Present with Passion, Compassion and Purpose

Long gone are the days of counting on the subject matter to speak compellingly for itself, compensating for your inadequacies as a presenter. Nowadays, you've got to get inside of your prospects' minds, and you've got to get there fast-before you're even into the heart of your message. When asked what they thought made their managers most effective, 90 percent of all respondents mentioned communication and presentation skills. This tendency reveals how truly critical a life skill effective communication really is.

Sales Managers: When Should You Fire Your Best Salesperson?

There are just some topics that you shouldn’t bring up in polite company. I could name them, but I’d be out of line. Yet I can’t resist speaking about this one topic of special relevance to sales managers everywhere. When should you fire your BEST salesperson? This is a question that comes up more than you might think, though it is as taboo to openly ask as “When is the boss going to croak?”

Business Process Consulting -- Five Simple Steps to Effective Management

Effective managers work with and through others. Having commonly agreed ways of dealing with business concerns, no matter which lens we are looking at that concern through, leads to the more effective resolution of business concerns and problems.

Managing Team Sales at the Counter

Despite popular belief all counter operators at a cash register for a business are sales people and they are very much part of your sales force. Indeed I myself never really realized this until I was 14 years old and working at a McDonalds and they taught us to up-sell customers and we watched a video on how to do this.

Reinforcement Methods

Prospects are slow to accept your message because they don't trust you. As a master persuader you need to utilize certain resources to break down those walls, warm up your prospect and move them closer to making a buying decision.

Internal Pressure Is the Secret

Most of us feel more harmony in our lives when everything is consistent: our jobs, our homes, our habits, even our soft drinks. Consistency is the glue that holds everything in our lives together, thereby allowing us to cope with the world.

High Expectations Lead to Great Results

The expectations we create for others often become reality. This can have interesting effects when applied out in the real world. Expectations have changed the lives and persuaded the behavior of other individuals.

Environmental Expectations

Your environment and the expectations of that environment should be persuasive. In a theory they call the Broken Window Theory, James Wilson and George Kelling suggest that a building full of broken windows will cause people to assume that no one cares for the building or its appearance. This in turn will spur more vandalism. In other words, the environment's condition gives suggestions that lead people to hold certain assumptions, and people then act on those assumptions.

They're Not Robots

They're not the same. They never will be. Why would you expect them all to perform the same?

Return on Investment

One university professor chose names at random from a telephone directory, and then sent these complete strangers his Christmas cards. Holiday cards addressed to him came pouring back, all from people who did not know him and, for that matter, who had never even heard of him.

Obligation Marketing

A film-developing company thrived on the Law of Obligation. They would send a roll of film in the mail along with a letter explaining that the film was a free gift. The letter then outlined how the recipient should return the film to their company to be processed. Even though a number of local stores could process the film at a far lower price, most people ended up sending it to the company that had sent them the film.

Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late To Work On Your Sales Turnaround

I’m doing a sales turnaround assessment and planning project right now for a company that’s lost a large percentage of it’s sales in the last year. The CEO has come to us and asked us to help him devise a strategy to quickly get revenues back up to their previous levels. The company is losing money and while it has scaled back on it’s employee headcount and other costs, it’s still struggling to get close to breaking even. The company needs an immediate sales fix.

Learn to Think Small

The little foxes spoil the grapes. Which little foxes are spoiling your grapes?

Sales Force: What is the Optimum Size

In the early years of the company there is a tendency to hire large workforce. Every management wants to hit the ground running and gain maximum market share.