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Do you have RP?
Your business relationships are as important as your long term investments. How much time do you think about the value and strength of your business relationships? Are they as strong as you think? Are you truly able to leverage your business relationships throughout your sales career? In other words, do you have “RP” or “relationship portability”?A great sales culture is made of sales professionals. One key differentiating factor that separates sales professionals from sales reps is the ability to cultivate long term relationships AND continually grow them. They also know that those relationships will stay with them as careers and jobs change over time. Another way to think of this is: "are your relationships truly based on you or are ...
An effective virtual team and sales culture
An excerpt from the upcoming Sales Culture book "Never Sell Alone"I see examples of effective virtual teams and sales cultures everywhere I go. I see so many examples, but still not enough to think that the sales culture practices are commonplace and clearly understood by sales organizations. When the sales professionals thoroughly understand what they have to do and know how to engage people, the organizational managers say, “Yes, go to work and be on the team.” No distractions on competing priorities are presented by different levels of functional bosses.The virtual team members’ biggest challenge might be time management. The balancing of functional responsibilities and virtual team responsibilities to the customer can be tricky. One way to bring clarity to ...
The 5 Most Important Words
Dear ToddCohen.com Sales Community,I was having breakfast with my friend Dr. Richard Marcus today and he had the most amazing thing to say.Richard is a consulting psychologist and is highly regarded in his field - and after our conversation I am again reminded why. We were talking about networking and how that is truly the lifeblood of how business moves. Richard asked me if "I knew the 5 most important words of networking" ? The answer is simple. Get out your pen and get ready..." I received your name from" and the SECOND most important 5 words are " I am giving your name to...."Networking is all about being proactive. Listening to what people do and making sure that when you have a reason to refer someone to someone else you DO IT. Too often people think networking is ...
Cool Sales Professionals!
Happy New Year Everyone!I have been a little slow to get my blogging back online, because I have been working on my book - but I have to share this story of some amazing sales professionals I encountered yesterday! Are you ready? I was in the supermarket and as I was leaving, I was treated to one of the best sales pitches I have ever seen. It was by a group of adorable 7 year old girls selling Girl Scout Cookies!Let me tell you why they were awesome. They asked me if I "had a moment". They asked me how I was doing and "did I like cookies?" They took the time to explain the different kinds of cookies and ...
Happy Holidays!
Peace on Earth, Goodwill to All, Sales Culture for the Masses and Plenty of Closed Deals in 2010!In some ways this is my favorite newsletter to write. It's the one where I put my Sales Culture work aside and express a few simple thoughts to you.2009 has been a challenging year. It can be tough to keep a perspective on things and remain upbeat and positive. It's at times like this I keep reminding myself what I am deeply grateful for. So with your permission, here is my list:I am eternally grateful for my health. I will never take that for granted. Thank you to my friends ...
Just Do It ( Right) the First Time
ToddCohen.com Sales Community,I am exhausted! I have heard enough excuses this past week why people are not closing deals! I think that the time of year makes sales reps and some sales professionals a bit crazy and this year is not an exception! We are all in the mode to work to do everything we can to get the deals closed and invoiced. So, here is the deal -do you want to close more deals? Do you want to raise your close ratio and your profit ratio? Then get it right the first time!I have taken the time to look at more proposals and listen to additional sales calls these past few weeks and the one thing that has become ...
Never Sell Alone
Dave and Janice are both successful sales professionals selling complex IT products and services. Both have had good long runs of meeting and exceeding quotas and expectations. Both have made very good money and enjoyed all of the kudos and benefits of their success.But now, things have changed.The economy is bad, clients are pulling back and business is simply not growing. In short, Dave and Janice are faced with essentially the same dilemma.They, like you, may be asking these questions:What can I do to sell differently? What can I do to develop new and profitable clients? How can I do a better job ferreting out new opportunities ...
Sales is NOT a 5 Letter Word!
Dear ToddCohen.com Sales Community,Shhhh, don't let anyone hear me tell you this, but you are IN sales! It's OK, don't panic. Take a few deep breaths. Its true. It does not matter what you do, whether you are employed or in a career transition.Intriguing to me is when people think that sales is a "5 letter word" and we all sell. In my work lecturing helping companies build their Sales Culture, the one consistent thing is that when we show people how much of what they do has a selling component to it, its easy to see how we all sell. It's exciting to then understand how your role in a sales campaign enhances your ability to impact the bottom ...
“Thank You Joel….”
Dear Todd Cohen.com Sales Community,Do you remember the person who hired you for your first job? I do and today I had the very great pleasure of having lunch and a wonderful time with my first manager, Joel Mickelberg. I have not seen Joel in 15 years and it was amazing to reconnect with him and talk about my days at Xerox and most importantly be able to say "thank you".In 1984, as a senior at Temple University I was in the hunt for a job and Joel was on campus representing Xerox. I interviewed with Joel and still remember it vividly. I also remember a question he asked me during the interview when he handed me a pencil and ...
Sales Professional versus Sales Representative: the Culture Differences
Dear ToddCohen.com Sales Community,Lately much of my speaking and training has been focused on the (vast) differences between sales reps and sales professionals. They have two different modes of operation and styles of work. Sales reps are focused on the present, the here and now of a specific sale. They are fully engaged in providing product information and getting a contract signed. There is usually not too much complexity in this task or role, except when you need your organization behind you, which is all of the time.Sales professionals are focused on the sales campaign and the virtual team of supporters who contribute much expertise to the close of the sale. They deal with more complexity and a collaborative sales ...
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