tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-173327682007-07-06T07:54:20.088+01:00Clive Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03582041324932625159noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125Latest ideas and thoughts to do with sales performance and success from SalesSense consultants - www.salessense.co.uktag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17332768.post-75247450405457223262007-07-06T07:41:00.000+01:002007-07-06T07:54:20.117+01:00

In my last post, I made an unscientific observation about cold calling results, concluding that one hit in twenty dials was some sort of universal constant. Suppose it were two hits in twenty. Would you double your money? It seems likely. It may depend on what you define as a hit. It might be an appointment, or discovering an opportunity, or closing an order, or something else. It depends on

Clive Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03582041324932625159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17332768.post-23231499284983785082007-07-04T07:55:00.000+01:002007-07-05T22:56:37.731+01:00

Having recently renewed my own prospecting activity, I have come to notice a common cold calling ratio. My experience seems to be consistent with the ratio's achieved by clients. I divide call results into seven categories. They are a hit (objective achieved), a call returned (during the session), new information, email or post follow up, fobbed off (when I get through but have to call back),

Clive Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03582041324932625159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17332768.post-83735239339033181972007-06-26T09:01:00.000+01:002007-06-26T09:05:00.619+01:00

Excerpt Daniel Goleman, Social Intelligence, Bantam, 2006, 18-19. "One way moods differ from the grosser feelings of emotions, psychologists tell us, has to do with the ineffability of their causes: while we typically know what has caused an outright emotion, we often find ourselves in one or another mood without knowing its source. [Experiments] suggest, though, that our world may be filled

Clive Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03582041324932625159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17332768.post-11653885023394015232007-06-25T22:21:00.000+01:002007-06-25T22:39:08.720+01:00

Disaster recipes and schemes to do myself out of business are not what I have in mind. Just consider the idea and how it could be made to work. If your sales people could be motivated to teach themselves and each other; if they could be persuaded to take such a task seriously, sales meetings could be a lot more fun. If a sales manager were to simply assign a topic to one sales person each month

Clive Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03582041324932625159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17332768.post-58619801546968616762007-06-18T08:02:00.001+01:002007-06-18T08:23:33.524+01:00

Think about it, make a plan, and prepare yourself to act on the plan. I bang on and on about this in my articles and probably in this blog. Here is an every day example. Like many, I am amongst the group of people who tend to have a glass or two of wine to relax in an evening. Also like many, I know that drinking every day is not good for my health. Every so often, I have applied a bit of will

Clive Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03582041324932625159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17332768.post-59848536350201844362007-06-17T15:10:00.002+01:002007-06-17T15:30:45.297+01:00

There is no reason for being poor, accept choice. Someone recently reminded me of this idea. It may seem a bit outrageous, particularly if you live in a part of the world where scarcity dominates people’s attention. This can’t be said for most of the western world. Abundance is obvious to all, even to those who have yet to share it. Is it an accident? The idea expressed in the first line

Clive Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03582041324932625159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17332768.post-20399154727111750902007-06-06T21:33:00.000+01:002007-06-06T21:45:08.030+01:00

So they won’t tell you what other options are under consideration So they won’t give you access to all of the people involved So they won’t reveal their true reasons for acting So they won’t share their budget calculations Seems like a broken sales process. Fix it with CLEAR – revealed in Selling Consulting Services in Reading on June 21st.

Clive Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03582041324932625159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17332768.post-70585253778360833492007-06-06T00:57:00.001+01:002007-06-06T08:56:51.256+01:00

From Pen Y Pass you can take a skateboard. I’m not kidding. You could ride some sections of the Pig and Miners tracks. Despite this, we (several friends and family members) found it a breeze. About a 100 mile an hour breeze in places. Sunday May 27th 2007 dawned grey, wet, and cold. Just like traditional English Bank holidays. Then it got wetter. As we neared the top, the rain turned to

Clive Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03582041324932625159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17332768.post-61151260326511785032007-06-06T00:47:00.000+01:002007-06-06T00:48:16.738+01:00

Raising money for Multiple Sclerosis research is the aim of my attempt at the Three Peaks Challenge in August. If you would like to support the cause, visit www.justgiving.com/clivemiller. I'll be publishing a diary for all contributors, and offering free writing services for anyone who makes a donation of £300 or more.

Clive Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03582041324932625159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17332768.post-34606857805992521822007-02-21T08:20:00.000Z2007-02-21T08:28:43.491Z

Being the best you can be might not inspire you. Whether it is having enough money to choose your work and life style, or the kind of success that wins influence and status, or gaining the recognition you deserve, or feeling the excitement of competition, or simply securing your future, tapping into your personal genius is bound to get you more of what you want. The secret of genius is no secret

Clive Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03582041324932625159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17332768.post-1144330831944311872006-04-06T12:31:00.000+01:002006-04-06T14:43:12.466+01:00

When you can't afford to lose a sale, take the time to understand the politics in the customer's organisation. Blaming a lost sale on the politics is no compensation for the unrecoverable investment of time and money. Identify all of the people who will care about the outcome before the sale is concluded. This will include those who join from outside to fill vacant or new positions, those from

Clive Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03582041324932625159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17332768.post-1140032243838586072006-02-15T19:35:00.000Z2006-02-15T19:37:23.853Z

I like to listen to books. In particular, books of a professional interest. These days there is no time to keep up a good professional reading habit. It is my good fortune that books are increasingly available as audio titles. The downloadable variety are often no more expensive than buying a paper version. Availability of inexpensive audio players makes it easy to use travel and exercise time

Clive Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03582041324932625159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17332768.post-1137180287753516542006-01-13T19:21:00.000Z2006-01-13T19:24:47.766Z

It is easy to make resolutions. Compliance is often relegated into second place, behind the perceived needs of the moment. First check your leverage. How important is the personal change you are considering. Will it improve your life and if so, how exactly? What will happen if you never get around to this change, exactly? Below are three of seventeen ways to help make a personal change happen.

Clive Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03582041324932625159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17332768.post-1136557856857958142006-01-06T14:26:00.000Z2006-01-06T14:30:56.866Z

I just came across this fantastic quote and had to share it. "Yesterday is dead. Tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day and I'm going to be happy in it" Groucho Marx

Clive Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03582041324932625159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17332768.post-1135874759849949692005-12-29T16:45:00.000Z2005-12-29T16:48:21.146Z

First look in your own back yard. If you need more business, chances are that you can find some opportunities amongst your existing and previous customers. It is always easier to communicate with people who know you. Remember the 'Acres of Diamonds' story where a South African farmer sells his farm to go diamond prospecting only to discover that the farm he sold was littered with them. Simple

Clive Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03582041324932625159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17332768.post-1132561701021889382005-11-21T08:17:00.001Z2005-11-21T08:58:45.476Z

I often bang on about forethought, planning, and preparation. It may be obvious that success in anything largely depends on thinking about it in advance, organising one’s thoughts, and practising what will need to be done. Once you arrive on the scene, it’s too late to do anything but react to the circumstances as instinct dictates. When you are on the ice, it is too late to adjust your speed.

Clive Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03582041324932625159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17332768.post-1132181081292349762005-11-16T21:58:00.000Z2005-11-16T22:46:20.363Z

Consumed with purpose, existence, desire, goals, presence, and passion What purpose is the design of life, striving written in to every breath? Caught between the chaos of possession and the bliss of selfless expression Release without destruction, joy without encumbrance Such is hope that no depths can endure her light Simple to recline, engulfed in her embrace From fear I come to appreciate

Clive Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03582041324932625159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17332768.post-1132003401328224072005-11-14T21:21:00.000Z2005-11-14T21:23:21.340Z

“Has him the dark side does!” In a recent training course we spent some time discussing sales ethics. In sales you have to adopt one of two uncomfortable attitudes if you want to use your inner power to persuade. If the customer wants what you think is right, there is no persuasion to be done unless you have a penchant for self sabotage through over selling. Otherwise, you must attempt to

Clive Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03582041324932625159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17332768.post-1131120298509753542005-11-04T16:01:00.000Z2005-11-04T17:34:56.770Z

It seems we really cannot see what is in front of our nose! It’s nothing to do with vision or observation. To cope with the overwhelming amount of information available, the human brain must (or does) filter out much of what we can gather via our five senses. Every time I re-examine one of our products or services, I find obvious ways to improve it and cannot understand why I had not seen them

Clive Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03582041324932625159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17332768.post-1130746078384142782005-10-31T08:07:00.000Z2005-10-31T08:07:58.393Z

In the constant cycle of seeking new customers, it is easy for salesmen and women to forget the joy of meeting new people. One of the reasons I love to sell is the joy of making new acquaintances and sometimes, new friends. Pressure to perform clouds the simple pleasure of learning about another’s world, purpose, and ambitions. The great thing about being in a sales role is that we are paid to

Clive Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03582041324932625159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17332768.post-1130248971386098352005-10-25T14:42:00.000+01:002005-10-25T15:02:51.393+01:00

Having recovered the number eight position for our web site when someone uses the search term ‘sales training’ in Google (from the UK), I am tempted to imagine that we could turn our hand to professional search engine optimisation. In case readers are interested, I’ll try to share how we recovered from the fall to number fifty four mentioned in the previous post. Stay with me, this does have

Clive Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03582041324932625159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17332768.post-1129734109698627562005-10-19T15:40:00.000+01:002005-10-19T16:01:49.706+01:00

If it isn't broken, don't fix it. Resist the urge to meddle with things that are working well. In an effort to push our web site visibility further up the first page for a Google search on the term, 'sales training' we inadvertently dumped it from position 8 to 54. Contradicting this advice is the idea that you should always try to compete with your best - best methods, techniques, and habits

Clive Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03582041324932625159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17332768.post-1128616228060462142005-10-06T17:11:00.000+01:002005-10-06T17:30:28.063+01:00

Earlier this year I received an exciting birthday present – a GPS based gadget for runners. It tells you how far you have run, how long you have been running, and what your present pace is. For some years I have been pounding the foot paths to take a break from the computer screen and to keep the belly under control! Many years ago, pace was much more important to me. As I run on my own and vary

Clive Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03582041324932625159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17332768.post-1128176748872568312005-10-01T11:28:00.000+01:002005-10-25T15:09:04.766+01:00

“Use the force Luke”. This line from Star Wars, when Darth Vader is chasing Luke Skywalker down the alleys of the Death Star, echoes in my head. The disembodied voice of Ben Canobi speaks words of encouragement in Luke’s ear. I have tried to make it work for me on the golf course many times, always with disastrous results. The other day, I realised that my lazy brain was using this as an excuse

Clive Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03582041324932625159noreply@blogger.com