Personal Productivity

Gaining More Personal Productivity

Are You Working Hard – Enough?

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Over the weekend I had a couple of conversions with sales people who started their part of the conversion by stating…

“Man, I’m busting my butt at work – been putting in long hours at the office.”

They were using this statement as some sort of badge of honor for victim-hood. I know I sound a little hard on these folks and I know it sounds harsh on those who feel the same way as my friends. Well, so be it.

The true is we need to work hard at our professions if we are going to keep up today. The real question is “what ” are you working hard on? This is the key to understanding the big picture of life.

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The Controversial Dead File Tactic

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Okay here is a different approach to moving old customers into taking action, yet, it is controversial and is a whether bold initiative.

Let’s set the stage as to why this tactic would be put into play.

First, your customer has not purchased anything over a 12 to 24 month period. And, they tend not to return phone calls or emails with any consistency.

Second, these are the customers (usually past customers or even non-customers) who contact you every month for a quote or for you to bid on an RFP. Yet, you never get any business from this account and typically there is no reasons provided regarding you no sales situation.

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Two Questions to Drive Your B2B Sales Improvement

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Seems most b2b sales people wait around for someone else to tell them how to improve their b2b sales skills. So, unless you have a great sales manager who takes great pride in coaching you up to the next level of success – you will be in a major delay pattern regarding your b2b sales improvement.

So, what can you do to improve your b2b sales skills?

It is very simple, yet, very effective. After every sales call, take out a notebook (not the computer kind – an actual paper based product) and write the answer to two questions.

Those two questions are…

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Five Practical Tips when Using the Phone

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Today I want to cover a topic which on the surface seems to be a natural for most b2b sales people. So, why is it being reported as a problem by some of you? Particularly the cold calls or calls to people you have never met yet you have their name as a lead.

Enter the normal fears or limiting thoughts creating issues for the once proud sales person. Sometimes making a call to someone we don’t know is a difficult task.

So, how can we become more effective when using the phone to contact important people for our sales success?

You can follow these five practical tips when making those phone calls to people you don’t know – yet. Here are the five practical tips…

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The Five Big Errors Made by B2B Sales People

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Thinking about sales this weekend and reflecting on the major mistakes made by myself and my clients, I decided to share my thoughts with my readers.

Look, you and I both know that selling has changed. There is a new norm for successful b2b sales and it is our responsibility to learn how to succeed in our markets with our customers and potential customers.

The first step is to stop making the errors that cost you dearly in the marketplace with every customer you come into contact with today. In my opinion, there are five big errors we must avoid if we are to successful in the tough new selling world.

So, here are the five Big Errors Made by b2b sales people…

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Six Levels for You to Master to Become the Best in B2B Sales

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Recently I had some long discussions about individual sales people and how to realize talent levels of b2b sales people. While this topic covered many levels of thought and subjective as well as objective ideas, it was exciting to note…

“People really control their own level of success.”

With that being said, I began to look at what an individual needs to master or understand to be fully capable of controlling their own destiny. Obviously, the starting point to be self aware of your natural strengths and weaknesses – which can be verified (or discovered) using some of the excellent assessments available today.

The second part of becoming the Best of Sales or whatever profession you choose is to master your own thoughts. This is the source of the mastery of the six levels of self thought. I heard that snicker!

Okay, so why am I writing about thoughts or the modern term – mindsets – for improving your b2b sales?

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Is Your B2B Sales Pipeline Full?

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Well, the economy is coming back, except for the oil price thing, and most of the experts are calling for a healthier overall economy. So, in my opinion it is time to get back to growing our sales.

Actually, you should always be looking for ways to grow your sales 24/7 and 365 days a year. The answer is to maintain your b2b sales pipeline for steady and consistent sales growth.

So what is this b2b sales pipeline thing all about? It is about having a consistent flow of new sales opportunities so you will have the growth you need to achieve your goals and objectives.

Let’s look at some of the factors to review regarding a successful pipeline of b2b sales.

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Myth of the Quick Fix in B2B Sales

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Today is a little different topic from the normal b2b sales tips, however, it is one that bothers me due to the number of b2b sales managers and people who are believers in the myth.

That’s right, there is no quick fix for b2b sales success.

Learning the ins and outs of today’s b2b sales is a process – just like the b2b sales process, it takes time to learn to master the differences in each b2b sales situation.

So how do deal with this learning issue? The solution is quite simple. Here is a “quick list” of things you can do to prepare for a lifetime of b2b sales success…

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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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Eight Time Wasters to Avoid in B2B Sales

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Seems like time management is on everybody’s mind these days. It is the number one issue stated as the reason things cannot get done – I don’t have any time is the trigger statement for time management.

And, the major issue with time management is mostly due to Time Wasters you need to avoid whenever possible if you want greater b2b sales success.

So here are the eight major time wasters to avoid in b2b sales…

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