Nuggets of insight collected over the years.
- Only do business with people who have a direct personal gain from the project.
- Projects with high and low margins require the same amount of energy. Choose your projects wisely.
- No product ever sold it self on its own merit.
- Items are not sold for the item, they are sold for what the buyer believes he can do with the item.
- Almost no sale comes from solemnly rational thoughts.
- Selling with a lot of energy is something different than pushing or pressing the dea
- In selling, price isn’t everything.
- Cold acquisition gets warm after 4 courtesy calls.
- To make any project successful, doubt everything.
- Don’t lie to your customers about what your product or service can or cannot do.
- When selling to dealers you are selling the idea of profit. Not the merit of the actual product. That is the dealers task.
- Over promise and under deliver won’t meet customer expectations. Do as agreed upon during the sale. Nothing more, nothing less.
- Are you selling to your customers or are they buying from you? The second option will lead to bankruptcy.
- When selling a product/service replacement you will battle against old habits. Prepare to be in it for the long haul.
- salesmanship Don’t say bad things about a competitors product, but focus on the benefits of your own product.
- Salesmanship Find non-business related common grounds with the buyer in order to establish a long lasting relationship.
- Sales A customer convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still.
- Closing the deal comes after opening the project to your customer. Get customer involvement and cooperation.
- Salesmanship is about serving your customers needs even after the deal is done.
- Don’t sell the most expensive version of an item to your customer, sell the version that they need.
- Never underestimate small customers, they keep your company running and might turn into big ones,
- Salesmanship is understanding what the customer is asking and verifying that the customer understands what you say.
- Sales. Use printed price lists to discourage price negotiations.
- Sales Know your products, it the only way to proof you know what you are talking about.
- Sales Don’t exaggerate about your product. The customer will notice and will deduct credibility from you and your product.
- Sales Using pressure techniques might help to close the deal but the customer will not return.
- Sales A customer is only willing to pay for what he needs. Any additional features/services will not close the deal.
- Sales In the ears of the listener, He who speaks too much doesn’t say anything.
- Don’t bother selling to a customer who isn’t interested in your product with arguments related to the quality of your product.
- Only sell the result of your product, its what customer wants. Aka, Don’t sell the power drill, sell the hole in the wall.
- Salesmanship Train your voice to be clear, comprehensible , and sound natural during any conversation.
- (Virtually) Every decision involves time and uncertainty. Time is money, act quick and minimize uncertainty with knowledge.
- Study the 1930’s book “Theory of Interest” by Irving Fisher to understand the current financial economics. http //t.co/7nqLvuEPUH
- Remember A dollar today is more worth than a dollar tomorrow.
- In sales you sell the potential, not the item. e.g. don’t say “buy a lottery ticket” but say “win potentially a great price”
- In sales, giving away small items of your service every now and then enables you to send a bigger invoice later.
- In sales Never mention just the price of a product without mentioning the benefits for the customer. Repeat the benefits again.
- In sales, if a customer says the product is too expensive, ask in relationship to what? It will help closing the deal.
- Make your product sound less expensive by pricing per item, but selling per batch.
- Salesmen, believe in the product, believe in the company, believe in yourself. Missing out on one of these will make a tough sale
- Sales tip, never, ever, use pity in a sales pitch.
- Sales, keep pounding those doors. It’s the only way.
- Golden tip for more sales? visit your customers more often.
- Five rules to obey with cold calling, 1/5 Create a clear opening sentence describing why you are calling and why it’s important.
- Five rules to obey with cold calling, 2/5 Confirm that you are talking to the right person at the right time.
- Five rules to obey with cold calling, 3/5 Make clear that your call is short.
- Five rules to obey with cold calling, 4/5 Make clear that the customer has no obligations what so ever. No sales pressure.
- Five rules to obey with cold calling, 5/5 Inform that you are calling just to inform them and get a reaction from the customer.
- While making a follow up appointment during a first call or meeting, always offer two options. One specific and one general date
- Let the ceo of your company introduce you to the client even if he isn’t familiar with the client. His status will help you.
- At the first meeting, ask questions first, sell later.
- Cold calling? 1 Ask to get an appointment first. 2nd Prepare a Tweet style sentence what it’s about and explain the rest later.
- Cold Calling, When rejected, ask for the rejection reason. Call again 2 weeks later with a solution to the rejection.
- Cold Calling keep a solid administration of who you called, what they said, when you called them, call return dates etc.
- Cold calling, don’t call to sell but to ask for information/help. It makes your customer feel good and he will ask you questions.
- When selling, always keep the initiative. It’s more work but also more rewarding and it will greatly speed up all sales closings.
- Cold calling, Prepare and get a(ny) name within the company to get past the secretary. Use google, linkedin or social engineering
- Cold visits, never do more than 2 at any given customer. You will loose face and precious time. Resolve to cold calling.
- During a meeting, don’t be afraid to answer that you don’t know. It gives you a good reason to come back a second time.
- At a meeting, ask if he/she is the decision maker and if the time is right. If not, meet together with the correct person/time.
- Can’t get anything sold within a large company? Simply take another route via a new contact person.
- Sales is selling yourself first. Dress nice, get sleep, show interest, be optimistic, good personal hygiene and calm your self.
- On sales When making an offer, add a little something just to show that you really understand the customers problem.
- E-mail and internet fast communication methods. But nothing beats personal contact. You have to go to the party to get the cake.
- Download the free Merger and Acquisitions book (158 pages) from Merrill Lynch at http //t.co/J5zuUXhBDS
- Customers tend to underestimate the effort that goes into services or products. Tell the customer so you can close the deal.
- Never sell the value of the item, only sell the value the customer will get from the item.
- While selling, avoid to get into a discussion about right and wrong. Avoid discussions and aim for mutual agreement.
- Do you want to close more deals? Visit more customers.
- Any objections from customers against your product are just inquires asked in a defensive manner.
- A customer who doesn’t respond to you, either positive or negative, isn’t interested in buying. Negative is better than nothing!
- Be very knowledgeable about your product or service. Just don’t display it, only use it.
- If during a sales call you talk more than your customer, you are doing it wrong.
- A customer is just saying NO to you if he uses a negative argument that isn’t related to any other prior argument on the table.
- Watch the 2001 movie called “Suckers” on youtube this evening. http //t.co/lhgHquWOFD under rated over acting on car sales.
- Negative subjective sales arguments from a customer can be countered by convincing the customer that you are a professional.
- When countering customer arguments remember that you can answer before, after, later or never. Each has its own merit.
- Its better to give a good answer later than a bad answer now.
- Discover the reason behind any question or argument. “I don’t like your product” can also be “I like it but I have no money”
- When countering an argument not to buy from you. Check if the customer understands and accepts your counter argument.
- Give the customer enough opportunities to say no during and the sales process. That will save you both a lot of time.
- If your product saves the client money, then do the calculations together.
- Remember good old AIDA? It’s still very relevant. Here is a refresh course http //t.co/mrx5HNPypn
- Listen to this documentary how to sell 129 cars within one month. http //t.co/CTASuFavBw
- Great products die every day. It takes more than product to build a successful business, do 80% sales 10% admin and 10% product.
- To get ahead in business 1/5 Location Location Location.
- To get ahead in business 2/5 Knowledge is everything, become the expert, get name and fame.
- To get ahead in business 3/5 If you are famous for something, milk it.
- To get ahead in business 4/5 Have an upbeat, optimistic character.
- To get ahead in business 5/5 What ever you do, do it efficient.
- 80% of all companies are crap, you only have to beat the remaining 20%.
- Train ALL your employees that they fully understand what the business does and how to communicate with customers.
- If everybody sells cheese, you sell the same cheese with a twist. Be different, be special, especially with common goods.
- Don’t bite off more than you can chew. e.g. In retail, never buy more inventory than you can sell within 30 days.
- A bank will only loan you money if you can proof you don’t need it. Prepare to make your own investments.
- Don’t expect to get investment to save your struggling company. Show where the new money will earn the investor new money.
- Be very careful when spending money. Always prepare for unforeseen expenses and keep control over the budget.
- The easiest thing to do in business by far is loosing money. It’s so easy, it almost drives itself.
- Be very careful when spending money. Always prepare for unforeseen expenses and keep control over the budget.
- Don’t be penny wise and pound foolish. Replace that old engine by a more economic one. Replace that old computer and speed up.
- To learn about The Trading Pit and its history, watch http //t.co/MEoAWVO7YI
- Customer objected 1 Break the sales down to smaller pieces and get approval per piece.
- Customer objected 2 Avoid saying “Yes, but” just acknowledge the issue at hand and discuss the importance of the issue.
