The skills that Sales Sherpas™ need to guide their customers through their buying journey are much different from what drove success in the past. The future of the sales profession seems to be changing daily. New technology and rapidly changing customer needs are combining to reshape the foundations of the success as we move into the heart of the 21st century. So it begs the question: How can you stay relevant and excel as a sales professional? What skills will keep you on the path to success? Luckily, LinkedIn puts out an Emerging Jobs Report every year which has some insights we can use. The first LinkedIn Emerging Jobs … [Read more...]
Want Sales Success in 2022: Here Are the 7 Surefire Skills of the Sales Sherpa
The sales profession has a problem. Prospects and clients are stuck thinking of salespeople as single-minded hustlers, whose only job is to harass them by calling or emailing over and over until they can weasel into a sales call and then use their killer "close" to get the business. That's not the problem. The real problem: sales professionals still view themselves as single-minded hustlers, whose only job is to harass prospects by calling or emailing over and over until they can weasel their way into a sales call and then use their killer "close" to get the business. That's not going to work anymore. The world has … [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...]
The Key to Sales Success is this Behind-the-Scenes Comedy Rule
If you have ever watched a skillful improv comedy group in action (for example on the TV show Whose Line is it Anyway?), you've probably walked away shaking your head and wondering how they were able to craft dialog, action, and plot out of thin air with just a few audience suggestions. There's a lot of talent and practice that goes into making it work, but there are also some underlying rules that everybody on stage is following. These agreements allow everyone to trust each other and move the action along. One of them is incredibly important to understand if you want to be successful as a sales professional in our modern, … [Read more...]
7 Ways to Ask for Referrals Over and Over (Without Being Obnoxious)
Customer referrals are a powerful way to build your business. Getting these referrals involves almost no costs and often leads to an easier sale (because they trust the person who referred them). It's also a great testimony to the quality of service you provided the referring customer. By learning to ask for them effectively, you can see a huge boost in your career. Developing a strong referral pipeline is critical in professions well beyond the "traditional" salesperson. Even if you don't have "sales" in your job title, referrals are important. They matter because: Professionals like attorneys or accountants need new clients. Want … [Read more...]
What’s Your Story – Craig Wortmann
Every once in a while you meet someone and you think "Why haven't we met earlier!?" Craig and I were actually introduced by a mutual friend and we share a similar outlook on how to be successful in business. And he knows his stuff - he's a professor at the University of Chicago (while not quite at the level of my alma mater Northwestern, it's still a pretty good school...). In fact, I knew that I would like his book right away because he used the term Luddite in the opening chapter of What's Your Story?. I thought I was the only person geeky enough to put that in a business book. Big Thought Stories are a powerful leadership tool that … [Read more...]