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Understanding The Business Window

Here’s a technique one of my customers uses to align what they can offer to where their prospect states they want to go. They call it the Business Window, and in the words of their Head of Sales, Dave, a chap I’ve a lot of time for, the

Soak Up The Frustration

We all know the 2 biggest wastes of reps’ time; coming second & fire-fighting. So it was heartening to hear of a tale today where a rep at one of my clients went to sort out post-sales doldrums to great affect. The solution delivered had (unusually) proved unreliable. So rather

Less Big Picture

Loved the one-year-on Gerry Robinson back at the NHS show last night. I blogged on his findings before and again there are a couple of terrific pointers for reps. He gave a talk to NHS staff saying “it isn’t the big picture stuff” that creates success. Instead, it’s

Knock A Bit Off

It’s not often I get a sales lesson when in m’local chippy, but amazingly that’s what happened the other night. Working late, although not realising it as in London at the mo’ it’s getting dark just after 4 🙁 cooking lacked appeal. I popped down the road

The Luxury Of Choice

At a customer sales meeting recently, they ran a session on the pitfalls of Sam Salesperson. Sam was struggling. After one promising quarter, the next two missed target. The problem was an age-old one; not enough prospects. This proved to be a double-edged sword, for not only did it mean

Brooks Law Pitch

Surfing last night for a bit of relaxation, I realised that there are a number of blogs I like, but the google reader app doesn’t make it as neat as it could be to have your ‘web inbox’ show you what’s of interest. So I caught up with

Entrepreneurial Motivation

Inhabiting a permanent mindset constantly thinking of new business opportunities to create myself, I always enjoy reading tidbits about how others engaged in similar pursuits fare. I’m also fascinated with how many traits are shared with the behaviour of top reps and business founder-managers. And then I read the

Language Alienation

Popping to the cash machine prior to a thoroughly enjoyable steak-fest at Gaucho’s in rainy London last night, I was reminded to always use language that does not alienate my prospects. It stemmed from the truly woeful ad campaign Barclays Bank ran on their ATM screen. Trying to tap

Cause & Prompt Distinction

As you’ll probably know, I’m involved in ‘solution selling’. Several traits identify such an environment, like having to justify what the offering will make or save the prospect, or guaranteeing it’ll provide a return on investment in nano-seconds. Pretty much all of my customers (solution selling sales

Red Flags, Show-Stoppers & a Train Smash

Here’s a concept that’s reared its ugly head for me recently. What do you do when you encounter a requirement, stipulation or policy buyer-side that you know with which you do not comply? When identifying initial needs, it’s quite common for the prospect to mention something that