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.
The Internet has changed how people do their business. Even small business owners are able to reach global market inexpensively nowadays, selling anything from apparel, collectibles, to computer software, service and coaching.
The core of every business is sales. Many of the strategies to ... Views: 1081
A customer’s purchase is overcharged by $10.00. The store policy is clear… “No cash refunds” so the sales associate refuses to issue the refund even though the mistake was hers. The customer was told he would have to accept a store credit or wait for a cheque to be issued by head office.
A ... Views: 818
Selecting a name for your new business is not easy. A name does more than identify your company. It tells customers who you are, what you do, and more than a little about how you do it. Your name differentiates you from your peers, peaks customer interest, and invites further investigation -- if ... Views: 913
Market research is one of the most valuable selling tools a show organizer has. Up to the minute, accurate market data arms you with the type of valuable information you need to ‘sell’ your show to potential exhibitors, including who is attending your show, how well your exhibitors did at last ... Views: 885
Three Questions To Transform Your Business!
Allow me introduce you to some people who will know thousands of potential clients for your services – probably tens of thousands!
There are a group of people you already know who have the potential to pass volume business your way – I mean, how many ... Views: 1932
Differentiate and you stand out in a crowded online marketplace.
Present your uniqueness and emphasize your rare attributes in your sales copy and promotions and you'll capture the imagination and interest of those you want to reach.
In a world of copycats, it pays to be an original. It’s ... Views: 878
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
Everyone wants to see growth in sales and net revenue. It's important for small business owners to set income goals and to watch sales results, but too much emphasis on these numbers can prevent you from reaching your goals.
Using your revenue figure to guide your marketing is like driving by ... Views: 1191
Smart business owners know that providing great service to their patrons is an essential ingredient to their overall success. They also recognize that without a certain level of revenue they will not stay in business. Unfortunately, many people think that selling and service are two distinct ... Views: 802
The Sales Training Series: Who Is This Customer Really?
A lot of salespeople are good at organizing. Some are even good at sales strategy. But very few know how to use those sales skills to devise an effective, repeatable plan for gaining commitment from customers—a plan that begins to take ... Views: 976
Sales people who have a poor start at the beginning of a year, often find themselves struggling for the rest of the year to catch up. The good news is, whatever you're experiencing, we've all been there at least once. The bad news is, most of us don't know exactly how to snap out of a slump, and ... Views: 851
One of the least understood, most underutilized marketing techniques in the business world is public relations. That fact represents an opportunity for small business owners and managers who are willing to devote a little time to cultivating relationships with reporters and editors in their ... Views: 965
As some of you know, I'm the highly introverted (INFP) who is also a sales and marketing director for a company that sells both nationally and internationally.
So, this tells us that I really, really, really dislike sales prospecting -- at least in the stereotypical 'pick up the phone and cold ... Views: 3075
You could be generating 50% to 100% more sales with your marketing. How? By working with basic human nature to convert more of your prospects to customers.
Each week 100 or 1000 people visit your web site or read your small business marketing materials but only a handful of those are contacting ... Views: 1101
It doesn’t matter if you are in an auto sales training, TV and radio sales, estate sales or time share sales in my conversations with sales management over the years, I’ve found that top producers all have one thing in common: they’ve taken the time to sit down and create goals for themselves ... Views: 1091
If you’re like most people you are probably working harder and longer than you used to. As a result, finding balance in today’s fast-paced world is more difficult than ever before. Yet, a healthy balance has also never been more important. Here are a few strategies that can help:
1. First and ... Views: 813
Got your attention didn't I? There is a "nasty" little sales habit that separates "wanna be" amateurs from professionals. And I mean NASTY ... it is a moldy green, time-consuming, energy-wasting, confidence-zapping habit. Want to know what it is?
Most sales people CHASE their ... Views: 846
In sales, there's a fine line between persistence and stalking. In my experience, with the exception of prospects who are already in the sales cycle, that line is usually drawn at about once every 6 weeks. So given that you only have once every 6 weeks to make a direct impression on your "B" and ... Views: 1184
Have you ever been in an . . . . intimate relationship? Yes, INTIMATE!
Let me ask you this, “HOW do you know?”
I know, stupid question and what’s this got to do with sales? Well, nothing really. Unless you’re a mover and shaker. Then you understand the psychology of seductive sales. Or ... Views: 2601
Do You Have Sales Prospecting Woes? Get A Better Strategy!
In sales prospecting, your objective most often is to persuade a new customer to agree to meet with you face-to-face. To gain that commitment, you must convince the prospect that you are someone worth meeting. Every customer’s first ... Views: 829
How Will This Buying Decision Be Made?
Three-quarters of the secret to professional, strategic selling boils down to asking The Best Questions and listening carefully to the answers. Most of the Best Questions have to do with uncovering the crucial, underlying needs your products or services ... Views: 840
You know that hundreds, if not thousands, of people want and need your products and services. You're spending good money on advertising and mailings and you have a great looking website up, but you're still not getting all the clients you want or could handle. Why aren't more people responding ... Views: 1131
In today’s competitive business environment, it often seems that the most important aspect of someone’s buying decision is price. People constantly ask for lower prices, compare our prices with the competition, and badger us to give them a better deal. Regardless of what you sell, you probably ... Views: 817
WOW!! Can you believe it is 2006?
Doesn't it seem like yesterday that we were drinking champagne bringing in the new century??
6 years have gone by since then. What have YOU filled them with?
This Is Going To Be Your Felt-Marker Year!
You've seen them - those fabulous huge felt markers ... Views: 780
How often do people try to sell us something before we have expressed an interest, have a desire, or are in the market for what they have? It seems the standard for many salespeople is to try to sell to anyone and everyone regardless of the interest level.
When someone attempts to sell us ... Views: 951
Remembering a customer’s name can improve your sales. However, people in my workshops often tell me that they have a difficult time remembering names. I sometimes think we tend to get too hung up on trying to recall a person’s name, especially if we have only met them once. Like anything else ... Views: 757
If you have a web site that's not pulling in prospects and sales, I have a marketing secret to share with you. Your s.ales and profits will increase as soon as you apply it.
Whether you're marketing on the web, in print or in person, you are guaranteed to improve your web site marketing and make ... Views: 1109
“Excuse me, we’ve never met but would you mind giving me a list of all your friends and business contacts so that I might sell them my products and services?” Who would make such a foolish request? Yet, some of the things that are done in the name of networking are just about as ... Views: 819
What's Black, Green and Purple?
As many of you know - I love reading and for some strange reason have a memory for quotes. One I love is "The only difference between a rut and a grave are the dimensions." I know you have been working hard this year. I know you have been working smarter this ... Views: 776
Rapport vs. Compliance
There is a lot of talk in the persuasion and NLP community about rapport and how to gain it.
Yes, it is absolutely true what they say that "With rapport anything is possible and without it nothing is possible." Plenty of trainers have dedicated a LOT of seminar time to ... Views: 1143
Do you know what one of the most powerful incentives you can use in your marketing is? One that is guaranteed to capture your prospects' interest and attention?
You may be surprised to learn that it's not money or love. Is it making offers of products that are "guaranteed", "limited", "proven", ... Views: 880
TOP 3 FATAL SALES MISTAKES: WHAT NOT TO DO TO SUCCEED IN SALES!
Over the past few weeks, I've found myself on the receiving end of a series of particularly heinous sales techniques - all of which were aimed at getting through a gatekeeper to a decision maker, and all of which ended disastrously ... Views: 814
I've been hearing for years that a successful business needsto have a USP (unique sales point). The problem is that mostbusinesses find difficulty in identifying what their USP is.And even if they have a USP, eventually they find theircompetitors doing the same thing.
So instead of losing sleep ... Views: 1216
OK everyone - even the Sales Diva is not immune to screwing up royally every now and then! I can't believe I am actually going to tell you what happened to me recently... but it will give you a laugh!
I was recently asked by a local college to do a tele-class call. No problem. Booked the date. ... Views: 889
Survey the crowd at any trade show, and one trend immediately makes itself apparent. Attendees are getting younger. The infamous Baby Boomers are preparing for retirement, and Gen X’ers have moved into upper management positions. Now we’re exhibiting for Generation Y.
The members of Generation ... Views: 959
Sales pros frequently ask, “What’s the #1 change I need to make, as I prospect by phone instead of face-to-face?”
Here’s the emotional truth behind this seemingly innocent question:
Most sales pros confess they’d rather have their toenails pulled out with pliers than cold call prospects by ... Views: 789
Negotiating a successful sale of your home requires an environment that sustains the buyer's interest and trust during the process. Many of our clients have been very experienced negotiators, and from them we have learned that the goal is to reach a good agreement - one in which the underlying ... Views: 786
Negotiating a successful real estate contract requires communication skills and the ability to create a environment of cooperation. Many of our real estate clients have been very experienced negotiators, and from them we have learned that the goal is to reach a good agreement - one in which the ... Views: 759
If you live in the U.S., at the end of October you'll be preparing for a stream of young children to come to your door on Halloween. One by one or in groups of friends, they'll ring the bell and shout, "Trick or Treat".
To avoid having them actually play a trick on us, you bribe these ... Views: 950
No matter what business you are in, you are selling something. Why will people buy from you? Basically, because you have something they want or they have something to gain by doing business with you. People want to buy solutions to problems. No matter what you sell, you have competitors.
So ... Views: 716
Let’s face it: the greatest accomplishment for a member of the sales community is closing a deal with a skeptic. Many who are proficient at this art agree that it is far more gratifying to convince someone who initially felt your product was not necessary that it indeed is, than to complete what ... Views: 2819
If You Are Involved In Sales Or Marketing
In Any Way ...
Here Are Some
"Mental Performance" Statements
AKA: Positive Thinking Affirmations ...
You Can Use And Practice
To Put Yourself In A Comfortable Frame Of Mind,
Before Talking To Your Prospects ...
To Help You Get Started And To ... Views: 3410
“It’s not just enough to swing at the ball. You’ve got to loosen your girdle and really let the ball have it.”– Babe Didrikson Zaharias
Years ago I found this quote from Babe Didrikson Zaharias and not only did it make me laugh out loud – it became a personal mantra.
Read her bio below – this ... Views: 1035
A carpenter has his saw and hammer. A writer has his pen and ink. A doctor has her medical instruments and medicines. An accountant has her calculator. A mechanic has his wrenches. What of the salesperson? What are the available tools for salespeople?
Salespersons exist in almost every ... Views: 1632
I have a friend who is a sales professional and he is very successful in his field. I asked him about the secret to his meteoric success.
If you are selling products that everybody needs, apparently everyone is your prospect. This is what happens to my friend. Everybody he sees is his potential ... Views: 978
What separates successful sales people from everyone else? I believe that most successful sales people, in virtually any industry, possess the following characteristics:
1. They are persistent. Selling or running a business for a living requires a tremendous amount of persistence. Obstacles ... Views: 828