The University of Selling

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Education in Sales, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Skills, Sales Training, Self Development

[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column_text]Until now, there has been no officially recognised benchmark for Selling at tertiary level nor salespeople who can claim a university qualification as their own. On the other hand Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Production, Engineering, Business Administration, IT, Research & Design, Human Resources, Logistics, Procurement and even Entrepreneurship all have recognised tertiary qualifications in the business stream with many proud graduates. The nature of the sales role is one that demands practical implementation, so many salespeople have …

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Is your business Customer Focused & Customer Centric?

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Brand & Reputation, Education in Sales, Sales Culture, Sales Driven Organisations

As with many things these days, words or expressions get bandied about with little regard for what they really mean.  For instance, when we ask people how they define ‘Prospecting’, the overwhelming response is ‘Cold Calling’. Prospecting is far more than cold calling: it can happen anywhere with new, existing or lapsed accounts – anywhere you are trying to uncover and develop new business opportunities.  And with social networks abounding, very few people ever have to make a true cold call.  See what I mean?

And so we enter the confusing world of …

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Breaking the Chain of Ignorance – upping the pace of transformation

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Communication, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Forecasting, Sales Measures - Inputs & Outputs, Success, Vision, Mission & Purpose

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 “Breaking the Chain of Ignorance – upping the pace of transformation”.

It is not enough to adapt to change, we need to keep ahead of the curve and continue to transform ourselves before the change arrives – opting to stay conservative will be a riskier strategy than taking risks to transform.  But the risks don’t need to come from the unknown.  The key to …

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How many clients and sales are you losing out the back door?

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Brand & Reputation, Customer Service, Sales Culture, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Forecasting, Sales Measures - Inputs & Outputs, Sales Pipeline

Are you aware that it is six (6) times more expensive to acquire a new client than it is to retain an existing client?

Keeping clients onboard and engaged with your business is just as important as your sales team finding new business sales with new and existing clients, however many businesses do not pay enough attention to the back end of their business leaving client retention to chance.

Have you ever mapped the whole value chain of your business and looked at where your clients engage with your company?

How many client touch points are there?

The more …

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Are you paying salespeople enough to sell well?

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Brain Science, Complex Selling & Transactional Selling, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Talent

Are you paying your salespeople enough to enable them to focus on selling and not worry about where their next paycheck is coming from?  Because if salespeople are constantly worrying about when they are going to get paid, how can they sell well?

For many years, unlike most other salaried employees who can rely on a regular weekly/monthly pay check, salespeople have often been required to live hand-to-mouth – making sales and waiting for their commission or bonus to supplement their living income.  Often the …

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The polarisation of selling & buying

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Complex Selling & Transactional Selling, Education in Sales, Sales Driven Organisations

Watch out for polarisation of sales strategies and sales teams as the middle ground begins to disappear in 2012. We will see leaders re-think their sales force structures and go-to-market strategies as products commoditise and real margin value shifts to ideas, education, innovation and results.  ‘The Polarisation of selling & buying’ is the 9th Sales Trend for 2012 voted by our readers.

In the 21st Century a sales-driven organisation needs …

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Delivering “good service” isn’t enough

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Brand & Reputation, Competition, Customer Service, Marketing, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Relationships, Sales Skills, Teamwork

I was impressed by a brief but excellent ABC News Video on the impact of social media on a business’ reputation and brand, especially when things go wrong and that to reduce or eliminate any negative publicity issues to begin with starts with something rather old fashioned – delivering Service. This got me musing about and the importance of good ‘ol fashioned customer service’ and what it really means today in a digital world.  The team has proposed we adopt C.A.R.E. as our mantra.

What is C.A.R.E. about?

Everyone knows that delivering good customer service is a fundamental building …

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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 …

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What is Sales Enablement?

By / / Sales Culture, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Pioneer

The term ‘Sales Enablement’ has emerged in recent times as a hot topic in the world of sales, however it can have as many interpretations as there are sales teams which leave people feeling somewhat confused about what it really means and entails. Here are some people interpretations from online sales forums:

  • Sales enablement” means being given the tools to sell… simple as that…
  • A practice / culture of telling the client what is truthful and deliverable so that an informed buying decision is committed to by a money input from the buyer, this is effective sales enablement.
  • Sales enablement is strategic, but …

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Why Sales doesn’t have its rightful place at the boardroom table?

By / / Education in Sales, Sales Culture, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Excellence Acadamy, Sales Leadership, Sales Management, Sales Pioneer, Sales Training, Self Development

The 8th August 2012 was a milestone for Professional Salespeople around Australia: until that day there had been no officially recognised benchmark for professional selling at tertiary level. Whereas Finance, Marketing, Production, Engineering, IT, Business Administration, Research & Design, Human Resources, Logistics, Procurement and even Entrepreneurship all have recognized tertiary qualifications, Professional Business Selling is the last role in the Value Chain to be officially recognised in this space. So here we are – It has taken over 100 years for Selling to make it on the Australian Tertiary Curriculum.

Here’s a speech given …

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