Free Tips
Don’t forget to ask for referrals
My favorite story about referrals has to do with a very successful salesperson I know named Bill. Every year he vacations in some exotic locale like Fiji or the Cayman Islands or Hawaii. Often these vacations come as result of company bonuses for his performance or...
Maybe its time to re-engineer your sales force?
True re-engineering is the radical redesign of business processes to achieve major gains in cost, service or time. The key question is: "If we could start from scratch, how would we do this?" And the result: "Then do it that way, and throw away everything else." The...
What you should know before altering your compensation plan
Your organization's compensation plan can be used to attract and retain sales representatives, so it's important to analyze it for effectiveness and change it if it proves ineffective. These last two points are critical, particularly if your market changes...
SalesTrax #502 A tip for more sales – make it simple
Every prospect has an information threshold. If you pile on the information or give more brochures than he or she can handle, the prospect will end up not reading anything. There is no sure way to determine just how much is too much. But here's a trick used by direct...
SalesTrax #501 Interesting findings to help salespeople
One out of every six customers in America is a problem customer. The most common problem customer by far, is the customer who grinds you on price. People who sell services have more problem customers than people who sell physical products. People who sell physical...
Sales Trax #500 Negotiating 101
This edition of Sales Trax sets a new record for our continuous providing free advice to our friends in sales, management and service; 500 weeks of Sales Trax! In November, The members only Inner Circle breakfast will be held on Nov.11 at the Citrus Club in Orlando,...
Pick a Reward
Which non-financial sales incentive is most effective? If you said "trips," you'd be in total agreement with the nearly 500 reps responding to a Dartnell survey. We asked reps to rank a variety of popular non-financial incentives according to what would motivate them...
Sales Leadership in a Tough Economy
Need a little extra ammo for that next sales meeting? Here are seven leadership tips that help salespeople during tough times: 1. Forget wait and see. Procrastination is the worst trait any salesperson can have in a recession. Salespeople who increase prospecting...
Success or Statistic?
Are you on the path to success, or on track to becoming a statistic? Every year, enthusiastic and confident men and women start businesses with creative products and services that they sincerely believe address real industry needs.These entrepreneurs are absolutely...
Retaining Customers in Tough Times
Customers today are bombarded with more attractive offers all the time. If they see a better deal based on price, quality or service, they may feel pressure to leave you for a seemingly better offer. It’s critical for salespeople to come up with the specific reasons...