File Under Misc - Encouragement & Skills for New Salespeople

May 10, 2022May 10, 2022

How Much Money is Discounting Costing You in Your Paycheck?

I was approached by the Branch Manager from a company that was one of my suppliers. Twice a year, he would come by or call to see if I was ready to come work for him selling the products I used in my business. After years of “persuading”, I decided the timing was right.

I called him and asked if we could talk about how my working for him would look. We met in his office and had a good long conversation after which I agreed to take a salesman’s position.

Several weeks passed and I sold nothing. NOTHING!
Finally, at the small Star Motel, the lady took pity and bought a case of toilet paper. However, I had to match her current price to get the sale but what did a discount matter at this point. I needed to sell something. Period.
Little did I realize at that moment, but that initial act turned me into a discounting salesperson. I didn’t know any better at the time. Matching or beating a price became my only sales tool.

January 28, 2022January 26, 2022

Can You Use Pyramid Math to Make More Money?

$Pyramid Math$

Pyramid Math

The pyramids used a lot of advanced math to build. The dimensions are a tribute to higher mathematics. So what does this have to do with sales?

We can determine the selling price by one of two methods–price markup or price margin. In working with many salespeople, I find they don’t understand the difference. Yet, the difference is important.

December 1, 2021January 14, 2022

The Truth and Nothing but the Truth

The next item on my list at the Big Box Home Improvement Store was a moisture meter for the garden. I checked the store’s app to see where I would find the item. The store showed nine in stock but no location.

The employee looked in his device and said the meters were in the Seasonal section at the front of the store. They were not.

The next employee I asked about the meter told me he knew where they were kept and I followed him to a shelf location—that was empty.

Remember, they showed NINE in Stock

He apologized and said they must be out. I showed him in the app where they had nine in stock but that no location was shown. He said, “Sorry, we must be out.”

November 18, 2021January 14, 2022

Don’t Settle for Being Part of the 80%

Why did you go into Sales?

I am fascinated by what people think sales is about.

Easy Money?
Easy Work? (Just play golf all day)
You were told you were a natural because you talk a lot
You can’t find a job so you go into sales
You take a job selling until a good job comes along

Easy Money?

It’s easy money. That’s what a lot of people think selling is. How many times have you talked to someone and that thinks that all salespeople do is drive around all day? If that were only true.

Selling is hard work. Prospecting, making phone calls, making appointments, having meetings, being told “we’re not interested”, building proposals, and more. A salesperson spends their day working to get in front of good prospects. Then they spend their evenings putting together proposals they hope will be excepted. Many days go from daylight to well past dark.

November 10, 2021November 17, 2021

First Day of Sales?

My first days in sales were a mess and I did not achieve quick success but persisted in my pursuit. What could help me achieve success quicker? I wasn’t sure of the answer but knew it was available because of seeing other’s success. I was fresh, raw, and untrained.

On my first day on the job, the Sales Manager said, “Here’s your catalog, there’s your territory. Now go forth and sell.” That was the complete sales training program in a nutshell. I was lost and it took me several weeks to make the first sale. A kind woman took pity on me and bought one case of toilet paper. I thought to myself, “This is not working.”

November 3, 2021November 3, 2021

How Serious is Your Sales Training?

Can we all agree that sales is a profession? If you believe it is a hobby or part-time job, you can quit reading now because this is for professionals only.

I’ve been thinking and writing about sales training a lot lately. Two particular articles, Are you the person responsible for sales training, and How necessary is sales training to your corporate success, reflect some of my philosophy.

I know that training is essential to a company’s success, yet I see salespeople struggling to succeed. Why is this? I can only work from my own experience, and with only one exception, it was not a positive one.

I understand the cost factor in extensive training, but I also know it pays off in the long run. Well-trained salespeople tend to stay longer on the job and make more sales at better margins. That is a win/win to me.

May 15, 2020November 5, 2020

If the Customer is Bored, It’s Your Fault

The sales rep I was working with that day had started his PowerPoint presentation, plowing through the thirty-five slides with maniacal fervor.
I was watching the customer; she was beginning to roll her eyes. She looked at me as if to plead for relief. I bumped the sales rep’s foot to get his attention, but his focus was intense.
Then I reached into the sales rep’s computer bag and brought out a sales agreement. That finally diverted his attention from the computer screen.

May 12, 2020November 5, 2020

Are you the person responsible for sales training?

When I started in outside sales, the Sales Manager handed me a 3-ring binder and walked over to a map on the wall. He raised his arm and, with an extended finger, pointed at the map, drawing a lazy circle around an area an hour from the office. He said, “We don’t have customers in this area, so you can call on anybody you like.” It was virgin territory with no list of customers or prospects. That was my training!

Time Passes

Decades later, I became the manager of a wholesale/retail business. In the beginning, I watched the operations to see how things ran. Quickly, I began to notice inefficiencies.