Monthly Archives

March 2015

Why you are my enemy!

By | sales tips, sales training | 3 Comments

sales training - Janet EfereWhy you are my enemy!

I would love to send a letter to all the bad salespeople in the world, explaining what they are doing wrong. Then hopefully, they would take my well-meant advice and stop bothering me! If I did, I suppose it would look something like this:

 

Dear salesperson,

Do you know that you were never going to sell to me? Would you like me to tell you why? Actually, even if you don’t want me to tell you, I’m going to. Perhaps it will help you improve; perhaps it will make you change jobs. I don’t know, but at least you won’t bother me any more. So here goes: Read More

What to do when things get tough

By | entrepreneurs, sales training | 3 Comments

 

how to sell more - man on tightropeI was at an entrepreneurial event yesterday and, among the razzmatazz, the star speakers and the over enthusiastic support staff, it is true to say that I really did pick up a few gems. One of the best sessions was run by Clate Mask, CEO and joint founder of Infusionsoft, a multi-million dollar company. However, he was once a struggling entrepreneur and so really gets the entrepreneurial experience. 

During his captivating session, he was discussing how many well-meaning friends and families don’t understand why entrepreneurs would want to put themselves through the experience that is ‘working for yourself’. He asked this great question and then threw it open to the audience: “What do you do when things get tough?”

This is what the wonderful entrepreneurs in the audience said.  Read More

What Rudyard Kipling can teach you about Selling

By | sales tips, sales training | 10 Comments

We are now going to get surprisingly cultural,  but it’s all in the name of selling more!

sales tips Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling

“I keep six honest serving men
(they taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.”

What the very clever Rudyard Kipling was talking about was the ability to ask effective questions. 

I am constantly keeping an eye out for what annoys customers when they are being sold to and the one that keeps popping up is ‘Not listening properly’. But of course, if you want to listen to a customer, you have to know what to ask them. These words to which Mr Kipling referred are, of course, ‘open’ questions. In other words, it is hard to answer briefly with ‘yes’ or ‘no’. When you are in front of a customer, talking to them on the phone, or even communicating virtually via email or social media, then you need to be able to ask effective questions or you won’t properly understand what Read More