The Critical Skill
The ability, the desire, and the patience to listen are necessary if you want to achieve greatness in sales. Unfortunately, most sales people tend to talk more than they listen. Here are three strategies that can help you improve your listening skills in both face-to-face meetings and when speaking to people on the telephone. 1. […]
The 7 “Musts” of Marketing
One of the things that interests me about human nature is we assume that somewhere out there is the silver bullet; the one idea that if we find it, will solve our problems. It doesn’t matter what the field is, I’ve noticed this phenomenon time and time again. Marketing is no exception. The […]
Successfully Recruiting Top Sales People
Do you sometimes feel that you are getting questionable advice when you speak to marketing consultants? The challenge is usually quite simple. You have a good service, your customers love you, but you need more new clients if you are to make the kind of take home money you feel you deserve. So you seek […]
Simple Strategy For Getting Past Voice Mail When Cold Calling
Many people are frustrated with voice mail. It seems like an impenetrable wall between you and your prospects. It often seems the harder you try, the more voice mail you get to. You have two choices: 1. Hang-up, dial someone else and try again later. Or… 2. Leave a meaningful message when you hit voicemail. […]
Romance Your Customer By Making The Easy Sale First
When I was a teenager, I had a friend Gavin, who had a very direct approach with the young ladies in the town where we lived. We used to laugh because he got a lot of slaps, and we were also envious because he was sometimes successful. Thinking back, I realize that one of the reasons Gavin got slapped so often, is that […]
Risk Reversal
Bringing in new customers is expensive and often difficult. Here is one effective but frequently overlooked way to reduce the difficulty. Businesses, even the most customer oriented ones, tend to expect the customer to take the risk when doing business with them. The premise is almost: “We have great products, so you can try them if you […]
Reduce Risk and Increase Sales
From time to time I meet people whose work impresses me as being valuable, practical and worth sharing with my readers. Today’s guest essay is one of those. I recently met Graham McGregor at a conference in San Diego. What he says is worth reading. “Progress always involves risk; you can’t steal second base […]
Putting Your Guarantee Where Your Money Is
The following article appeared in the Globe and Mail on 17/03/05. It covers a topic we have addressed before, but it remains valid and powerful if you act on it. Timothy Eaton had it right 120 years ago. His slogan – “Goods satisfactory or money refunded” revolutionized Canadian business. At a time when the consumer’s […]
Personalized Cartoons As Response Engines
By Stu Heinecke, Direct marketing expert, published cartoonist and creator of the Personalized Cartoon direct mail genre. Have you ever received a mailing that was so fascinating and involving that you couldn’t wait to open it and respond to the offer inside? We all want to make our direct mail campaigns stand out in a […]
People Buy What They Want, Not What They Need!
Most people know they would be better off if they were a little fitter, ate better and lost a few pounds, however we are in the midst of an epidemic of excess weight and poor diet. Who knows, some of us might even live a little longer! Why is it, if people already know they […]