Lead Generation   Water Quality Products August 2003   Carl Davidson, Sales & Management Solutions
Having enough leads allows you to attract and keep great salespeople. Nothing increases recruiting results like being able to say, "We provide the leads and appointments." It also increases production. Dealers who provide leads average twice the sales per salesperson as those who do not. The best thing you can do for your company is to lock yourself in a private room for a few hours and plan your marketing plan for the next 12 months. If you decide to do this exercise, here are a few areas you might consider.
PDF Version

Who's Really Running Your Dealership?   Water Quality Products July 2003   Carl Davidson
The most profitable things you can do for your company are recruiting, training and managing great salespeople.
PDF Version

Sales Survivor   Water Quality Products June 2003   Carl Davidson
With the advent of the camcorder, many recorded everyday events as if they were news. That trend was compounded with the advent of reality TV. It is entertainment that just happens without rehearsal, planning or effort. But the belief that no rehearsal or script is necessary is untrue, and it is costing many of us sales--and lots of them.

Top 10 Signs Your Sales Career is Dying   Water Quality Products May 2003   Carl Davidson
Here are the top 10 signs I have noticed over the years that are warnings your productivity as a salesperson is waning. I put them before you, not to be critical, but in the hope that recognizing the early warning signs may help you stay on top of your game for years to come.
PDF Version

Prospecting for Salespeople and Owners   Water Quality Products April 2003   Carl Davidson
Prospecting is quite important to your career if you are in sales and to the company if you are in management. Often we get proficient at things we do not initially like if it is important. The following is a snapshot at just how important prospecting is.
PDF Version

Feeling Lucky? The Truth About 1099 Contractors   Water Quality Products March 2003   Carl Davidson
I am surprised at seminars when people tell me they hire their salespeople as 1099 independent contractors. We do not recommend this for business and tax reasons. This article discusses why we believe you are at a disadvantage using this method of remuneration.
PDF Version

More Great Ideas from Great Salespeople   Water Quality Products February 2003   Carl Davidson
In this article, I thought I would present some great ideas that have been shared with me recently. If you have a great idea you would like to share, email me at davidson@salesco.net. I'd love to hear from you.
PDF Version

Have You Hugged Your RO Today?   Water Quality Products January 2003   Carl Davidson
You have to be completely sold and very enthusiastic about your product in order to be able to sell. I thought you might be interested in how I was made more aware of just how wonderful it is to own an RO system.
PDF Version

In Management, One Size Does Not Fit All   Water Quality Products December 2002   Carl Davidson
Great salespeople learn to customize their sales presentations to the thousands of customer types. However, many owners and managers stop customizing when it comes to their employees. This article will look at some of the sales profiles you may have on your team and ways to get the most out of them.
PDF Version

If You Don't Ask, You Don't Get   Water Quality Products November 2002   Carl Davidson
If we ask everyone we meet if they are doing anything to improve their water, we will be overrun with prospects and sales.
PDF Version

Straight Talk About Ethics   Water Quality Products October 2002   Carl Davidson
Our industry seems racked with questions about ethics when, in my opinion, its real problems are problems of selling skills. But many market areas have seen fast-talking companies come in and turn the public against the water equipment industry. Let's take a look at the issues and the answers.
PDF Version

What Could Be Better Than Selling Water Equipment?   Water Quality Products September 2002   Carl Davidson
The good news for us all is that everyone needs pure water, and they need it every day. We have the biggest population of people who need our product--everyone on earth. Couple this with the fact that only about 10 percent of U.S. homes have water improvement equipment and you have an unparalleled opportunity to sell.
PDF Version

The Critical Step   Water Quality Products July 2002   Carl Davidson
I am always shocked to see how few salespeople use a value justification. In my view, this is a critical step in the selling process. Let’s take a look at some of the advantages this technique gives you and then we will look at the actual script for a justification.
PDF Version

Cold or Gold?   Water Quality Products June 2002   By Carl Davidson
Remember that opportunity is calling your company every day. Take a moment to ask who is answering and are they turning those calls into cold or gold?
PDF Version

Hedging Your Hiring Bets   Water Quality Products May 2002   Carl Davidson
Whom you hire is an important decision. The right candidate will bring sales and profits to your company. The wrong one can mean serious losses and lawsuits. On average, you invest $20,000 in potential profit, training and payroll in each new candidate. Here are some tips from great sales managers as to how to make the right choice of whom to hire.
PDF Version

Are You Sold Enough to Sell?   Water Quality Products April 2002   Carl Davidson
The truth is that enthusiasm is what you need to sell but some of us are sorely lacking in this precious commodity ... and it’s no wonder. How can you stay up and enthusiastic enough to sell?
PDF Version

Getting Paid to Listen   Water Quality Products March 2002   Carl Davidson
Is there a job out there where you get paid big bucks to listen? I mean sitting with someone over a coffee and just listening? You may guess a psychiatrist or lawyer and that would be correct. The truth is, all of us in the sales profession get paid big bucks to listen.

If You Sell Just Water Softeners, You Could Be Making a Lot More Money   Water Quality Products February 2002   Carl Davidson
Have you ever done a great demonstration only to find that the customer just isn’t interested? We all have that happen occasionally, but sometimes we cause their apathy by emphasizing the wrong things. What I mean is that people do not buy steel tanks, resin and valves, they buy emotions, dreams and love. Let me explain.
PDF Version

How Many Demos is a Full Day's Night?   Water Quality Products January 2002   Carl Davidson
Recently, several salespeople and managers told me they don't believe a reasonable person can average a minimum of two demos per day as we recommend on our recorded training videos. Are we leaving out important practical considerations? This article will take a look at this issue and help you make this important decision. Your financial success is determined by the decisions you make, so choose wisely.
PDF Version

Thinking Outside the Box   Water Quality Products December 2001   Carl Davidson
This article is a salute to those who think outside the box and an invitation to us all to try the unusual and unique to see if it helps us differentiate our company in the marketplace.
PDF Version

Can Technology Help You Sell More? Part 2   Water Quality Products November 2001   By Carl Davidson
Last month, I discussed a few ideas on tossing your selling techniques into the new century by utilizing available technologies. This month lists a few more selling ideas that have proved themselves worthy of a salesman’s efforts.
PDF Version

Can Technology Help You Sell More?   Water Quality Products October 2001   Carl Davidson
Many of us went into sales because we were good with people and bad with paper work. As a result, many of us have shied away from changing technology during the last few decades.
PDF Version

Free! Water Test   Water Quality Products September 2001   Carl Davidson, Sales & Management Solutions
If you don?t believe in testing water, you?ll never make what you should be making in our industry. Despite this fact, many salespeople feel, deep down inside, that it?s just a gimmick to sell our product ... that asking to do the test is just a come on.
PDF Version

Rehash   Water Quality Products July 2001   Carl Davidson
I believe I have discovered the two most important jobs of a sales manager: recruiting the right number of great salespeople for the team and calling every family that doesn’t buy and trying to get back in the home for an appointment. This article focuses on the latter.
PDF Version

Packing and Positioning   Water Quality Products June 2001   Carl Davidson
There are two pillars to success in our industry that some salespeople overlook. They make a big difference to sales and profits and deserve some study. They are what separates the big earners from the not-so-big earners.
PDF Version

Top 12 Things We All Do That Kill the Close   Water Quality Products April 2001   Carl Davidson
Sometimes we are so close to the sale we can taste it until we do something that kills it in its tracks. To prevent us all from doing this, here are the top 12 things we all do sometimes to kill the sale.
PDF Version

I've Never Met a Rich Sharecropper   Water Quality Products March 2001   Carl Davidson
Sharecroppers are poor tenant farmers. They farm the land for the owner in exchange for a share of or percentage of the crops they produce for the owner. They do what they are told and have no land to farm themselves.
PDF Version

We Ought to Be Committed   Water Quality Products February 2001   Carl Davidson
We ought to be committed. No, that isn’t a comment on our mental stability but rather a comment addressing the fact that we ought to be totally committed to success if we intend to achieve it.
PDF Version

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?   Water Quality Products January 2001   Carl Davidson
As the beginning of a new year rolls around, I think "Who wants to be a millionaire?" is an appropriate question to ask.
PDF Version

But How Much Is It?   Water Quality Products January 2001   Carl Davidson
Could we get more of those people to allow us into their home for a demonstration? Here are a few tips from veterans of the phone wars.
PDF Version

Oh Yeah? Well, I Quit!   Water Quality Products December 2000   Carl Davidson
I was giving a seminar last week when one of the managers attending said, "You can’t tell people to work hard in this job market or they just quit." The other managers agreed.

Who Are You Most Like?   Water Quality Products November 2000   Carl Davidson
We have observed that great salespeople spend a lot of time examining their attitudes and habits and selling themselves everyday on the ones that lead to success. Success requires recharging and selling yourself everyday. Look at the chart and see which column best describes you.

The One Sales Secret I Hate to Reveal   Water Quality Products October 2000   Carl Davidson
As someone who makes a living teaching people to sell, there is one sales secret I hate to reveal.

Cooking at the Boiling Point   Water Quality Products September 2000   Carl Davidson
If you go for the close before or after the boiling point, you are much less likely to get a sale.

Dreaming the Dream, Selling the Show   Water Quality Products July 2000   Carl Davidson
Last month, we discussed feeling customers' pain, which builds desire for change, but change to what? This month, we will discuss dreaming the dream, making the customer visualize enjoying the benefits of your products and services.

How Much Is a Salesperson Worth?   Water Quality Products June 2000   Carl Davidson
Many companies want to have great salespeople but have trouble attracting and keeping them. How you value, attract and maintain your sales team is a harbinger of the health of your company.

Feeling Their Pain   Water Quality Products May 2000   Carl Davidson
Marketing tests have shown that people will do more to avoid pain than to achieve pleasure. Pain and fear of loss are powerful motivators, and they can be used to make the sale.

Road Map to the Sale   Water Quality Products April 2000   Carl Davidson
A top salesperson suggested trying a "road map" to close the sale by telling the customer what is going to happen at every stage and then lead them to the sale.

Reverses Make the Sale   Water Quality Products March 2000   Carl Davidson
List are some techniques that will help you develop solid plans for turning "No" into a sale.

Using Optimism to Make the Sale   Water Quality Products February 2000   Carl Davidson
Can optimism help you make an extra $10,000 to $20,000 a year? It can if professional optimism is practiced in all sales situations.

What Customer Service Means for You   Water Quality Products January 2000   Carl Davidson
Many of us talk about how we make customers our number-one priority. But surprisingly, this area is sometimes cast aside, lacking the necessary effort or without solid direction.

Scare Tactics or Excitement: Can You Tell the Difference?   Water Quality Products December 1999   Carl Davidson
We are one of the only industries I know of that spends so much time and effort talking about scare tactics, high pressure tactics and ethics. I, too, am concerned about using the truth about water, but I realized that truthful water concerns and excitement about products often get confused with scare tactics, and it costs many sales as well as the public an important information resource.

Justifying the Value of an RO   Water Quality Products November 1999   Carl Davidson
There are solutions that work when a customer says "no" such as justifying the value and showing the customer he’ll be dollars ahead. What follows is a list of questions for the customer and then various scenerios that will refer you back to them.

An Interesting Twist on Sales Compensation   Water Quality Products October 1999   Carl Davidson
A few weeks ago, a client was interested in changing his company’s remuneration plan. We came up with a pay plan that could give a company important advantages.

Rentals vs. Sales: Who Decides?   Water Quality Products September 1999   Carl Davidson
If you want to get all the sales you can get, there is only one person who can decide if it should be a sales or a rental, and that person is the customer.

More Thoughts on Cashing Objections   Water Quality Products July 1999   Carl Davidson
Previously, we discussed the basics of overcoming objections. The techniques discussed included bypassing the objection, releasing the pressure and asking if there was anything else. If you can get that far, you are ready to actually solve the objection. This article will take a look at some common objections and ways to overcome them.

Overcoming Objections   Water Quality Products June 1999   Carl Davidson
The first step in handling objections is to get used to them.Experience shows us that the average person says "Yes" after you have asked him five times to invest in water equipment. That means that if you are making a living by asking only once or twice, you could be making a lot more money. There are some steps to follow that make handling objections much easier

Yeah, But How Much Does it Cost ?   Water Quality Products May 1999   by Carl Davidson
This article will take a look at some of the thorny issues of price and some coping techniques.

The Close: Don't Leave Home Without It   Water Quality Products April 1999   by Carl Davidson
This article deals with the big question: how do you close effectively?

Inexpensive Leads: How & Where to Get Them   Water Quality Products March 1999   Carl Davidson
Ideas on how to generate inexpensive leads from people who have used these methods and succeeded.

Marketing to New Industries   Water Quality Products July 1998   Carl Davidson
Any company that uses water as part of their process can usually benefit from using purified water.

Should You Provide the Leads for Your Sales Team?   Water Quality Products June 1998   Carl Davidson
Almost everyone in the industry asks themselves, at some time, whether they should provide leads or have their sales people find the prospects.