For most of us in the sales/account management profession, things have changed so much over the past couple of months. All of our work is now being done virtually – team meetings, customer research, training… Even our happy hours are being conducted over the internet.
Delivering...
As sales professionals, many of the challenges we face evolve over time. One challenge that has been remarkably constant is the presence of gatekeepers. These are people who block our access to people and our sales strategy. Passive or aggressive, rude or pleasant, their desired outcome is the...
In many of our past Tips, we have talked about Business Fit and the concept of shifting our focus from the specifications of our solutions to the business outcomes we can help create for and with our customers.
To do this, we leverage our various sources of value, including our people...
In our last Tip we talked about developing a passion for the customer and being committed to helping them drive results. We also defined what we call the Business Fit – how two companies, working together, can drive critical business outcomes for the customer.
How do you figure out the...
In a sales role, one of the greatest tools we can leverage is passion. A key question to consider is, “Passion for what?”
Many of us have passion for what we sell, and that’s good. However, not everyone will share this passion. Most people we sell to will not understand the ins-and-...
One of the most challenging situations we can find ourselves in as account managers is when there is turnover at the top of the customer’s organization and we have a new senior level decision maker. After all, they are coming into the role and want make their mark on the organization. Often that...
Over the last couple of months, these Tips have focused on ideas to make scheduling research meetings easier. Why the extra focus on this topic? Because one of the most important tactical steps we can take involves scheduling these critical meetings. Although many people reading the Tip of the...
In this Tip, we highlight a simple presentation delivery tactic that is actually a best practice extending well beyond the presentation. The tactic is the act of confirming the time of your presentation as you begin your delivery.
Here is how it might sound:
“Thank you for...
In the last Tip, we reflected on how much easier it is to schedule a research meeting than a sales call. After all, most of us don’t like to be sold to, but many of us appreciate being asked for our insight and perspective.
When it comes to...
As sales and relationship management professionals, it seems like we are constantly setting, or trying to set, customer appointments. We schedule sales calls, networking meetings, needs assessments, presentations, demos, site visits…
When we reach out to schedule sales calls –...
