We've all had "that's what I should've said" moments. After a discussion is already over, the perfect one-liner, ideal comeback, elegant analogy or consummately constructed point occurs to us. The one parlay that would have made our argument. Golfers have a name for the do-over of a shot that didn't go where they wanted, the Mulligan Read More...
The face-to-face meeting with a client, especially the first one, is the single most important event in the sales process. Stumbling block #2 during meetings with new potential clients (read #1-No Traction) takes on the business mantra: "It's not personal, it's just business." If you lose a piece of business with a client to a competitor, does it feel personal? When a startup entrepreneur gets angel funding, do you think it feels personal? When you’ve invested ten years building a team, does it feel personal when that team succeeds or fails? No matter what we think or say, part of being human is that most things that happen to us feel personal Read More...
Imagine that it's your first time face to face with a new prospective client. At Selling with Creativity we are looking at a dozen things a salesperson might do or say at that meeting. Which ones would you do? Assume two general objectives for a first meeting with a new prospective client, 1) You want them to think of you as a creative person that they would like to know, and 2) You'd like them to think of you as useful Read More...
At Selling with Creativity we are working through a list of a dozen actions a salesperson might do or say at a first meeting with a new prospective client. Here are actions four through six. Remember, it’s your first time face to face with a new client. Are these things you would do or say? 4) Summarize a transaction you are currently working on with a well-known client Read More...
Question number three of the yes or no quiz is below with our response. Is this something you would explain at a first sit-down meeting with a prospective client? 2) Explain the three most common problems your product solves. Unless the three challenges they face are exactly the three problems my product will solve, I do not explain this Read More...
Here is question number two (and my response) to the salesperson's 'would you or would you not' quiz. Is this something you would do at a first sit-down meeting with a prospective client? 2) Ask a question about a picture on their office wall. Too hokey? Does it seem to much like a glad-handing salesperson trying too hard to be chatty? Despite this risk Read More...
We're at the beginning of a quiz here at Selling with Creativity. I am proposing some things a salesperson might do or say at a first meeting with a prospective client. Here's the first one and my response. 1) What is your company’s overall strategy and what are the three biggest challenges or objectives that the strategy creates for you? I do ask this question Read More...
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