I'm often asked, "Which is better – an elevator speech, unique selling proposition or value proposition?" All are effective at different times, but there is one clear winner for piquing prospects' interest in your offering.
How should you respond when a prospect asks you to tell them about your stuff? Most of us get excited because we think they're really interested in what we're offering, but the truth is they're really looking for a way to dismiss us.
Beware -- if you talk about your stuff, you'll be brushed off in moments!
What are the biggest mistakes salespeople make with PowerPoint presentations?
Most salespeople totally miss the point of their presentation, thinking that the more they can cover about their company and its products and services, the better they'll be. As a result, their presentations have ballooned to 40 – 60 slides.
And then what happens when they meet with their prospect? They feel compelled to cover ever single one in excruciating detail. If the hour ends and they've covered everything, they're happy.
If that's what you do, you're not helping yourself get the business. Your prospect has been bored to tears. They see you as another self-serving salesperson who's doing her pitch. You don't stand out from the crowd at all.
This article contains an excerpt from my new book, AGILE SELLING.
Sales has now officially become a thinking-intensive profession. We're constantly bombarded with new information: new products, services, bosses, priorities, processes, technology...the list goes on and on.
It’s impossible to stay on top of it all. So much to learn in so little time. And it just keeps coming at you. As soon as you think you’ve got it all figured out -- BAM! -- more change and you’re scrambling again.
Successful sellers need to learn a lot fast, and figure out how to best integrate that new knowledge into customer interactions.
Developing your learning agility enables you to be resourceful, adaptable and proactive, ready to tackle your customers’ biggest challenges and help them succeed. It means you’re a skilled communicator because you’ve learned to think from other peoples' perspectives. You’re fast and flexible in the ideas you generate, and are able to come up with lots of ways to achieve your goals.
Shortly after SNAP Selling came out, tons of salespeople said to me, “This is great info on selling to today’s crazy-busy prospects. But I’m frazzled too. How can you help me?”
Initially, I thought it was a time management problem. But, after pondering things for a while, I realized it was a bigger issue.
I recently interviewed Brent Adamson, co-author of one of my favorite sales books, The Challenger Sale. His groundbreaking research at CEB has totally changed how we talk about sales in the past few years.
In our conversation, Brent shared the results of CEB's most recent research -- and what that means to salespeople. Here are four key takeaways on changes in the buying process and actions you can take to advance the sale:
I should be jumping up and down with joy right now. After all, my new book, AGILE SELLING, is coming out next week.
But instead of busily rolling out my well-planned book launch campaign, I’m sitting in a hospital room watching my husband sleep.
Ten days ago he had quadruple bypass surgery - which went well. I expected a quick recovery because he was healthy going into it, and built my plans around it.
Then complications set in. I immediately canceled everything; family is more important than a book. After a couple of scary days, the downhill spiral stopped. Thankfully, my husband is getting better little by little every day.
But even though I'm in the midst of a family crisis, the world doesn't stop. I can’t delay the book launch date; that’s set by the publisher months in advance. Plan A is totally shot.
This article is an excerpt from my sales book, AGILE SELLING. To learn more habits of successful, agile sellers, order your copy today.
Hope is rampant in sales. We need it to keep going - but we also need to avoid being fooled by false hope. The longer a deal stays in your sales pipeline, the less likely you are to ever close it, even if your prospect claims that he or she desperately needs your offering.
Purging your pipeline regularly keeps you honest with yourself. To do so, get in touch with your long-term prospects to see what's happening. Find out if they're still serious about making a change, and if so, realistically when.
Recently, Brad Miller, Director of Business Development at Fathom, interviewed me about my new book, AGILE SELLING, and the key challenges salespeople are facing today. I thought you might like to listen in.
Like many sellers, I look calm, cool and collected. But underneath that exterior, I've often felt far differently. If you really knew me, you’d know that I’ve worried about many things, including:
I’ve fainted in sales calls. Once I even dropped 10 pounds in the month following a promotion to major account sales. I was so sick to my stomach that I couldn’t eat. (Not a good diet!)
During the 2000 downturn, I lost 95% of my business. It took me a couple of years to get my mojo back. I was afraid that I was totally washed up and had nothing left to offer the sales profession. (That’s probably hard for you to believe, but it’s true.)
When you’re selling, you’re virtually guaranteed to experience lots of failure.