Not all sales interactions run smoothly; even the best salespeople inevitably hit a bump in the road. Maybe you’ve hit that bump because you unwittingly mishandled a situation, or because your customer had conflicted feelings about a sale. Either way, if you want to salvage your hard work and make sure the sale goes through, you must learn to deal with these obstacles to meet your customer’s needs.

Here are some common mistakes salespeople make and how to avoid or overcome them:

• Fearing the Customer’s Reaction

When salespeople are afraid of what a customer might say, they end up losing … Read the rest

You’ve been prospecting this company for ages, and finally got your foot in the door. You’re apprehensive because you’ve scheduled a meeting with the purchasing agent — not the big boss, but it’s a start — and you know you’ll get hammered on price!

The purchasing agent shakes your hand. “Tell me what you can do for me — and how much it’ll cost me.” Already, he’s squeezing you on price! You only want to make him recognize the value of your business solution. He only wants to dance around it, singing, “Sure, value’s important. But how will you save … Read the rest

Research confirms what you’ve probably suspected: Buyers are deeply irrational beings.

A group of scientists from CalTech, Carnegie Mellon and MIT reviewed studies examining how people buy. Most economists — and many sales training programs — assume buyers make logical decisions about what they need and what’s in their best interests.

Most buyers believe their decisions are the end result of a sensible, step-by-step process. But these “neuroeconomic” studies show the automatic, unconscious process that’s really going on:

• Buyers buy with their hearts first. When money changes hands, the primitive, emotional part of the brain calls the shots.
• Buyers buy