Book Review: The Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning
What’s the single biggest reason corporate training initiatives fail? Organizations doing training for the sake of training, rather than as a means to achieve specific business outcomes. For this reason, every person who is involved in a corporate training initiative – as a sponsor, leader or participant – should read the book, The Six Disciplines […]
4 Sales Lessons We Can Learn from the Pilgrims
This time of year, Americans are thankful to the Pilgrims for starting a tradition that paved the way for our beloved Thanksgiving holiday; but the Pilgrims deserve thanks for other reasons as well. In his blog, Thanksgiving Tips: 9 Great Business Skills Entrepreneurs Can Learn from the Pilgrims, author Alan Hall, discusses business skills modeled […]
Shaming Customers is Never Productive
Have you ever had a customer who was unresponsive, inconsiderate or unreasonable? Frustrating customer behavior is a reality of the sales profession. How we handle it defines us as sales professionals. It may seem obvious that “punishing” undesired customer behavior is never an option; yet, it is a tactic deployed too often in the form […]
Benefits Lost if Response Checks Lack Sincerity
In Carew International’s Dimensions of Professional Selling (DPS) sales training, the concept of “Response Checks” is introduced as a key component of an effective sales presentation (or any sales discussion). Response Checks encourage customer participation and provide valuable insight for the sales professional regarding potential objections as well as the customer’s overall acceptance and understanding […]
Tips to Get More Referrals
People tend to avoid asking for referrals because it feels awkward or they don’t know how to ask. Considering that referrals provide THE strongest sales leads, it’s worth overcoming your referral phobia to start leveraging satisfied customers for accelerated sales growth. Here are some tips to get you started: When to Ask: Obviously, you should […]
Lessons in Selling – The Land Of The Salesman
America was discovered by a salesman. Columbus was looking for India, missed it by 12,000 miles and still went home reporting he had “found it,” so he obviously wasn’t a navigator. But was he really a salesman? Consider this: He had only one prospect to call on, and if he had missed the sale, he […]
4 Bad Communication Habits to Avoid
Our communication skills are the single biggest factor in defining us as professionals. They project our intellect, judgement, commitment and respect, all of which define our overall “professionalism.” Read the common communication faux paus below, and consider whether any could be undermining your effectiveness: Listening without intent. Whether in person or on the phone, the […]
4 Tips to Make the Most of Your Failures
Read the biography of any business icon and you will find that failure played a defining role in his/her ultimate success. Were these individuals successful in spite of their failures or because of them? Or maybe it’s their response to failure that establishes them as leaders and separates them from the pack. “Failure,” in the […]
Are You Composing Effective Emails?
For many of us, email has become our primary mode of communication with internal team members and customers alike. That being the case, we need to be sure we are composing emails for maximum impact and benefit, and also with a degree of quality that boosts our professional image. In his recent HBR blog, Write […]
What Do Football & Sales Have in Common?
Technically, sales isn’t a sport; it’s a complex and rewarding profession. But since customer contact is in many ways the life blood of sales, we should periodically reflect on the quality of our own customer contact efforts and whether we are optimizing them to achieve the best possible results. Consider your customer contact habits in […]