Jim Kearney

Many salespeople are of the mindset that it’s inappropriate to ask clients for referrals until after the clients had experienced the outcomes promised by the product or service. Their thinking is that if they deliver the intended outcomes…and do so in an exceptional manner, clients will be more willing to provide a name or two when asked. 

The assembly line method of manufacturing—a sequential arrangement of specific production processes—is an effective and efficient means of reliably producing products of consistent quality. While “selling” is not technically an assembly line process, it has many of the same characteristics.

Asking your prospect all the correct questions is wasted if you don't hear what he or she says, either in words or more subtly in tones or partial hints. Being a good listener requires more than just keeping quiet while the other person is talking.

Do your salespeople, individually, care whether or not your company is the "Best in the World" or "The Leader in Widget Performance"? Undoubtedly that is important to them, but is that what gets them up in the morning, and keeps them going out in the field?

When you sit in on your next sales meeting, count how many times you hear the word feeling(s), or "I feel like..." Nothing wrong with "gut feel;" it's valuable in many ways such as bonding and rapport, empathy, and intuition about people. But in selling it is also very dangerous.