I’ve been on a hectic book tour the past several weeks, and I’ve listened to thousands of small business owners discuss their concerns. One common problem: we need more sales. Yes, we’d all like to increase our revenue and build our businesses. But hold your horses — not all sales are good sales. Sounds counter-intuitive, [...]
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Sales are the driving force behind any company. Let’s face it, without sales there won’t be a company for very long. Because sales are so vital to an organization, how does one create a sales culture that works? Culture is the sum of the values, customs, traditions and beliefs that make a company unique. Basically [...]
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Through the years, I’ve found two absolutely golden fundamentals about sales and selling for just about anybody: First, sell only what you believe in. Second, it’s all about listening. It’s like one percent talking and 99 percent listening. Listen very carefully to the other person and be sure you understand what they want and need. [...]
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David Shear continues his series on the state of retail. Very mafia, right? Well, I don’t think the comparison is very far off. Retail sales require that you know the right people, and that everyone gets their share of the revenue. The people who sit on the top of the retail food chain are the [...]
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David Shear continues his series on the state of retail. Success in retail depends on your company’s current understanding of the overall retail landscape. You may have understood where retail was two years ago, you may have had your finger on the pulse in 2007, but the market isn’t what it was two years ago. [...]
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Circuit City shut its doors, office supply stores are reporting slow quarters, and consumers are staying home. The slow economy has reduced sales in just about every retail store. If your company is selling in the retail channel (or thinking about it), the news can be frightening. One year ago I could read the writing [...]
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Lead generation is the process of turning a “suspect”, one that you believe needs what you have to offer, into a prospect, or someone who has “raised their hand” and engaged you or your company in some way. But in order to turn that prospect into a happy, repeat customer and referral partner your “marketing” [...]
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We all forget too easily: The best startup funding is sales. Sure, we all think of angel investment, friends and family, and SBA loans; all of those options are necessary for most startups. But sales is better. If you can, find the early customers. Give them a deal, make them important, work with them to optimize [...]
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There were times in the past when I was able to listen to a caller on the phone, understand what he wanted, and recommend something else. One that I used to get a lot in the early days of Palo Alto Software was where the customer wanted accounting, not planning. “No, Business Plan Pro doesn’t [...]
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Purchase incentives are an every-day occurrence. We see them everywhere, from simple coupons to instant rebates to frequent flier miles. Does your business offer a purchase incentive as a marketing tactic? How much good does it do for your business… really? Does your fulfillment deliver the goods? I’m a geezer who remembers mailing in breakfast [...]
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