16 Situations When You Should Send a Handwritten Card

If you have been selling more than a few years I suspect that you have read, or heard someone say, that you should be sending handwritten thank-you cards or notes to people on a regular basis. This practise seems to be going the way of the dodo bird and very few sales people take the time to incorporate it into their daily or weekly routine. Here are 16 circumstances or situations when it makes sense to send a handwritten note … Continue reading →

7 Sales Myths You Need to Stop Believing

During my career as a sales trainer and keynote speaker, I have been able to interact with thousands of salespeople and I have discovered that many of them still believe some myths about sales and selling. Here are seven of the most common myths. 1. Price is the primary reason people make a buying decision I will never argue the fact that price is a factor in every buying decision. However, it is seldom the primary reason people make a … Continue reading →

7 Ways to Conquer Your Fear of Asking for the Sale

In the seventeen-plus years I have been working with sales people and helping them increase their sales, I have noticed that many fail to ask for the business. In my sales training workshops, people express a variety of reasons why they don’t ask for the sale. Here are 7 of the most common reasons why sales people don’t ask for the sale and what you can do about it. 1. Fear of rejection This is by far the most common … Continue reading →

So I Was Dead

“So I was dead.” That was the opening line in the movie Confidence and it was accompanied by a shot of a guy sprawled out in a parking lot looking quite dead. I have watched hundreds of movies over the years and this opening line rates as one of the best. In fact, it’s one of the openers I still remember even though the movie was released in 2003. So what does this have to with sales? The faster you … Continue reading →

7 Reasons Why Talking Heads Seldom Reach Their Quotas

In 1987 a TV series called “Max Headroom” broke onto the scene. It was a futuristic show about a network reporter who gets caught up in an experiment and becomes a computer-generated personality. The series only lasted one season (14 episodes), I think but it was fun to watch. Unfortunately, many sales people are talking heads, too. And they aren’t so fun to watch—or listen to. A talking head sales person is someone who shows and throws up. A few … Continue reading →

The Drawbacks of Social Networking

About a year ago, I made the decision to become an open networker on LinkedIn after a fellow sales trainer and sales keynote speaker told me that it helped him connect with dozens of decision makers. I registered for a service that added my name and LinkedIn profile to a database and within hours dozens of people were reaching out to connect. Woo hoo! A few months later I had added more than 1000 people to my contact list. Flash … Continue reading →

Increase Your Sales Saying No

Is it possible to achieve better sales results and increase your sales by saying no to sales opportunities? You bet it is! Here’s why… Not every sale is created equal. Some leads and opportunities are low in value–both in revenue and in margin or profit–whereas other deals have great potential in both areas. Plus, not every customer is created equal. Research has shown that approximately 25 percent of people (and businesses) will pay a premium for a high quality product … Continue reading →

Could You Be A Private Eye?

During a sales training workshop I recently conducted, the term ‘investigate’ kept cropping up and it started with a participant saying, “We need to investigate why they (the prospect) are saying that.” If you have read my blog or articles for any length of time you know that I am a huge advocate of asking plenty of questions during the discovery phase of a sales conversation. Needless to say, I loved the word investigate! Many sales people think they are … Continue reading →

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