Blog

For a brief few months I worked as a telemarketer for a small firm owned by a young married couple. The husband was a bit of a hot head and kind of a jerk on occasion, but his wife was nice and had to put up with the guy. One of their clients was a mobile home company that wanted people to come to the lot and see how awesome their singlewides and doublewides were. As telemarketers we offered incentives like a cooler and camera (back […]

As an author of a book on sales I am asked to speak to groups of sales people. There are times, however, when I give a presentation to a civic group or some other kind of organization that isn't necessarily a sales group. For those I adapt my talk to let everyone in the audience know that they are, indeed, in sales.I will usually ask the audience who is in sales. A few hands go up. Then I ask who is not in sales and […]

Analogies are everywhere in business these days, but the sales profession has some of the best ones. One I have used for years is that when prospecting and marketing for clients, you should be leaving landmines everywhere, because sooner or later, someone will "step on it" and your sales will blow up.Recently, Davan Johnson, a coworker and friend of mine, appeared on my YouTube channel and we discussed prospecting for clients. He used the analogy of "planting seeds" while "preparing for a harvest". I chuckled […]

In my first book I told the story of going on a call with my sales manager, Tom, who was obligated to observe each of the people on our crew every few weeks or so. Fortunately for me, the manager was pretty cool, even though he was a couple of years younger than myself. He had apparently gone to work for the insurance company not long after getting out of high school and had done well enough to get a small promotion.With that being said, […]

One of the biggest hurdles I've faced in my career has been finding prospects, moving them through the sales process, and turning them into clients, all while constantly being on the hunt for more prospects. It's an endless cycle.(In my industry, it can be even harder to sell something when people ultimately don't want to buy. If your client is a young couple with kids and a mortgage, do you think they would rather spend money on a vacation or a life insurance policy?)Having a […]

Have you had a great sales run, with the wind at your back as you continue to sell and make money, only to have some event or holiday slow down your momentum? It's happened to all of us. I compare it to running at full speed down a field, and out of nowhere comes a patch of mud and tar, designed specifically to slow you down and make you work harder. An example of this is the holiday season. For some industries, the end of the […]

Over the years I've worked with, and for, many companies, large and small. And as each of these companies varied in size, structure and philosophy, there was also differences in how they handled the issue of a "holiday" party. As the Christmas party became a Holiday party (and to be fair, not everyone celebrates Christmas and I can respect that), the parties themselves morphed into several formats, or worse, just disappeared altogether. One company I worked with left the issue to each location's manager to provide for […]

People in business love to get referrals. Unfortunately, many people don't know how to ask for them, or worse, don't even have a system in place to get any. In my years in sales, I have found an easy way to acquire referrals, and it doesn't cost a dime.But first, think back to a time when people would hand out multiple business cards to their clients. "Here's one for you and two more to give to your friends who may need my services," was the […]

When you meet with a prospective client do you have materials on hand the prospect can take with them? Business cards, brochures and assorted "swag" can be useful tools, but I have learned one effective way to make an impression while talking to the client. Typically I meet clients through referrals or networking events. When I get an opportunity to meet with the prospect in a one-on-one setting it's usually in a coffee shop or a small diner. During this meeting I will give the prospect […]

Several years ago I was arriving to a networking event a bit late.  I parked my vehicle near the back of the lot and walked past all of the other attendees' cars with their wraps and sign magnets. I noticed a few realtors had attached business card holders to their cars. For some reason I kept thinking about how smart it was to let people grab a card while I could be doing other things, like shop.A few years later I bought one of these […]