by Scott Dunkel | Jan 14, 2016 | Sales Skills
It’s very common to interchange sales executives’ names with company names. In other words, when I was a sales exec for EMC, my clients would typically say, “EMC is coming in today,” instead of, “Scott Dunkel is coming in today.” Or in competitive situations, I...
by Scott Dunkel | Dec 14, 2015 | Prospecting
In 1976, my sales manager at Burroughs Corporation would walk into the sales bullpen and utter the familiar words: “Is anybody buying something from you in this room?” His point was we needed to get our butts out of the office and into our respective sales...
by Scott Dunkel | Nov 13, 2015 | Life skills/ People skills
Starting the NFL season deep in the hole, in last place, is similar to being way behind your annual quota at the end of the first quarter. At the time of this writing, the Baltimore Ravens had a 1-3 record and a home game against their divisional rival, the Cleveland...
by Scott Dunkel | Oct 9, 2015 | Sales Skills
There is a huge difference between truly listening to and digesting what your prospect is telling you and just waiting for your turn to speak! I truly believe that we as professional sales execs make this mistake more times than we care to admit. And quite frankly,...
by Scott Dunkel | Sep 10, 2015 | Sales Skills
You have qualified your prospect and placed him on your sales forecast. Your sales manager asks you why you feel strongly that your deal will close this month and you go through the logical reasons you have forecasted the transaction. Most likely they include...
by Scott Dunkel | Aug 11, 2015 | Sales Skills
Senior management never buys this product Corporate policy prohibits this The executive suite makes those calls These decisions come from above It’s always been done this way That’s just the way it is here The man upstairs calls the shots When you hear one of...
by Scott Dunkel | Jul 16, 2015 | Sales Skills
I recently had a brief conversation with a friend while playing golf in the twilight league at our club. Dave is a 10-year veteran sales exec at Cisco. He briefly mentioned that he is being asked by senior management to do “more” than he had to do when he first joined...
by Scott Dunkel | Jun 10, 2015 | Sales Skills
My wife Jackie and I recently had dinner with friends in Florida, where we both winter. We met Ray and Donna several years ago during “happy hour” at an RV dealership called “Lazy Days. Jackie and I have been motor-homing for about 10 years now. We have met...
by Scott Dunkel | May 13, 2015 | Sales Skills
As we mature in business we sometimes forget that basics and fundamentals are the most important ingredients for long-term success. As we become a so-called “expert” in our field, we tend to look towards the finer details that separate us from the multitude of others...
by Scott Dunkel | Apr 16, 2015 | Sales Skills
The basis of any successful long-term business relationship is mutual respect. In my opinion, if a sales professional invests a significant amount of time in a sales campaign without first establishing the respect of the prospect, he or she is most likely wasting...
