Selling - John Bradley "JJ" Jackson (Page 4)

John Bradley "JJ" Jackson

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Selling

A collection of 95 posts

Sales Management

How Top Sales People Think

Ever wondered what is going on in the heads of top sales people? Like most high achievers, top sales people manage their thoughts with discipline and optimism. They do things differently from the rest of the team.

Customers Remember Good Sales People

Years ago a very wise sales manager asked me, “What is the single most important factor in selling?” Dumbfounded by the question, I sat in awkward silence. Sensing my quandary, he answered his own query with two simple words, “Being remembered”. I quickly nodded yes, but I did not really know what h

Increase Sales with Reference Accounts

If you ranked all the tools in the marketing tool bag, which include product promotion, pricing, advertising, personal selling, and public relations, you will find that reference accounts top the list in effectiveness. Reference accounts are the most believed and trusted form of marketing. Let your

Customer Service

How to Earn Customer Referrals

The best sales person is a happy customer; it sounds trite, but a happy customer is much more believable than your best sales pitch. If only you had more of them.

Speak To Me in Plain English

It is clear that there is an epidemic of business “double talk” out there and it has got to stop.

E-mail Messages Returned to Sender

A surprising large percentage of e-mail messages don’t make it to your target when you conduct a large e-mail campaign. Many are snared by spam filters, fire walls, and some are eliminated by the delete key without being opened. The reasons for this e-mail mortality rate are many.

Escalation: There is Never Enough

Escalation is a dirty trick played when one party has leverage or when there is still money on the table. Essentially, escalation is when a deal is almost done and one of the parties reopens the negotiation with a demand for one more concession.

Put It in Writing

If you put your proposal or ideas in writing, people will find them to be more believable. A proposal or idea, when presented in a written document, demonstrates to the other party that you have carefully weighed the options and have come to a decision.

Public Speaking

Non-Verbal Communication

Non-Verbal Communication is mightier than your words; this is especially true in-person. Words are important, but your body language and para-language may transmit a louder message.

Sales Management

Fear of Rejection

A major cause of failure of sales people is said to be the fear of rejection. Fear of rejection can disable you from making cold calls, handling objections, closing deals, and from getting up in the morning.

Take it or Leave it

Maybe the most aggressive tactic for a negotiator to take is to say “take it or leave it”; this stance is cocky, unequivocal, and mean. Aggressive negotiators use this tactic because weaker negotiators give in and it works. Yet, many times it is just a bluff. This tactic sends a strong signal that t

Cherry Picking: An Aggressive Negotiation Tactic

You submitted your proposal to your customer two weeks ago and reluctantly presented it with line-item detail like the bid required; you also submitted a package price. Finally, you sit down with the grim-faced buyer, who pronounces the pricing too high by citing lower line-item prices from the comp

Call Me on My Cell Phone

Cell phone usage has radically changed over the past five years. It was not that long ago that corporate usage of cell phones was considered a luxury and their usage was closely scrutinized for cost reasons since it was so expensive. It is an understatement to say that cell phone usage today is ubiq

Email Marketing

More on E-mail

My recent blogs regarding e-mail and selling created quite a stir with my readers. Apparently, e-mail is a very thorny issue for many sales people. Sales people are increasing forced to sell through e-mails; customers seem to hide behind their PCs. Writing effective e-mails is hard work and there is

Sales Management

How to Retain Top Sales Reps

Top sales reps need special care and feeding; as mentioned in the last post, giving them too much space can be a prescription to lose them to the competition. Instead, create a strategy to keep them on your team.

Sales Management

Why Top Sales Reps Quit

Every sales manager’s worst nightmare is the surprise resignation of a top sales rep. Sooner or later it happens. So, what went wrong?

Email Marketing

More on E-mail and Negotiation

As a follow up to my diatribe on e-mail communication and in response to the many questions about e-mail practices specific to negotiation, I dug a little deeper. Here is what I found out.

Managing Customer Conflicts

Interpersonal conflict happens. It can happen with new customers, with prospective customers, or with major accounts. From time to time in a customer/supplier relationship, disagreements can happen over quality, failure to meet commitments, or interpersonal dynamics. When problems like this happen y

Customers Know Too Much

With the proliferation of the Internet, along with blogs, wikis, social networks, and online communities, buyers today are making superior purchase decisions based on information that is now readily available. Gone are the good old days when buyers depended on their sales people to educate them on t

Tell Stories to Your Customers

“If you’ve heard this story before, don’t stop me, because I’d like to hear it again.” Groucho Marx (1890-1977) Comedian and actor Facts tell, while stories sell. Have your salespeople tell stories. I have found that most successful salespeople sell by telling stories and not by making