You had a great conversation with your prospect. Maybe even a few conversations. Emails flew back and forth. You had done your research, figured out their challenges, and developed solid solutions. You had shown the ROI that would come when they bought from you. It was going great. Or so you thought. Because one day they just weren't there anymore. Emails didn't get returned, phone calls always went to voicemail, and your letters were sent back marked "return to sender." (OK, maybe not that last one.) But you had to accept the fact: You had been ghosted. The Pain of Getting Ghosted The term ghosting comes from the … [Read more...]
Running a Small Business? Why a Sales Playbook is Key to Growth and Success
One of the first areas that many small business owners look to delegate is sales. Maybe they started their own firm because they liked the providing the service and, but they don't enjoy the business side. Maybe they enjoy selling but it just takes up too much of their time. Or maybe they just aren't very good at it. But a little time spent on creating a sales playbook can go a long way. It's common to want to pass on the sales activities (and headaches) to someone else. They figure that they will just hire a salesperson or two and then be able to wash their hands of any sales activities. It's true that having a robust sales team, … [Read more...]
5 Ways to Stop Wasting Your Work Time On Social Media
Like most things in life, the rise of social media platforms has been both a blessing and a curse for professionals. There is a host of new opportunities to create meaningful engagement...and lose hours of productivity. Our approach to these platforms goes a long way to determining whether they really help us in our professional lives. For example, my wife surfs Facebook after a long day to connect with her friends and see what people have posted. I play video games. Both are totally valid forms of relaxation. But I don't play video games in the middle of the day. And you shouldn't mindlessly surf social media and pretend that … [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...]