It is so often said that you only get one chance to make a good first impression, but why? As sales people we are generally meeting a lot of people for the first time through our work, after all, most true selling is still done person-to-person if not face-to-face. It is, therefore, essential to be able to engage quickly and easily and the 'first impression' is where it all starts. In Professo...
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Dressed to sell
Being dressed to sell is more important than you may think. During a training course earlier this year the question of what to wear when selling arose, and it is a fair question. The conservative may say always be in a suit whilst the more confident may say dress whatever is comfortable, after all it works for Sir Richard Branson! Let's delve a little deeper. Being correctly dressed to sell...
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CRM for your sales force
Using affordable CRM for your sales force. It sometimes seems that there are as many CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems as there are customers so in this blog post we will look at what is really needed from CRM and, in particular from a Sales Force Automation (SFA) system. Firstly, there are the large, hosted commercial systems that include: SalesLogix Salesforce Sage etc...
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Sales Funnel
Your sales funnel is more than just a fancy graphic. It may be a term you know, it may not, either way your sales funnel is a critical element in understanding how you currently perform and where you need to improve your process. Put simply, the sales funnel is a momentary snapshot of the number of enquiries you have tapering down to the number of closed deals. Hence the term 'funnel'. Let'...
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Assets in your business
When someone asks you about the assets in your business do you immediately think of stock etc.? If so, you are like most people. After all, that is what the accountant reports on and what the bank looks at but, think again. [ap_column_wrap] [ap_column span="2"][/ap_column] [ap_column span="4"]Take the nice company cars in the car park: how many hours a day are they used in the course of busi...
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Fear of failure
Most people have two fears when they are selling: the fear of failure and the fear of rejection. Let's take the fear of rejection first. If your prospect says 'no' to your offer one of two things has happened: You have not sold the product or service such that the prospect sees clearly their outcomes from buying Your prospect doesn't need or want your product or service In the first exa...
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Pitch Perfect
Your route to being pitch perfect in presentations is simple. Firstly, understand that everyone gets nervous before making a pitch or presentation and accept that this is normal. [ap_column_wrap] [ap_column span="3"]If you think: Will I make a mistake? Will I stumble? Will I forget? Will I... you are setting yourself up for problems. The issue is with the 'I' element being your p...
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Learn from children
Just how much can we learn from children? It is a given that everyone of us knows how to sell, it is part of our development as infants; how we gain attention, compete for food and nurture when defenseless, yet most of us forget. Once we have the ability to get our own food, care for our own needs we then adopt a non-compete mode in order to fit into society’s ‘norm’. Along with this go our sales...
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Value your product
Do you value your product or service? When working with a small firm in a coaching role a while ago we were looking at where business could be improved and, whilst sales could be better they were not disastrous. The key issue was that margins were relatively low. [ap_column_wrap] [ap_column span="3"] A little digging into orders received and there was an obvious disconnect between the pric...
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Sales coaching
Sales coaching should be considered vital to your business Almost every part of a business can be outsourced and many make a great-deal of sense. IT support is widely outsourced and cloud computing has made this even more common. Bookkeeping has long been outsourced, particularly by smaller companies. HR is now being outsourced as the HR laws become ever-more complex. One function that...
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Convey an image
Convey an image but let the prospect reveal it! [ap_column_wrap] [ap_column span="3"]We have said many times that a salesperson needs to talk not about 'what it is...' but '...what it does' in order to sell successfully and repeatedly; however, there is much, much more to this. For example: If working in a hi-fi store I could say: "These headphones will enable you to listen to your music w...
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Boiling milk…
Can you change the temperature at which milk boils? [ap_column_wrap] [ap_column span="3"] We've all done it. Placed a pan of milk on the stove; watched it, looked away for a few seconds and then had a mess of milk to clean-up, and it can be the same with the personality type of our clients. The fact is that milk, water, alcohol and oil all have their own boiling points and without changing...
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Twitter Hours
Do you do the 'Twitter hours'? [ap_column_wrap] [ap_column span="3"] Networking is a critical part of modern business promotion and Twitter provides an excellent means of networking in geographically specific areas. Twitter hours are one hour of local networking at the same time every week and all it takes is including the hash-tag of the group in your tweet. For example, in our local a...
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People don’t buy what you sell
This will come as a surprise to many but your customers don't buy what you sell! [ap_column_wrap] [ap_column span="3"] If you sell widgets I have some news for you. Like it or not, your customer is not buying your widget, regardless of how light, fast, durable, compact and cheap it may be. You may think or believe this to be wrong but I can tell you now that you are mistaken. What your cus...
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Show me the money…
Show me the money is more than just a movie line. [ap_column_wrap] [ap_column span="3"]In most areas in sales the advantages gained from a particular product/service boil down to money. In B2C this may be in the services sector making savings whereas in the B2B sector it may be a more efficient machine. Understanding the driving factor behind a buyer's reason for buying is critical in knowing...
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Shoestring Marketing
Shoestring Marketing does not need to mean 'on the cheap' [ap_column_wrap] [ap_column span="3"]The oft mis-quoted analogy of the best mousetrap in the world does hold some water inasmuch as if no one knows about your business you are unlikely to thrive. That said, it is not necessary to spend a fortune on promotion IF you spend your time wisely. The Shoestring Marketing graphic on the this...
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Planning an exhibition?
Exhibitions are a unique selling challenge Whether you are experienced or new to the world of exhibitions or trade shows you need to approach them in a particular way. [ap_column_wrap] [ap_column span="3"] They are an excellent way to meet a lot of prospects and existing customers as well as make new contacts in a very short space of time. They are also an excellent way to burn money if no...
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I bid because I want the business…
"I bid because I want the business..." [ap_column_wrap] [ap_column span="3"] Speaking to group member during a networking meeting I was explaining the need to be aware of 'The Subtlety of Selling™' at all stages in the business when he made the above statement. As a highly skilled craftsman he could not see the need to become a salesman; however, after a few minutes of discussion it seemed...
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Small Business Saturday
For today only... [ap_column_wrap] [ap_column span="3"]Small businesses make-up the life-blood of the UK economy and part of British culture. Many small businesses; however, have not seen the benefit of professional sales training and how something as simple as understanding how buyers buy can increase their sales dramatically. [/ap_column] [ap_column span="3"] [/ap_column] [/ap_colum...
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Black Friday? How about Rainbow Monday…
Be 'better' than 'Black Friday'. [ap_column_wrap] [ap_column span="3"] Here at Venture Training we do not go in for slash discounting on a particular Friday. Here's our alternative to 'Black Friday': Excellent value, real world training for your business EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK! One sale gained through our sales training will give an instant return on your very modest investment. ...
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