Tag: Getting the edge in Professional Selling
Matching products to needs
Over the Christmas period, I was wandering around in one of the city’s many shopping malls browsing for gifts for the family. My daughter...
Three sales elements
Proficient and capable salesmen are difficult to find and even harder to hold on to. The cost of recruitment is significant. We have recently...
Tailor-made solutions
BUSINESS TODAY is more competitive than ever. Few companies enjoy the luxury of being the sole provider of a product or service. Indeed, as...
Let the client tell you what they want!
THERE are no shortcuts to effective selling. Practice, experience and training all help the professional improve his ability to close sales against strong competition...
Believing you can win
AS a schoolboy, I captained my school’s “B” side field hockey team. I would be the first to agree that I was a lousy...
Getting help from a competent salesperson
MANY PEOPLE HAVE, at some stage in their lives, made a major purchase. Casting our minds back to the acquisition of a big-ticket item...
Discounts and other concessions
PRICE NEGOTIATIONS can be costly and should always be undertaken with caution. Each price concession nibbles away at margins until the item is no...
Wasting time
TIME is a commodity we can’t afford to waste. It seems we’re all busy trying to get more out of the available hours in...
When things don’t go smoothly
SOME YEARS AGO, I had a job liaising with a well-established firm of consultants. Our organization was buying into a multi-million dollar communications system...
Closing can be easy!
Getting the edge in professional selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
I THINK it would be fair to say that more people are involved in sales than almost any...
Sales demonstrations
WHEN selling high-value or high-tech products, it is not unusual clients often ask for and expect an equipment demonstration or trial installation. This is...
Using the telephone to sell
Getting The Edge In Professional Selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
THE TELEPHONE can be effectively used to support a sale; but its effectiveness in conducting a “full...
Asking Questions
Getting The Edge In Professional Selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
IF YOU DON’T ask questions, you show a lack of interest in your customer’s problems and needs....
Terms of engagement
Getting the edge in professional selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
Every salesperson knows he should be asking questions; sadly, very few drive their sales calls with effective...
Who say objections are good?
Getting The Edge In Professional Selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
THERE IS A tenet of selling that states that objections are a good thing because they show...
Can you trust a salesperson?
Getting the edge in professional selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
AS THE VALUE of a purchase increases, customers become increasingly concerned about wasting money, buying the wrong...
Like doctor, like salesperson
Getting The Edge In Professional Selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
IMAGINE WALKING into a doctor’s office and sitting down in front of a physician. Before you start...
Selling cycles, finding the right clients
Getting The Edge In Professional Selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
SELLING MEANS different things to different people. Certainly the orientation of the customer is very different to...
It’s all about the attitude
Getting the edge in professional selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
“SALESMEN ARE WINNERS.” “You’re a Champion.” “Yes, you can do it!” All perfectly good slogans for...
What is ‘selling’?
A DEFINITION of “selling” found on the internet reads, “Give or hand over (something) in exchange for money.” Is this really what it means?...
Asking the right questions
Getting the edge in professional selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
I DISCUSSED sales collaterals and made the point that they rarely play any significant role in winning...
What is ‘selling’?
Getting The Edge In Professional Selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
A DEFINITION of “selling” found on the internet reads, “Give or hand over (something) in exchange for...
Asking the right questions
Getting the edge in professional selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
I DISCUSSED sales collaterals and made the point that they rarely play any significant role in winning...
Pretty brochures; pretty useless!
Getting The Edge In Professional Selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
Last month, I conducted a review of our sales collaterals. 2016 saw us give away umbrellas, coffee...
The importance of cross selling
Getting The Edge In Professional Selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
LARGE COMPANIES which carry hundreds of different items will often task individuals to sell specific lines or...
Targeting the right customers
Getting the edge in professional selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
Nowadays, few companies engage in cold calling. In most cases, this strategy fails to provide the necessary...
Planning an account campaign sale
Getting The Edge In Professional Selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
LAST WEEK, I discussed how complex sales which offer big rewards require a significant investment in terms...
Some you win; some you lose
Getting The Edge In Professional Selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
THE SALESPEOPLE I deal with on a day-to-day basis handle a diverse range of products and sell...
Who collects payment?
Getting the edge in professional selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
THE ONEROUS RESPONSIBILITY of invoicing clients and collecting payment often falls to the accounting department. Yet it...
Holding on to valuable customers
Getting The Edge In Professional Selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
A SALES FORCE tasked with increasing sales by an additional 20% within a relatively short time frame...
Call planning and reports
Getting The Edge In Professional Selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
IT IS ALL too easy to come back from a sales meeting that has not gone well...
You don’t have to talk to be a good salesman!
Getting the edge in professional selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
Most salespeople like to think of themselves gregarious and outgoing by nature. They display a high degree...
Delivering an effective sales presentation
Getting The Edge In Professional Selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
LAST WEEK, we talked about developing presentations, the importance of knowing your audience and whether the purpose...
Understanding the sales presentation
Getting The Edge In Professional Selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
OVER THE LAST couple of weeks, I have been bemoaning the fact that it is proving...
Objectives and plans
Getting the edge in professional selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
I recently wrote about setting call objectives and planning a successful outcome to a sales call. The...
Planning for the sales call
Getting The Edge In Professional Selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
I AM A great advocate of sales call planning. As they say, “Prior preparation prevents poor performance!” Yet few...
After the sale
Getting the edge in professional selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
THINGS OFTEN go wrong on major projects. The best will in the world is not going to...
Tacky closing techniques
Getting The Edge In Professional Selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
SOME YEARS AGO in Hong Kong, a salesman selling me an insurance policy decided it was time...
Who wants to be a salesman?
Getting The Edge In Professional Selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
“BAD PRESS” constantly barrages people who choose sales as a career. As a result, many people think there is...
In a perfect world
Getting the edge in professional selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
ONE OF MY all-time favorite questions to ask during in a sales call is, “In a perfect world’...
Regular contact, responsiveness, and loyalty rewards
Getting the edge in professional selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
No business will be successful without customers. Through investment and hard work, established companies build a solid...
Creating a good impression
Getting The Edge In Professional Selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
THERE’S NO SUCH thing as a second chance at a first impression. No question about it, a...
Proposals and quotations
Getting the edge in professional selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
I’VE BEEN ON the rampage over the last couple of months. The company I work for offers...
No commitments, no sale
Getting The Edge In Professional Selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
I AM FREQUENTLY asked about the cultural aspects of selling. Is there anything different about selling in...
Opening a sales call
Getting The Edge In Professional Selling
Terence A. Hockenhull
I HAVE BEEN in the Philippines long enough to appreciate that personal relationships count for a great deal. This...