Growth Dynamics Get Down

Symptoms:
Linda was frustrated by her prospect's unwillingness to make a decision. Her prospect said he needed some time to digest the three options outlined in her proposal before making a decision.

Symptoms:
Valentine looked at his schedule and realized he is set to go visit a favorite client, or maybe a prospect, or maybe even still a suspect, this week. He absolutely loved spending time with this person and company.

The economy is not something that can be ignored. Perhaps on the personal side, people can ignore the bigger concept of the economy, but maybe not their own budget needs. On the business side, the economy is always in the picture. Let’s take a few minutes to review what might be impacting longer sales cycles and how strong business development professionals make the most of it.

Symptoms:

Cody knew that the firm he represented was considered the best in class by the other major players in the market. As far as technical competency, customer service and the ability to deliver more than clients expected, Cody's firm always scored extremely high. With that ace to play whenever he needed to, he was sure that this new position as a Business Development Specialist would soon prove to be the road to riches. After his first 90 days Cody and his manager met to review his progress, and the picture was not pretty.

Symptoms:

No one told Melanie that she would be making calls on her own just two weeks after she started working at Quality Stuff, Inc. When she first began, her new manager said she would do ride-alongs for at least a month and then be slowly let off the leash to contact customers by herself. But that plan went out the window this morning when Melanie found out her mentor had called in sick and she was expected to keep an appointment and fly solo with a very important customer.

Let's get right into it. One of the things that happens in my business, because we offer so much individual coaching with all of our programs, is people will constantly call me and say,

Symptoms:

Carlos believes that sales success is simply a game of numbers, and his commitment to relentless prospecting has proven him right quarter after quarter, year after year. However, all that prospecting creates problems, for Carlos often finds himself so overwhelmed by follow-ups and open opportunities that he loses track of some of the best deals he has on the street.

Symptoms:

The Purchasing Agent started the sales call with: "So, what do you have for me today?" It struck Jennifer that she was hearing this line far too frequently when she showed up for a sales call with both prospects and current customers in her territory.

Symptoms:

One of the most common objections salespeople get is about price: "That's a bit more than we were thinking about paying." "Your prices are kind of high." "That just doesn't fit our budget" are typical comments.