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.
Warren Buffett says, “You don’t have to swing at everything -- you can wait for your pitch.” Buffett is fond of baseball and often uses the game to illustrate his philosophy. In deal making you get to stand at the plate all day, and you never have to swing. A business leader can wait for the ... Views: 1074
Smile and the whole world smiles with you – well, possibly your banker will! Having a positive and optimistic attitude helps you bring in business as new customers connect with your message and are filled with excitement over the opportunity of working with you. The secret is to educate your ... Views: 1074
Sales People fall into 3 categories.
Can't afford to lose them
Can't afford to pay them
Can't afford to leave
Can't Afford to Lose Them
There are certain individuals who deliver so much value, that it usually takes half their working life for the pay structure to catch up with ... Views: 1073
Reform translates as change. The newest Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) requirement of 80% for the individual and small business market along with 85 percent for large business coverage established by healthcare reform could have increasingly long-term implications for many insurers.
Approximately ... Views: 1071
Having a well-oiled sales team and a great product ready to launch can fill your head with a lot of tempting plans. Just like finding a shiny roadster waiting in your garage on a sunny day and that wide open road beckoning, the urge can be irresistable to turn the key, hit the accerlator and see ... Views: 1070
You found a prospect and got the appointment, now what? It's time to decide if this person or organization is in need of your product or service. It's time to find the problem you can solve with your product or service.
Selling Tip #1: Find the prospects problem
The BEST way to implement this ... Views: 1069
There is no better way to distinguish yourself from your competitors than to summarize your prospects' needs- out loud- after probing, and prior to your presentation.
When you summarize, you prove you listened, not that you heard.
What's the difference?
Hearing is simply not being deaf. ... Views: 1068
By most predictions 2010 is looking like a better year for business and the economy. Your company has probably cut expenses to the bone and there is no budget for sales training programs that don’t produce results.
So why not start your New Year off on the right foot by setting goals and ... Views: 1068
You can never expect to consistently exceed your sales targets, unless you learn the art of utilising your available time as effectively as possible every day. Time is a limited resource, which when invested wisely will allow you to achieve remarkable results and when wasted, will keep you ... Views: 1067
How did Hotmail gain over 12 million subscribers in 18 months? How did the very low budget movie “The Blair Witch Project” become such an incredibly successful phenomenon? The answer lies in the power of “buzz.”
Buzz or word-of-mouth marketing influences more people to buy, or not to buy ... Views: 1067
Many of us often wonder how a particular businessman fares better than other in spite of recession or stiff competition. How often have you as a customer walked into a store second time just because your previous experience was pleasant. How many of you have changed your service providers on ... Views: 1066
Communication is a key for the success of any sales person or leader. How you keep your customers, colleagues and staff informed will determine how easily you get things done. Communication comes in many ways. I just had a call with a colleague and he said: It was interesting what was said at ... Views: 1066
Skilled long distance runners all have their unique style of racing. Some start out of the gate in a flash and then slow down as they approach the finish line. Others progressively pick up speed and really crank it up as they head into the final miles. Both styles can be successful if the ... Views: 1066
Many salespeople and business owners mistakenly think that negotiating is something you do near, or at the end of, the sales process, particularly when discussing price or term of the agreement.
Effective negotiating, however, is a process that begins with your first contact with your customer ... Views: 1065
Your Beliefs and Your Success
Customers buy from you when they believe in four things. These four things are 1.You 2.Your product or service 3.your Company and finally 4.Your price. If you would like to have a high closing ratio then you must first believe in these things yourself.
The ... Views: 1065
If you are selling to companies, chances are you are selling to multiple buyers. In some ways everything is the same when selling to multiple buyers as opposed to single buyers, and then again everything is different.
Selling to multiple buyers is the same as selling to single buyers in that ... Views: 1064
Three Keys to Building Relationships
Top sales professionals see themselves as "Doctors of Selling." They see themselves as professionals, well educated, acting in their "patient’s" best interest, and bound by a high code of ethics.
The medical process is the same everywhere. Whenever you go ... Views: 1064
THE 6 “SECRETS” TO SALES SUCCESS AND A 6-FIGURE INCOME
There is no magic pill, trick, teqnique, system or secret to success. However there are many beliefs and habits that will bring you the desired results that you wish to have. It is your choice to develop the appropriate beliefs and habits ... Views: 1063
Social media is all the buzz in prospecting lately. You hear about it everywhere with Facebook Fan pages, tweeting, and LinkedIn profiles. You may even have an account on several different social networks. But have you given thought to how to use it to increase your prospecting results, or do ... Views: 1062
What is selling?
In its simplest terms, selling is the process of helping a person to conclude that your product or service is of greater value to him than the price you are asking for.
How Markets Work
Our market society is based on the principles of freedom and mutual benefit. Each party to ... Views: 1062
In a time of recession, there is a reluctant tendency to lower prices. Rather than targeting people who can’t afford your services, target the ones who can. Think of creative pricing strategies to keep your existing customers and to get new ones. Offer discounts to only your loyal repeat ... Views: 1061
Sales people are looked down upon and viewed by many as slick, pushy, aggressive and cheats. While we may have earned that reputation by a few sales people there are too many occasions where we all experience that behaviour. So how do you deal with customers and prospects that have that ... Views: 1061
"What do you do?"
In our society this is the first question we’re asked, after "What is your name?" The real question is: “How do you answer this question?”
Do you tell people your title: clerk, programmer, driver, teacher, sales rep or receptionist — or do you answer more descriptively?
... Views: 1061
Not many sellers like cold calling. They may be forced into it but they go kicking and screaming, avoiding it with any excuse. Unfortunately, they think it's the only approach to prospecting, but it doesn't have to be that way.John was a managed services provider looking to grow his company. He ... Views: 1060
Persistence is a vital skill that every sales person needs. It’s been said that most sales are made after eight contacts with a prospect. However, most people tend to give up after just three or four attempts. Let’s explore the behind-the-scene dynamics involved in a typical scenario.
Meet Mrs. ... Views: 1060
Yup common problem – too many tasks, not enough time, what stays and what goes? A lot of our clients including myself have moments of feeling completely
overwhelmed.
If you’re in business for yourself then there is only ONE person to do it all – that can seem even more daunting! Here’s ... Views: 1060
As a sales manager, it is your responsibility to build and support the best possible sales team. A strong team - backed by superior sales training and effective leadership - can elevate an organization to new heights of success. By the same token, a poorly prepared and underperforming sales ... Views: 1059
Over the years I’ve read a hundred sales books with all kinds of different approaches and ideas. Some were very good and others left questions about their authors understanding of selling.
When ever I found myself in a slump or things just didn’t seem to work the answer always seem to be in ... Views: 1058
A camcorder is not just an object of desire. You need to invest in a machine that will give you good value for money. So just don’t rush out and invest around USD 800 or more on a whim. Before you give into your desire sit down with a friend and write down how many times you are likely to use ... Views: 1056
How effective is your follow up? Do you follow up? So many businesspeople and salespeople fail to follow up with prospects, clients, and associates. However, follow up is a critical part of business existence and growth.
Many people tell me they just don’t have time to follow up. I submit they ... Views: 1056
• Could you be earning more ….?
• But even more importantly, could you be keeping more of what you do earn?
The top agents not only track their K.P.Is (Key Performance Indicators) and their targets, but … they also have a financial Business Plan and a system which lets them know where ... Views: 1056
Listen Attentively When Others Speak
There are books, articles and multi-day courses on listening. There are audio/video-learning programs that include hours of instruction and a variety of exercises. They are all valuable and helpful, but what they teach can be distilled down into a key skill. ... Views: 1056
How quickly a salesperson gets over a lost sale determines how much attraction for a new customer happens on the next call. Finally, after being out boxed in the first nine rounds, in the 10th round of the World Boxing Association fight in Las Vegas, George Foreman became boxing's oldest ... Views: 1055
The main step you must take for successful sales planning is most definitely preparation. As with anything in life, to be successful you must have a written game plan.
Lets not pretend it's easy, because it is not.
But just because it is not easy does not mean you should put it ... Views: 1055
I don't know about you, but 24 hours in a day isn't enough. And 8 - 9 hours for work just barely covers the paperwork, order follow-up, client calls, e-mails that need answering, voicemail messages, etc. "You mean you want me to prospect and find closing time, too? What, are you ... Views: 1055
The mistake most companies make is believing that their customer always knows what they need. In an economy where people have access to information on the Internet, the client often feels informed enough to make their own diagnosis and then search for the solution they believe is best. In this ... Views: 1054
Today, more than ever, the success of meetings relies heavily on the strength of program content and presentation. Nothing can spoil a meeting more than hiring the wrong speaker. That’s because speakers do more than just convey the overall meeting message. You look to them to provide insights, ... Views: 1054
There are many points where it is possible for a sale to stall but the main three are as follows
1.After you have made the initial presentation,
2.The initial proposal
3.When the contract has gone to the legal department for verification.
As the last point is really not a matter for ... Views: 1054
This past week, my wife inadvertently drop kicked our toaster oven and caused it to experience a catastrophic failure. The toaster oven, the microwave and my grill are necessary to sustain life at our house if I have to fix any food. The toaster oven is great because it works well for just the ... Views: 1054
Nothing is more rewarding for any business than taking an account away from a competitor. Successfully persuading a competitive user to leave their existing vendor for you takes an enormous amount of patience, skill, and strategy. Unfortunately, most business people don't approach the strategic ... Views: 1054
Salespeople spend their time thinking about what they aren't good at and how they can get better.
We are taught to learn from our mistakes as we are growing up. Today there is a "strengths" movement afoot that suggests that what we learn from our mistakes is the characteristics of mistakes. ... Views: 1054
Unfortunately, many average salespeople leave the closing of a deal purely to chance. Sure, they make some sales but if you compare their end results with those of a professional you will find there will be a massive gap. Professional and successful sales people always have a plan in place ... Views: 1051
Most people who come to my sales trainings want to know about objection handling and closing. Unless they have had training before or are a little bit more experienced, they think that sales relies on what you say at the end of the process.
This is not true because sales is a process that ... Views: 1051
In recent years many different businesses have begun to approach their clients differently. They are now labeling them as guests, which has been the norm in the hospitality industry for decades. Many restaurant chains as well as car dealerships and airlines have even taken to using this term. ... Views: 1050
If you’re like me, email list management is something you’ve been avoiding. But as I later learned, it isn’t nearly as difficult as I had always imagined. In fact, there’s a definite science to building a quality email list. Once you learn it, optin email marketing is pretty easy.
Email ... Views: 1050
For any sales professional, receiving a call out from "of the blue" from an unknown, incoming lead that is already interested in their products or services can brighten a day. After all, obtaining this lead did not involve any hunting. Moreover, the person seems to have interest in the products ... Views: 1050