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Lou Casale VIP Contributor ENTREPRENEUR

Here’s the one thing you can do to move beyond a quick sale and into a long-term partnership.

Throughout my career, I have been on both sides of the sales process, as a buyer and as a seller. As a buyer, I’ve observed that salespeople whom I admire most share this one characteristic, and I’ve found it effective in convincing me to do business with them. Put simply, I have always respected a salesperson who had the ability to teach me something. I’m not talking about a salesperson who could recite all the features and benefits of the product or service, but rather someone who presented himself or herself as a knowledgeable subject matter expert.

At its core, a sales pitch is an opportunity to show customers how your products and services will help them achieve their goals. What better way to show customers how you can help solve their problems than by teaching them something? If you’re able to teach customers, they will naturally be more likely to want to learn more about the value of your products and services.

As you think about ways to improve your sales communications, here are some steps you can take to educate current and future customers.

Become a subject matter expert.

Learning everything you can about the market you’re working in is the first step to becoming a credible authority. Attend the conferences and trade shows your customers attend. Read the trade journals, research reports and blogs your customers and prospects read. Follow and engage with industry influencers on social media. This type of behavior is a prerequisite for any salesperson who aspires to be a true partner to their customer.

Tell customers something they don’t know.

To strike a chord with customers, offer useful information. While you probably have a fancy presentation deck about your company and its products, push it to the side and lead with valuable educational content (white papers, research reports, articles, how-to guides, etc.) that demonstrate your unique perspective.

Read more……..

5 Things Companies Should Do for Their Management Teams by Sharlyn Lauby

Organizations place a tremendous amount of responsibility on their managers. One of the biggest roles a manager plays is that of coach. Their working relationships can empower and engage employees to do their best work. But that doesn’t come without an investment into management development. Here are five activities that companies should do to develop managers (so they can develop employees.)

1. Set expectations to ensure your mission, vision and values are the drivers behind all performance-related conversations. When someone becomes a manager, they need to understand their role in the organization. Managers are responsible for making sure the mission, vision, and values of the organization aren’t compromised. They need to hold themselves accountable to demonstrating organizational values.

2. Give managers access to technology solutions that will reduce administration time. Being a manager involves some compliance and administration. But these responsibilities don’t have to be completed inefficiently or consume a majority of a manager’s time. And they shouldn’t! Using technology strategically can free up managers so they spend more time where it counts – with employees.

3. Provide training on how to deliver real-time feedback. Regardless of your performance review process, employees need feedback. Most of the time that feedback comes from their manager. Delivering specific feedback in a timely fashion can make a difference in employee performance. Check-in conversations and feedback that take place in real-time will maximize their impact and ultimately, improve manager and employee development.

4. Train managers to be better coaches and mentors so they can help employees grow their skills. Many managers were promoted because they were top performers in their roles; however, this doesn’t mean they automatically have the necessary people skills. In addition to feedback training, managers should be given the tools to coach and mentor employees in career development (i.e. goal setting, decision-making, etc.) Managers need to not only identify and train the future leaders of the organization.

5. Encourage managers to solicit feedback from their employees and colleagues. The organization needs to make an investment in their managers. In turn, managers need to make an investment in themselves. They should ask peers and employees for feedback about their performance so they can develop themselves.

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

2018 WORKSHOPS- REGISTER TODAY

Register now for one of only TWO, 2018 Sales and Management Summits. Our workshop calendar is significantly smaller than years past so start planning today to join Jack in one of the cities below……

• Sept 20 & 21, 2018– 2-Day Sales & Management Success Summit – Washington
• September 20, 2018-Management Success Workshop- Washington, D.C.
• September 21, 2018– Smart Selling Workshop – Washington, D.C.
• Oct 18 & 19, 2018– 2-Day Sales & Management Success Summit – San Diego, CA
• October 18, 2018-Management Success Workshop- San Diego, CA
• October 19, 2018– Smart Selling Workshop – San Diego, CA

DUBLIN, IRELAND- 09 OCTOBER, 2018

REGISTER TODAY- That’s right, Jack is delivering a full day Workshop open to the public. The morning will be focused on Building a World Class Sales Organization and Culture; the afternoon will be on Hyper Sales Growth. Option is yours to attend either or both. The event is being held at the Ballsbridge Hotel, Pembroke Road Ballsbridge, Dublin.

Registration details:

09 October– Full Day Hyper Sales Growth Workshop

09 October– Half Day Morning Coaching Companies Workshop

09 October– Half Day Afternoon Smart Selling Workshop

You Will Learn

• Unique strategies for capturing and closing more leads
• Low-cost tactics for increasing the value of your prospect and customer lists
• How to drive greater sales and profits with existing resources
• Leveraging the web and social media to increase sales
• Build a world-class sales organization through recruitment, empowerment, training, coaching & leadership and a winning culture
• SMART Selling – learn how to sell smarter through offering value and recognition systems
• Communication – Social & Buying Styles, Personality Profiles & The Call Critique – The Relationship Selling & Management Process
• The Laws for Self Renewal, Target & Personal Marketing
• Everything you need to know to Double Your Sales!

Who Should Attend

• Sales teams
• Marketing managers
• CEOs and business leaders
• Entrepreneurs

Zoom & Skype call tips (the secrets of video conferences) by Seth Godin

If you’ve ever joined more than three people on a Skype or Zoom conference call, I hope you’ll appreciate these tips, and perhaps share them:

1. Sit close to the screen. Your face should fill most of it.
2. Use an external microphone or headset.
3. When you’re not talking, hit mute.
4. Don’t eat during the meeting.
5. When you’re on mute during an audio call, you can do whatever you want. But when you’re on mute on a video call, you need to act like you’re truly engaged. Nod your head. Focus on the screen. Don’t get up and feed your dog.
6. Don’t sit with the window behind you. A little effort on lighting goes a very long way.
7. When you’re talking, spend some time looking at the camera, not the screen. You’ll appear more earnest and honest this way.
8. When you’re talking, go slow. No one is going to steal your slot.

These are obvious. They are generous. They’re effective.

And almost no one puts in the effort to consistently deliver on them. It’s worth it.