A story about a CEO who helps a tactical VP of Sales scale the business.
I remember when the CEO invested in what I, the VP of Sales of a mid-sized company, felt was a foolish amount of money on a new Marketing Director. But what really bothered me, was what the new position represented, change.
Although my sales team was exceeding quota, the landscape changed. And I knew if I didn’t change, I’d get run over. Read more »
» read moreHow salespeople inspire customers to invest, not resist, with stories.
Although the value of your offering is overwhelming, customers resist. Why?
More important, how will you get past this irrational wall of resistance, and make the sale?
Not only will these questions be answered, but more important, you’ll receive a complimentary guide with simple and practical steps that you can start using today, so that you can inspire our customers to step out of the status quo, take action, and invest through you into a better tomorrow.
Overwhelmed Buyers Read more »
» read moreThe Challenger Sale: How to avoid upsetting the customer.
To find out how to challenge the customer’s thinking without challenging the customer, I asked Matt Dixon, co-author of the Challenger Sale and Executive Director of the Corporate Executive Board, for the answer. (Click here for video interview).
Q: How do you challenge the customer’s thinking without challenging the customer?
A: If we’d found that The Challengers were obnoxious and aggressive; we’d have called them The Jerk not The Challenger.
Q: Are stories the most effective way? Read more »
» read moreHow to sell without being a jerk so that you can take your foot off the brake and hit quota.
According to Sales Benchmark Index, only 57% of salespeople achieved quota in 2011.
Why? Did they lack motivation or a sense of urgency? Well, according to a recent study, only 1 in 7 seriously at risk heart patients were able to follow through and make the “change or die” lifestyle changes- diet, exercise, and no-smoking. That’s right, only 1 in 7. Read more »
» read moreHow to attract sales leads- not chase them- with killer marketing content.
In an interview with Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer of Marketing Profs (360,000 members and the largest community of marketers in the world) and co-author of Content Rules, she talks about the need to create killer marketing content so that you can attract sales leads instead of having to chase after them.
The three takeaways from the interview are: Read more »
» read moreBusiness Storytelling makes Value Props Stick like Velcro
HBR: Storytelling That Moves People
“The HBR asks why is persuasion so difficult and what can you do to set people on fire? Read more »
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McKinsey Study: Solution Selling… is the pain worth the gain?
“Ditch the pitch and have business conversations” you tell your Salespeople. But only a few succeed. That’s not surprising since a study by McKinsey discovered that most Solution Selling implementations have not been successful.
“Solutions selling has been all the rage over the last 5 to 10 years, yet 75 percent of the companies that attempt to offer solutions fail to return the cost of their investment.” (Source: ‘Solution Selling: Is the pain worth the gain’ McKinsey Study). Read more »
» read more“Proof Sales Messaging increases sales”
In comp
aring firms that are world-class at sales messaging with those that are not, CSO Insights found that they:
Selling to Emotional Buyers, Not “Mr. Spock”
There’s a tendency for salespeople to concentrate on logic because they feel that emotions are too flaky to have any real importance on a buying decision. But economists have recently embraced the idea that irrational psychology, rather than cool calculation, plays a significant role in buying decisions.
Skeptical salespeople may be interested to hear that it’s now scientifically proven that emotions play a big role in decision making. Emotions generated through negatively framed decisions, for instance, can affect how we decide by as much as 44%. Read more »
» read moreBusiness storytelling provides a way to get past the Buyer’s resistance to change
Review the following two Storytelling examples and decide for yourself if you feel that Storytelling could help your Sales Team sell more? Read more »
» read moreStories help overwhelmed Buyers to overthrow the status quo, and buy.
With 150 e-mails a day, 30 voice-mails and 60-80-hour work weeks thanks to corporate reorganizations, buyers are so busy today that in order to survive they have learned that they can’t do it all. Consequently, buyers now often stick with the status quo—even when it hurts the company.
Logic Doesn’t Help
Product Pitches, Value Propositions and Logical Arguments do not convince a buyer in denial to change. Read more »
» read moreVP of Sales Story: Board wants sales quick fix or else.
Spray & Pray
Here’s a story about Paul, a VP of Sales at Software Inc., who has unfortunately inherited a sale cycle that drags on forever. That’s when deals happen. But most of the time, his team loses to their biggest competitor, the customer sticking with the status quo.
The Board at the Software Inc. hopes that he’ll fix things fast, but if he doesn’t, he’s toast.
But Sales Training and Marketing wasn’t going to save him. Continue reading… Read more »
» read moreGeospatial Salesman falls to earth with a thud
Geospatial Salesman sells to Users
As the Geospatial Salesperson, Hank, put down the phone, he felt like he’d just been punched in the stomach. How could his life have changed so drastically? Continue reading… Read more »
» read moreNew Business: Mission Impossible?
Buyer- intense time pressure
When Buyers no longer answer their phone and your voice and e-mails get deleted, how will you win new business so that you achieve quota?
Well, if you accept that going back to basics and smiling and dialing won’t take you where you need to go, don’t despair.
But before I show you how to win new business, let’s first take a fieldtrip to a typical Buyer’s office Continue reading… Read more »
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