Southwestern Sales Talk

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Here’s a fun activity for your next Southwestern Advantage campus meeting: grab a friend and tell them that no matter what, they cannot smile. Next, sit across from them and smile. See how long they can last without smiling back. Most people last less than a minute before breaking into a grin. And all you [...]

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Posted by | 01.27.2012 | 12:01 pm

I had the chance to share some ideas recently at Southwestern’s Great Recruiters Seminar, specifically in a workshop on communication strategies.  One of the points I stressed to student managers was to teach new team members how to treat you, from the start. First impressions are tricky.  People make rapid assumptions about new acquaintances.  Oftentimes, you can [...]

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Posted by | 01.18.2012 | 02:01 pm

And now for a departure from my normal sales blog for a chance political encouner: I was running a Leadership Retreat for Southwestern student managers in Des Moines, IA last week.  As we wrapped up lunch and were heading into the conference room, one of the managers remarked, “Rick Perry is in the restaurant.”  Didn’t [...]

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Posted by | 12.14.2011 | 10:12 am

Last blog, we were discussing how to break out of the state of being stuck mentally in a Southwestern context.  We talked about using the phrase, “What would it be like if I could ________ (insert impossible thing)?”  By pretending you have the skill or ability which you currently believe you lack, your brain opens [...]

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Posted by | 12.09.2011 | 02:12 pm

Hey Southwestern friends!  Have you ever been selling or recruiting and gotten stuck mentally?  In other words, you thought: “This can’t be done.” Or “Hitting that sales level is impossible.” Or “I could never approach that person for my team.”  Of course you have.  We all tend to limit ourselves at times–we get stuck in a [...]

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Posted by | 11.02.2011 | 01:11 pm

Raise your hand if you’ve ever been guilty of talking to yourself. Out loud. If you’re selling with Southwestern and your hand isn’t up, you are costing yourself some serious cash. Why? Allow me to explain. Before my first summer with Southwestern, my manager Jake trained me on the principle of self-talk. Self-talk is prevalent [...]

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Posted by | 10.18.2011 | 09:10 am

In the last Southwestern sales blog, I explored the notion of 4 conversational levels, and how it helps to get a prospect to a feeling level when you are selling.  People buy products for a variety of feelings:  Peace of mind Love A sense of security Fear of loss Providing a good environment for their children  [...]

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Posted by | 08.23.2011 | 03:08 pm

People won’t buy your Southwestern products unless they’re clear that whatever you’re presenting feels intuitively right to them.  In other words, your selling proposition must fit their vision of what they want to create in the long term, and combine with their most deeply held values.  So, as Sydney Walker tells us in his book, [...]

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Posted by | 08.15.2011 | 10:08 am

There are far more than five ways to destroy a Southwestern sales call.  But, in the interest of brevity, and of maintaining my small readership, I’ll narrow this to just five.  Remember, selling is a complex activity with many variables.  Every prospect is different; every sales encounter has a new twist–especially when you’re dealing with [...]

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Posted by | 08.03.2011 | 03:08 pm

One element of Southwestern sales success–likeability. If you attended Southwestern‘s Sales Schools recently, you may recall Nicholas Boothman sharing the idea that before a prospect buys anything, they have to buy you!  If they like you, prospects will look for opportunities to say “yes.” To that end, Tom Hoobyar, NLP Master Practitioner and blogger, shares [...]

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Posted by | 07.20.2011 | 03:07 pm