From the category archives:

Prospecting and Lead Generation

Leave Your Rolex and Some of Your Perfection at Home

May 6, 2009

Are you ready for another contrarian tip about successful sales negotiations?
A prior article suggested that you introduce a slight stammer or hesitation into your conversation with a prospect.
This article tells you why.  If you agree with what you’re about to read, you’ll never want to look too good again.

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How to Sell Better by Not Selling Too Early

May 4, 2009

An earlier article suggested that you start each new sales relationship by withholding the information you have in order to bargain for the information you want.
This article will show you how to do that without irritating your prospect.
The strategy comes from Jim Camp, my mentor in sales negotiations. He’s the only person I know of [...]

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Approach Senior Executives Carefully

April 26, 2009

If you call high and aren’t ready for the conversation, it could end your life prematurely – at least in that account.
Have you heard about vibratory courtship?
No, this isn’t about kinky sex — at least not for humans.
It’s the way a male spider approaches a web-spinning female without being mistaken for dinner.
The male taps carefully [...]

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Call High or Go to a Movie?

April 24, 2009

Ross Perot, founder of Electronic Data Systems (EDS) and Perot Systems, billionaire, former candidate for the presidency of the United States and famously cantankerously outspoken Texas personality, used to tell his sales people at EDS to “call high or go to a movie.”
Perot’s point was that his sales people will never close a deal on [...]

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Learn to Embrace ‘No’

April 17, 2009

No may be the single most dreaded word in selling. But you can learn to appreciate it.
We’re learn from early childhood that no is a constraint on our ability to get or do what we want.

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How to Try Out New Sales Approaches with Low Risk

April 15, 2009

[This is the fifth in a series about Prospecting and Sales Negotiations. The prior post suggested some ideas that have helped me improve my prospecting. Some of them go against the grain of a lot of current thinking about good selling skills. This post suggests ways you can try out new sales approaches at relatively [...]

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Change Your Mindset, Improve Your Prospecting

April 13, 2009

[This is the fourth in a series of posts about prospecting and sales negotiations. The two prior posts gave you some ideas on behavior what to avoid when you're prospecting. This post gives you new ways to think about what you're doing. With these new perspectives you can eliminate some of the habits that irritate [...]

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More Behavior to Avoid When You’re Prospecting

April 10, 2009

[This is the third post in a series about prospecting and sales negotiations. The preceding post suggested that you can hurt yourself by "spilling the beans" too early. This means you should avoid telling your prospect too much about your product or company until she's told you about her problems, goals, wants or vision.]
Life, interrupted
How [...]

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Don’t Talk About What You Sell Until Prospects Have Shared Their Problems, Goals or Vision

April 8, 2009

In literally hundreds of sales calls, I’ve seen both junior and senior sales people make the same mistake: At the very first opportunity, they start spewing everything they think is wonderful about their company and their offerings.

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When Do You Start Negotiating?

April 6, 2009

Even if you work for a national retail chain, your sales process almost certainly involves some level of negotiation.
At what point in your interaction with a prospect do your negotiations typically begin? Is it when the conversation turns to commercial terms such as price, payment options, delivery, financing, warranties and contracts?
Sales Negotiations Begin the Moment [...]

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