Several months ago, I was sitting with Sam who had just been named a VP of Sales at a company who was struggling. Sam had an engineering background and had had no leadership skills at all which is why they were seeking our help.
Sam’s boss, the CEO, felt like Sam’s energy and enthusiasm for sales and his competence at the subject matter end of the business would be a perfect match for him leading a sales team.
The biggest problem when writing an email is your ‘state of mind’. This is the MOST IMPORTANT THING to consider as you craft emails.
One of the frustrating scenarios is introducing yourself to a person you’d like to meet with. In this tutorial, Bill Caskey, Author of Email It — A Seller’s Guide to Emails That Work with 20 Pre-Written, Ready-to-Use Emails, walks you thorough a very tactical framework to craft this important email.
As sales trainers, we are guilty of making the sales process much more complex than it needs to be. There are a limitless number of options and objections that a prospect can give to you throughout the sales process, and so we make an effort to understand and counteract each one.
But that is a mistake. Instead, we should be focused on one thing: The First Call.
Because if the first call doesn’t go right, then the third call won’t go right. Consequently, in an effort to make to the first call correct, then you need to ask these three very simple questions of the prospect in whatever format you choose to ask them.
It occurred to us that the percentage of salespeople who counsel never get to the question of “what’s your problem?” After all, what else is move pertinent in the sales cycle than your solution matching up to a problem the customer has?
Once you can get to the point where you have a “spot-on” solution for the customer’s problem:
But how often do we all spend way too much time in the sales strategy meetings working on the irrelevant? Read more
Sales managers know that it’s the little things that get in the way of a salesperson being successful.
And we often talk about the little things in our video series. But today, a not-so-little thing that gets in the way. Fear.
In this video, Bill looks at the places ‘fear’ shows up and the impact it can have on a salesperson or sales team.
Sales people have a tendency to blame everything on those lousy prospects. But is that true?
In this episode of Whiteboard Wednesday, Bill Caskey rants about about a sales person he met at a game last week. This guy was a real ‘moaner.’ He asked Bill, “Why aren’t these prospects returning my emails or phone calls?” Bill shares with you his response.
In part two of the video, Bill offers an email template that can work in almost all situations. He claims:
“We tend to write emails in the state of need and that shapes what we say and how we say it.”
OK, sales folks. You got some advice from your friend Aristotle in 350 BC and I don’t think you were listening. It was while he was being taught by Plato and just before he hooked up with Alex the Great.
His advice was very simple. In order to be a great sales person, you have to have 3 parts to your strategy.
In this video, Bill calls up some Aristotle wisdom and shares what those are.
It seems like an obvious question doesn’t it? If I were to ask a hundred people on the street they would all say their best years are ahead of them. But would they really feel that way or would that just be the politically correct thing to say?
I was doing my annual New Year’s cards for my daughters. One daughter is 18 while the other is low 30’s. I believe the future is so bright for that generation that they should feel blessed — they have some many great years in front of them.
I actually believe that although most people do not.
And as I wrote their cards, I wondered aloud whether I felt that way about myself at 55 years old. Can I honestly look in the mirror and say that my best days are ahead of me when I’ve had 55 years of a great life?
I have some rather long lifelines in my family (my dad lived to be ninety-seven and his mother ninety-five) and when people ask me when I’m going to retire I tell them retirement for me would be certain death.
So, for those of us that are in our 40’s, 50’s and 60’s, how do we ensure that in fact the best days are in front of us?
Set the goal and work backwards. Ask the question:
- What will have to happen for me to accomplish that?
- Or, you can do what others do… “what are the roadblocks?”
That list of roadblocks evolves into your ‘strategy’.
Well, you probably read that and say, “I don’t see any way at all I can double my sales next year. Especially in this market.”
In fact, that may be so much of a stretch that you decide NOT to watch the video. And what a mistake that would be.
This Whiteboard Wednesday is designed to “shock you” a little. Maybe you just need a jolt to your system so you can break free with some new thoughts.
Bill Caskey takes you through a Goal Setting exercise that the Caskey team takes their clients through. So, grab pencil and paper and play it out as you watch it unfold in front of you.
After you’re done, we think you’ll see things a little differently. So, you may not get to a doubling (or, you might) but what we’re after is a “change of thought.” And that will guide you to new goals you will accomplish.