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Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Starting new practices and habits isn’t a smooth process. After the initial excitement and inspiration wears off and old habits start to call to us, we feel pulled in a couple of directions: moving toward the future that we envision and desire and being tethered to a familiar way of doing things. We start to tell ourselves that the current reality is not so bad….and maybe we just need to live with it. 

Fear. Resignation. Hopelessness. 

When we know that breakdowns will occur or we may falt…

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Expectation and Communication

I had dinner last night with a dear friend who is a brilliant cabinet maker and installer of high-end appliances. Kitchen/bath designers and appliance retailers refer him to their clients who want their products installed perfectly.

We were discussing how he gets paid (from the client) and how to best communicate that expectation. He currently asks the designer or salesperson “Has the client been told that I will collect my fee from them?” to which they always, always say “Yes!” And he usually te…

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

9.  Salespeople are 9x more likely to convert web leads if they respond within 5 minutes

Customers who contact you via your website expect a quick response. Leads and questions that come through your site need to trigger a response instantly within your sales team.

Salespeople This role isn’t a fit for EVERY salesperson. They need to be skilled in technology, persistent in their communication and closely tied to the marketing department so that they can participate in creating responses that are…

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Part 6 of 20: HubSpot Sales Statistics…With Secret Sauce Added

6.   44% of salespeople give up after one follow-up

Quitting on a weak prospect may seem like a way to save time for more promising leads, but quitting too soon means missing sales. Nearly 50 percent of sales reps only make one follow-up call before giving up.phone calls

For Salespeople Can you believe this statistic?! Believe it. Look at your typical follow-up actions to get the sale when you haven’t scheduled an appointment. How many do you usually do before you give up? Consider NOT giving up until the cu…

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Part 4 of 20: HubSpot Sales Statistics…With Secret Sauce Added

4. An average buyer gets 100+ emails a day, opens 23% and clicks on only 2%

It’s hard to break through when you’re an unknown sender. Make sure prospects are getting your messages with interesting and engaging email content, and make sure to inboxfollow up.

The salespeople who see themselves as sales and marketing experts, build a different strategy for goal achievement. Customer/client development includes steady, continuous communication and email is just one of the formats to do that.

 

For Salespeopl…

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HubSpot Sales Statistics…With Secret Sauce Added

Hi everyone….

In my next series of posts, I am going to be talking about a data set that HubSpot published in 2018 on Sales Enablement Statistics. These are great bits of information for salespeople and sales managers to know in order to impact the actions they take with prospects and with selling and coaching time. I intend to address all 20 of them over time and I welcome you to share how they impact YOUR actions with your team or with your prospects.
  1. 50% of sales time is wasted on poor pro…

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Managing a Sales Team

sales teamFor sales managers and sales leaders, everywhere           

Although my sales process “Sell it or Schedule it” is designed for salespeople, they are not completely responsible for executing it to mastery. The inclusion of their sales manager is critical to the implementation and ownership of this process.

I just finished a 90-day sales management coaching agreement with Sherry Kollar of Furniture Warehouse Design Gallery (FWDG) in Beaufort, South Carolina.  Our engagement was for HER training and …

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High Impact Actions

For sales leaders, everywhere

Many retailers use statistics to measure performance and results, and there are some constants that all retailers measure: Traffic, close ratio, average sale.  All are measurable, all matter, and all have specific actions to increase them.

There are retailers who add another statistic – sales per guest/dollars per opportunity/performance index. Whatever you call it, they all measure the same thing: Total revenue divided by total traffic. It is a combination of close…

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