In a hyper-connected world, the new opportunities that you are looking for in your career are going to come from the people you know. So if you want to expand your access to opportunities, you have to expand the number of people that you know. And if you want access to new opportunities, then you need to make some new connections. There's a trick to this, though. Instead of hastily reaching out to build new relationships only when you need something, you can plant seeds and cultivate new relationships before you even know where they are going to end up. That's right, you can start a new business relationship without a specific, … [Read more...]
The Linear Sales World is Dying: Embrace the 6 Steps of the Sales Matrix
I got my start in the sales world as a representative for Cutco Cutlery. It was a direct, in-home sales gig. The only challenge: I had never had a formal sales job before. And I wasn't the only one in the situation. Of the thousands of college students that work with the company every year, most don't have any sales experience. Heck, for many it's their first job. The way that the company became one of the top cutlery companies in North America was by teaching a simple, step-by-step sales process to all of these rookies. It had 7 steps and it was gospel for us, starting with "Number 1 - Building Rapport" and finishing with "Number 7 … [Read more...]
How to be Your Own Sales Manager in the Hyper-Connected World
A version of this article originally appeared on the Salesforce Sales Blog. When you think “sales manager”, do you think of Alec Baldwin in Glengarry, Glenross or Ben Affleck in Boiler Room. Do you think of someone pushing you and exhorting you to sell more and more? It’s time to take the power back. Be Your Own Sales Manager The best sales manager you are ever going to have is yourself. No one is going to care about your career success as much as you will. And the one person who you can’t lie to, or inflate your numbers for, is you. But it can be challenging to decide how to manage your activities in a sales world that’s in … [Read more...]
3 Unexpected Abilities that Will Separate the Top Sales Performers
Salespeople tend to be an infinitely practical lot. Over two decades of coaching and training has made me realize that usually sales professional want to know the fastest ways to be successful, and what they should do to learn those skills. "Just tell me what to do and I'll do it!" is a common refrain. If you're always looking for ways to improve your game, there's no reason to change the habit. What does have to change is what you are learning. In the past, salespeople would look for the "magic bullet". They wanted to learn that one sales close, objection-handling statement, or discovery question that would create instant results. … [Read more...]
The Simple Social Media Mistake that Kills a Salesperson’s Credibility
I come from the sales world. I grew up professionally around salespeople. My friends are salespeople. At the core I'm a sales guy and proud of it. So salespeople, listen to me when I tell you this. Most of you are killing your credibility on social media instead of building it. And trust is a key ingredient in becoming a Sales Sherpa™ for your network. Don't Brag About Your Wins on Social One of the biggest mistakes that sales professionals make on social is being all about "me, me, me". If you only talked about yourself (your successes, your opinions, your needs) in the offline world, you wouldn't be very effective in creating … [Read more...]
Hyper-Connected Selling: How to Avoid Sales Obsolescence and Unemployment
If you are in sales these days, there seems to be more questions than ever: Does cold calling still work? Won’t people just buy online? How can sales people stay relevant now? Should we just spend all day "talking" with virtual connections? Are the newest apps and technologies necessary? Where can sales professionals focus their attention to be successful? Is sales dying? And on and on. Every day it seems like even more questions are coming, but very few answers are popping up. Luckily, you don't need answers to surf the waves of change successfully. But you do need to wrap your head around the massive shift that … [Read more...]
Sales is Dead, Social Selling is Bullshit, and Cold Calling is for Morons
I want to apologize to all the salespeople in the world. I want to apologize on behalf of all the sales trainers, speakers, influencers, writers, gurus, thought-leaders, and assorted muckity-mucks who have been filling your world with articles that have titles like the above. We're doing you a huge disservice, and we should stop it. But we probably won't. It's Easy to Mistake Volume for Quality You see, we're all trying to get your attention so that you'll think we're smart, and wise, and action-oriented. We want you to think that we have the magic pill that you've been missing. That we have the thing that can scratch your … [Read more...]
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