• If you cannot confidently answer a question, say you don’t know and give a specific process and timeframe for providing the answer.

Aggressive. While aggressiveness may be touted by many sales experts and managers as a necessary trait for sales, buyers don’t like overly aggressive sellers. In many situations, overly aggressive behavior can be construed as desperate, and buyers don’t like to purchase from sellers who are desperate for business.

• Buyers may also believe that aggressive sellers are not interested in their needs and care only about generating a commission.

An interrupter. There still may be a few industries where it is appropriate to show up without an appointment, but most professional sellers generate new business by setting appointments. It’s funny to read stories where a sales representative “won the business” because he just decided to “show up” and ask to see the CEO.

• While a few of these stories may be true, there are many more untold stories
  Executive Job Search - Improve Your Chances Of Landing That Dream Job
  You have worked your way up the career ladder and are now a responsible manager but you want more. Landing a good executive job is not dependent on luck. Experience, skills, achievements and your personality are all just as important. So what do you have to consider to get yourself ready for the executive search?Dress For Success: First impressions count. The impression that you give your staff, your customers and your bosses is very important. You should dress to meet the needs of your job and the business culture. At executive level that usually means a suit for males and females, good jewelry and presentation.Be An Achiever: At executive level, your potential employer is looking at how you will affect their business. They are seeking an increase in their turnover and their profit as well as looking after some key customers and developing their existing staff. Always mention 2 or 3 business based achievements o
  Many sellers like to describe themselves as professionals, but what is it that makes a seller a professional?

  Professional sellers conduct themselves in such a way that buyers respect and trust them. Professional sellers work with buyers, they don’t sell to them.

  Many surveys and studies have been conducted asking buyers what traits they value most in sellers. This information is invaluable for those who truly want to be toward the top of the sales profession.

  The list below shows the traits buyers say they want to see in sellers. For some sellers, these come very naturally, while for others perhaps it’s a constant struggle to exhibit these traits.

  Nearly all the traits can be summed up in one word — professional.

  Are you a professional?

  Traits Buyers Like

  Honest. Buyers want sellers to be honest with them. Give your prospects credit for being intelligent people who know that no product or service is without faults. Be forthcoming with those faults and at all other times.

  • More often than not, buyers will find out the truth — if they already haven’t figured it out.

  Knowledgeable. Make it a goal to know your products and services — and how they address customer needs — far better than your potential buyers. You should know the industry which you serve better than any of your competitors.

  • Most companies do not train their salespeople enough to meet these objectives, so you must constantly take the initiative to learn these things on your own.

  Organized. For meetings with buyers, make sure you have a valid business reason and are properly prepared.

  • Whenever possible, provide a proposed agenda in writing to your buying counterparts. Do it several days before the meeting to allow them time for input/feedback.

  Punctual. Buyers expect sellers to be on time, even if they — the buyers — are not.

  • “My last appointment ran long” or “traffic was really bad” may be valid excuses on occasion, but there is no excuse for not letting the buyer know if you’ll be more than a few minutes late.
  Solution-oriented. “Think outside the box,” may be an overused phrase, but buyers want sellers who can provide creative ways to solve their problems.
  • Talk to your current customers to identify creative solutions they used in conjunction with your products or services that you can share with prospects.

  Prompt. Return calls and emails the same day whenever possible and always within 24 hours.

  • According to one expert, the current expected response time to an email is now four hours.

  Follow-through. Strive to always meet or exceed timeframes in which you’ve promised to provide information or other items to buyers. Exceed their expectations by providing the information more quickly than the promised timeframe. If you will not be able to meet the promised timeframe, let your buyers know as soon as possible.

  • Don’t make the mistake of thinking buyers will forget about your promises — they won’t.

  Empathetic. Buyers want salespeople who genuinely care about their personal and professional needs and goals.

  • The ability to identify buyers’ personal wins is just as important, if not more important, than identifying business wins.

  Traits Buyers Don’t Like

  While it is critical to understand what traits buyers want to see in sellers, it is just as important to know what traits they don’t enjoy. The list below shows what organizational buyers don’t want sellers to be:

  One word describes most of these traits — unprofessional.

  Are you viewed as unprofessional by your buyers? In most situations, they surely won’t tell you. What they will tell you is that your price was higher, the other company was a better “fit,” or the other guys had a better solution.

  Are those your problems, or are you unprofessional?

  Unprepared. While you may like to think your buyers’ worlds revolve around decisions involving your products and services, most times they do not. Unless they are in purchasing, buyers are paid to perform a specific task or function, not to meet with sales representatives.

  • Always prepare for your meeting. This includes the appropriate research, written agenda (when feasible), written questions, and goals and objectives for the meeting. In the first few minutes of the meeting, review this information, along with the expected results or payoff for the buyer.

  Uninformed. In many industries, the bar has been raised significantly on how much buyers know about your products and services. Before a sales call, meeting, or presentation, anticipate the questions you’ll be asked — and have the answers and/or information at hand.

  • If you cannot confidently answer a question, say you don’t know and give a specific process and timeframe for providing the answer.

  Aggressive. While aggressiveness may be touted by many sales experts and managers as a necessary trait for sales, buyers don’t like overly aggressive sellers. In many situations, overly aggressive behavior can be construed as desperate, and buyers don’t like to purchase from sellers who are desperate for business.

  • Buyers may also believe that aggressive sellers are not interested in their needs and care only about generating a commission.

  An interrupter. There still may be a few industries where it is appropriate to show up without an appointment, but most professional sellers generate new business by setting appointments. It’s funny to read stories where a sales representative “won the business” because he just decided to “show up” and ask to see the CEO.

  • While a few of these stories may be true, there are many more untold stories
    Where to Get Grants for Daycare - Daycare Business Grants
    If you're starting or running a daycare center in the US, you'll be happy to know that there are grants available from various sources for daycare providers. However, most private and for-profit child day care business can only get grants from new business start-up programs and a few other programs operated by provincial and state governments, usually under the department of Children and family services. Most of the grants for daycare are only available to care providers with non-profit status.Grants for daycare - Private and For-profit Daycare BusinessesPrivate and for-profit daycare businesses may be able to get grants for daycare from the Child and Adult Care Food Program, local, state, or provincial programs being offered through licensing offices, Child Care Resource and Referral Agency and the Children's and Family Services Office.Your business may also want to look into special loan programs such as those administered by the S
    ake it a goal to know your products and services — and how they address customer needs — far better than your potential buyers. You should know the industry which you serve better than any of your competitors.
    • Most companies do not train their salespeople enough to meet these objectives, so you must constantly take the initiative to learn these things on your own.

    Organized. For meetings with buyers, make sure you have a valid business reason and are properly prepared.

    • Whenever possible, provide a proposed agenda in writing to your buying counterparts. Do it several days before the meeting to allow them time for input/feedback.

    Punctual. Buyers expect sellers to be on time, even if they — the buyers — are not.

    • “My last appointment ran long” or “traffic was really bad” may be valid excuses on occasion, but there is no excuse for not letting the buyer know if you’ll be more than a few minutes late.
    Solution-oriented. “Think outside the box,” may be an overused phrase, but buyers want sellers who can provide creative ways to solve their problems.
    • Talk to your current customers to identify creative solutions they used in conjunction with your products or services that you can share with prospects.

    Prompt. Return calls and emails the same day whenever possible and always within 24 hours.

    • According to one expert, the current expected response time to an email is now four hours.

    Follow-through. Strive to always meet or exceed timeframes in which you’ve promised to provide information or other items to buyers. Exceed their expectations by providing the information more quickly than the promised timeframe. If you will not be able to meet the promised timeframe, let your buyers know as soon as possible.

    • Don’t make the mistake of thinking buyers will forget about your promises — they won’t.

    Empathetic. Buyers want salespeople who genuinely care about their personal and professional needs and goals.

    • The ability to identify buyers’ personal wins is just as important, if not more important, than identifying business wins.

    Traits Buyers Don’t Like

    While it is critical to understand what traits buyers want to see in sellers, it is just as important to know what traits they don’t enjoy. The list below shows what organizational buyers don’t want sellers to be:

    One word describes most of these traits — unprofessional.

    Are you viewed as unprofessional by your buyers? In most situations, they surely won’t tell you. What they will tell you is that your price was higher, the other company was a better “fit,” or the other guys had a better solution.

    Are those your problems, or are you unprofessional?

    Unprepared. While you may like to think your buyers’ worlds revolve around decisions involving your products and services, most times they do not. Unless they are in purchasing, buyers are paid to perform a specific task or function, not to meet with sales representatives.

    • Always prepare for your meeting. This includes the appropriate research, written agenda (when feasible), written questions, and goals and objectives for the meeting. In the first few minutes of the meeting, review this information, along with the expected results or payoff for the buyer.

    Uninformed. In many industries, the bar has been raised significantly on how much buyers know about your products and services. Before a sales call, meeting, or presentation, anticipate the questions you’ll be asked — and have the answers and/or information at hand.

    • If you cannot confidently answer a question, say you don’t know and give a specific process and timeframe for providing the answer.

    Aggressive. While aggressiveness may be touted by many sales experts and managers as a necessary trait for sales, buyers don’t like overly aggressive sellers. In many situations, overly aggressive behavior can be construed as desperate, and buyers don’t like to purchase from sellers who are desperate for business.

    • Buyers may also believe that aggressive sellers are not interested in their needs and care only about generating a commission.

    An interrupter. There still may be a few industries where it is appropriate to show up without an appointment, but most professional sellers generate new business by setting appointments. It’s funny to read stories where a sales representative “won the business” because he just decided to “show up” and ask to see the CEO.

    • While a few of these stories may be true, there are many more untold stories
      Unwork - Just What Is It and How Can You Get Some?
      With apologies to Byron Katie's important 'Work,' I've been using the phrase Unwork quite a bit lately to help foster the premise that working hard is NOT the way to riches or happiness.For some people working hard is a license to feel justified about complaining. Or feeling self-important.For others it's a way to pull the wool over their eyes about the fact they aren't succeeding - they're doing everything they can, aren't they? Exhaustion is the proof of this statement. It can't be their fault because they're trying so very hard.Still others are subconsciously using hard work as a way to avoid something. Could it be fear of success? or almost any other fear/feeling?I've been exposed to enough variations on the theme of hard work that I feel I can say with confidence:The message "Work hard and you'll be rewarded" is MOST useful to people in authority (teachers, parents, church leaders, politicians, etc.) Tired people (
      identify creative solutions they used in conjunction with your products or services that you can share with prospects.

    Prompt. Return calls and emails the same day whenever possible and always within 24 hours.

    • According to one expert, the current expected response time to an email is now four hours.

    Follow-through. Strive to always meet or exceed timeframes in which you’ve promised to provide information or other items to buyers. Exceed their expectations by providing the information more quickly than the promised timeframe. If you will not be able to meet the promised timeframe, let your buyers know as soon as possible.

    • Don’t make the mistake of thinking buyers will forget about your promises — they won’t.

    Empathetic. Buyers want salespeople who genuinely care about their personal and professional needs and goals.

    • The ability to identify buyers’ personal wins is just as important, if not more important, than identifying business wins.

    Traits Buyers Don’t Like

    While it is critical to understand what traits buyers want to see in sellers, it is just as important to know what traits they don’t enjoy. The list below shows what organizational buyers don’t want sellers to be:

    One word describes most of these traits — unprofessional.

    Are you viewed as unprofessional by your buyers? In most situations, they surely won’t tell you. What they will tell you is that your price was higher, the other company was a better “fit,” or the other guys had a better solution.

    Are those your problems, or are you unprofessional?

    Unprepared. While you may like to think your buyers’ worlds revolve around decisions involving your products and services, most times they do not. Unless they are in purchasing, buyers are paid to perform a specific task or function, not to meet with sales representatives.

    • Always prepare for your meeting. This includes the appropriate research, written agenda (when feasible), written questions, and goals and objectives for the meeting. In the first few minutes of the meeting, review this information, along with the expected results or payoff for the buyer.

    Uninformed. In many industries, the bar has been raised significantly on how much buyers know about your products and services. Before a sales call, meeting, or presentation, anticipate the questions you’ll be asked — and have the answers and/or information at hand.

    • If you cannot confidently answer a question, say you don’t know and give a specific process and timeframe for providing the answer.

    Aggressive. While aggressiveness may be touted by many sales experts and managers as a necessary trait for sales, buyers don’t like overly aggressive sellers. In many situations, overly aggressive behavior can be construed as desperate, and buyers don’t like to purchase from sellers who are desperate for business.

    • Buyers may also believe that aggressive sellers are not interested in their needs and care only about generating a commission.

    An interrupter. There still may be a few industries where it is appropriate to show up without an appointment, but most professional sellers generate new business by setting appointments. It’s funny to read stories where a sales representative “won the business” because he just decided to “show up” and ask to see the CEO.

    • While a few of these stories may be true, there are many more untold stories
      Performance Management - Getting The Most Out of Your Employees
      Managing for Best PerformanceIn it’s simplest form, performance management is a common sense set of discussions that make sure people are clear about what they need to do, have the support to do it and get open and honest feedback on their performance.Any performance management process should answer 4 important questions for your employees:· Direction: What do I need to do and how well? · Feedback: How am I doing? · Rewards: What happens when I do well? · Support/Development: What happens when I need/want help?Lets look more closely at each of these:DirectionEmployees are not mind readers. Just because it is clear to the manager exactly what is expected, doesn’t mean the employee has the same understanding. Having a detailed discussion about exactly what the job requires and any specific priorities is the first step in good performance management. Key points to cover include:
      important to know what traits they don’t enjoy. The list below shows what organizational buyers don’t want sellers to be:

      One word describes most of these traits — unprofessional.

      Are you viewed as unprofessional by your buyers? In most situations, they surely won’t tell you. What they will tell you is that your price was higher, the other company was a better “fit,” or the other guys had a better solution.

      Are those your problems, or are you unprofessional?

      Unprepared. While you may like to think your buyers’ worlds revolve around decisions involving your products and services, most times they do not. Unless they are in purchasing, buyers are paid to perform a specific task or function, not to meet with sales representatives.

      • Always prepare for your meeting. This includes the appropriate research, written agenda (when feasible), written questions, and goals and objectives for the meeting. In the first few minutes of the meeting, review this information, along with the expected results or payoff for the buyer.

      Uninformed. In many industries, the bar has been raised significantly on how much buyers know about your products and services. Before a sales call, meeting, or presentation, anticipate the questions you’ll be asked — and have the answers and/or information at hand.

      • If you cannot confidently answer a question, say you don’t know and give a specific process and timeframe for providing the answer.

      Aggressive. While aggressiveness may be touted by many sales experts and managers as a necessary trait for sales, buyers don’t like overly aggressive sellers. In many situations, overly aggressive behavior can be construed as desperate, and buyers don’t like to purchase from sellers who are desperate for business.

      • Buyers may also believe that aggressive sellers are not interested in their needs and care only about generating a commission.

      An interrupter. There still may be a few industries where it is appropriate to show up without an appointment, but most professional sellers generate new business by setting appointments. It’s funny to read stories where a sales representative “won the business” because he just decided to “show up” and ask to see the CEO.

      • While a few of these stories may be true, there are many more untold stories
        Tips for Buying Low Cost Full Color Printing and Direct Mail
        Remember back in the day when you had to drive from print shop to print shop to find the best deal on full color printing? If you were in need of direct mailings, you had to contact a completely different company, or left on your own to create your own list and head out to the post office all by yourself with no guidance whatsoever. Well, times have changed, and the Internet has made the world a much smaller place! Keep this in mind as we go over a few tips for buying low cost, full color printing and direct mail.First of all, there’s much more to being “low cost” than just “cheap”. It seems that anyone who has a computer and a program or two calls themselves a printer, so be sure that you are getting a real, full color, custom printing job from a real, full color, custom printer. If the price is too cheap, there’s definitely a reason why.Next, you’ll want to find a printer that offers a variety of commercial, packaging, and display items
        services. Before a sales call, meeting, or presentation, anticipate the questions you’ll be asked — and have the answers and/or information at hand.
        • If you cannot confidently answer a question, say you don’t know and give a specific process and timeframe for providing the answer.

        Aggressive. While aggressiveness may be touted by many sales experts and managers as a necessary trait for sales, buyers don’t like overly aggressive sellers. In many situations, overly aggressive behavior can be construed as desperate, and buyers don’t like to purchase from sellers who are desperate for business.

        • Buyers may also believe that aggressive sellers are not interested in their needs and care only about generating a commission.

        An interrupter. There still may be a few industries where it is appropriate to show up without an appointment, but most professional sellers generate new business by setting appointments. It’s funny to read stories where a sales representative “won the business” because he just decided to “show up” and ask to see the CEO.

        • While a few of these stories may be true, there are many more untold stories where the CEO (or more likely an assistant) asked the sales rep to leave and never come back.

        A talker. This is another sales expert and manager favorite. “You’ve got to hire people who can tell a good story or joke and develop rapport with customers.” That bus left long ago. Selling is much more about asking good questions and listening.

        • Many sellers have the 80/20 rule backward — they are talking 80% of the time and listening only 20%.

        Undependable. Buyers don’t like to work with sellers who do not follow through and do what they have committed to doing.

        • If you’re guilty of being undependable, figure out if you’re over-promising or under-delivering — or both.

        Powerless. Buyers don’t like to work with sellers who do not have the power or influence to make decisions on their own. If you consistently go to your superiors or to other departments for approval, buyers will quickly lose respect for you as a seller.

        • Professional sellers view themselves as the CEO for their relationships with buyers. They have the power to get things done for the benefit of their buyers.

        A deflector. This is a seller who deflects the blame for problems that arise to external forces. Buyers don’t like sellers who won’t accept responsibility for customer satisfaction.

        • Professional sellers are willing to be accountable to their buyers.

        To be a professional salesperson, conduct yourself as a professional. Your buyers will like it when you do - and you'll be more successful.