According to the May 26, 2010 edition of Wall Street Journal, “the number of employees voluntarily quitting surpassed the number being fired or discharged for the first time since October 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Before February, the BLS had recorded more layoffs than resignations for 15 straight months, the first such…
As you know, the recession has taken its toll on workers. Those who remain employed are openly unhappy about things. A recent study found that 71% of employees intend to find a new job when the market turns around. Sales people are no exception. Of all the job categories, sales reps are under the most…
It seems that many employers in the new economy expect you to work like “your hair is on fire”. This most applies to sales people. In the era of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, activity is king. Activities include telephone calls, emails, proposals, face-to-face meetings, product demonstrations, etc. The thinking is that if many sales…
Here is guest blog post from Greg Jordan: Meetings are a necessity. The size, type and dynamics can vary. But unproductive meetings are annoying and can become an all-too-frequent waste of time. I hope this blog posting will challenge you to consider the types of meetings you conduct and test some different tactics. “I had…
What makes a great sales leader? Is it a manager with confidence, an ego under control, and empathy for others? Or, is he or she an egocentric, power-mad narcissist? A recent article by Live Science (10/7/08) suggests that it is probably the latter. The article suggests that, “Narcissists are overconfident about their abilities and like…
Price skimming refers to the pricing of a new product or service at a very high level (while you can get away with it). This type of pricing is often deployed for a product which has a competitive advantage that is not sustainable. This happens a great deal in technology when an innovative product first…
Gift giving practices vary from industry to industry, but an appropriate gift is a great way to say thank you and can help solidify a relationship between customer and provider. The operative word is “appropriate”. Appropriate gift giving has these key elements: 1. The gift is well timed. 2. The gift is meaningful or relevant…
I get this question a lot from sales veterans who remember what selling was like before the Internet. My answer is that things are different with some aspects of selling harder and other parts easier. The biggest change in selling is the rise of the better informed buyer. Prior to the web, buyers had fewer…
Marketing campaigns, sales quotas, and sales awards are soon forgotten. Yet, your reputation seems everlasting—it is the essence of what others remember about you. How will you be remembered? Mark Twain said, “If you tell the truth you won’t have to remember anything”. This adage makes sense to me. I don’t want to have to…
The business trade press has published volumes about how selling requires intense strategy and calculated thinking. I think this is mostly hogwash. Stop trying to out-think your customers. Instead, try to understand the customers’ wants and needs—then act accordingly. Selling is a lot more like checkers than chess. Being understood by your customer may be…