One-Minute Sales Tip: Say Goodbye to Resistance

What causes sales resistance?
It's not automatically produced by the customer; it's created by the intention of the salesperson. (…)

When Common Phrases Sabotage Sales

by Jacques Werth and Paul Bunn
We live in a cynical world.  Salespeople have helped create that world, by using words and phrases in ways that trigger suspicion, create mistrust and sabotage sales. (…)

A Process for Sales Success

Most salespeople, sales managers and sales trainers know that sales training seldom has a lasting beneficial effect.  The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), and other research organizations state that less than 25% of the people who take sales training courses obtain a sustained increase in their sales performance.   Why not? (…)

Close Effortlessly without Pressure or Anxiety

By Jacques Werth, PresidentHigh Probability Closing is not an event. It's an integral part of the entire sales process.  We define "closing" as Mutual Commitment. (…)

Change Your Commitments and Change Your Life

by Jacques Werth

Last week I got a call from "Mark" who has been a financial services professional for 12 years.  He said he works far too hard for the $80,000 he earns.  My response was, "What are you committed to? (…)

Six Reasons Top Salespeople Disqualify a “Hot Prospect”

Most top producers increase their sales by disqualifying low probability prospects.  These are prospects that initially looked "hot", however, by asking the right questions, it becomes obvious that the prospect is not ready to buy, now.   Top producers know that there is a far better likelihood of winning the sale if they leave early and then come back when the prospect is ready to buy.  It is a matter of the best utilization of your time, money and efforts.  Here are some examples:
1.  The prospect told you that he/she is the sole decision maker. (…)

Consultative Selling is Obsolete

Jacques Werth
High Probability Selling
Consultative Selling and all of its relatives such as SPIN Selling, Solution Selling, Strategic Selling, Customer Focused Selling, Buying Facilitation, etc. (…)

How Top Salespeople Maintain Their Dignity and Self-Respect

Jacques Werth
High Probability Selling
Prospects and customers, no matter their titles or status, are people like you and me.  We all have a very strong preference for dealing with people that we respect. 
The degree in which a prospect feels respect for the salesperson is extremely important.  It is almost as important as their trust in the salesperson.  We don’t really know whether it is a deliberate behavior of top salespeople to maintain their dignity and self-respect, or whether it is a character trait.  Either way, it is very important to adopt that attitude and learn that attitude and behavior if you want to become a top producer. (…)

Are You New to NLP?

 
Jacques Werth
High Probability Selling
A software salesperson related the following story about one of his recent sales appointments. 
“I went into a meeting with a prospect in his office, and our conversation started with him asking, ‘Tell me again what your software does.”

As he spoke I noticed the prospect, whose elbows had been on the arms of his chair, was moving his hands down alongside the arms of his chair. (…)

I Just Learned a New Business Principle

 
By Paul Bunn
High Probability Selling
During lunch today, I went to my optometrist in an attempt to get my classes repaired.  It was a minor repair.  I could have done the work once I purchased the parts.  The only problem was that my optometrist’s business is set up to facilitate the purchase of new glasses. 
Customers that want repairs or parts, no matter how minor, are directed to the department that sells frames and lenses.  I waited for about 30 minutes, anxiously waiting for someone to assist me.  Nothing happened. 

I don’t necessarily blame the salespeople.  After all, why handle a minor repair job when a much more immediately lucrative set of glasses might be sold?  And they were just following the owners’ business model.  And I clearly didn’t fit their model. 
And that model has a flaw.  The awareness of what customers, in my case existing long-term customers, want…other than selling a new pair of glasses to us every year or so…was somehow overlooked. (…)

Are You Missing Your Best Niche Market?

By Jacques Werth
High Probability Selling
Every salesperson has a great niche market that 99 percent aren’t even aware of.  The concept of a niche market is not new.  The meaning of the term is as varied as the number of sales, marketing and business people trying to identify, define or pursue a niche.  If you find the right niche, your sales volume will skyrocket. (…)

How Top Producers Eliminate Objections

By Jacques Werth
High Probability Selling
Many salespeople try to rationalize that objections are good because they indicate the prospect's level of interest and pinpoint the keys to making the sale. (…)