The cost of finding new customers is estimated to be between 500% and 800% higher than that of repeat or additional sales to existing customers. With profitability, therefore, significantly higher when selling to existing customers, it's time to decide what kind of sales representative you want to be: transactional (hunter) or consultative (farmer)

My belief is it is never too late to call. When you do take the step to re-connect, begin with an apology for being out of the loop. It is more important to the other person to be remembered than to be angry. You will find most people are forgiving. The next step for this call is to smooth out the wrinkles. Ask how they have been and what

Imagine spending thousands of dollars on web design, bells, whistles, a flash intro, and an array of colors. Firstly, this is a big waste of time, money, and effort. Also, this is like building a gaudy and non-functional house without a foundation. Your web site is a key sales tool. Fortunately, web sites do not have to be pretty in order to be eff

One of the greatest challenges that recruiters have today in assessing the viability of a new sales rep is whether or not that individual is going to be able to learn the value messaging and deliver it in a way that will drive sales. The problem with sellers is that we usually interview better than we produce on the job. I have met very few re

The idea behind singling out key accounts is that you will treat them as special, giving them the recognition and treatment they deserve. If the age-old 80/20 rule applies, 20 percent of your customers, or less, generate 80 percent or more of the profits. These customers should be made to feel as though they are really special. Most companies recog

The business community continually changes and ownership of businesses change hands as smaller entities are swallowed up by bigger corporations. We hear about it all the time in the news, but yet very few people can name a example of monopolistic competition, or realise what the definition monopolistic competition is. This article gives a brief ins

In business, not much happens until a transaction is agreed upon. The strategy of how to make these transactions occur is called marketing. The techniques and procedures for closing the sale is called sales. Without sales, there is no business. The successful business is always looking at ways to improve the strategy and process. Successfu

So, it's been another round of price squeezing. Very painful! They want it cheaper and your company has tasked you with protecting margin. To make matters worse, the prospect called you one of the worst things possible, a vendor! At this point, you have probably decided that sales really isn't fun. There is hope! You can change the entire playing f

The greatest cry and need of sales people and sales organizations that I know of is leads and prospects. Too often, the word is, "I have no one to go see or to call." Or, "I need more leads!" Have you ever heard a fellow sales person say that? Or worse yet, have YOU said it? Let me tell you right off the bat, there is hope for more prospects,

Networking. Maybe one of the most overused and misunderstood words in the business lexicon. Certainly it's one of the most common - and possibly among the most effective - means of marketing yourself. Although it can be personally labor intensive, networking is generally cost effective. You don't need any special equipment and, with a little effort

Successful mortgage people know their numbers. Just for your information...I'm not talking about the normal mortgage numbers that we use every day. You know...mortgages rates, closing costs, yield spread premium (YSP), and all of that kind of stuff. Instead, I'm talking about these kinds of numbers...how much it costs to find a mortgage prospect

I have heard it more and more lately. The person on the other end of the phone line, says "Thanks for keeping up with me." Or "Thanks for continually staying in touch." Or, "Thanks for bugging me, in a good way." At first, I was concerned, but now I just take it in stride. You see, to be successful in sales, in business, in building relationships

Hypnosis can actually be a far more subtle thing than most people realize. In fact, hypnosis can be used to covertly influence and persuade others to do most anything you want them to do. Hypnosis is simply any state where your critical reasoning faculties are not filtering what you perceive. Any time you find yourself daydreaming you are in

Like any business you spend up to 10 times more money to get a customer than you do to get the customer back and make a second purchase, which is why with any business you want to have a very strong focus on retention of customers and working on your existing customers to keep buying from your business. As a business owner you would have invest

As the old adage goes, ìLife is like a market where everything comes with a price.î This goes to show that life itself entails some marketing skills in order to succeed in life. In fact, businessmen and sales people state that everything in life is saleable, from thoughts to actions. For example, just by telling your ideas about a certain th