In this category, you’ll find sales tips on prospecting, handling objections, getting referrals, and everything else you need to master to close more business.
Remember: every salesperson needs to “sharpen the saw” regularly, so check back often or subscribe to have future sales tips delivered right to your inbox.
Most salespeople love presenting but feel most comfortable when we loosely know an outline and then wing it. When it comes to following the company presentation or memorizing a sales script, we can feel constrained.
I hear salespeople complain all the time that they’re “bad with names” or they can’t work from a script. I say, nonsense! You just need to train yourself that you can. The following ten tips are part of my toolkit for becoming a master of sales script memorization.
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What distinguishes average salespeople from top-performers? Regardless of education or experience, success is directly tied to self-discipline. Above all, top-performing salespeople know their numbers.
Tracking sales activity might not seem fun. It doesn’t give you the euphoric feeling that closing a deal can; tracking your numbers doesn’t have an immediate pay-off. It can take months (sometimes years) before you’ll reap the rewards of it, but if you want to rise to the top in your industry, then you have to know your numbers.
Here’s the good news: keeping track of your sales activity doesn’t need to be complicated.
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I’ve heard this from a lot of salespeople lately: How do I still sell right now? I know trying to sell during a crisis has put us all in uncharted waters, but we have to keep moving forward.
This current crisis feels different because COVID-19 has affected everyone. But we can still learn lessons from other nationwide tragedies (the aftermath of 9/11, the Great Recession) or the more common regional natural disasters and industry-specific downturns that can be devastating for our clients.
We can start selling again. But we need to approach it the right way.
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Our world has changed so quickly in the last few weeks. We’ve had to adapt to a whole new way of doing things—in business and in our personal lives. One of the biggest hurdles many people are facing is running virtual meetings.
It may be completely new to you, but you can prospect, sell, and lead meetings over video conferencing services effectively. There are a few keys to adjusting to this style of presentation. Once you master those, you’ll be off and running!
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I live by the idea “Always Be Learning.” One of my favorite authors, Stephen Covey, calls it “sharpening the saw.” In short, knowledge is a lifelong journey to engage in continually, not a destination to reach. I teach the 4 stages of learning at the beginning of every single coaching and consulting relationship.
A lot of people don’t understand why they’re not growing. The answer is always that they need to be learning more. No matter what you need to learn, there are 4 stages you’ll progress through each time you encounter new knowledge. Understanding them is key to mastering the knowledge at hand.
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If you’ve ever watched Law & Order or any of the other criminal junkie shows on television, chances are you’ve heard an attorney shout the words, “Objection! Leading the witness.”
Leading the witness isn’t allowed because it can sway the testimony to the attorney’s benefit. It can almost be a way of putting words in someone’s mouth. It’s known as a tie-down, and the principle behind it drives one of the most effective closing techniques in all of sales.
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Many of us rely heavily on referrals to find new leads for our pipelines. Therefore, nurturing referral relationships is one of the most important things we should be doing on a daily basis.
But are you taking for granted that these people will keep sending business your way? You may think you’re satisfied with the number of referrals you’re getting now, but what if you’re leaving more on the table than you realize? Or what if there was a way to get better quality leads? Wouldn’t you want to know how?
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