SalesHQ

Knowing how to read body language is an incredibly great advantage for you. Just by careful observance, you can actually figure out what a person is thinking; or in some cases, trying to hide. This skill alone puts you two or three steps ahead of other people. Learning how to read body language is easy. All it takes is a keen ...

Chekkov said that "Man is what he believes" and that is certainly true in sales. Beliefs and behaviour of salespeople is a topic that I've only really come to understand in the last few years. If I'd known then what I know now, I'd have been even more successful in my early selling days. Beliefs have a huge positive impact on ...

One of the main differences between negotiators is how confident they feel when negotiating. Typically, the more confident we feel, and the better we are prepared, the more successful will be the outcome of our negotiations. Personal power comes from many sources. To build up and increase our confidence as negotiators we need to step back and analyse the sources of ...

I received a phone call from a young man we will call Damien from a company we will call Star Printing, selling ink cartridges last week. The call from Damien went something like this. Damien: "Yo Kevin. How youse goin'?" Kevin: "Fine, thank you. Who is calling?" Damien: "Damien from Star Printing. I called ya about two weeks ago about supplying ...

If you’ve been exposed to the sales world in one form or the other, you’ve probably heard of the infamous “Dog and Pony Show”. That’s where you’re invited to come to your prospect’s office and make a presentation in the hopes you’ll persuade them to buy what you have. Of course, that’s the plan, but not usually the reality. If you’ve ...

Sooner or later, we all backslide into old ways of thinking about selling that lead us down the wrong path with potential clients. A few weeks ago, I had a phone conversation with Julie, who has been struggling with the old-style selling methods that her manager insists are the only way to sell their company’s technology solution. Regardless of what product ...

Monster Member Will Asks: I'm really a friendly guy, and I have excellent relationships with people. But I tend to have a few good friends rather than many superficial ones. I like to have long quiet dinners with people where we can really talk about what we're thinking and feeling. I've always hated fraternity parties and mega-events where you go to ...

Are you one of the more than 85% of all salespeople, professionals and business owners who are finding it difficult to get quality referrals from your customers and clients or, worse, have simply given up even asking for them? Is your pipeline hurting? Are you beating the bushes for new clients without success? Are you wondering how in the world you’re ...

Here is a somewhat surprising statistic, only 7% of communication is transferred through the spoken word or whatever is actually said. The rest is transferred through the tone of your voice and your body language - as much as 55%! That makes it a great area for personal development. Improving your body language can reduce the amount of mixed messages that ...

What's the difference between novice, average and truly professional salespeople? Unknowledgeable salespeople try to sell products. Product Marketing is the activity centered on products: defining them, positioning them, comparing them, etc. Average, competitive salespeople sell solutions, not products. Most sales professionals spend an extraordinary amount of time translating product feature/function information into something the customer will value, turning the "product" into ...

Positive Thinking We've all heard that positive thinking is all you need. That and a dollar will buy you a couple of really cheap donuts. If you believe "touchyfeely, positive thinking" psychobabble is all you need, you will NEVER change anything. People using these new age positive thought processes think they're actually doing something constructive. Without results, they tend to blame ...

It's not long past the season of completing business planning and it would be remiss of me not to provide a few helpful definitions of business planning nomenclature. Bottom up planning: planning completed from the absolute building blocks of the business so that the targets are in complete synchronisation with the resource requirements in terms of capital and operating expenditure, human ...

"I always hear people talking about how e-mail is today's 'killer app,'" my coaching client Janice told me when we were discussing ways of making contact with prospects. "But I'm afraid that people will think I'm spamming them if I try to e-mail them when we haven't met yet. I know I hate spam with a vengeance!" "You're not the only ...

What's the difference between the rising star whose career is picking up speed and his counterpart who can't seem to get the engine to turn over? Often, the star has mastered the nuances of business etiquette - the subtle but critical behaviors that can make or break an important meeting, influence a first impression or impress a potential client. According to ...

You may look good on paper or in your suit, but if you're looking to nail your big interview, looks aren't everything. How you sound is often more important. But many job seekers let careless speech habits sink their chances of landing that plum job. Here are six common language mistakes and how to keep them from sabotaging your interview or ...

Virtually every salesperson with any experience what so ever proclaims him or herself to be an expert in their field. Their business card, their fliers, their door hangers (if they use them), their cold calling spiel, their brochures, and everything else they have tries to communicate this expert status to prospects and clients. Why is everyone so anxious to get the ...

Ahh, the holidays. A time for festivities. A time for vacation. A time for family. A time to relax, enjoy and reflect upon the year and your accomplishments. It is also a time when many businesses prepare for slow sales and a fall in performance and production. This is the time of the year when sales and appointments slow down and ...

The internet has changed the face of retail selling. Customers are able to search for information and evaluate alternatives on-line. In store retail sales processes have, in many organizations failed to adapt to the increased power consumers have now. All retail sales people at some time will be taught a sales process. h4. The sales process and the goal of each ...

Nothing is likely to frustrate me as much in conversation as people who assume they know what I am feeling or thinking and what I value when they do not know me or do not ask me any questions to find out. When I observe assumptions being made in business I get just as frustrated. h4. Selling is a fertile field ...

I've been a salesman for a while, tried my hand at opening businesses, and have done all sorts of things to get by (legal, mind you, legal), and the problem I've run across in any field of endeaver is that magic word, motivation. Now, what motivates me is not necessarily what motivates you, or your cousin Sally, or your boss Jim.  ...