Chalk Talk

Where Sales Teams Turn for Better Sales Tactics

Welcome to "Chalk Talk," Dave's blog geared towards helping your sales team close more sales with better prospects. Want Chalk Talk in your inbox? Sign up below!

It’s the Holidays, I’m a Salesperson… Nobody Wants to See Me. Yeah, right!

By Dave Tear | December 6, 2016

  It’s that time of year. Time for a reality check. The annual “It’s the Holidays…” blog from Sales Coaches’ Corner. How many salespeople do you know that go on cruise control between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day? How many companies do you know that actually admit to winding things down right about now? It […]

Selling Doesn’t Have to Be About Handling Objections

By Dave Tear | November 29, 2016

As a matter of fact, done properly, sales can have nothing to do with objections. Might sound crazy, but you can actually go through an entire sales opportunity without handling any objections. How do you ask? Well, you address them as they come up or you bring them up before they come up. Stay with […]

Professional Selling is a Lifestyle

By Dave Tear | November 1, 2016

How many times have you had to take an important call from a customer during dinner? What are the chances that you would reply to an email or twelve at 11:30 at night? Have you ever stopped what you were doing (getting the stink-eye from your spouse) to reply to a client on the weekend? […]

Peddler or Pro?

By Dave Tear | October 18, 2016

There’s not a salesperson or sales manager reading this blog that will ever admit that they give the impression that they are a peddler — as opposed to a professional salesperson. Not a chance. But some of you do. Peddler: a person who goes from place to place selling goods. Professional Salesperson: a person who solves […]

Got a Closing Problem? Doubt it. Look at your Opening

By Dave Tear | October 4, 2016

As a sales coach, you can imagine the number of times I have heard a VP of Sales say to me “We need help closing more business.” Or a Director of Sales asks, “Can you help us with our closing?”  It’s common. In the words of Arnold in Kindergarten Cop, IT’S NOT A CLOSING PROBLEM!” […]

Wishy-Washy Words Don’t Take You to the Bank 

By Dave Tear | September 20, 2016

  When was the last time your prospect said, “We’ll probably go with you”?  How many times have you heard, “There is a good possibility we will give you the business”? What about, “Your solution looks good”?  Things like this sound pretty good, right? Fred the fictitious salesperson hears this and runs back to his […]

No More “Quote & Hope” in Sales

By Dave Tear | September 6, 2016

  We’ve all heard the phrase, There is no hope. We’ve also heard; hope is not a strategy. Serious sales pros know hope is a brutal strategy for selling. Yet many salespeople eke out a living by quoting and hoping. They do. You may know a few of these salespeople. If you aren’t committed to […]

Sales: What They Don’t Teach You in School

By Dave Tear | August 24, 2016

You’ve heard of the “school of hard knocks”: The (sometimes painful) education you get from life’s usually negative experiences, often contrasted with formal education. It’s reality. It’s when your mom & dad used to say, “Welcome to the real world.” There are few professions other than sales that experience this “school” every single day – & […]

Spotting Liars in Sales

By Dave Tear | August 9, 2016

Things to look out for if you think you’re being lied to Ok, so “lying” is a strong word. Shall we say misled? Perhaps “mis-truthed”? Whatever you want to call it — it doesn’t feel good. In all my years in Sales Training & Coaching, not one single person has ever told me they like […]

Fall on Your Sword

By Dave Tear | July 26, 2016

An effective way to build credibility and mend a bad relationship in sales   Fall on Your Sword: Definition: To voluntarily take the blame or responsibility for a situation. Here’s the Scenario: A customer or two is singing to a different sheet of music than you are. Maybe it’s the way they resent your pricing. Could be […]

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