Sales Tip - When You Find a Winning Formula, Drive It into the Ground

Mountaintop experiences are the theme of this month’s “What I Learned From …” project from Robert Hruzek. He says, “Ever been at the top of a mountain (or at least a very tall building), with what seems like the whole world at your feet? It’s an awesome feeling, ain’t it?”

The mountaintop experience I’d like to share takes me back to my early days in b2b sales - before the internet, when sales people hustled up business the old fashioned way, by driving around industrial parks and visiting customers face to face. It was physically and mentally hard work. For…

Best Buy vs. AT&T - A Tale of Two Customer Experiences

The Story

For months I had been champing at the bit to upgrade from my BlackBerry Pearl to the BlackBerry Curve. When the day arrived, I hustled over to the neighborhood AT&T store and had a really pitiful customer experience.

The sales rep told me the Curve was $250. My jaw dropped - the online research I’d done indicated $150 was the right price. She went on to explain that their store had dropped rebates because customers didn’t like them. That was it - no credible explanation, no alternative. Stunned, I asked if I could buy the phone…

Overcoming Adversity in Sales - A Short Story

Sales is a great training ground for overcoming adversity, because you face it every day. Early in my career, I hit a rough patch where I couldn’t sell anything. I was supposed to open two accounts a week, and I hadn’t opened any in a month.

It was the dead of winter and already dark, late one Friday afternoon. I was driving across a lonely stretch of Interstate on my way back to Des Moines, feeling sorry for myself. It had been a tough week and I had nothing to show for it - again. I was a failure. A…

Pounding the Pavement Is One Tough Way to Sell

You may have heard the expression pound the pavement to describe a sales rep who goes door to door peddling his wares and looking for new customers. Well, you’re hearing from someone right now who actually did pound the pavement when he started his selling career, back in the dark ages before the internet and cell phones.

And I’m here to tell you pounding the pavement is one tough way to earn a living.

In my case, I was selling packaging products, which entailed lugging around samples that were fairly bulky and heavy. Ever try carrying a large, flattened out corrugated box in…

B2B Sales and the Problem of Pain

For seven months, I suffered with some extraordinarily severe knee pain. Thankfully, the doctors fixed me up on New Year’s Eve and now my knee is back to normal. I’d like to share a few things I learned during my experience with pain, and then try to relate it to sales in the b2b sphere. I think there are a few connections.

It’s hard to think rationally when you’re in pain. When something unwelcome is in your head all the time - like pain, for instance - it starts to affect your thinking. I noticed I wasn’t thinking straight at times,…

Making a Sale by Turning It Down

Last week I was having coffee with a gentleman who has developed an advertising platform for bloggers - a very interesting service indeed. At one point in the conversation, I asked him if he thought I could earn any ad revenue from his program.

He said no, not really.

I was stunned. No evasions, no qualifications - just an honest answer. In a world of over promise and under deliver, his straightforward sincerity sold me immediately.

Will I display his ads? Maybe, maybe not. But things change. His audience is expanding. His advertisers are growing more diverse. He’s adding new services to his…

Defeat Sales Anxiety by Asking These Great Questions

If you’re the sort of person who gets uncomfortable in a selling situation, as some entrepreneurs do, it helps to go into battle armed with great questions. Here’s a list of some I’ve used that lead to comfortable, positive conversations. Hope they help, and please - share share your great sales questions in the comments below. Thanks!

• Where are you buying this product/service now?
• Why did you choose this particular product/service?
• What do you like best about this product/service/supplier?
• What would you like to change about this product or how you buy it?
• On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate this…

The One Key to Successful Sales — and Life, by Robert Hruzek

Note to Reader - My friend Robert Hruzek is kicking off a few days of guest posts with this fabulous (and ambitiously titled) entry. I’m so grateful to Robert and other writers who are giving me some much-need free time. Enjoy!

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Many thanks to Brad for daring (brave soul that he is) to allow me to guest here at Word Sell. I mean, it’s really a stretch for someone like me to be here. Why, you ask? Well, I suppose I’d better start with a confession: The fact is, the idea of going out and selling something – anything – pretty much causes…

Do You Remember the Basics?

Back several years when I was managing a very successful sales division, I was in a bar with my assistant sales manager waiting for a giant prospect to show up for an introductory meeting. My associate and I were on top of the world, puffed up with pride. Over our vodkas on the rocks we talked about how brilliant we were, how clueless the competition was, and whether the new kids coming up through the ranks could carry on our legendary legacy.

Then the prospect shows up. We shake hands. He ceremoniously hands each of us his business card. My…

Tuned In - A Tale of Two Companies

Image via WikipediaLooking for an awesome business read? Try Tuned In, a new book co-authored by David Meerman Scott, one of my favorite authors in the new marketing space (and a really good guy, to boot).

Tuned In is about listening to customers. Companies that listen solve problems that matter to buyers. Companies that don’t listen generally wind up creating products and services that leave customers yawning — or worse. These Tuned In/Tuned Out examples are top of mind for me.

Tuned Out - Einstein Bagel
Thankfully, the Einstein Bagel near our house is now closed. I don’t have to go there anymore. Their…

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