The ability to devise creative responses and solutions is a hallmark of elite sales people. In the past, many thought creativity was simply a gift, something you either had or didn’t. However, a growing amount of research has redefined what we know about how to cultivate creativity.
My first job in sales was almost an accident. I had just completed my master’s degree and was in desperate need of a job. I looked in the paper under sales, because I naively thought that “I would be good at sales.” I saw an ad that read, “no experience necessary, make six figures.” I thought to myself, “I have no experience and I would love to make six figures, …
This guest post is by renowned speech coach and sales trainer Patrica Fripp. Join Patricia and David Hoffeld onThursday, November 17, 2016 at 2:00pm PST, when they collaborate to bring you a web event based on David’s new book, The Science of Selling. Register and enjoy a replay even if you can’t attend this complimentary web event. In the meantime, continue reading as Patricia shares the 11 biggest mistakes sales professionals make in their …
In the past, sales leaders attempted to innovate by looking for best practices. That is to say, they look at what top salespeople are doing and implore others to go and do likewise. In other words, we attempt to innovate by replicating what others like us are doing. What have the results been from these attempts to use the mirror as a tool for innovation? Not good. The data reveals …
The Science of Selling is a different kind of sales book. What makes it different? It’s not based on my career in sales or best practices that I made up by evaluating a certain group of salespeople. Instead, it’s based on what selling should always be focused on – buyers. Well, more specifically what thousands of scientific studies have proven regarding how potential customers’ brains make buying decisions.
What enables one salesperson to outsell another? Why does one sales process produce superior results, while others do not? The good news is there’s a clear, science-based answer to these questions. Over the past few decades, there has been an explosion of scientific research on how the human brain makes choices and which factors influence what we say, how we act, and what we decide to buy. Today we know …
Will having an optimistic outlook improve your sales results? The science-based answer is yes. Here’s why.
Should a company ever put a ceiling on sales commissions? No and here’s why.
For years, many in the sales community have operated with the belief that success in selling is dependent on innate communication skills and a gregarious personality. The assumption has been, if you didn’t have “it”, you couldn’t be taught it. However, a tidal wave of scientific research studying what makes people successful has disproven that theory in recent decades. Though some people do have heightened levels of natural ability, to …
Education, marketing and economics are just a few of the growing number of disciplines that have realized that the insights derived from behavioral science are just too significant to ignore. Even the United States Government has recently stated that it will begin using behavioral science to design policies to better serve its citizens. Behavioral science research analyzes human behavior and then creates evidence-based strategies that can explain and even predict …
People have been writing about leadership—what makes a good leader, what makes a bad one, and how come—since just about as long as there have been leaders (Marcus Aurelius, Sun Tzu, et al.). It’s only relatively recently that the study of leadership has taken a scientific turn. Now, behavioral scientists are discovering some dimensions of leadership that turn conventional wisdom sideways. Here are four of the more surprising habits that, …
In the past, success was thought to result from some combination of inborn talent, timing, and luck. But advances in behavioral science are rapidly reshaping that picture. We now know there are several behaviors that can predictably lead to improved performance. Anyone who practices them is more likely to succeed at what they set out to do. Here’s a look at three of them.