Weekly Sales Thoughts

In which we are reminded that “overcoming objections” is not consistent with collaborative, partnership, trustworthy selling.

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In which we are reminded that five spoonfuls of sugar before the medicine is better than one.

My mother’s brother, Jack, was a banker. Let me rephrase that. A Banker. Capital “B.” Born in the early 1900s in England, on the wrong side of the class divide, he rose to become branch manager of a very large Lloyds Bank branch in central London, England. Continue reading »

In which we learn to open communications with prospects using something THEY are interested in.

So, my first child is at college now. First year. Good news and bad news. I haven’t heard from him much. He doesn’t return my phone calls. Doesn’t reply to my text messages. Doesn’t write back when I email him. (Not that I’ve tried THAT many times.) Continue reading »

In which we are reminded that not every prospect is worth our full attention.

When I heard Al Hirt (jazz trumpet player popular in the 1950s and 1960s) play the song, "I Can’t Get Started," as a 10 year old, I fell in love with that song and the horn. Continue reading »

In which we are reminded to mind our prospects and clients why they wanted to talk to us in the first place.

Remember the line, "When you’re up to your a** in alligators, it’s easy to forget the objective was to drain the swamp"?

Early one morning last week, I began reading a proposal we requested and received from a computer consultant. Continue reading »