It’s almost Valentine’s Day, which for a lot of people means an opportunity to refocus on loved ones and show the love in a special way. Doesn’t V-Day hold the same opportunity for sellers? Why not take a moment this week and show your customers and prospects the love? Taking the advice of the World’s […]
Category Archives: Relationships Sales
14
Dec
Dec
I disagree with Pat Benetar. I’m going to just presume that you know who Pat Benetar is, but if you don’t, here’s her Wikipedia page. Full Disclosure: Here are several true facts (not alternative facts!) about the relationship between Pat Benetar and me: There is no actual relationship between Pat Benetar and me. We have […]
05
Nov
Nov
True story: I once knew a girl who was in love with a boy. She was in love with him because he was perfect in almost every way: Smart, funny, responsible, sensitive, considerate, good fashion sense. She loved him because he was perfect for her in almost every way: Same values, same hopes and dreams, […]
Customers, Relationships Sales, Sales Relationships, Selling Tips
Customer-Centric Selling is Not Enough!
08
May
May
It’s been real popular over the years for sellers to define themselves as “customer-centric.” A search for the term on Amazon yields more than 3,000 book results! There’s everything from customer-centric selling to marketing to service culture…and I think it’s wrong. What’s wrong with all the focus on customer-centricity? Being focused on customers is a […]
19
Feb
Feb
Just the other day, I threw on some of my warmest gear and went running in the cold. And I mean COLD – the air temperature was -4 degrees Fahrenheit (-20 Celsius for my international friends). While I was stumbling through a five-mile (8K) festival of frigid, I had some time to think. Many of […]
Love and Selling, Relationships Sales, Sales Relationships, Uncategorized
Can You Really “Build Walls” Around Your Customers?
05
Sep
Sep
#2 in a series: From “Love and Selling”: In business, love is often thicker than water. When customers love their sellers, personal loyalty often trumps loyalty to a product or service. They justify emotional decisions with logic and data. They even put vendors through empty RFP processes where the decision has already been made . […]
Love and Selling, Relationships Sales, Sales Relationships, Selling Tips
The World’s Most Underrated Sales Expert
21
Mar
Mar
The World’s Most Underrated Sales Expert | Dan Smaida | Pulse | LinkedIn Here’s an excerpt from my book “Love and Selling” and a topic I’m passionate about – how to make relationships work better in sales. In the book, I go deeper into how to apply Chapman’s work to your own selling…and all your […]
08
Mar
Mar
In honor of International Women’s Day, let’s take 500 words or so to look more closely at a commonly-held belief about gender differences in selling… Over the years, I’ve been in a dozens of sales workshops when a discussion of gender breaks out, most often on the topic of listening. The prevailing view, in my […]
29
Oct
Oct
Dan Smaida – Wednesday, October 29, 2016 In a previous post I suggested that millennial sellers aren’t closing as much as they could be because they’re over-relying on text and email. Comments on this post flew in all directions, but not many disputed the fact that more than ever, we’re using screens to do what […]
01
Sep
Sep
Dan Smaida – September 22, 2016 Have you ever run into these phenomena when reviewing the pipelines of your veteran sellers? – Deals seem to drag on and on as the customer goes through “the process.” – All of the opportunities seem to follow the same path. – Companies that should be in the pipeline aren’t in the […]