What is a Dimensional Question? Here are Examples…
In Dimensions of Professional Selling (DPS) sales training, we identify five types of questions in the Exploratory process – Overview, Focusing, Realization, Closing and Dimensional – each with a specific purpose. Dimensional questions allow us to engage our customers who are “fully satisfied” and open our customers’ minds to the possibility of improvement beyond what […]
Tips to Gain Support for Your New Ideas
Why is getting support for new ideas such a challenge? By nature, human beings are not fond of change; we are suspect of new things about which we know nothing and new initiatives in which we had no input. The following tips serve as guidance to help us understand these basic human characteristics, minimize their […]
5 Tips to Create Your Own Luck
In his recent HBR blog, Why the Best Salespeople Get So Lucky, author Joel Le Bon asserts that there are tangible benefits to sales professionals believing in the role of “luck” in their sales success. Even more valuable than a belief in the power of luck are the specific behaviors he identifies for creating one’s […]
Is Insight Enough to Win the Sale?
Recently there has been a great deal of attention placed on the importance of offering new insights to customers to win their business. Insight is a critical element of sales, but only as one piece of a holistic sales process. Insight alone is nothing more than data, and it certainly isn’t enough to win new […]
Retail Tips – Presenting and Demonstrating Your Products
Sales is a stream of business, which may be safely defined as the spine and the nervous system. The entire life and sustenance of a business depends on the sales situations that the venture experiences, if the sales are high, the business may pull it through and grow, but if it fails, the entire venture […]
Are You Asking the Right Questions?
Want key customer insights that will facilitate valued solutions and dramatic results? Maybe all you need to do is ask… The Exploratory Process is critical to finding the area of opportunity with new and existing customers. Often, the absence of strategic questioning undermines effective diagnostics and, as a result, the development of exceptional solutions. In […]
Importance of Negotiation Skills!
Negotiation skills is a scary subject to most people. I have met managers from various industries across India and the middle East and few if any believe that they have negotiation skills. I’ve had some who say that they just hate it, and some who think its ungentlemanly to negotiate. Often there is one person in the office who is […]
What Needs to Change?
We are just three weeks away from a new year. By now you know whether your 2014 performance was stellar or not. At this point your focus should be on the future – 2015 and beyond. It’s likely you already have your sales objective for next year. After all, we wouldn’t dream of starting a […]
Storytelling: Proof of Its Power
In the past, the Mentor has extolled the virtues of storytelling (Storytelling is a Powerful Sales Tool, MFTM, March 2014). In his recent HBR.org article, Why Your Brain Loves Storytelling, Paul Zak shares the science behind the art of storytelling, and it is fascinating insight. The entire article is worth reading, but here are the […]
3 Barriers to Successful Negotiations
Negotiating is among the most feared and stress-inducing functions for a sales professional, and also among the most important. If you struggle with negotiations, there may be bad habits undermining your success in this role: Viewing negotiations as a battle – Negotiations should be about finding solutions and adding value for all parties, not about […]