Colleen’s Blog

Like many professional sellers, I travel all the time. Having racked up over 225,000 miles over two major airlines last year you could say that my most used office space is seat 3D. Air Canada and America are my preferred choices and I am always pleased with the levels of service they provide their elite fliers. Concierge service, priority numbers, access to the best seats and best flights, upgrades, free food and drinks - it really does pay to be a top tier with these two airliners. I need to be productive when I travel. For me, that means a business class seat for room and privacy, power, and WiFi. After all, this is my office! This month, I was surprised to be be missing key elements from these requirements with both carriers.

Response rates are critical in sales. After all, if you can't get a buyer to respond to a call or an email...you can't start a relationship let alone close a sale. Smart sellers know that email marketing to a warm list of buyers is a profitable way to both keep in touch with your current customers as well as attracting new buyers. That being said, you must pay attention to a few rules to ensuring your emails are responded to positively.

What if I told you that you may be standing on a sales gold mine and not even know it? There are actually countless organizations who will miss their sales targets this year, without realizing that if they took advantage of this gold mine, they could not only make up lost ground, but completely exceed the results they hope to create this year. Don't worry about grabbing your shovels, no physical labor is necessary to tap into and grab the gold that's already waiting for you. Wondering what I'm talking about? Enough suspense!

Do your team members possess the key trait for sales success? People are always asking me what they think the number one personality trait of a successful salesperson should be. Now, there is obviously a mixture of key strengths an ideal salesperson should possess, but one that stands out for me is personal responsibility. A salesperson is simply not prepared to reach their maximum potential until they take responsibility for their wins, losses, and their development as a sales professional. Here are a few questions to discover if this trait exists in your next candidate:

Home fitness is all the craze these days. You know, those big, bulky machines that supposedly deliver amazing results or certain 90 day programs that make you fit and healthy? Don't worry, I'm not about to bash anything that can increase your fitness, health and overall well-being. The fitness machines and programs are not my issue. In fact, if you eat right, work hard and stay committed, you probably will get into great shape. My issue is with the people who buy these machines/programs, and then leave them to collect dust. You can have greatest fitness program or gym pass in the world, but if you don't use it, the results won't come. 

The amazing Jill Konrath has done it again. Her new book More Sales, Less Time has been released today and like all her books. This one is bound to be a best seller. Jill and I have shared the stage many times and I always value her wisdom on what it takes to be successful selling now.

Are you prepared to combat a destructive virus on your team as soon as it shows up? Unlike the cold virus, the negativity virus has no "season" - it can show up in any given month, on any given day and without warning.  Similar to the common cold, however, it can be highly contagious and just one team member infected with this bug can quickly spread the virus to the entire sales team.

,So I work with a lot of companies who aren’t big enough to have both a sales team and a marketing team. And you know what? That’s okay because especially in today’s selling environment, the very best sales people are also really strong marketers.

Is your market slowing down? Be sure not to get caught up in a “slow down” mindset! While most salespeople will complain about the market, the successful salespeople will be looking for ways to turn a negative situation into a positive one. The majority of salespeople fail to realize that a market slowing down is actually the perfect opportunity to revise sales strategies and increase sales activity. Think about it, the slower market does not just create problems for you, your competition is likely struggling as well. Chances are they're facing the same challenges your sales team is facing, so it’s important to capitalize on this opportunity. By switching yourself from a  “slow down” mindset to a “speed up” one, you are essentially taking the first step towards achieving prosperity in difficult markets.

It's simply one of the oldest and biggest problems in sales...how does a salesperson get their calls returned? You've probably encountered this problem before. I don't anticipate this age-old issue becoming any easier in the near future. The truth is, there is no magic key or phrase or intro or any other "quick trick" that will guarantee a returned phone call 100% of the time. Because let's face it, if there was a magic formula...sales would be easy!