Passion Power

Sales is really quite simple and not nearly as frightening as some people think. If you’re a new business owner or just starting out in sales you may be feeling a little intimidated by the sales activities involved in promoting your product or service but don’t sweat the sales stuff.  You just have to get a list together of why your service or product is of value to your prospect and be willing to promote it.  Always be willing to answer this question; what’s in it for them?  You need a straight forward and honest approach when prospecting. You have to be naturally confident.  Pull it off something like this, “Here’s what we offer. This is what we do really well.  Here’s what’s excellent about our products. Here’s the value for you and this is how much it costs.”  Everyone can relax when there are no games being played. I like to teach salespeople 3 things.  Establish Key Players . If you don’t talk to the decision maker you’ll waste a lot of t...

Working in a very busy convenience store in cottage country over the summer I gained a much different perspective on human nature. People shouldn’t have to go to work and get beaten up by public unkindness. The experience helped me understand why people working in retail don’t always greet you with a cheerful smile on their face. Here are some dos and don’ts that I’ll be using moving forward. 1. Don’t roll your eyes like I’m taking too long. You’re the one buying lottery when there’s a big line up behind you. 2. Don’t complain to me about the prices. It’s not my company. 3. If you count out exact change because you think it’s faster and easier, you’re totally wrong. It’s just annoying. 4. Please don’t throw your money at me and expect me to remember what you bought. If you think you’re too good or important to stand in line like the rest of the customers remember that there’s no limo waiting for you. 5. Don’t think your griping is unique. I can pretty much guarantee we’ve ...

Selling is really quite simple and not nearly as scary as some people think. You get a list together of why your service or product is of value to your prospect and are willing to promote it. What’s in it for them? How are you going to make their life wonderful? Many people think about telemarketing and all those relentless calls you get at home when they think about selling products or services. It can be lawn maintenance, newspapers, carpet cleaning or just about anything else that you might find annoying to talk about after a full day of work. Usually the calls happen on your way out the door or when your right in middle of making dinner or, God forbid, relaxing for 5 minutes. You want to be naturally confident. That energy comes from knowing what you offer has value. You pull it off something like this: “Here's what we offer. This is what we do really well and this is what is excellent about our products. Here’s the value for you. This is how much it costs.” I...

Prospecting isn’t as frightening as you would think. In corporate sales I like to teach people 3 things. Establish the key players When you are prospecting find out who makes the decisions. Start at the top and work your way down. Is it a VP, an owner a CEO or high level manager? Have them release the names of the people in the trenches to you. You won't step on anyone toes and people will tend to listen when you are able to name drop. You can say, “Victor Barns suggested I speak with you." It's important to introduce yourself to a high level person so that there aren’t any surprises down the road when the company starts doing business with you. They’ll remember your phone call to them. Which department takes care of buying your products? You could be dealing with multiple departments. For example in Information Technology you could be dealing with the Purchasing Department and the IT Dept. There are often many players involved. It could be 3-5 people ...

Selling is really quite simple and not nearly as scary as some people think. You get a list together of why your service or product is of value to your prospect and are willing to promote it. What’s in it for them? How are you going to make their life wonderful? Many people think about telemarketing and all those relentless calls you get at home when they think about selling products or services. It can be lawn maintenance, newspapers, carpet cleaning or just about anything else that you might find annoying to talk about after a full day of work. Usually the calls happen on your way out the door or when your right in middle of making dinner or, God forbid, relaxing for 5 minutes. I had a telemarketer call me the other day to sell me some magazines from MacLean’s. He was offering such and such and this and that and blah blah and I finally I had to interrupt him, "I’m sorry I’m not interested." What he said next surprised me. "You Don't Read?" Rule ...

Selling is really quite simple and not nearly as scary as some people think. You get a list together of why your service or product is of value to your prospect and be willing to promote it. What’s in it for them? How are you going to make their life wonderful? Many people think about telemarketing and all those annoying calls you get at home when they think about selling products or services. It can be lawn maintenance, newspapers or carpet cleaning or just about anything else that you might find annoying to talk about after a full day of work. Usually the calls happen on your way out the door or when your in middle of something like making or eating dinner. Someone could be visiting or you could be relaxing for 5 minutes. I had a telemarketer call me the other day to sell me some magazines from McLeans. He was offering such and such and this and that and blah blah blah and I finally I had to interrupt him, "I’m sorry I’m not interested." what he said next sur...