Jeffrey Gitomer

OPINION: You may go into a presentation with expectations, but it’s the client’s point of view that makes or breaks the sale.

OPINION: For those who make a living selling a product or service, the value of building strong relationships cannot be overestimated.

OPINION: Making a good first impression and then asking the right questions are two important elements of the cold call.

OPINION: Are your sales presentations centred on achieving the best outcome for your client?

Opinion: Does your C-suite management really understand what’s needed to win at sales?

Opinion: Often in sales the simple and most obvious solutions are the most effective. But if that’s true, why are those solutions so often overlooked?

Opinion: The way we make connections is changing, led by technologies that enable us to ‘meet’ people worldwide.

Opinion: Stop blaming your run of outs on others; how you respond to challenges is entirely up to you.

Opinion: Making the step from a trade show to a sale requires pre-planning, and speed is of the essence.

Opinion: Connecting with clients on areas of shared personal interest is worth the effort.

Every sales presentation is different, and must be adapted to meet the customer’s needs.

Opinion: Home-ground advantage works for sports teams, and it can work for your business, too.

Lost customers needn’t be lost forever; you just need a strategy to win them back.

Take the wrong attitude into a sales meeting and your prospect will more than likely walk out in search of a better deal.

Opinion: Knowing the right questions to ask a prospect can be the difference between sales success and failure.

Any day is only as ‘bad’ as you let yourself believe it is, and the same is true on the upside.

Ask the right questions and you have a good chance of making the sale; making the wrong statements will likely have the opposite result.

Managers can encourage or discourage sales with their policies and actions, so what makes a great sales manager?

All the marketing in the world won’t help your business if the people who work there aren’t great, and committed to doing their best.

Opinion: Businesses not fully engaged with the shift to social media are doing themselves and their customers a disservice.

The better prepared for the objection you are before you make the sales call, the more likely you’ll get past the customer’s blocks.

Opinion: As with the boy scouts, in sales it pays to do your homework.

If your business hasn’t already gone mobile, chances are your customers are thinking of making a move.

The more prepared you are for a knockback, the better the chances it won’t derail the sale.

Ultimately, the choice between spending time or investing time is yours, and whichever you choose will have a bearing on how well you sell.

How well you know your customers’ needs will go a long way to determining whether they remain your customers.

If you want to know how your service levels stack up against those of your competitors, ask your customers.

Waiting for the ‘right time’ to take action is just another excuse for not taking the risk to go after what you really want.

OPINION: Becoming known is a key step on the pathway to sales success.

OPINION: Being serious is a way of life – deliver on your promises, be committed, organised and serve your customers well.

There is no ‘fastest’ way to close a sale, but there is a strategy to earn it.

OPINION: Before you receive loyalty from your customers, you’ll need to show some within your own workplace.