Five Concerns About Current Vendors

Continuing the theme of finding possible issues, problems or concerns you need to be looking for in your b2b sales process, you should be aware of five typical concerns customers or prospects have about their current vendors.

These five concerns are very real. When you find a customer or prospect who will confirm this is one of their issues, you are much closer to making a sales or winning an account – assuming you will solve this issue for that customer or prospect.

Here are the five concerns about current vendors…

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How to Handle Tension during Sales Negotiation

Got a question the other day about sales negotiation and what to do when the negotiation goes almost hostile? Stress and tension increase is the norm during these events.

The key is for you to remain calm and buy time to think. This is particularly true when the buyer becomes aggressive with you during the session and wants an immediate answer or for you to give in.

Here what you do while “Buying Time to Think.”

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Beware of the False Coach or Champion

One of the most frustrating situations in b2b sales or any kind of major account sales, is the false coach or champion. You know the ones I’m talking about – the ones who give you bad information regarding your strategy or who is the real decision maker.

This is usually a tough situation since you can be blindsided by someone you thought was helping you in the sale by providing you with excellent or good information about your prospect.

There are usually four types of False Coach or Champions you need to watch out for since they can cause poor decisions on your part. Here are the four types of False Coach or Champions…

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Use the Farmer Concept to Win B2B Sales

Now I know some of your are thinking – I’m not a Farmer, I’m a Hunter – so this will not work for me. So stop right there and realize a hunter can use different strategies to hunt. Some work better than others. This is an example of what works best – even or especially for hunters.

So let’s start by looking at the process used by a farmer to create a new crop to sell. There are five primary steps to the farmers process or concept. These are…

  1. Cultivates
  2. Plants Seeds
  3. Fertilizes
  4. Protects
  5. Harvest

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How to Sell a Buyer – Levels of Buying

Today I want to share some valuable information to assist you in determining how to sell any buyer you are dealing with now.

I have been asked by sales people – how do I know if traditional selling, relationship selling or consultative selling is the right method to use? Great question with a simple – not easy – answer.

First, the best way to determine the best method is to determine what the buyer knows about what you are selling. You want to determine the level of knowledge and working experience a buyer has for your product or service. How often have they purchased this type of product or service in the past? In other words, what is their experience factor with your product or service?

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Business Etiquette Mistakes You Can Correct

The second week in June is National Business Etiquette Week in the USA. As I reviewed this topic it reminded me of a book sitting on my office shelf. This book is close for a reason. Whenever I deal with people from other countries I refer to this book and you should to if you … Read more…

Sales Tips – Be a Low-Risk Provider

In the world of B2B sales you will find yourself selling to a group, team or committee rather than a single buyer. This is the true meaning on complex selling. Why is it complex? Because you are dealing with a number of people – each possessing their own personal agenda regarding the buying decision.

So here are sales tips that will get you a higher probability to increase sales in your territory. It is the key to selling to large or mid-size corporate structures.

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Sales Tips and Sales Techniques of the Week

Okay, here is a quick sales tip for learning about competitors activities. Or to learn who else is calling on your clients. I have used these direct sales tips in several industries and have taught clients to use this sales technique to learn who is active with your customer or prospects.

Here is the key sales technique – Check out the visitor logs at the main desk. This is a great source of information about who is activity visiting the account.

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Speak Your Prospect’s Language

Today I’m sharing a sales tip I learned from a veteran and very successful sales person that will give you an advantage when going after a new customer. It is a simple tactic, yet you must do your homework before meeting with the prospect.

This tactic is all about making it easy for the prospect to understand your offer by speaking their language.

Here’s the essence of this sales technique.

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Are You Puking on Customers?

Now before you get all grossed out from the title of this post, I want to share some important information. My friend and sales guru, Ron Karr, put a video blog post up last week that was, well, outstanding. He uses a term called puking on customer, which as you can imagine is not a … Read more…