Mark Jewell's Blog: Selling Energy, page 140

Stacking the Deck in Your Favor, Part 1

When you’re going to market with a new product or service, what niches and value propositions would allow you to stack the deck in your favor? In determining an answer to this question, there are three key questions you should first ask yourself: 

Hitting the C-Suite’s Point

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When you’re talking to the C-suite you need to be aware of who they are and the reasons they get up in the morning.  For example, think of a CEO.  Who hires them?  A board of directors.  Why are they hired?  Leadership, sure.  However, they are also hired to organize and manage a company while making it more valuable. 

Boost Your Productivity

I have written about Jill Konrath’s books before, but her latest is a timely, deeply researched exploration of sales productivity.  With our rapidly shifting work culture and the current pressures of working from home, staying on top of things seems more intimidating than ever.  For example, did you know that most sales professionals work an average of 72 hours a week if they have a smartphone?  What about the fact that salespeople spend only 22% of their time doing the tasks that matter most?

Weekly Recap, June 7, 2020

Here are our favorite sales-enhancing tips from this week's Selling Energy Blogs...

Discover Your Inspiration

You’re Too Slow!

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There are certain situations where you fall short of a customer’s expectations, particularly when it comes to parts of the process that are beyond your control.  What’s one of the most common complaints?  Timing. 

How to Use PowerPoint Effectively

PowerPoint can be a powerful tool to illustrate your offerings to prospects or customers.  However, my first word of advice concerning PowerPoint is “Don’t start with PowerPoint!”  I mean that in the most basic sense.  When that software first came out it was recommended that you limit your text to six words per line and five lines per slide.  That’s thirty words a slide, which means that an hourlong presentation would be 1,800 words!  There are colleges in this country that don’t assign an 1,800-word term paper until you’re a sophomore!  And you’re expecting your audience to read a term-paper-length narrative, over your shoulder, while you’re speaking, in a single hour? 

10 Tips When Talking to a New Prospect

When you’re in a new sales situation, making a good first impression—in person or via teleconference—is crucial. Even if you’re an expert in your product or service and you understand how to sell to your customer, a sale can be ruined by a bad first impression. Here are some things to keep in mind when speaking with a new prospect: 

Three-Sentence Solicitation Tips

One of the quickest ways you can capture your prospect’s attention is using a three-sentence solicitation.  It works in several presentation settings, including the ones we rely on for remote selling: phone, email and text. 

When the Going Gets Tough

Some principles of selling will always be the same, and although the times may change, human nature remains consistent (or, as Dan Ariely puts it, “predictably irrational!”).  Regardless, in this current situation sales professionals need to rise to the occasion for their customers more now than ever—to be prepared, informed and respectful of their needs in order to serve them.