The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Your friend calls and ask you to meet him on Saturday night. Do you say yes? Maybe he just needs you to drive again, but maybe he has tickets to the sold out concert. Even with a trusted friend, you would want to know why his offer is better than what you already have planned.

When you come up with a proposal for a client or prospect, where do you believe the “value added” is? Do you think it’s in the price-per-product cost? Do you think it is found in free services that come with the proposal? Or, do you believe most of the value added lies in your ability to uncover the prospect’s critical needs, and the bright ideas you’ve brought to the table to solve those specific needs? 

Additionally, might some of that value be in the assistance you’ll provide to implement that solution without a hitch? Or, could it be that you are knowledgeable about their industry, and have spotted trends for them in the past?  Could it be the expertise you drew upon to come up with a creative and specific solution to their most pressing need? 

Many times when salespeople fail to make a sale on a new prospect, they walk away not knowing exactly what went wrong. The answer generally lies in a hurdle they were not able to clear or a sign-off that caused the sale to fail.

Here's a provocative thought; you may be getting objections just as often by asking for too little as you do by asking for too much!

Take a moment and think of times you were up-sold in the past.  It happens so frequently, that you don’t even realize it.  I wanted to order flowers on a website, another screen popped up and I ordered chocolates and I received free shipping…  I went to the auto repair shop specifically for an oil change and added two additional repairs that my service clerk recommended…  As a sales strategy, is this a bad thing or a good thing?

Who are the prospects waiting for you? Before we get started on our journey to find that special someone, we need to define a “prospect” from a “suspect.” In my readings, the best definition I’ve found is:   

Sales managers have an endless list of tasks they could attend to every day.  Am I right?  Of course I am.  A large client demands your attention, your top rep needs you to look at a deal they are going to propose, you have more than a hundred emails that you should do something with, and oh yeah—you have piles stacking up on your desk and floor! (Read our other Sales Management Secrets here!)

Referrals are like gold, it takes hard work to acquire them and they are extremely valuable! Most salespeople aspire to get them however, it seems as if this is the one area most would say they could greatly improve on…even high performing b2b sales reps.   

With everyone's time at such a premium these days, many of us have come to rely too much on our phones. Perhaps it would be healthy to step back and consider what the telephone can and cannot do for your sales strategy: 

Beware!  Danger to your sales strategy is lurking as close as your telephone receiver. How so?