If you run your own business, should you be proficient at every aspect of the business — even scrubbing toilets and working the register? Or, is that what you pay people to do, so you don’t have to worry about it? There’s an interesting story at www.businessweek.com about an unpaid internship program for would-be franchisees…
Category: Sales Skills
“If” questions keep sales conversations moving forward
We recently talked about how to overcome a prospect’s “buying objections” during a sales situation. It is critical for salespeople to know how to respond to these types of objections in order to overcome them and close the sale. Next, we’ll discuss getting permission to continue the conversation asking “if” questions. No one wants to…
Ask investigative questions to close the sale
When was the last time you asked a question during a sales call? Do you sometimes find yourself doing the majority of the talking, without taking the time to figure out what the prospect really wants or needs? Prospects turn to salespeople because they are the experts on the product they’re selling. They want the…
When does working from home make sense?
It’s happened twice for me so far. Once, I was on the phone with a city’s transportation director, working on a story on deadline. The other time, I was talking to a judge. Luckily for me, both were dog people. What happened? I was making a work call when someone buzzed my front door, sending…