Selling

Do your sales leads have the right DNA? Do you know how to make the most of it? We do and can help you get there, too. Today, popular psychology holds that the personality of an individual human being is shaped not by genetics or by environment alone but by an uneasy collaboration of both. We’ve found that similar collaboration applies

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To increase revenue and build your business in 2023 ask the “twelve questions of selling.” Creating value for your customers, prospects, and colleagues is perhaps the best business gift you can give them. A particular set of business development and communication skills is the key. Do you and your team have them? This time of year giving and receiving command

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Do you earn the right to close? We find that probably 75 percent of salespeople and other business developers do not. They may think they do because they show up, ask a few “probing” questions, and make presentations—often elaborate ones—as if to say, “I’m here. Isn’t that enough?” Showing up is of course essential—in fact, one rule of thumb people like

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The first quarter of 2022 is almost over. Where does your company stand? Check out these 11 proven ways to cut costs and sharpen sales—six of which don’t require any additional investment in sales or marketing. It’s true. Slow, challenging, or uncertain times call for greater investment in sales and marketing, not less. But few businesses bite that bullet. They blindly cut

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Your answers to just two questions can help to identify a solid path to top-line growth this year. Consider these two “either-or” questions about sales growth. Your answers can help you and your team make the most of 2022. Which question points you to the most opportunity? Question #1 Find more opportunities to quote (more first meetings) or improve the success rate on opportunities

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Healthy conflict can lead to healthy sales—if managers know how to guide the process or get help if they don’t. Children are admonished to “play fair” and show “good sportsmanship”—and rightly so, we believe. They learn, or we hope they learn, to use these principles to guide their behavior and, at least on the playground, to reduce serious conflict. But

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Here’s how to do it. Productive consultative sales training and process development can make the difference. Do you know IRV? If you’re a business owner or senior executive, you should. Why? One thing small and middle-market businesses are all about is increasing their value. And IRV is a straightforward way to use sales to increase that value in three ways—and to

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Companies spend all sorts of pre-M&A time on alignment. But what about after the merger or acquisition deal is sealed? There is still work to be done, especially in sales. When companies make acquisitions, they have a lot to do, from identifying redundancies in staffing, processes, and procedures to selecting which survive and which can be reduced or eliminated. Even

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Do you use the income statement approach or the balance sheet approach? Not sure? Here’s how to know and then how to use your sales funnel to win more sales. Most salespeople, sales managers, and other business developers do know that the “sales funnel” plays a key role in making a sale. But too many do not know just what

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Three business-to-business sales lessons on fast from McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc: 1) Be fast to follow up on a problem, 2) Be fast to get to the decision-maker, and 3) Be fast to recognize the potential and act on it. Here’s what happened when he followed that advice himself. In 1954, before he built his empire, road-warrior-salesman Ray Kroc drove

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