by David Cottrell | 23 Jul 2015 | Customer Satisfaction, News, Sales Skills
So you’ve been seeing this Customer for almost a year and feel you want to take the relationship to the next level? What do they say? They’re saying all the right things but don’t back it up with actions? Customers sometimes speak with forked...
by David Cottrell | 22 Jul 2015 | Negotiation, News, Sales Skills
At the end of a tough negotiation I could see the visiting sales team were really happy to be ‘escaping’ as we arrived back at our reception. “David, thanks for your time. We’ll get back to you about those outstanding issues.” This is...
by David Cottrell | 20 Jul 2015 | Customer Satisfaction, News, Sales Skills
What’s the single biggest reason customers switch business to one of your competitors? Price too high? A possibility but no. Poor quality/service? Could be but again no. Competitor undercutting your price? Not even close! Let me put you out of your misery (and...
by David Cottrell | 27 Nov 2014 | News, Sales Skills
Have you been working hard all year for little or no profit? Customers making more demands but unwilling to pay for them? It’s time to increase prices! “Are you crazy? Don’t you know that the economy is still very weak?” I hear you say....
by David Cottrell | 6 Nov 2014 | News, Sales Skills
We’ve all seen sales stories represented by people climbing ladders. Looking up (Still so far to go!). Looking down (Don’t look down!) What are the steps or rungs that we have to climb in order to get to the top of the ladder and deliver sales? The...
by David Cottrell | 27 Oct 2014 | News, Sales Skills
Amongst Salaried Salespeople the bonus or incentive scheme can often be misunderstood. How does your present plan correlate with the Corporate needs? “Top line growth at any cost vs profitable and sustainable growth”. Global selling into matrix-style...
by David Cottrell | 22 Sep 2014 | News, Sales Skills
1. Think In Ink Whatever plans you have to be the best sales person you can be, make sure you write them down! Not just some sketchy overview but detailed plans of what you want to achieve at each customer/target. There’s probably a number of people in each...
by David Cottrell | 12 Aug 2014 | News
The British economy is now 0.2% bigger than it was at its last peak, in the first three months of 2008. Britain’s longest depression since serious record-keeping began is now officially over. The recovery has been driven by our service industries but we should...
by David Cottrell | 24 Jul 2014 | News, Sales Skills
Heading into a sales visit with a new Buyer? Are you prepared properly? Do you have a sales qualification? What % of Procurement professional have a qualification in their functional area? 66%. Yes, you heard correctly. Two-thirds of procurement professionals have...
by David Cottrell | 14 Jul 2014 | News
Defined as: The estimation or name of being, having, having done, etc., something specified: He has the reputation of being a shrewd businessman. With the Football World Cup reaching its conclusion yesterday it’s interesting to review...
by David Cottrell | 2 Jul 2014 | News, Sales Skills
You’re preparing for that big customer presentation. PowerPoint slides everywhere. Time for some editing before the big event. Take each major point in your communication and ask “so what?” three times. If it doesn’t stand up to scrutiny three times DITCH...
by David Cottrell | 3 Jun 2014 | Negotiation, News
What needs of the other party are not being met? If you reach a deadlock the best suggestion is to STOP discussing the CONTENT and review the PROCESS of the negotiation. Perhaps the first thing to do is change the time and place of the negotiation. A fresh start is...
