Jill Konrath | Selling to Big Companies

Are You Suffering from "Truthiness?"

Ever hear of the word "truthiness?" If not, just wait! It was voted the 2005 Word of the Year by the  American Dialect Society. This new word, which first appeared on the Colbert Report on the Comedy Channel means:

"The quality of preferring concepts or facts one wishes to be true, rather than concepts or facts known to be true."

As I read the definition, I immediately thought of Ron. When I was a sales manager, a number of my reps suffered from truthiness, but without a doubt he had the worst case.

The Power of Silence

If you're like most sellers, silence drives you crazy. When you're talking with a prospective customer and there's a brief lull in the discussion, I bet you jump right in to fill it.

Am I right? Research shows that the average salesperson, after asking a question, waits no more than 2-3 seconds before rephrasing the question, answering it themselves or moving on to another topic.

And my experience shows that normal sellers have NO idea that they're doing this.

Let me ask you a question: What is the one single thing that you or your company could do in the upcoming 12 months that would dramatically impact your sales?

(one thousand one ... one thousand two .. one thousand three)

How Much Do You Charge?

Don't you hate it when someone asks, "What are your rates?" or "How much do you charge?" It especially bothers me when they ask it before I even know what they're trying to achieve or what their current status happens to be.

Recently a consultant asked me how to handle the above questions without being cagey or evasive. Since she never charges by the hour, but instead negotiates a project price once the parameters are well defined it was a particularly sticky issue for her.

Here were my suggestions ... and please feel free to add your ideas as well.