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When asked “What do you sell?” my answer is “I don’t sell, I develop relationships, many of which happen to turn into business.” [...] Read More

How we answer and respond to our customer defines us, our personality, and personality to them. While we size up the possibility of making a sale, our customer makes the important decision to do business or not do business with us. There is one word we salespeople should avoid. Read More

The battles over price are as old as selling. Can you picture the first dirt farmer negotiating for some livestock? Learning how not to flinch when a customer claimed “Your price is too high” took mentoring and practice. When I finally understood that price complaints are to be expected and a sign Read More

Getting people to laugh helped me close more deals than every other method combined. Steve and I were negotiating our first deal. He was pushing me to the wall for a big discount. First, I was unwilling to cut my price. Second; I didn’t need to, because he had already made the emotional commitment Read More

Imagine you’re running a retail shop. Twenty or thirty times a day, your front door opens and the entry bell rings “ding-ding.” You trace the path of depressions in the carpet and see products shuffled around your shelves. Most of these journeys through your store end with an invisible departure. T Read More

The importance we place on first impressions overshadows our last impression. Most people dress and check their front and maybe a side view in the mirror. Because we don’t have eyes in the back of our head, we pay little attention that side of ourselves. But it’s the last thing people see when [... Read More

I’m a recovered “objection killer.”

99.9% of sales attempts meet objections. In the early days of my sales career, I trained to exterminate objections on sight. Unfortunately, the “you have a problem, we have the solution” method undermined my customer’s real concerns and killed many sales for m Read More

Too many marketing departments are still living in the 1990s with how they feel salespeople should be making presentations. Marketing departments are notorious for making slick presentations that do nothing but extol the virtues of how wonderful their company is. I call these “capabilities present Read More

Sally and I love pistachio nuts. We always race for the meaty ones bursting out of the shell. They’re the easiest, best tasting, and give the most for the least effort. When the best picks are gone, we fish through the bowl and pick the promising nuts. They take a little more [...] Read More

Sally recently learned the difference between value proposition and cost benefit when one of her dance students did not return this fall. Jenny had been studying at her school for two years and was ready for a more advanced level. Sally told Jenny’s mother the exciting news and penciled her in the Read More