Like many people who started a business based on their area of expertise, I had no idea how to actually run a business, especially when it came to sales. I heard that a “pipeline” was helpful. I heard you were … Read More
Blog
Spellcheck for proposals, because seplling is hard
Sorry this has taken so long, but spellcheck is available in the online proposal editor. You should see the little squiggly lines if you’re using a “modern” browser. To get the suggestion list, do a Ctrl+Right Click (on Windows) and … Read More
How to sell Microsoft Surface: The tablet for getting things done
Microsoft recently announced “Surface”, an oddly-named tablet family designed to compete not only with Apple’s iPad and numerous devices running Google’s Android operating system, but also tablets from its own hardware partners. Microsoft built its empire by selling Windows and … Read More
Proposal Tip: Don’t Use Jargon, Unless It’s Your Prospect’s Jargon
Somewhere between high school and business school, many seemingly literate people develop the ability to write grammatically correctly but completely incomprehensibly. However, when you are trying to convince a prospect to sign your proposal, it really helps if they can … Read More
Can You “Have it All”? Of course not.
A recent cover story in The Atlantic called “Why Women Can’t Have It All” has generated a huge amount of buzz (see the debate at The Atlantic, on Slate, and on any Facebook wall with young, ambitious people who have … Read More
Easy up-selling and solution selling for small business sales
Sometimes, we are our own worst enemies. (In previous posts, I’ve discussed how we often start discounting before we even know if the buyer thinks we are too expensive.) Today, I want to talk about making sure your buyers know … Read More
Restaurant Pricing– Food for Thought
(Guest post by Peter Maniscalo.) My wife and I recently visited one of our favorite local restaurants (a “Bar & Grill” as it’s called). We’ve been loyal customers for several years. It’s a nice place, always busy with good food, service, atmosphere … Read More
2 Sentence Pricing Advice for Small Business Owners
1. Be better, not cheaper. If someone in your market doesn’t think you’re better, you’re a commodity and have no pricing power. If you’re small, you probably have less costing power than the your larger competitors. Commodity pricing + uncompetitive … Read More
Volume Discounts in Salesforce.com
Salesforce.com is great for managing your pipeline, but sometimes you need a little help to get the customer a quote. One of the challenges is volume discounts (see customer requests here and here). To mimic volume discount functionality in salesforce.com, … Read More
I sell services, how the %*$& should I sell? (part 4– reducing risk)
In Part 1 (“what do I sell?”), we looked at what most service businesses sell, and why selling hours can be a bad idea. In Part 2 (“what do customers buy?”) we looked at why customers buy outcomes, not hours. In Part … Read More