Here is a powerful lesson for sales professionals: Knowledge is a splendid thing but is of limited value without imagination, an open mind, and a belief that anything is possible. The sales professional needs to be smart, not just knowledgeable. It is being smart and imaginative that helps find solutions to "success barriers", like a tough buyer and skillful competition. If you are going into a sales call with a predetermined focus and presentation, you are in trouble. You will come across as a self-centered person who doesn't really care. It's smart to avoid phrases like "my company", "my product", "I can do...", "I know how to...", I, I, I. Shouldn't the prospect's interests come first? How could a buyer possibly feel that a salesperson genuinely cares if that salesperson is doing all the talking? If you are supposed to be the caring and knowledgeable salesperson but are doing all the talking, then listening to the prospect is impossible and you may never really know the prospect and the smartest possibilities. It's only when you go to the prospect with lots of questions and an open mind that all the possibilities present themselves. The buyer is the one who truly knows the problem. The buyer knows what these problems have cost and what has been unsuccessfully tried before. It is the buyer -- and only the buyer -- who determines how important the problem is, when they are ready to do something about it, and what they are willing to spend.

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The greatest service you can perform for a buyer is to ask questions that bring out the "why" behind the "what". Do ask what the buyer's need or interest is, but also ask: Why do they have that interest? Why is there a need at this time? Why did the situation occur? What has already been tried and why didn't it work? How do they feel about it? This is how the smart salesperson obtains the truth. When you know the answers to these questions, you can accurately determine if you can solve the prospect's problem and which products or services are a fit.

Be smart: sell today and educate tomorrow. Just solve the problem, satisfy the buyer, and allow them to buy easily. There will be plenty of time later to show the customer just how much knowledge you have.

Barriers to success can be found around every corner. Successful salespeople eliminate these barriers and make it easy for customers to buy. Being smart is the key: make sure you spend time developing the knowledge, imagination, and listening skills necessary to solve problems and to win customers.

Ask Max! Max-a-Million, the Sales Expert! What is YOUR sales Challenge? Ask Max the sales questions you want answered. Ask Max.

About Sales Focus Inc. Sales Focus Inc. is a consulting, training and outsourcing company that focuses strictly on sales. We help our clients during these difficult times to take business away from the competition. In down economic times, focused companies will not only survive, but also thrive! We offer cost containment and profit enhancement solutions. Profit enhancement is a different mindset than cost cutting. Cost cutting means doing less of something; profit enhancement implies doing more of something that will boost the bottom line. We represent the concept of focused profit enhancement solutions.

Sales Focus is driven towards a single goal: "Generating Immediate Revenue for our Clients! " Whether it's implementing our S.O.L.D. Methodology, Developing Specialized Training Programs or Launching an Outsourced Sales Force, we remain focused on the goal of TACTICALLY GENERATING RAPID REVENUE.

For more Information or to see if we are a good fit with your company, contact us directly at 866.840.8305 or 410.442.5600, or send us an email at info@SalesFocusInc.com or visit our web site: www.SalesFocusInc.com. Request a free white paper while calling us or visiting our website.

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