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Tony Cole Articles

Written by: Tony Cole

4 Keys to Gett ng Past the Gatekeeper - Click To Read Article
In today’s fast-paced and virtual work environment, prospecting and getting to the decision maker has become a challenge. With the help of technology, the cold or the warm call has evolved to a strategic process. However, there are still some basic beliefs that you must have as you mentally prepare to make that call; get through the barriers; deal with voicemail; and talk to your prospect.

For More Sales Success, Ask the Right Questions - Click To Read Article
Asking the right question is always key to getting the right information. According to WIKI HOW, sales people spend too much time "pitching" and not enough time asking questions.

Close More Sales - Click To Read Article
As sales people, we would all like to close more business, more quickly, at higher margins. Unfortunately, we often do our closing activities at the final presentation and are met with put-offs or think-it-overs. If we find that we are running into stalls and objections after we’ve presented, we must recognize that we have laid inadequate ground work. In other words, it’s not the closing that is the problem. It is the opening and the process that followed.

Self Management for Success - Click To Read Article
A crisis is an event that is urgent and important. Crises require immediate response. Events that qualify for crisis management include September 11, 2001, the stock market crashes of 1929 and 1987, a child in the hospital, death and serious illness, the loss of your job. You get the idea.

11 Sales Lessons for Life - Click To Read Article
Does life teach us about selling or does selling teach us about life? No doubt, it works both ways. But the business of sales and those who find their careers in selling, are unique. Selling involves full engagement and the most successful salespeople agree that they never really leave it; that selling is in fact, a way of life.

You Are Today - Click To Read Article
One of the biggest mistakes made by companies and individuals is waiting until January to do business planning. By then the New Year has started and the effects of your efforts won't be seen for several months. By then you are behind.

9 Steps to Close More Sales - Click To Read Article
There are typically three things that salespeople want to know how to improve and these include (1) see more people, (2) manage their time better and (3) close more business.

Create a ‘No Excuses’ Sales Environment - Click To Read Article
What is your company’s sales culture or environment? Can that question be answered quickly and articulated consistently across your organization? The foundation for creating a clearly defined sales environment begins with the leadership - how they set sales standards and then demonstrate, communicate and inspect accountability to those standards. What sales standards do you set and communicate? Are they extraordinary? If we followed you around for 30 days, what would we observe about your actions and interactions with your team?

Sales Core Competencies - Click To Read Article
How do you spend your time now when it comes to your own professional development? Aside from any company sponsored program you might attend, what else do you do and what do you focus on? Certainly, continuing to learn the technicalities of your business is critical, but in all the years I've been working with sales people, no one has ever told me they lost the deal because they were technically unprepared. Typically, the reason people lose business is due to lack of sales “know how”. This includes the failure to help the prospect overcome objections, the inability to overcome price issues, a failure to undo the current relationship and the inability to get someone to act. These are the symptoms that you must address when working on “fixing” the choke points in your sales system.

What is the Single Biggest Motivator for Top Salespeople? - Click To Read Article
So, what is the secret to motivating top salespeople? This is the question that continues to challenge organizations and frustrate sales leaders. The answer to that question is not a secret. The single biggest motivator for top salespeople is their goal plan.

The 10 Second Sale - Click To Read Article
When you are attempting to convince a new prospect to meet with you, you have about 10 seconds to make a first impression. In that first few seconds, you must break through the noise of all the other salespeople who have called on your prospect and you must make an impression that is irresistible.

Losing vs. Not Winning the Sale - Click To Read Article
If a salesperson doesn’t win a sale, then they must have lost it, right? Wrong. There is a not- so- subtle- difference between ‘not winning’ and losing. When a salesperson does ‘not win’ a sale, it indicates that there was something that the salesperson did not do to win the sale. He’s responsible for not winning. Losing the sale, on the other hand, sounds like something simply happened to him.

Guaranteed Sales Success in 2010 - Click To Read Article
There are no guarantees in life or in selling. Yet we look for one each time we buy and so do our clients. Shouldn’t we, as salespeople, be looking for guarantees too? Guarantees that we will reach our goals? Regularly we witness great salespeople overcome the odds, the economy or the competition to be successful. Haven’t you always wondered how they do it?

Sales Commitment and Shadow of the Leader - Click To Read Article
“You have to understand that people stand in the shadow of the leader.” This comment came from the top executive of a very large corporate client of ours. And I had to ask, “George, what do you mean, shadow of the leader? He replied, “It’s pretty simple, Tony. People will do what they see the leader do, not what the leader says.”

Sales Mission Complete - Click To Read Article
I recently had the great honor and privilege of visiting our United States Military Academy at West Point, NY. I was overwhelmed by the courage and passion of those that occupy this post. They are truly remarkable people and I was struck by how much the disciplines they practice relate to selling. Yes, it might be a stretch to tie what happens at West Point to sales and selling, but not much of a stretch. This group of young people consistently demonstrates at an extraordinary level all of those competencies necessary to succeed in selling: courage, desire, commitment, persistence and ethics. They are sales people in fatigues. They spend their day selling others on the connection between athletics and winning on the battlefield. One of the metrics for success: bringing everyone back alive. That is life or death.

Prospecting, the #1 Job for the CEO - Click To Read Article
Does your company need more sales? I¡¦ll assume that for the majority, the answer is yes. When did you last schedule and then spend an hour prospecting for your business? With the mountain of things to get done each day and the number of people looking for time on your calendar, there is just no way that you can do that too. Maybe you don¡¦t really prospect, but leave that up to your sales manager and sales team. Beware! You must cast the shadow, walk the talk and be the lead prospector so that your team understands that prospecting and bringing in new business is the number one job. Even for you.

Keep Doing, Start Doing, Stop Doing - Click To Read Article
Recently, I had an eye-opening discussion with one of our clients. We reviewed the year and set goals for the next. My client provided me with several critical "Keep Doing, Start Doing and Stop Doing" items that he felt would help Anthony Cole Training Group be more effective. This 3-dimensional discussion helped me to understand how we could grow by tweaking some of Anthony Cole Training Group's traditional approaches that weren't working from his perspective. This was a difficult but significant conversation.

Consistent Sales Growth - Click To Read Article
I'm sure that some of you are saying, "We have sales growth." I'm sure that you do. However, is it consistent? Is it predictable? Is it at the level that you projected when you did your budget last year? Is it enough to overcome an unexpected loss of revenue from accounts, drop in rates, etc.? One of the problems about total revenue that I'm hearing this year is that "we're on target with new sales, but revenues are down because…? Well then, the reality is that new sales may be on target with what was budgeted, but they are not on target given your new adjusted budget deficits.





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