Good morning, friends...In workshops and sales discussion groups, I spend my week talking with reps and selling owners. Here's the sales conversation topics from recent Sales Vault activities....
What others are talking about:
- Getting to the next level;
- Creating more time to sell;
- Getting people on the phone.
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1. “How do I get to the next level?"
We had a full house at last week’s Sales Vault workshop on the subject. With participants—Sales reps and selling owners— all coming from different levels of experience, we developed individual plans based on a series of questions. Here are just four:
- “Do I need to work more hours or more efficiently?”
- “Am I calling on the best target market for me?”
- “Could I improve the quality of my sales call?”
- “What happens if I don’t get to the next level?”
That last question is particularly interesting to me. Tony Robbins says people are more motivated by the pain of not succeeding than by the joy of reaching success. Hmmm...
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2. "How do I create more time for selling?”
There is a lot of meat on this bone. I could talk about increasing efficiency, better preparation, and God knows we could all make better choices, but I will give you something else to consider:
Don’t multitask.
I think back to an analogy my guitar teacher used a long time ago. He said, “If you have 12 trees to plant, don’t dig 12 holes, insert 12 trees, and filled them with dirt. Instead, complete one tree planting at a time.” That is, take one task from start to finish before moving on to the next. I have found this simple suggestion applicable in many areas of my life, including focus. This has freed up more selling time for me and has increased the quality of that selling time.
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3. “I just can’t get anyone on the phone"
Okay, this one drives me batshit crazy. While I hear this complaint from salespeople quite frequently, very rarely do I consider it to be valid. A more accurate and truthful statement would be, “I call people once or twice and if they don't pick up or don’t call me back, I quit and blame them.”
In back-to-back conversations with salespeople last week, both discussed the difficulty in talking to prospects and customers. When I dug down deeper into the sales activity the first rep was following, I learned he very rarely made more than one call and if he did, it was weeks after the first one. What’s more, it was a horrible “Who buys your printing?” kind of sales call. The second rep also talked about how difficult it was to get someone, but he found success through tenacity and creativity. He simply refused to give up. What’s more, the quality of his sales calls was outstanding, having been well-researched. Those two things combined resulted in appointments.
So, go ahead and complain about how hard it is to connect with someone, but do so only after trying a LOT harder than you are right now.
Getting back to that first discussion point, getting to your next level could very well be a combination of improving the quality of your sales calls and increasing their quantity. Sometimes the simplest ways are the best!
Want more? Join the conversation and be a part of our sales community in The Sales Vault. Learn more at SalesVault.pro or call Bill Farquharson at 781-934-7036.
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Previous weeks' Sales Vault conversation topics:
- Shifting from busy to productive;
- How long to call on a prospect before giving up;
- Is CANVA a blessing or a curse?
- No paper, no sale? Do this instead...
- When to catch a hybrid worker in the office...
- Is Marketing the new Sales? Here's a great example...
If these sales challenges are your sales challenges, you should join The Sales Vault. Learn more at SalesVault.pro or call Bill Farquharson at 781-934-7036.
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Want to see something fantastic?
My amazing daughter, Madeline, shared a video with me about book-burning and I posted it on LinkedIn where it quickly caught the attention of a LOT of people. Click here to check it out and then, hey, let's connect!
Join our FREE Slack sales community!
Got a sales question? Need a lead source? Want to crow about a sales victory? I've started a free sales community within Slack where you can post questions and comment on others. The conversation has started. Join in. After you create an account, you'll receive a video I made which will get you up and running in just 90 seconds. It's simple and powerful. Come on! Click here to become a part of it.
Live Zoom Workshop line-up through July 31
Here's what's coming up for Sales Vault Insiders ($45/month):
• June 2: Time Mgt. Masters Class
• June 7: Sales: Best Practices
• June 14: New Business
• June 21: TBD
• June 28: Your Summer Sales Plan
• July 7: Innovative Lead Sources
• July 12: Pre-Call Research
• July 19: Sales Triathlon
• July 26: Landing the Big Fish
The Sales Vault (SalesVault.pro) is:
- A website for sales people and selling owners in the graphic arts;
- Weekly live Zoom workshops on sales topics such as
- Time management, voicemail, objections
- Selling digital/inkjet printing
- Selling to vertical markets (colleges, hospitals, banks)
- Sales for introverts
- Motivation, Diligence, Harnessing LinkedIn… And more
- Replays of past workshops (50 topics) on demand
- Weekly live sales discussion groups (one with Kelly Mallozzi);
- Sales downloads (prospecting letters, scripts)
- Archived sales content (videos, columns, blogs) searchable by sales topic.
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Watch this video and find out more
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Visit The Sales Vault for Live Workshops, On-demand Sales Training, and actionable tools & resources.
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Visit BillFarquharson.com to learn more about Sales Coaching, Speaking Engagements, Books, and Expert Witness services.
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My Personal Journal
A great shot from my backyard. The mere smell of blooming lilacs reminds me of my mom. It was the mid 60's and I was 5 years old. After extensive surgery and a long stay in the hospital, an ambulance brought her home. Just about the entire congregation of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts awaited her arrival. If I close my eyes, I can still see that scene so vividly.
Before being carted into the house where she would spend another few months recuperating, she made the ambulance drivers carry her to the back of her house so she could see her beloved lilacs.

Bill
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