John Hirth's Articles - ArticleGoldMine.com

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When Was The Last Time You Changed Your Game...? I found an interesting article in the sports section today about all the work Phil Mickelson has recently done on his golf game. It reminded me of some thoughts about the business of selling and the need to be constantly upgrading your selling "game". True professionals never rest and are always working to improve their results...amateurs are content to stay the same, be comfortable, just "play" and accept what they get. What did Phil do that the rest of us can learn from? ... Start High... Stay High Most successful sales people have learned the value of starting high when prospecting a new account. They understand the importance of "moving up the food chain" and work hard at not only making contact but using that contact to get in to see top level decision makers. I've been amazed, however, at how often they make the effort to reach top level people and then easily allow themselves to be passed down, back into the quagmire of low level contacts that they have worked ... Stop "Getting Ready..." In a coaching session with a sales person from one of our clients the other day, they shared their excitement over receiving a lead from an excellent prospect with great potential. I asked if they had followed up yet and they responded, no, "It's a great opportunity so I want to make sure that I make a great call, I'm still in the process of "getting ready" to make sure I have everything right". Sales people often avoid taking action and can form a bad habit of always "get... Are You Getting "Testimonial Letters...?" Testimonials are a strong selling tool and a resource that most sales people under utilize. Your reference sources are highly valuable to you, a "prized possession" that you want to use to your best advantage. Having a better understanding of the different types of testimonials might help you to not only use them better but get more "leverage" out of their value. The best and most powerful testimonial is a live face to face conversation with a satisfied customer. This can ... Time Mangement, The Ultimate "oxymoron!". Complimentary English lesson of the day! What is an oxymoron? oxymoron- as defined at dictionary.com. Noun : conjoining contradictory terms (as in "deafening silence") Can silence be deafening??? Can time be managed??? I can't think of a program that I have ever done that didn't include the oxymoron "time management" as a common problem identified by the participants attending. Since most of my work is with sales people or sales managers I thought I might take a mome... Selling Is All About "Lowering Risk"... Selling is all about getting people to change and change always involves risk. Generally, when given a choice, most people will always choose to not change. People are creatures of habit and change requires them to break old habits and create new ones. What makes selling difficult is the fact that it requires you to work against human nature by getting people to change (and you thought this was going to be easy!). If you think about it, much of the resistance (objections, ... Could You Send Me Some Literature??... ...I love this one! The worst part is many sales people actually send it, when often it's nothing more than a polite blow off. I'll give some perspective on this request that will help you get more control of what you spend your time on and help you identify who you should really send literature to. First, let's define what literature really is and then determine the best way to use it. Literature is a marketing tool, not a selling tool! Let me repeat, literature is a mark... Handling The Dreaded "Price Increase"... Price increases are a fact of life and a subject that “strikes fear” in the hearts of most sales people. True “Masters of Selling” understand the dynamics of price increases and how best to deal with them. No “silver bullets or magic answers here”, but instead solid strategies that will help you deal with the inevitable. These ideas will help increase your percentages of a positive outcome in customer transactions dealing with price increases. First, you have to adjust you... Create A "Non Selling Posture..." People love to buy, they hate being sold. You've heard that before and know it's true, yet many salespeople still go in with the objective to "sell" the prospect. We often start by asking questions but when we see that first opening (need)...bam, we're sellin'! Often, unintentionally, the "feature benefit machine gun" comes out and were blasting the prospect with our "best stuff." They feel pressure and ironically so do we! One of the great challenges that face all of us i... ...How Much Do You Charge For "X"? This is a question that comes up a lot on sales calls and one that you want to handle with care. As I've stated in other posts, questions are always driven by thoughts and never happen by accident. There is always a "context" from which the questions come and your ability to understand the context will improve your odds in developing the right answer. When I suggest that we work to create the "right" answer I don't mean that we are trying to fool anyone. Frequently, when we a... "stop Educating Your Prospect!" Companies spend thousands of dollars every year building product knowledge "Universities". They send their sales people to these product schools to learn the features and benefits of their products. They have them go through the process of becoming "product" experts, with the hope that the expertise they gain will propel them to sales success. Unwittingly, they promote and fund a process that ends up creating "non supportive beliefs" in the minds of their sales people that... "...what Makes You Better?" Sales people are frequently confronted by this question on sales calls, along with some others like "why should I buy from you/your company?" or "what makes you different?". In fact, as identified in my last post, they have probably spent a lot of time at "Product Knowledge U" learning exactly how to answer these questions. In reality, answering questions like these usually end up putting you on the defensive and will not give you the advantage you are hoping for. Think ab...

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