 Category :: Sales Management Articles |
Author :: Martin Wales  |
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| Article Title :: Not Enough Fresh Sales Leads? Marketing is the New Sales |
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| Your sales are down and leads are rare. The phone’s not ringing. Let’s blame marketing!If you join this band wagon to rationalize your poor sales results, you need to step up and take responsibility for your own fate. It’s amazing how often sales teams play the victim here. They blame the marketing department, team or an individual, for their lack of sales.Don’t get me wrong, I’m on your side. Often, in a typical, let’s say “traditional” organization, there is disconnection between marketing and the sales organization. There is a lack of communication, team work and common goals. Sad but true.Often, the larger the company, the less marketing serv (read full article) |
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| Category :: Sales Management Articles |
Author :: Victor Gonzalez |
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| Article Title :: The Sales Carpenter |
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| I remember moving my family to Argentina as Vice President of Sales for Latin America. I was in charge of managing five regional offices, Argentina of course being one of them.In the company’s ten year history of selling into Latin America it had never exceeded $14 million (M) in annual sales. The Argentina office itself had never produced more than $400 thousand (K) in sales. My task was to increase the sales locally in Argentina, but more importantly throughout Latin America.I remember sitting in my office one day, looking out the window and wondering, “How the heck am I going to grow this business with problems in Mexico, Brazil, Puerto Rico and other hot spots? (read full article) |
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| Category :: Sales Management Articles |
Author :: Dave Kahle |
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| Article Title :: Transforming Your Sales Force by Creating Specific Expectations |
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| I just finished a phone call with a potential client who had called to discuss a problem. His 18 person sales force was paid on straight commission. All had been with the company for 8 - 15 years and were earning healthy incomes. His problem was that he couldn't get them to do what he wanted them to do. Here's the example he shared.He wanted the salespeople to call on new prospects to expand the company's base. Instead of just seeing established customers, he asked them to call on prospects, and report back to him on the progress they were making.There were almost no results. Instead he got comments like: "I'm not going to do this, I'm not a new salesperson." Or, "That's jus (read full article) |
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| Category :: Sales Management Articles |
Author :: Charlie Cook |
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| Article Title :: Getting Off The Advertising And Sales Rollercoaster |
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| Seeing the results of advertising your business can be like watching a roller coaster. The day you run your ad you see a flurry of activity; your ph0ne starts ringing, your web site traffic increases and/ or potential clients visit your store. Your hopes soar. sales go up. Two or three days pass and the response goes down. You look at the bill for the advertising and your jaw drops. Your hopes descend.Nancy called me from Portland, Oregon with just this problem. Every time one of her ads appears in a local publication, customers start walking in the door of her home furnishing store. A few days later the number of prospects and sales goes down. Her advertising gets results, but the (read full article) |
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| Category :: Sales Management Articles |
Author :: Sue And Chuck DeFiore |
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| Article Title :: Increase Your Sales - Accept Credit Cards |
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| Many people today simply prefer the convenience of paying by credit card. If you want their business, you must be able to accept their credit-card payments.
In part one of this series we will discuss why you should accept credit cards, and the basics of getting merchant status. Part two will deal with objections you might get, which credit cards to accept, and the check paying option.
Obtaining merchant status, which allows you to accept credit-card payments, might seem like an unnecessary hassle, especially for those in business where the majority of their customers pay by cash or check. But by not accepting credit-card payments, you lose sales. This is especially true i (read full article) |
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| Category :: Sales Management Articles |
Author :: Sue And Chuck DeFiore |
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| Article Title :: Increase Your Sales Accept Credit Cards, Part 2 |
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| In part two we will discuss overcoming objections, which credit cards to accept and using the check paying option.
If your business is home-based or has been in operation for less than two years, you’re likely to face objections from the bank.
If yours is a home-based or a brand-new company, be sure to meet with the banker to show your business plan, offer collateral and discuss your personal net worth. You are more likely to be able to overcome objections by being open and honest. Even if your bank turns you down, however, you still have options. First, you can always try other banks.
If you don’t have any luck getting a bank to back you on your own, consider (read full article) |
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| Category :: Sales Management Articles |
Author :: Shamus Brown |
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| Article Title :: Raise Concern About Sales Competition, Not About Yourself |
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| As you are reading this sales article, read very carefully. Because I wouldn't want you to think of a pig right now. No, do not think of a fat, brown, smelly pig right this moment. What are you doing? Do you have a picture of a smelly, fat, brown pig in your head right now? I thought I just told you not to do that. What are you doing then?
The mind can only process positive statements directly. In order to process a negative statement, one must first create a positive representation of the negative statement in the mind. To *not* think of a pig, you first had to see a fat, brown, smelly pig. Only then could you attempt to tell yourself not to think about it. Gee, by now though you (read full article) |
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| Category :: Sales Management Articles |
Author :: Shamus Brown |
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| Article Title :: Speed-up Your Sales Cycle |
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| This week's article is my response to a question by David Cohen of Bridge-Soft.
"Quite a few prospects have told me that business is stagnant at the moment, but they are hopeful towards the 4th quarter. How do you approach the sales cycle where the cost of the product is relatively high and the sales cycle is lengthy, sometimes six months or more, in good times. I have little trouble generating interest in our products during my cold calls, but the relationship of a slow economy, long sales cycle, in combination with the cost of the software puts a few road blocks up. Any ideas on how to either avoid or breakdown these road blocks?"
-David Cohen, Sales Dire (read full article) |
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| Category :: Sales Management Articles |
Author :: Shamus Brown |
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| Article Title :: Sales Tactics to Beat Your Competition |
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| This month I want to share a success from a friend and customer of mine. You'll find in this story two important sales tactics for beating your competition.
From Chris Chalmers of Quova Inc:
"We sell a commodity product (geographic data) that is available from a variety of competitors and public sources. Recently, we lost a major account to a competitor, and based on our long-standing relationship with them, they consented to debrief us on what went wrong. Obviously we had an account management issue, and there had been a service problem or two. But the clincher was our competitor was perceived as "more helpful" and "more expert" because they were offering a (read full article) |
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| Category :: Sales Management Articles |
Author :: Jim Meisenheimer |
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| Article Title :: Discounting Your Way Into Sales Oblivion |
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| I don't even like saying the word d---------g. I have literally obliterated it from my dictionary with a black marking pen. I'll bite my tongue until it bleeds, before I say the word.Earlier this week Bernadette, my wife, and I went shopping . . . something I love to do. Just kidding! We were looking for a 3-piece plant stand for our deck. We found one in a catalog and went to the store to check it out.Bernadette always asks the sales person if he can do better on his price. You'd be surprised how much you can save just by asking.Sidebar! The word ASK is the most powerful word in a sales person's vocabulary.Back to what happened. We debated over two differe (read full article) |
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