Product Competition vs Replacement Competition

Identifying competitors is not as simple as it seems. As I introduced in last week’s post: there are many reasons why a prospect may choose not to buy, and each of these is a form of competition. Another product that does the exact same thing may seem to be the same as a replacement, but…

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4 Categories of Competitors Everyone Must Know

It is common to view one’s own business, service or product as unique. This is natural: the business founder has his or her own method, approach and passion. This is not always that obvious to clients, however; nor, and this is the harsh part, is it always relevant. When a prospect is making a purchasing…

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What Happens After You Leave the Room?

And how can  you know? Defining your Solution is all about understanding that moment. You can hardly sell value to your clients if you don’t understand how their lives change thanks to your product or service. Almost all of my clients – whether for consulting work or training – request a work-through of Defining their…

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Nobody Wants Your Product – Still

We first discussed this last year – and it remains true: nobody wants your product. Understanding this is fundamental to Problem Solving sales. When people buy, it is not about you – the seller. It is all completely about them – the buyer. Do you know what happens after you have left the room? Do…

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Evolution of Sales Conversations

Photo by Samuel Zeller on Unsplash

There are as many ways to describe “Sales Eras” as there are sales people. A quick search will reveal sales stages and methods like manipulative versus consultative, push versus pull, barrier selling, relationship selling, transactional selling and much more. In my work I keep a focus on selling as being all about buying, and as…

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The Objection Handling Strategy

A successful business is one that solves problems for other people. It achieves this not only with its product, but also with how the product (or service) is purchased, implemented and utilized. In order to continuously solve problems through all of these stages, a successful business understands its client needs. This means encouraging, addressing and…

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5 Categories of Objections

Pairing my appreciation for systems with the importance of responding to objections, I do train my clients on how to pro-actively manage this part of their sales conversations. In other words: there’s a strategy for that. And it starts before any sales conversation has occurred. All objections will fall into one of five categories. Understanding these,…

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Are Objections Harming My Business? Part 2

Yesterday we examined a couple of situations in which a business owner believes he or she is not encountering objections in their business. Today, let’s look at a few more situations, where said business owner is aware of a sales problem, though perhaps not the specific role objections can play. I have dozens of sales…

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Buying Triggers

Have you every asked yourself why your new clients buy from you? I don’t mean from you specifically, I mean what has prompted them to buy at all? In almost all cases, buying something is a burden. It is an interruption of one’s productivity, work or leisure time. Before a prospect even has a chance…

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Do you Push or Do Buyers Pull? (Less selling more buying)

How many times have you walked into a store thinking “I hope nobody tries to sell to me, I know what I want to buy so let me get it, pay, and leave.”? Your clients are no different: they will be much happier if they are doing the buying – the pulling – rather than…

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