The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Some of the most important steps in your sales strategy should include asking the right questions and uncovering a client or prospect's true needs. Only then can you provide customized solutions.

Here's a scenario you might find familiar: “Sales of the new eFrammus haven’t been going as well as the company has forecast,” the sales manager said as he opened his regular Monday morning meeting. “So we really need to bear down on that product line and start moving more right away.” 

If you’ve come to realize that the amount of time you’re spending to “manage” an incessantly needy client far outweighs the amount of revenue they represent for your company… it's time to think about firing them. 

The more senses we employ, the more likely we are to understand and accept the information being communicated. This relates directly to how much use you make of visual and audio aids when selling -- and to what degree you involve the prospect in the sales process.

I think it's a stretch to say that people buy mostly on emotion as opposed to logic. There may be some truth to it, but I think there's a better way to think about the buying process.

The primary focus of your inbound marketing strategy should be to get your business found by new visitors, and then convert them into qualified sales-ready leads. One of the primary places to do this is on a company blog. There are many other additional benefits such as developing thought leadership and providing value to current clients, but at the end of the day it’s lead generation that makes inbound marketing such an irresistible and powerful tool.  

I’ll thank Steve Lahr, a Director of Sales in St. Cloud, Minnesota for this analogy to new business development. Steve is relatively new to The Center for Sales Strategy family of clients; Townsquare Media only recently joined our ranks.

We are all in search of the ultimate sales strategy weapon we can employ to deal with the challenges of price and product competition. And, at last, we may have actually uncovered it.

When I used to sell print ads in a national sports publication I was always a proponent of advertorials when it related products or services needing additional explanation. Clients would be able to use a short "article" to detail solutions to problems or discuss certain issues relevant to the target audience. I thought this was great and usually my clients saw some great results.