All blog entries

Out with the Old or in with the Old?

Posted by: ResourceNation in Blogs on Jun 28, 2011

Tagged in: employers , employee , economy

Where does the buy-cycle start?

Posted by: sharondrew in Blogs on Jun 27, 2011

Tagged in: Facilitative Questions , Facilitative Question , Facilitating Buying Decisions , Decision Facilitation , Buying Facilitation® , Buying Decision Teams , buyers decision journey , buy cycle

The buy-cycle begins with one person with an idea – a recognition that things could be better. Whether from a discussion with a salesperson, idea from an article, or just the exasperation of an every-day issue, one person starts the journey toward a purchase – and meanders, falters, through all of the change management issues that litter the way toward a new solution.

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How To Get Change Management on the Project Management Agenda

Posted by: mxenitelis in Blogs on Jun 24, 2011

Tagged in: training , stakeholder , project management , Leadership , human resources , Communication , change management

Most change in organizations today occurs because of large scale project implementation. Very often this involves new technology platforms but sometimes the change is purely a business project change initiative. Unfortunately change management still has a long way to go to establish its fundamental importance to the successful implementation and benefit realisation of those changes. Simply put, most project managers think of change management as something that happens later in the project management life cycle. So let's talk about why this happens and what as change managers we can do to put it on the agenda.

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Are Your Communication Strategies Really Engaging Employees?

Posted by: mxenitelis in Blogs on Jun 24, 2011

Tagged in: feedback , Employee Engagement , customer experience , Communication , changing attitudes , change , behavior

The frequency at which the word "engagement" appears in any discussion about employee communication has begun to make me wonder whether we clearly understand what the term means. More importantly, do we understand what it means to our clients, particularly CEOs, when they talk about engagement? We have engagement tools, but can we really say that these tools actually engage employees in the process of change? Or are employees merely engaged with the tool itself?

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A technology case study: implementing what the customer wants

Posted by: sharondrew in Blogs on Jun 24, 2011

Tagged in: Facilitative Questions , Facilitative Question , Facilitating Buying Decisions , Decision Facilitation , Buying Facilitation® , Buying Decision Teams , Business leaders , Become a great communicator

In order for any change to occur – whether it’s a decision to purchase a product, or an implementation to add new technology - whatever touches the ultimate solution must buy-in to the change.

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The Spread of English in Global Business

Posted by: mikel in Blogs on Jun 23, 2011

Tagged in: Untagged

In recent decades the English language has spread to become one of the most widely used in the world. Not only is this the case in countries that had a British presence back in the days of the grand empire, but also in many countries of different backgrounds that use English as the primary language for business. With English schools cropping up all over the globe, in the most remote locations, there will soon come a time when almost every person on the planet has a basic grasp of the English language.

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Can I Afford to Dump This Customer?

Posted by: ResourceNation in Blogs on Jun 22, 2011

Tagged in: money , Customer , business

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Feature, Advantage, Benefit Selling No Longer Works

Posted by: SterlingChase in Blogs on Jun 21, 2011

Tagged in: sales training , sales tips , sales techniques , sales advice , fab selling , consultative selling

With the public and commercial sectors facing the ongoing challenges of a lack of confidence and cut backs in spending budgets, and competition becoming more aggressive every day, sales professionals are operating in an environment that is more challenging than ever before.

This is because of the various pressures which are now facing most executives, making them have to work much harder in today’s economic climate. In turn, this makes the role of sales professionals far more difficult. Buying decisions are either being commoditized (and bought on price) or they are being viewed as strategic decisions (and are being made at a much more senior level), regardless of the size of their company.

If sales professionals want to win strategic (and more profitable) business, they need to sell more proactively and at a higher level. But senior people don’t want to be sold products. They want a proactive consultative sale that delivers real business value, return on investment and quick payback in terms of cash flow. Feature, Advantage, Benefit selling is dead and no longer works! Traditional sales people need to smarten up and their sales techniques need to evolve in the process. Consultative selling is the only way forward, even for small businesses. Instead of pushing the features, advantages and benefits of a solution, sales people need to understand and take advantage of the external pressures facing their clients before aligning their solutions with their pains and desires. Great sales people open discussions around the client’s world before aligning the client’s needs and desires with their solution. This is a sure route to improving your selling skills and earnings – so long as you are capable of get meetings in the first place.

However, senior buyers are even less accessible these days because they are trying to succeed in a much more complex world and there are a lot of sales people out there trying to steal their time to ask them meaningless questions or tell them about the latest great product.

People in a sales role in the new world will need to work much smarter if they’re going to succeed. If they can’t be smarter, they need to work smarter. They need practical and repeatable tools and techniques for consultative selling – whether they are selling products, services or a complex mix of both.

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What did you learn from the last sale you lost?

Posted by: markhunter in Blogs on Jun 21, 2011

Tagged in: value proposition , success , sales , motivation , leverage , failure , Customer , commission

My mom always used to tell me how we learn more in life from our failures than we do from our successes, yet for too many of us in sales this concept doesn't seem to sink in.

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What is Your Customer's Price Tolerance Ratio?

Posted by: markhunter in Blogs on Jun 21, 2011

Tagged in: value , supply-chain , selling process , sales , profit potential , pricing perception , Price Tolerance , leverage , customer resistance , bottom line

Every customer has a price range where they are willing to make a decision without any further thinking. I refer to this as the Price Tolerance Ratio – also known as the PTR.

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Cooperation

Posted by: mountainassociates in Blogs on Jun 21, 2011

Tagged in: Untagged

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What are we paying our sales folks to do?

Posted by: sharondrew in Blogs on Jun 20, 2011

Tagged in: Selling information , sales cycle , sales career , Buying Facilitation® , Buying Decision Teams

What criteria do you use to compensate your sales folks? Some combination of salary, commission, and year-end bonus, based on industry standard? And how do you know that that is the appropriate standard?

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