Matthew G. Sikich II is The Official SelfGrowth.com Guide to "Sales Training". You can find complete information on Matthew G. Sikich II and his products by visiting The 5 Buying Habits.
Your self-esteem is the most important part of your character.
The Reactor Core of Your Personality
Your self-esteem is the most important part of your character. This is the emotional part of your self-concept. It is the "reactor core" of your inner power. It is the emotional component of your ... Views: 724
Want your ads or sales pitch to get people’s attention in 15 seconds or less?
"We just bought a full-page ad in our local newspaper promoting our computer sales and repair services, and as far as I can tell we didn’t get a single response. Why didn’t our newspaper ad bring in at least one ... Views: 740
Identify the Real Need of the Prospect
As a salesperson, you are in the business of gap analysis. You are a "problem detective." Your job, somewhat like a police inspector searching for suspects, is to find problems for which your product or service is the ideal solution. In a way, your product ... Views: 902
Why Your Self-Image is a Key Part of Your Personality
Your self-image is the way you see yourself and think about yourself. It is often called your "inner mirror." You look into this mirror in every situation to see how you should perform on the outside. You always behave on the outside in a ... Views: 793
The key to making the sale is to discover the gaps between where the prospect is now and where they could be by using your product or service.
Identify the Real Need of the Prospect
As a salesperson, you are in the business of gap analysis. You are a "problem detective." Your job, somewhat like ... Views: 894
What do people want when they come into your place of business or contact you? What makes them choose your product over someone else’s? The specific answer to those questions can only come from your satisfied clients. However, I can address the general answers to help you get started on ... Views: 5939
If you do business with people from cultural groups different than your own, you would be wise to invest some time understanding their cultures as well as their needs in terms of your products and services. You may not necessarily be doing business with people in another country, but with those ... Views: 4946
In the in-home services industry I’ve found quite a few contractors that don’t do the basics when it comes to sales. Here are some tips when selling to homeowners:
Ask the right questions
When ever possible (especially on the smaller jobs) give the estimate while you are in the home for the ... Views: 1293
First, what is lunch bucket mentality? Usually this phrase is referenced with football players and their approach to the game. “Rough, tough, lunch bucket group of guys”, is how the sportscasters and critics describe the best of the best players. They’ll do what ever it takes to win, a “real ... Views: 1648
Don’t get caught not listening to your potential customer. This is critical to your sales success.
Paraphrase Your Customer’s Words
The customer is only sure that you have been listening when you paraphrase what they have said and feed it back in your own words. This is where the rubber meets ... Views: 868
"This sales training will increase your sales."
How often have you heard that when looking for sales training? Whether it’s a book, a CD, DVD, or a live course by a well known sales trainer, how do you know if it will work for you. If you’re investing money into improving your sales skills, or ... Views: 987
It is easier to close a sale when a prospect has sought YOU out, rather than when you approach them. One of the reasons for this is that when a prospect approaches you, the business relationship starts out on a more equal footing.
Contrast the situation where a prospect approaches YOU with ... Views: 857
We live in a quick-fix society so it’s no wonder that many salespeople look for the magic cure or band-aid solution to increase their sales. However, I believe that success in sales follows a basic set of rules.
Fill the pipeline. Many people experience tremendous peaks and valleys in their ... Views: 851
I just opted out of yet another newsletter that I never opted into in the first place. Does that ever happen to you? Frankly, I'm almost ready to stop handing out my business cards to people. I'm betting that I am not alone.
Get Permission
For the newbie e-salesperson, let me help you get a ... Views: 1154
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit” - Aristotle
Aristotle says excellence is a habit and like any other skill, can be learned and acquired naturally.
Selling is also an art and like any art, it requires practice and more practice.
Today we discuss ... Views: 719
If you want to have a fulfilling career in sales, you must first and foremost ask yourself these two questions: Do you enjoy serving people? Do you want to make your customer’s day better than it was before he or she met you or talked with you?” If you answered yes to these questions, then ... Views: 999
As the use of social media networking tools continues to grow in popularity, understanding the netiquette do's and don'ts of online communication is critical to your success. A blended word for “network etiquette”, Wikipedia defines netiquette as “a set of social conventions that facilitate ... Views: 1536
The explosion of social media into mainstream consciousness has seemingly come from nowhere. Though it may be new to you, the social media groundswell has been building for some time, and it’s fair to say that the buzz right now is deafening.
While there is a growing familiarity with tools ... Views: 1555
It starts off as curiosity about you.
"Hey Marlene, did you just publish a book?" Julia waived me over to join her at the local networking event inviting me into her little cluster of friends that included two guys and another female.
How exciting, I thought. I get to be introduced to ... Views: 1686
How To Stay Up, Even When You’re Down.
This past weekend I was going through some old newsletters when I came across a letter that might help you to deal more effectively with the recession and the tough times you're facing.
So - enjoy the updated version of my Mt. Everest Newsletter.
Sixteen ... Views: 832
It's a record at 40 feet, it may go to 41 or 42 and at 43 we're screwed! That's the jist of many conversations here in the Red River Valley as our quiet Red River swells to 3-4 times its size.
Observing how people react in such situations can give us some good insight into how they make ... Views: 1893
Whether you run a business, or are an employee, or manage a family – you are always 'selling' something.
Selling is the art of exchanging value. In the commercial world this is a simple equation – money is given in exchange for a product or service.
In the office, 'selling' might happen when ... Views: 687
When you write your copy, you have to be respectful of your prospects. You can't talk down to them, insult them, or make them angry. If you do, they'll toss your copy in the trash or close their web browser.
Don't Write a Google Ad Like This
There's a Google ad with a headline that says, ... Views: 604
A short time ago, I was listening to co-workers discuss the current state of our economy, how it will effect people’s purchase decisions and the concern that our product and service prices are too high. The discussion reminded me of an old adage: If one person tells you, “You are a horse”, ... Views: 2370
In this struggling economy, you can’t listen to the radio, watch television, or read a newspaper without getting bombarded with stories about money woes. In these financial times, we have to challenge the idea of a recession. I believe that a recession can be viewed as more of a perception ... Views: 1735
Not too long ago I was having a conversation with a small group of clients about how to improve their “Yes Factor” (the number of people who bought from them). Two of the participants spoke up to say they were highly uncomfortable with selling. They preferred to just tell people what they do and ... Views: 1059
www.SalesisSimple.com
The Stretch [stretch] verb def - an unbroken period of time in which you are going to accomplish something.
Remember your favorite "Come from behind, when all the chips are down, able to gain victory anyway" movie? I.e. Rocky, Remember The Titans, Gladiator or The ... Views: 1799
Sergio Garcia probably can't teach you much about selling. As a matter of fact, you can probably teach him more about selling than he'll ever need to know.
But there is something about Sergio Garcia and the game of golf, which if applied to the game of selling, can be very instructive for ... Views: 839
During many sales training sessions, one of the biggest areas in anyone’s career development is the ability to stay focused. I call it the Focus Charting.
We all have special talents. Some people have more than others, like truly becoming a trusted advisor executing the Quid Pro Quo sales ... Views: 1727
Appointment setting cold calling scripts will help you to make sales appointments that will benefit your small business by using a sales appointment process as a base for your call. If you are making sales appointments for your business now and getting it wrong, it’s costing you time and money, ... Views: 13613
Often times during my Quid Pro Quo™ Sales Training workshops, sales reps complain that they just can't seem to fill their pipeline with leads ending in sales results. The market out there is changing and very competitive.
First, to be successful in today's selling environment, you need to ask ... Views: 1089
Many of my posts have talked about becoming a trusted advisor and the skills you need to develop this status with your prospects and customers. Some people never reach their passion of becoming a trusted advisor that adds value because the level of their fear has prevented them from taking ... Views: 1181
Your mission as a sales person should be to find companies that have immediate wants and needs. This means that something happened or is happening to them - a move, a merger, new investors, etc. You have to look for any event that might create the opportunity for you, or better said you are ... Views: 1209
In working with our clients we are always looking for ways to differentiate them from their competition. One behavior we've found that does this is for the organization to commit to confirming an appointment at least one day prior to the appointment. While most physician and dentist offices do ... Views: 5357
We work with a lot of clients who do educational seminars and often wonder why they don't get the results they want from the effort. We believe in doing educational seminars, but to really get results from them, you need to be very clear about what return you want from doing them.
Many believe ... Views: 1058
VITO is the Very Important Top Officer, the person with the ultimate veto power...the person who cares most about the top, middle, and bottom line, and the person who is most interested in what you and your ideas and solutions can do for the entire enterprise. VITO is the person you need to sell ... Views: 4009
www.SalesisSimple.com
While listening to news radio the other day, a Sales Guru serving as a guest of a talk show was asked to offer his advice given the current economic environment. He stated he has some VERY valuable advice for business owners to assist them through the crises - the show ... Views: 1473
1. Never ask if it’s a good time to talk. This gives the other person a perfect excuse to end the call. If you are unsure if the person has time to talk, then state up front that the phone call will only take 3 minutes. When you give the person an exact time be sure you time the call. After the ... Views: 1063
One of the new marketing trends is “disruptive selling.” This is defined as any marketing strategy that is bold enough, unique enough or enough out of the ordinary to create buzz and, consequently, sales. It could be marketing that runs counter to the time of year when competitors are running ... Views: 1471
Many sales are lost because of “sales.” To be successful in this profession requires listening to the customer. Unfortunately as salespeople, we often hear so many different things that we feel the need to provide solutions for all of their problems. When this happens, sales professionals can ... Views: 737
Every sales call you make needs to include the “Learn, Teach, Sell” concept. Today’s customer has many options available to them. Rarely are we in a position to sell to a customer something that is so unique and compelling that they have no other choice but to buy from us. To help create a ... Views: 752
Sales training can turn your stale sales force into lead generation experts. Developing leads in today's challenging business economy is harder than ever, but it is no excuse for becoming lackadaisical in generating leads. Advanced sales training courses can reinvigorate your sales team to ... Views: 658
Your company’s rival could be investing in sales training for their sales staff while your sales staff sits complacently at their office desks, perhaps reaching sales goals but never exceeding them. Not investing in sales training gives your competitors another edge that maybe you can’t afford ... Views: 691
Sales training courses for senior managers can train, educate and motivate senior sales managers to get their sales force to surpass the sales goals of the company. Advanced sales training for senior sales managers can turn a great senior sales manager into an excellent sales team leader. ... Views: 2820
Sales training for entry level sales representatives will refine the basic sales techniques of your entry level sales staff and advance their sales skills with the growing interest of the company. Sales training for sales reps can get your sales team on the same page and focused to obtain the ... Views: 1267
I consider Amazon.com to be the Internet pioneer for establishing affiliate programs. Their strategy to permit others to sell their products for a commission on affiliate websites has single-handedly help them become an Internet powerhouse and has resulted in Amazon.com becoming a household ... Views: 606
As much as we hate to admit it, at one time or another, we’ve all been lied to. Sometimes the lie is exposed quickly and sometimes it takes awhile to surface. In sales, lying from a customer occurs more often than we are aware of.
Did you realize that nearly every sales call starts off ... Views: 1497
Anyone can sell if the price is cheap enough or if what is being sold is something people can’t live without. However, for the vast majority of us, neither of these luxuries are part of the scenario. The difficulty of selling is compounded by the fact that most customers have a wide range of ... Views: 819
You will always be your number one customer. It’s not the big account you service, nor is it the hot new prospect you just uncovered; it’s you. The reason is simple. If you’re not completely confident in what you’re selling, you will never come close to maximizing your sales potential. ... Views: 721
Recently, I found myself dealing with a retail salesperson who was attempting to explain to me the benefits of the item I was looking to buy. As I stood there listening to him, I was struck not by what he was saying but how he was saying it. It didn’t take long for me to realize that the ... Views: 825