come to your site and buy. The best (and most cost-effective) way to do that is with great search engine placement. However, search engines are text machines, and most catalogs don’t have a lot of text, so herein lies the problem.nnThe obvious answer is that you need more copy on each page. However, the pictures of your products are just as importan

The game of selling…quite honestly it is the biggest mind game that I know for the success of your top home based franchise. Once you have mastered the game of selling you have mastered your key to success in everything that you do; not just success in your home based franchise. Today’s message is about persistence and how you must persist until you succeed.

Blogs are the hottest thing going these days when it comes to marketing on the Internet. A blog is a way of delivering your messages and article to clients. They are a like personal web sites, easy to create and far less expensive than traditional web sites. n nJust when you thought you were mastering the tasks of ezines and newsletters, along comes blogging, and you have to ask yourself:n nDo I really need a blog? nIsn’t an email ezine or newsletter doing the same thing? n

When you do a Google search for the phrase "Sales Wisdom" you'll end up with 21, 600,000 results. It makes me think, there's no shortage of sales wisdom in cyberspace. But how much is too much? For starters, 21,600,000 results is too much to benefit the typical professional sales representative. So what are the keys to achieving selling success? If you could only focus your energy on what's really important, what should that be? You probably don't have a lot of time to consider this, but guess what, I do.

It does not matter if you are salesperson of the year or if you are in the first week of your sales career, you will definitely come across a period of time where you will encounter a steady stream of 'No Thanks' During these challenging times it is very easy, despite the salespersons amazing talent and potential, to lose confidence and worst of all, the motivation to get back out there and start selling again. In these trying times it seems far easier to take refuge in the office where it seems secure and more of a safe haven than to get back out there selling again.

We’re all crossing our fingers these days and hoping for a better economic environment. It’s been more than a little scary for many of us. However, even during these tough times, effective salespeople are acquiring new customers and making sales. How? Here are the top ten tips for effective ...

In a recent marketing workshop I attended, I discovered that most business owners rely on just two or three strategies to attract new business. Even well-established companies tend to rely on one or two strategies. However, there is a multitude of ways to drive new business to your door. Here are a few:nnNetworking. Perhaps the most commonly used approach by small business owners. However, it is often poorly executed. Many people attend a networking function and take the wron

Everyone can probably remember a cartoon or television show that makes them laugh every time they think about it. And every time we think about it, it makes us laugh again and we tell all of our friends that they have go to watch it as soon as they get a chance. This kind of Humour, you will be pleased to know, can be applied to many types of marketing. You do have to be careful though, there is definitely a time and a place to incorporate humour in your marketing activities

When sales people are prospecting we very often overlook the easy solutions. Where ethically acceptable to do so, the quickest way to get new business appointments meetings is to contact the competition of your existing clients. Example 1: My business was recently emailed by a search engine optimization company. Unfortunately I have lost their email but It went something like this: Dear Peter,

I hate long emails. They take too long to read and typically include action items I just don’t have time for. No doubt you’ve experienced it, too. Your customers are no different and it’s impacting your ability to close sales. Sure, you carefully word your email, expanding your questions to avoid being misunderstood, or outlining a great recommendation. You format it with underlining and bolding to call attention to critical details. You use bullets to make it simple to read.

Online Sales Training has been on the verge of breaking through to the mass market for many years. With some of the recent technological advancements and the changing dynamics of the business world due to the global recession, there is set to be massive increase in adoption in 2009/2010. Many people are still hesitant about trying out this style of sales training. Why should you consider it?

What does selling in a recession have to do with the Tampa Bay Rays? Keep reading! The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are going to the World Series this year. Last year their record was 66-96 and they finished in 5th Pl. This year their record was 97-65 and they finished 1st Place in the AL Eastern ...

Amarillo, Texas is known for at least two things – Palo Duro Canyon and some of the finest people you’ll find anywhere. nnIt was recently my good fortune to be with some of those good people. I was that district’s keynoter for the annual safety awards banquet of Texas Department of Transportation. nnBoth before and during the meeting part of the banquet, I received some good natured ribbing about my Barber-osophy outfit. The red and white stripped vest and arm garters,

So often sales people find themselves working hard but not accomplishing much. In my view, there’s a lot of activity but not much productivity. Having sold and coached salespeople for many years, I’ve identified some reasons why this is happening as well as solutions. 1. No clear target

Lottery sales are going through the roof. This statement should be of no surprise, right? The economy is at all time record lows, we have the highest rate of unemployment ever recorded, we have over spent for so long that we don’t know how to live within what our means really should be. Sure, a get rich quick opportunity doesn’t sound like such a bad idea, does it? So, you might be turning to the Internet where the promises of get rich quick opportunities within home based franchises appear at every click of the mouse.

Having your own home based franchise, you must each day know exactly who your energy vampires are and how to keep them away. We have all heard it before, the Law of Attraction states that we transmit both positive and negative energy and how we manage this energy positively is what really matters. So, who are your energy vampires in your home based franchise? Are they fear, doubt, anger, hopelessness, frustration, depression? The list could go on and on.