ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Updates

Okay. I know. It's been a while ince I last posted anything. But I've been rather busy recently as my youngest daughter Tiffany became Mrs Lloyd yesterday.

Here's some goodies I've come across recently:

Buying Signals

Salespeople often misinterpret signs of interest from a prospect as a sign of reluctance. Be aware of these positive buying signals:

-- Hesitancy. The prospect may be seeking more information in order to make a decision.

-- Indecision. The prospect may be looking for options to help make up his/her mind.

-- Reasoning aloud. The prospect may be selling himself or herself on the merits of what you are offering. It is best not to interrupt.

Source: Dartnell's Sale$ Leader (4/10/06)

Learn from the Best

You begin succeeding in sales by finding successful people and surrounding yourself with them.

Be with the people whom you'd most like to become like. If you want to be average, then stick with average people. If it's your desire to achieve greatness in sales, then learn what the great ones do and do it!

You'll find that top professionals in this industry aren't threatened by your desire to learn what they do. There's plenty of opportunity for everyone, and really great leaders want to have followers who will get the job done.

Find out who the top producer is in your company, invite that person to lunch and listen to what they have to say. (Be sure to bring something to take notes. I didn't do that the first time I asked a pro to lunch and ended up writing notes on napkins.)

Source: Sales trainer/author Tom Hopkins (tomhopkins.com -- 2006)

Price vs. Value

Successful salespeople don't sell price. They sell value.

Price will always seem high if value is perceived as low. When you focus on price either because of poor product knowledge, poor client knowledge or poor sales skills, you will always lose in the long run.

Clients don't want cheap. They want the best value for their dollar. If you are focusing on price you will never make it big in this dynamic profession. However, if you always sell value you will never have to worry about losing business to price competition.

Oh yes, in the short term you might lose a sale here or there. But if you are in this business for the long haul for both your company and your client, sooner or later your prospects or clients will come back to you and the value they need and desire.

Source: Sales trainer/author Tim Connor (timconnor.com -- 2006)