The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

A couple of months ago, I registered to compete in a triathlon. As I began training for the three-sport event, I quickly began to notice similarities between how I was preparing for the race and sales. So what do they have in common? More than you might realize… let me share my story with you.

One of the practices we preach is that every client meeting should start with a quick overview of events leading up to the meeting, and an agenda for what you would like to accomplish during the session. It is a step that people often skip… at their own peril. Why do I make that sound so ominous?  

If you were to ask 100 salespeople why they hate sales meetings, and then take all of their reasons and put them in a giant pot, fill it with water, and turn up the heat… the myriad of responses would all boil down to one and only one reason; they believe they’re a waste of their time!

Mad Men Season 6 debuts this Sunday on AMC and over the past several seasons the show has done a great job of showing a society in change and how the advertising world has evolved to adjust to these shifts in society’s norms.  

It’s been said that “price objections melt in the presence of a bright idea.” And there is some truth to that axiom. But selling ideas is hardly a novel approach these days. In fact, your competitors attempt to do that every day.

The best B2B salespeople use a sales strategy that includes personal positioning. Here’s how you can get into this game and attract new business prospects:

During a recent workshop, I played the part of the prospect as one seller after another approached me with their list of needs analysis questions. And almost without exception, the sellers' priority seemed to be getting through the list of questions they and their team had prepared, rather than harvesting the information I was hoping to offer.