Any number of traits and characteristics may contribute in some way to sales success: an outgoing personality, the gift of gab, etc. But while innate personality traits can be talked about, they can’t really be taught....

Every salesperson operates within a business environment and a performance system that is driven by concrete business goals. If you want real, measurable improvement in hitting business targets, everyone needs to know what those targets are....

Companies that want to capture more business from their existing customer base often devise loyalty programs as the means; they combine discount pricing with technology or special services, then try to sell customers on implementing the program....

Research shows that even a customer who is perfectly satisfied with your company, your products, and your salespeople will nevertheless leave you for a competitor who offers a more attractive deal....

If customer loyalty means a bond that will outlast the next attractive offer from your competitors, then loyalty cannot be bought with discounts or special programs....

Every day countless sales are lost because salespeople blurt out simple answers to what they mistakenly see as simple customer questions. The fact is that many customer questions, if answered immediately, will derail the sale....

You don't need all the right answers in order to create a winning sales strategy. You need the right questions. When you ask them, a "complex" sale gets much less complex....

Of all the tragic misconceptions that afflict salespeople in selling environments with multiple buyers, the worst might be the notion that lower-level “influencers” are mere obstacles in the seller’s path to the big honcho—the person with final buying authority....

Customers often will ask about price before the salesperson wants to talk about it. Some will demand a price quote up front. If your competitors sell on price, they have educated your customers to expect an early price quote....

In business to business selling, the race does not go to the swiftest. It might go to the biggest or most famous competitor, or the one with the glitziest product presentation — but only if none of the sellers succeed in differentiating themselves....