Alice Kemper doubled her income the first day of getting into sales. (She was a public school teacher.) She went into sales for American Greeting Cards and Harte Hanks as a “token woman.” (Out of 800+ sales people she was the 9th woman hired.)
She became a student of selling because after her two weeks of sales training with the company she was on her own. She knew as a teacher you “can’t wing it," so 31 years ago launched Sales Training Consultants. (Not a big difference teaching 6th graders and sales people! Doh!)
She's been building her business by helping others build theirs ever since.
Rubber-Meets-The-Road Sales Tip
- Preparation is key to sales success. It’s the most overlooked action sales people mess up on.
- They express needs and desire to do something about it.
- “How will I launch this conversation?”
- There is no more time anymore.
- They don’t want to know about you.
- No 3-martini lunches.
- You have to prepare more than “in your head.”
- You need to write it down and practice it.
Preparation is key to sales success. It’s the most overlooked action sales people mess up on"
- Buyer. Seller. Observer.
- Sales people never get up in front of the room in her training.
- Everyone brings a sales challenge to work on and the training is done in context.
- Her clients must agree to work with her for a minimum of three months with weekly 90-minute, interactive calls to reinforce.
- That’s how she can guarantee a 5% to 35% increase.
- Many sales managers are not naturals with innate sales management skills so Alice created “30 Minute Sales Meetings.”
Your sales training must be done in context"
- Past Prospecting failures can cause pain that keeps you from doing more prospecting.
- You have to learn from your mistakes, conduct better research, prepare your words and prospecting processes more thoroughly and continue to grow.
- “The close is the easiest part of the conversation…if you do all of the steps leading up to it properly. Establish yourself as a strategic partner. They don’t need another vendor. Business people need strategic business partners.”
- Ask the right questions. Remove barriers.
Ask the right questions. Remove barriers."
Links Mentioned
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