In my spare time, I enjoy hopping on my mountain bike and hitting the trails around my hometown of Greensboro, NC, USA. The other day, I noticed some problems with my bike so I took it in for a tune-up. When I went back to pick it up, I noticed “The 5 Steps of Selling” glued to a clipboard by the cash register. I though you might be intrigued with a bike shop’s approach to customized sales training.
The 5 Steps of Selling
1. Approach: Recognize and greet the...
We've always believed that "Buying is an emotional event."
Science, it turns out, backs up that statement. In his book, "You Are Not So Smart," blogger David McRaney shares a couple of anecdotes that are useful to salespeople...
"Elliot" was a successful man by most measures. He was an excellent student who met with a great deal of success in his career as an accountant. Then he developed a brain tumor. Even though it was removed, the procedure left his Orbitofrontal Cortex (OFC) damaged.
After the surgery, "Elliot" spiraled out of control. He divorced his wife, quit his job, and had trouble holding a new one. He succumbed to a scam artist who took most of his money, he drifted away from his friends and family, and remarried a prostitute. All of this happened because he would become...
As you can imagine, we often integrate our customized sales training processes into CRM tools (Customer Relationship Managers).
We often hear a familiar question:
As one VP of Sales said to me, "I know it will be successful when my team uses CRM as consistently as they use their paper calendars."
Getting your salespeople to use CRM in their day-to-day routine requires them to make it a habit. Here are a few best-practices we've seen smart companies use to get a kick-start:
Yesterday, we participated in one of my favorite things here at The Brooks Group: A curriculum review.
A curriculum review requires us to take a hard look at a course to see how we can improve it. We bring together all of the facilitators and curriculum designers who work with that particular course. We consider the course evaluations and other input. And, using our collective knowledge of all of the customized sales training and sales management training programs we’ve built, we identify what needs to be changed and updated.
Since this one was for our IMPACT Selling Two-Day Open Enrollment Program, we had the chance to ask ourselves:
Another successful Sales 2.0 conference down.
I’m returning from an enlightening day in Philadelphia where I attended the Sales Management 2.0 conference sponsored by, among others, Selling Power magazine.
[Editorial Admission, The Brooks Group is an advertiser with Selling Power and has, in the past, been a sponsor of some of these events]. It’s always great to see old friends and meet new ones, of course. But the...
Trust is key to all relationships, whether personal or professional. Getting someone to trust you is essential before asking for a sale and, to a greater degree, marriage.
Earning a prospect's trust is a critical first step in the sales interaction. The more trust, the more commitment you can obtain. Earning it requires a cocktail of openness, consistency, and credibility.
Your prospects probably want two, seemingly contradictory things.
In other words, prospects want control and a leader.
Let me give you a personal example. Last year, I was placed in charge of a committee tasked with buying a new healthcare plan for the staff here at The Brooks Group. Admittedly, I’m no expert on buying a corporate healthcare plan. I didn’t really know what I wanted (other than to be sure my coworkers and I were covered), but I certainly didn’t want a salesperson to instruct me. I wanted control and a leader!
How do you, as a salesperson maximize your sales effectiveness in a situation like that? That’s the...
"What do I do with my cell phone on a sales call?" was a question posed at one of our most recent sales seminars.
It's a good one. Picture this:
You're meeting with a Whale -- your ideal prospect. Something good will inevitably come out of this meeting...if you perform flawlessly. The trust is there. The rapport exists. The information is flowing. Then, suddenly, your phone rings. The vibe is lost.
What role should your cell phone play during a sales meeting?
Some argue that you should leave it in your car to avoid the distraction altogether. Others say having it available to you shows a level of responsiveness that a prospect should appreciate.
So much has been written about Apple's rapid ascent than any of us could read in a lifetime.
For example, more iPhones are sold everyday than babies are born.
In the spirit of an over saturated topic, I'd like to add my own tale to the mix. I'd also like to hear what you can apply to your own business from the lesson.
Here's my story:
Over the weekend, my MacBook...
According to a Harris Interactive Poll, 23% of people routinely search the names of business associates before meeting them. That means a prospect "Googles" you before one out of every four meetings.
It also means your online reputation is critical to building trust and breaking through the invisible wall of apathy and resistance that exists between you and them. And, I'll say confidently, that the 23% searching today will only grow with time.
Two hundred years ago, your reputation carried across town. If someone in a neighboring village heard something about you, it probably didn't matter. Technology couldn't carry your story very far and, in most cases, it didn't matter because you likely didn't do business outside your own neighborhood. That's no longer the case.
What can you do to manage your online reputation?
The first step is ...
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