I love the saying, “success begins at the edge of your comfort zone.” I’m all for pushing oneself to the edge of their comfort zone, but not beyond. This is especially true when prospecting for new customers. It’s natural for most sales folks to want to reach for the stars and secure large marquis accounts. But… Read More
Tag: Selling
Happy New Year. From the day this article is published, you have 360 days left in your new year. You have a clean slate. A fresh opportunity. What will you accomplish with these 360 days? Dream big. Businesses in North America spend almost $300 billion per year on printing and promotional products. You are within… Read More
Over the years I have developed what I call the “Muzzillo 10 Percent Rule.” Simply stated, the rule is that, at any point in time, only about 10 percent of folks are dissatisfied enough with their current situation that they are wide open for change. This is true for end-user customers. Only about 10 percent… Read More
Back when I was growing my original Proforma distributorship, I was teaching one of our newer sales reps how to conduct field calls. In my view, field calling is a lost skill. Sadly, in this day of email and voicemail, salespeople think they don’t need to get out and do field calls. I strongly disagree… Read More
Back in the days of building my own distributorship, I worked hard to secure an appointment with a large prospect in town. It took almost two years of diligent calling and following up, but I finally got an initial appointment. I was very excited about the opportunity. I did a great deal of work to… Read More
Living in Your Pipeline
If you’ve been in sales for longer than a week, you have heard someone – a manager, co-worker, or accountability partner – stress the importance of building an active sales pipeline. Even so, many sales professionals look at building and maintaining a pipeline as a “non-sales activity” not critical to their growth. It’s time to… Read More
Are You Selling a Product or Selling an Experience?
When it comes to marketing and advertising, I’ve seen more ads targeting the experience you’ll get from using the product, rather than the product itself. For example, Starbucks unveiled new ads not too long ago, and there’s not one mention of the products that you’ll purchase at Starbucks. Why is that? Starbucks knows that we’re… Read More
You’re a Salesperson, I’m a Salesperson
When people I meet at tradeshows or other similar events tell me they are in sales, my response is usually one of wonder and awe. I tend to say something along the lines of, “I could never be in sales. That’s such a difficult job and I don’t think I could ever handle it. I… Read More
4 Steps to Sell via Email without Being ‘Salesy’
The statistics all show that email marketing is still the most valuable tool for direct selling online. After all, almost everyone has email – not everyone is on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. And, most everyone has conducted some type of business transaction via email. Whether it’s purchasing something directly from an email offer, or negotiating… Read More
Promotional Products for the Gridiron
As we enter into the month of August, the days start to get shorter, a little cooler, and a sense of relaxation takes over. The kids go back to school, their extracurricular activities kick in, and the carpooling begins. This quickly takes your sense of relaxation into coordination and communication overload. Don’t fret for too… Read More