Sometimes client contacts are reluctant to help. Before you write them off as a gatekeeper, consider that there are varying ways in which client contacts may be comfortable helping. How to start figuring out which one your contact is Depending on the topic the same contact may seem like a roadblock and/or someone willing to […]
Tag: sales coaching
Why invest time supporting others
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 Vice President – Lockton Companies does an incredible job providing value for many in this way. More about Ted’s approach and how investing some of your time may […]
Selling in the coronavirus environment: How to keep deals on track
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 focused on how to have documents “speak for themselves” because having the number and depth of conversations we used to have is more difficult. Here is great example […]
Selling in the coronavirus environment: Presentations, proposals need to speak for themselves!
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 presenting in person, we could leave certain aspects of the proposals for conversation because it was easy to read the customer’s interest level. Spending some time reviewing your […]
Managing customer relationships given Coronavirus related restrictions
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 customer contacts and could have informal discussions. Walking into someone’s office was a possibility. Recurring meetings you may have had could be informal because you were in the […]
Want a higher close ratio?
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, now is a good time to look at how you can get more out of your effort. While working harder may result in more deals closing, adjustments in […]
Feel confident going into your next presentation
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 have looked back after presentations and realized I could have done a better job preparing. Particularly when you are squeezed for time it helps to have an outline […]
Managing communication when pursuing a large/complex deal
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 be managed? When you are pursuing a large, complex opportunity there are numerous people involved and a lot of information is flying around. Just look at the themes […]
Understanding your competition
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 decision process 2/21/2020 Customer decision criteria This article focuses on understanding your competitors and what they may be doing. Learning about your competitor’s approach to the opportunity is […]
Understanding your customer’s decision criteria
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 This article focuses on identifying each key contact’s decision criteria. Gaining a solid understanding of this information will help you align your proposals, presentations and discussions to the […]