Dublin: 01-8610700 Cork: 021-4279511
Staying Positive on The Phone
October 5th, 2010
Selling is an unpredictable game, you can’t tell which way the day will go. Soaring highs when you’re on the ball surpassing your target; and dispiriting lows when everyone around you seems to be making sales and no matter what you do the best you can get is a civil ‘maybe’.
Easy as it is to lose your mo-jo, it’s so important to sound positive and upbeat when making sales calls. As clichéd as it sounds, people really can hear you smile as you speak.
So how do you stay friends with the phone and go on to dial another [...]
Salesman
August 25th, 2010
Short story taken from ‘Selling; The No-Nonsense Guide’ written by director of PDL James Farrell……
This is a story about a few American guys who used to come to Ireland for a hunting holiday every year. They would stay at a small hunting lodge in Wicklow, about 50 miles from Dublin.
The lodge was run by Seamus and his wife and as part of the deal he would supply his guests with guns and a hunting dog for the duration of the holiday. On the first day they were allocated a dog, a Springer Spaniel called Salesman. He was bred for the [...]
Different Ways Of Thinking
August 18th, 2010
A positive attitude is essential if you are to succeed in sales. If you approach a task with the attitude that it ‘can’t be done’ what you are likely to do, given human nature, is go on to find other reasons and further reasons why it is impossible to do the task.
On the other hand if you think and believe it can be done, what happens is you become creative and innovative in your search for solutions. You let your imagination go, you problem solve, you search and dig deep.
Here’s a little story to illustrate the point taken from ‘Selling: [...]
Where Does The Sale Start?
March 26th, 2010
When the buyer says “I’ll take it” that’s when the accountant starts his work but for us in selling it begins way before that. But where does it begin? I’d like to tell you about an experiment I used at seminars, some years ago. I’d invite a colleague of mine to join me on the platform. He would walk on without uttering a word and stand before the audience. I’d ask the audience to describe my friend from the list below.
HONEST
SLICK
CONFIDENT
PROFESSIONAL
INTELLIGENT
UNEASY
SLY
IMPULSIVE
AGGRESSIVE
MARRIED
EXTROVERT
EMOTIONAL
COMPETITIVE
TRUSTWORTY
NICE
Some would describe him as honest, [...]
The Myth of the Motivational Talk
March 19th, 2010
As I’ve said before the value of motivational speakers and the pep talk, so loved by managers, is short lived. Yes you might be pumped up for a day or two but in the long run you’ll need more.
Goal setting and objective mapping is the kind of clap trap you’d expect to see in any self help book. And I must admit I recoil at the thought of all that almost biblical commitment to defining your goals and realising your dreams. Having said that, I do believe in goals.
If you think about it, the one common denominator among people who succeed [...]
What You'll Need To Succeed
February 23rd, 2010
To succeed in selling there are three essential ingredients. These are all you will require to prosper as a salesperson, we can all acquire them and in my opinion and experience you can do so with ease. However they are not equally important so let’s look at them in order of importance
Product Knowledge
No matter what you are selling it is important you have an understanding and knowledge of your product, service or idea. You should also have a belief in your offering.
The type of product knowledge you will require as a seller is different to what you would need as [...]
You Can Do It!
February 15th, 2010
You Can Do It
When we think of sellers we form a picture in our mind. We think of someone who is dapper, articulate, and confident with a good line in chat. That might be the picture but it ain’t the true story, not by a long shot. In fact many of us rule ourselves out because we don’t see ourselves as out-going enough. We‘re not confident enough, we just haven’t got the patter. These might be common held views, but common or not they are just plain untrue.
Actually it amazes me just how persuasive people are in telling you [...]
Selling is Simple
February 9th, 2010
SELLING IS SIMPLE
People who write books and blogs, and particularly, those who write about selling, pretend they know it all. They have an answer for everything and no matter what is said to them they can respond with that perfect reply.
Well not me, I don’t know everything but I do know a little about sales. I know it’s not black magic or being smarter than everyone else. It’s simple common sense and if you thought about it for any period of time, you too, would realise that it’s simple and logical.
When you finish this post you’ll probably conclude “that was basic” and you’d [...]
Selling, The No Nonsenses Guide-An Introduction.
February 1st, 2010
When I started in the training business in the late 1980’s the only course of any interest to the business community was sales training. Sales was the big thing and for very good reason. At the time, with the economy in the doldrums, the main challenge was business development. With money tight and prospects few, most people in business were acutely aware of the necessity of honing their selling skills. A memory from one of my first selling jobs may give you an idea.
I had taken a job selling key cutting machines and my boss was explaining the workings of [...]
Tips for Making Presentations
December 7th, 2009
“Jack and Jill went up the hill” I get that; I understand that Jack in the company of Jill went up the incline. If you told me in plain words what the pair were at, and where they were headed I would suspect, that I and most others, would be happy with the explanation.
I would not need an accompanying picture of the duo in the ascent. Yet that is precisely what presenters do every time they are required to do a presentation. Whenever a salesperson or a manager is asked to present to a group that is inevitably what they [...]