Kelley Robertson's Page

A few days ago I finally made contact with a new prospect and we started discussing his situation. Most preliminary calls like this take between 15-30 minutes and I usually start our conversation by asking, “Is this still a good time to talk?”

However, I didn’t do that in this particular situation and six minutes into the call my prospect said, “I have to get to a meeting. Send me some information and we’ll talk later.” As a result, I did not have the time to more deeply pursue my prospect’s pr… Continue

Many people in sales know what they should do. However, they analyze the details to death and this “paralysis by analysis” causes them to hesitate and second-guess themselves. Many people hesitate to pick up the telephone and call a prospect who appears to be sitting on the fence because they don’t know exactly what to say. They may resist cold calling because they fear the rejection. They may not change their approach because it feels uncomfortable.

These are natural responses. However, these… Continue

Veteran sales people often ask me for ideas on advanced sales training and I am usually at a loss for words (difficult to believe, I know!). Certainly, there are new technologies and platforms and the tidal wave of social networks opportunities have changed the sales world and given sellers new ways to prospect, connect, and sell. However, even though today’s business world is more competitive and buyers are more sophisticated than ever, the fundamental rules of selling still apply.

When someon… Continue

When you make contact with a new prospect via the telephone you have an extremely short window of time to connect with them. If you fail to achieve this they will quickly tune you out. Here are five things you can do to lose their attention in the first five seconds of the conversation:

1. Start a telephone conversation with, “Hi, how are you?”
2. Open your conversation by introducing yourself, your company and what you do.
3. Give them an overview of your products and services.
4. Explain how… Continue

Many people in sales find it challenging to stay motivated. Here are four ideas consider.

Do something different. Most sales people I know do the same things every week. They make their quota of calls. They use the same tactics and techniques to generate business. Or they rely on orders from their existing customers to reach their targets. However, it is critical to do something different if you want to get better results. What can you do differently that will help you increase your sales?

Joi… Continue