Many companies exploring alternative distribution channels believe that some people don’t want the advice and counsel of an agent. Know what? They’re right! Know something else? You’re better off letting them have those customers! In fact, the best way to “compete” with direct sales (e.g., via company internet sites) is to stop selling “insurance.”
All the modern forward thinking gurus of selling agree: “Telling ain’t selling. Listening is.” Without question, it’s the number one skill of closing sales. But what the gurus often fail to tell you is what to listen for…and how to listen. In this article, legendary sales trainer, Bob Ayrer, will give you six steps to…
We know you’ve been taught that people buy based on value, not price. But, let’s face it, you don’t believe it do you? In the real world, too often you experience losing an account because your bid was higher…or at least that’s what the prospect tells you. In this article, master salesman, Bob Ayrer, draws…
Know why price is perceived by so many sales people to be the driving force? Simple: Most sales staff are trained by BUYERS, not employers! What has happened over the decades of poor sales training is that buyers have filled the void and have trained the sales people…but, of course, to their advantage. Added to…
Price is always a part of the final equation in selling, but the real reason people choose one supplier over another is almost never price, nor does it have anything to do with your product lines or core services. To learn what you can do to overcome the price dilemma (and learn about the problems…
It is important to continually raise the level of relationships within an account. It is the producer’s job to identify prospective customers out of the field of buyers and move them through being a buyer to a satisfied buyer, to a loyal customer — this requires cultivating relationships at every level of the account. However,…
A sales person can’t create genuine value for a client if the focus is on unit pricing. Price is always a product of poor selling and inept sales management. If your company genuinely offers value and you are not getting the margins you deserve, it is time to change the way your sales people take…
The year was 1943, World War was raging. Spies and saboteurs had infiltrated our country, establishing themselves as normal citizens and were busily (and invisibly) at work trying to destroy our ability to make war. This internal threat became known as “The Fifth Column” (a term from the 1938 Spanish Civil War and memorialized by…
An 18-wheeler slid into a ditch. A little old lady pulled up with her two Chihuahuas in the car and called to the driver, “Throw me a chain and I’ll have my dogs pull you out of the ditch.” “Lady!” he replied, “How are you going to get those two little dogs to pull this…
In many organizations, we are now seeing the modern equivalent of the World War II Stockholm Effect (see below), with sales people transferring alliances to the customer. This could lead to your worst nightmare…your best sales people taking your customers away to a newly formed company or a competitor. To combat the Stockholm Effect….
