Sales Pro Central Launch Today: Articles From The Best Sales Blogs

Sales Pro Central, a new site aggregating articles from some of the most read sales blogs launched earlier today. I was excited that Sales Addiction has been included in the charter list of  featured blogs.   Check it out at the link below and subscribe to keep updated on all the latest messaging from around the sales universe.

SALES PRO CENTRAL LAUNCH

Sketiquette – 5 Behaviors To Avoid on Skype

The first time I saw a video phone call was the 1964 World’s Fair in Flushing, NY.

It’s come a long way since then.  Real-time video calling is completely unremarkable today. It’s just the norm. For some reason, though, we naturally tend to think of these interactions as telephone calls and not as face-to-face meetings.  If you think about it, it doesn’t  get much more F2F than staring at a screen with the other party’s face all up in your face.

I’ve noticed that sometimes we (this includes me) do things that we oddly would not do in person, but we are very comfortable doing them on a Skype or other video call.  So here are a few things to avoid.

5.   Jammies, stained sweats, strewn about hair, 2-day beards.   I’m not saying you must wear a vested suit or a prom dress, but certainly follow the same rules

If Client Trust Isn’t Your #1 Priority, You May Want to Turn in Your Salesman’s Badge

Part One of A Two-Part Rant On Integrity

If you think that your well rehearsed sales techniques, good looks, charm, firm handshake, thousands of Twitter followers,  a flash intro on your website, a full color ad, or the magnetic sign on the side of your vehicle will close a sale for you – think again.

It’s all about building relationships with clients.  Whether it’s a personal relationship or a business relationship, there are three elements to building and maintaining something strong and enduring.

• Trust
• Trust
• Trust

Earning trust starts from day one. It can be as simple as actually thinking about what you say – which is all too rare these days. When  someone first asks if your product or service can help them, the most common answer is something like,  ”Absolutely.“  You’ve already missed the mark.

The answer, of course, should be in your own words but the message absolutely must be  

Direct Your QR Traffic With A Gateway Page

When small businesses board the QR train the first stop is typically a link to their homepage or a vCard. Once they realize that it can go further, the challenge becomes deciding which URL to send their Q-Audience to.

There are so many choices of how best to use QR for your business. Where you want to send people may change from time to time – in fact it is very likely that it will change as you business grows.

I have some tightly targeted QR codes but I also have one that I call my QR Gateway. I actually have this code on a car magnet.

Coffee Shop Commerce: 5 Ways To Use Hot Beverages To Grow Your Biz

It’s not uncommon to meet colleagues, customers or prospects in public venues such as coffee shops.  My observation is most people are using them strictly for scheduled short meetings with specific people – you talk, have a cup then leave.  There’s more to it if you look deeper.

HOLD COURT

Schedule at least 2 mornings or afternoons (not lunch hours) per week – when you have “computer work” to do -  and set yourself at a table.  Announce to your SOI in advance when and where you’ll be.  “I’ll be hanging out at Janie and Jackies’s Jumpin Java Joint Tuesday morning.  If you’re out and about, stop by and say Hi.”

5 Things Not To Do at Networking Meetings

There are a lot of different types of Networking meetings.  There are many formats. There are large groups, small groups, free groups, breakfast groups, evening “cocktail party” groups, event groups and others.

The thing that they all have in common is the vast majority of the folks who attend are doing so in order to grow their own network of prospective clients and referral sources. Everyone is there to meet others and increase the size of their community.  We do this by learning about the other folks at the meeting and helping them get to know us as well.

The one exception, is the paid, industry limited groups – you know, where there is a limit of one person per industry. These groups primarily exist not to help people grow their network but to exchange leads.  The following list does not necessarily apply to those groups.

The thing that I am fascinated by is the number of attendees whose behaviors are counterproductive to their own best interests.

Here is a list of 5 of them.