Bill Porter is likely the most intriguing sales person you’ve never heard of. Bill Porter started with the Watkins Company in 1955 selling their products door to door. For those of you that haven’t heard of Watkins, they have been selling natural home and health care products since the late 1800′s. Their roots are as [...]
My current team is generating excellent prospecting activity. They are willing to hit the street every day and meet with business owners to uncover opportunities.
The biggest challenge my team is having is managing follow up; more accurately ensuring that follow up is taking place in a timely fashion
2 Right 2 Left Prospecting If you are doing business in an area of town, an office building or an industrial complex, you should always take 10 minutes and visit each 2 companies to the left and right of the company you are there to see. If you keep some information packages in your car, [...]
I am in the process of hiring 4 more sales people for a new market we are entering in Western Canada. Our organization is in growth mode (good) and we do not have the resources to have HR pre-screen candidates (bad). This puts me in a position where I am responsible for the full hiring process – from reviewing incoming applications right through to the eventual offer. I currently manage 12 sales people so I have to make sure that the time I dedicate to recruiting is efficient. Each resume I look at gets a 60 second run through. If it catches my attention I’ll spend a few minutes with it and if the candidate looks promising I’ll fire off an email to book a telephone interview. Below are some sales resume tips for sales people that are looking to make a career change: Make it personal. Your cover letter should show that you have put at least a little effort into applying for this position. Spend some time with the job description and write a brief cover letter that... more
I’ve worked with 4-5 different recruiters over the past 5 years and had had mixed results. In most cases I’ve been promised good candidates – fast – and received below average candiditates sporadically. Now, I understand the the Vancouver job market is incredibly tight; the reality is are not an abundance of sales talent in this market. You have to question anyone that isn’t working and the real sales stars that are employed can command good dollars. Below are some... more
I’m a firm believer that activity is the key driver behind sales results. There is never a bad time to reach out to clients you haven’t talked to in a while to ask ‘what’s up’. In our sold accounts, sales people can become complacent, not realizing that our end users have short memories. End users and buyers get in buried in their business, running projects, attending multiple meetings and a short email can secure the opportunity to bid on a good sized project that... more
Arctic Grayling I started this blog for a few reasons. First and foremost I love selling! I work as a Regional Sales Manager for a Fortune 500 payment processing company. Prior to that I spent 7 years in the print industry. I’ve spent the first 8 years of my career selling and managing sales people, and I can’t imagine doing anything else. Unlike a lot of sales people I don’t claim to have unlocked all the secrets to successful selling. I am constantly looking for ways to improve... more
How many times have you checked your e-mail today? Do you look at each new message as soon as you see the notification, even if you suspect it’s nothing important? If you’re like most workers, you’ve probably checked your inbox dozens of times already. How much time do you think you lose every day to checking your mail, re-reading messages, or looking for misplaced messages? That time could be better spent doing other things if you commit to developing a few new habits. 1. Set aside... more
Don\'t worry, I shave the beard for meetings!
