Top 10 Reasons Why Most Entrepreneurs Fail in Business

October 23, 2014

Being an entrepreneur is an American Dream. However, in the struggle to get financing, execute a business plan, overtake competitors, arrange sales training and learn the tricks of a particular niche, many entrepreneurs fail. Even though failure is likely, it is not inevitable. Here are 10 destructive actions to avoid.... read more

5 Effective Communication Skills for Salespeople

Because the art of selling is so dependent on persuasive and believable information exchange, salespeople must be effective communicators.  Great communication is not simply what is conveyed, but how it is conveyed and how choice rhetoric, info and body language can drive relationships and sales.... read more

How to Improve your Business through Customer Feedback?

October 16, 2014

Happy customers lead to a thriving business, which is why the topic of gathering and using customer feedback is a regular topic in sales training.  By finding out what customers like and don’t like through a variety of feedback methods, a business can get insight about how to make adjustments.... read more

How Important is Meeting and Exceeding Customer Expectations?

Clients have expectations about every aspect of business: the product, the process used to serve customers, and the people doing the serving. Excel in all areas and customers will not only stick with you over time, but they will become your advocates and speak highly of you to other potential clients.... read more

Client Prospecting: How to Deal with Negative Perception Prospects

October 7, 2014

An impressive company reputation can grease a closing, making a prospect feel comfortable and know that his business will be in competent hands. What happens, however, when in the midst of client prospecting, you encounter a customer who is cautious or hesitant to engage in negotiations because something has smeared the firm in his eyes?... read more

When to Move On From a Stalled Prospect

September 5, 2014

Will they buy or won’t they? Some prospects waver on closing the deal, stringing salespeople­­­­ along without giving a clear-cut “yes” or “no.” Such indecisiveness consumes resources, time and patience. There’s nothing worse than believing a sale is imminent, only to have the customer stall for months; this can even happen with longtime customers considering new products. It’s true that it is possible to revive a stalled sale successfully. On the other hand, re-igniting talks sometimes won’t be worthwhile.  Sometimes a salesperson has to know when to fold ‘em and walk away. Here are five signs that you should give up on stallers. ­­­­... read more

Sales Playbook: 10 Key Items to Include

A master salesperson never stops learning; he refines and adapts his techniques to be ready for any situation and prospect. However, the basic and best practices of top salespeople can be learned early and should be collected and distributed to a sales team in the form of a sales playbook.... read more

Are Your Sales and Marketing Teams Balanced?

August 14, 2014

To avoid strife between sales and marketing teams, companies must keep the teams balanced. An equitable distribution of responsibilities, budget, and goals can solve many problems before they start.... read more

5 Key Symptoms Your Team Needs Sales Training

 The first clue that your team needs sales training is, of course, the lack of sales and money. But beyond these glaringly obvious items, there are other red flags which indicate that a formal sales training program (rather than firings) needs to be implemented in a hurry.... read more

Using Sales Data to Predict Future Success or Failure

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

Infomercials: A Winner for Sales Growth

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

How CRM Saves Sales When a Salesman Leaves

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

Does HR Help You Hire Star Salespeople?

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

How Social Media Selling Can Help You Up-Sell Current Customers

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

What is the Best Environment for a Sales Call?

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

Sales Training Programs by Asher

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

The Power of Webinars in Sales

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

5 Ways to Generate Leads for a Sales Team

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

How to Sell Even Before You Get a Lead

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

5 Sales Skills Questions to ask a Sales Person

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

5 Signs of a Great Sales Manager

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

Importance of Product Knowledge in Sales

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

7 Tips to Great Cold Calls – Sales Calls

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

How Do You Make Sales Training Effective?

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

Common Errors of Sales Managers

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

How to Sell Before You Get a Lead-Marketing Automation

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

Customer Feedback – How Often and What to Ask

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

How to Identify Top Sales Skill Training Influencers

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

Hiring a new salesperson? 3 essentials for hiring a winner!

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

Digital Marketing: Tips for 2014

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

How to Keep Your Sales Team Motivated

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

Marketing and Sales: How to Get Your Teams on the Same Page

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