Clarity Advantage's Sales Thoughts
by Clarity Advantage
A podcast for accelerating your bank's sales to businesses. Brought to you by Clarity Advantage, a firm that helps banks generate more profitable relationships faster with small and medium-sized companies, their owners, and employees. Gain tips and techniques for prospecting, positioning value, negotiating, better questions and listening, coaching, and managing sales process. Small Business Trends Radio named the Sales Thoughts podcast to its 100 Best Small Business Podcasts in 2010 and 2011.
Episodes
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To the Highest Standards
In which we consider that companies generate more client loyalty and more sales if they’ve developed and managed their sales teams to specific client experience standards.
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Trusted Advisor
In which we are reminded that advising, earning trust, and generating value beyond our products involves looking beyond the needs our products address.
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Assessing Buyer Appetites for Risk
In which we are encouraged to explore the bigger picture of what our clients seek to maximize or minimize in purchasing our services.
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I've Got a Guy Who...
Want to be the "go to" person for your clients when they need something? Watch for some tips from Nick Miller, president of the bank sales training and consulting firm, Clarity Advantage. http://www.clarityadvantage.com
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Keep an Eye Out
In which we are reminded: Look up, from time to time, and engage with the people around us. No telling who we will meet.
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Daily Measures
In which we are encouraged to plan, then track and manage, our sales activities to boost our chances of hitting goals.
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Niche or Get Smoked
In which we are reminded: Find a niche and specialize… or get smoked.
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Hot Rods
In which we are reminded that buyers have so many choices that, no matter how much work we invest in differentiating the details of our products, they remember only one or two IF they distinctly stand out.
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Forget Me Not
In which we are reminded to “follow the check list” as we’re closing sales or finishing projects.
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The Best Parts First
In which we are reminded to tell the best parts of our story (i.e. our results, our value) first in three (or fewer) simple sentences.
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Why do you ask?
In which we are reminded that very few questions come from idle curiosity. We need to know why.
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A Fool's Plan
In which we are reminded…again… that sustaining training is critical to long term capabilities and performance.
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Seeing Beyond the Obvious
In which we are reminded that every client personal detail reveals choices and avenues to insight.
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Ask Before You Pitch
Ask questions to understand what prospects are thinking before you start pitching ideas.
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Recalculating Route
In which we are reminded that “winging it” in sales calls without maps of the bigger picture frequently ends in our getting lost.. and losing opportunity.
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Bread on the Table
In which we are reminded that even short call plans help us produce better results than no plans at all.
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Slow Turners
In which we are reminded that some people need more time to decide, and we should engage with others while they do.
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Focused Too Tight?
In which we are reminded not to limit our explorations with clients and prospects to those issues in which they express interest or which they purchase.
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Ask First
Yet one more time… In which we are reminded to clarify before we pitch
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Maintaining a Wide View
In which we are reminded that, if we want our clients to embrace us as advisors, it helps to maintain a wide view of what’s happening the in the business world.
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When the Baby's Ugly
In which we are reminded not to call another person’s baby ugly… even if....
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Layers of Flavor
In which we are challenged to communicate the experiential aspects of our products to distinguish them and stimulate client hunger for them.
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Are You Good Enough They'll Call You?
In which we are reminded that our network reputation for a specific expertise earns us introductions to the people who most need us.
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Engage New Friends
n which we are reminded that people “out there” are reading what we write on line…. Really!
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Old Wounds
In which we are reminded to take care of “injuries” in our client relationships lest they come back to cripple us later.
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Eat! Eat Some More!
In which we are encouraged to understand context before we pitch recommendations.
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Bridges in the Moment
In which we are reminded we can leverage ‘what’s happening in the moment’ to start conversations with prospects during networking or group events
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The Changing Game
In which we are encouraged to practice our conversation and sales skills in everyday life so they’re sharp when we need them in sales calls.
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Not Thirsty
In which we are reminded that, even if we provide water, horses won’t drink if they’re not already thirsty or if we can’t convince them that drinking now would be a really good idea.
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Competitor Links
In which we are reminded to keep our competitors clearly in view and to distance and differentiate ourselves.
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Don't Give a Hoot
In which we are reminded that dollarizing our value, is an INCREASINGLY essential sales discipline.
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Before the Fall
In which we are reminded to look at each of our clients’ situations uniquely, being wary of “ready generalizations” based on experience.
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Playing Clean
In which we are encouraged to break down our sales conversations and work out the sloppy spots.
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Pantry View
In which we are reminded that one of the main purposes of our client “discovery” conversations is to help them take a fresh look at how they’re managing their operations.
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I Forgot
In which we are reminded that clients forget stuff, too, even really important stuff. Our sales jobs include reminding them.
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Ruthless
In which we are reminded that we can open up space and boost our productivity by purging “sentimental favorite” clients that provide little value so we can focus on the ones we can grow.
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Getting Out for a Look Around
In which we are reminded that mapping an account – major players, points of view, obstacles, etc. – can save us from being blindsided and losing a sale.
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Hermione
In which we are reminded that maintaining account records and information are critical to the seller’s craft.
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Social Selling
In which we are reminded that the value we post on line - our social selling and personal marketing – can take us to markets and people far beyond the local market we serve. THAT’s why we do it.
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Sales Strategies: Developing Centers of Influence
Successful salespeople know that referrals are one of the most effective ways to attract new prospects and clients. Generating referrals comes easier when you've developed a relationship with a referral source or center of influence. Get some tips on initiating relationships with centers of...
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Being Social: Attracting Attention
In which we gain some insight into the workings of the Web and social selling.
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Change of Scene
In which we are reminded to give our brains a break and change of scene, the better to generate ideas.
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Dirty Work
In which we are reminded that one of the most important obstacles to sales is our clients’ reluctance to face the dirty work of change after their purchase… and that we can help.
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Quesadilla
In which we are reminded of positive feedback’s power.
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Rocky Paths
In which we are reminded not to be put off when others describe particular clients or prospects as “difficult”.
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Were You Thinking?
In which we are reminded that winging it can reduce our credibility with clients.
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On Giants' Shoulders
In which we are reminded: Take a moment thank people who have sponsored us and coached us to become who we are.
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Take What the Defense Gives You
In which we are reminded to pursue issues in which our clients are interested rather than issues we PLANNED to talk about.
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There's Floor Everywhere
In which we are reminded, from the “How bad do you want it?” department…No matter how busy we are, we can make time to do just one or two more small tasks that move us forward.
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Four Years!
In which we are reminded that, when we lose clients, the warning signs have been there for a while. We could have done something about it.
About this show
A podcast for accelerating your bank's sales to businesses. Brought to you by Clarity Advantage, a firm that helps banks generate more profitable relationships faster with small and medium-sized companies, their owners, and employees. Gain tips and techniques for prospecting, positioning value, negotiating, better questions and listening, coaching, and managing sales process. Small Business Trends Radio named the Sales Thoughts podcast to its 100 Best Small Business Podcasts in 2010 and 2011.
Hosted by
Clarity Advantage