When I say “trusted advisor,” what words come to mind?
Relationship?
Helpful advice?
Strategic alliance?
Consultant?
DEEP THOUGHTS: Do you believe you are a trusted advisor? Do your customers perceive you as a trusted advisor?
Before you begin this lesson, take a moment to list your current accounts in which you feel you’re a trusted advisor. List the people who rely [...]

There is a little test that professional buyers give to every salesperson. It is a test to see if they are confident in the price they presented. They call it the flinch test. This is the test Procurement Agents and other professional buyers give to salespeople when they provide pricing. “Wow! You are 25% higher [...]

I just read a 500-word article from some consulting firm to a Fortune 10 company on one point – “managers say that relationships are important.”
Well gohleee!
Where is Gomer Pyle when you need him?
Boy, what a non-surprise.
Relationships are important?
Now you tell me!
What was I thinking all these years?
This non-information is typical of money [...]

Being authentic in business is WAY more interesting than being fake.
Ever heard an ad that sounded like it was too good to be true? It probably was. And there are lots of people who probably feel the same way about YOUR message.
Are you being real and honest, or are you trying to be somebody you’re [...]

The Benjamin Franklin Close (also known as “The Balance Sheet Close”) is one of the classic old time sales tactics used to close a sale. Never heard of it? Shame on you. Not enough sales training.
The scenario is this: You’ve made your presentation, but the prospect is on the fence and won’t make up his [...]

In late May, Bill Caskey, founder of Indianapolis-based sales training firm Caskey, hosted a seminar on building a sales “Dream Team.” In the days leading up to that seminar, Caskey published a series of videos exploring five major areas in which he consistently sees sales reps struggling and his tips for addressing those challenges. Here’s [...]

You need to be paying your employees 20% more than your competitors if you want to retain them. But here’s the good news. The 20% more doesn’t need to be in cold hard cash. It can be in many other areas which when added up clearly show your salespeople that they’re getting at least 20% [...]

Crystal balls. Don’t you wish you had one when you were preparing for a big sales call? Even more when you were in a big sales presentation?
GREAT NEWS: A sales crystal ball is nothing more than taking a look at information derived from reading existing stuff and then asking powerful questions about it. Information [...]

The only reason to get media coverage is to generate qualified leads. Therefore, all communications with the media must carry lead generation messages. The three classic messages are best expressed as questions that the customer needs answered:
• Why should we buy?
• Why should we buy from you?
• Why should we buy now?
In addition, any communication [...]

T services are poised to become high tech business’s first trillion-dollar market. If your firm isn’t participating fully, you could find yourself on the short end of the revenue stick. Here’s why.
The market research firm IDC recently issued a report forecasting that companies and government agencies will spend more than $746 billion on external services [...]