Editor’s Note

For a salesperson, it’s just as important to know when to walk away from a prospect as when to pursue it: not all prospects are good prospects. At least once in every sales project, stop and ask yourself if the deal makes sense, both for you and the prospect. It shows you have not lost focus on the original objectives. It also goes a long way to proving you are a valuable business partner, not a conventional pitch-and-beg salesperson.

Sales and Service Excellence September 2015 Advertisers

Bootstrap Selling; The Sandler Way: It helps your career flourish

Successful sales professionals are distinguished from order takers by their willingness to assume responsibility, an entrepreneurial spirit, and resourcefulness, writes sales and business development.

Myths Of B2B Sales: Part 1: Great relationships

The world is full of sales people who claim, quite proudly, to have great relationships with their customers. If that were true, it really would be great. But unfortunately, "great relationships” is too often a veil that sales people hide behind to keep from exposing the weakness in their sales skills.

Wanting To Create A Culture Of Service?: Start with your employees

If one of your company’s objectives is to develop improved customer experiences, you’ll want to first begin by measuring the attitudes of your employees and how they feel about working for your organization. Creating a company culture where employees feel empowered, engaged and supported is the only way to sustain great customer experiences. Expecting your employees to deliver better customer service is an uphill battle if they aren’t happy and satisfied in their jobs.

Sales Training vs. Learning: Do you want to train, or have someone learn?

We all operate out of unique, internal systems comprised of mental models (rules, beliefs, history etc.) that form the foundation of who we are and determine our choices, behaviors and habits. Our behaviors are the vehicles that represent these internal systems - our beliefs in action, if you will. So as a Buddhist I wouldn’t learn to shoot a gun, but if someone were to try to kill my family I’d shift the hierarchy of my beliefs to put ‘family’ above ‘Buddhist’ and ‘shooting a gun’ might be within the realm of possibility.

How To Develop Outstanding Sales Structure?: 8 steps

You have great products and services, often complicated and technical, which require trust in order to sell them. Even if you’ve made a compelling presentation, it often takes weeks before you get a response. Therefore, you must burn vivid examples and key ideas into the prospect’s mind so they cannot forget how you’re different from your competition. This is critical if you are one of several individuals or teams competing for the same business.

How To Hit Your Q4 And EOY Goals?: 3 easy ways

It may not feel like it yet, but the fiscal year is already winding down. As the fourth quarter approaches, how close have you gotten to hitting EOY targets? Will the sales team you have today get you there? If you’re not feeling too confident about either answer, it still is not too late to turn things around before Q4. Consider these tips to get your organization, and especially your sales team, into shape so that you can cross your EOY with flying colors.

How To Get An Early Sales Appointment?: Make it to your appointment feeling great; not rushed

Is there a way to get an early sales appointment without feeling rushed? Not according to these stats: 86% of commuters still get to work by automobile, and 84% of inner city travel is by automobile. In fact, in the U.S., vehicle use (primarily cars) is increasing at a faster pace than population growth, our cities are becoming home to an even greater percentage of the population, and there will be no clear solution to gridlock for decades.

How To Boost Sales Performance?: Learn to manage pressure by watching NFL rookies

Salespeople are under enormous, unrelenting pressure. They’re expected to meet (or exceed) sales goals, and are often judged on a monthly or quarterly matrix, meaning even if they delivered last month or quarter, they start again from zero. Competition is tough and the non-stop pressure can make it challenging for salespeople to maximize their successes. How can salespeople improve their performance under pressure? They should look to the NFL for important strategies.