Delivering Real Value beyond Product & Price

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Brand & Reputation, Business Acumen, Competition, Sales Forecasting, Sales Measures - Inputs & Outputs, Value Proposition & Value Add

In December 2012, we published the 12 Sales Trends Report for 2013 and released a brief summary of each trend. This month we are focusing on the Sales Trend “Delivering Real Value beyond product and price”.

For many years most of a product’s value came from the production processes that converted raw material into useful forms. Now real value is coming from supply chain logistics, partnership agreements, overall business improvements, shared innovations, technological improvements, styling features and other attributes that only people can create.

In the 21st Century the intangible is now more …

Delivering Real Value beyond Product & Price Read Post »

Leadership in Uncertain Times

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Business Acumen, Education in Sales, Sales Leadership, Sales Management

In December 2012, like in the previous years, we published the 12 Sales Trends Report for 2013 and released a brief summary of each trend. Throughout the year we will look into each of them a little deeper. This month we are focusing on the Sales Trend “Leadership in uncertain times”.

Extreme uncertainty is the new norm.  Living in a constant state of fear and anxiety only leads to more fear and anxiety. Research shows that highly distracted or stressed people don’t and can’t innovate and change and without purposeful leadership and reason …

Leadership in Uncertain Times Read Post »

Mastering the Sales Management Essentials

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Business Acumen, Coaching, Education in Sales, Sales Coaching, Sales Forecasting, Sales Leadership, Sales Management

What are the Sales Management Essentials and how do we master them?  Well firstly Sales management and leadership is not about selling!

In fact when one examines the role of the modern sales leader it quickly becomes evident that there just isn’t time to sell. Equipping sales leaders to perform the tasks for which they are responsible, and sustaining the momentum of the sales force in its drive for incremental value and volume, at the same time as continuously improving the customer experience, is a challenge that demands a high degree of maturity, dedication, …

Mastering the Sales Management Essentials Read Post »

Sales Lessons out of the mouths of babes

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Business Acumen, Communication, Emotional Intelligence, Life Skills

‘Out of the mouths of babes’ is one of those expressions you hear adults utter occasionally. Often amazed at the remarkable or insightful things children say, I think we do children an injustice by thinking this is an infrequent or rare occurrence. The many children I have met over the years are very perceptive, smart and able to see through weak arguments and call people on them, even if the children, themselves, have not acquired the worldly experiences we accumulate as adults.

You may recall that I wrote an article a couple of years ago titled, ‘ Sales Lessons out of the mouths of babes Read Post »

How do your clients really perceive you?

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Business Acumen, Communication, Education in Sales, Mindful selling, Prospecting, Role Clarity, Sales Coaching, Sales Culture, Sales Leadership, Sales Relationships

Perception is reality. So what do your clients really think of you? Would you be happy with how they perceive you? Are they thinking any of the following when they think about you and your company?:

  • ‘I’m so glad I’ve met you; my life/business is better off for knowing you.’
    or
  • ‘Oh that guy (gal), yeh they’re pretty good’
    or
  • ‘They’re nice but I don’t always have the time to chat with them’
    or
  • ‘That arrogant so and so’
    or
  • ‘Aghhh, I don’t trust them, get them out of my office now’
    or
  • ‘Who?’

    • Good relationships take time and effort to build and create something really valuable …

    How do your clients really perceive you? Read Post »

    Solution Selling Isn’t as Dead as Some People Thought!

    By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Business Acumen, Communication, Customer Service, Education in Sales, Mindful selling, Sales Culture, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Skills, Sales Tips

    Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, salespeople had a clearly defined role. They called on prospective customers, asked a lot of questions in an attempt to understand their customer’s needs, and in many instances they inadvertently helped their customers crystalise their thinking and clarify their needs. At that time salespeople controlled the sales process and comfortably directed their buyers. And buyers were happy to be led because they didn’t know any better.

    Back in the 1970’s salespeople had an important role to play in providing …

    Solution Selling Isn’t as Dead as Some People Thought! Read Post »

    5 questions every Sales Manager should answer

    By / / Business Acumen, Education in Sales, Sales Culture, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Leadership, Sales Management, Sales Results, Sales Tips

    Most sales managers know the basics about their sales team and the selling process used in their organisation. They know which salespeople are their top, mid and bottom range performers; they know how long a deal takes to come to fruition, the length of the sales cycle, the dollar value of the average deal, and so on. However, successful sales leadership demands a deeper awareness of what’s going on within the

    5 questions every Sales Manager should answer Read Post »

    Would You Listen to You?

    By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Business Acumen, Call Reluctance, Communication, Education in Sales, Sales Culture, Sales Results, Sales Skills, Sales Tips

    Many sales people, especially those new to sales, often take it personally when a prospect says ‘NO’ and fail to persist with their prospecting efforts while others turn prospecting into stalking not knowing how to engage a prospect effectively. Either way, these people are failing to favourably and persistently position themselves with prospects thus limiting their sales opportunities even further. In sales there is a fine line between persistence and stalking a prospect. Did you know:

    Would You Listen to You? Read Post »

    Industry Experience and Product Knowledge aren’t enough

    By / / Business Acumen, Education in Sales, Recruitment & Sales Recruitment, Sales Consulting, Sales Culture, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Leadership, Sales Management, Sales Strategy

    As much as people want Sales to be considered a science the reality is that Sales has always combined a collection of facts with human judgments (or estimates). What this means is that there is no analytic approach that can single-handedly guarantee sales success. Result – Sales is likely to always be a mixture of art and science. So how do you sure up your success to gain that competitive edge? For the last few decades when transactional, product-pushing sales was all that mattered, most

    Industry Experience and Product Knowledge aren’t enough Read Post »

    Scroll to Top