Colleen’s Blog

Not all clients are created equal. Nor should you be compelled to treat them equally. There’s no law stating you must sell to everyone, or keep servicing clients that are the wrong fit for your business. It’s as fair to say that your business has outgrown some types of customers as it is to say that you have some customers that you should have never brought on in the first place. You know who they are! If you’re miserable working with a client that you know isn’t profitable for your company, you won’t be motivated to serve them well. And, if that client isn’t receiving the best treatment, they won’t hit their desired goals. By virtue of this predicament, you’ve created a lose-lose situation: You’re not helping the client reach their objectives and they’re not helping you reach yours. Besides the ones that are clearly not profitable for you, here are four other types of clients that must go immediately:

You’ve been increasing your prospecting efforts and as a result, orders and sales are beginning to flood in. Your hard work is beginning to pay off and you’ll never have to spend time prospecting again...right? Wrong! Too many salespeople become complacent after a successful period of prospecting. They begin to slow down with their prospecting activities because they’re too busy celebrating current victories instead of focusing on securing future achievements. In short, they forget all about the hard work that allowed them to achieve success in the first place. Don’t get caught in this trap!

“Buyers believe buyers first, the seller second and the business third.” This is a direct quote from a technology entrepreneur I coach and he is right. Testimonials have amazing persuasive powers. They touch on both the facts and emotions that drive people to make decisions. They reaffirm that your claims are credible and that your services are the real deal. They validate the value you deliver to the prospect. And they do so with a message that is unmistakably authentic and sincere. When a client says great things about you, about your work or the products you sell, give them the opportunity to turn that praise into a testimonial. Simply ask: “I’d really love to share your success with others. Would that be okay?” People generally like to be helpful to other people, but they’ll rarely think to give you that all-powerful testimonial unless you ask. Here are the some great ways to acquire testimonials:

We are now in September. As much as you may not want to admit it, the temperature is starting to drop and the leaves are beginning to change colors. Before you know it, you’re going to start hearing “Jingle Bells” playing on your local radio station! Are you on track to hit your sales quotas for the year? If you’re on pace to hit your goals for 2014, well done! Otherwise, now is the time to regroup and add some discipline to your sales game so you can end 2014 with strong sales results. Gone are the days that salespeople could make a living by waiting for the phone to ring. Today, only the most disciplined salespeople survive, thrive and achieve success. Here are a few tips to help you add some discipline to your daily routine:

When I think back over 20 years of my sales career, I've met only five kinds of people with behaviors that lead me to believe I should disqualify them as a prospect forever. I write about them in my recently released book Nonstop Sales Boom. You may have run across them in your work as well. They are: 1. The Shopper You learn that the prospect is considering two well-known competitors with whom they have a long, successful buying history. You are the last one into the process and the prospect cannot tell you clearly why they would consider an alternative, nor are they willing to allow direct communication with the decision maker. This is a sign that they are using you to compare pricing and features.

You’ve heard it before. The dreaded “Let me think about it” objection is never something a salesperson wants to hear. Salespeople struggle with this objection because they don’t want to be “pushy” or “aggressive.” As a result, they usually thank the prospect for their time and move on. The worst part? They often never hear from the prospect again. The trick with this objection is determining whether or not it’s a real objection. Many prospects throw out the dreaded phrase because they want to get rid of you, while others really do need time to think. How can you tell them apart? Here is a highly effective technique you can use to uncover the real hesitation while giving you essential information so you can close the business.