Today I’m pleased to feature a guest post from Chris Conrey. Chris Conrey is a professional salesman with a passion for technology. Between client calls you’ll find him writing, reading, or thinking about sales and technology. Read more from Chris on his blog, Conrey is for Closers. You’ve been successful in sales before, why change? […]
The 2011 edition of the Top Ten Small Business Trends from Small Business Labs is a must-read for small business owners. Several of the trends will surprise you, and understanding all of them will position you for greater success. In the coming days, I’m going to look at these trends one by one and suggest what […]
Here we are on October 15. It feels like the “Ides of October” or something. Everybody’s talking about how there’s only one more month to do business before the holidays set in and nobody’s available. I’m always just a little suspicious of “everybody” and “nobody” but they certainly influence our mind set. Rationally, of course, […]
The “brand promise audit” is a key feature of the scouting process, designed to position your company to land big sales. It’s a mandatory feature of your business development strategy! The brand promise audit focuses on how a small company can hone its message to market so as to be distinctive. In far too many […]
We had an outstanding interview with Sitewire president Greg Chapman on last week’s Expert Series Call. Greg offered compelling insights into how executives in large companies approach and complete their buying decisions. Two highlights: Purchasing Agents. Greg explained that the decision-making processes for buying goods or services inside of big companies are changing dramatically. Although […]
I circulated a new newsletter article today focused on how small companies can greatly improve their proposals–whether in response to RFPs or simply in their normal sales process–if they invest some time into documenting processes. My all-too-real world example comes from a current RFP that I am working on with a client. $900 million of […]
My home town, Indianapolis, has been on fire about the NCAA college basketball Final Four and the amazing run of the home-town favorite Butler University “Bulldogs,” the smallest school to be included in the 64 contestants in the NCAA tournament. A small school in serious contention for the national championship s definitely on a whale […]
In many industries, price has become the only apparent differentiating factor in contract awards. Pricing wars put small and mid size business at a disadvantage because larger competitors can low-ball a bid in order to freeze you out. How will you know if you are in a pricing war? And if you are, how can […]
When your team heads out to a customer’s location for a presentation, how well prepared are you? Sometimes you will be coming in at different times from different locations. You will probably have print materials and perhaps visual materials. Will you bring your own projector or will one be provided? Who will be at the […]
At one or more points in your sales process, you will make a live presentation. Buyers participate in these pitches all the time–how will you set yourself apart? 1. Own the room. Your most important tactic is to control the space in which you are meeting. If the presentation is at your headquarters, you can assign […]
I wrote my weekly Sunday guest blog for Women on Business on the topic of what I’ve learned about sales from my local WNBA team, the Indiana Fever. Had some good feedback on that post, so I’m cross posting it here. ……….. Just about one year ago I personally “discovered” the WNBA—the Women’s National Basketball […]