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This is a list of articles written and copyrighted by Dave Kahle or the noted author. New articles are added regularly. If you are a publisher, feel free to use these articles as they appear, or edit them to fit your publication's needs. Make sure that you print and return the publication terms of agreement if you decide to use any portion of the editorial content offered here. Thank you - and enjoy!
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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]
by Jim Domanski
The key to getting your e-mails read and acted on is making sure they catch your clients' eyes and draw the reader into the message. Follow these tactics to make your e-mails clutter-free, quick to read, and precise. Your message will be more appealing and more likely to be read with the attention you deserve. E-mail can be a very effective and efficient means of communication. It's inexpensive and can produce immediate results. But here's the problem with e-mail, especially in the prospecting and selling process: your prospects and clients get dozens of e-mails every day. So the challenge is this: How do you get your e-mail read and acted on?.... [Read More]
by Jim Domanski
Here's the simple truth: most tele-sales reps are not good listeners. It's not their fault: sales reps are taught product knowledge. Reps learn all about features, advantages and benefit. They learn how to present; they learn how to tell, they learn how to pitch. Even those companies that teach questioning skills often fail to teach the rep how to listen to the answers. When a rep asks a question he is often waiting for the customer to stop talking so that they can begin pitching again. The issue here is lack of training. We have not been taught how to listen. It is an assumed skill. And this is particularly true in tele-sales where you lack the visual contact with the client. Here are seven simple but highly practical AND highly effective ways to improve your listening skills.... [Read More]
How can we get inside sales to do some proactive sales activities each day? We want our inside salespeople to use some of their time to shift into the proactive mode to make outbound phone contact to existing and new business.... [Read more]
Are things changing rapidly in your business? Silly question, isn't it? Of course they are changing. Rapid change is the distinguishing characteristic of the new millennium. Take that rapid change and add to it growing competition, increasing complexity, consolidations at every level, and increasing demands from customers and you have the recipe for a business climate that will turn anyone's hair gray.... [Read more]
by Art Sobczak
Based on observing, listening to, receiving, and placing thousands of sales calls, I've put together the list of the Top 10 Errors Made by Sales people When Using the Phone. The list details the most heinous, avoidable errors sales reps commit every day, miscues that sabotage their sales efforts. This is what you can do to avoid the errors. Follow the advice, and I know you'll be more effective.... [Read more]
"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]
We're living in incredibly turbulent times. The well spring of this uncertainty lies in one of the characteristics of the newly-arrived information age. Business people are being buffeted by an increasingly rapid rate of change. Consider this. In 1900, the total amount of knowledge available to mankind was doubling about every 500 years. In 1990, it was doubling about every two years.... [Read more]
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]
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]
Every manager has, or will, confront this troublesome issue. It´s arisen in every workshop for sales managers or branch managers I´ve done. One or more of your salespeople has leveled off. Their performance hasn´t improved much in the last few years. Where before you were able to count on significant increases each year, now you can not. You know that these experienced salespeople can do better, but they seem unable or unwilling to break out of a certain level of performance. You are scratching your head, frustrated, and loosing sleep at night wondering how to improve the situation. What do you do?... [Read More]
How can I get greater productivity out of my salespeople? In one form or another, that's a question every owner and sales manager ponders regularly. As a sales trainer and consultant, it is the basic question that I confront. And it is the underlying question behind every attempt to train salespeople. Investing in training and developing your salespeople is always a good idea. But it isn't the entire solution for many organizations. Often, enormous improvements in sales productivity can be achieved by sharpening the structure of your sales organization.... [Read more]
This may be another definition of integrity -- the courage and conviction to walk away from an unethical short-term gain in return for a long-term gain. In other words, always be willing to give up a sale or some immediate advantage if you must stretch the truth or act unethically to get it. For example, you may have an opportunity to acquire a quick sale because your customer has misunderstood the specifications or features of your product. It's tempting to take the order and not say anything. But that would not be ethical.... [Read more]
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]
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]
by Abe WalkingBear Sanchez
"We stress the importance of good customer service," said a senior VP for a large corporation. Our conversation was the culmination of several problems with an order I'd placed with his company. I had placed my order in advance and was told that there would be no problem with it being filled by my requested date. In turn, relying on the commitment, I made plans.... [Read more]
by Art Sobczak
So you’ve been beaten up pretty badly for the day. Your prospecting yielded zilch, and you’re gazing up at a quota number that seemingly appears helium-filled, floating a bit more out of your grasp every day. Paging through your tickler system, looking for a member of the 20% club of your account base that represents 80% of your business, you’re searching for a slam dunk that will book you some quick numbers so you can bob at least up to quota sea level. Ah-ha, here’s one! Looks like it’s time for them to order.... [Read more]
Is there such an initiative? IS THERE ONE thing you can do that will help you keep the good salespeople you have, motivate your salespeople, stimulate your salespeople to become more productive, and attract good quality candidates? The answer? Of course there is. It's this.... [Read more]
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]
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 expalins how to get an account away from your competition.... [Read more]
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]
Do you have a directable sales force? Directable means that your sales force can be counted on to quickly, thoroughly and positively carry out your directions. Such a sales force is both rare, and incredibly valuable to the company. In fact, a directable sales force is one of the greatest strategic advantages your company can have.... [Read more]
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 cojole, 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]
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]
Do You Have a Selling System? Should your company allow every salesperson to have their own style, or should you have system for selling to which everyone adheres? Almost any work can be systematic. "Systems" are how good work gets done. A selling system addresses the interaction between the salesperson and the customer, providing a "game plan" for success. Think of it as a template for the salesperson's face-to-face tactical encounters.... [Read more]
Systematic use of the telephone is one of the fastest growing sales and marketing strategy today. Rapid growth of telemarketing has stimulated marketers from companies and organizations of all sizes to question whether or not there is some application of telemarketing in their business. Telemarketing, perhaps more than any other media, requires a commitment from management to resources and time to make it work.... [Read more]
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]
What's gunk? Any practice that detracts from the salesperson spending time with customers. In other words, other things the outside salespeople do instead of meeting with customers. When we boil down the job of the typical outside salesperson to its essence, it is clear that the one thing we want of them, the one place that they bring value to the organization, the one thing they do that is the essential reason we have them, is interact with the customers. Everything else is a means to that end.... [Read more]
Will the Internet cause the death of the outside salesperson? So what's the answer? Like most others, I have to admit that I don't know. It is certainly possible that some aspects of today's outside sales jobs will be replaced by point-and-click. But the answer to the big question remains unclear and a ways into the future. I am sure of one thing, however. The Internet, specifically, and computers in general can be powerful tools in the hands of a capable salesperson, and those salespeople who take the initiative to become automation-enabled will find themselves growing in importance to their customers and in value to their companies.... [Read more]
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]
The challenge for every CEO is to transform his/her organization into a learning organization. Self-directed learning is the fundamental skill necessary for individuals and organizations to survive and prosper in our turbulent times. Those organizations who successfully transform themselves into learning organizations -- organizations which continually process new information and change their behavior on that basis of that information -- will be tomorrow's winners.... [Read more]
If you're paying your sales reps straight commission, you're using an obsolete formula. If you're paying your sales reps a straight salary, you're also using an obsolete formula. Read this article to find out a much more effective way to compensate your sales staff.... [Read more]
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]
Good question! It seems that everyone has a favorite response. Some people only use recruiters, and others swear by networking. But classified ads continue to be the most common choice. Almost everyone who hires salespeople will, at some time, search for prospects via the "help wanted" section.... [Read more]
Articles for Distributors.
There are a variety of answers -- too many for just one column. But, we can identify one of the most powerful ways to deal with this problem. "Low price" is not the main reason people buy!
In every survey of buying motivations I've ever read, low price is never the primary motivation. Yes, it's important. And, when everything else is equal, it will be the deciding factor. But very rarely is everything else equal. And very few people in this world buy only on the basis of low price. How many of you are driving used Yugos? Or wearing a suit you bought at a garage sale? Or watching an 8-inch black & white TV?.... [Read more]
What does it mean for a salesperson to serve the customer? That's right. Serving, not selling. I know you are concerned with sales. It's easy to determine how well your people are selling to your customers. That's what sales reports are for. But your customers are more concerned with how well they are being served by your salespeople.... [Read more]
Yes, we are in the middle of a slowing economy. In many segments, business is down significantly. Distributors are facing the prospect of lower sales and gross profits. The question on everyone’s mind is What should I do about it? Your employees know that business is down. This is a good time for you to implement such deep and significant change... [Read more]
by Bob Boyles
Independent Wholesale distributors are under attack. The assault is coming from several different directions at the same time. Also an interesting parallel development is rapidly taking place. Where a whole new segment of the industry is evolving as "Logistics Suppliers" are targeting the needs of large customers with services directly aimed at taking the fat out of the supply chain. Second the distributors' product base is being chipped away by new competitors.... [Read More]
About half the success you achieve as a salesperson comes from the skill you develop with interpersonal relations. You need to be good at the face-to-face interactions with your customers and prospects. But half of your success arises out of the way you think about your job when you are by yourself! That's because how you think about your job directly impacts how you use your time. And the smart use of time is one of the things that distinguishes the highly effective distributor salesperson from the mediocre.... [Read more]
"Rub shoulders with a half dozen distributor executives, and it's clear that there is at least one thing they will all agree on. It's this: We should do a better job of training and developing our salespeople. While everyone agrees with the need, very few companies actually do anything about it! Get that same group of half dozen of distributor executives together again a year later and ask them what they did about a problem they all agreed on and my bet is that no one will have done anything differently! Here's the real problem.... [Read more]
Selling for a distributor puts you in a unique selling situation. While many basic sales principles still apply to you, there are additional, unique challenges rising out of your position as a distributor salesperson. Find out how to handle these differences in this article.... [Read more]
I'm concerned about what my competition may be doing. I know I should be aware of what they're doing, but I'm not sure how I can find that out. This is an issue that's growing in importance. Our industry is heating up and becoming more competitive. All around us things are changing at an ever-increasing rate. That means that it's more important than ever for you to be aware of what your competitors are doing so that you don't get blindsided or seriously outmaneuvered.... [Read more]
If you're like a number of other distributors, you're having a good year. The economy is up, business is good, and you're personal sales are probably pretty good. With all that positive news there's a great temptation to coast for a while, to relax and enjoy the status quo. Unfortunately, that's a luxury you can no longer afford. There was a time, just a few years ago, when you could relax and enjoy the fruits of your labors.... [Read more]
That's probably the question I'm asked more than any other. Frustrated distributor CEO's and sales managers express that thought over and over, in one way or another. They're talking about their salespeople, of course. They harbor a feeling that some of their salespeople just aren't doing what they want them to do, and they don't know what to do about it.... [Read more]
There was a time, just a few years ago, when a smart distributor knew how to organize a sales effort. But the last few years have brought with them radical change. You know the litany: Growing competition, increasing rate of change, new channels of distribution, increasingly sophisticated customer expectations, mergers and consolidations at every level of the business, new strategies and demands by manufacturers, pressures on margins - too much to do and not enough time to do it. The world surrounding your business is dramatically different than it was when you first created your sales approach.... [Read more]
Sales productivity may be a new concept for many distributor executives. "Sales" is easy to understand, and "productivity" is pretty clear, but when those two words are combined the combination becomes a bit vague.... [Read more]
