Tips & articles on selling
Features and benefits: a sales and service basic, right? Yes, expressing benefits is a fundamental skill but that doesn’t mean pros don’t need refreshers. Here’s a mini-lecture on why working on benefit statements is a good idea: There are now more opportunities for expressing benefits. We’re communicating via text and chat and email and webinar and [...]
Consultants often have trouble with selling. The process feels awkward, the skills seem undesirable, results are poor -- this can snowball and affect consultants' confidence in their own expertise. The good news is most consultants already have what's needed to sell more confidently, comfortably, and successfully. This article covers four common challenges and how consultants can [...]
Ah, communication! We want to communicate clearly and effectively...but we can inadvertently send the wrong message. Here are common words and phrases that can trip us up. I'll start with "just" and "actually" because using them purposely does not cause problems -- using them as a verbal habit does. "Just" We use the word "just" to [...]
It’s mid-March, mid-June, mid-September, or worst of all: late November. Your sales numbers are not where you want them to be. Hot prospects have cooled off. Your manager is pushing like mad. You feel like your brain and confidence are crawling through thick mud. That, my friends, is supposedly a choke, to which I say baloney! [...]
Back when I was a sales pup, we reps and our managers used an equation to set expectations for performance (now known as “metrics”). The equation started at the top of the proverbial funnel with calling, flowed through several points—response, appointments, qualifying and closing—down to the small end of the funnel and new business. We used [...]
Organizations often say they want a comprehensive or consistent approach to marketing and selling. Their various business groups often say they need something unique. Here’s a look at which things should be the same — and which should not. […]
