Culture and Process First; Then Technology Independent insurance agents and brokerages are gaining efficiencies with technology. More efficiencies are on the way as vendors and carriers roll out real-time communications. But with so many processes now automated and keystrokes eliminated, this is an excellent time to re-address the real inherent value of the independent agent. That value is around sales—unless a sale happens, nothing happens. Efficiency—while continuing to be very important... Read Full Story

Sales 2.0 is getting tons of buzz right now in the technology market. There are lots of different definitions out there, but here's mine: Sales 2.0 is an outcome not an event. The process requires you to transform your business from one that is focused on selling to one that is focused on letting the market buy from you. Sales 2.0 requires a change in mindset. It requires focus on buyer personas, lead nurturing, content development, social networking strategies, web 2.0 tool, etcetera, etcet... Read Full Story

The Girl Scouts of America was teetering on the edge of extinction when Frances Hesselbein was named president of the organization in early 1976. The Girls Scouts, an organization comprised of thousands of volunteers from across the fifty states, had been going about their business in a very traditional way for years...but that way was now placing the organization in jeopardy. Bleeding funding and declining enrollments, Frances knew she need to change things fast or the organization would c... Read Full Story

My current place of work is an open office environment. This means that for each sales call that is made, I can hear it. I can hear it when my colleagues get beaten down on price by a professional purchaser or when they attempt to fend off a refund because they exaggerated the features or benefits of their product. Listening to your colleagues’ sales calls is one of the best ways to understand the wide variety of sales techniques around and provides you with a chance to expand your arsenal. ... Read Full Story

Are you REALLY though? I used to work within a small sales team, pro actively selling software to prospective clients, worldwide. I worked there for 3 years and I had perfected the art of either coercing our clients into purchasing or simply verbally bullying them into purchasing. I even started to train other colleagues in the fantastic art of sales I had perfected over the last 36 months, providing tips/tricks on closing and obtaining that sought after signature. I had arrived and I was br... Read Full Story

This is my article from the new Summer eBook from Top Sales Experts International. It’s 147 pages and includes articles from some of the foremost sales experts in the world. People like Dan Adams, Keith Rosen, Wendy Weiss , Nancy D. Solomon, Joanne Black, Jonthan Farrington, Paul McCord , Cindy King and Kelly Robertson to name but a few. To download your copy - just click through to my blog. ————————————————————————————– A person’s likeability factor is often referred to by people such as... Read Full Story

Some of the things that most stick with me throughout my sales career are things quoted to me in sales literature. For example, Robert Kiyosaki, America's famous "Rich Dad" mentioned that the day we stop learning is the day we stop growing. I think that the day we stop learning is the day our wealth stops growing. Ziglar mentioned that if we spend a certain amount of money on personal hygiene, like deodorant and toothpaste, that we should spend an equal amount of money on knowledge, so that o... Read Full Story

Saw this article by Jay Abraham, author of the new book The Sticking Point Solution. Thought you all might like it. Are You Truly Maximizing? By Jay Abraham, Author of The Sticking Point Solution: 9 Ways to Move Your Business From Stagnation to Stunning Growth In Tough Economic Times Are you making the best possible use of everything you've got? Are you getting the best return on everything you're investing in your business -- your money, your effort, and above all, your time? Everybody k... Read Full Story

In a strong economy just showing up to play is enough to achieve your sales objectives. In today’s economic environment sales leaders are facing sales force downsizing and poor sales rep morale. Sales reps are frustrated by longer sales cycles, dropping demand, unrealistic quotas, concerns about declining income and losing their jobs. The key to success is Focus, Focus, and Focus. As the leader of your sales organization you should ask yourself 1. Am I focused? 2. What is Focused Leadership?... Read Full Story

I've been writing about creating differentiated value for your customers. Let me focus on a couple of elements of value---in this you will discover why "generic" value propositions miss the mark. Value has many dimensions. As business and sales professionals, we tend to focus on the business elements of value--how much we can reduce costs, how much we can improve revenues, how much we can improve quality, and so forth. Business value, particularly when quantified is critical in sales. There... Read Full Story