Feel like AI is taking over everything?  The rules keep changing on this, but what I want you to remember is: ChatGPT is nothing more than a very hyperactive search engine.  Don’t run from it! ChatGPT is a tool to leverage. Embrace it! ChatGPT can give you a tremendous amount of information, but don’t think for a moment it’s going to replace you as a salesperson. Rather, keep one thing in mind: Not only are you using it to help you sell, but your customers are using it to help them make buying decisions. Let’s break this down. Customers aren’t always receiving good information ..read more

You’ve been given a new territory, now it’s time to find a way to get business there.  Let’s go through 10 steps to be successful prospecting in a new industry. 1. Know your value.  What’s the solution you bring to your customers? We don’t sell a product/service, we sell an outcome. 2. What’s the problem you’re solving? The value you bring is different from the problem. If  the value is the solution, then the problem is, why do your customers need this? What’s the problem they’re trying to solve? via Amazon Prime Video on GIPHY 3. Am I converting or educating?  Convert ..read more

Do you have a tendency to make sales complex? Some salespeople may want to overthink things, but sales is not rocket science.  It’s time we back off and realize what sales is: a conversation between two people. Sales is not convoluted. Many of you as salespeople go out and buy every new sales tool imaginable. You think for some reason this is the solution, the holy grail that’s going to make everything work for you.  Or perhaps you also go out on social media and you post, and you post and you post. You’re on every social platform, and for some reason you think that if you just p ..read more

What does connecting with prospects look like for you?  You’ve identified who to prospect and you’ve made contact. Now it’s time to Connect. Are you losing prospects during this phase? This is part II of our 3-step process of how to simplify selling. Contact, Connect, Close.  Check out last week’s blog on Contact. What’s the plan? If I’m focused in, and I’ve done my Contact right, I’m zeroed in on a very distinct group of people which allows me to strategize each call. I know exactly what my plan is. I know my call to action, what information I want to confirm, and what new inf ..read more

If we don’t prospect properly, there’s no way we can close.  Step 1 in the Sales Logic System is Contact. Of course, a clear subset of Contact is prospecting. Didn’t catch last week’s blog on the Sales Logic System? Click here to read the overview. Our close ratio goes up dramatically the more effectively we prospect.  The number of deals you have to close is a direct reflection of the amount of time you spend prospecting. Thinking about prospecting isn’t prospecting, and neither is networking. Prospecting starts when you pick up the phone. via Build-A-Bear Workshop on GIPHY ..read more

Uncomplicate your sales process. Do you think our customers are eager to participate in an 8-step process? A 12-step process? Something I’ve noticed in the advent of ChatGPT and all these AI tools is it’s becoming even more complicated. It’s supposed to simplify the process, but actually it’s overcomplicating it.  Read my tips about 10 Ways to Use ChatGPT in Sales. Now I can send out more emails to more people. I can touch way more people. But to what end? It’s time we put the human element back into sales.  I want to flip AI around, and instead of using AI to reach 10,000 peop ..read more

The problem is in the prospecting. When someone says they don’t have enough deals to close, or they can’t close the deals they have, the common belief is the person needs help closing.   I’d argue that’s not the case in 95% of the situations. The problem is in the prospecting.  That’s right, the problem at the end of the sale is a result of a failure at the beginning of the process. For some, that begins with utter dread before picking up the phone.  via Sub Pop Records on GIPHY It’s not a cold call if you don’t believe it’s a cold call. Cold calls are certainly one of ..read more

Don’t get hit by friendly fire. For many salespeople, prospecting is hard! Some struggle every day to make prospecting happen and unfortunately get hit by far too much friendly fire.  It’s time to be blunt, I’m on a mission to stop the damaging friendly fire too many salespeople fall victim to. For those of you who do not understand the term “friendly fire” let me explain. This is where you’re in battle and for one reason or another you’re dealing with an incoming attack that is not from the enemy, but is misguided from your own side. Friendly fire in most cases is preventable, but i ..read more

Ever wish you had the insider secrets used by top sales performers? Wish granted: here are 10 secrets from the Top Sales Performer playbook.  How many of these habits do you already practice? More importantly…which ones can you improve? 1. Clear short and long-term goals Clear goals have a plan behind them.  Top sales performers think both short and long-term, and they’re very clear with how they’re going to go there. What am I going to do this quarter? This year? In the next five years? 2. Weekly, daily outcome schedule  This is different from just to-dos. These are outco ..read more

Too many people struggle with prospecting. I’m here to help. There are some basic rules you need to get right. To win at prospecting, here are my Top 10 insights to the game. 1. Prospects don’t care.  Until you show an interest in them, there’s no reason for them to show an interest in you.  If you’re prospecting by just throwing messages out there, nobody’s going to respond.  Learn more about What Prospects Want to Hear. 2. Thinking about a prospect is not prospecting.  An average performer could spend all day getting ready to prospect, doing research, but they never ..read more