What do you do after a sales meeting? I am just coming back from a sales conference in Europe, and I find myself wondering what is really different each time I come back from a sales meeting? Sometimes I change my way of working, sometimes I don’t. What I do realize from both sides of the spectrum, …
salesmanship
Realizing the importance of lifetime value
Todays’ blog is about the lifetime value of a customer. I think I ran into the first instance where I was the customer using this discussion with a business owner recently. It is a great example of how someone in your organization can cost you thousands or even millions of dollars. It seems that I …
Work or Play?
Work or Play? It is coming up to that time of year … SUMMER VACATION! … Remember how it was to be a kid? Take off 3-months and have fun, not a care in the world, and when you got back to school in the fall, you just kind of started where you left off. Well, as sales professionals, we are always …
Leadership or Salesmanship?
Leadership or Salesmanship? When my son was a lot younger, I had a difficult time getting him to put his toys away. I would continue to tell him over and over again, to put his trucks away, take his ball back to his room and just about everything I could think of shorting of bribing him didn’t …
Is Information Power?
Is Information Power? How many of you know someone, or a bunch of someone’s, that still believe hoarding information gives them power over a certain situation? In the sales field, I see it more and more, that account managers believe this is their only way to really have job security. Go …
To Compromise – is to lose!
To compromise is to lose … When Steven Covey spoke of seeking a Win-Win solution, did he mention compromising on principals? No, he spoke about showing your adversary how we both benefit by implementing a solution. If you are certain that a RED solution is the right one, …
Planning & Preparation
Getting ready to go into a meeting? What have you done to prepare? I’m sure you’ve written all your hot points down, and things that you really must cover, am I right? Let’s say you are working with a logistics problem, and your customer really needs more parts. Your supplier seems to be …
You know what you said, but do they?
The importance of clear communication! In a recent golf outing, I was playing some of the best golf I’ve played for quite some time. I was playing with 3 younger guys, that were actually impressed on how well I was hitting the ball in the middle of every green and putting lights out. …
Are you the account expert?
From Account Manager to Relationship Manager to Historian! This week alone, I had to attach 3 old emails as references to discussions that were 5 years or older. True, I was lucky, I kept copies on my hard drive of certain documents, and let me tell you, I would rather be lucky than good! Each of …
Do you need more than a handshake?
If you need more than a handshake, you’re still not safe The only way to make a man trustworthy is to trust him. - Henry L. Stimson We have all been burned by someone, or some deal that went sideways. We have kicked ourselves for not having that promise in writing, or a certain clause in a …