Selling is the world’s most personal profession — but not in the way you might think. In fact, many salespeople are downright superstitious. For some, it’s the way they shake hands, others are fanatical about punctuality, wearing certain jewelry or using a favorite pen.

The list is almost endless. It may be the only time of day to call for an appointment, interpreting a customer’s body language, or what to order when having lunch with a prospect. Success is all about following a salesperson’s personal rules. Break the rules and something goes wrong.

While all such personal preferences are interesting … Read the rest

Most of us have one of two common, but quite opposite, reactions after making a presentation. We either think it went very well or we did a lousy job.

Such responses are certainly understandable since presentations are highly personal. When speaking before large or small groups, we put ourselves on the line — there’s no place to hide.

How many times have you heard someone say “I should have done better, but I didn’t have enough time to prepare,” “I wasn’t feeling well,” “The dog ate my presentation,” “I’m just not good at this” or “My personal style is better … Read the rest

Perhaps even more than the lure of money, optimism dominates the entrepreneurial mind. Whether it’s well-grounded or not, every business enterprise is fueled by it.

“During the Great Recession, more Americans have become entrepreneurs than at any time in the past 15 years,” states the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity. Even with the nation’s economy in a persistent slump, more individuals opted for business ownership.

As history tells us, many of these fledgling enterprises will fail. Yet, even taking the step to “go out on your own” is an act of incredible optimism, particularly since others often talk about “going … Read the rest

The company president was excited about a popular cartoon depicting warriors fighting a battle with bows and arrows, along with a suited salesman carrying a machine gun and a briefcase. “Can’t you see I have no time to see a salesman,” says a beleaguered officer, “I’ve got a battle to fight.” Ironically, this is the same executive who nixed new opportunities for his company to grow its sales.

Ideas challenging the status quo can face roadblocks in just about any company whether in sales, marketing or, most importantly, the future. Yet, it may be that those are ideas that can … Read the rest

In high school we learned Shakespeare’s indelible words, “What’s past is prologue.” But that’s where we stopped, missing the key part of the Bard’s advice: “Whereof what’s past is prologue; what to come, in your and my discharge.” It’s a clear message: don’t depend on what’s happened so far; it’s all in your hands now.

If that’s true, then don’t waste time on gimmicks that sound great but fizzle faster than fireworks in San Diego Bay on the Fourth of July, or putting the blame on “changing business conditions.” Unload all the “prologue” stuff and make the moves that make … Read the rest

Possessing the correct skill sets for a position in today’s economy is absolutely essential — but it’s not enough to be a star performer. With so much emphasis on job qualifications, it’s easy to give little thought to certain personal qualities that, when combined with outstanding competencies, result in extraordinary performance.

And it’s the star performers that are missing today. In a recent study of 600,000 people Indiana University’s Kelley School of business found that individual performance doesn’t fall on a bell curve. Rather, the researchers found a “power-law” distribution, with a few elite performers contributing the most to the … Read the rest

Every salesperson knows the job is tougher than ever. It’s not for the faint hearted or those who feel the world owes them a living. At the same time, salespeople recognize the importance of having an extra edge, of standing out from the crowd.

Yet, even those with winning qualities can have other attributes that keep them from getting to the top. To help tip the scales scale, here are several ideas that can make a difference.

Start exciting customers and stop trying to entice them — Spending time figuring out a customer’s hot buttons is out of sync with … Read the rest

Ironically, at the very moment when consumers and business buyers are better informed than ever, there’s also a greater need for competent salespeople. That may seem like a contradiction since the traditional role of a salesperson was to inform the uninformed.

While that is long past, there seems to be confusion about what it means to be in sales today. Is it to provide “solutions,” to be a “facilitator” or to serve as a “customer resource”?

With such confusion, it’s easy to understand why an increasing number of those in sales feel a need to practice obfuscation when it comes … Read the rest

It happened on Thursday after lunch as I ran up five steps to the office holding a cup of coffee. On the second step, I tripped. Instantly I knew what happened. “Call an ambulance,” I shouted. It was a complete quadriceps tendon tear. This time on the right thigh. Four months later, the surgeon’s final check up with words of caution, “Don’t trip.”

Those words are also good business advice. While “Don’t trip!” is a powerful message, it can be ignored, even at a time when it’s easier than ever to take a dive on the second step. When they … Read the rest

Those who own a business hold their peers in high regard. Someone may be disliked personally, but they get a thumbs-up when it comes to running a company. Those who survived the recession deserve a special commendation. Only the naïve outsider thinks otherwise.

It takes a lot to knock small businesses out of the saddle. When times are tough, they hunker down and hang in there. The workdays get longer and the take-home pay gets shorter. Even banks shutting off the lending spigot doesn’t deter small businesspeople. They whip out the credit cards and keep going or they go online and tell their story to the micro-lenders to find those who will take a chance on them.

 

While driving down Boston’s Massachusetts Avenue one Saturday afternoon, it dawned on me that every bus stop shelter along this popular main artery sported advertising signage for Apple’s iPad 2. Assuming that many bus riders were not target customers for a product selling between $500 and nearly $900, the two of us in the car thought that spending advertising dollars at bus stops seemed like a waste of money.

 

All marketers are liars. And since we’re all marketers of one thing or another, we’re all liars. To give proper credit, Seth Godin, the provocative business pundit, started it with his book, All Marketers Are Liars. And, as the syllogism makes incredibly clear, he was 100 percent on the mark.

Not withstanding the value that many salespeople bring to their customers, the selling profession is under the gun. There have always been those who have even decried the existence of salespeople, describing them as an unnecessary evil.

“Outrageous” may seem like an indefensible stretch or, more likely, a deliberate attempt to attract attention. While it may be both, it’s also accurate because it expresses views that fly in the face of the traditional marketing and sales “truths” that are passed on to those who obey them, mostly without question.

If there’s to be progress, however, they deserve a hearty challenge, if for no other reason than to stimulate thinking and to break free from automatically believing that what we’re told is helpful.

At a time when customers are challenging us, we’re best served by questioning the tenets … Read the rest

While it’s certainly possible to teach people how to sell, it’s also possible to learn how to make sales from those who do it every day and do it successfully. Although they are so busy practicing their profession they’ve probably not thought of themselves as teachers, yet, they are the true experts and it’s their real world experiences as practitioners of the art of making sales that makes them so valuable.

Here are four salespeople whose stories clarify what selling is all about, and make it easy to see why they are successful.

Seeing Through the Eyes of the Customer… Read the rest

Most of us have begrudgingly figured out that it’s useless to worry about whether the economy is getting better or worse. Such high and mighty stuff is okay for Washington, but such information doesn’t make much difference in Quincy, Massachusetts, or Eagle Rock, California, or any place in between.

The owner of an engineering outfit says his people are “straight out.” While that’s good news, the economic temperature changes by location, industry and the time of day.

Since the cynicism is reaching stratospheric heights, it’s time for less pontificating and more observing. Here are several “snapshots” that reveal helpful … Read the rest

A business owner tells of getting a call from a local printing services salesperson of a Fortune 500 company, who immediately stated that his company “does everything” and then asked for a meeting to find out “the needs of the business.” The owner indicated that he would welcome information, but refused to schedule a meeting. 

Several weeks later, the same salesperson called again, this time, pressing even harder for a meeting. Again, he was turned down.

This is a classic case of “push” creating “shove.” The greater the push, the greater the shove. “I sensed almost instantly that this salesperson … Read the rest

Selling in a broad swath of industries is arguably more difficult today than at any time in the last half century. No matter what the optimists may say, competition for customers is horrendous. Ask any salesperson. As one said recently, “I have never seen anything like it.”

Along with everyone else, those in sales constantly look for signs of hope from the latest economic reports — whether it’s relevant or not. Like everyone else, salespeople are faced with doing their job whatever the economic conditions.

Hoping for a better tomorrow is the right attitude, but it takes more than that … Read the rest

Even the most self-assured and stoic among us feels the intensity of the times. The economic recovery seems quite elastic at best. Today’s good news can disappear as quickly as it appeared. The end of the economic drought isn’t in sight, as far as retailers are concerned. They continue their deep discounting in spite of having trimmed orders. It may be a good idea to prepare for even more demanding conditions.

In spite of this extended “dry spell,” we’re still faced with the necessity of doing business, of making sales and meeting customers’ expectations — and, yes, demands.

Here’s a … Read the rest

Taking the time to build trust and loyalty with your customers could pay off substantially in the long run. Some common courtesies can make the difference between no sale and repeat business.

It’s easy for just about anyone in business — including companies, salespeople and marketers — to fall into a “pattern” when dealing with customers. We all develop shortcuts and “templates” to help simplify our daily routines, which also make it easier to manage the work load. With more to do and less time to do it, a smoother routine is appealing.

While such an approach may help us … Read the rest

The most successful sales strategy creates an environment that makes customers want to seek you out.

Trying to get fish into the boat before catching them sounds crazy, something that wouldn’t make sense to experienced fishermen. Even so, it’s the most common error salespeople make, and it accounts — more than anything else — for lost orders and prospects never becoming customers. That’s what happens when you try to get the order before you have a customer.

What salespeople do makes perfect sense to them. Unfortu­nately, it doesn’t compute so well with their prospects and custom­ers. They are so focused … Read the rest

Always look for ways to strengthen and expand your marketing horizons, and stay ahead of the competition.

Out-marketing competitors is easy, if you do it right. It takes a combination of work and savvy, but the results can be positive. Frankly, the competition often makes it unusually easy. They talk about what they are going to do, but never get around to doing much. They’re successful at missing marketing opportunities.

Not everyone misses. For example, a 44-store dry-cleaning chain responded to requests for submissions for family business of the year and for community service. Detailed proposals were prepared and submitted, … Read the rest

If we’ve learned anything over the past couple of years, it’s simply that nothing is easy. No matter what the product or industry, doing business — and staying in business — is no picnic. That may not change much in the next year or so, either. Despite a few hopeful signs, most Americans seem to think that a cold economic winter will be around for a while.

While the state of the economy sets certain parameters, we do our­selves a disservice if we believe that determines whether we succeed or fail. John and Peter Greene came back into the ground … Read the rest

Learn from the mistakes of other companies and use marketing successfully.

It’s the issues we ignore that always get us. The CEO of one of the nation’s largest banks thought the board of directors was backing him when they were actually quietly finding a replacement for him. How could he have been caught off guard?

Being caught off guard may be one of the most problematic business issues today. Just when we think we have our arms around something, particularly when it comes to marketing, we’re not only surprised, but also embarrassed.

Here is a short course in avoiding marketing … Read the rest

People are breathing a little easier and the mood is becoming more optimistic. Some “experts” tell us, “The worst is behind us.” Yet, spending time convincing ourselves that the “cup is half full” is both an irresistible and totally useless exercise. It wastes personal and business resources, while not changing a thing, and diverts us from taking positive action.

It you want to get a head start on the competition in the year ahead, here are several tools that will help you make a difference in 2010.

Sleeping Companies Will be Playing Catch Up

If you’re expecting the economic tide … Read the rest

Connecting with customers is harder than ever. These days you must imagine new ways to help your customers — prove yourself invaluable.

Whether we like to talk about it or not, the sales profession has been under siege for years, and the siege won’t be ending any time soon. “What will happen when I can no longer get in front of people and work my magic?” This question was posed by a highly successful, but confused, salesperson that was losing access to customers and prospects he counted on for sales. The year was 1998.

If he were still in sales … Read the rest

While the economic data continues to send confusing and conflicting messages, the mood of the nation seems to be coming down on the side of increasing optimism. It’s difficult to decide whether we’re guided by hollow hope or well-grounded facts. It may be both or, quite possibly, neither.

But one thing’s for certain. Negative thinking has worn out its welcome. We want to believe that we’re on the verge of an upturn. Then, at the very moment when it seems as if the worst may be behind us, why is it necessary to suggest that there are things we need … Read the rest

Successful marketing depends on one basic concept. To find it, start by peeling away the corporate jargon and the pompous pronouncements of the would-be gurus. If you’re lucky, you may stumble on marketing’s core concept: focus total attention on the customer — not on the product or the company — just the customer.

To state the issue as clearly as possible, marketing fails when companies act as if telling their story is the main objective. Such thinking undermines marketing by pushing the customer out of the picture.

“We have a program that’s a perfect fit for the client,” the rep … Read the rest

Paying attention to business is one of the major benefits of a recession. Ford figured it out. And so has Starbucks by bringing back the founding CEO, closing nearly 1,000 marginal stores and — most significantly — introducing their own instant coffee. This could be a brilliant move. While proudly passing up their $4 cup of coffee, we take the instant stuff home and keep a little Starbucks in our lives.

But the recession has worn on so long, we’re tired of hearing so much bad news. Yet, pushing all that aside misses the point, and so do all the … Read the rest