Late To The Sale? Now What???

It happens to us all… we have a great idea and are looking to pitch "Brand X," only to learn that they've already been approached by one of our competitors. The easy way out is just to give up and try again another day.

But why? You've got an idea that you know will be "the one" for them!

So pick yourself up and read this piece from SellingPower, then get back in front of the client. It's never easy to be second in line when pitching a potential client, and this short piece will give you some solid advice on stealing the sale away from the competitor.

12 Easy Steps To Effective Networking

It's a beautiful Friday night here in the midwest, and as I sit here wrapping up another demanding week, I was kicking around things to work on for my own personal development this weekend. And since I'll be attending a sporting event on Saturday night, I thought "Why not look at some networking information? See what more I can learn since I'll be in the company of a bunch of other like-minded folks?"

The base idea of networking is simple. Always be ready with that elevator speech, never be afraid to meet new people, be personable, and follow-through!

So I enter this weekend by listening to a podcast on this page, and I implore you all to do the same.

A few of the tips from this: "Be interested not interesting. You can’t have 200 best friends – prioritize." Basic networking skills, but easily forgotten…

There's nothing completely stunning in here, but I'm guessing that this will be of help to anybody wanting to find more prospects and ultimately make more sales.

Delivering Persuasive Presentations

You've done your research, you're prepared your pitch, and now the REAL fun begins… it's time to make the presentation. For many of us, the grunt work comes easy, but the face-time can be much tougher.

So take a few minutes today to read this fantastic short piece on "delivering persuasive presentations," and subscribe to the SellingPower newsletter if you don't already!

From the story… "It's that reps are more informative than persuasive, and it's costing companies millions of dollas a year in lost sales."

Review: RIM BlackBerry 7130e

Building on last week's focus on handheld unit sales, this week finds me taking a look at the BlackBerry from Research In Motion.

I'm sure that many of you are already BlackBerry converts. It took me a while to finally take the plunge out of the PocketPC world, but last Thurday I got my first taste of a BlackBerry. Yes, like I discussed last week, the linking together of the personal information management platform and a telephone had a major influence on my decision. To be quite honest, I got tired of trying to keep track of both a PocketPC unit and a cell phone, plus the travel chargers for each, plus my synching cradle, and on… and on… and on.

Organization Starts in your Workspace

As I sit here in my home office tonight, I think back to the days when I worked at an actual office. You know, that place where you try your best to make your workspace as functional as possible, but if you're like me, you may have reached a point where you just gave up.

Oh… before I get to writing on this one. Just in case you're wondering what got me on this kick tonight, take a look at this simple picture from this guy's blog.

I recognize that many of us aren't fortunate enough to work from an office at home. (And don't give me that whole 'must be nice' line about how super-awesome it must be to meet a client in a coffee shop to close a deal… it ain't all double lattes and fancy cookies!).

But have you considered lately how critical being comfortable in your office is to your overall productivity? Seriously! I know that for me, it's fun to sometimes sit in my comfy living room chair and tap away on my laptop. But for a lot of my work, I need to be in my office sitting at my desk, in an uncluttered environment that breeds creativity.

So with springtime in mind, take a look at this simple article that discusses the importance of organizing. The alternative will lead to lower productivity and ultimately, less money in your pocket!

Not So Shocking Facts About Networking

I gotta be honest here… anytime I read anything that says that I could have "lost out on 75% of (my) potential income last year due to one thing and one thing alone – poor networking skills," it raises my eyebrows quite a bit.

This isn't as much a link to a story as it is to a press release, but it surely looks interesting. Take a look and maybe sign up for the newsletter she offers. I did tonight and I'll keep you informed as I receive advice from this group.

It really is incredibly important to learn the skills of networking in order to maximize your success. Not shocking information by any stretch of the imagination, but it's important to keep this simple fact front-of-mind.

The “Targeted Selection Process”

Ever heard of a "targeted selection process?" Even if you've not heard these exact words, you're likely more than familiar with the concept.

So what better do do on this Monday morning than to take a look at this fantastic article? I know, I know… it's early! But seriously now, the article is strong, and gets to the meat of the matter with little fuss.

The gist? You need to have a PLAN… long before you start your pitch.

Ending Cold Calls?!?

I was sitting at, of all places, my doctor's office yesterday afternoon, and grabbed a copy of the Wall Street Journal. In it, I read an interesting piece about 'personal lead generation techniques.' The story was heavy on the techniques that you can employ to be a more effective lead generator, but was noticably light on a more important piece of the overall puzzle: building a relationship.

So today, I set out to do some looking about for some nice advice for you on not only generating solid leads, but building the relationship once you've identified it.

My search led me to About.com straight away. This nice little piece on cold calling jumped right to the top of my thought process. The sane among us, of course, do not enjoy the cold calling process whatsoever… so why not look for some simple ideas that might help us? We all know that it's a part of the process, right?

But what about once you've identified a prospect? How do you bulid that relationship?

As I was looking around for something that made sense to share, I came across this interesting piece differentiating between the concept of consultative selling and what the author refers to as "unselling."

"Both are not passive approaches. They both require great questioning, listening, and solution-building skills."

It's a short piece, but definetly worth your time this weekend.

Handheld Sales Still Climbing

We all have different preferences when it comes to our daily organization habits. Palm, Blackberry, PocketPC… but in recent months, the trending has become obvious. Handheld units out there that don't integrate telephone capabilities just aren't selling.

Industry experts contend that the all-in-one devices are approaching 15% of the overall marketplace, which gives them a solid base of users, it seems. And why not? Telephone, schedule, Email, Web… all on one tiny unit.

Traditional Palm sales are down, but the Treo series keeps growing. In fact, over 20% of Palm sales in the first quarter of this year were Treo 700w's. That seems to be a good sign for the upcoming release of the 700p (pictured), to be released later this month.

Dell is also still holding their own in the handheld arena, despite rumors that they're planning to bail out of the market completely. Their most expensive offering — the X51V — has become their most popular unit, but until they decide to partner with a mobile provider, the writing is on the wall.

Hope you find this little bit of information helpful as you consider your next mobile organizer upgrade.

The Five Myths of Sales Prospecting

Prospecting… that hard work that you have to do before you can dig into preparing your pitch to a potential client.  It's amazing how little there is out there in the way of solid prospecting advice.

So imagine my surprise earlier today when I stumbled upon this little gem at About.com.

Five myths of the prospecting process, presented in a very simple format.  And it's all good information to boot! It's so easy to just ignore the simple concept of doing your research well up front, until you get slapped with a dose of reality as you realize that the client who just rejected you… should never have been on your list in the first place!

If I were you, I'd print this baby out for future use!  But that's just me… it's up to you to take action.