How do you know if a new prospect is real? Here’s the scenario. You meet a prospect who expresses interest. Is that person a blowhard or really interested?  Nurturing while qualifying a prospect is an art and a science. Your time is too valuable to waste on blowhards!...

Harry Hectic owns HH Consulting, an engineering firm. 3 years ago, Harry employed 3 salespeople and 4 engineers. Harry had a great reputation but hated making sales. The sales team used sticky notes, spreadsheets, and handwritten lists to manage tasks, prospects, and...

Congratulations! You’ve built a steady stream of incoming leads. How many touches does it take to convert your leads into sales? What steps do you take to convert your leads? The answers depend on what you sell.  The Challenge Reaching your leads, multiple times over...

There are many reasons to hate a CRM. See “I Used to Hate CRMs” for examples. Whether you are undisciplined and won’t try or you tried a low-priced CRM, received no support from the vendor, and became frustrated, many reasons exist to be scared of CRMs. What if you...

A well-known statement bears repeating – It takes up to 12 touches to close 80% of the sales in the U.S.A.  Follow Up is the Differentiator What is the impact of follow up on sales? While the nature of follow up varies across industries based on your sales cycle,...

Bobbys Socks sells children’s clothes online and in its retail store. It donates 5% of each purchase to charity and sends a special gift to each child after each purchase. Spreadsheets Track Everything Bobby used spreadsheets to track sales, donations, and gift...

What are your customers’ behavior patterns? What customer information do you track and how do you use that data? Customer Behavior Patterns Divide behavior patterns into personal and buying behaviors. Personal ranges from communication methods to interests. Buying...

Rob Jones was promoted to Sales Manager at Smith Brothers (SB), an electronics distributor. He is SB’s first Sales Manager as Randy Smith managed the sales team previously.   Rob faces daily pressures including: Meeting sales targets. Sales team performance. Pipeline...

How do I know if my client acquisition costs (CAC) are too high? How can I lower my CAC?  Client Acquisition Costs What are your client acquisition costs? Two ways to measure CAC are: As a percentage of sales revenue. Per client or customer. Add your marketing and...

3 businesses with 3 different products have the same problems: Not enough sales or profits. Company Profiles The 3 companies are:  Residential Cleaning Services (RCS) has high travel expenses because the jobs are spread out. Janitorial Supply Company (JSC) has...

Here’s the scenario -You walk into an event, someone corners you, and doesn’t stop talking. It is yucky and the opposite of what you want. You may remember that person, but you may not spend time to know if they are nice or trustworthy,  Marketing and sales...

Eddy Tuvinksy (ET) sells for a distributor of cosmetics. Over 25 years, ET has worked at three companies, joining Distro, one year ago. “Steady Eddy” as he is known, has had career success, and knows how to sell! Shortly after joining, ET learned that Distro had a...