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“Since...”

For sales professionals, everywhere

As often happen, “Since….” occurred to me on a coaching call with one of the Artistic Tile showroom teams.

We were discussing how to construct and direct a designer to not offer as many selections, but rather pare down to 2-3. This was in response to a designer asking for FOURTEEN samples of granite from slabs!!!  All agreed that 14 was 11 too many but how to say No and still appear willing to find the right choice was our challenge.

I had been having…

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Do Complete Work

For everyone, everywhere
 
While it might be customary to complain about your local cable company, I had the pleasure of having a Comcast technician come to my house/office today. My reason for calling was that CNN was pixelating and troubleshooting it myself and working with a technician over the phone proved unsuccessful.
After a couple of jokes about why CNN was the only channel doing this (and actually, ESPN was also not working, but who knew that???), Sean determined it was a loose conne…

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“Selling is….”

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For sales professionals, everywhere
 
Sometimes we need to back up to move forward.

To be a good salesperson (as measured by effectiveness) can mean experimenting and doing things differently (especially where we have been ineffective). It can feel like two steps forward and one step back. It felt like that for me when I was asked to define selling….by someone who said that they didn’t want to be a ‘pushy’ salesperson AND wanted to be successful.

I didn’t answer right away, as I wanted…

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Part 20 of 20: HubSpot Sales Statistics…With Secret Sauce Added

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20.   An average company loses 10% of its customer base every year

Don’t be discouraged! This is just a lesson in prospecting and staying ahead of your sales pipeline. Stay active and continuously reach out to new prospects and past clients to keep your pipeline full and your team looking ahead.

Salespeople

Simply put, keep prospecting and don’t take it personally. If you lose more than 10%, you might want to explore further to discover why that is. However, if you ask for referrals, market cons…

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Part 19 of 20: HubSpot Sales Statistics…With Secret Sauce Added

customer retention19.    Retaining current customers is 6–7 cheaper than acquiring new ones

It’s not a new sales enablement statistic, but it’s just as true today as it was in the past. It’s cheaper to keep your current customers happy than to spend time finding new ones.

Salespeople

Is follow up a scheduled part of your weekly sales actions? Do you ask ‘What’s next?’ with each sales opportunity that closes? Like asking for referrals, staying connected with current clients is low hanging fruit (I dislike that phr…

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Part 18 of 20: HubSpot Sales Statistics…With Secret Sauce Added

18.    It takes 10 months+ for a new rep to be fully productive

New salespeople need time to learn and gain confidence. Speed up this timeline by investing in sales enablement strategies, pairing new reps with seasoned team members, and using online training.

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Salespeople

As a new salesperson, do you have a strategy and timeline for learning? Is practice part of your strategy? Do you OWN your learning engagement and information or do you rely on your manager to bring it to you? I invite you to m…

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Part 17 of 20: HubSpot Sales Statistics…With Secret Sauce Added

17.    Only 13% of customers believe sales reps understand their needs

Take the time to listen. Too many buyers complain that salespeople do not fully understand their needs and problems. You cannot sell a solution for a problem you don’t know about.

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Salespeople

It is said “Customers don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” and listening deeply is a fundamental skill for every salesperson to take on as a process of continuous learning. Forever. Take it on as a practice, l…

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Part 16 of 20: HubSpot Sales Statistics…With Secret Sauce Added

16.    Salespeople who seek out and use referrals earn 4–5x more sales

A whopping 91 percent of customers say they would be willing to give referrals for companies and products they are happy with, but only 11 percent of salespeople ask for them!

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Salespeople Yikes! These are crazy numbers! And yet, as I read them I know that AS a salesperson, this is my weakest area. Maybe it’s habit, maybe it’s discomfort asking for more than the sale that was just closed, maybe it’s a lack of skill or languag…

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Part 15 of 20: HubSpot Sales Statistics…With Secret Sauce Added

15.    90% of salespeople avoid using content because it’s outdated and not customizable

Another shocking sales enablement statistic: Too many salespeople refuse to use marketing content. Marketers should make it easy for salespeople to find sales content and customize it to their clients’ needs.

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Salespeople Salespeople intuitively know that the market has changed. They know that their jobs have changed…and struggle to change along with it. What was once a sales job is now a sales and marketing…

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Part 14 of 20: HubSpot Sales Statistics…With Secret Sauce Added

Training ongoing#14     Continuous sales training = 50% higher net sales per employee

Salespeople who continuously train bring in 50 percent more sales than those who don’t. It’s a no brainer—keeping sales teams up to date and involved means more sales.

Salespeople Even veterans need to sharpen their skills, techniques, and perspective as the market and the prospect/client changes. Retail and showroom people are experiencing less foot traffic and need to learn the skills of outreach sales actions to stay curren…

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