#sales advice Tag

Early in my sales career, I called on a very large well-known furniture manufacturer that was headquartered in Western Michigan. They were looking for solutions to automate their in-house built general ledger accounting functions. After several telephone conversations with both accounting and information technology (IT) people, they invited me to present our solution. They also invited our major competitor as well. There were about fifteen people in the room who were very engaged and had a lot of questions, especially from the IT people, when I presented. I felt that the sales presentation went reasonably well. The Manager of Accounting...

06 March, 2024

I have been in enterprise sales for many years. I also have been golfing for just as long. Unfortunately, my sales skills have exceeded my golfing skills.  But as I wailed away in a sand trap earlier this week, I realized there are some similarities between the enterprise sales cycle and a round of golf.  Each has finite beginning and ending points and many changes in strategies and tactics along the way.  Let’s explore that: First, enterprise sales and the golf game have a significant beginning point.  In sales, it is when you have qualified the opportunity, and the prospect has agreed to...

22 February, 2024

The Greatest Obstacle to Discovery is Not Ignorance – It is the Illusion of Knowledge”1   Our local high school, Adlai E. Stevenson, of Lincolnshire, IL, is one of the highest-rated secondary schools in Illinois.  This is because the administration stresses academic excellence and produces many national merit scholars. Both of my children attended Stevenson High School in the late 1980s and 1990s.  During this time, I had the opportunity to talk with Deputy Sheriff Perry Coleman of the Lake County (IL) Sheriff’s Department. We discussed many topics, including the illegal drug problem that was plaguing many high schools.  The Stevenson Superintendent declared that...

12 February, 2024

Years ago, as an accountant, I reported to a manager named Bob.  One day, I excused myself and went to the restroom, and when I returned, Bob said, “Steve, you took too long.” My response was, “What?” Then he said, “You took 8 minutes.  I can go to the bathroom and back in 4 minutes.”  I responded, “Good for you.”  The conversation was very insulting and degrading. Should I hurry my time in the restroom to keep my manager happy?  Did the 4 minutes matter? What about proper hygiene? There were other similar incidents where Bob watched over me every...

08 February, 2024

Singer Paul Simon wrote and recorded a song called “Slip Sliding Away.” Like many of Simon’s songs, the meaning of the lyrics is often obscure.  But he does say that the nearer you are to your destination, “the more you’re slipping and sliding away.”1 Has this ever happened to you in your pursuit of closed deals? Perhaps you have been calling on the prospect for several months, and during this time, the prospect has shown some interest in your solution and was receptive to your proposal.  You have met with the key decision-makers and influencers and have not heard any objections...

31 January, 2024

The behaviors of some excellent, high-performing salespeople are sometimes like those of typical American teenagers.  This can be considered both positive and negative attributes of salespeople. I first noticed the similarities when managing a group of primarily high-achieving salespeople while helping my wife raise our two then teenagers.  I was confronted with many of the same issues at work and home. For example, top salespeople and teenagers can be obstinate, challenging to manage, and resist direction or supervision, like herding cats.  They want to be left alone, to make their own mistakes.  They do not care that we previously faced many...

31 January, 2024

Sellers must decide where to price their products: do they want to be a low-cost supplier, price according to their costs, target their prices for a certain market segment, or deploy a premium price strategy when deciding on their pricing strategy?  Successful brands are using each strategy. Companies such as Starbucks and Canada Goose have chosen to differentiate their products from others in the marketplace by pricing their products as premium brands in their marketplace. They are considered “luxury goods,” products that increase in demand as the buyer’s income increases.   Starbucks deliberately prices its coffee at the high end of the...

23 January, 2024