Different sales assessments and how to use them

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Call Reluctance, Coaching, Emotional Intelligence, Ethics & Values, Prospecting, Recruitment & Sales Recruitment, Sales Assessments, Sales Culture, Sales Research, Sales Training, Self Development

If you wanted to, you could sit down for at least four weeks and complete 100’s of sales assessments and there would still be more on offer. This over abundance of sales assessments can be confusing because they are not all the same. If you do not know what you want to measure it will make looking for an effective sales assessment tool that much harder. Here are some questions that may help you select your sales assessments with more precision.

  • Why will this person sell? (Motives, Ambition, Goals)
  • Will this person sell? (Attitudes, Mindset, Not …

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We want more than a script

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Communication, Customer Service, Prospecting, Sales Relationships, Sales Skills, Sales Tips, Sales Training

Hundreds of thousands, if not millions of sales people around the world use sales scripts. Used properly, sales scripts act as scaffolding or bridgework to earn us the right to have a meaningful discussion with our prospecting customers, members, donors or subscribers. The sales script is a well constructed set of guidelines that support us when we prospect.

Good sales scripts:

  • are purposeful – have a clear reason why you are calling someone;
  • use language the customer understands;
  • are designed for the benefit of the listener with it always being “the prospects choice” to accept …

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Is Call Reluctance® choking your sales effort?

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Brain Science, Call Reluctance, Coaching, Prospecting, Sales Coaching, Sales Psychology, Sales Results, Sales Skills, Sales Tips, Self Promotion

Whether we are working for a private or public company, a “not for profit” or government institution, all of us are in some way competing for access to a revenue source to fund our existence.

How capable people are to take on the responsibility for improving the revenue line of a company is a hot topic in today’s competitive market.

Research shows that no longer can companies and their people rely on their technical competence, passive referrals, reputation, brand or blanket advertising to bring in new business and revenue streams as they may have done in the past. They also need to …

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4 valuable life skills that make for success in sales and any other role

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Brain Science, Business Acumen, Communication, Emotional Intelligence, Mindful selling, Prospecting, Sales Excellence Acadamy, Sales Skills, Sales Talent, Sales Tips, Self Development

There are many things written and said about effective sales people, effective leaders, successful entrepreneurs, great teams and so on.

Many descriptions are in circulation. There is an overabundance of experts recommending this approach one day and that approach the next.

Those of us who want to be effective and successful often follow the advice of those experts however we are at risk of turning ourselves inside out and losing sight of what we are really here to do if we keep trying to bend to the winds and whims of the latest management trends, fads, findings, …

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Getting prospects to talk to you

By / / Call Reluctance, Communication, Prospecting, Resilience, Sales Motivation & Rewards, Sales Skills, Sales Tips, Self Promotion

Do you take time to really think about why you are calling a prospect or a client? Do you reflect on how effective you have been post the call?

Making prospecting calls to new prospects and existing clients is still one of the most important sales and business development activities you can do on a daily basis. Even with all the electronic communication and marketing options at hand most businesses still need to have someone prospecting for them to build and forge real business relationships. Top performing sales people make sure prospecting is part of their daily repertoire.

Like many things prospecting …

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The Entrepreneurial Sales Person

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Education in Sales, Emotional Intelligence, Neuroscience in Sales, Prospecting, Resilience, Role Clarity, Sales Excellence Acadamy, Sales Motivation & Rewards, Sales Relationships, Sales Talent, Self Development, Success

As part of my ongoing professional and personal development I belong to a CEO leadership group where we meet monthly and discuss a whole range of topics to stimulate our thinking and decision making.

Recently we discussed the concept and qualities of Successful Entrepreneurs. Besides making the obvious comparisons with ourselves as to whether we met the criteria of successful entrepreneurs I found the content translated extremely well into what I and other research is seeing in successful sales people today.

It seemed to me that successful sales people had a lot in common with successful entrepreneurs who are often the main …

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Start small and really network

By / / Communication, Marketing, Networking, Prospecting, Social Media, Social Sales

I have attended my fair share of networking events and more often than not, I find that I do not get any quality time to network and begin the process of building viable business relationships for the future. I find the time allocated to speak with people and start to get to know them is often too short, coupled with too many other distractions.

When attending these networking events I find I usually get the most value out of listening to the key note speakers. If I am fortunate enough to strike up a meaningful conversation in between the breaks with …

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Exceptional Prospectors

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Brain Science, Call Reluctance, Competition, Networking, Prospecting, Resilience, Sales Pioneer, Sales Psychology, Sales Relationships, Sales Results, Sales Skills, Sales Talent, Sales Tips, Self Promotion, Social Media, Social Sales, Success
  • “My most important appointment is prospecting and I do it first up every day.”
  • “I qualify all leads I generate and have an approach to handle those that aren’t ready yet.”
  • “People appreciate a professional sales approach and are able to make an informed decision to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ because I clearly explain, up front, my reason for contacting them using a customer centred approach. They need only say ‘no’ if they’re not interested.”
  • “I have a list of categorised prospects or influencers and a set approach for each category.”

    • Is this what you say, and how you feel and act about prospecting?

    These …

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    An ideal sales week

    By / / Prospecting, Role Clarity, Sales Motivation & Rewards, Sales Pioneer, Sales Planning, Sales Results, Sales Skills, Sales Tips, Self Development, Time Management
    • Are you finding that you are over servicing your existing clients and not bringing in new business?
    • Are you running out of time each week to do the important sales jobs such as prospecting?
    • Are you at risk of not meeting your sales budget?

    In my many interactions with sales people I have found that many find they have problems prioritising their week. They often get caught up in activities that do not produce revenue, leaving them vulnerable.

    Let’s look at the key activities that should feature as priorities in most sales people jobs:

    Revenue Generating Activities
    Direct

    • Prospecting (phone calls, etc.)
    • New business client meetings (with …

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    Professional Services firms are feeling the pinch

    By / / Brand & Reputation, Complex Selling & Transactional Selling, Marketing, Prospecting, Sales Culture, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Motivation & Rewards, Strategy, Success

    Take note: Lawyers, Accountants, Engineers, Marketing Consultants et al

    Professional Services Firms are struggling when it comes to keeping and finding business. This on top of the fact that many have to come to grips with the fact they need to sell. The market has definitely changed. You cannot sit there aggressively waiting for the phone to ring anymore.

    In speaking with one partner from a well respected law firm, he vented his frustration at the lack of action being taken in his firm by partners and their teams in terms of driving the push to find new business in current and …

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