Why Asking “What Are You Paying?” Can Cost You Thousands

Sometimes the worst questions we can ask on a sales call are the ones that come out of our mouths the easiest. A great example is, What are you paying?

It’s a natural question to ask, and it has a valid purpose, because you never want to throw prices out blindly. However, asking the question this way is, as they say in The Sweet Science, leading with your chin.

Here’s a much better question — What is your target price?

Sound simple? It is simple. But if you ask these two questions interchangeably, without really thinking about it, you might cause money to…

Real Life Sales Stories - Googles of Giggles

When I started out in sales, my first territory was south-central Iowa. Coming from Chicago, I was having trouble adjusting to the laid back, rural culture, where the main topics of conversation included farm chemicals and the condition of the Iowa State wrestling program.

One day I stopped to make a cold call at a factory in a small town about fifty miles south of Cedar Rapids. Didn’t know the place from Adam. Not seriously expecting to see anyone, I asked the receptionist if I could talk to the buyer of packaging. But instead of the usual “leave your card,” the…

Wouldn’t It Be Lovely?

Wouldn’t it be lovely if every business conversation started with,

Hello, my name is ________. How can I help you?

Simple enough, but how often do we hear it when we call in to customer service or invite a sales person into our office?

The first thing a customer hears will set the tone for the conversation and perhaps the whole business relationship.

Start out right.

On second thought, why stop with business conversations? Imagine the world if every conversation started with those words.

Worst Bad Sales Habits, Part 6 - Losing Respect

If you’re unlucky enough to fall into Worst Bad Habit Number 5, dwelling on the negative, you’re only a short step away from Number 6, losing respect for your company, your colleagues, and your customers.

Needless to say, this habit is about as bad as smoking three packs of Camel filterless cigarettes a day, only it will ruin you more quickly.

But it happens all the time. Here are some of the symptoms.

• Bad mouthing your company to suppliers or customers.
• Bad mouthing your boss to colleagues.
• Complaining to customers about company policies.
• Turning every after hours get together with colleagues into a bitch session.
• Deliberately undermining…

Worst Bad Sales Habits, Part 5 - Dwelling on the Negative

My last Worst Bad Sales Habit was about drawing a general conclusion from an isolated bad experience and applying it to all similar situations. This Worst Bad Habit is similar.

It’s called not letting go. Dwelling on the negative. Holding grudges. Grinding an ax. Forgiving but not forgetting. An eye for an eye. Get the idea?

Such a way of thinking is lethal to a sales professional. If we fill our minds with negative thoughts, positive thoughts have nowhere to go except … away.

No doubt about it, sales can be frustrating. Prospects can be manipulative. Customers can be unreasonable. Products can malfunction.…

Worst Bad Sales Habits, Part 4 - Prisoner of the Past

In all cases, experience drives outstanding sales performance. Depending on how you apply your experience, your performance will be outstandingly good or outstandingly bad.

Experience without perspective is catastrophic. In sales, there is a trap we fall into called “the halo effect”. It means taking one experience and generalizing it to apply to all similar situations.

• This printing company hated me and my products. Therefore, printing companies are poor prospects.
• This buyer stopped doing business with me because my repeated emails annoyed him. Therefore, I won’t send emails anymore.
• This product failed disastrously at my largest account. Therefore, I won’t sell it anymore.

This sort…

Worst Bad Sales Habits, Part 3 - Dumb, Fat, and Happy

Success breeds complacency. But what happens if a star sales rep stops learning? Stops challenging himself? Well, nine times out of nine, it spells T-H-E E-N-D, especially these days when business practices and technologies change at breakneck speed.

Yet, nothing is easier than talking oneself into complacency.

• I’ve already paid my dues.
• I’m incredibly successful. People should be learning from me.
• Nothing really changes in my industry.
• These new technologies are just a fad. I’ve seen them come and go.

As reasonable as some of these thoughts are, I can think of a few reasons why they should be removed from one’s head.

• What will happen down…

Worst Bad Sales Habits, Part 2 - A Freeze on Cold Calls

Most sales people would rather jump into a cold Lake Michigan than jump into a day of cold calls. When reps start their careers, they make colds call because they have to. Over time, as they build a base, the urgency of cold calling fades. A day of cold calling becomes half a day. Then it becomes a hit or miss affair. There’s plenty of excuses …

• I’m too busy taking care of customers.
• I’m selling more to my existing customers.
• My customers are getting busier, so they’ll buy more.
• I’ll make cold calls next week.

But next week never comes, and one day, three…

Worst Bad Sales Habits, Part 1 - Winging It

In this season of renewal and resolutions, I’m offering a series of posts on six bad sales habits. Each habit is worse than the one preceding it - kind of like a descent into sales hell. Unappealing as the subject matter is, all these habits are ones highly successful sales people can easily fall into over time. If anything sounds familiar, it is time for a resolution.

Of the many traps sales people fall into, winging it among the most alluring. As sales people become more familiar with their products and how business works, they forget the importance of preparation. They…

The Golden Rule of Sales Relationships

In a recent post I suggested relationships are more important than technique in achieving excellence in sales.

Then I started wondering, what exactly makes a business relationship strong and long lasting? Sure, we all know healthy business relationships are built on trust and respect, but what do those words really mean? How do trust and respect play out in a business setting? Let’s delve into it and see what we can learn.

In this series of 8 of posts, I’ll try to identify the things that make for a solid and long lasting business relationship.

One thing that distinguishes business relationships from personal…

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