Recent Articles from Gary Harvey
Who’s your ideal sales prospect?
One of the common problems for sales organizations is not really knowing what their ideal client looks like. As a result, they have their salespeople calling on too many “suspects” versus quality, qualified prospects. Too many sales organizations unknowingly are telling their salespeople in so many words, “If it’s got a pulse and fogs a […]
How to make networking work
People in business know they should go to networking events. But many people either don’t know how to network effectively at these events or have a fear of networking, period. Here are some areas to consider when you go to a networking event. The Five Greatest Networking Sins: Spend time talking to friends about how […]
How to stay out of voicemail jail
One issue many salespeople struggle with is voicemail. Prospects hide behind it, screening then simply ignoring your message. Too many voicemail failures, and you end up in what I call “voicemail jail”. There are a number of ways to improve your chances of getting a return call from a voicemail. Here are some tips: • […]
Salespeople: You think selling’s tough?
I recently saw 42, the Jackie Robinson story. Wonderful movie! When I see all the obstacles and emotional turmoil he went through as the first black man in major league baseball, I said to myself, “And there are salespeople out there that think selling is tough? They think cold-calling is tough? Are you kidding?” It […]
An A-to-Z guide to achieving your dreams
As a coach, people often ask me, “What are the success principles you see that work?” Obviously, there are many. The following list is a start: Avoid negative sources, people, things, and habits Believe in yourself Consider things from every angle Don’t give up and don’t give in Enjoy life today; yesterday is gone and […]
Take the sales success test
CEOs, business owners and upper management: Do your salespeople have the habits needed to make them highly successful? Take this assessment and find out. For each attribute, rate your sales team/people on a scale of 0 to 5, where zero means they don’t have it at all and 5 means they totally have it: Has […]
Do I really have to prospect?
“I always do well once I get in front of someone who will hear my story, but how do I get in front of more prospects?” I hear this often from salespeople and their managers. Most salespeople can sell something if they can get in front of enough people. Prospecting, the art of finding customers, […]
Leave your emotions in the car
Do you ever find yourself getting emotionally involved on a sales call? Quick test: If you ever walked out of a sales meeting and thought “Oh, I should have asked that” or “I should have done that,” chances are, you got emotionally involved. Typically, this happens when you’re focused on the outcome (a yes or […]
Five tips to reach your goals
I focus a great deal in my training and coaching on goal-setting. Now that we’re two months into 2013, are you still focused on the goals you set on Jan. 1? Here are some tips to keep in mind: Make goals meaningful. Goal-setting for the sake of goal-setting almost always ends in disappointment. Goal-setting is […]
Success and your belief inventory
A large component of success starts with your beliefs. As Henry Ford said, “If one person thinks he can and one thinks he cannot, they are both right.” When I train and coach people, I can assure you their behaviors are rooted in their beliefs, whether positive or negative. Based on that, I run my […]
Tripped up by the what ifs?
If you’re in sales, odds are there are a number of roadblocks that get in your way to success or more success no matter how good you are. I see some very common roadblocks that the rookie salesperson to seasoned veteran and the successful to unsuccessful salesperson have that I call the “what if’s.” • […]
Listen your way to a sale
People buy for their reasons, not yours. Sometimes they even buy in spite of you. Once you accept that premise, your mindset should be to find out what is important to the prospect. The easiest way to do this is by asking questions, and by listening to their responses. By listening, I mean taking note […]