Colleen’s Blog

If you're in sales, you know the age-old mentality towards marketing. They're often looked at as the "bad guys." They're not the enemy.

Is your business experiencing wild swings in revenue? This may surprise you, but relaying too much emphasis on closing business for your sales team is actually counterproductive to increasing your revenues. What?! Let me explain.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Cold calling is nothing more than desperation selling.

Your sales team needs to know how to pivot. Anyone can memorize a sales script - but it's an essential skill for salespeople to be able to handle all elements of a real-world conversation, including those dreaded objections. An unexpected answer, question or concern is no grounds for a sales rep to lose their composure. Their expectation should be to carry right on the with the conversation and pivot with another question. No, a "deer in the headlights" look does not bode well with instilling confidence in a buyer's mind.

Have you ever wondered what makes you and your business more interesting to your prospects and clients? It isn’t hourly updates on social media or a picture with a celebrity. In fact, what makes a business more interesting to prospects often eludes most business owners.

Recently, I stayed at a Ritz-Carlton and was blown away by one simple gesture that left an impact on myself and my husband.

Are you actively seeking referrals from your current client base? According to recent studies, 78% of happy clients want to give out referrals. Yet only 8% of salespeople actually ask for them. Can you see the disconnect? It doesn't take a math genius to figure out that many salespeople are missing out on key opportunities to increase their sales and grow their businesses. I understand the intimidation factor, but the truth is in order to achieve and maintain any kind of success in sales, you have to push through the intimidation and ask for referrals anyway. They are such a powerful tool to grow your customer base, and not asking for them often enough is doing a huge disservice to yourself and your business.

Far too many companies out there simply aren't growing. They're stagnating - once exciting results have been relived quarter and quarter and year after year and they're itching to see greater revenue. Does this sound like you?