Month: November 2010

It’s Time to Think About Your B2B Sales Progress

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Okay, it is either the last day in November or the first day in December – depending upon which part of the world you are in. So, it is time to begin thinking about you. Specifically, it is time to begin thinking about the progress you have made this year as a b2b sales person.

Some people have asked me after I recommend this exercise – What do I look at regarding my progress?”

Truthfully, when I hear this type of question I begin to worry about the sales person and get a little concerned about the quality of their sales manager. Yes, one of the key roles for sales managers, is the development of their sales people. In fact, I consider it to be the number one role or job of the sales manager – to develop their people.

Okay, please excuse the frustration rant about sales managers. Even without their guidance, you can do this yourself – in fact, you should be doing a review of your progress on several fronts during the year.

Here is a list of Ten Things to review regarding your own personal success…

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Put down the PDA and Meet with People

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This is a quick b2b sales tip based upon a conversation I had with a couple of high level decision makers. These gentlemen were talking about both the b2b sales people who call on them AND their own b2b sales staff.

Here is the major point about this post today. Some b2b sales people are more engaged with their electronic equipment than with the actual customer. Since customers are people, they need a b2b sales person to communicate thoughts, strategies and ideas with them. And, based upon the ear full of unfavorable opinions about today”s new b2b sales people, there is room to improve.

In fact, this past week I observed several b2b sales people on a couple of flights around the country. The common thread is this PDA and Smartphone addicts don’t make eye contact with anyone and have this robot look in their eyes. Are you one of these people?

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Four Things to Avoid When Working Against an Established Competitor

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Recently, I watched a b2b sales person make some major mistakes trying to dislodge an established competitor from one of the targeted customers on the b2b sales person list. Fortunately, I had an opportunity to dialogue with the sales person and point out the things to avoid in the future.

There are four major things to avoid in your sales strategies for taking business away from a competitor. Here are the four major mistakes to avoid…

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Four Things You Need Before the First B2B Meeting

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Got a question from my one of my clients this week, asking me what a b2b sales person needs to have prior to making their first b2b sales call?

So, what do you have before you make your first b2b sales call? The first meeting with a possible decision maker in the b2b sales process?

Here are the four things that you can research prior to that first meeting. These four items will give you some additional insight into figuring out the business fit between your company and the prospect or customer.

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Four Fatal Temptations Derailing b2b Sales Success

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Due to my recent mistake with a potential new client, I decided it was a good idea to review some of the basics on being more successful in my b2b sales efforts. Then, I realized some of you may find this type of information beneficial as well.

So, here are four temptations to avoid at all costs – assuming you want continuous b2b sales success.

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Major Objectives for Meeting Sr. Executive Decision Makers

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Recently, I had the opportunity to meet with a Sr Level Executive with a mid-size company and I realized I made a major mistake during the meeting. This broke one of the major objectives for meeting Sr Executive Decision Makers. It hurt to realize I screwed up – not the executive.

So, I thought it would be a good idea to share this list of major objectives when meeting with Sr Executive Decision Makers in your b2b sales efforts. So here are the six major objectives you must think about before and  during these meetings.

Six Major Objectives When Meeting Sr level Decision Makers…

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Twelve Trap Signals of Selling on Price, Not Value

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Everywhere I go I get a rapidly get two questions from my sales clients…

Why I am not selling value added or getting higher  margins?

How do I get out of the commodity or low price selling trap?

Since this is such a common issue for so many b2b sales people – particularly in today’s economic environment – I feel we should review the warning signals or traps keeping b2b sales people from selling higher margins.

Here are the Twelve Major Traps or Warning Signals you need to recognize. Take the time to ask yourself, be honest in your answers and then think of ways to change the answers if necessary.

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Avoid Manipulative Questioning Styles in B2B Sales

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Seems a number of the b2b sales people I meet have been exposed to some form of manipulative sales training. When a person learns these crafty, yet, long term damaging sales techniques the most difficult issue is unlearning bad habits.

To this end it is important to know what is considered high risk and manipulative questions. So, today we will cover six types of manipulative questioning techniques…

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Use Google Alerts for Information about Prospects and Customers

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Today is a short yet important b2b sales tip on how to use Google Alerts for information about your Customers and Prospects. And, the only investment to you is your time to set them up. Google does not charge you to set up Alerts.

First, let’s cover what you can cover using Google Alerts…

  • Key Officers of Customers or Prospects
  • Their Company
  • Primary Industry News
  • Your Company
  • You

From my point of view, these are the big five to track. These five will give you important news found on the Internet. Personally, I track all five and find it to be very helpful. So what are you looking for within each category…

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B2B Sales Presentation Tip – Move or Be Still?

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Seems several of you want to know about b2b sales presentation skills and are asking specific questions looking for helpful tips. So, I will start with one I hear often.

When do I move around and when do I stand still during my b2b sakes presentation?

Okay, first let me cover this by asking you which are you more comfortable and confident doing? This is a key point. When I do sales presentation training for sales people, the first thing we determine, is what is each person’s natural skills and comfort zone.

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