In football (or soccer, depending where you live) one of the former favorite game tactics used to be “kick & rush”. You can describe it with getting the ball as quickly as possible in front in the opponent’s end zone, using long kicks, quickly passing the midfield, to strike a goal within minutes or rather…
Tag Archive: perceived value
The Secret Sauce of Cold Calling
Having worked with many Sales Professionals in various industries, I often wonder what makes a Sales Professional a great Sales Professional – especially when it comes to prospecting over the telephone.
Natural confidence. Confidence in yourself – confidence in your offering – confidence in the projected value for the prospect – leads to confidence in your voice and words, which leads to a call between two equal partners – You and the Decision Maker.
People want to buy from people who are on the same level. If you are perceived begging, being too humble or using too many adjectives, you will be perceived inferior to the person who is taking your call.
Winter Wonders: How LowTech Britain Is Losing Competitiveness
The great country of Great Britain is probably the only country in Europe, in where it’s people call continental Europe just “Europe”, forgetting that the UK itself is part of the continent. Understandable, the differences between the island and “the others” seem large. London’s airports closed down for several days this winter, causing great difficulties for all travelers.
Imagine the situation from a different point of view: A privately run hotel chain with lots of hotels in a city hasn’t bought enough oil for their heating system. This is the third winter in the row they lacked preparation. As a result of running out of fuel, the management decides to turn off the heating and hot water for a couple of days. What will happen to the business?
Need More Needs? Finding People Who Are Willing To Buy.
I am solid believer that I can sell anything to anybody, if this someone only has a need of what I am selling. The hardest part of the sale is to find someone who has the need I can satisfy. Businesses are run by humans and their instincts. Profit and status like shareholder value or market share, are the key ingredients of almost all buying decisions.
Master the core needs, and you master the sale.
Successful Selling To Small Business Owners & SME [u]
Small businesses differ from larger corporations. Not just the size of their business differs, also the way they make purchasing decisions.
Small businesses really have only two levels of management within their organization: The owner and their trusted advisers: Members of the family and friends. To sell to entrepreneurs you must consider their circumstances, their thinking, and mostly their values in doing business. Become part of their ecosystem to participate in getting business from them in return.
It‘s A Cruel – Cruel Summer – For Cold Calling
It‘s not that you can‘t speak to decision makers during summer time. You may find it harder to find them (you do look for direct dials and mobile phone numbers, aren‘t you?). Use the summer time to learn more about your prospects‘s situation. Who would be benefit from your product. How would that translate to benefits to them? How would that translate to a need for the decision maker? And some big picture stuff: Does it help increasing profits or profitability?
Knowledge equals creditability. You are no longer perceived as „just“ a sales person.
Cold Calling Charisma – be superior, sound superior!
just knowing the words you say on the telephone when prospecting new clients may not be enough to succeed. Tone & voice are more important than anything in your pitch. The portrayed vision of yourself is not compelling enough, to get your message across.
The Biggest Challenge In Modern Prospecting: Selling Against The Status Quo
The status quo describes the situation when the prospect is happy with what he has. The prospect is happy with the current supplier; the company is happy with what they have got. They see no reason to change a running system.
In this situation you don‘t compete against a competitor, but against the status quo. Where prospects see no need to have a „need“ in the first place, it is difficult to argue the benefit.
So how do you deal with that?
5 Minutes Is A Lifetime In Sales
In 1999 in the UEFA Champions-League, Bayern Munich lost in the final by one goal against Manchester United. All fans around the world who have watched that game went through some heavy emotions. On both sides. Munich was leading with one goal until the end of the game after 90 minutes, fans in Germany already celebrating. Free beer in pubs were handed out and champagne already opened in some of the more posh bars. However, in injury overtime, Manchester scored 2 goals in just 2 minutes, emerging as the winner of the match; winning the Champions-League final.
The coach of the team, Sir Alex Ferguson, has achieved something every sales director or CEO must achieve within their teams.
Dare To Be Different – Personal & Memorable Service
The difficulty in today’s sales world is that so many products are too similar to have an outstanding and unmatched USP, to have an unrivaled market position. The truth is, we buy many products according to brand name. Big corporates, with their appearance of corporate identity, are uniform. They have also established rules and policies, which makes the person performing the service replaceable and exchangeable.
What is the prospect really buying? YOU!