Mediocrity Brings the Entire Sales Team Down
Untrained sales managers focus on what they know best, selling. They spend their time working on the largest deals… or jump in to take over customer meetings… (in both cases stifling the learning curves of their reps). Untrained sales managers don’t define standards of performance… so they don’t coach to… Read More
Install a Culture of Coaching within your Sales Team
Your company can increase sales and reduce sales turnover by installing a culture of coaching within your sales management team. Recent research has found that the highest producing salespeople are those that work for sales managers with a “hands-on” coaching style. Sales managers that monitor, direct, evaluate and reward their… Read More
New Sales Book by Kevin Davis
I’ve written a new sales book: Slow Down, Sell Faster! The book will be available January 2011. About Slow Down, Sell Faster! Faster sales pitches won’t lead to faster sales. The key to speeding up the sales process is to actually slow down and get in sync with your customer’s… Read More
TopLine Leadership on Twitter
I finally have a Twitter account! Follow me on Twitter to get timely updates on sales training, sales management training, sales tips, sales seminar updates, book updates… and probably more. If you read this blog, do me a favor and follow me on Twitter! Thanks!... Read More
When to ask Customers for Referrals
For many salespeople, attempting to obtain referrals can be frustrating and unproductive. Customers often provide either poor referrals or none at all. Many salespeople underestimate the risk that buyers feel when they’re asked to supply referrals: you’re asking your customer to put their personal credibility on the line. Another difficulty… Read More
Preparing to Negotiate
In preparing to negotiate you need to figure out what you want from the negotiations and how flexible you’re willing to be on each of your selling points. Then, for each item, develop an explanation that justifies the position you desire. Being prepared to make the right concessions—those that cost… Read More
Get Specific Answers to Questions About Satisfaction
Treat any vague response as an early warning signal. Remember, many unsatisfied customers would rather flee than fight. Complaining takes time and complaints are often ignored, so customers think, “Why bother?” Customers often hide their unhappiness by responding to a salesperson’s questions in a nonspecific way. You’ve probably done the… Read More
Cultivate Your Sales Relationships
Your best asset isn’t the client company; it’s your personal relationships with the people who buy from you. People buy from people they like. As Dale Carnegie suggested in his classic book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, you’ve got to become genuinely interested in other people. Smile more…. Read More
Achieving Customer Satisfaction in Sales
Achieving customer satisfaction — satisfaction with your solution’s price, performance, and service responsiveness — is the pre-requisite for developing any long-term relationship with a customer, and especially one that you may want to take to a higher level of mutual commitment and loyalty. Because your customers’ expectations are always on… Read More
Supporting your Customer after the Sale
Your customers’ level of satisfaction is based on how they feel about these four questions: 1. Am I achieving the results I expected? 2. Is the product or service performing as expected? 3. Did I pay a fair price? 4. Does the way I’m treated by your support people make… Read More
