Script Your Way to Being a Good Listener

By Paul Bunn
"I'm just preparing my impromptu remarks." - Winston Churchill
One of the keys to effective listening, especially over the telephone, is to use a script. (…)

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. (…)

Trust and Respect - The Ultimate Competitive Advantage

by Jacques Werth

Does your selling style address the most fundamental needs of your prospects? What are the most important factors to someone making an important buying decision? (…)

Popular Doesn't Necessarily Equal Best - or Even Good

by Paul Bunn
If everyone is thinking alike, somebody isn't thinking.     - George S. (…)

How Successful People Make Decisions

by Carl Ingalls and Paul Bunn
A colleague here in our office recently shared the following strategy for succeeding in business:
“If you want to be successful in business, do business with successful people.”
How we communicate with them is a significant element of that strategy. (…)

So You Think You Lost the Sale?

Losing a sale is something that we've all experienced.  Sometimes it feels like the prospect's mind seemed to change for no apparent reason, sometimes you had a sense that there was something negative in the mind of your prospect, but you just couldn't figure it out. (…)

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. (…)

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. (…)

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. (…)

The Right Relationships with the Right Prospects at the Right Time

 
Most salespeople practice "Consultative Selling." Using this popular sales method, they believe that their job is to meet with prospects who have an apparent need for their products and/or services. (…)

Are You Prepared to Win on the Phone?

By Paul Bunn
High Probability Selling
“The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital.”
 
Joe Paterno
A great number of salespeople pride themselves on being able to think on their feet and come up with the perfect response for whatever a prospect says.  Upon closer examination of the consistent top performers in sales, there’s more to it than just picking up the phone and having conversations, hoping they’ll lead to business or making a sale.  It takes preparation. (…)

Objection-Free Selling?

By Paul  Bunn
High Probability Selling™
 
“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to reform (or pause and reflect).”
-   Mark Twain
 I’ve done a bit of internet searching about objections.  In the majority of sales training websites, “overcoming objections” is listed as a critical part of any sales process.  There are a multitude of techniques and tactics offered, including memorizing the 150-plus common objections and using 135 or so phrases to overcome them. 
When you are trying to get people to do something they don't want to do (such as getting them to give you an appointment, or persuading them to buy something they don't want to buy yet) you generate sales resistance in the form of objections.  Sales resistance is the most prevalent root cause of the objections that salespeople have to continue to try to overcome. 
What if there was another way to achieve a closed sale without having to overcome objections?  What if there was a way to prevent the sales resistance that causes nearly all the objections heard by salespeople? 
Our research, compiled over 40 years of observing top salespeople in the field, has shown that they eliminate the cause of most objections… by changing the approach to selling.  Several key observations came from this research, two of which are:
Top producers approach prospecting in a very different way.  Instead of attempting to convince a prospect to make an appointment, the goal of their prospecting is to find the prospects that don’t require convincing and persuasion to make a purchase.  Contrary to popular belief, these prospects exist in every market we’ve encountered. 
Then, these top salespeople approach selling in a very different way.  On the rare occasions that an objection comes up, they acknowledge and discuss it with the prospect in a manner that we describe as “full disclosure.”  They discuss the detriments of their offering as well as the features and benefits, which prevent an objection from becoming a deal-killer. (…)