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| Kelley Robertson |
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11 Webinar Mistakes You Need to Avoid
Webinars have become a low-cost way for people and companies to promote their products and services. In addition to using them frequently in the last year I have also attended many webinars on a variety of topics. However, I have noticed that many webinar organizers, hosts and panelists, create a variety of mistakes that reduce the effectiveness of their program.
1. Requiring too much information. I don't mind giving my name, email address, and company name when registering for a webinar. Howeve
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| Jim Klein |
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Are You Struggling to Make Appointments With Prospects?
Use These 5 Powerful Prospecting Tips and Make More Sales Appointments
Wouldn't it be great to prospect with confidence knowing you have the plan that will help you set more appointments? Then you'll be glad you found these 5 prospecting tips. If you use them you'll be guarantee to make better use of your prospecting time by closing your prospects for more appointments.
Prospecting Tip #1: Prospect Daily
Sales prospecting is like eating. If you don't do it every day you'll die. With prospecti ...
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| Mark Hunter |
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Holding on Price in a Down Economy
Discounting on price is not a sales strategy. It’s an impulsive move made by desperate salespeople. In a tough economy, customers think and expect everything is going to be discounted. Because of this, salespeople feel it necessary to oblige the customer to close the deal. Unfortunately, however, this leads to a downward spiral, much like an addiction to an illegal drug. Once a discount is offered to one customer, it becomes easier and easier to offer it to another one. Before they ...
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| Dave Kahle |
Seven Ways to Build Rapport with Anyone
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. For a salesperson, creating rapport with any human being is an essential step that enables the customer to feel comfortable and leads to a much more effective sales interaction. The best salespeople create rapport with everyone.
Here’s the dictionary definition:
Rapport : An emotional bond or friendly relationship between people based on mutual liking, trust and a sense that they understand and share each other’s concerns.
Fortunately, creating that sense of understanding and mutual trust is a skill which has been studied through the ages. Here are seven proven ways to build rapport with anyone.
1. Pay attention to your appearance
People will form an impression of you, based on how you look, before they even say hello to you. Your appearance, then, should be designed to help you look confident and competent – whatever that means in your market. At a minimum, that means clothes clean and pressed, shoes shined and hair cut.
Your attire should help you connect with the customer -- not separate you from him. For example, if you are calling on production supervisors, you ought not to wear a suit and tie, as that will separate you from them, and generate a bit of discomfort in them.
The best rule I’ve seen is this: Dress like your customer, only a little better. On several occasions, I have worked with sales forces who sold to farmers. Blue jeans and flannel shirts are OK, as long as they are clean and pressed blue jeans, and a better quality flannel shirt.
But what if you call on several different types of customers in the same day? One salesperson shared his approach to this problem. He wore grey slacks, a blue button-down collar shirt, and a navy blazer. When he called on managers and executives, he dressed it up by putting on a tie. And, when he called on people who weren’t in the executive suite, he dressed it down by removing the blazer and the tie.
2. Try an occasional bit of disarming honesty
In routine interchanges, say something that the customer is not expecting. For example, when he says, “How are you?”, instead of the perfunctory “Fine,” try something like this: “Honestly, my day didn’t get off to a good start. One of the kids was sick this morning, and I was a half hour late getting out of the house. How are you?”
It’s d
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