Making Sales in Tough Times

by Tom Hopkins The best way to sum up a strategy for succeeding in uncertain economic times is a very old saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” When business as a whole slows down, many business people say there’s little they can do to change the market and they have to just ride it out. If …

To Apply Negotiating Pressure, Try the Good Guy/Bad Guy Approach

by Roger Dawson Good Guy/Bad Guy is one of the best known negotiating gambits. Charles Dickens first wrote about it in his book Great Expectations. In the opening scene of the story, the young hero Pip is in the graveyard when out of the sinister mist comes a large, very frightening man. This man is a convict, and he has …

How To Turn Ordinary Employees Into Extraordinary Employees

by Nido R. Qubein I was having coffee with one of our clients, the CEO of a company in a highly competitive field. He was just a little intimidated by all the things he was reading about global competition and the drive for excellence. “Nido,” he said, “How am I going to make it in this kind of climate? The …

Highlights of Prospecting

by Tom Hopkins The profession of selling consists of two components: Finding the people to sell, and then, of course, selling the people you find. A while back I came home from a tour and when I walked in my wife was working on a jigsaw puzzle. I live, breathe and sleep selling. It’s truly my hobby and I’m always …

Finding the Right Way to Motivate Your Employees

by Chris Widener Fear, Incentives and Growth Zig Ziglar says that there are three main ways to motivate people in general and employees specifically. They are fear, incentives and growth. Let’s take a look at each one. Fear. This is not good. Number one, it isn’t right, and number two, it doesn’t work well in the long run and isn’t …

Financial Sites You Want to Know About

by Chris Widener Many people wonder what kinds of references I use to manage money over the internet. The fact is that there is just a lot of great resources out there and now, more than ever, the average person can get to information that was once just the bastion of top level money managers and financial insiders – and …

Exceeding Customer’s Expectations!

by Brad Worthley More than ever, customer service is becoming the number one differentiating factor between businesses. It is extremely clear that the businesses that have a culture of outstanding service are thriving, and the ones that give it “lip service” are dropping like flies. When the economy is challenged as it is today, you also see two different camps …

Don’t Know The Answer To A Question? Turn It Into A Sale!

by Jeffrey Gitomer When a prospect asks a question, and you, Mr. Know-it-all salesperson, don’t know the answer, what do you do? Bigger question: what SHOULD you do? Here’s a hint: it may have something to do with the word “truth.” Salespeople panic on the inside when they don’t know an answer because they fear that not knowing may lead …

Developing the Thank You Notes Habit

by Tom Hopkins I learned the value and power of thank you notes early in life. When I was a young child, my parents occasionally went out with friends for dinner. Invariably, when my parents returned from an evening out, I saw my mother sit down at her little desk in the hallway as soon as she got home and …

Customer Service Is Everybody’s Job

by Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE Everyone in your organization must know how vitally important customer service is in your business. Good customer service starts with good training of your employees. Here are a few suggestions to help your organization keep your customers beaming and eager to come back for more. 1. Sell your company to your employees.If you have brochures …