“QUESTION STACKING”DAVID RUBINSTEINEDITED BYJIM OLSONEverybody does it and we are rarely aware of it. And, it’s not a good thing.It’s fantastic when Sellers ask open-ended questions of their Buyers. This is the essence of sales, after all. But, in our zealousness we frequently cause more problems for ourselves.Working with more than 25,000 Sellers over the [...]
IT AIN’T THE REACH,IT’S THE TOUCHDAVID RUBINSTEINEDITED BYJIM OLSONHow many of us have been asked by Sales Managers, “how many calls did you make today?” That would probably be all of us. What do our Managers really want to know? Perhaps, how we are spending our time. Or, are we working at all?!Let’s look at [...]
CREATE MORE TIMETURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONEDAVID RUBINSTEINEDITED BYJIM OLSONIt’s amazing how many of us just don’t have enough time to get done what needs to get done during the selling day. Well, here’s a quick tip on how to create more time – simply turn off your cell phone!We are so tied to our [...]
CHANGE YOUR VOICE-MAILMESSAGE DAILY DAVID RUBINSTEINEDITED BYJIM OLSONThere are big things in Sales and there are little things. This is an example of the latter. Sellers strive to differentiate themselves from their competition. One way to accomplish this is to change your voice-mail message every day: * Announce the day. * Tell ‘em what you’re [...]
“THE IGNITER PROTOCOL”How hard is it to make a cold-call? Imagine this. You enter an office where you’re not known. The person you’re seeing has a ton of other, more important, things to do and the odds are overwhelming they are getting what you’re selling from another source. Not a pretty picture.At this point it [...]
EFFECTIVE LISTENING THROUGHEFFECTIVE QUESTIONINGDAVID RUBINSTEINEDITED BYJIM OLSONGood listening skills are essential for successful selling. No doubt about it. How do we become a better listener? How well do we listen while under pressure? How accurately are we understanding what’s being said while cold-calling the “Big Cheese?’ How are we affected knowing that there is a [...]
‘TIS BETTER TO ASK THAN GUESSI find it interesting that so much of traditional sales training – what I call “Urban Sales Legend” – focuses on the Buyer. And, a lot of that topic focuses on “reading” the Buyer’s “body-language.” That, then leads into what a Seller should do as a result of that interpretation, [...]
FUHGEDDABOUDIT!GET EMPTY-HEADEDDAVID RUBINSTEINEDITED BYJIM OLSONThey say it’s tough to teach old dogs new tricks. And, this is especially true for veteran Sellers. How often do we let what we know – or think we know – get in the way of what we need to know? Too often we think we know it all. We [...]
WHY I’M CALLINGDAVID RUBINSTEINEDITED BYJIM OLSONSo, a stranger barges past security, rushes past the receptionist, ignores the gate-keeper and enters the office of the “Big Cheese.” And, wanting money. Wow! Sounds like grounds for a perp-walk followed by a long trial. This could also be the definition of making a cold call – appearing uninvited [...]
WHEN THEY WON’T RETURNYOUR CALLDAVID RUBINSTEINEDITED BYJIM OLSONI wish I had a nickel for every cold-calling Seller who wants to know how to get a Buyer to return a voice-mail message. And, there is nothing worse than a “serial message-leaver” -- the theory being that persistence will prevail. Some Sellers have told me that they [...]
