sales(7/0)
Culture shapes arguments
Of the facets which comprise a person’s culture, the philosophy of knowledge most shapes the style of argument likely to influence that person. English citizens were comprehensively shaped by the modernization of Aristotle’s “application-first” thinking by the English philosophers of the 13th and 16th centuries (Meyer, pg. 97). Across the English channel, Descartes instituted an opposing philosophy of thought characterized by “principles-first” thinking which reigns among European nations to this day.…
Customer knowledge affects sales strategy
One of the chief suspicions aroused in a customer when he’s sold to is, “What do they know that I don’t?” If the item is a bargain, it must have a defect. If it’s more costly, the seller’s trying to rip him off. With greater complexity and a higher cost comes higher suspicion. A car sale is more suspicious than a rummage sale. Companies have adopted ways to encourage customers to take the risk by offering money-back guarantees, warranties, and test drives, and.…
Not every sales prospect deserves equal time
Not every prospect deserves equal time. Not every prospective customer deserves equal time. Some, despite their apparent interest and enthusiasm are destined to be thorns in your side for hours before finally leaving you empty-handed. Sambucci calls two common types “Vampires” and “Gatekeepers” (Sambucci, pg. 68). Vampires are intent to draw value (blood) from your time and business (veins). Generally they have a low view of your time and a high view of their own, they don’t have the authority to authorize payment for your services, and the truly Draculean know what internal buttons to press in order to cajole or demand further free service.…
Pitch script example
Pitch Script Senior citizens in Arkansas must move to Colorado, before it’s too late. Arkansas' senior citizens want to grow old in their homes, to remain an active part of society and stay interconnected with their community. None desire to languish in a nursing home. Yet only one in nine state tax dollars are invested in home and community support. The remaining eight sustain nursing homes, where every fifth resident could have stayed at home with some assistance.…
Prepare pitches or pay the price
If you don’t prepare what you mean to say, you’ll say what you don’t mean. No actor steps onto the stage without memorizing his lines. Entrepreneurs fare no better than an ad-lib actor when they fail to prepare for critical communications. As Bill McGowan says, “Spontaneity is another word for regret (Mcgowan, pg. 174).” Jodie Foster’s acceptance speech at the 2013 Golden Globe awards began well. She’d prepared her presentation, rehearsed it, and executed it before thousands.…
Sales calls trump email
Direct phone calls trump responsive email. Every sales representative gets buried under floods of email. The effort to decipher what customer’s mean, what they need, what their angle is, etc. can easily take one’s entire day. What appears a simple request can lead into a rabbit trail of well-meaning but unanswered questions, misunderstandings, and rising discontent. To mitigate this, Sambucci’s constant rule is to “PICK UP THE PHONE (Sambucci, pg. 17).…
Fruitful channels may surprise
The most effective channel for a business to begin may not be the obvious one. Although there are at least nineteen different channels a startup can discover customers through, a few often get priority because of the number of potential viewers or the ease of use. Online methods, in particular, are easy to get started (at least for the tech generations) and have billions of potential viewers. Even so, exploring all of the channel opportunities may reveal others that would yield more customers at this stage in your businesses growth.…