Signals from the Field

You will likely see many different kinds of buyers in your journey to become an elite salesperson; and many of these buyers will be different, value different things, think differently, and respond differently to various behaviors. Consequently, no matter how good you are, you’ll have to deal with buyer objections when trying to sell your product or service. This article describes 4 important tools to have in your “sales bag” that will help you overcome buyer objections.

Author note: the article below was originally published on WorkItRichmond.com, a subsidiary of the Richmond Times Dispatch.

Consider this: where do brands typically invest in their customers’ experience? If they’re like most, they invest in their website, in their store, in the product/service, and in customer service. What do all of these have in common? They typically exist very close to the point of purchase. It makes sense to invest your time, energy, and creativity at ground zero, but once everyone starts to do that, how special can you be? How much can you really stand out?

Enter: utility marketing.

Need to generate sales leads? Get on the phone and start cold calling. Contrary to what you might hear, cold calling works – if you do it right. This article lists the 4 main elements of effective cold calling, and offers some insights and examples about how to do it right.

I just finished reading a book about negotiating skills. Negotiating is a topic that fascinates me because of the human behavioral elements that influence how people negotiate and respond in negotiating situations. B2B salespeople are often put in situations when they have to negotiate the terms of a sale. So, negotiating and selling skills are intertwined.

No doubt you face lots of competition. So how can you stand out from the competition and communicate to your marketplace that you have the “chops” to get past first base – to get the attention of your target market and be viewed as a firm that should be considered seriously? In other words, how can you get past "1st base" when presenting your firm to qualified buyers?

Richmond, VA – July 15, 2014