Stephen M. Haines - Tips for sales professionals

Facebook is so funny.  You're sitting there trying to beat level 89 of Candy Crush, and up pops this friend request - this person you haven't seen or heard from in years, you were in homeroom with him in 10th grade.  During your years, you probably exchanged... I don't know... 35 words?  Now, he is so excited to have found you. So, your finger hovers over the button on your smartphone... Do I accept?  What's his name again?  oh, yeah.. Jake.   So, you click on his profile to see what he shares with the public.  A few photos, not much.  He looks like his younger version, just heavier.   Oh, his wife looks nice.  Looks like they live in Rhode Island.  I don't know anybody else in Rhode Island. So, you accept the request.  Now, there he is.. friend number 389.  You don't really care that he found a new shawarma place for lunch today, or that his kid lost a tooth.  You don't want to be bothered with how upset he...

How heavy are your questions? Part 3 of Ask a Better Question is actually a question - "How heavy are YOUR questions?"  In this installment, we investigate which question you are reaching for, and what response you are likely to solicit.  Buckle in, because this topic is HEAVY! This will be the last time I write on questioning for a while, but I felt it was worthwhile to cover one more facet.  You see, we have an opportunity to filter or improve the actual answer we are seeking, and phrase it as a better question - one that actually is likely to help us towards a positive response.  Before I get specific, how about an example? Let's say YOU are shopping for a luxury item for the first time - one you are not that familiar with - we'll go with a boat.  You have made it clear that you are an amateur by the nature of your dialogue - you've asked about anti-lock braking (on a boat, really?), cruise control, and "where does the waste from the toilet go?...

Buzzwords in the Sales profession come and go like fads.   As I sit here in my parachute pants and tie-die shirt listening to Depeche Mode, I realize that not all buzzwords that are new and current are necessarily fads!   I’ll try to make my point quickly, as my Jackson 5 tribute band has practice in 20 minutes. Selling from Strength seems like a passing buzzword, but it really should go into your mental inventory as a true north principle-based habit.   True north on the globe doesn’t change.   It doesn’t matter what time of day or night it is, which season, or where Haley’s comet is in the solar system.   True north always stays the same (magnetic north does change, but this isn’t a science lesson now, is it?) One of the biggest behavioral observations I have in the post-2008 market environment is that most buyers are looking for value.   Shoot, I went to Sonic drive in last week for happy hour and made the manager top off my vat-sized 85-cent diet Coke b...