The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Sellers often bemoan that they find themselves deep into the sales process with a new prospect, only to discover there isn't much budget available.

Sometimes, despite all our efforts to break the ice and establish credibility in advance of that first call to a prospect, and despite having well-crafted and articulated valid business reasons, the prospect is still reluctant to see us.

On a recent client visit, the main purpose was to help them plan their 2013 strategy.  One of the topics we covered was how the management team and sales people could remain digitally relevant in 2013.   After seeing the movie "Parental Guidance," it was obvious one of the lead characters, Artie Decker could relate.

When you’re trying to nail down an appointment with a business owner or manager, it is important to remember the root word of business: Busy.

She’s highly assertive, exceedingly convincing, always taking charge of situations (even when it’s not her job), and a natural closer. She just can’t help building a case for what she believes in and she relishes the opportunity to change people’s minds so they finally see things her way.

Improving sales performance happens when salespeople do the little things that make a difference.  The best salespeople do these things without being told — they even do these things when their manager is not looking:

There was an incident when my daughter was still very young, in which she was happily singing-along to a song on the radio.  We got to the grocery store and went in to grab a few things, and then headed back out to the car.  When I started the car, she started to cry.  “What’s wrong,” I asked?  “The radio’s not playing my favorite song anymore…” 

As we move into a new year, great sales leaders in every industry and every country will develop a new or somewhat revised strategy for the challenges and opportunities they see before them.

Happy New Year!  In 2012, our Appointment Lab has learned that setting appointments for our clients involves clear organizational planning and preparation in targeting the ideal customer.