Pabst Brewing tips on sellingBeer sales person? Really, companies need a sales person to sell beer? Yes, and it is a competitive business, where shelf space is at a premium. I recently got to talk to Chris Steflanci, Pabst Brewing. After years at Heinekin leading the sales charge, he has landed at what I would think of as my father’s beer. Read more
Experience can earn trust and win the saleThe age old question: Is it easier to teach someone to sell or teach someone about the product and company selling the product? I talk to a lot of heads of sales, and often I hear them opting to hire proven sales professionals with a history of exceeding quota and then teaching them the product or service. This makes sense unless your customers expect otherwise. Read more
Learn how to sell from an artist with a storyWould you take business advice from an artist dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt? You would if that artist takes found objects and turns them into large-scale, abstract paintings that sell for $200,000. Why so much? Because this is the story about the people, places and things involved in this artwork. Any sales professional could learn from Mark Bradford. Read more
Winning in nothing but underwareAnyone responsible for selling something, whether it’s a product, service or idea, has a competitive streak. The will to win drives us to rethink our strategies and try different approaches. When one method fails, we try another. It was no different for John Edgar. In 1948 he wanted to own the fastest motorcycle on earth. Read more
How to sell – identify the customer’s currencyWhile reading an article this week about the East Bay Homemade Food Swap, I was reminded how we all have our own currency. Whether certain foods or a yearning for a vacation in the mountains, when you learn someone’s personal currency, you can get the customer’s attention. Read more
New Sales Enablement Ideas – SAVO’s AMPs, Part 7 – Customer Focused ContentYour brand is the key to your success; it’s what differentiates your organization from your competitors. It’s critical for all customer-facing employees to project the brand your organization has worked so hard to establish; everyone must consistently deliver the same message. Yet, it is crucial for your sellers to be able to customize and target messages based on specific selling situations. Read more
New Sales Enablement Ideas – SAVO’s AMPs, Part 6 – Subject Matter Expertise PromotionWho are the critical Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) inside your organization? If you’re like most companies, there are far more than you think. Leveraging this army of expert insights can make the difference between success and failure. Identifying and promoting their knowledge isn’t easy – but it is critical to your sales team’s success. Read more
New Sales Enablement Ideas – SAVO’s AMPs, Part 5 – Guided SellingIn the fifth of an eight-part series on SAVO’s new consulting services, titled AMPs, we discuss guided selling. Many of us would call this a sales playbook that provides prescriptive sales guidance based on specific selling situations. But the term sales playbook is a little overused and misunderstood. Read more
Listening to the customer and taking action: DellWhat does success look like? Why do you put your customer front and center? Those were the questions Andy Lark of Dell opened with when presenting in front of more than 500 customer experience advocates at this year’s Net Promoter conference. Read more
New Sales Enablement Ideas – SAVO’s AMPs, Part 4 – Sales IntelligenceThe topic of sales intelligence is our fourth installment in a series about the SAVO AMPs, a group of sales enablement services. One hot topic: How to improve pre-call prep to maximize the impact of every sales conversation and improve post-call follow-up’s efficiency and effectiveness. Face-to-face selling is not inexpensive, therefore we must equip our sales teams for the all-important meeting. Read more