Get real-world advice on your toughest sales questions
I haven’t talked to a prospect in several months and think I may have dropped the ball. What should I do? How can I pick up my fumble? – Maddie in Ponca City, Oklahoma Answer: Pick up the fumble and run with it. Reach out and check in with your client. Don’t apologize; just initiate your conversation where you left …
My client has a new boss that has a relationship with a competing company. I don’t want to lose this client. How can I get in front of this and save my client from turning to the competitors? – Laura in Columbia, Missouri Answer: We all know how important client retention is for maintaining our sales and fostering strong business. …
I’m struggling to receive returned calls. I follow up over and over. Calls, emails, and inmail on LinkedIn – nothing works. What am I missing? How do I get a call back? – Johanna in Brandon, Manitoba Answer: How do sales people improve the likelihood of receiving a returned call from their prospects? This is the million-dollar question. Seasoned professionals, …
My clients never give me referrals. I’m doing great business with them with outstanding performance reviews. Why won’t they voluntarily recommend me? – Blessing in Huntsville, Alabama Answer: Blessing, this is a great question. As with asking for the sale, you must ask for the referral. This is a simple answer, but there is an art to asking for referrals. …
Lynn, how have sales changed with #MeToo? What should I do differently? – Aimee in Owings Mills, Maryland Answer: Best practices for sales professionals have not changed with #MeToo. Sales is about serving your customers in an ethical and responsible way, and there is no room for inappropriate and egregious behavior in a sales person’s repertoire. Successful sales people build …
I love the sales webinars you provide, and think they would work well for our own sales strategy. BTW, what is the technology platform you use for your sales webinars? Tips to execute? – Calen in Sioux Falls, South Dakota Answer: Calen, webinars are an excellent content strategy to reach your prospects. We currently use GoToMeeting for our webinars. We …
Our sales funnel does not provide enough qualified prospects. Do I go out and find them on my own, or should I address this through management? – Yamila in Cheyenne, Wyoming Answer: Yamila, how are you defining “qualified prospects”? Are you defining “qualified” as giving you an immediate response? Today, in many industries, the sales cycle is longer than ever. …
One of my colleagues told me I come across as a flirt. I was horrified. She’s a real pro and I respect her. Still, our styles are very different. I have numerous male clients. How do I act friendly without being flirty when building rapport? – Becky in Smyrna, Delaware Answer: It’s all about the signals you give off. There’s …
We never have enough marketing materials for the different industries and business units. We have a generic brochure and presentation, but neither addresses the unique needs of our market segments. How do I approach management to convince them to give us better materials? –McKenzi in Boise, Idaho Answer: Preparation and participation are primary components for success in any endeavor. Schedule …
There are far too many non-selling tasks at my firm. I’m working all kinds of extra hours to complete these tasks. How do I get out from under this and back to selling? – Priya in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Answer: Priya, this is a loaded question, and on first glance, it appears difficult to answer. Without knowledge of your firm, …