THE COMPELLING REASON TO BUY: PART I, THE CURRENT BUSINESS ISSUE

Whether you’re battling other solution suppliers for your unfair share of discretionary budgets or your company is striving to cross the chasm to the larger market of mainstream adopters, knowing how to articulate a compelling reason to buy your solution is a critical skill. Most sizable orders are scrutinized by multiple people with a penchant [...]

Uncovering Impact or Value; The art behind the science of motivating prospects

When I began marketing the first value selling course in the mid 90’s, “value” quickly became a buzz word. The intent was to uncover the value of making a change to motivate the prospect to take action faster and bigger. Unfortunately, it quickly morphed into another way of saying “differentiation”. “Our value is our ability [...]

Use Early Wins to Create a Rally in Your Sales Transformation

A short note for today since I’m posting from my new tablet. As many of you know, one of the keys to a successful sales transformation is to rack up some early wins. These are successes that indicate your team is on the right track and can be achieved in 30, 60 and 90 days. [...]

To RFP or Not to RFP, That is the Question!

No matter what you call it, RFP, RFI, or RFQ… the success rate for winning unsolicited requests for proposals are dismal. If a buyer sends out 10 bid requests for an RFP, statistically each vendor only has a 1 in 10 chance of winning. That’s much worse than a normal 1 in 3 win rate [...]

“You All Are a Bunch of Coal Miners in a Gold Mine”

When I first heard these words come out of Hank Johnston’s mouth – they stung. I wasn’t sure why they stung, but I knew it was not meant as a compliment. Hank was the new member on the board of directors. Our CEO had sent him to me to talk about our sales engagement process. [...]

The Transition to a Better Economy Has Some Potholes for Sales

There are many signs that the economy is turning for the better; the Dow Jones index is at a three year high, consumer spending is also at a three year high and from my own perspective, my entire customer list exceeded their operating plans for 2010. No small feat for a group of companies that [...]

Optimizing Sales Performance 2010 eBook from CSO Insights

This ebook has 4 stories written by CSO’s who have led their teams through major transformations. I found three of the stories very compelling given the circumstances in the economy. I can forward a copy by permission. Please send me an email kevin@enterprise-selling.com for a copy.

The Perfect Storm in Sales

I was recently interviewed by Jeff Ogden, aka The Fearless Competitor. CSO Insights cites a perfect storm in sales because more sales people are not achieving their quotas than ever before. Here’s a link to the interview http://bit.ly/dNVzu7

What would Clint Eastwood say about Consultative Selling?

Remember the movie “The Gauntlet” with Clint Eastwood? He’s been ordered to pick up a prisoner and deliver her to the courthouse a few hundred miles away. What he doesn’t know at the time is that he was selected to fail. As the plot progresses, it seems like everyone is out to kill him. The [...]

Qualifying an Opportunity Improves Sales Results

Qualifying and disqualifying are important to increasing sales results.