August 7, 2014
Sales forecasting can be a subject of dread for both managers and salespeople. This is probably due to lack of consistency: forecasting methodologies can range from throwing darts at a board (aka “wild guesses) to performing tedious, complex data analysis using spreadsheets, databases, and more.... read more
July 24, 2014
When it comes to sales, many would like to believe there is a magical formula or method that will fix the sales woes of any business.... read more
July 23, 2014
Anyone who has turned on the television in the middle of the night has seen them—the infomercial. Your first thought might be to dismiss these sometimes silly and absurd little product promotions. However, infomercials are a big business and an excellent way to spur sales growth. That’s why you see so many of them — they work.... read more
With advances in cloud technologies and Software-as-a-Service affordability, CRM is quickly shifting from a luxury for large businesses to an essential. Though choosing and implementing a CRM sales solution for your business has its difficulties, the long term benefits are indisputable.... read more
July 17, 2014
Whether employees directly sell products and services or not, managers should develop the attitude that they nonetheless are “selling” the company at all times, no matter if they are secretaries, the computer guy, or service desk workers.... read more
Training, tools and proper processes will help any sales team improve. Unfortunately, there is one major consideration that you have no control over—sales aptitude. Some people are simply better at sales than others are.... read more
July 10, 2014
Since the sales business is the relationship business, social media can significantly increase upsales for current customers. Social platforms encourage steady, repetitive and interactive relationships with customers – but in a low-pressure, fast and enjoyable way.... read more
Divisions between marketing and sales departments can result in reduced revenue, poor lead development and unsatisfied customers. Many companies are embracing unique methods to align both teams. Here are five major trends:... read more
July 1, 2014
Salespeople who cater to business-to-business (B2B) prospects have many avenues beyond the typical social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to hunt for new customers.... read more
Modern buyers are not as dependent on salespeople as before. They self-educate, research and meticulously compare when it comes to product and brand information online. Because of this, salespeople are involved less and less in the early stages of the buying cycle for most B2B prospects.... read more
June 25, 2014
Although landing one can take a bit of legwork, government contracts can provide a steady and long-term stream of revenue. The Small Business Administration (SBA) reports that the federal government alone spends more than $91 billion annually on contracts, with most contracts ranging from $30,000 to$100,000.... read more
June 12, 2014
A lot of factors can influence whether a sale closes or not. Sometimes, the environment where the sales call itself takes place can help or hurt chances. While you don’t see average salespeople putting much time into arranging the right physical environment and ambience for a meeting, the top ones do.... read more
June 9, 2014
As most salespeople already know, the objection is not your enemy. For sellers, a sales objection gives the perfect target to focus on in order to make the sale.... read more
May 29, 2014
Asher Strategies has executed sales training programs for well over 50,000 sales professionals in more than 1,200 companies, across many industries. Through training such a diverse group of people, we’ve received feedback on what works for different sales organizations and have developed solutions to meet those different needs.... read more
May 21, 2014
You know, sales isn’t as hard as you might think.... read more
May 14, 2014
Low-cost and easy-to-produce, webinars can expand a business and increase sales revenues in multiple ways. Delivering high-demand and high-caliber content, these live presentations have the potential to create both current and residual revenue because they can be recorded and later posted on slide-friendly or video-friendly social media, such as Slideshare or YouTube. They can also be offered as downloads on a website.... read more
May 13, 2014
Every sales team requires several different lead generation tactics to leverage so they never have to lean on just one. Fortunately, technology is making it easier than ever to source leads from multiple channels. Sales managers seeking to provide more sales team leads probably already know about the following five strategies, but most tend to “hobby horse” and just work their favorite one or two.... read more
May 8, 2014
Today’s prospects are information seekers who don’t wait for proprietary information from sales people to shape their buying habits. They research online and consume massive amounts of product details and brand information, giving them incredible power and insights that would seem to weaken the impact of sellers. But all is not lost.... read more
May 7, 2014
Sales meetings are an excellent time for sales managers to test the product acumen of sales associates and verify they are using top sales skills to serve prospects properly. Whether in a one-on-one conference before a salesperson meets a major client or at a sales team meeting to assess performance, here are five questions to ask (in a helpful, not accusatory way) that can motivate salespeople to improve their knowledge and skill set.... read more
May 6, 2014
A great sales manager must be diverse enough to be everything from an instructor to a mentor to a therapist. As leader of a sales team, he or she must be able to bond well with different personalities and navigate the politics of the sales department to create a team that effectively rockets through a sales cycle, cultivating the best leads, generating high revenue and becoming super sellers.... read more
March 21, 2014
Product knowledge in sales is a prime requisite for any sales associate. A seller armed with knowledge of every feature and nuance of his company’s brand offerings conveys a sense of authority and competence. Customers are more likely to trust him, believe the claims in his presentation and be willing to close on a sale.... read more
March 18, 2014
No phone call is more intimidating for inexperienced sales people than the cold sales calls to a prospect unfamiliar with them or their company. A salesperson always hopes for the best reception when punching in phone numbers for sales calls. Sometimes, however, salespeople must motivate themselves into a spirit of unflinching bravado so they can break through the impatient, curt or dismissive tones that can come from any lead being contacted out of the blue.... read more
March 14, 2014
Great sales instruction can equip sellers with confidence, technique and the product information necessary to dominate in their territory. Sellers use training programs to learn the company culture, adjust to required technology or software, and master methods for handling clients. Sales leaders can use the following five tips to design programs that make sales training effective.... read more
March 12, 2014
With an entire sales team looking to them for direction, sales managers must be leaders and coaches, offering daily advice, kudos and tools to augment sales growth. Sometimes they are even psychologists who must skillfully manage different personalities while addressing problems and setting standards to achieve results in any given sales territory.... read more
March 10, 2014
Social media hashtags, which are keywords preceded by the # symbol, are an effective way for a salesperson to highlight daily news and conversations related to sales skills, sales tips and sales promotions. These tags also allow salespeople to track sales-related chatter among peers, competitors and followers to see where market trends lie.... read more
March 7, 2014
Today’s prospects are information seekers who don’t wait for proprietary information from sales people to shape their buying habits. They research online and consume massive amounts of product details and brand information, giving them incredible power and insights that would seem to weaken the impact of sellers. But all is not lost.... read more
March 5, 2014
Customer feedback provides key direction to business owners, shaping the future decisions and encouraging product improvement or product experimentation. Figuring out how, when and what tools to use to gather customer feedback can be daunting. However, customer feedback training can prepare any salesperson with the right tools and tactics to get the most useful responses from customers in order to measure client satisfaction.... read more
March 3, 2014
Books, classes and conferences are not the only venues for sales skill training. Sometimes the greatest teaching resources are the top power players in any field. By identifying, reading about, listening to, interacting with or merely following these influencers on social media, sales professionals can benefit from the experience and wisdom of experts.... read more
February 28, 2014
Finding a great salesperson who has a fantastic attitude and a history of great results can be difficult. Companies have to fight the competition for top talent and sometimes conjure up extravagant benefit packages to lure away premier talent from their current employers.... read more
February 27, 2014
From Facebook to Procter & Gamble, more companies are throwing their advertising dollars at digital marketing, reducing commitment to other ad forms, particularly print. The trend capitalizes on the unstoppable expansion of website and mobile ads. Digital ads flexibly rely on social media, apps, online video, electronic mail and other Web tools to engage audiences.... read more
February 24, 2014
Aborted deals, failed presentations, customer resistance and losing a deal to a competitor are natural hazards of any sales job. Yet, positive energy is so essential to winning over the next customer that salespeople can’t afford to get the blues. The best sales people are self-motivated, but let’s face it: there are times when everyone needs encouragement from someone else in order to bounce back. Managers can keep their sales team motivated by using the following strategies from experts in the sales business.... read more
February 17, 2014
Marketing and sales professionals have symbiotic relationships with somewhat overlapping duties that can exist in harmony or chaos. For both to function at peak level the two departments must respect each other’s functions while committing to working together to raise revenue.... read more
February 10, 2014
A great sales presentation can make a hesitant prospect turn into an all-in, repeat customer. It can make people believe in products, be inspired by them and to commit the cash to buy them. The magic is in the delicate art of persuasion. Everything from the seller,the message, and the props, determines whether a presentation is great, mediocre or a downright failure.... read more
February 5, 2014
Technique and tone are key to artfully closing a sale. Despite years of on the job experience, however, many salespeople never truly master their skills.... read more
January 31, 2014
Right about this time of year is when the New Year’s resolutions so earnestly made a few weeks ago start to fall apart, as old patterns kick back in. The best way to avoid this, short of a Herculean increase in willpower and discipline, is to enlist some outside help to keep you on track.... read more
January 27, 2014
In my long career as a sales trainer, I have come across many best salespeople in diverse industries that shared a similar story: when they embarked upon the search for a career, sales was the last profession they considered. Many started in other jobs and simply “ended up in sales somehow,” often even outperforming longtime veterans at their new firms.... read more
January 23, 2014
A motivational marvel, Mr. Zig Ziglar is author of “Closing the Sale,” a must-read for any salesperson or sales manager of any age. The amazing thing about Ziglar is that he had a natural instinct for persuasion and finding the right trigger to motivate people. He understood that marketers sell not just the product, but also themselves and certain principles.... read more
January 22, 2014
Selling successfully these days requires the ability to use many different marketing channels to source business. The reason for this is that prospects’ attention is now spread out over many media sources, rather than being limited to television, radio and newspapers as in the past.... read more
January 7, 2014
Most readers of this blog are seasoned sales professionals, managers, and executives with some degree of training and success in the B2B sales world. They have moved beyond the first clumsy phases of a selling career and are now looking to take their skills to a truly professional level and gain an edge.... read more
January 2, 2014
A good keynote speaker will energize an audience while informing it, often being the most memorable part of a conference, and even the main catalyst for positive change among attendees. Beware: if the speaker is corny or rote, then a bad precedent might be set for the rest of the agenda, killing the message and the motivation you have invested tens of thousands to deliver.... read more
December 17, 2013
When a business has had a negative perception event, panic can set in among its salespeople. It make things tougher for them, especially when competitors smartly use it to their advantage and begin to take away accounts.... read more
December 13, 2013
A lot of effort and expense goes into procuring sales leads. In fact, the entire advertising and marketing industries could be said to exist solely to create them in one form or another.... read more
December 6, 2013
Most everyone loves the holiday season, except for the majority of B2B salespeople. They worry about making quota and having enough to pay for the holiday bills, faced with prospects who are unavailable or give the old “we are holding off until the New Year to buy anything” objection.... read more
December 4, 2013
B2B (business to business) and B2C (business to consumer) sales obviously have a lot of basic similarities. Everyone needs to find some prospects to sell to, present the products and services, and seal the deal through a closing action.... read more
November 28, 2013
Every business needs the right blend of talent to successfully market and sell to the various kinds of prospects which exist in its territory. The tendency is to try to fill up a roster with A-type personality, go-getter salespeople. But, just as a football team would fail if it were comprised solely of quarterbacks, so are businesses hobbled if they only hire this kind of salesperson.... read more
November 19, 2013
Sales consulting firms can help businesses discover the most effective sales processes and techniques for their market, plot a path to recovery, and revitalize a sales force. But when looking for a suitable firm, you might want to try a small one.... read more
November 13, 2013
The emergence of cloud technologies have made an array of powerful tools, including CRM and ERP suites, available to businesses that previously could not afford them. As more information becomes available to businesses and sales professionals, the complexity of these tools continues to increase as well.... read more
November 8, 2013
Many businesses struggling in a difficult economy have found success by hiring sales consulting services. While each company has its own DNA and improves in different ways, the successes all boil down to establishing a solid framework for finding prospective customers and then using sales techniques to get them involved in the most efficient way possible.... read more
November 5, 2013
In many businesses, the top sales people become managers. While they are competent themselves, they often have to deal with sales people who, through either lack of real-world experience or lack of aptitude, make training and managing difficult.... read more
November 1, 2013
As your business grows in size, individual sales training and one-on-one coaching becomes too impractical and costly for sales managers to do themselves. If your business utilizes a large sales team, corporate sales training offers a format and structure more suitable for your situation.... read more
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