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In June 2014 I had the opportunity to provide some concluding remarks and summarize my year as president of the National Speakers Association at their annual convention. The year had been the journey of a lifetime, and it was also my best year in business. I felt like I was on the top of the world…
What happens when a customer says no to you? What do you do? Ninety percent of salespeople accept no as an outright rejection and just move on. But that is the worst thing you can do! In doing so, you disqualify yourself from numerous sales. Why? Because a good sales executive will encounter between three…
As our society has become more polarized politically, many people have started talking about the term confirmation bias to explain what is going on. The term basically means the tendency to look for information that confirms our existing beliefs and to ignore the information that challenges our beliefs. Our confirmation bias leaves us stuck in…
Michael Lewis’s 2003 bestselling book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, which inspired the 2011 film Moneyball, examined the Oakland A’s baseball team and their general manager’s approach to assembling a team that could compete, despite its comparatively low payroll. A’s manager Billy Beane introduced baseball to sabermetrics—“the application of statistical analysis to…
None of us in sales escapes the occasional “no.” The power lies in understanding what each customer or prospect means when they say it. Once you know that, you’ll know what to do about it. Here are five typical reasons a customer/prospect says no and the appropriate solution for each: Reason 1—Bad Timing No matter…
Do you get frustrated when your prospects or customers do not return your calls? I know I do. I may be a Sales and Leadership expert, but when I don’t get a return call, I still review what I said to figure out what I need to change in order to get better results. Remember: Your customers and prospects are…
Does your organization know how to support a sales hunter? As a Sales and Leadership expert, I have noticed that this relationship can be a complicated one—on both sides. Below is a letter written by a hunter to management that addresses typical issues hunters face. The letter is meant to raise issues hunters should address to gain the support they…
When is change the ingredient necessary to success? Do you have the guts to call for a change the way Nick Saban did in Monday night’s College Football Playoff National Championship? His quarterback, Jalen Hurts, who has been working for him for two years and amassed a record of 25 and 2 wasn’t producing in…
When my 23-year-old daughter Amanda started her job in New York City on October 1, she decided to join the company gym and be there at 6:45 every morning. That means leaving for work every morning before 5:45 a.m. to drive the 30 minutes to catch the 6:15 ferry to the city. I figured this wouldn’t last long. Boy did she prove…
For the past thirty-five years I have used option selling to help close business. and neuroscience reveals why this works so well. It boils down to choices, engagement, stress, and risk aversion. Traditionally, sales people go for the trial close and just offer one solution. If the prospect does not feel the risk is low enough…
“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” Charles Bernard Shaw Translation– Titans know to succeed they must embrace the concept of change. If they want to do more than last year, then they must increase the level of their current actions or change their actions. If they…
Herb Kelleher Chairman Southwest Airlines Question: Which airline is the fifth largest in the United States and is the only airline to turn a profit for 24 consecutive years? You guessed it- Southwest Airlines. Mr. Kelleher put two basic business principles to work and never wavered from them: Find your niche market and be the…
“There is only one boss. The customer! And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money elsewhere.” Sam Walton, founder of WalMart Translation: Thank all of your customers who bothered to complain about something. For every customer who complains, surveys find that 20 others don’t bother…
If You Don’t See It, You Won’t Get It In hearing Guy Kawasaki speak about his early days at Apple Computer, evangelism was what made Apple a reality. Guy and his colleagues had to go out to software developers and convince them to commit resources to develop products for a hardware platform that wasn’t on…
Our booming economy is providing all executives with a key challenge—-where to find good help. While I would love to have the answer for all of you (would be worth more than winning this week’s NJ Power Lottery of $300 Million- wish me luck), I do have some insights that you should use for guidance.…
You’ve got Only Five Minutes- So Give It Your Best Shot! How many times have you gone on an appointment and had the customer say you’ve got five minutes, so start talking? Now I know you wouldn’t do that (right?) but you have probably seen others fall into the trap and start spilling their guts…
“It is not that they can’t see the solution: It is that they can’t see the problem.” Grover Cleveland Translation: Titans concentrate on helping their customers understand their challenges and identify appropriate solutions. Non-Titans concentrate only on selling their features hoping they will be enough to make the sale. Features are commodity driven. Solving problems…
Did you know that the biggest IPO (Initial Public Offering) in history started with a cold call? That’s right! A few years ago James A. Runde, Vice Chairman of Morgan Stanley, picked up the phone and called UPS CFO Robert J. Clanin regarding an IPO. Mr. Runde thought UPS was ripe for a solid market…
As some of you know, my daughter Amanda will turn 6 years old on June 1st. My mother wants to buy her a bike and told me since she didn’t learn yet how to ride a regular bike, we should buy her one with training wheels that can come off when she learns. My response?…
Gary Nelsen: Western Zone Sales Manager, Medical Imaging- Agfa Corp Imagine a team of sales executives who unanimously claim that their manager is the best manager they ever had. He goes out of his way to solve their problems and free them as much as possible to go out and do what they are hired…