Articles

I wish there were quick and easy answers on this topic.  Suggestions you might find on the internet to, for example, offer a time limit on special … Read more

Why is having a pipeline to track opportunities important?  You are likely juggling priorities, making selling one of many responsibilities.  This could help make the most of … Read more

It is relatively easy to start a “pilot” with a prospective client…particularly if it is at no charge.  The common challenge…how to get the client to start … Read more

I wish there were quick and easy answers on this topic.  Suggestions you might find on the internet to, for example, offer a time limit on special … Read more

What opportunities almost closed in the past 1 – 2 years?  Excited to try again?  Business you lost can be a good source of potential opportunities.  Listen … Read more

Please do not immediately lower your price…when you get this objection an opportunity has been created for you to better understand the client’s perspective.  An approach to … Read more

Does the following sound familiar regarding a potential client… Two things you can do to help schedule follow up meetings… #1 – Send and leverage an agenda … Read more

If you are new to selling, how to start a conversation with a new client contact can be uncomfortable.  Many in this situation will tend to start … Read more

When you are contacting prospective customers or partners, your goal is…of course, to find those that are interested in the solutions you offer.  Customers get tons of … Read more

I recently worked with Prepare 4 VC to share some ideas with their community on this topic. Here is an overview and the video…READ BELOW and WATCH! … Read more

Clients will frequently want to know about pricing as early as possible.  How you present your pricing can directly impact the rest of the conversation with the … Read more

Have you been grinding away at trying to grow your pipeline?  Taking a look at where you are trying to find opportunities can sometimes give your effort … Read more

Qualifying a new potential client can be challenging.  Consider they may not know or trust you…yet.  Using a summary of solutions you offer to support a conversation, … Read more

While you surely focus most of your time on your clients and partners, helping others without expecting something in return can be highly valuable.  Ted Pizzo, Senior … Read more

During a normal year people are on vacation for some portion of the summer, including your competition.  This year, as you would expect, may have more people … Read more

Selling can be hard work.  Sales cycles to organizations small and large can take months.  In order to energize your pursuit of the “next deal(s)”, taking some … Read more

You have made progress in the customer seeing value in your solution, maybe they have mentioned they “would like to partner”…but they have some reason they want … Read more

Particularly if you are pursuing opportunities that involve multiple contacts at your client, it will be critical to pay attention to company culture.  In talking with Al … Read more

We all have lost deals.  Some were a surprise (some not).  It happens even when you have done a great job planning, paying attention to detail and … Read more

Managing distractions is not easy whether you are trying to get more comfortable selling or a veteran.  If selling is not your favorite thing to do, it … Read more

Have you recently started a new sales role or is your pipeline of opportunities not large enough?  Finding new opportunities (and growing your pipeline) may be easier … Read more

I used to think endlessly grinding was how I should approach looking for new business.  It took me a while to realize that the inevitable fatigue was … Read more

Have you ever “winged” a presentation?  I know I have in the past…generally, I did not like the results.  If you pursued being an athlete, musician or … Read more

Particularly if you are new to selling, asking for an order or to close a deal can generate some anxiety.  If you have participated in athletic or … Read more

This is a common topic…my 7/23/2021 email focused on reflecting on your preparation.  I thought some ideas on how you might move forward would help… Do not … Read more

People are naturally resistant to change.  Customers become comfortable/complacent with current solutions even if there are deficiencies.  How might you address this challenge? Identify why there is … Read more

What do you want to accomplish in 2021? We all have many distractions…so here is the challenging part…establishing and staying focused on the goals.  Why have goals? … Read more

We all face many challenges in our selling effort.  Some issues you cannot control (e.g. supplier, technology, weather).  However, you can control how you communicate with your … Read more

You are one person with “X” amount of time…where do you focus your selling effort?  Deciding between smaller opportunities that have shorter sales cycles and larger opportunities … Read more

Since face-to-face meetings are still rare, communicating the value you provide has become increasingly difficult.  This applies whether you are in a sales role currently approaching customers … Read more

Large accounts are worth pursuing many times because of the potential payoff.  Making progress in large accounts requires patience, thoughtful planning, and persistence.  After you start doing … Read more

We all wish this would happen quickly.  However, many times the customer perceives risk in change.  Some thoughts on how to make the decision to change more … Read more

In my 4/8/2021 blog post I shared some thoughts about pursuing opportunities when competitors might be ahead of you.  Ok…let’s assume you have decided to move ahead … Read more

So you are pursuing an opportunity and find out that competitors are ahead of you or more entrenched than you currently are.  Should you bail or continue … Read more

Sometimes executives at client organizations are elusive.  They filter who they choose to spend time with.  The question for you is…who can help you connect and how … Read more

How you prepare is a HUGE factor…watch this 53 second video for more! Feel free to contact me directly for ideas and/or help on this or other … Read more

You know you will get them…how to address them?  You can either hope you do not get them or take a proactive approach.  Likely you will be … Read more

How do you know if you are on a good track toward closing a deal or at least gathering the necessary information?  One approach is to start … Read more

How you can learn a ton from co-workers and drive more business!

In my 1/14 post I shared some thoughts about what is fair/not fair to assume about college students who are interviewing.  A common concern I hear from … Read more

How to get your customers to start thinking of you as a partner instead of a vendor.

Do you have many competitors? How are you approaching trying to stand out?  Some ideas for you in this 49 second video…

The sudden shift to work-at-home might have made it easier to reach important contacts for a few months.  However, companies are figuring out how to have calls … Read more

I have recently worked with many college student helping them prepare for interviews and getting off to a good start in new sales roles.  They are all … Read more

Onboarding new sales reps can be challenging, particularly if you are either in a small organization or have many other priorities to juggle.  In my first sales … Read more

How many meetings with customers have you left where there was no agreement on the next call or meeting date?  How often after meetings are you saying … Read more

We all have been there…spent a ton of time on an RFP and got “nothing”.  If you look back at some of the RFPs you have responded … Read more

It has been a tough year for many.  I realize this may seem very basic…there is so much going on, however, this relatively small (yet important) task … Read more

When you are contacting prospective customers, your goal is…of course, to find those that are interested in the solutions you offer.  Customers get tons of calls, emails, … Read more

Customers are busy, have lots of distractions and certainly do not read many emails.  They scan…so…when you send a cover note your objectives should include: Keeping the … Read more

Think about how often you use social media to see what other people have said about home exercise equipment you are checking out, curbside take-out at a … Read more

Have you transitioned from working on $5,000 deals to $250,000 deals…or some similar dramatic increase?  Early in my career, I went thru this transition and got some … Read more

Building a working relationship with a new customer is challenging.  Sending an effective “Thank you” note can help differentiate you from your competition and keep a customer … Read more

What does it really mean when you hear this objection? Customer is focused on other priorities…OR… You did not prepare well enough for the call You did … Read more

I imagine you have heard from a coach, professor or a manager there are two things you can control…your effort and attitude.  Whether you are in a … Read more

Chief Financial Officers frequently play an important role in decisions customers make.  Whether they are actively or passively engaged, you should assume they are involved.  Have you … Read more

The challenges that selling presents can generate anxiety.  The next question is…how do you deal with it.  Do you face it head on, viewing it as a … Read more

Customers are trying to finish 2020 in the best shape possible and are planning for 2021.  They are likely working on 2nd drafts of plans for 2021 … Read more

How easily can you/your company answer the following questions: How are your leads qualified? How are your leads tracked? This is challenging particularly in smaller organizations. Here … Read more

Most reps have wrestled with this question.  One approach does not fit all situations.  Some ideas that can help you decide how to proceed… Key Factors There … Read more

The first question in your mind should be “what do I need to learn” and/or “what am I missing”.  This, many times, will reveal what you need … Read more

Sometimes ideas for new opportunities to pursue are easier to identify than you might think… How to identify new opportunities quickly and get an action plan in … Read more

A former co-worker of mine at Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a great way of thinking about the process of building trust with customers.  Progressing from a first … Read more

Consider how much disruption you have been dealing with over the past several months.  Your customers are doing the same.  Customers have less time to consider options … Read more

Differentiating your “selling effort” whether you are a salesperson, marketing/operations/engineering professional or interviewing can come down to one concept…respecting the time of every person you encounter in … Read more

Since most presentations are virtual for the time being, it is harder than it used to be to share your passion and energy during a presentation.  We … Read more

You, as the Sales Rep, are the face of your company to the customer.  Part of our jobs as Reps is to engage your Senior Management with … Read more

I have had the good fortune of reporting to some great Sales Managers.  Hopefully you are reporting to one you like right now.  If you do, you … Read more

I have posted my sales related goals fairly consistently.  When I did not, I felt my efforts “lacked focus or direction”.  In a recent inspiring conversation with … Read more

Time is on your side…while this is a good Rolling Stones tune, it may also be true that, due to the restrictions we are living with, you … Read more

If you are considering changing sales roles and/or going into a sales role…read on…some insight that will help you prepare. Ken McGovern, President of KMR Executive Search, … Read more

If you were to segment your business, what percentages would follow key characteristics such as: Number of companies Company size Spend with your company Geographic location Industry … Read more

Customers, as you may know, have “buying seasons” where they are focused on bringing in solutions they view as critical to their business.  Understanding when your customers’ … Read more

If you have cooked for other people and/or have been a server in a restaurant you may have a good start on the skills required to be … Read more

Since face to face meetings are rare due to concerns regarding the coronavirus, communicating the value you provide has become increasingly difficult.  This applies whether you are … Read more

You likely had an approach to preparing for presentations that worked…until about late February.  Creating a new process or adjusting your current process is likely necessary in … Read more

Selling already requires preparation, creativity, patience and persistence.  Considering business is harder to find and sales cycles have become longer, your willingness to “keep at it” while … Read more

Looking back on my first job as a salesperson for NCR Business Forms starting in 1982, I realized I learned a lot from the first few months … Read more

I am still hearing frequently it is considered “tone deaf” to try to drive a sales opportunity forward with many customers.  Consistent with this theme, Avi Smith-Rappaport, … Read more

Why is it usually hard to schedule your executives to connect with your customers?  In addition to having a lot of demands on their time, they were … Read more

Since access to your customers is more difficult, getting feedback on how deals are progressing is more challenging as a result.  My March 31, 2020 post was … Read more

Depending on how your company is addressing challenges with sales reps’ performance due to the restrictions, communication with your manager may be more critical than ever.  Thinking … Read more

How is the use of video conferencing impacting how your presentations are going?  Are the same slide presentations and proposal documents working well?  When we were all … Read more

Before we all had to start working from home we had a lot of options for managing existing customer relationships.  Maybe you had easy access to key … Read more

It is relatively early in the fiscal year for most companies.  If your year did not start as you hoped and/or was derailed by the coronavirus situation, … Read more

The current coronavirus situation is, of course, creating enormous challenges for many businesses.  Challenges of this magnitude will turn the customer’s attention internally.  They are less likely … Read more

How many presentations have you done in the past few months?  What kind of grade would you give yourself on how they went?  I know sometimes I … Read more

In my post on 3/4/2020 the focus was on differentiating yourself in the interview process by doing homework on the company and contacts…becoming an expert.  Let’s assume … Read more

Whether selling is something you are comfortable with or not, a critical part of the interviewing process is understanding the competitive landscape.  Here are some questions to … Read more

Managing communication internally with your team and externally with the customer can be the difference between winning and losing a large/complex deal! Why does communication need to … Read more

Over the past week or so I have covered three important components of a sales pursuit strategy: 2/14/2020     Key contacts and their roles 2/18/2020     Mapping the customer’s … Read more

Over the past week I have covered two important components of a sales pursuit strategy: 2/14/2020     Key contacts and their roles 2/18/2020     Mapping the customer’s decision process … Read more

In my 2/14/2020 post you have an outline of roles key customer contacts can play and how they may evaluate solutions they are considering.  The next step … Read more

It would be great if most deals we pursue were straightforward where it was obvious how decisions would be made.  However, if the sales cycle on solutions … Read more

One of the common traits in top athletes is that they are curious…always trying to learn, trying to improve.  Whether you are a highly successful veteran sales … Read more

How are your wins (and value for your customers) being promoted in your customers’ organizations?  Are they promoted at all?  I have had periods of time where … Read more

 On Thursday January 30, I had the privilege of speaking with UCONN business students taking a course called Sales Management & Leadership with Assistant Professor Bill Ryan.  This course is part of … Read more

Have you recently started a new sales role or is your pipeline of opportunities not large enough?  Finding new opportunities (and growing your pipeline) may be easier … Read more

In many sales roles there is a lot of focus on volume of calls when prospecting.  However, without enough preparation, your time and effort can be wasted.  … Read more

Early in my career I was solely focused on closing business.  You could say I was a “bull in a china shop.”  Fortunately, I had some great … Read more