The dream client slides the draft of the proposal back to a sales professional in disappointment. As the potential client considers this new relationship, he cannot help thinking that the recommendations are light on details, surface level at best. After all the work that went into the sales professional creating this first opportunity, the …
I Did Not Go to College For This!
Decades ago, when I started building banking markets, I faced a dilemma. I had to develop leadership and sales skills in people that went to college to learn how to be rewarded financially for their deep knowledge skills, not management or growing a client base. Adding call sheets, pipeline tools, and growth expectations into the …
When Your Dream Prospect Says, ‘Who Cares!’
A sales professional takes their seat in front of their dream prospect after nurturing a long business development process. After an exchange of pleasantries, the prospect asks the sales professional, ‘tell me why I should work with you; tell me why you are different!’ The sales professional proceeds just as they were taught to talk …
3 Powerful Pillars of Effective Business Development Training
As a leader, imagine you have invested in business development training for your sales staff and now you want to stop by the training area to show your support. You listen as the facilitator talks about the importance of building rapport, making more calls, and asking powerful questions. As first, you feel satisfied that your …
A Simple 5-step Exercise to Stand Out from Your Competition
Many organizations today believe that they are a value-based selling organization based on the premise that they can simply command a price higher than their competition because they are worth it. I will typically challenge them to articulate what exactly they offer to their clients that deserve a premium price, thus proving their differentiation. Typically, …