Should I fire my bad clients?

By / / Brand & Reputation, Customer Service, Sales Planning, Sales Relationships, Sales Results, Sales Strategy, Value Proposition & Value Add

Run a mental checklist over your client base right now. Who fits into the ‘good’ client list and who falls into the ‘bad’ client list?

It all really depends on what you define as good and bad.

As we know not all clients are good for your business. Some clients are a wrong fit for your business but could be a good fit for someone else; therefore in of themselves they are not necessarily ‘bad’.

However, others are just downright bad for your business.

It is important to consider how much your ‘bad’ clients are costing you in terms of …

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Getting back to sales basics

By / / CRM, Sales Planning, Sales Relationships, Sales Results, Social Media, Social Sales

It’s time to get back to basics.

I don’t know about you but recently I have found myself getting more and more distracted by the latest trend and fads, especially the social media phenomena. My reason for this is that I have been trying to get my head around social media and specifically, the impact on the sales profession.

As you may have gathered, I like to keep on top of what is current, what is emerging, and what is still an idea. This is why I make time each week to do research as it helps me navigate my way around …

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What are the benefits of a CRM system in your business?

By / / Collaboration, Communication, Complex Selling & Transactional Selling, CRM, Sales Consulting, Sales Forecasting, Sales Measures - Inputs & Outputs, Sales Pipeline, Sales Planning, Sales Relationships, Sales Strategy, Strategy, Value Proposition & Value Add

First of all what does CRM stand for? CRM = Customer Relationship Management.

The concept of CRM has been around for a long time. The original form of CRM was a manual card system kept by a sales person that usually sat on the sales person’s desk or alongside them in the car. These client cards sets were very valuable to the sales person as this is where they kept important customer information such customer contact details, key contacts in the company, a running commentary on their activities, personal and product preferences, buying patterns, business connections and so forth. Each card …

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What do your sales people really need to know and apply?

By / / Business Acumen, Sales Assessments, Sales Pioneer, Sales Planning, Sales Skills, Sales Talent, Sales Tips, Sales Training, Self Development

In today’s market selling skills training does not equal product training or pressure tactics. If product training or pressure selling (the hard sell) are on the top of your sales training agenda or the only training you offer your sales people then you may want to rethink your sales training strategy.

What is expected of sales people today by way of skillful thought and action goes way beyond the product or the hard sell.

Let’s first look at what clients want. This will then help us determine what sales people need to be able to do.

Clients today …

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Create your ‘Ideal’ sales force blueprint

By / / Assessments, Competition, Complex Selling & Transactional Selling, Performance Management, Recruitment & Sales Recruitment, Role Clarity, Sales Consulting, Sales Culture, Sales Driven Organisations, Sales Excellence Acadamy, Sales Leadership, Sales Planning, Sales Psychology, Sales Results, Sales Talent, Strategy

Now is the time to rethink your sales strategy and your sales force. Design the sales force your business needs and get great results.

Tip: It’s all in the thinking and planning that happens before the execution.

To help you start your thinking and planning here are two case studies from our work files where the businesses got it right.

Story one: Transform your current sales team into a new sales team

“The Sales Culture transformation and competency project we worked on with you in 2008 has been such a great success for our team. The culture is now fantastic and the morale of …

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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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Count your chickens

By / / Communication, Customer Service, Prospecting, Sales Planning, Sales Relationships, Sales Tips

Everyone I am speaking to, at least, are aware they are working in a softening market. Some businesses of course are counter cyclical, meaning they can make money in these tougher times i.e. outplacement firms for all the obvious reasons, but they are more the exception. If you market is softer or heading or a down turn it doesn’t have to be all gloom and doom. It’s true now you have to earn your real money through proactive sales practices.

So with on the agenda, one of my clients in regional Australia kindly sent me a great article on “The three …

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Locating Prospects

By / / Prospecting, Sales Planning, Sales Tips, Social Media, Social Sales

In the sea of information that is the internet and the ever growing networked communities we live in, you could essentially get a sales lead from anywhere. In principal this sound great. You always have someone to call on or prospect too.

However having too many choices can often lead to feelings of being overwhelmed by too much information. And when you have too much information this can lead to indecision and subsequently inaction. And inaction is the NUMBER 1 killer of any sales prospecting strategy.

So where do we start to sort out where we locate prospects? …

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Making Decisions

By / / Attitudes & Behaviours, Sales Leadership, Sales Planning, Sales Relationships, Sales Skills, Value Proposition & Value Add, Wellbeing

Several years ago I read a great book called ‘Kids Are Worth It – Giving Your Child the Gift of Inner Discipline’ by Barbara Coloroso.

This book has served me very well as a parent giving me guidance in how to raise self-aware and self-disciplined children. In particular, I learnt by heart the following questions which I ask myself whenever I make decisions and in turn, have taught my children to ask whenever they make decisions.

The 3 Decision Questions are:

  • Is it life threatening?
  • Is it morally threatening?
  • Is it unhealthy?

For instance, when my then 7 year old son asked if his 2 …

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