-
December 4, 2014
5 Ways to Stop Making Yourself Miserable in Your Sales Job
Stay in control and make things happen.
Sales work isn’t easy. As a sales coach, I’m sensitive to the inherent struggles of sellers. In an age of economic pressures and empowered buyers, your challenges are significant. It’s difficult and frustrating when you feel you don’t have complete control and the ability to change the circumstances.
There are, however, certain habits and choices you may be making that actually make your job even harder than it has to be. These are things you CAN control. Here are the...Continue reading
By Deb CalvertPosted in Sales & Business Development on December 4, 2014
Add to My Toolkit
-
August 22, 2014
Selling Dilemma: I’m Trying, But I Can’t “Just Make Goal!”
Sales Management Vs. Micromanagement- Benefits of Activity Metrics
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been hearing a new drumbeat in the world of selling. Actually, it’s not a new sound. It’s a rhythm that was helping us all keep pace a decade ago but got replaced. It’s back because it is a classic beat, one that has always been appropriate and important.
The resurgence of a focus on activity metrics is one that all sellers may not view in a positive light. I’ve heard, then and now, that it feels like micromanagement when a sales...Continue reading
By Deb CalvertPosted in Sales & Business Development on August 22, 2014
Add to My Toolkit
-
June 10, 2014
The Great Divide Between You & Your Customers
Take a look at your sales process & find where it gets stalled.
In sales, we are experiencing an embarrassment of riches and yet we are impoverished.
Just look around the offices of most sales organizations. You'll see computers, telephones with headsets and auto-dialers, mobile devices, CRM systems, and numerous apps and software programs that support selling activities in every conceivable way.
Needing to beef up a particular skill? Well, take your pick of the myriad of training programs, seminars, books, podcasts and other resources that are easily...Continue reading
By Deb CalvertPosted in Sales & Business Development on June 10, 2014
Add to My Toolkit
-
March 13, 2014
To Engage Your Buyer, Sequence Your Questions Properly
15 Questions Sales Professionals Should Be Asking
Are your questions drawing your buyer closer to you or making your buyer back away from you? It may depend on the order in which you are asking questions. Adjusting the sequence of your questions can make a difference in how the buyer responds.
Early in a buyer/seller relationship, questions that seem sales-focused cause mistrust. A buyer recoils when questions seem to be some form of entrapment. By contrast, buyers open up and trust develops when a seller starts with buyer-focused...Continue reading
By Deb CalvertPosted in Sales & Business Development on March 13, 2014
Add to My Toolkit
-
January 21, 2014
Are Sales Enablers Disabling You?
Sales people should be selling…so why overload them with other tasks?
On average, salespeople spend less than 35% of their time actually selling.
This finding, reported in Clearslide’s "4 Reasons Why It’s Time to Reboot Technology,” is not a big surprise to most sales professionals. But it certainly gets the attention of sales managers and senior sales leaders.
No one wants it to be this way. Everyone knows that more time spent selling adds up to more goods and services being sold. More revenue. More profit. So why is this the...Continue reading
By Deb CalvertPosted in Sales & Business Development on January 21, 2014
Add to My Toolkit
-
December 17, 2013
Sales Focused Bill Collections Improve Profitability
Resume positive relationships with customers & reduce uncollected receivables.
Barry had been diligently chipping away at his list of suspended customer accounts. Management wanted him to keep his over 60-day numbers below 3% and month after month he hovered right at 2.9%. He was proud of that. He had figured out that if he collected on just 7 accounts a day he would meet his numbers. The last batch of robo calls generated a lot of calls from customers wanting to pay their bills so he was well ahead of his goal already and it was only noon. He decided to let...Continue reading
By Lori MillerPosted in Customer Service on December 17, 2013
Add to My Toolkit
-
December 2, 2013
In Sales, You've Gotta Be Soft on the Outside and Hard on the Inside
The single most important lesson any seller can learn.
You know those types of people we refer to as marshmallows? They have a tough exterior, something about them seems hardened or brusque. But when we get to know them, they turn out to be softies. Actually sweet. They have a squishy inside because they care about people. That's just not what they show at first to the outside world.
Effective sellers do well to be the opposite of these marshmallow types. If you can be soft on the outside, empathetic and compassionate and interested in your...Continue reading
By Deb CalvertPosted in Sales & Business Development on December 2, 2013
Add to My Toolkit
-
November 5, 2013
Are You a Pushy Salesperson?
Don’t let your fear of being pushy compromise your effectiveness.
There’s a fine line between assertive and aggressive when you are a seller. Most sales people err on the side of caution because they want to avoid being thought of as the stereotypical, pushy seller. I suppose that’s why one of the most common questions I hear in sales coaching and training is “won’t I seem too pushy?”
While I appreciate the sentiment and understand how no one wants to be THAT salesperson, this has become an exaggerated fear. As such, it is severely...Continue reading
By Deb CalvertPosted in Sales & Business Development on November 5, 2013
Add to My Toolkit
-
October 15, 2013
Asking Questions with Purpose – Tools for Effective Selling
An Interview with Deb Calvert, author, executive coach, facilitator, Master Sales Coach, Master Trainer and expert in Sales Leadership and Productivity Solutions.
I am inspired by my recent discussion with Deb Calvert, President & Founder of People First Productivity Solutions. Inspired by the way she depicts the simplicity of selling, a topic that so many of us stress over, struggle to achieve, over complicate and most importantly…need to build our businesses. Her curiosity and tenacity over the last 25 years to document sales methods-what works, what doesn’t and why, has brought her to a point where we can all benefit. No matter...Continue reading
By Dan WoodsPosted in Sales & Business Development on October 15, 2013
Add to My Toolkit