Working Strategically

The essence of sales success distilled into a single, short list. Fotosearch/Getty Tweet Over the years, I've listened to dozens of pundits and trainers explain what it takes to be successful in sales. Here's what they've told me, distilled to its essence: 1.

I'm constantly asked where I see our business in 3 to 5 years. What's amazing is how rare it is that people ask me about how we work as a team to operate better, refine our processes and social ads offerings, and service our clients better on a daily basis.

Create the chemistry for your breakthrough-and make the impossible possible-through these five steps. One moment is all it takes.

In the past, channels delivered messages to audiences. You either owned the pipe or paid to use someone else's. You controlled the message all the way through that pipe. In a digital and social age, pipes are less important. People are the channel. You don't own or rent them.

Detail of The Venice Haggadah of 1609: A Treasure for the Ages library.yale.edu Ah, the occupational hazard of being a pushy New Yorker--I am always trying to evangelize my point of view or lobby for position. Of course, I used to do it the hard way.

For decades, sales pundits have been advising companies to practice a "consultative" style of selling. It was bad advice then and it's bad advice now. The idea behind consultative selling is simple. Rather than acting like a salesperson (i.e.

It doesn't matter how good your product is. It doesn't matter how smart your marketing is. It doesn't matter how personable and knowledgeable you are. If you can't close the deal, your company is a waste of time and energy.

One of the most important financial concepts you will need to learn in running your new business is the computation of gross profit. And the tool that you use to maintain gross profit is markup.

We hear a ton about brand-building, especially from big-company executives. But what is a brand, and why is it important to invest time and money building it? Vala Ashfar , CMO and Chief Customer Officer at Enterasys, sums it up pretty well in a tweet: Your brand is what people say about you when you leave the room.

Over the past 20 years we've seen the Internet move from dial-up connections and brochure-ware to broadband and social networking. Since that transformation is now largely complete, this is a good time to examine how it's changed the way companies buy and sell.

As all business owners know, just putting your name out there isn't enough to bring new clients in the door. If you want to attract more prospects you're going to have to grow your network.

The aspect of selling that strikes the greatest fear in people's hearts is usually cold calls. A good way to make cold calls more appealing is to stop thinking of them as "cold" calls. Try thinking of them as "introductory" calls instead. All you are trying to do is introduce yourself and your business to the prospect.

If you have considered dipping a toe into importing or exporting, you may have balked at keeping up with the fluctuations in value of various currencies. Don't even try, says Guido Schulz, global head of strategic management at Los Angeles-based AFEX, a foreign-exchange consultancy.

Business bloggers at Harvard Business Review discuss a variety of business topics including managing people, innovation, leadership, and more.

Emerging growth companies have different needs than startups, especially when it comes to accounting. If you're not using professional software, tax expert Mark Kohler warns, you could be missing out on key information that can help you manage your business.

Many entrepreneurs rely on referral marketing, or the use of personal recommendations through networking, to spread the word about their business. When you've taken the time to build the right relationships, referral marketing can be a substantial part of your business.

In order to close more sales, you have to get creative to get in front of decision makers, which is tough when there are lots of point people standing between you. The hard-to-get-to client has been a problem for all of us at one time or another.

Over the past 20 years we've seen the Internet move from dial-up connections and brochure-ware to broadband and social networking. Since that transformation is now largely complete, this is a good time to examine how it's changed the way companies buy and sell.

You may not realize it, but the most critical junctures in your career involve selling. Whether you're selling a product or service to a customer, an idea or a plan to your management or investors, or yourself to an employer, your ability to sell will play a huge role in your success.

Amazon contains 340,737 book titles containing the word "sales" and 48,427 containing the word "selling." Since you're probably not going to read all 389,164 of them, I thought it might be useful to identify the ten that should be in every business library. Here they are: 10.

Robyn*, a close friend of mine and senior leader at a large pharmaceutical company, referred me to work with Dan, the CEO of one of her company's subsidiaries and someone she knew well. She would arrange for the three of us to meet. The lead wasn't just warm; it was hot.