I used to worry quite a bit about my sales practices early on in my career and often rehash my mistakes and beat myself up for not making one more sale or one more cold call. If it were close to the end of the month, I'd worry about making my sales quota or tomorrow's big presentation. Finally, I realized that yesterday's gone and tomorrow's yet to be born. I only have the day, so why not live and work like it is the only day that matters - because it is the only day that counts! Salespeople - What's in a Name? Many salespeople have a negative perception of themselves. When I first started selling for 3M Company, my title was sales representative. Over the years, I've seen all kinds of names given to sales representatives such as sales executives, sales consultants. While these are fine, there are some names that I don't particularly like, such as marketing representative, business development manager, or relationship manager. Because salespeople have a negative connotation, they feel ashamed or don't want to have the word sales be in the title of their sales job. However, this is a self-defeating mindset. When you travel through life with a negative perception of what you do, you're probably not going to be very successful. How Sales Provide Value The truth is selling is providing value, but when people confuse sales with people who are forcing unwanted products, services, and opportunities on them, sales get a negative rap. Don't allow guilt to perpetuate what you do. Be proud of what you do. People love to buy. When you are authentic, listen, solve problems, be generous, be honest, build relationships, lead well, and demonstrate gratitude, humility, and compassion. You have the basic building blocks of a salesperson that brings value. Solving Pain Points for Clients Clients and customers want solutions; they want practical and workable ideas from character and common sense. Studies show that customers who buy are indeed likely to buy again from the same person, but only if they see value in doing so. Price, by the way, is hardly ever a bargaining chip. The best customer service, follow-up, and relationship-building will increase your sales. When you make a sale, you're making a connection with someone. The sale opens the door. Walking through that door into the customer's business, life and future is what drives more sales. Think of that first sale like it's the first date. You've met, talked, exchanged time, ideas, resources. Do you want to continue the relationship and see it as a connection? Be Authentic Be the real deal with authenticity. Many of us pride ourselves on the ability to spot a phony, but we fail to realize that our prospects can sometimes spot a fake. You may look like the real deal, but you have to be the real deal. Walk your talk and keep promises you make to build trust under-promise and over-deliver. Always do what you say or do - no excuses. Give your personal best, whether it's a small client or a large corporation. Finding Success in Sales&nbsp; Success is 90% preparation and 10% persuasion and sales. Customers will often show up knowing the features, advantages, and benefits of your products and services. They've done their homework on the Internet, and they've read all the good and bad things people said about your company. Be ready to answer questions your clients will have about your product or service. Listen in as we talk about the six sales principles I live by, the importance of being prepared before a sales pitch, and why you want to take responsibility for your mistakes.

Sales Tips to Keep Clients Coming Back for More

A Bit About Rebecca Rebecca is a sales and performance coach specializing with independent salespeople and entrepreneurs. She started in door-to-door sales in college. Moving up the ladder to insurance and then recruiting and training, she achieved top-tier success in her field. Today she has 20 years of experience building businesses that have generated over $50 million in revenue. “Retiring” from in 2014, at the age of 33, she felt burned out. Now, her passion is helping others achieve sustainable success. Her new book is Beyond the Board: How To Achieve Your Vision Board Goals in a Fulfilling and Sustainable Way. Two Experienced Businesspeople Talk Sales Rebecca and Bob talk about starting in sales and the difficulty involved in working your way up and meeting different people. Rebecca believes that the mindset and focus about the work are what causes sales leaders to feel emotionally exhausted and stressed. Sure, some jobs are demanding, but ultimately, the focus is off. Work hard, play hard leads to burnout. But it isn’t the work itself; we burn out thinking about the work as opposed to doing the work.

From the Leaderboard to Leadership With Rebecca Gebhardt

The question of which pieces of sales software to include in your company's tech stack can be a tricky one to answer. With so many options and different connections between emergent technologies, there can be a degree of overwhelm and concerns about compatibility, integration, and efficacy. One of the most exciting new names in the space, and one that is aiming to bring more integration and unification to the technology is Veloxy, an AI solution to sales that has simple and intuitive workability with Salesforce, Gmail, Outlook, iOS, and Android! Joining us on today's episode of The Water Cooler Hangout Podcast, is Senior Account Executive at Veloxy, Jeff Grice! Jeff works remotely in Buffalo, while the company's headquarters are in the tech hub of Silicon Valley, and he explains a bit about current operations at Veloxy before diving into some illuminating information on what they offer. We get into sales AI, sales enablement, sales engagement, and more! This is the conversation you want to hear if you need some guidance on how AI relates to sales in the current climate and the powerful ways that Veloxy is addressing real concerns in the space today!

Improving Sales Productivity with Jeff Grice

In today’s episode of The Water Cooler Hangout, we reconnect with Graham Bodie to talk about his work at the Listen First Project, a nonprofit dedicated to bringing people into conversation despite their differences, where he currently serves as the chief listening officer. Graham is recognized as a highly accomplished international expert on listening, and the social cognitive underpinnings of human communicative behavior, having authored over 90 published papers. His immense productivity has placed him in the top one percent of published Communication Studies scholars. In our conversation, we talk with Graham about the project’s mission, how it was founded, and what its impact has been. The Listen First Project has had a broad impact, especially in its partnership with the Weave The Social Fabric Project, with whom they have created America Talks, an initiative that hosts events geared towards repairing America’s divides, one conversation at a time. We hear from Graham about how the America Talks events have helped empower individuals to combat toxic polarization in their everyday lives and what his hopes are for the future. Join us today for a powerful conversation on the power of connection, stories, and much more!

The Listen First Project

Well before Bucket Lists were a ‘thing’ – an eighteen-year-old Trav Bell wrote a ‘To Do Before I Die List’. Today, as a forty (something) year-old guy, thanks to The Bucket List movie and the popularity of the concept, everyone is aware of the term Bucket List. Trave is on a mission to help 10 million people to wake up and live purposely fulfilled lives.&nbsp; Join Trav and Bob Poole as they talk Bucket Lists, internships, gap years, Australia, and much more at the Water Cooler Hangout.

The Bucket List Guy - Trav Bell

Bob Poole lives his life following a path with heart. He is an author, father, husband, teacher and student. He writes and creates podcasts about Sales, Marketing, Creativity and Leadership at https://watercoolerhangout.com/. 

He also coaches and consults with individuals and companies who are following their own path and need someone to accompany them for a while. Unlike many consultants who talk a good game, Bob’s many years of experience have taken him taken him from selling door-to-door to Wall Street. 

He's also a heck of a nice guy, sincerely warm-hearted, and fun to work with. He lives in Perkasie, PA with his wife Joann, a collection of animals, and more friendly good nature than you can shake a stick at!

BobPoole