David Doherty

Penalties are assessed in the sales game when salespeople break the rules.

The rules are clear.

A penalty is assessed when a salesperson becomes a "professional visitor".

The sales game is played in a very competitive arena, and the highest-producing salespersons relish matching their talent with other sales professionals and prospects.

Many salespeople network ineffectively. Usually, they'll wing it, improvise, or spend time with colleagues or clients they know well instead of engaging prospects. 

What happens when Joshua Bell, one of the world's finest musicians, goes incognito in a busy subway in Washington's business district? 

How do you convince someone to buy your product or service? 

Think about how you buy a product or service. 

Each salesperson should periodically do a quick review of their job performance. Ask yourself:

The weaker the seller–buyer relationship, the more pressure is placed on the proposal.

We've all done it - made some excuse rather than saying NO.

We might give an excuse because we don't want to hurt people's feelings by being honest.

We need to know our customers and prospects so well that we can tell them in 30 seconds what we do, what problems we solve, and why they would want to invest more time to hear if we can be a good fit.

Why should we buy from you? What makes you different than my current _______?

Why should I invite you in to see me?