Oct 29, 2013 By Andy Paul

Effective Sales Follow-up: Is It Art or Attitude?

Recently I read a blog article about the Art of the Follow-up. I liked the general premise put forward by the author, namely that there are skills we can all learn that will improve the effectiveness of our sales follow-up efforts. Unfortunately, the author put the cart before the... Read More

Sales, Small Business

Oct 24, 2013 By Andy Paul

Are You Hiring a Sales Stereotype?

How would you respond to the question: Who’s your sales type? I recently read that the cost of a bad sales hire is 7 times (7x) the annual salary of that position. You would think that such a stiff penalty would provide sufficient incentive for hiring managers to do a much better job of... Read More

Sales, Small Business

Sep 18, 2013 By Andy Paul

Are You Providing Your Prospects with a Clear Choice?

In his entertaining book, The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz describes a central problem facing customers in today’s markets. The unabated pace of technological evolution, combined with the Internet-driven information revolution and the rapid globalization of our economy, has resulted in... Read More

Featured, Sales, Small Business

Sep 13, 2013 By Andy Paul

Sales Tips: Why Shouting Louder is Not the Key to Being Heard

In 1971, Herbert Simon, an economist at Carnegie Mellon University, and a future Nobel laureate in economics, wrote a very prescient description of the upcoming information revolution and the impact that the ready availability of seemingly endless quantities of information would have on our... Read More

Featured, Sales, Small Business

Sep 04, 2013 By Andy Paul

Improve Customer Responsiveness to Close More Sales

The seller that has the most customer responsiveness has the inside track to close the sale. I have previously written about the importance of time in selling. Time is a commodity that is in short supply for buyer and seller alike. If you make good use of the time your prospects... Read More

Sales

Aug 20, 2013 By Andy Paul

4 Ways Salespeople Can Eliminate Buyer’s Remorse

Don't let your customers think like this People will tell you that buyer’s remorse is a perfectly normal reaction on the part of your customers. That it always happens. However, I don't believe that buyer's remorse is normal, or even necessary. According to a definition I found... Read More

Sales

Jul 30, 2013 By Andy Paul

How to Ensure No Sales Leads are Left Behind

I propose that every company needs to adopt a "No Lead Left Behind" policy for sales leads. Studies have found that among companies of all sizes and industries approximately 40-50% of sales leads are not followed up. Consider for a moment that nearly $250 billion (yes, that is... Read More

Sales

Jul 15, 2013 By Andy Paul

What Scratch Off Lottery Tickets Can Teach You About Selling

When I speak, I hand out three scratch-off lottery tickets to illustrate why sales leads are like scratch-off lottery tickets. The tickets I distribute cost $5 and have the potential to instantly pay off up to $100,000 for the winning combination of numbers. I tell the people holding a ticket not... Read More

Sales, Small Business