When I am training salespeople, I try to deal with at least a couple of nuggets. One time training means that the people will (maybe) take away one or two nuggets that they will remember. So I try to cover these subjects:

• What is Marketing? Every Touch of the Customer. Everyone is in Sales and Marketing.
• Attitude is Everything. Sales is the transfer of Emotion. Enthusiasm pays off.
• USP. How are YOU Different? If you can’t answer that, pack it in because it’s all about price.
• Perceived Value. See above.
• Profit. You can sell below cost because everyone wants to get paid and get a raise.
• Engage the Prospect in Open Ended Questions so you can find the Pain.
• Sell to Verticals or Sell in Niches. Easier to be an Expert.
• Testimonials. A book or a video. Let others sell for you.

Gitomer says: “It’s not just product knowledge; it’s your insight and understanding of how the customer benefits and wins from it.”

I am taking a Sandler Training class on Wed. called Systematic Selling. Here are the topics that might be discussed:

• Winning business without competing on price.
• Dealing with stalls, objections and “think-it-over’s.”
• Sales cycle too long – can’t get prospects to make decisions.
• Poor closing skills – afraid to ask for the order.
• Increasing sales with fewer proposals.
• Ineffective cold calls (or, lack of any cold calls).
• Everyone’s busy, but sales results not keeping pace.
• Getting you out of your “comfort zones.”
• Asking questions & getting information.
• Getting past the gatekeeper to the Decision-Maker.
• Fear of rejection & taking it personally.
• How to stop unpaid consulting.

Much of it comes down to running your Sales Process. To do that you have to have open ended questions, confidence in yourself and your services (confident that you are helping your prospects), and a Value Proposition. Without those things, you will flounder around asking to bid, being a quote machine, and end up an order taker.

If any of those problems above affect you, take a class, get a coach, read a book on sales, or get a video or tape on selling.

Presentation Zen details the presentation style of 3 gurus: Seth Godin (see video); Guy Kawasaki (see interview video and casual video); and Tom Peters (see 3 clips).

I have seen Seth live. His style is relaxed and very interactive but more importantly very concise. (Like drinking from a fire hose).

Guy is very relaxed and self-effacing. He tries to follow a Top 10 style format.

Why is Tom Peters so good? He knows his stuff. He does his homework. He’s passionate about his subject. (His PowerPoint is long!)

Want to be a good speaker? Toastmasters. Practice. Practice. And watch some great speakers and their style. (The key is confidence and you get that when you know your stuff and your have a passion or enthusiasm about it. The same tips apply to sales).