Celebrating my 12th Anniversary of writing the Kole Hard Facts, and #300, I am reposting my first attempt at blogging and adding some additional thoughts at the end. You can listen to the podcast version by CLICKING HERE I'm sitting in my office, and "ding," the email icon appears, and for one time …
salesmanship
#298: Is it so obvious that you could be wrong?
You may have heard the story about the US shoe company and its quest to grow sales in India. If so, please bear with me to remind some of our new readers. If you would prefer to listen to a podcast version of this article CLICK HERE In the early 1900s, the CEO of a US based shoe company wanted to …
Do you know what you want?
I was approached by a coaching client getting ready for a job interview. Their main concern was to come up with a narrative of what they could do in a position that had become vacant within their current employers' organization. My questions to the client: What do they need? How will they measure …
Determining the value of the team
If I were to ask you what the value of this is, what is your answer? Pretty simple - it's $100. A nice crisp brand new bill. You would be able to give me one-hundred $1 bills, five - 20's, or any other combination to come up with the magical $100. Now, look at this picture … What's it worth? This …
Defining success by asking 3 simple questions
Listen to the PODCAST VERSION or Read Below Day 1 - Zig Ziglar Headquarters, July 2015 I am sitting in Class 7 of the Ziglar Legacy Certification class. To quickly summarize what that is; after the passing of Zig Ziglar in 2012, the family wanted to honor his legacy. They did so by …
What is the definition of fair?
"Fair is when one side gets exactly what they want and the other side gets just enough to stop complaining." - John Dutton, Yellowstone Although this is a great life lesson, it should never be your intent when you are negotiating. What ever happened to Covey's 7 Habits? If Covey had written …
Setting Expectations
Setting prices, or setting expectations, is always difficult. We feel that if its too high people won't buy. I found a great formula in Seth Godin's blog this week. That's where I found a quote that I immediately tweeted out (giving him credit of course). Here is the quote: "Charge enough that you …
The “Wimpy Syndrome”
This is probably one of the most overused negotiation tactics by buyers and purchasing professionals in history. I call it the Wimpy Syndrome. You all remember “Popeye the Sailor man” and his friend Wimpy. Wimpy always wanted the immediate satisfaction of a hamburger today, with the promise of …
Tips: Closing the Deal
Going into this meeting, you know you have this deal. You have been in this position 10 Time’s, and you have your script ready. Your preparation for that objection is beyond reproach. Just at the moment you were going to say something, the prospect throws a curve. Jose Valverde, Detroit Tigers …
Tips: How to be a salesperson, NOT an account manager
As a CEO or business owner, you wonder why Sales are not increasing. You have spent money on Sales Training, hired account managers, and review the metrics weekly. What are you missing? One of my functions is to gather information to provide my principals with some level of market intelligence. …