Beyond Folders : sales techniques

Making the Most of After-Holiday Sales

Community Manager — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:02:00 GMT

If Santa doesn't deliver every wish-list item this holiday season, take matters into your own hands during the January sales. January is one of the best times of year to shop as prices on everything from holiday decorations to winter coats and accessories hit rock bottom.

Take your savings all the way to the bank with our smart shopping strategies for making the most of the January sales.

Clothes: Even as the mercury is still plunging in many parts of the country, cold weather goods hit the bargain rack as stores begin to stock the shelves with spring items. Load up on needed cold weather items at low prices for this year and next. Invest now in new winter coats or snow and ski gear or buy one-size up for the following year for growing children.

Furniture: Did you know retailers typically only restock furniture twice a year and that one of those times is February? Great deals on big ticket items such as sofas, bookcases and dining sets make January a smart time to scoop up existing sales-priced inventory before the newer stuff arrives.

Electronics: Need a new TV or sound system for the big Super Bowl Game? You're not alone which is why electronic retailers offer competitive prices and financing during January to lure sports fan in advance of the big game.

Holiday Goods: Décor, wrapping paper, cards and serving items fall to fire sale prices right after the holidays. Anticipate your 2012 holiday needs now in order to reap big savings. By thinking ahead you can stock up for a fraction of the prices the same items will cost next December.

Do you plan on hitting the January sales? How do you best take advantage of deep January discounts? Share your thoughts here and at the Pendaflex Facebook page.

Top Salespeople: Born or Made?

Community Manager — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:06:00 GMT

What sets a top salesperson apart from merely an average one? Are top sellers born with a set of innate qualities that allows them to outperform their peers? Or can a successful salesperson be nurtured over time to develop the traits that add up to a star seller?

In a recent post we rounded up tips from top sales people including the importance of forging personal connections with customers and listening first, selling second.

In this post, we look at what experts call the traits of successful salespeople. If nature didn't deal you a strong hand, time to work on nurturing those must-have qualities.

Seven for Success

After interviewing 1,000 top salespeople at global business leaders, sales expert Steve W. Martin identified seven traits that he says define successful salespeople. See how you stack up.

Modesty: Turns out that glad-handing, over-the-top salespeople only succeed in movies. Customers prefer a more modest approach, one that puts their needs front-and-center, rather than a salesperson's over-the-top efforts.

Conscientiousness: Top performers are driven by a sense of responsibility and duty. They are detail-oriented and feel an obligation to do their best work and care about the results they provide for their customers.

Achievement Orientation: No surprises here; top sellers are driven to succeed. Many top sellers played sports and carry a sense of drive and competition with them into their careers. They get results because they expect results.

Curiosity: Inquiring minds do more than want to know: they seal the deal more often than not. When an effective salesperson trains a curious mind on a customer, they can unearth information that helps sell solutions to their client, this closing the deal.

Lack of Gregariousness: Again, glad-handling and over-the-top friendliness can get on the way of a sales pitch. Salespeople that remain professional and dispassionate can better finesse a transaction than a salesperson that has become too personally connected to a customer or who is hamstrung by their need to be liked.

Lack of Self-Consciousness: Top salespeople are less likely to feel bashful or embarrassed than their counterparts. A lack of self-consciousness makes it easier to cold call or push to close a deal.

For more on the personal qualities of successful sellers, read Seven Personality Traits of Top Salespeople.

What qualities make a successful salesperson in your book? Share your thoughts here and at the Pendaflex Facebook page.

Tips from Top Salespeople

Community Manager — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 13:29:00 GMT

Selling is succeeding. Just ask anyone with a product languishing on the shelf. So what does it take to move the merchandise or sell your services?

Top salespeople share (sell!) their point of view in our round-up from across the web.

Service Trumps Price

Smart salespeople know that carefully targeted pitches and relationship-building trumps price, says sales consultant Clif Reichardin. In Salespeople: Don't Talk About Price on the First Date, Reichard cautions news salespeople about offering cut-rate prices to secure a deal, arguing that long-term, mutually beneficial relationships can only be forged when salespeople deliver needed products and services, not merely cheap ones.

Get to Know the Customer

Understanding your customers' needs is key to selling, says Forbes writer Susan Adams in How to Sell Almost Anything. Savvy salespeople resist the urge to jump into sales spiels, instead they open a line of inquiry with their customers. Uncovering what a customer needs makes it easier to sell a solution.

One Size Doesn't Fit All

Effective sales people are nimble, recognizing that one solution, or one sales pitch, doesn't fit all, says consultant Steve W. Martin in Persuasion Tactics of Effective Salespeople. Martin cautions sales teams from using a formula to pitch customers, instead suggesting that salespeople try forging personal connections with customers and building rapport through communications give-and-take.

What makes an effective salesperson? What traits or tools can elevate a salesperson from good to great? Share your thoughts here and at the Pendaflex Facebook page.