How do I distinguish between a genuine buyer and a saboteur?

By / / Communication, Emotional Intelligence, Negotiation

Everything lines up: your solution is a very good match for the client company, you have ticked all the boxes but the deal is rejected. You are perplexed and confused. “It’s a great solution! It’s what they wanted and needed. Why are they saying no?” Building on from last week’s ‘How do I deal with client objections?‘ l thought we should look at when objections become personal.

Over the years I have come to realise that many of us have lost sales not because we didn’t have a good offering or we …

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How do I deal with client objections?

By / / Communication, Customer Service, Negotiation, Sales Skills

Many sales people will tell you one of the biggest worries in sales, besides prospecting, is dealing with customer objections. Its true many people do not like dealing with objections or conflict, however, it is also true that many people unintentionally create objections and conflict by not understanding a customer’s real needs or priorities and failing to find common ground.

In my opinion ‘overcoming objections’ is often blown out of proportion in terms of the issue it claims to be. Too much time and attention is spent on objections in sales meetings and sales …

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Whada ya rates?

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Complex Selling & Transactional Selling, Emotional Intelligence, Mindful selling, Negotiation, Sales Skills, Uncategorized

Whada ya rates? ‘Cos I’m a wholesaler and I can do better rates than them. I can look at your thingos and give you a better deal”

This is an excerpt from a call I received from a telecommunications wholesaler the other day. As you can see this is not someone asking about my business rates but what I am paying for a particular service. I am the supposed client in this exchange. To make matters worse, when the caller introduced himself he said his name was John – that’s it, no where he was calling from or why he was …

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Help my sales people can’t close sales

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Call Reluctance, Complex Selling & Transactional Selling, Negotiation, Sales Skills, Sales Tips, Sales Training

‘My sales people are not closing sales’ is the most common complaint we hear.

The biggest cause for people not being able to close sales it not the close itself. It often starts at the beginning of the sales call.

Sales people need to be able to properly understand client’s needs and discuss possible solutions that meet those needs with the relevant products and services before any close can take place. Once this has happened they can close the sale but not before. If a sales person cannot meet a client’s needs with their products and services then it is a ‘no …

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The Hard Sell

By / / Ethics & Values, Negotiation, Sales Culture, Sales Relationships

I declare right up front that I am not, and never have been a fan of the Hard Sell. You have probably guessed that from all my previous posts.

And if you ask most people about what they think about the profession of selling they will often describe something akin to the ‘Hard Sell’. Of late I have also noticed a rise in ‘hard sell’ stories where people are being unnecessarily pressured to buy or sales people being pressured to sell at almost any cost.

The hard times may be pushing some people to do things they wouldn’t normally do like the …

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Some Good News Sales Stories

By / / Negotiation, Sales Relationships, Sales Skills, Success

You don’t have to discount price to win good business and good customer relationships even in tough markets.

I mentioned earlier this year my team and I are working on a large sales fitness training assignment in the finance sector around Australia. These guys are hard up against it when it come to ‘price’ being a key target at the moment. A number of their competitors are trying to buy market share with discounted prices. The market is being hammered with ‘discounting’ of all sorts – some clear, some not so clear and some very dubious.

Many people have commented ‘Is this …

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Are you really listening?

By / / Brain Science, Communication, Customer Service, Negotiation, Neuroscience in Sales, Sales Skills, Value Proposition & Value Add

Ever misinterpreted or missed hearing important information which meant that you missed a vital opportunity? You’re not alone. Listening has always been, and still, one of life’s most vital skills. With so much competing for our time and attention I have found the effectiveness of mine and others’ listening skills are being increasingly challenged.

Where I notice my deficit in this area the most is when I go home after a busy day and my children want to tell me all about their day and I realise my head is still full of my work and other priorities …

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A view for the other side

By / / Brand & Reputation, Complex Selling & Transactional Selling, Customer Service, Negotiation, Procurement, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Relationships, Sales Skills, Sales Strategy

An Audience with Procurement Part 2

Following for last week’s piece on Procurement, I promised I would delve further into the view from the other side of the table and how, we, as sales people, view procurement and some of the practices which help or hinder sales and partnership effectiveness. And what our common enemy is.

So let’s take a look at the other side of the table.

Many a seasoned sales person can tell you story after story about the ‘Gunna Gunna’ customers:Gunna do this, gunna do that be it never goes anywhere.

Customers who spend very little with us but take …

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An Audience with Procurement

By / / Brand & Reputation, Negotiation, Procurement, Sales Relationships, Value Proposition & Value Add, Vision, Mission & Purpose

Recently I was approached by the head of CISP Australia (Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply) www.cipsa.com.au (broken link), Jonathan Dutton to be their after dinner speaker at the Women in Procurement Conference on 19 June 2008.

This was a new event on CIPSA’s calendar which provided a unique educational and networking opportunity for those interested in the advancement of women within the procurement profession. While procurement has traditionally been a very male-dominated profession, an increasing number of women have achieved success and recognition in recent years. The conference aimed to examine the challenges women face as they try to make …

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