For salespeople, it’s a neverending complaint.
“Your price is too high.”
Even if there’s not an ounce of truth to the prospect’s price objections.
But those objections can be overcome, even when your price really is the highest in the marketplace.
6 reasons gatekeepers throw up roadblocks – and how to get past them
The key to getting around gatekeepers to make a sale is to understand their motivations.
Here are six main reasons gatekeepers block access to decision makers:
Provide winning sales presentations to customers: 6 tips
Some salespeople are convinced that the most important part of a sales call is the opening. “The first 60 seconds make or break the sale,” they seem to think.
Research shows no correlation between openings and success, except in small sales. The first few seconds are critical if the sales presentations are based on a single call. But in B2B sales, prospects may overlook a poor start if they think a salesperson can solve a problem for them.
How to read customers accurately: Best practices
“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”
It seems like Stephen Covey was speaking directly to salespeople when he wrote those words in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People because it fits what some of them do perfectly. Some salespeople barely listen to what a customer has to say, focusing instead on their reply.
5 sales presentation sins that can derail your success
You’ve worked hard to get an appointment with the prospect. Now you’re poised to make the sale.
All you have to do is give a convincing sales presentation and you’re sure you’ll close the deal.
It’s all up to you. How do you make sure your sales presentation will hit the mark?
Here are five sins that regularly undermine presentations to customers:
The changing role of decision makers: Are you keeping up?
Your customers have experienced a fundamental shift in their responsibilities.
Decision makers for companies no longer expected to worry about today’s problems. They’re paid to anticipate and shape the future.
Have you recognized the shift? More importantly, have you adjusted your sales approach accordingly?
15 tips for creating successful negotiations: Preparation is key
Preparation is the only aspect of negotiations over which you have complete control. If you’re not prepared for a negotiation, you give the other side an unearned advantage.
When you plan, you develop a strategy showing how your solution impacts the customer’s business. Here are four tips for planning the negotiation:
The key to successful customer negotiations: SWOT
Performing a SWOT analysis (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats) before a negotiation can help lead to a successful outcome. Combining the customer’s strengths and opportunities could give you key leverage points to offer creative ideas while selling your products or services.
The No. 1 key to sales success
Harvard Business School reports the essential components of sales success are information, intelligence, skill and attitude. But which is No. 1?
Information, intelligence and skill accounts for 7%, while attitude accounts for 93% of sales success.
Why salespeople fail – and why others become great
It’s possible to draw a career picture of what happens to many salespeople by looking at the Sales Career Cycle, which often takes on the form of a traditional bell curve.
While not the same for any two persons, the essential characteristics are there for most salespeople. It’s divided into three basic stages that are elastic in length, depending on the individual. You’ll be able to figure out why salespeople fail or succeed.
