Food For Thought - Lunch Break with Steve Bookbinder

Busy sales professionals often find it hard to manage their time, and as a result, they tend to fill every moment of their day with tasks that won’t result in meeting their goals. No matter how fast they work, they never get to everything, and hence, won’t be in front of their customers when they are ready to buy. The critical questions to ask and answer are: how do you prioritize activities to get you to your goals and how do you achieve this payoff through better time management?In today’s ...

Salespeople may be masters of persuasion, but when a decision goes back to the customer’s office, we need to influence what happens next to get that sale. Of course, many salespeople believe that the easiest way to echo their sales pitch is by attending the meeting with their contact’s colleagues and presenting the sales pitch themselves. But, there are other ways to get that sale without being present at that meeting.So, how do you get your contact to echo your sales pitch?In today’s lunchbr...

What is the one skill that the top 20% of sales professionals have that many others seem to lack? Imagination. Your imagination, creative thinking, and problem-solving skills are crucial for meeting and exceeding your sales goals. And while many people believe that your imagination disappears as you age - I believe it behaves more like a muscle that simply needs to be exercised regularly to avoid deterioration.In today’s lunchbreak training, I discuss how your imagination impacts your sales r...

In most professional sports, there are coaches and cheerleaders. Coaches teach you how to improve your skills and encourage you down the path of success. Cheerleaders, on the other hand, cheer and root for you on the sidelines and congratulate you on your wins. So, what can we, as sales professionals, learn from these professions?If you were the coach and the playing field is the world of sales, would you put yourself in the field - or on the bench?In today’s lunchbreak training, I explain ho...

It’s crucial for salespeople to be well-equipped with lots of great ideas. But having an idea and getting a great reaction to your idea are two very different things. Not to mention - getting a great idea at the exact moment you need one can be quite a challenge to overcome. So, how do you come up with a great idea the moment you need it?In today’s training episode, I share the 10 work habits that make up the creative process my team and I use to consistently and quickly develop great ideas. ...

The invention of the internet has significantly changed the landscape of many industries. Business today has changed and evolved in just about every aspect. Many of the techniques and strategies we used to sell and promote our products and services aren’t as effective today as they once were. Consumers - including B2B customers - now rely heavily on the digital arena to make buying decisions.So, how can you leverage the digital world to make more sales, easier, for your organization?In today’...

How do people make decisions? Perhaps more importantly: WHY do they make the decisions they make? Understanding the psychology behind how and why of the decisions your customers make is critical for positioning your proposition as the best solution for their problem.On today’s episode, I explain the psychological factors behind the corporate decision-making process and how to use it to produce more buying decisions. I explain how psychology - the customers and our own - guides us to make purc...

Like all salespeople, you know there are five main parts of the sales process: Prospecting, Qualifying, Presenting, Negotiating, and Closing. Once you’ve learned how to master each of these areas, do you really need to continue learning new skills? What more could you possibly learn to improve your sales skills and make more sales?A lot.On today’s episode, I explain why you need to continually develop new skills in today’s modern sales environment. I discuss the importance of adapting the ski...

When you make a sales call or call to make an appointment, your sales pitch must sound enthusiastic, natural, and authentic. Your message needs to come from the heart, and you need to mean it. Even over the phone, customers know if you are lying, spinning the truth, or misleading them. You have to sound truthful; otherwise, you will encounter objections, be ill-prepared, and fail to convey your message. In today’s lunchbreak training, I discuss how to script your enthusiasm. I share why ...

Business owners or owners of a sales territory are responsible for growing sales. To know whether sales numbers are going up or down, you need to track various metrics, including the stage of prospects. However, salespeople are not generally good at tracking things. If they were, then they would be in another career, such as accounting. The problem gets worse because sales trainers will tell you to track a bunch of things when, in fact, what you need to do, is simplify the process. So, w...