Sales Babble

The Not So Obvious Sales Mistake You Should Avoid Seeing Beyond The Obvious To understand We label buyers by what we see  But the labels have limits Only describing the obvious Ignoring the subtle.   When you see beyond the label You can sense  the true nature of the buyer, And better share the benefits of your solution.   Look beyond the obvious  Wake up to the true nature of the buyer Speak to i...

How To Close a Deal #439 What's the most difficult part of a sale?  Through the years I've had numerous listeners tell me it's "Closing." People think that closing is hard and getting a prospect to put their name on a signed contract is a monumental task. Plus, people say it takes an assertive winner takes all attitude.  That's not how it works with a Taoist perspective. I must confess, there is a...

Origin of the Tao of Sales Babble #438 If you're new to this podcast, each week we take a concept in selling and look at it from a Taoist point of view with a poem, a vignette, and then a quote with advice on how you can apply this wisdom to your business. Sounds like crazy talk, right?  Today I'd like to take a time out and  to share the origins of Sales Babble, the Tao Te Ching of sales and what...

What Bartenders and Therapists Can Teach Sales People #437 The Master Seller listens first to understand Before being understood. By asking, They receive Creating opportunities. Both bartender and psychologist The Master Seller listens.   How to Connect with Pat Helmers at Sales Babble Sales Babble  shares selling secrets for non-sellers.  Masterful selling is understanding what buyers want, disce...

The Perfect Sales Apology #436 Have you ever wronged someone but struggled to say your sorry in a way that prompted forgiveness from the person you wronged? Have you had that happen to you in business? Without doubt I'm certain you have!  Because we all make mistakes. We all do things that benefit us more than others. This is the human experience. But far too often our egos get in the way and we r...

How To Know When it's Time to Quit #435 When it comes to selling one of the biggest problems sellers face is following up. Too often sellers don't call, email or message prospects enough times to catch their attention. But how do you know when too much follow up, is too much. Especially in the case of a deal you really really want. But no matter what you do, you can't bring the deal home. That's t...

How to Spin Storytelling Selling #434 Would you like to hear a story? It's a tale with heroes and villains and adventures and drama and it's all tied into capturing the interest of prospects in a way that they lean into your fable. This episode is about storytelling selling and ways that  a good tale can turn prospects into heroes and in time, loyal buyers. How to Connect with Pat Helmers at Sales...

Three Steps to Quickly Build Credibility #433 Have you ever been in a conversation where people are casually trashing the sales profession and people forget that that's what you do for a living! Exasperating right? Given the tarnished reputation of sellers by our culture, this creates a special challenge  when working with prospects and break through their skepticism and build trust. How do we do...

How To Make an Elevator Pitch #432 In a building with 2-9 floors, an elevator should take between 10 & 20 seconds to clear the entire distance at full speed. In a building with 10-29 floors, it should take between 12 & 20 seconds to clear the entire distance at full speed unless, you live in New York City where the average elevator ride is 118 seconds. This creates a challenge for the seller who i...

How To Sell When Nobody Knows You #431 If you're new to sales or if you've been in sales for awhile, you know the anxiety that comes with cold calling. Deep in the pit of your stomach you shudder at the idea of calling someone out of the blue. You look for marketing techniques that will motivate strangers to call you, but in the end, those things don't work, do they. Sometimes the only way to get...

How to Beat The Competition Does it chill you when you talk to a prospect and they mention they have your competitor? Does it seem like the competition is better than you? They're  faster, cheaper, has higher quality and there is nothing you can do to overcome them? Or maybe you can't wrap your head around why your prospects even consider the competition. You know their products are crap and you'v...

How To Overcome Your Fear of Cold Calling #429 If you're new to sales or if you've been in sales for awhile, you know the anxiety that comes with cold calling. Deep in the pit of your stomach you shudder at the idea of calling someone out of the blue. You look for marketing techniques that will motivate strangers to call you, but in the end, those things don't work, do they. Sometimes the only way...

What To Do When Your Deal Goes Sideway #428 Ever been in a situation where just as you thought the deal was won, it all fell apart like a house of cards? It's painful, I know. Especially given the fact that you may have invested a mass of time and energy and now it appears it's all to no avail. Frustrating right? What are you to do when your deals go sideways? That's the chapter for today. How to...

When Selling Drop Something Everyday #427 If you've ever used the Weatherbug app you know exactly what I'm talking about when it comes to bloatware. The app has so much in it that it's become so slow it doesn't do anything well. The same thing can happen with sellers. They learn one thing, then another and then another and soon they're trying to do too many things at once when working a deal. This...

How To Look Good Selling by Not Looking Good #426 In this episode we investigate the struggle of being successful at sales while at the same time we let our ego get in the way.  Too often we have concerns of being embarrassed, saying something stupid and being called out as a pushy seller. When we're more concerned about how to look good selling, we stop focusing on helping customers. Today we sha...

When Selling with a Wingman Your Never Alone with Shruti Kapoor #425 Shruti Kapoor is the CEO & Co-Founder of Wingman , an actionable conversation intelligence platform that unlocks insights from every sales interaction. As the co-founder of Wingman, Shruti was also their first salesperson who sold their first million dollars in revenue, single handedly. Despite being an outsider to the SaaS ecosy...

How Prospects are Friends You·ve Not Met Yet Are you reluctant to pick up the phone? This is not uncommon. We're taught to fear strangers as kids and as adults we're afraid to call and bug people. But that's not the case when you think of family. You don't think twice of calling your parents, or siblings. But how can you mentally treat strangers like family? That's the topic for today.   How to Co...

How to Get Buyers to Sell Themselves #423 One great struggle sellers often face is knowing when and how to close a deal. They have no problem demonstrating the product or describing the service. But when it comes to asking for the sale, it's a challenge to do so elegantly and not sound pushy. That's the topic for today and here's a hint:  it's to get  buyers to sell themselves! How to Connect with...

Why the Best Way To Sell Is To Be You #422 In this weeks Tao Te Ching chapter, we cast off the scripts and take a chance and dive into the deep of selling by being our authentic selves. Cast away the silly myths about sales being aggressive and assertive and it's all about swagger and being rich. Buyers can sniff out that attitude a mile away. Just be yourself. Keep it simple. Go all in trying to...

How To Find the Right Time to Pitch #421 If you're new to the show, this episode and the vast majority of the episodes are based on the Tao Te Ching, an ancient Chinese philosophy, founded on the notion of non-doing. By non-doing I mean letting life happen of its own accord. Not pushing, no pulling, allowing events to take their own course and accepting the pace whatever it may be. Which is the to...

How To Not Oversell #420 Today's episode is an act of faith. By faith I mean trusting in what you know is true and sharing it as honestly as possible. Too often sellers persuade by adorning their pitch when they would be better off, sharing a straight forward value proposition. Great products and services sell themselves. Learn how to not oversell. That's the topic for today. How to Connect with P...

When Selling Treat Buyers Like Family Today we talk about having a point of view that we are all one family, buyers and sellers alike. In this episode we investigate the right way to build rapport, familiarity and how that's  the foundation for soliciting trust. When we give strangers the feeling that they already know us, they will be curious in turn and want to learn more about you and who you r...

How To Be Better Unique and Desirable with Thomas Ellis #418 We live in competitive times and more that likely there is another company out there that is looking for and serving customers, just like yours. So it begs the question, what can you do to be better unique and desirable? This week we take a one week break from the Tao Te Ching of Sales  and babble with my good friend Thomas Ellis. Thomas...

How to Sell by Not Selling #417 After completing an industry business survey one respondent had a troubling answer when asked about business challenges. They said " I have to be a shark instead of an honest businessman"   Wow that hurts! So let me ask you , Deep down inside, when you think about sales, is that how you see it?  Do you think you need to be a fast talking shark to be a top sales guy...

Owning Up To Mistakes Do you like being right and hate being wrong or being called out for making a mistake for goofing up? And let me add to that, have you ever had to apologize for your mistake or worse yet your companies mistake? Unfortunately once in a while this situation pops up and it's extremely uncomfortable for the sales professional. Which is why it's our topic for today. Advice on what...