Marketing Sales

Whenever I speak with new salesreps and entrepreneurs, I hear a similar frustration: "I call a lot of prospects each week, most of which are really hard to get a hold of. When I do get someone on the line, I am thrilled just to talk to them. I sell a great product, yet very few of these people actually buy, even though they sound very interested." So I usually ask them, "Did you get a commitment?" The answer is... well you can guess the answer. Without a commitment, you are left hanging as to whether or not the sale is really moving forward....

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Many times in the process of making a sales presentation to a potential client, we will break down our product piece by piece, explaining all of the features and benefits it has to offer, then we expect our customer to have immediate buy in, and purchase our product based on the presentation they just heard. Unfortunately, it does not work that way. Simply explaining your product is not enough. To many times we are satisfied with our presentation of the product that we forget our number one goal....

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If you asked me to point to the heart and soul of a startup company, I would not say it's the people, the culture, or even the product. I would say it's the pitch. The pitch is that one message that, when delivered, makes people say "wow, that's a great idea!". The pitch gets everyone in the room excited about getting on board with your product and your company. It's the inspiration that carries everyone along for the ride. The pitch also determines whether or not the company's offer has any viability in the market....

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Here are five sure-fire ways to guarantee you will not get the sale; Focus on yourself. I recall meeting several salespeople from a variety of vendors regarding an initiative I was working on for a client. EVERY single person began their presentation by telling me about their company rather than learning about my needs and wants. I ended up being subjected to information that had little or no relevance to my situation, which meant that 20-30 minutes of my time was wasted in each interview. I understand the importance of providing some background information on your company at the beginning of your presentation but keep it brief....

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Occasionally EGOPOWER readers send me questions or topic suggestions that I feel would be of interest to you. In this issue I give some tips to improve your sales closing ratio in response to a question Rob Smith wrote me from the UK: "I sell IT equipment to schools in the UK over the phone. I seem to always hold a massive prospect list that's constantly changing but I'm struggling to get my deals closed. The following is how 85% of my potential deals go: First Contact: I find a prospective customer Find out what they have at the moment and what they want (where they want to be with I....

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Make no mistake that emotions are the driving force behind sales, and customers making buying decisions can be influenced through visual elements towards a particular behaviour or emotion that will encourage more sales. Not convinced? Have you noticed that a lot of restaurants are decorated in/heavily feature reds and/or oranges? Still not convinced? Pizza Hut Frankie & Bennys Burger King Little Chef TGI Friday Bella Pasta (one of the few to focus on Orange rather than red) These major players understand the psychology behind colour and its relationship to marketing which dictates that red and orange specifically encourage restaurant patrons to eat faster;...

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Your prospect is in the market for a widget, just like the one you sell. She surfs over to Google (or picks up her Yellow Pages) and looks up "widgets." She is immediately greeted by 15 different widget companies, including yours. How does she go about making her selection? And what can you do to make her more likely to select you? This is where your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) comes in. Your USP tells Ms. Prospect what is different about you, and why she should choose your product or service over that of your competitor....

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Have you ever gotten frustrated when you realize that your prospects keep stereotyping you as a "salesperson"? And because of that, they don't give you the trust and openness that you deserve, and that are essential if you're going to help them solve their problems? That's what's been happening to Michael, who calls companies to set appointments with decisionmakers. "I have a great product that I'm passionate about," he told me, "but when I call prospects, they immediately start treating me as just another salesperson who's trying to sell them the same type of product that others have tried to sell to them in the past....

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"If you do anything foolish or try to get out of the car we will shoot you" were the terse words which hung in the air like a bad smell. The small car was being driven at over 120 KPH down the dark roads and highways. Beside me - at the wheel of the car, was one man. Behind me, sat his partner, with a cold gun pressed against the back of my head. There was no doubt that they would do what they said. A few hours before many thought had been in my head. I had many plans and things that I intended to do....

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They say if you wait long enough, a style you liked in almost any genre will come back. This is as true for retail store fixtures as it is for clothing or styles of music. The look of the 1960s came back strong in the early 90s and now it appears as if the 1970s are enjoying a renaissance. This rule of thumb applies not only to the style and type of merchandise being sold, but also to the look and feel of the retail establishments selling them. A good way for a new retail business to save money on start up expenses is to do some research and find vintage store fixtures which can often be purchased for a fraction of their original cost....

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The need for good proposals - the business kind, not the marriage kind - struck me again a couple of days ago, when I received a poor proposal. I had talked on the phone with a sales rep, and then she followed up with a proposal. You know what? Her proposal was even worse than her live sales pitch. It was a completely canned message, which wasted her time and mine. With that, some thoughts on creating effective proposals. Let's start by dividing them into two categories: commodities proposals and differentiated (or value-added) proposals....

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I've written previously about how to attract customers and how to manage the sales process. But one thorny issue keeps popping up for my clients? what should they do when a potential customer asks "How much will it cost?" as one of their opening lines. This focus on price is often a clue to indicate the prospective client may lack knowledge about what you really do. After all, if you were to engage someone else to do your work, you'd want to know more about them than just the price. Sounds obvious doesn't it....

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