Topic

quirky

ideas and experiences with a selling angle that come from left-field

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

Cold Call Tip Reminders

It’s funny sometimes how patently unconnected experiences can smash together to give you a selling idea. Just before lunch I received a cold call. Someone was trying to peddle some server cabinets. Normally I wouldn’t have to field such overtures, but my main man in Cape Town is

Play With The Toy

A guy I’ve a lot of time for within one of my customers recently got promoted to be a’top the sales department. His description of how life differs at various rungs will resonate with many people I’m sure. He was a successful rep, selling for several years

Reaction To Budget Reveal

One of my customer reps giggled a story to me yesterday about how a buyer in the first meeting mentioned he’d set aside 15k for his planned purchase. Knowing he could supply for a couple of grand less, he responded with a cheeky ‘so you know what our kit

Global Deal Diss

Had an entertaining talk last night with a very successful rep that’s been selling boat loads of a technology product for the past ten years. The latest initiative from the top is to pursue national framework agreements with target country-wide accounts. Typically such firms have offices across several sales

Retail Mire Can Be Escaped

Enjoyed a groovy meal at a new ‘Mexican’ restaurant in Covent Garden called Wahaca, only open for about two months. Our waiter seemed enthusiastic yet in a rush. His first question was “have you eaten here before?”. The way he asked it, you could just tell he was expecting me

Provide Problem Peace Of Mind

A customer of mine’s moving from a split hunter/farming approach to embrace greater account management rewards. The reps seem excited about this, and one of them suggested that to truly succeed, they should consider the question: “what is the one thing you want from your relationship with your

Change First

I get frustrated by salesreps that seem set in their ways. I’ve been trying to show one particular team recently that a little tweak can make a huge difference to their performance. But they all prefer to stay doing what they’ve always done. They have a core product

Avoid Hairdresser Syndrome

A playful “discussion” between two programmers recently (in a sweet way, as they’re so precious about how their code looks!) reminded me of a trap that sellers should be conscious they don’t fall prey to. I heard it once referred to as the ‘hairdresser syndrome’. Ever gone into