Sales Leadership with Jim Pancero

One of the best ways to increase your team’s effectiveness (and sales) is to not respond with the same answers everybody else gives when asked “Why do I want to buy from you?”

Ask this question of your reps and you’re likely to hear… “Because of our high-quality products, strong levels of support, our competitive prices (we’re not the cheapest but we are competitive) and you get me!”&...

There are three skill sets a salesperson needs to master to achieve long-term success in selling. We can view this as three points on a triangle.

The first skill area, and triangle point, is strong relationship skills so your buyers like and trust you.

The second area, or triangle point, is your industry and product knowledge so you understand their business bringing them technical solutions that can save them money, make their life ...

How much time do you spend fighting fires and fixing problems compared to actually coaching…and leading your team? Will you be able to spend more time this year being more of a coach conducting account planning and strategizing with your salespeople?

Too many sales managers are so busy selling in their own territory, helping their team close deals and handling problems that they have little time left to actually help improve ...

Most businesses assume their employees understand, and are following, their company’s values and ethics. But for most it’s also been a while since management actually talked with their employees to review the values and ethics expected. 

Values, ethics, professionalism, and trust have become such critical foundations of competitive buying today. Buyers have become so distrustful of salespeople. 

We need to make ...

Are your reps in a “selling rut,” going through the same motions, making the same calls and saying the same things to the same buyers day after day? 

Have any of your reps lost any of their selling energy? How many don't have as much spark compared to when they first began selling? 

You can help your team be more effective by giving them a shot of energy and excitement by doing something different that can help ...

A great way to increase the effectiveness and impact on your customers is to make sure all members of your team interacting with buyers have all the persuasive and problem-solving skills needed. Whether it be a delivery person, inside salesperson, administration, or counter sales.

Too many businesses only train and work with their outside sales reps and do nothing to improve the persuasive skills of their support teams. The goal is ...

Are your people giving up too early? How many voicemails will your reps leave before they abandon a sales lead? Zig Ziglar was famous for his motivational talk explaining how an old farm pump and selling have so much in common.  

The idea of the farm pump was the analogy that the pump was just like selling. He talked about how you have to pump and pump and pump with nothing coming out, but you can't give up. 

He also pointe...

Business decisions used to be very hierarchical. The company owner or department head would make the final decision after getting input from their team. Selling in the past focused on getting to that single, top decision maker.

Decisions today are much more consensus oriented. Even though one person in charge is still responsible for making that final decision, today they’ll first get input and agreement from their team about ...

Ever hear of the selling concept called “Second Step Selling?” Step one is satisfying your buyer’s needs so, Step two, they’ll satisfy your needs by giving you their business.

The only way we can get what we want is by first making sure we do something that brings our buyer value by either lowering their buying risk, making their life easier, increasing their profitability (or lowering their cost), or increas...

Have you noticed most sales reps today do not think or plan enough moves ahead? Most don't even know until the Fall what they still need to do to achieve their annual quota.

There's a great exercise you can conduct throughout the year called the “100% Forecast” that can help reps better understand what they still need to do to have a successful selling year. 

Each month reps prepare a forecast listing all the account...

It used to be how often you contacted a buyer was defined by their sales volumes. But today things are more complex. One of the best things you can do is to just ask customers how often they want you calling and bringing new ideas.

We risk losing the account to our competitors if we call on them too infrequently. But if we call too often, they can develop a resistance to our products and our messaging because of feeling pestered.&nb...

Years ago I consulted with a major bank in Cincinnati. I was so impressed with the senior leadership of the bank. They had a rule their senior leadership had to do business with another bank. 

They wanted to make sure their executives clearly understood the competitive service challenges they were facing in their marketplace so they could decide what they needed to be doing to increase their sales and win more business.

Are you ...

Though cell phone video capabilities have existed for years, most salespeople are not taking advantage of this technology. The goal is to use your cell phone to capture more images of your products being utilized and satisfied customers talking about why they like doing business with you.

Video technology is advanced enough today that a message recorded on a cell phone is high enough quality to post on your website and on social med...

There's an old 1950s selling concept called “WIIFM’s.” It was a simple acronym that stands for “What's in it for me?”

A salesperson explains to a buyer their product is so great because it has an extended handle. The buyer’s first thought will likely be “So what?” Selling to the “WIIFM’s” is rephrasing that statement instead focusing on how the benefits to your buyer ...

How many of your reps follow a “Ready – Fire – Aim” selling philosophy? Most are so action oriented they only think one selling move ahead.

If you gave any of your reps a new sales lead, how many will go online and Google that customer's name to research their business before they call? How many would check your company records to see if they had been a customer before? How many, instead would take your lead ...

Effective questioning skills are the foundation of all persuasive communications. There are three questioning structures your team needs to be utilizing:

1st - Ask open-ended questions then moving to more close-ended questions. Open-ended questions (“What are your business goals for this year?”) encourage your buyer to talk. Asking Closed-ended questions (“How many employees do you have?”) ask about specific ...

There was an old sales training exercise used for years called the “Match Test.” The test involved a sales rep lighting a match and then, before they burned their fingers, having to deliver their complete message of uniqueness of why a buyer would want to buy from them.

This was a great exercise due to only giving the rep about a minute to deliver their message before burning their fingers. It’s a fun and challengi...

How aware are you of the physical comfort zones you have between yourself and your customers? Being too far away from a buyer could be seen as being aloof. But if you stand too close, you could be seen as pushy and aggressive.

The first zone is your INTIMATE ZONE where you are in an intimate relationship, whether as a spouse, child or parent. You could be sitting next to them and even touching their arm, but they’ll not care d...

Is there any seasonality to your team’s selling efforts? What can you do prior to a season’s start to coach, remind and fine-tune your team’s selling skills and messaging?

Each industry tends to have a different peak time of year, whether it's the peak season for trade shows you attend, a holiday peak season, or because of weather-related sales.

Most companies assume if a sales rep has been selling for a few years, ...