As a manager, your most valuable asset is your time.
In Part 1 of “An Alternative to Traditional Performance Management” you learned how to get time back in your week by implementing a 3-part performance management system: funnel management, a weekly behavior plan (a.k.a., “cookbook”) and a personalized development plan.
In Part 2, you’ll learn a system for reducing your time spent on, and your team’s anxiety about, their performance review. (more…)
Like a coach in pro sports, your primary function as a manager is to improve the performance of your team.
Unfortunately, traditional approaches to performance management may have initial success, but are difficult to sustain. (more…)
Ask most salespeople to describe the purpose of each interaction with a prospect and they’ll probably say something like:
All good answers, but the real purpose of every interaction with a prospect is to get to the truth. (more…)
When the calendar turns to July and August, most people struggle to prospect because they believe that all of their prospects are on vacation.
Often summer is a great time to reach decision makers. They are in the office while their staff is away. (more…)
Prospects like to play games with salespeople. The purpose of games prospects play is to make a salesperson feel not-OK.
When a salesperson feels not-OK in front of a prospect, they are more likely to give up their time and information in the hope that their prospect will make them feel OK again. (more…)
When you get an email from a prospect with one of the following requests, what do you do?
If you thought, “reply by email,” you just put your prospect firmly in control of the sales process. (more…)
Even if you’re not hiring for the CEO role at a high profile tech company, bad recruiting can negatively affect morale, productivity and customer relationships. (more…)
Before you choose to answer your prospect’s “how much” question, consider if you are unintentionally helping your prospect lower your prices. (more…)
The bottom line of selling is going to the bank; however, prospects are more likely to offer hope instead of an order when meeting a salesperson.
“Hope is the only thing stronger than fear,”—President Snow, the Hunger Games. “A little hope is effective; a lot of hope is dangerous.” (more…)
The two words that are guaranteed to trip up most sales people are “better” and “value.” The latter we’ll talk about in another post.
Typically the “better” trap is set by a prospect at the beginning of a meeting. After introductions and polite conversation your prospect says, “so tell me how you are better than my current supplier.”
If your instinct is to jump to a features-and-benefits presentation, STOP! There is no way for you to answer that question and have any chance of closing the sale.
There are three reasons why your prospects set the “better” trap:
Fortunately for you, the better trap is one of your prospect’s weaker moves for controlling your sales interview.
To keep your sales interview moving, and put you back in control, you can remove the better trap with one of the following:
Once the better trap is removed, you will be back in control of the sales interview. Your prospect does; however, have many more traps at their disposal and will employ them all to force you into their system.
Talk to your Sandler Trainer about the traps your prospects set for you and your options for removing those traps safely.
Hamish Knox is a Sandler Trainer in Calgary, Alberta.
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