Practical Wisdom from Kahle Way Sales Systems

We are in the middle of some difficult times. Rather than belabor that point, I'd like to come to the heart of the problem: What do we do? We need to answer that question in an immediate, urgent basis: What do we do right now?

We also need to answer the question in a strategic, on-going way. What do we do this week, this month, this year? Ultimately, as we sort through our lives, as we think about our careers and guide our businesses, we need to confront and answer that question.

In the podcast I share some experience and wisdom as some one who has been here before.

"Your price is too high!" The infamous price objection. Wouldn't it be great if we could somehow wipe it out and never hear it again?

Unfortunately, that will never happen. Too many of the people with whom we deal are paid to get the best deal they can. And that means asking for a better price, even when they know they are getting a great deal.

That being said, it is still possible to reduce the number of times we hear it, and, perhaps more importantly, it is possible to reduce the intensity of the comment.

I was young, cocky and a bit full of myself when I had one of the most humbling experiences of my life, and learned a lesson that has stuck with me for decades. Personal responsibility is easy to say, but quite a bit more difficult to actually embed into your life.

Should a salesperson invest in his/her own development? If so, how much time and how much money. I respond to those questions in this episode.

"Is there one business model that you would recommend to a budding entrepreneur?"

That was the question a young man asked me recently. I reflected for a moment over the past 25 years, and answered this way:

"No. I've worked with over 500 businesses, and in that pack, there were lots of different business models. What I've seen is that the model is less important than the implementation on the part of the company's leadership."

If there is only one practice within the scope of the professional sales person upon which you can focus, let it be to gain mastery in asking better sales questions. A series of better sales questions provides you leverage and a competitive edge at every stage of the sales process.

Motivation is one of the least understood concepts in the business world. If you want to achieve any degree of success in your career, you can and should motivate yourself. Here's a first step that will impact the rest of your life.

Building rapport with customers is a fundamental sales skill. Yet, few salespeople have been trained in the specific tactics to facilitate this. Here are seven ways to build rapport with anyone.

Whether you are a small businessperson or a professional salesperson, you can utilize a powerful strategy to take your performance to dramatically higher levels -- leverage. Leverage revolves around the idea of multiplying the effects of some effort to gain more value from it. Leverage will take you to a higher level.

Are successful salespeople made or born? It is the eternal question: the sales manager's version of nature versus nurture.

While countless books and articles have addressed "what successful salespeople do", few have described "who successful salespeople are."

I don't claim to have the last word on this, nor do I believe that this group of characteristics is the whole story. But, from one person's perspective, here are my observations of the essential character traits of a successful salesperson.