Colleen’s Blog

If we're connected on LinkedIn, you've probably seen many of my posts surrounding this topic. Cold calling is dead.

The winter Olympics are in full swing and I'll be the first to admit I'm a junkie! I just love competition featuring the best of the best worldwide. Of course, there are always lessons to be learned for us as sellers. Here are the top five from week 1.

You may have noticed this interesting trend... Lost deals tend to be the same ones that stagnate during the proposal phase. That is, after completing a needs analysis, the deals that are ultimately missed are often the same ones that sit, and sit, and sit in the proposal phase. Interestingly enough, in our research, we've also found that completed deals don't tend to stagnate in the proposal phase but they do spend more time in the needs analysis phase. In fact, completed sales on average spend two to three times longer in the needs analysis phase than sales that are lost. Let's go even deeper with this.

Improving productivity to be a more profitable seller - everyone wants to do it, but few actually succeed at it. I'm providing some simple (but extremely powerful) strategies in this live video that you can apply to sell more in less time.

Is your organization creating sales dysfunction without even knowing it? I was coaching a sales executive recently and discovered that the company sets goals based on a September 1st FY start, yet the sales teams goals are set on a calendar year. Think about the discontinuity for a second.

I've often said to B2B sales audiences "If they can't find you, they won't buy from you!" This is why I embrace a ubiquitous marketing approach for sellers. (Chapter 3-4 in Nonstop Sales Boom). This principle applies to all sales, and we can learn from the best practices and massive failures of all industries. Here is a local example: Three new restaurants opened within a four block radius of my condo this week.

Referrals don't work. That's what a client of mine recently told me.

I have to be really blunt here. You're not going to make 2018 "your year" in sales if you're still holding on to clients that are doing nothing more than giving you frustration, headaches and simply won't be profitable this year.

Does your sales team know the difference between conversation and combat? Far too often, salespeople will get into verbal hostilities with their potential buyers. They hear a question or an objection and automatically go on the defensive! This is not a trait you want to see in one of your sales reps. You're simply not going to close a sale with a customer you're also arguing with. The last thing you want is for your sales rep to "win" the debate and have your customer sit back and shut up. This is a sign of apathy and it won't lead to anywhere positive for the sales rep or your organization. Want your sales team to be successful?

Picture this...you call into your bank for support. Upon dialing the number, you're prompted by a machine to enter in your card number and other details. After this, you're transferred to a rep who then asks you for those exact credentials again. That rep, who can't properly answer your inquiry, transfers you over again to another rep who asks you to verify yourself one more time. It's frustrating just to think about it, right?