04 Mar

My background has primarily been selling enterprise-wide financial, human resource, medical, anti-money laundering, and manufacturing solutions.  In most cases, the prospective buyer has strategically decided to change their infrastructure. The highest-level executives typically make these decisions in an organization.  So, when deciding who to sell to in the organization, it is a mistake to ignore the importance of reaching the "C" Suite executive. They are the ones who approve all decisions and expenditures. The approver is sometimes called the "economic buyer" or the "key decision maker."2 Lower-performing sales pros often make the mistake of focusing solely on their user buyer contacts and...

24 Feb

This past week, I had a case of influenza. It reminded me of an incident many years ago when I began my career as an accountant. I joined the cost accounting department for GD Searle & Co., then an independent, more than one-hundred-year-old, family-controlled public biotechnology company, now a Pfizer subsidiary. The CEO at the time was Daniel Searle, a great-grandson of the founder. Searle was known for releasing the first birth-control pill, Enovid, and for developing Metamucil, Dramamine, Celebrex, and aspartame. The leader of my cost accounting team was Glen, who was in his forties.  Glen had worked for Searle for...

17 Feb

“Catch-22” was a popular fictional book and later a movie published by Joseph Heller in 1961. In Heller’s book, an Air Force lieutenant desired to be exempted from a bombing mission because he claimed he was insane.  But, claiming he was insane to avoid a dangerous mission demonstrated that he was sane.  Therefore, he could not be exempted from the mission because he was not insane. Merriam-Webster defines “Catch-22” as “a problematic situation for which the only solution is denied by a circumstance inherent in the problem or by a rule.”1  A typical example is a job-seeker not being hired because they...

10 Feb

One of the most overlooked keys to sales success is Attitude. A positive attitude consists of being mentally optimistic and self-confident. It is essential in sales—and life! Attitude is as important as skill in determining sales success.  How can you perform well if you’re not in your best mental state? If you don’t believe you will be successful, you will not be. I went into every sales call believing I would win and close each sale, regardless of the circumstances. This was not conceit or overconfidence. If I gave a better-than-average explanation of how my solution could provide the prospect with exceptional...

03 Feb

Some sales pros work for companies that furnish adequate suspects and unqualified leads to keep them busy achieving their sales goals. I was not as fortunate, working for several technology companies and a few start-ups.  If I did not develop leads, I would have starved and been terminated from my sales role by the company.  Fortunately, that never happened.  However, I had to learn to be resourceful and develop leads in various ways, depending on how much assistance I received from the company’s marketing department, which ranged from none to quite a bit. Some authors and sales trainers minimize the value...

21 Jan

Many sales pros ask me what to do when the prospect doesn’t return calls or emails.  You have been calling on a prospect for several months and believe you have established rapport with your contact. You presented a thoroughly researched business case about two weeks ago but have not received any replies to your telephone calls, texts, or emails.  This is now called “ghosting.”  Yes, they are impolite and don’t care how much it means to you. You are very frustrated with the silence and wonder what the problem is.  Did you do something wrong?  Your mind is super active. And...

03 Jan

This sounds like an obvious statement. Wouldn't Homer Simpson say "duh" if I said this to him? Isn't it a binary condition—either one or the other? And isn't the reverse then true, too? No, not really. It also could be neither. It is not that simple. How do you know whether you are winning or losing the sale you are trying to close? Who should you ask? Your contact at the company you are trying to sell? They're not always truthful. Your competition? They can't be trusted to be honest. Your sales manager? It is probably your best option, but do you...

23 Dec

I am often asked this question: If a buyer gives you the choice to be the first, middle, or last seller to present your proposed solution to the evaluation team, which should you choose? Conventional wisdom suggests that one should try to be the final presenter when the buyer reviews several suppliers. Many sales trainers say it is to your advantage to be the last presenter. The thinking is that the buyers will remember what was most recently presented to them when they decide. This strategy has an element of validity because buyers may forget the key points you pointed out...

16 Dec

When I became a sales manager, I believed I had to treat all the salespeople who reported to me equally.  As a first-time sales manager, I thought it was essential that no salesperson should receive any special treatment or more of my time than the others. I was also very personally committed to the concept of equality of opportunity.  I also endeavored to be color-blind and gender-neutral in hiring and treating my team. This goal seemed to be in alignment with social norms. I went on approximately the same quantity of sales calls with each salesperson and tried to divide my time...

02 Dec

I recently wrote about an episode early in my sales career when I worked in a shared office environment with salespeople and remote workers.  I overheard another salesperson, Stan, tell the manager of the buyer’s contact he had been working with that he had been promised a contract by a recently deceased prospect. It was untrue. The prospect had said to him that he was no longer under consideration, then passed away shortly afterward.  I assume there wasn’t a paper or email trail.  Stan was able to get the business from the uninformed manager and bragged about what he did...