Colleen’s Blog

I often find myself in the Charlotte airport for its easy connections on US Air from Miami. The fact that the the airport has great natural light, is equipped with spacious and clean bathrooms, and not to mention has terminals that are easy to navigate to, makes my experience there a delight. Believe it or not, there’s even a pianist in the center court...a nice touch! However the airport is beginning to lose a bit of its appeal, there’s one old tradition still in place that repels me as a traveler and as a business woman.

Here are seven closing practices, designed to sell more in less time which you can implement immediately with your sales organization…I promise they’re really easy once you get the hang of it 🙂

The word "rapport" gets thrown around quite a bit in the world of business and sales. However, there are really two key types of rapport. Can you distinguish the difference between the two? It's important to understand the difference between personal and business rapport so you can move forward effectively when engaging with a client. ← Click To Tweet It also serves well to create a growth and retention formula to repeat sales and repeat customers every year. Once you understand both types of rapport, this formula becomes easier to create, and easier to put to use.

Sales people hear it all the time: “ABC. Always be closing.” But as a manager, I’d recommend that you adopt a slightly different mantra for yourself: “ABR: Always be recruiting.”

Did you know that closing a deal isn’t a true success unless you’ve asked the right questions? Today’s new, emerging economy requires proper closing techniques in order to close profitable business, build long-term relationships and to create a long-term competitive advantage. Many of the closing techniques that are currently in place leave the customer feeling used, manipulated or strong-armed. It seems as though the sales world is currently filled with salespeople who will say or do anything just to close the deal. The end result is a customer who doesn’t trust the salesperson or the business they represent, and in turn the customer loses faith in the company’s’ ability to solve their problems. It doesn’t stop there. The salesperson often begins to look at his or her client as too much work, or being ungrateful for they work that they do put in. As you can see, in such scenarios, nobody wins. Carl Young once said, “To ask the question is already half the solution to the problem.”