Check out Dave’s Q & A for sales people.

S-95 Leveraging satisfaction
by Dave Kahle
So, you have created a customer, you've actually sold something, and you have some money in the bank. Feel free to celebrate and luxuriate in the good feelings that bubble out of you. That's one of the fringe benefits to selling - it feels great when you succeed. [Read More]

S-94 Eight ways to identify new suspects
by Dave Kahle
Every sales organization, and every sales process, begins with identifying a group of suspects. Suspects are people and organizations you suspect may one day do business with you. They aren't yet prospects, because you don't know if they have a legitimate need for what you sell, or if they can make the decision and buy your product or service. That determination comes later. [Read More]

S-93 Beliefs that limit sales people: The problem with passion
by Dave Kahle
This is one of those pieces of conventional wisdom that no one seems to question: "It's good to be passionate about your product." Like so many of these conventional myths that ingrain themselves into our psyche, this one has the potential for frustrating countless thousands of sales people, sales managers and chief sales officers. [Read More]

S-92 Fundamentals of Key Account Selling
by Dave Kahle
Almost every professional B2B sales person comes to grips with one of the challenges of penetrating key accounts. Key accounts are different than the ordinary, and require some more sophisticated skills and strategies. Here are four fundamentals for effectively penetrating key accounts. [Read More]

S-91 Beliefs that limit sales people: Good salespeople are good talkers
by Dave Kahle
"He has the gift of gab. He'll make a good sales person." It's been a while since I last heard that expression. The idea is, of course, that sales people are good talkers. If you are a good talker, you are well on your way to having the necessary qualifications for a sales career. While that figure of speech isn't popular today, the idea behind it continues to have currency. [Read More]

S-90 Closing the Sale - A Realistic Perspective
by Dave Kahle
There is not a salesperson in existence who hasn't repeatedly heard of the need to "close the sale." Every new sales manager must view the process of encouraging his/her sales force to "close the sale" as an initiation into the profession. If you're going to be a sales manager, you, therefore, must improve everyone's ability to "close." Doesn't it come with the job? [Read More]

S-89 It's all about the Risk!
by Dave Kahle
Sometimes it is so frustrating. You know you have a better product than that which your prospect is currently using. Your price is attractive, your service is outstanding. If the prospect would switch to your solution, you know they'd be delighted. You'd save them money, smooth out their processes, reduce their inventory and generally make their life simpler. [Read More]

S-82 The Incredible Power of an Elevator Speech
by Dave Kahle
"Why should someone spend time with you?" That was the question I asked the six sales people who were the subjects of an intense week-long training session. The response? Blank stares. Some uncomfortable fidgeting. Nothing anywhere close to a coherent, persuasive response... [Read More]

S-81 Characteristics of a Successful Professional: A Propensity to Take Risks
by Dave Kahle
What sets the exceptional professional apart from the average? Regardless of what the profession, from sales to psychiatry, the exceptional professionals share certain characteristics. Here's one: The propensity to take risks. Now, don't get the wrong idea. We're not talking about skydiving here. Nor are we talking about sinking your life savings in the new start up dot com that your friend told you about. I don't mean taking risks that might endanger your health, safety or long-term security.... [Read More]

S-80 Characteristics of a Professional...
Are You Serious about Your Job?
by Dave Kahle
"I wish my people were more professional," executives and managers often commiserate to me. Even with those who don't voice it, that unspoken yearning often hovers just-under-the-surface of their conversation. Ah, if only the people around us were more professional. Our lives would be easier, our businesses would grow more effortlessly, we'd find our jobs more fulfilling... the list of dramatic benefits can go on and on. But what does it mean to be more professional? More importantly, what can we do to make sure that we, and our associates, are becoming ever more professional?
[Read More]

S-78 Developing Account Strategies:
Excerpted with permission of the publisher, from the First Steps to Success in Outside Sales, Copyright 2003, by Dave Kahle.
Our objective is to equip you with an understanding of the principles and processes you'll need in order to develop effective account strategies. First, let's define our terms. Strategy means a series of steps designed to bring your prospect or customer from where they are now to where you want them to be. It's the long-term view. Realistically, it's a planned series of sales calls in which each sales call has a distinctive set of purposes, a distinctive piece of education, a person or set of people to speak with, and a distinctive agreement that you'd like to attain. The purpose, the timing, the organization, and the sequence of that series of sales calls is the strategy. It's the long-term perspective, the big picture, of what you want to do and how you want to do it.....[Read More]

S-77 Are You Part of The Problem, or Part of The Solution?
by Dave Kahle
We've all heard the numbers: Consumer confidence is down, retail sales are down. And for many of us, the markets we serve are down, as well. There is an important relationship to note here. Confidence - an attitude - is down, so sales are down. When confidence is up, sales follow. The principle at work here is this: Our actions follow our attitudes. The relationship between actions and attitudes is so close, that the two go hand-in-hand, and our actions can be seen as outward expressions of our attitudes.... [Read more]

S-76 Creating Long Term Goals
by Dave Kahle
One of the habits often practiced by highly successful people is the habit of regular goal setting. There is a reason for that. Goals compel you to work with discipline and concentration rather than going about your job mindlessly and routinely. Goal-setting is a discipline that helps you focus. Here´s how to go about creating long-term goals... [Read More]

S-75 The Three Biggest Mistakes in Sales Presentations
By Dave Kahle
The sales presentation is the ultimate purpose of every sales process, of every sales call, and of every sales system. The job of the sales person revolves around the point in time when he offers the customer something to buy.

The sales presentation can take a variety of forms. If you demonstrate a product, for example, that is a sales presentation. If you use a hard-copy brochure or a CD Rom presentation on your lap-top, that is a sales presentation. If you deliver and detail a sample, that is a sales presentation. If you respond to the customer’s request, and provide a price, deliver a proposal, or submit a bid, each of these are sales presentations....
[Read More]

S-74 What can we learn from the best sales people?
Do great B2B sales people, regardless of what they sell, have any practices in common?  In other words, do the best sales people all sell the same way?

A number of years ago, a professional association attempted to answer that question.  They studied superstar sales people from a wide variety of industries and concluded: Yes!  [Read More]

S-73 Pre-Call Touch: A creative way to make prospecting appointments
Here’s a situation.  You have created a list of 20 highly qualified prospects.  You’ve researched them, and you know that these 20 people hold your prosperity in their hands.  But they don’t know you, have never spoken to you, and aren’t inclined to drop everything and see you. [Read More]

S-72 Selling Really is Simple!
Now that I’ve punctured your misconceptions about what sales is, and given you some ideas about what sales is not, it’s time to hone in on the good stuff.  Here are a number of different definitions to help you come to grips with what selling really entails. [Read More]

S-70 What’s a professional sales person?
I often hear my clients lament that they wish they had a more professional sales force.  That idea of a “professional sales force” gets a lot of conversation in sales management and sales executive circles.  But what exactly does it mean?  And why is it a good thing?

Here’s one person’s opinion. [Read More]

S-69 How to Close the Sale ~ You've Got to 'Open' Before You Can Close
by Dave Kahle
Every salesperson talks about "Closing the sale." The best salespeople understand that before you can close the sale, you must open it. "Opening" means using well designed and delivered questions to thoroughly uncover as many aspects of the buying decision as possible. Too many salespeople mistakenly concern themselves with only the technical aspects of the sale, and neglect entirely some of the other issues.... [Read more]

S-67 On Preparation and Presentations
In my first professional, full-time sales position, the company brought all the new sales people to a six-week training class in Mill Valley, California.  There, we memorized three, four page, single-spaced sales presentations.  Most days consisted of practicing those presentations in role-playing scenarios, having them video recorded, playing them back, and then having the group critique them.  We would do it again the next day, only better than the day before.  Believe me, when we were finished, we knew how to present those products. [Read More]

S-66 Thinking and Questioning Your Way to Sales Success - Part 2
Excerpted from Chapter Seventeen, Question Your Way to Sales Success
by Dave Kahle
In part one of this series, I made the point that thinking better is the ultimate success skill for a sales person, and that good thinking always came from asking yourself the right questions and writing down the answers. Sounds so simple. Yet, only a handful of true professionals adhere to that discipline. [Read More]

S-65 Thinking and Questioning Your Way to Sales Success - Part 1
Excerpted from Chapter Seventeen, Question Your Way to Sales Success
by Dave Kahle
For a sales professional, there are two basic sets of questions with which a dedicated sales person should gain competence:  Questions to ask prospects and customers; and questions to ask yourself.  

Questions we ask ourselves are just as important, if not more so, than those we ask our prospects and customer.  The reason goes back to the ultimate power of a question — it directs our thinking.  Just as a good question directs the customer’s thinking, so, too, does a good question direct our own thinking.  And thinking well is the ultimate success skill for a professional sales person. [Read More]

S-64 Adding Value to Every Sales Call
by Dave Kahle
Are you wasting your customers’ time?

In this pressurized, multi-tasking world, where your customers are expected to produce more in less time, they may be growing less eager to meet with you than they were just a year ago.  Time is more precious today than ever before, and your customers are feeling the pressure....[Read More]

S-63 A Passion for Sales
by Dave Kahle
One of my clients recently mentioned to me that, when hiring prospective sales people, he looks for a “passion for sales” in their personality. The idea struck me. I had never really thought in those terms before. What is a ‘passion for sales?’ What does it look like? Is it really an indicator of a successful sales person? And, how do you identify it? [Read More]

S-62 The Ultimate Success Skill
By Dave Kahle
In the last 12 months, only one out of every 20 sales people have spent $25.00 or more on their own improvement! Incredible. Let me repeat it to make sure you read it correctly:  In the last 12 months, only one out of every 20 sales people have spent $25.00 or more on their own improvement!  That’s my conclusion, based on lots of anecdotal evidence collected over the past 25 years of working with sales people....[Read More]

S-61 Handling Objections
Excerpted from Chapter 13 of Take Your Performance Up a Notch
by Dave Kahle
They don’t always say yes! That might be the very first thing you learn as a sales person.  As a matter of fact, “No” in all its various forms and expressions, may be the one word that sales people hear most commonly.  Amazing, then, that so few of us are equipped to effectively handle it....[Read More]

S-60 Closing the Sale
Excerpted from Chapter 13 of Take Your Performance Up a Notch
By Dave Kahle
Whenever I ask sales people to rate themselves on their competence at all the different parts of the sales process, they invariably rate themselves low at closing the sale.  Unfortunately, sales people who don't close consistently waste a lot of their time, waste their customer’s time, and are not nearly as effective as they could be...
[Read More]

S-59 Are your customer relationships an asset or an obstacle?
By Dave Kahle
Positive customer relationships are the basis of much B2B business, right?  Positive business relationships ensure us an audience with the customer, make every step of the selling process go easier, and even provide us with a competitive edge.  It’s not unusual for the business to come your way just because they like you the best.
....[ Read More ]

S-58 Gaining an advantage by collecting information about your competitors
By Dave Kahle
As sales people, we love to complain about the competition. Unfortunately, complaining doesn't do us any good. A better approach is to create a system to learn about the competition. Knowledge of the competition -- not only their strengths and weaknesses but also their patterns and tendencies - will provide you with a distinct advantage, and prevent you from getting blindsided or seriously outmaneuvered....[ Read More ]

S-57 It's the Risk, Not the Price!
By Dave Kahle
"Low price, low price, low price." It's the mantra that sales people in every industry segment are hearing more these days than ever before. Customers, looking for ways to contain costs, naturally pressure their vendors for lower costs...... [ Read More ]

S-56 Good Questions and The Basics of Selling
By Dave Kahle
Sales is, at its most basic level, a relatively simple process. I recall one of my clients showing me the flow-chart of his sales process. Twenty six steps. That level of detail may be appropriate for that specific situation, but it is an overkill when we are talking about the application for a typical professional salesperson...... [ Read More ]

S-55 Just Listen!
By Dave Kahle
I just came across some research that confirmed what many of us in the profession of educating salespeople have known for years: That purchasers would be much more likely to buy from a salesperson if that salesperson would just listen to the customer. The survey found that some of the worst offenders were experienced salespeople..... [ Read More ]

S-54 Effective selling begins with information
By Dave Kahle
Most salespeople love to be active out in our territories, seeing people, solving problems, putting deals together. This activity-orientation is one of the characteristics of a sales personality.... [ Read More ]

S-53 Learning From Failure
by Dave Kahle
Remember John Delorean? He was the superstar General Motors executive who started the Delorean Motor Company. When the company began to falter, he was... [ Read More ]

S-52 The Question is the Key
by Dave Kahle
Focus, focus, focus. That's the phrase that I find myself repeating constantly in every sales seminar that I present. I believe focus is the greatest challenge for salespeople today, and the greatest single solution to their challenges. There are so many demands on our time, so....[Read More]

S-51 Beliefs that limit a salesperson's performance: I have great relationships with my customers
by Dave Kahle
"I have great relationships with my customers." That is one of the most debilitating myths around – one that cripples the performance of the average corporate salesperson.... [ Read More ]

S-50 The Practice of Sales
by Dave Kahle
"Every profession expects the serious practitioner of that profession to continually seek out the best practices of that profession, and then to roll them into his/her routine with discipline... " [ Read More ]

S-49 Preventing the Price Objection
by Dave Kahle
"Your price is too high!" The infamous price objection. Wouldn't sales be a great profession if we could somehow wipe it out and never hear it again... [ Read More ]

S-47 Seven Ways to Build Rapport with Anyone
by Dave Kahle
Building rapport with customers is like squirting oil into gears. Imagine some gears grinding together. When you squirt lubricating oil into the gears, you reduce the friction and make everything work smoother. So it is when two people interact with each other. Rapport, like lubricating oil, reduces the friction and makes the interaction work smoother... [Read More]

S-46 Beliefs that limit a salesperson's performance: Good Salespeople are Problem Solvers
by Dave Kahle
"Good salespeople are problem solvers." Or, so the illusion goes. That belief ranks high on my all time list of the beliefs that most limit a salesperson's performance. This one is especially insidious because it is so commonly held, without reservation, by such a large percentage of sales managers and salespeople. And it sounds so reasonable.... [Read More]

S-45 Beliefs that limit a salesperson's performance: I must believe in a product in order to sell it
by Dave Kahle
As a sales trainer, I often confront a difficult obstacle that stands in the way of developing more effective salespeople. Too often salespeople are hindered by limiting beliefs that prevent them from implementing the best practices, principles and processes that can multiply their results. They remain bound by internal barriers of their own conception.... [Read More]

S-44 Characteristics of Successful Salespeople
by Dave Kahle
Are successful salespeople made or born? It is the eternal question: the sales manager's version of nature versus nurture. Since I spend most of my time teaching salespeople how to become better at their jobs, I'm 100 percent in the "made" camp. There are best practices in the sales profession, and outstanding salespeople do many of the same things. A salesperson can, and should be, taught those best practices so they know how to do the job well. ... [Read More]

S-43 What's a Successful Salesperson?
by Dave Kahle
"Success," like "beauty" is a slippery term whose definition depends, in some significant way, on the perspective of the observer. I once came across this definition, which I have used, more or less because of no good reason not to, as a working definition: Success is the continuous attainment of an ever–evolving series of goals... [Read More]

S-42 Think a Lot
by Dave Kahle
It's a difficult year for a lot of salespeople. The world is changing rapidly, and every new headline contains information that seems to impact business in a significant way. The competition is more active, customers are more discriminating, and nobody has enough time.... [Read More]

S-39 Dealing effectively with the competition
by Dave Kahle
"This would be a great business if it weren't for the competition!" Unfortunately, the existence of the competition impacts every industry, every business and every sales position. What the competition does or does not do can make a dramatic impact upon a company and a sales person. That impact can range from squeezing you to the point where you go out of business on one extreme, to creating tremendous opportunities for growth and profits on the other. The competition and their potential impact on your business is a fact of life. No matter how hard you wish, you are not going to be able to make the competition go away. While we can't change the competition, we certainly are responsible for our attitudes and behaviors toward the competition. What we say and how we act about the competition can have a daily bearing on our bottom lines. An appropriate attitude and set of practices for dealing with the competition should be an essential part of every sales person's repertoire. [Read More]

S-32 Motivating Yourself to Succeed Every Day
by Dave Kahle
This is one of those rarely voiced issues that every sales person confronts sooner or later. The job of the sales person produces an emotional roller coaster, and unless you figure out how to manage those emotions and keep yourself motivated, you'll have a difficult time succeeding... [Read More]

S-31 Nine Tips for Dealing with Angry and Difficult Customers
No one looks forward to an encounter with an angry or difficult customer. Most of us can’t help but feel emotionally impacted by an upset customer. An ugly incident can ruin our entire day. [Read More]

S-29 Protecting Your Good Accounts from the Competition
by Dave Kahle
We all know the feeling. Your key contact in one of your good accounts sheepishly admits that they have moved some business to a competitor. No problem with your service, it was just a price issue. Nothing is more discouraging. You've spent years developing this account, building relationships, working hard at meeting their needs, and then, in the blink of an eye, you lose the business to a price-cutter. Is there anything you can do to prevent this? Of course. Here are four proven strategies that will help you prevent your hard-earned business from disappearing into the hands of price cutting competition. Strategy One: Deepen your personal relationships with the key decision makers.... [Read More]

S-28 First Steps to Effective Sales Planning
by Dave Kahle
Most salespeople love to be active - out in their territories, seeing people, solving problems, putting deals together. This activity orientation is one of the necessary characteristics of a sales personality. A day sitting behind a desk is their idea of purgatory. Unfortunately, this activity orientation is both a strength and weakness. Much of a salesperson's ability to produce results finds its genesis in the energy generated by this activity orientation. But it can be a major obstacle. Far too often, salespeople are guilty of going about their jobs directed by the credo of " Ready, shoot... aim." The luxury of this kind of unfocused activity is a casualty of the Information Age. In order to be effective, salespeople must be focused and thoughtful about everything they do. Activity without forethought and planning is a needless waste of time and energy..... [Read More]

S-27 Systematically Identifying New Prospects
by Dave Kahle
Your business, like every other one, needs a constant stream of new customers if it is going to remain viable. The constant churn in the market place means that some of your customers will be acquired and others will go out of
business. Unless regularly replaced by new customers, your business will inevitably dwindle. If you are going to thrive, you must replace and add to them. Which brings us to the need for prospecting. As you know, "prospecting" refers to the front end of the sales process. It is the necessary process of identifying companies and institutions who could buy your products, and then arranging a first appointment with them. As with every other stage of the sales process, there are ways to do this better than others. In today's economy, it is not just about identifying a prospect, it is about identifying a prospect that is likely to buy..... [Read More]

S-26 Salespeople: Position Yourselves with Power
by Dave Kahle
His eyes were narrow and bloodshot from staying out late and partying too heavily the previous night. A two-day old stubble framed his face. He was wearing a dark colored tee shirt, which he hadn't tucked in, a pair of jeans, and scuffed loafers which had probably never seen shoe polish. It was the second day of my Sales Academy seminar, and this participant in the program was complaining to the group that his customers were only interested in low price. I didn't say this, because I didn't want to embarrass him in front of the group, but I thought it none the less: "Do you think your appearance and demeanor have anything to do with your customers' reaction? Do you think that you may give them the idea that you are the lowest rung on the pricing scale? Is it possible that you have inadvertently positioned yourself as
the Wal-Mart of the industry?" [Read More]

S-25 Strategic Planning for Salespeople
by Dave Kahle
"Ready, shoot, aim." Unfortunately, that's the all too common description of the field salesperson's modus operandi. In a misguided attempt to stay busy and see as many people as possible, too many salespeople subscribe to the theory that any activity is good activity. There was a time when this was true. Customers had more time, sales was a simpler job, and any conversation with a prospect or customer was a good thing. But times have changed, and the job of the salesperson has become much more complex. The pressure on the salesperson to make good decisions about the effective use of his time has never been greater. Salespeople now must confront an overwhelming number of potential "things to do," and that requires them to make decisions about which customers in which to invest their time, to prioritize their activities every day, and to continually choose from a menu of possible activities. In other words, salespeople must now engage in strategic planning..... [Read More]

S-24 Astute Planner
by Dave Kahle
Here's one of the foundational principles for sales success: You'll always be more effective if you think about what you do before you do it. I recall going to see a well-known speaker and author in a two-hour presentation. The auditorium was filled with several hundred people who had paid to learn from this man's insight and wisdom. Early into his presentation, he remarked that he really didn't know what he was going to say, and had not prepared anything... [Read More]

S-23 Staying Motivated In Challenging Times
by Dave Kahle
One of my Ezine subscribers recently sent me this question: "I really struggle with the highs and lows of field sales. Most days I feel like the weight of the world is on my shoulders. In this economy, especially, it's difficult to stay positive. Any suggestions?" This is one of those rarely voiced issues that every sales person must confront sooner or later. Sales is an emotional roller coaster, and unless you figure out how to manage those emotions and keep yourself motivated, you'll have a difficult time succeeding. This is particularly true right now. As I write this, in the middle of 2003, the economy continues to struggle, and unemployment is higher than it has been for years. Many companies are cutting back, there are fewer jobs available, and pressures to perform are greater than ever..... [Read More]

S-21 Biggest Time Wasters for Salespeople
by Dave Kahle
Good time management for salespeople has been an obsession of mine for more than 30 years. In the last decade, I've been involved in helping tens of thousands of sales people improve their results through more effective use of their time. Over the years, I've seen some regularly occurring patterns develop - tendencies on the part of sales people to do things that detract from their effective use of time. Here are the four most common time-wasters I've observed. See if any apply to you or your salespeople.... [Read more]

S-20 Think a Lot
by Dave Kahle
It's a difficult year for a lot of sales people. The world is changing rapidly, and every new headline seems to some how impact business in a significant way. The competition is more active, customers are more discriminating, and no body had enough time. There was a time, just a few years ago, when it was easier. You could work hard for awhile, and then you could relax and enjoy the fruits of your labors. You'd reach a point where life became easy, your customers were buying from you consistently, and you had your job figured out.... [Read more]

S-19 Finding The Silver Lining Among The Clouds
by Dave Kahle
"Dave, what's the good news? Where is the silver lining?" Great question. So many of us have been concentrating on the clouds recently, that we haven't noticed the silver lining around the clouds. Certainly the economy is limping along in many industries that had been accustomed to regular growth. And the challenges of the Information Age can seem overwhelming at the moment. However, at the same time, there are unique and powerful opportunities for those salespeople who choose to pursue them.... [Read more]

S-18 The Ninth Time Management Secret: Nurture Helpful Relationships
Excerpted with permission of the publisher, from the 10 Secrets of Time Management for Salespeople, Copyright 2003, by Dave Kahle. Published by Career Press, Inc., Franklin Lakes, NJ. All rights reserved.
Early into one of my sales positions, my boss informed me that the operations manager was upset with me. I was too focused and task-oriented in my dealing with the company's internal personnel who made things happen in the business. I'd come into the office, drop projects and requests on everyone's desk, and head out again. My task-oriented behavior was upsetting people. As a result, they were balking at cooperating with me. My projects were being left on the bottom of the pile, and other salespeople were getting more cooperation. I had better change my attitude, he told me, or I'd find it very difficult to succeed in this organization. My lack of good relationships with the people who could make things happen for me was hurting my performance. Eventually, I came around to understand that. I swallowed my pride, bought each one a six-pack of premium beer, apologized, and started focusing on building positive relationships with everyone inside the company.... [Read more]

S-17 Taking Your Sales Performance Up-a-Notch
by Dave Kahle
"Selling is more difficult now that it was just a couple of years ago." Most of the participants in my sales seminars nod solemnly when I make that statement. And then they begin to fidget in their seats when I follow that up with this: "And it will be more difficult next year than it is today." They become really uncomfortable when I extend that idea: "And it will be increasingly more difficult every year thereafter." That's a sobering truth that we don't like to face.... [Read more]

S-16 The Five Most Common Mistakes Salespeople Make
by Dave Kahle
Over the decades that I've been involved in sales, I've worked with tens of thousands of salespeople. Certain negative tendencies -- mistakes that salespeople make -- keep surfacing. Here are my top five. See to what degree you (or your sales force) may be guilty of them.... [Read more]

S-15 On Entertaining Your Customers
by Dave Kahle
How much time should I spend entertaining my customers? Good question. The world of the field salesperson is changing rapidly these days, and everything is in question. The practice of entertaining customers is one of those issues that needs to be rethought. First, let's consider whether or not you should entertain your customers. In these days of e-commerce and Internet communication, is there a place for this age-old practice.... [Read more]

S-14 Dealing with Difficult Customers
by Dave Kahle
Difficult customers come in a wide variety. There are those whose personality rubs you the wrong way. They may not be difficult for someone else, but they are for you. And then there are those who are difficult for everyone: Picky people, know-it-alls, egocentrics, fault-finders, constant complainers, etc. Every salesperson can list a number of the types... [Read more]

S-13 Is Integrity a Sales Strategy?
by Dave Kahle
Honesty is a powerful sales strategy that is probably more important today than ever before. It works like this. If you have integrity, you save your customer time. In today's frenzied world, time is more precious than money for a lot of people. If your customers cannot believe you, then they must spend hours, days or weeks of precious time confirming the representations you have made. If, however, they can believe you, then they don't feel the need to check for the veracity of every fact or statement.... [Read more]

S-12 One of the Emerging New Rules for Sales - The Value-Added Sales Call
by Dave Kahle
No matter what you sell, it is likely that your customer has more to do and less time in which to do it than ever before. Your customer's lack of time is a relatively recent phenomenon. It wasn't much of an issue a few years ago, but it has become universal and growing in intensity day by day. Your customer is overworked and pressed for time. As a result, there is just not enough time in the day to get everything done. Some things have to go. A long, leisurely conversation with a salesperson is often one of those things that is going.... [Read more]

S-11 Managing Information
by Dave Kahle
I'm spending more and more time dealing with information. It's squeezing out my selling time. Here's the issue. Technological advances in recent years have multiplied the amount of information that you must handle. The quantity of information landing on your lap has increased from sources all around you. Welcome to the information age. This problem of information inundation is a relatively new but almost universal threat to your livelihood. Four or five years ago, salespeople were not too concerned with it. Today, dealing with information is so critical that it is an important part of almost every seminar I present.... [Read more]

S-10 Selling Commodities
by Dave Kahle
"How do you create a perceived value to differentiate yourself from the competition when you are both selling a commodity?" That's a question I'm often asked in my seminars. It uncovers a problem that is spreading to almost every industry. The rapid pace of technological development and our ultra-competitive global economy means that no one can keep a competitive edge in their product for very long. Develop a hot new product or service and before you can take your first check to the bank, a competitor has a hotter or cheaper version. As a result, customers are more and more inclined to view your product or service as a commodity – no real difference between you and the next guy.... [Read more]

S-9 Victory Over Voicemail
by Dave Kahle
Voice mail has become the number one irritant for salespeople in the Information Age. And with good reason. If you can't communicate with your customers, you can't get to see them. And if you can't get to see them, you've been knocked out of the sales process. Unless you learn to work through this electronic obstacle, the likelihood of you making a sale is dramatically reduced.... [Read more]

S-8 The Impenetrable Account
by Dave Kahle
How do you sell to an account that is in the hands of a competitor? It's a great question, reflecting one of the most perplexing and frustrating situations every sales person faces. In this article Dave explains how to get an account away from your competition.... [Read more]

S-6 How to Maximize the Power of a Sales Call
by Dave Kahle
How to Maximize the Power of a Sales Call. The sales call is the most critical point in your sales and marketing system and the ultimate test of your marketing program -- It's the point where all your work comes together and you either succeed or fail. Mishandle the sales call and you may lose a customer for years. Handle it correctly and you'll take the first step toward a lifetime relationship. The key to maximizing that power is to implement some systematic methods of structuring that time together... [Read more]

S-5 The Ultimate Sales Improvement Skill
by Dave Kahle
These are incredibly difficult times for sales people. Competition in almost every industry continues to intensity... [Read more]

S-4 Your Most Powerful Sales Tool
by Dave Kahle
Mastering the use of good questions is the salesperson's single most powerful interpersonal tool -- every aspect of your sales interactions will dramatically improve your results.... [Read more]

S-2 Dealing With Your Customer's Time Constraints
by Dave Kahle
This is a real information-age issue. You know how confused and pressured you feel these days. Your customers feel the same way. As pressures brought on by rapid change, growing competition and the need for every organization to become more streamlined and efficient have hit your customers, many of them have reacted by trying to make everyone more productive.... [Read more]

S-1 How Can I Sell More When I Have So Much to Do?
by Dave Kahle
How can I sell more when I have so much to do? You have new products to learn, paperwork to complete, hundreds of customer problems to solve, meetings to attend, inside people to cajole, managers to mollify - and, on top of all this, you are expected to sell something! Let's start by identifying one of those essentials. Think about the sales process - the activities that it takes to make a sale - and certain key activities come to mind.... [Read more]