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...]
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...]
Back to Basics
I coach and train a lot of salespeople on how to build their business, increase their volume … basically, on how to sell more and sell more often. They are often top performers who have stalled and hit a plateau. When digging in to find what is missing from their business, that gap which has hindered their efforts, I’ve made one overwhelming observation: They are rarely missing any knowledge, skills, or tools. Instead, more often than not, they’ve gotten away from the basic training that made them successful in the first place. There Are No Sales "Secrets" They are often trying to reinvent the wheel, or they simply stopped doing … [Read more...]