Sales tips, leadership communication skills insight and more from Steve Giglio, sales training professional for more than 25 years.

02.02.10 Renewed Perspective

I’ve just returned from a little New Year’s respite quite refreshed but also quite reminded of how memorable and impactful genuine service is.

Cabo San Lucas Mexico is a beautiful place to chill; I discovered it’s also a beautiful place to observe first class service.With so much uncertainty and tension around us at home and globally it was great to be surrounded by people who understand the value of sincere service where your needs are preempted by savvy hosts.

I relaxed within the first day, believe it or not!

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01.26.10 Selling Solutions in Frenzied Times

The fashion world is a mercurial one where you need to understand people’s desires well before you recommend any products. I’ve just worked with a team of very savvy retail salespeople who represent high end jeans and other upscale garments. Their clients are Buyers and the actual designers.  It is essential with jaded Buyers (clients) to control each meeting.

An agenda, often an overlooked or thought-of-at-the-last-minute too, can put you in control and help gain you the results you want. Get agreement on the agenda. This puts you in control of the meeting and avoids the “meet-the-press”/”firing line” environment that so many meetings turn into.

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03.31.10 I just want to maybe say…

Qualifiers Don’t Work in Any Country.

I’ve just returned from London working with very switched-on executives in the banking world. What I noticed is they often used qualifiers throughout their negotiations.  Qualifiers are words that dilute and weaken the statement.  Subtly, you lose your listener’s confidence.  Here are some examples:

What I’d like to do today

I guess my concern would be…

I just wanted to go over…

What I am trying to show you …

I believe we have demonstrated…

I think the best thing to do is…

Make sure you know when you are qualifying a statement and when you are not. It will make what you are saying, and how you are being, more clear and compelling.