Happy New Year.  I was away for a week (New Orleans…awesome place) and now I’m back and raring to get going and make 2014 a stellar year.

So, I’m back…and back to sales basics because truly, basics are where it is at. The plain truth is that if you don’t have your fundamentals down cold, everything else that you do, from the most sophisticated marketing to social media wizardry, is going to go nowhere.

Things like:

• Know your unique selling proposition. In a sea of sameness, how do you stand out?
• Does your point of differentiation equal an improvement for your prospects? (If not then why in the heck would they want to do business with you anyway?)
• Are you curious? I mean do you take the time to truly explore your prospect’s situation and gain clarity and understanding so that you will present a product or service that is in sync with their wants and needs?
• Do you know that follow-up and follow-through are the keys to making your networking generate results and do you truly walk the talk?
• Have you mastered the art of objection handling or are you completed flummoxed when someone throws some resistance your way?
• And assuming that you cover all the basics, do you make it a point of effectively “closing” the sale?

With a new year upon us you should make it a point to fine-tune these critical sales skills and if you already do them well, then make it a point to do them better. (Wayne Gretzky could shoot a puck with uncanny accuracy yet he also practiced and trained more than anyone else on the team.)

Can I help? We’re looking to work with individuals and companies that have a burning desire to be a sales superstar in 2014.  Give me a shout out if you think our customized sales training solutions can bring you to the next level.