Sales

Two people. On the phone, having a conversation. That's what people use phones for - to have conversations.

What happens in a conversation? One person says something. The other person listens, understands (or asks a question to make sure he understands), then responds appropriately.

The conversation moves from point A to point B because BOTH people are talking - and listening.

Now let's apply this to sales calls.

Yes, it is possible for a salesperson to have a conversation with a potential customer. But only if the salesperson:

In a recent article, ("Do You Secretly Believe You Are Smarter Than Your Customer?"), I chastised Jeff Thull, the author of Mastering the Complex Sale, for saying in his book that most customers of the complex sale "are not equipped to make a good buying decision - that the salesperson selling to them must guide them through the process."

Just because you can - doesn't mean you should.

Keep this advice in mind as you consider using social media to grow your revenue. There is a lot of hype in this space now, and it will continue for a while. You will lose revenue, not gain it, if you focus too much of your time and resources on vehicles and methods that won't move the revenue needle in the right direction.

If you want to make sure your efforts DO move the revenue needle, here are some guidelines: 

This article was halfway finished, with the title you see above, when I got an email with this subject line: "If you want to sell better, just shut up!"

Whoa, I thought. Readers often send me emails with the article title as the subject line. But this article hadn't yet left my computer! What was going on?

Most of my clients are - and always have been - technical entrepreneurs. Yes, I've done a lot of work for Fortune 500 companies, and companies in the health, travel and retail industries.

But my passion is helping the technologist who has started a company, created a decent product, and now needs to get to the next stage in his growth - whatever that might be. He's gotten as far as he can using the methods he's been using.