New Technology for Selling Virtually

June 3, 2021

Keeping up with technological advancements is part of the job for most business roles. It can be hard to reach customers in the absolute best way possible if you’re not closely watching the everchanging technology landscape. There are some tools that are specific to the craft of selling, and as virtual selling has put an especially large emphasis on the use of technology, salespeople should learn and implement these tools into their processes as soon as possible. ... read more

Selling Virtually when you Can’t be Face to Face

March 1, 2021

Adjusting to large industry changes might feel quite distressing initially, but is it truly problematic? In terms of the shift towards selling virtually, not only are we adjusting, and both parties are actually starting to prefer this method of communication. According to a recent McKinsey Report, “more than three-quarters of buyers and sellers say they now prefer digital self-serve and remote human engagement over face-to-face interactions” (Bages-Amat et al, 2020). This impressive statistic alerts us that this shift has been well received, and thankfully, buyers and sellers are on the same page. When moving forward in the digital world of selling there are many things to keep in mind. ... read more

Virtual Selling in the World of COVID

February 11, 2021

COVID has caused a ripple effect of changes throughout the world, leaving little to remain unaffected. In the business world, the path of change has been brutal on salespeople and it is important to react appropriately. This means becoming a lot better at virtual selling.... read more

Making the Case for Sales Aptitude Testing: How the APQ Works Wonders

January 11, 2021

A sales aptitude test isn’t like a normal test or assessment where there is an option of failing. It is not the type of exam that you’ll need to spend time studying for beforehand. It is simply an assessment of your personality, abilities, and your natural aptitude. When answering the questions on the sales aptitude test, the APQ (advanced personality questionnaire), isn’t about choosing the single “correct” answer. It is about responding honestly or choosing the option that best describes you. What a refreshing way to take a test!... read more

Self-Awareness and Sales Aptitude

December 20, 2020

How well do you really know yourself? Although you are probably aware of many truths about yourself, you might be surprised by how much you can still learn. Are you actively learning how to improve upon your weaknesses? Do you know what you have a natural aptitude for? Do you exercise a high level of emotional intelligence? Thinking about your answers to these questions will get you thinking in the right direction, then you can move throughout the following stages while working on your emotional intelligence. ... read more

Why Training for Sales Managers

November 14, 2020

Sales training is not only for entry level employees. It is not only for the inexperienced salesperson who is just entering the workforce. In fact, sales training is such a versatile tool that it is very useful to individuals in all stages of their sales careers. ... read more

Sales Training Focus for Maximum Impact

October 30, 2020

There is always a lot of buzz around two things in sales that can often be significantly improved with sales training: the focus on the beginning of the sales process and the focus at the end of the sales process, the close. These two areas offer the highest impact on any sales webinar or course.... read more

Sales Aptitude Tests for Hiring

August 12, 2020

You have probably been advised to “take a risk” or to just “wing it” at some point in your life. Although these approaches can be great at times, they are not among the best practices to use when hiring a new employee.... read more

Sales Aptitude Testing for a Team

August 7, 2020

The importance of teamwork has been stressed to us from a very young age. Working well with others is an extremely valuable skill and we learned this in school with group projects, participating in sports and various other activities.... read more

Sales Aptitude Test for Coaching

This might be surprising to some, sales managers are not mind readers! However, sales aptitude tests, like the APQ, can bring them quite close to this status. ... read more

ASHER Top 10 Sales Trends for 2020

July 9, 2020

1.

The concept of a “unique selling proposition” (USP) is increasing in importance. If the buyer’s old decision making brain doesn’t see a clear difference between your company and the competition, price becomes the only discriminator. If your company has a strong USP, price does not enter the discussion.... read more

How to Excel in Virtual Sales in a Work-from-Home Environment

May 21, 2020

If you’re new to the world of working from home, it might feel like you’re navigating a minefield. A new work environment and an increase in the use of technology is enough to cause some uneasiness throughout this transition. However, there are many ways you can make the most of working remotely. Those in sales are hit particularly hard, the new world of “virtual sales” demands new skills and techniques.... read more

3 Essential Tweaks for Selling Virtually

May 19, 2020

As most of the nation approaches the two-month mark of quarantine, a sea change is occurring in how Americans conduct business. Some of these changes might be permanent. Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey sent an email to staff permitting them to work from home indefinitely, even after the lockdown is over. Google is reportedly encouraging many in its workforce to do the same.... read more

The Neuroscience of Selling to the “Old Brain”

April 27, 2020

If you’re a salesperson, wouldn’t it be great to be able to read a buyer’s mind? Some salespeople seem to have a knack for it, while others struggle with receiving a buyer decision. Elite salespeople understand this is the realm of where sales art, meets sales science; where communication skills and neuroscience knowledge converge. Over the past several years there has been an explosion of neuroscience of selling knowledge. With functional MRI data, neuroscientists have secured insights into decision-making that can help salespeople help buyers.... read more

Online Sales Training Success

April 20, 2020

Recent events have made online sales training more important than ever. Until the coronavirus pandemic is over, it remains the only form of meaningful personal sales training for many salespeople and executives across the country.... read more

The most valuable sales skill is….

April 2, 2020

At ASHER we teach the Top 10 Selling Skills possessed by Elite salespeople. These include things such as focusing on a few top prospects, using powerful marketing messages, and building long-term relationships.... read more

Ten Prospecting Methods to Use During “Social Distancing”

The coronavirus pandemic is a rapidly evolving, fluid situation which will undoubtedly have many new developments by the time this post is published. With extensive shuttering of restaurant and meeting/entertainment venues, mass gatherings discouraged, and more than a few cities on mandatory lockdown, times can seem dire for B2B salespeople. How are you supposed to drum up business if you are prevented from travelling and meeting prospective customers?... read more

Chapter 8 – Beyond Pre-employment (how else to use)

March 2, 2020

The APQ has proven to be an indispensable tool for recruiters and sales leaders in thousands of companies. The strong correlation to real-world performance, easy-to-understand charts and reports, and uncomplicated set-up make it a leading pre-employment assessment for sales organizations.... read more

Chapter 5 – Sales Emotional Intelligence

February 14, 2020

EQ, or Emotional Intelligence, is a hot topic among sales leaders. Word has spread that when it comes to sales success, EQ trumps IQ. This makes the identification of those with natural EQ, and its development in those who lack it, important tasks to boost the effectiveness of any sales team. ... read more

Chapter 3: How Do They Work?

January 21, 2020

Pre-employment assessments vary in what they measure. Some are skills-based, such as those which require the test taker to complete job-related tasks. Others measure general problem-solving faculties, a perfect example being the good old-fashioned IQ test. And then there are aptitude tests which seek to predict suitability for certain jobs based on the personality or attitudes of the test taker.... read more

3 Reasons AI/Machine Learning Will Never Replace Salespeople

December 19, 2019

Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter coined the term “creative destruction” in 1942 to describe how technological advances increase productivity in any endeavor but simultaneously destroy part of it as well. At its essence, it means we have to dismantle the current way of thinking and doing things in order to progress – and this means even entire professions could be wiped out in the process (horse and buggy drivers after the automobile, for instance). ... read more

Sell More by Becoming a Subject Matter Expert (SME)

December 18, 2019

Many buyers no longer seek as much education from company reps as they did before. They can execute much of their research and product discovery online well before talking to a salesperson. Because of the wealth of information available to prospects, salespeople have been pushed much further back in the buying process.... read more

Cold Calling versus Social Selling: Which one Wins?

December 10, 2019

For salespeople who enjoy and excel at cold calling, it’s a point of pride to be able to do so comfortably. So many people are turned off by it, yet “dialing for dollars” has been a mainstay of many sales organizations for decades. The ability to cold call is a skill many sales managers and executives still seek when hiring top salespeople as it connotes the image of a fearless go-getter. ... read more

4 Little-Known but Effective Mobile Apps to Increase Salesperson Productivity

November 26, 2019

What’s your relationship with your smartphone like? Are you, like many Americans, practically addicted to it? Or do you check it only a couple of times a day and have a bare minimum of apps installed? Whatever your current usage, your smartphone can turn into a sales productivity booster and sales training tool with the right apps and proper discipline. ... read more

Top 5 Soft Skills Needed by Today’s B2B Salesperson

November 13, 2019

Soft skills are nearly impossible to teach, but necessary for success in B2B sales. Unlike hard skills, such as writing a proposal or knowing what to say when faced with a certain objection, these are inherent. A person can easily improve them if they are part of his or her natural makeup “from the get-go.”... read more

How ready is your company for social selling?

November 6, 2019

One of the hottest topics in advanced sales training is social selling. Despite some of the flak social media has received in the news lately, B2B salespeople seeking an edge are increasingly using it to source business.... read more

How to Create a Fearless Sales Team

October 23, 2019

In order for a business to really thrive, it has to take some risks. New product launches, expansion to new territories, investments in infrastructure or new software – these are just some of the areas where things could go wrong but also pay off very handsomely. Fortune favors the bold, as the saying goes.... read more

Never Stop Recruiting – Why it pays stay in the hiring game

October 12, 2019

Hiring top salespeople is a close cousin to trying to close big sales – except the product is your company and the opportunities it provides to the “buyers” and their careers. In both cases, it is not smart to place all your hopes on one or two leads and devote everything you have to land them. Likewise, once a sale is closed or a recruit hired, you cannot just say “I’m done!” and ignore subsequent opportunities. ... read more

Key Ingredients for a Successful Sales Process – 10 Steps

September 30, 2019

A pre-employment aptitude assessment will help identify the best prospects for inside and outside sales positions. That is just the first step in building a winning sales team. In order to focus all that raw talent and capture significant market share, you need a clear and effective sales process for them to follow.
With a formal process in place, salespeople are 50 percent more likely to meet quota, and turnover is reduced by 39 percent, according to a recent survey by the TAS group.... read more

Behavioral & Personality Fit Factors

Successfully placing someone in the “right” position for them means matching their personality, work habits and traits to the job. Candidates who enjoy the tasks and behaviors they have to repeat each day on the job are more likely to be interested in and engaged in their work for longer periods of time than those who are in jobs where they have to do things regularly that are outside of their interest or comfort zone.... read more

Top 20 characteristics of elite salespeople

September 10, 2019

When hiring top salespeople, we want to find the “elite” among all prospects and suspects. It goes back to the Pareto Principle, where 80 percent of the results come from 20 percent of your salespeople, so it makes sense to stack that 20 percent with the best of the best!... read more

Branding tips for sales managers to increase career success

August 30, 2019

When thinking of branding, most experts would agree that it is no longer enough to build a brand around a business. Top executives and even sales managers must develop their own personal brands as well. This forms an extension of a company’s brand. ... read more

Responsibility: do your salespeople take ownership, or do they play the “blame game?”

August 13, 2019

A brilliant, yet sobering article in the June print issue of Fortune called “Seven Decades of Self-Destruction” relates the downfall of one of the most powerful brands in American retail history: Sears. Millennials might not be too familiar with the brand, but most everyone else remembers anticipating the large catalogs that arrived in the mail in order to circle the toys they wanted for Christmas. Sears was past generation’s Walmart and Amazon rolled into one.... read more