Selling from Good to Great
Selling from Good to Great
1. Don’t forget to start selling. Early in my career, I was at a sales call with the sales manager and we had quite a pleasant conversation about their products, what they did, and how they were doing. I was thoroughly enjoying myself. I never asked how long we had for our meeting. Within 25 minutes the meeting ended because the manager was pulled out into another meeting. I never asked my strategic questions. I lost the opportunity to present what I could do for them. I had chatted away the time because I was having such a good time. You’re there to sell. It’s your job to guide the conversation. Don’t lose your focus.
2. Don’t sell if it’s a bad fit. I normally work with managers who have a clear understanding of what they want. We discuss where their sales staff is and where they want the group to be. I will design a program to improve the skills for the strategies we discuss. The initial call with the manager expressed an interest in improving customer service skills. He hired me. I got a phone call and he wanted to include selling skills. I modified what I had. Then the project scope kept changing and my frustration increased. I finished the project and vowed never to work with this manager again. Know the person or company who is right for you and your products. Avoid the ones who are not. Learn from your first mistake. Don’t make it twice.
3. Don’t have an ordinary introduction. When people ask you what you do, don’t respond, “I sell (the product you sell).” I’ve heard enough people describe themselves by their job function to a prospect. It’s boring and is not an effective selling message. Always say what you do for your customers. Try to address the problems you solve. I say, “I work with sales and business professionals who want to make it easier to sell.” After all, selling is the easiest job in the world. Just ask anyone who’s not in sales.
4. Don’t think you can keep your business without demonstrating and documenting value. If your products and services are as good as you say they are, you’re customers are seeing benefits. They’re seeing reduced costs, avoided costs or increased revenues. Why not document this in a savings letter or report to your customers? If you don’t know the impact of your products, ask your clients, “How has my product/service impacted your business?” Was I in for a surprise when the Vice President of one of my largest accounts transferred. The new Vice President said to me with his feet up on his desk and his hands clasped tightly behind his neck, “I’m your worst nightmare. I don’t know you, your products or your company… and I’m not loyal.” Fortunately, (after I caught my breath) I was able to show him the files of work I had done and the total dollars I and my company had saved him because he was doing business with us. The best way to be prepared when people change at your accounts (and they will) is to document and present the work you do.
5. Don’t think your customer will be a good one forever. Businesses change. Marketing strategies change that cause our customers to go in new directions. Those directions are not always the best for our business. We see it more and more today. A once large customer is now a smaller and less critical one. If you continue to spend the same amount of time you were with the account, you’re taking time away from developing your next big account. It’s sad when things change. Recognize it and make changes. It’s acceptable to maintain contact by phone instead of a costly sales call when the customer no longer meets your criteria for an important account.
Now that you know what not to do, you are well on your way to go from good to great selling.
Selling from Good to Great - To learn more about this author, visit Maura Schreier-Fleming's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
In the wonderful book Good to Great, Jim Collins says when companies transition from good to great they have to know what not to do. This also applies to selling. I can certainly recommend what not to do. Here are some of the things that I’ve seen and they surely didn’t work!
1. Don’t forget to start selling. Early in my career, I was at a sales call with the sales manager and we had quite a pleasant conversation about their products, what they did, and how they were doing. I was thoroughly enjoying myself. I never asked how long we had for our meeting. Within 25 minutes the meeting ended because the manager was pulled out into another meeting. I never asked my strategic questions. I lost the opportunity to present what I could do for them. I had chatted away the time because I was having such a good time. You’re there to sell. It’s your job to guide the conversation. Don’t lose your focus.
2. Don’t sell if it’s a bad fit. I normally work with managers who have a clear understanding of what they want. We discuss where their sales staff is and where they want the group to be. I will design a program to improve the skills for the strategies we discuss. The initial call with the manager expressed an interest in improving customer service skills. He hired me. I got a phone call and he wanted to include selling skills. I modified what I had. Then the project scope kept changing and my frustration increased. I finished the project and vowed never to work with this manager again. Know the person or company who is right for you and your products. Avoid the ones who are not. Learn from your first mistake. Don’t make it twice.
3. Don’t have an ordinary introduction. When people ask you what you do, don’t respond, “I sell (the product you sell).” I’ve heard enough people describe themselves by their job function to a prospect. It’s boring and is not an effective selling message. Always say what you do for your customers. Try to address the problems you solve. I say, “I work with sales and business professionals who want to make it easier to sell.” After all, selling is the easiest job in the world. Just ask anyone who’s not in sales.
4. Don’t think you can keep your business without demonstrating and documenting value. If your products and services are as good as you say they are, you’re customers are seeing benefits. They’re seeing reduced costs, avoided costs or increased revenues. Why not document this in a savings letter or report to your customers? If you don’t know the impact of your products, ask your clients, “How has my product/service impacted your business?” Was I in for a surprise when the Vice President of one of my largest accounts transferred. The new Vice President said to me with his feet up on his desk and his hands clasped tightly behind his neck, “I’m your worst nightmare. I don’t know you, your products or your company… and I’m not loyal.” Fortunately, (after I caught my breath) I was able to show him the files of work I had done and the total dollars I and my company had saved him because he was doing business with us. The best way to be prepared when people change at your accounts (and they will) is to document and present the work you do.
5. Don’t think your customer will be a good one forever. Businesses change. Marketing strategies change that cause our customers to go in new directions. Those directions are not always the best for our business. We see it more and more today. A once large customer is now a smaller and less critical one. If you continue to spend the same amount of time you were with the account, you’re taking time away from developing your next big account. It’s sad when things change. Recognize it and make changes. It’s acceptable to maintain contact by phone instead of a costly sales call when the customer no longer meets your criteria for an important account.
Now that you know what not to do, you are well on your way to go from good to great selling.
Selling from Good to Great - To learn more about this author, visit Maura Schreier-Fleming's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
|||
Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
|||
George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
|||
David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
|||
John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
|||
Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
|||
Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Maura's articles
 | |
|
|  |
 | |
|
| |
 | |||||||
|
 | ||
|
||
|
||
 |
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 100 Success Tips Business Checkup Managing Growth Visual Pipeline Business Coaching |
|
 | ||
 |
Top 50 Social Media Blogs
Top 50 Social Media Blogs | |
 |
Top Social Business Blogs
Top Social Entrepreneur Blogs | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
