We were helping a friend move into her new apartment. As we were helping her get set up, I commented, “You really ought to have a carbon monoxide detector.”

She asked, “Why?” I didn’t really know, so I went out to buy one while they continued unpacking. When I returned with the carbon monoxide detector, she asked again, “Why do I need it?”

I suggested we look at the box. The box had all of the technical information about how this carbon monoxide detector measured things. The box listed all the rates of when the alarm would go off, telling us how to use it and what it could do, but never explained why we needed it.

How much of your packaging and literature explains why someone would need your products or services and what benefits they can expect? Is this a good time to talk with your reps about focusing their efforts to talk more about why your products or services can help and the benefits they can expect?

Today’s video talks about this lack of “Why I want to buy your product?” descriptions in most product literature and packaging. After all…the more your reps talk about why a buyer wants your stuff…the more likely your team can sell even more!

How are your reps responding to a buyer asking “Why, based on all the competitive options available to me, do I want to buy from you?”

A great test to learn what’s being delivered by your team is to individually ask each rep how they’d answer a prospect asking “Why buy from you?”

Be prepared to hear a different answer/message from each rep. This is not a weakness in your reps, but in your management. When was the last time you discussed with your team what the best answers are to this question?

Most companies assume experienced reps have great messaging answers and don’t need any help. So, receiving no management help, what a surprise each rep then made up their own response. And each response is likely different.

How do you strengthen your brand? By strengthening the consistency of your message. Could this be a good time for you, as their coach and leader, to meet with your team to identify the key attributes and uniqueness they need to be communicating?

Today’s video discusses this problem of each rep having a different “Why buy from you?” response…and what you, as the team leader, can do about it. When you strengthen your team’s messaging of uniqueness, you tend to sell even more!

We need salespeople today to be more proactive initiators, not just reactive responders.

How many of your team spend most of their time answering the phone, covering their territory on the same days each month, and calling on the same customers? They define a successful sales call if they can ask their four questions… ”Anything you need?” “Anything coming up?” “Anything I can help with?” “How’s the family?”

But today, with all of the competitive pressures we face, this reactive support style of selling just doesn't work as much as it used to. Competitive advantages are gained when your salespeople become more proactive.

We need to be initiators, not responders to our customers, going in looking for solutions, bringing them new ideas and solutions. You can’t expect to keep a customer long term if your team is only supporting them.

Think you could gain more buyer loyalty by showing your customers how you can lower their risk, lower their total costs and/or make their life easier?

Today’s video talks about what you can do to help your team members identify more ways they can increase their proactive efforts by them bringing more solutions…so they can sell even more!

One of the ways, as a sales leader, that we can increase the effectiveness of our sales team is to make sure they have the best habits of selling, that they’re selling more as a process instead of events.

The reality is most sales reps are just too intuitive giving them a tendency to want to immediately decide or take action…a philosophy of ready, fire, aim.

You go up to them and you give them a sales lead. What’s the first thing they’ll do? Most will just pick up the phone and call the customer. Because they have a new lead.

They won’t do any research online to see anything about the company. They won’t do research on LinkedIn to see what they can learn about the individual’s name they have.

And they won’t even look at their past records to see if this person has ever been a client of your company before taking action and calling. Ready, fire, aim.

What we need to do as sales leaders to help increase the effectiveness of our sales team is to make sure that they’re more process complete focused in what they do.

That we break this habit of ready, fire, aim, this immediacy that you get a sales lead, the first thing you do is pick up the phone and call them. That we do some research. We understand more about the clients.

When we do call them, we’re more effective. We’re more persuasive. And we impress the customer or prospect that we understand their business because we did our homework.

What could you do to make sure your team is not following this old philosophy of ready, fire, aim?

There's a simple coaching technique that you, as a sales leader, can use to help make sure your salespeople continue to stay more future focused in their account discussions and account planning. This simple phrase is… ”And then what?”

Next time you’re talking with a sales team member, ask them about their selling plans for an important account and what they’ve planned for their next sales call. After they tell you their plans for that call, ask “And then what?”

This is a great way, as a coach, to help your reps think and plan more moves ahead. And the best way to do that is when they tell you what they’re going to do, just ask… “So what's your next step going to be after that? And then what?”

I learned this technique from my good friend (and fellow sales trainer) Jeff Slutsky from Kansas City.

Today’s video talks about this great technique to help you, as the sales coach, to help your reps think and plan more moves ahead. By you asking more “And then what?” questions. It’s a great tool to help you and your team to sell even more!

The profession of selling is experiencing some pretty tough times. We have less time in front of customers. Customers don't respect salespeople like they used to. Buyers assume all products are generic and believe there’s very little difference between vendors.

How are your salespeople making these challenges turn into success? This is the time when you and your team need to become stronger students of selling.

Most salespeople have spent their careers being intuitive product experts, good at building relationships. They can answer their customer’s questions and identify solutions when asked to help.

But intuitive product experts are not proactively doing as much as they need to. They don't have control of their calls by understanding the steps of a sales call. They're also not working on their multiple-step “Identify to Close” selling process.

Since sales has gotten tougher, salespeople need to keep increasing their skills of selling so they stay competitive. Are your reps reading the latest books on selling? Are they checking out the latest sales podcasts, or looking at video clips like mine, all aimed at helping you become a stronger, more effective person of sales?

Today’s video talks about how much tougher selling has become and the need for a sales team to become stronger students of selling,,, so they can sell even more!

Too many salespeople today spend so much time selling, pushing their products, and talking about their latest deals that they're not doing much to actually help their customers.

A buyer recently shared, “The only time I see my rep is when they’ve got another smoking hot deal they're pitching to me.” That buyer doesn’t see their salesperson as someone helping their business. They only see them as a pusher and promoter.

Think this is a good time to make sure your sales team understands the importance of coming across to their buyers as someone interested and working to help solve their problems? Are your reps looking for opportunities to provide their buyers with ways they can lower their risk, make their lives easier, or lower their total operating costs? To do that, your team members will need to demonstrate they’re more customer-focused with the questions they ask and the solutions they bring.

Most product pushers don't tend to sell that much in today's hypercompetitive environment. Think your team could benefit from talking about how to be of more value and of help to their buyers?

Today’s video talks about the problems buyers are having today with salespeople only functioning as “product pushers.” Think your team, by promoting more solutions and presenting fewer “smoking hot deals,” might be able to sell even more?