Mar
28
Ridiculously Obvious Selling Tips
March 28, 2006 | Leave a Comment
Via Lori Richardson’s Sales Coach blog [link no longer available] I found an absolute gem – a free download from Tom Peters, the renowned management guru. It has 111 quick-to-read tips about selling.
The very first tip hit me between the eyes, because it is one that people sometimes plain forget. It essentially says (and I paraphrase): Strategy is overrated and […]
Mar
20
Use Triggering Events to Keep Sales Pipeline Full
March 20, 2006 | Leave a Comment
Jill Konrath runs a website called Selling to Big Companies. (Consider it the photographic negative of this site, Selling to Small Business)
On her blog she suggests using triggering events to keep your pipeline full.
What’s a triggering event? It’s an opportunity that crosses your path that you should leverage to get in the door with big companies. Jill […]
Feb
23
Selling to Law Firms
February 23, 2006 | Leave a Comment
A large law firm is considered one with over 100 lawyers. Yet, in the United States (and most other countries) the majority of law firms are equivalent in size to what we all consider a small business, say, 250 employees and under.
MarketingSherpa offers a long article about marketing to lawyers. Having been a lawyer myself in […]
Jan
23
Differences Between Corporate Buyers and Small Business Buyers
January 23, 2006 | Leave a Comment
Bob Bly, the copywriting guru, notes seven differences between B-to-B buyers and consumer buyers in an article found at his site. And of course, when you are talking about a corporate business buyer, he is right. After all, how can you argue with a guru?
However, the small business buyer is actually a hybrid between the corporate buyer and […]
Oct
24
Making Email Contact with Web 2.0 Entrepreneurs
October 24, 2005 | 2 Comments
Recently I wrote about using email to cold call. Of course, it isn’t strictly cold calling. A purist would take issue and say (a) it isn’t calling because you don’t actually speak with anyone, and (b) it is too passive.
Points well taken. But in today’s world, and especially with today’s Web 2.0 entrepreneurs and small […]
Oct
20
Cold Calling Today
October 20, 2005 | 2 Comments
Over at Inc.com I found a great, lo-o-o-ong article about making in-person cold calls. It’s titled “48 Hours with the King of Cold Calls.”
The article almost 15 years old, but some advice on selling is timeless, right?
However, there is one big difference I see between today and that cold call of yesterday: the effect of email.
First, there is […]
Oct
15
Small Business Customers Are Worth 20 Times More
October 15, 2005 | Leave a Comment
The sheer numbers of the small business market – 25 million strong in the United States alone – are too alluring to resist.
Yet, sales individually to each small business customer can be relatively small. A few thousand dollars in a year’s time, perhaps much less, may be the typical sales volume to a small business customer.
That makes it a difficult […]
Sep
25
Need a Sales Boost to End the Year?
September 25, 2005 | Leave a Comment
Are you planning holiday sales programs this Christmas and New Year’s season? They generate goodwill and give your business the opportunity for more visibility — not to mention increasing sales.
Holiday promotions are not just for consumers. Small businesses respond to them, too.
Remember that with small business customers, you are dealing with sales situations that may more often resemble consumer sales, than […]
Jul
14
Streamline Your Sales Processes for Happy Customers
July 14, 2005 | Leave a Comment
According to the SBA’s Office of Advocacy:
“Advocacy’s research shows that small businesses pay an average of $6,975 per employee annually to comply with federal regulations – 60% more than large businesses.”
I cite this statistic here as an example of how extra paperwork, extra meetings, or extra staffing hit small businesses harder than large businesses.
The same goes for lengthy sales […]


