| 71 | Good-Bye Bobby Knight And All The Sales Managers Like You! Preview: The recent dismissal of Bobby Knight as the head coach of Indiana University should mark as big a change for sales management as it did for coaching. For years it was popular for sales managers to abuse their staffs with tirades and threats. I remember one manager I worked for who prided himself in publicly humiliating at least one person in every... (more) Published By: Steve Waterhouse Submitted: 22 May,2005 |
| 72 | Technology Check List for Meeting Planners Preview: Use adequate equipment - Computer projectors that require the room lights to be down are not acceptable. So are projectors without remote mouse controls! Adjust the room - have the engineers remove bulbs from fixtures above the screen. Extend the "Keystone arm" on screens to lean the top forward. It improves viewing significantly. Check electro... (more) Published By: Steve Waterhouse Submitted: 22 May,2005 |
| 73 | The Turkish Rug Sales Team Preview: I just returned from speaking in Istanbul, Turkey where I bought, no, I was sold, a rug and in the process learned that real selling, and especially Team Selling, is alive and well. The Turkish people are warm and friendly so it was not unusual to be approached by a nice looking, well dressed man in his late 20's as we stood there reading our map... (more) Published By: Steve Waterhouse Submitted: 22 May,2005 |
| 74 | Assume the Best Preview: Assume the Best by Steve Waterhouse Much of the friction between members of a selling team comes from unspoken expectations left unmet. The sales manager expects the report to be in by Monday or the marketing department expects the leads to be followed up within the month. When expectations are not met, we may begin to devalue the effort made by ... (more) Published By: Steve Waterhouse Submitted: 22 May,2005 |
| 75 | What do you do now? Preview: How to help your sales team recover from the World Trade Center disaster. by Stephen Waterhouse The question plaguing CEO's and sales managers around the country today is, "How do I get my team back to work?" After the tragedy that has gripped us for the last week, what is the best way to help our people and companies return to normal, productive... (more) Published By: Steve Waterhouse Submitted: 22 May,2005 |
| 76 | Prospecting in a Soft Market Preview: Yesterday, I worked with a group of wonderful sales people who sell for one of the leading companies in their industry. You would all recognize the brand. They were complaining (only a little) that the market was soft and that it was affecting their business. I asked them two questions. First, how big is the total market for your product? Answer: ... (more) Published By: Steve Waterhouse Submitted: 22 May,2005 |
| 77 | Getting Beyond the Buyer! Preview: One of the most common questions I receive from my clients and those I coach is, "how do I get past the buyer to the real decision maker". This is clearly one of the most important questions for any sales professional to answer because so much rests on reaching the real economic buyer. Only the true decision maker can understand the total value th... (more) Published By: Steve Waterhouse Submitted: 22 May,2005 |
| 78 | Smash the Window! Preview: Doing what it takes to make the sale It was 7 am when I opened my office door and saw my boss sitting at my desk. He had just two words for me… The day before had not gone that well. First, I was late meeting my local rep, Bill, for breakfast. We choked down a few eggs and waited so long for the check that I thought the waitress had gone home... (more) Published By: Steve Waterhouse Submitted: 22 May,2005 |
| 79 | I'll take it Preview: Cutting prices can lose business “If you can do it for $12, you can have the business.” With his next three words, Bill lost thousands of dollars of business. He said, “I’ll take it!” Too many sales people focus on price and forget about value. Price is simply what you charge. Value is the sum total of all of the positive effects that the produc... (more) Published By: Steve Waterhouse Submitted: 22 May,2005 |
| 80 | The Hidden Buyer Preview: How to protect yourself against the unseen enemy The meeting ended with smiles and handshakes but the next day you learned the truth. You had lost the deal. What went wrong? One possibility is your proposal. Most of us are pretty good at selling. We do it face to face. We do it over the phone. Some of us are even fairly talented at selling... (more) Published By: Steve Waterhouse Submitted: 22 May,2005 |
| 81 | Value Selling Preview: How to create business when the PO's all dry up. If you have not experienced a drop in sales recently, you might choose to skip this issue. On the other hand, if you miss it, you just might find yourself competing with those who learned this technique. Two things happen in a down market that directly affect every sales professional. 1. Total ... (more) Published By: Steve Waterhouse Submitted: 22 May,2005 |
| 82 | Sales Lessons From the Election Preview: Some problems must be solved early by Steve Waterhouse We are watching a very fundamental sales management problem played out in the Florida elections (this is not political!). It's called BLAME and it can destroy our sales organization from within. When we affix the blame, we immediately stop the progress. We can often look at our job descripti... (more) Published By: Steve Waterhouse Submitted: 22 May,2005 |
| 83 | Are You Afraid to Ask For The Order? Preview: "The time has come for one of us to buy and you’re the only one at the table that can do that." It’s not the most polished closing statement ever made, but it won a $3.5M deal when I gave it. I smiled, looked our prospect in the eye, and almost saw one of my regional manager’s lunch when I said it. As we drove back to the airport I was asked why ... (more) Published By: Jim Logan Submitted: 25 May,2005 |
| 84 | It's In The Mail - Direct Mail is Alive and Kicking! Preview: Compared to a lot of companies in our field we do a lot of direct mail – postcards, sales letters, promotions, announcements, lead generation. Between client business and ours, we’re averaging one campaign every two weeks; about 1500 pieces per mailing. We’re planning expansion to over 2000 pieces per campaign and will increase mailings to once pe... (more) Published By: Jim Logan Submitted: 25 May,2005 |
| 85 | Wholesale Jewelry Trade Secrets #1 Preview: The #1 trade secret that jewelry stores don’t want you to know is that the weight of the gold in gold jewelry makes up the majority of its cost. This rule applies to all precious metal jewelry, including silver and platinum. In the US, jewelry is weighed in grams. Some jewelry stores display the actual weight of each piece, while others do not. W... (more) Published By: Eugenia Bivines Submitted: 31 March,2005 |
| 86 | Train a Winning Sales Team: Rounding Third and Heading for Home Preview: Although I never met the man, I imagine Lou Boudreau would have made one heck of a field sales trainer. In 1942 the 24-year old Cleveland Indians shortstop was promoted to player/manager of his team, and for the next eight years Boudreau did what we, as trainers, are called upon to do every day: demonstrate success, inspire success and cultivate s... (more) Published By: Sally Bacchetta Submitted: 07 April,2005 |
| 87 | Use Bundling To Increase Your Profits And Sales Preview: An effective way to increase your profits and sales is to bundle many products or services together into one package. This gives people more reasons to buy your products and services. People also have come to believe package deals are a better value. You want all the products or services to be closely related. For example: if you're selling a comp... (more) Published By: Adrian Kennelly Submitted: 08 April,2005 |
| 88 | How To Increase Your Online Sales Anytime Preview: Hold a discount sale on your web site. Use the sale to get rid of excess inventory, gain new or repeat customers, and increase your sales. Most businesses pick a theme for their sale, like a Halloween Sale. Below are six unique sales themes you could use: Nobody's Visiting Today Sale Every online business has low visitor and sales day through th... (more) Published By: Adrian Kennelly Submitted: 12 April,2005 |
| 89 | got sales? Preview: Do you feel that you web sales have reached a plateau? Well a few fresh ideas can help boost your sales. I'm going to provide a few simple ideas that you might have not thought about or maybe just didn't think that they could work. But a few tweaks here in their can mean big returns in your pocket. eBay - even if your company sells over a million... (more) Published By: Wilson Davalos Submitted: 13 April,2005 |
| 90 | show me the money! Preview: Do you wan to increase you sales? Are you serious about making money on the internet? Of course you do or else you wouldn’t be reading this article. Okay the first time I heard about an autoresponder I didn’t think much about them. That was until I started to use one. You would not believe how simple and effective autoresponders are to use. As an... (more) Published By: Wilson Davalos Submitted: 14 April,2005 |