Chalk Talk

A Career in Sales: What They Don’t Teach You in School 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 […]

Our Job in Sales: To Help Our Prospects & Customers be Comfortable With Us We say it often; People buy from people they are comfortable with. It’s pretty hard to argue that. I’m sure we’ve all bought something from someone we weren’t completely comfortable with. Maybe they had it & we needed it – immediately. […]

It’s here! Football season. We’re in week #3 of NCAA action & last night finished up week #1 of NFL play. A great time of year. My favorite is NCAA. ESPN’s College Game Day, Saturday afternoon games, Top 25 showdowns, tailgate parties, the UM/MSU rivalry & consequential “trash-talking” – it’s all fantastic! Is there anything […]

Charisma is hard to define – but when someone has it, it’s obvious. Charismatic salespeople have a huge advantage over their competition. Prospects are far more likely to engage with them, respect their guidance & listen to them.  One of the easiest ways to stand out & be more charismatic is to change your vocabulary. […]

It’s not easy. Becoming a master of self-discipline is tough. The good news is that although it sometimes seems as if you have no control when it comes to certain aspects of your life, really you do. You just might not know it yet.Self-discipline is one of those things that requires ongoing work. Ongoing practice. […]

Most Salespeople Talk Too Much Say what you want about Synth-Pop band Depeche Mode. One thing they did do is completely NAIL IT with the song Enjoy the Silence (1990). The song is clearly about being in a relationship where thoughts & feelings are all that matter. It states many times that words are unnecessary […]

Do you ever wonder why certain salespeople always seem to fall into the same traps (selling on price, not knowing next steps, working with a lower-level non-decision maker, the prospect controlling everything, etc.)? It happens every day. There is a good chance that if you were to ask the salesperson how the meeting went, she […]

One of the most common questions sales coaches are asked is how to grow sales & sell on value when it appears that the only thing that matters is a low price. As a salesperson, your success depends on your ability to help your prospect see the value your product or service provides & see […]

Almost every prospect has objections – & most have several. It’s difficult enough to change someone’s mind when money isn’t on the table, so doing so when the outcome has a financial impact is really tough. If you’re not a skilled objection-handler, your ability to move deals across the goal line pays the price. You […]

Wasting time. We all do it. You & I both. The key is to limit it as much as possible. So, we need to know what is wasting our time. What are we doing instead of getting work done? After all, we don’t punch a clock (most of us). No Time Waster Solution 10. Lack […]