Today is for Owners and managers who hire salespeople. For years you’ve boasted & told your company story to countless job-seekers, hoping to attract the best. You want the best, but when do you want to find out if you are going to get the best? During the interview would be nice but we usually spend more time trying to convince the applicant to work for us then really finding out their true sales grit. Here’s management advice that flies in the face of traditional sales hiring: Not only do I not want you to blue-sky the job, I actually want you to run a negative interview. That’s right, a negative interview. Let the applicant know how tough it’s going to be. Ask her how she plans to start working the territory—only those who talk about making cold calls will actually do them. Based on what you see and hear, ask yourself, “Is this the person I want in front of my prospects and customers?”

Remember, hiring the wrong person can cost alot. In the future days look for articles on what else you can do to find the right person. Jeremy

How many presentations do you make each week, each month? Presentations are a killer for most small businesses. Often we even measure, the number of attempts to the number of presentations we make. We end up putting a lot of pressure on ourselves to make a good, or even great presentations.

The quality of your work is important. However, if you are thinking, "If I make great presentations, my prospects will buy from me". You may be falling into the trap of "unpaid consulting". The largest and best client we have today, was sold without a presentation.

How did it happen? We spoke to the "real" decision maker and made sure that we had addressed the "real" issue. After that it was all down hill.

If you spend lot's of time and money on presentations and are not getting the return you want. Try stopping the presentations and focusing more on what the decision maker is really looking to gain by adding your product or service.

A great presentation may cause a "fence sitter" to get off the fence. However, if you rely on your presentation to convince, persuade, entice, or motivate a prospect to buy your product or service, you put too much pressure on yourself and your prospect.

Conceptually, prospects should be "sold" before you make your presentation. They must develop a view of your product or service as the best fit for their problem, need, or challenge during the development process.

By asking the appropriate questions, you can help your prospects define their problems, their challenges to be met, and their needs, wants, or desires to be satisfied, from the perspective of how your product or service would do so. Your questions help them paint a picture of what they want - a picture that looks a lot like your product or service.

That way your prospects approach your presentation predisposed to buying. You do not have to convince them, you only have to demonstrate how your product or service will fill their needs.

Last week I had a conversation with a suspect. We were introduced via a referral. The referral came via an e-mail that suggested we speak. What should be my goal. I explained to the prospect that we will converse and ask a lot of questions. I then asked what they would like to accomplish at the end of this phone conversation. I got a good list which included such standards as how much does it cost? How many hours a week? What is the curriculum like?

All was explained in time. I explained up front that at the end of the meeting we need to agree on the next step. I discussed what a next step could look like. But I also needed to know if they were willing to pay for support, coaching and training. At first they felt it was too expensive. After a review of their costs and expenses it became clear they were not thinking it would be so expensive.

We review the ROI and the realized that just one client would be for the training many times over. Next thing I knew, they were ready to check out class. Don't give in on the budget step. Make them realize that the value of what you sell is worth it. I can only be successful if the prospect can see the value of the training to what they would lose by not doing the training.......Jeremy

Sales is such an interesting business... there's a lesson to learn around every corner. I got a call from a woman the other day who said she was interested in some sales training for her company. That's a good thing, right? Sure beats making a cold call, right? Well... maybe. Watch these pitfalls:

First she says, "Can you send me some information on your programs and prices via email, please?" How many salespeople would jump at the opportunity to send some literature to a "hot prospect"? BIG MISTAKE. What's she really looking for? Who the heck IS she, anyway? Why does she want to talk to me in th first place?

So at least I'm savvy enough to know to say, "I'd be happy to. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions so I can get a better idea what you're looking for?"

"I'm looking for some information about your training and your prices", she snaps back. Looks like I got a tough one on my hands. Now what? Do I get in a fight? Or do I send some stuff?

OK, here's where I have to decide if I'm going to WIMP OUT and do what she wants, or to remember that being in sales DOES NOT mean being subservient to the prospective customer? Let's get real! What's the chances of this turning into anything if I just send her stuff?

So here's what I did: "Jane..." I said as nurturingly as I could, "I want to help you. I really do. But I can't possibly know what to send you if I don't have a better understanding of what you need and why you need it. If we can spend five or ten minutes on the phone, we can figure out together if I can help you or not. Is that fair?"

And guess what? I turned it into a conversation, then an appointment. I'll let you know soon if it becomes a sale! -- Rich Isaac.

Rich Isaac of the Sandler Sales Institute is joining the blog. He will add a personal perspective to the blog. I hope you will also enjoy his thoughts and entries on Sales,Sales Management and Life.

Rich can be reached at the Sandler Sales Institute in Hauppauge. His phone number is 631-231-3538.