sales

Book Review: Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal by Oren Klaff Oren Klaff is an investment banker and deal-maker who, by his own account, has spent more than ten thousand hours…

Can an initial rejection actually help you get the "yes" you really want? Surprisingly, if you create the right first and second requests, it can. Persuasion expert Robert Cialdini conducted a classic experiment that demonstrates the…

When salespeople hope to close a deal, they may try doing favors for the client. In fact, scientists who study human behavior know that the opposite strategy can work: if you can get someone to do YOU a small favor, they are much more…

Book Review: How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It by Mark Cuban If you aspire to be a corporate drone marking time until five o'clock, or until retirement, don't bother reading Mark Cuban's new book, How…

A few years after college, I took a position as a sales engineer. After one customer visit with no result, my boss queried, "Did you ask for the order?" In fact, just about every sales coaching book reminds new salespeople of the…

Top salespeople have often used lunch as a way to help bond with a customer and close a deal. Getting the customer out of the office allows for relaxed conversation and freedom from ringing phones and similar interruptions. Going beyond…

Want to close a sale? When choosing a time to meet with your customer, don't just take the first appointment time offered to you. A recent study looked at decisions by judges, and revealed startling differences in outcomes at different…

Think the way to sell more is to have a frenetic pitchman whip customers into a buying frenzy? Actually, relaxed customers are bigger spenders. A new study that will appear in the Journal of Marketing Research found that relaxed…

Late-night infomercials and commercials often promote subjects like buying real-estate with no money down and other get-rich quick schemes. While these promotions are broadcast in the wee hours because air time is cheaper and more…

Could wearing a particular color influence the results obtained by a salesperson? If that salesperson is selling to a buyer of the opposite gender, the answer may be, "Yes!"