Resist the Urge to Badmouth Competitors
Who doesn’t feel a little surge of joy when we hear a customer complaining about a competitor, or encounter any negative intel regarding our competition? But we should pause before jumping in to participate in badmouthing the competition. We need look no further than the current political stage to recognize the ugliness of negative campaigning. […]
Is Your Body Language Sabotaging Your Success?
Our success as sales professionals is dependent upon our interpersonal skills, which, in turn, are dependent upon many variables – including body language. In his recent blog forLinkedIn Pulse, best-selling author Dr. Travis Bradberry (Emotional Intelligence 2.0), shares the 15 most common body language blunders that we should all avoid. Here’s his list: Slouching Exaggerated […]
6 Tips for Dealing with Angry Customers
Few things are more frightening for a sales professional than an angry customer! But like all scary things, fuming customers are less intimidating if you have an effective, proven process to address and defuse their anger. Here are six tips to deal effectively with angry customers: 1. Start with the right frame of mind. Don’t […]
Did the Exploratory Process Save LEGO?
Ten years ago, Danish toymaker LEGO was experiencing double digit losses annually, and was at risk of debt default. A decade later, in 2015, the company reported a 25% increase in revenues and a 31% jump in profits. How’d that happen? That’s the question answered by branding expert and best-selling author Martin Lindstrom in his […]
LAER is Not Just for Selling
Every day, we utilize the communication and relationship-building skills we learned in Dimensions of Professional Selling (DPS) sales training to drive our sales effectiveness with customers and prospects. But if we limit application of these skills only to our professional lives, we may be missing out! Here are just a few examples of how your […]
9 Tips to Build Customer Trust
Trust. It’s a powerful word. Sales professionals know that in order to build and maintain the kind of interdependent customer relationships that drive success, they must first earn their customers’ trust. In his article, “How to Build Customer Trust: 9 Rules,” author Geoffrey James, offers tips to help build client relationships that are based on a […]
Book Review: The Righteous Mind, Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
Reviewed by: Ed Albertson, Partner, Carew International At first glance, it might seem like a stretch to recommend to a business audience this book by a liberal social scientist and psychology professor. But author Johnathan Haidt is not a partisan with an agenda, and his book, The Righteous Mind, simply uses American politics to illustrate […]
Proper Focus, Selling Skills Drive Sales Success
Thousands of hours spent with sales professionals and sales leaders reveals a central challenge to sales effectiveness: our failure to distinguish between “urgent” and “important”. This relates to customer issues, as well as our own internal organization issues, with the inclination to devote too much time and energy to urgent. We all agree that urgent […]
5 Time Management Tips for Sales Success
There is no challenge in the professional world more prolific than that of our overstuffed work days. In his recent article for Forbes, Peter Bregman, author of the bestselling time management book, 18 Minutes, points out that “we start every day knowing we are not going to get it all done. So how we spend […]
4 Bad Habits to Lose
Continuing our series, Be Your Best in the New Year, this week we address those habits that are most annoying to customers, and therefore are most detrimental to your sales efforts and overall professional success: 1. Lack of Follow Through – Nothing erodes a customer’s trust and confidence more quickly than a sales professional who […]