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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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! […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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? […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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’ […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
When an email hits your inbox or a customer calls interested in your company’s services, responding quickly is surely a priority. However, giving into the urge to […]
Let’s say you are a sales representative for a technology company trying to call on IT Directors. How many of your competitors are doing the same thing? […]