Here are some tips I have gathered from others on selling in tough times.

Top Tip:  Stay Close to Your Best Customers!

From Keith Rosen:

I.  Isolate the objection
G. Gain permission to have a dialogue.
O. Offer solutions or new possibilities.

Sandler’s Why Salespeople Fail (e-book for no charge):

How to Sell Anything by Jim Connolly

Are you utilizing Referrals and Video Testimonial? (LinkedIn Recommendations?)

Not everyone is going to buy, but if you are selling on value and still not closing enough, perhaps you need to look at your Enrollment process. The Enrollment process is how you enroll prospects into the client fold of your consulting practice. In today’s economy, your enrollment process has to be fine tuned.  It is all about having a conversation about Their agenda and goals – and then how you can deliver value.

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.”

In an article in Fast Company (Nov., 2007 issue), the Heath brothers (authors of the 2007 business book must-read, Made to Stick) write an article titled, Analysis of Paralysis. In tidbits, they explain that too much choice can mean that the consumer will choose None of the Above. The other point is about a company’s vision. It needs to be simple, concise, short, memorable – “make technology easy” or “build the best plane in the world”. Eliminates the doubt.

We once talked to leaders of one of the nation’s top mental-health facilities, which was in the process of revamping its mission and goals. We were surprised to find that it had 11 core values. They were admirable–innovation, integrity, and so on. But values are supposed to guide behavior, and you can’t even remember 11 values, much less use them to make decisions. Stephen Hawking can think in 11-dimensional space, but you can’t. Practically speaking, having 11 values is equivalent to having no values. [fastcompany]