Chris Lytle Sales Management Tip: Too many companies have wishes instead of standards. "I wish my people would make more calls," one manager told me. A standard is a measurable indicator of performance involving a consequence. If you're a manager, confront lack of sustained effort with coaching. If you're in sales, take action instead of looking...Read more

Chris Lytle Sales Management Tip: Too many companies have wishes instead of standards. "I wish my people would make more calls," one manager told me. A standard is a measurable indicator of performance involving a consequence. If you're a manager, confront lack of sustained effort with coaching. If you're in sales, take action instead of looking...Read more

Chris Lytle's Sales Tip: Does this sound like any sales operation you've worked for? "When generals are weak and lack authority, instructions are not clear, officers and soldiers lack consistency, and they form battle lines every which way; this is a riot." Sun Tzu's warning to military leaders is great advice to sales managers. Deploying ...Read more

Chris Lytle Sales Tip: If you've ever made less than a positive first impression on a customer, remember this advice from a very wise person: "No one can go back and make a brand new start. Anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending."

Click here to visit Lytle's site.

Chris Lytle's Sales Tip: "When I'm selling at my best, I'm more playful," said a seminar participant recently. "Work is more fun than fun," suggests Noel Coward. Selling at your best is fun. You smile more. You are more at ease with your customers and they react accordingly. Customers sit through plenty of boring meetings. What can you do to add...Read more

Chris Lytle Success Tip: Try this before your next meeting. Sit quietly for a few minutes (even if it's in the parking lot in front of the customer's business). Think about your favorite beach or other "happy place." Now, imagine how you want to feel when you return to your car after your meeting. As the meeting progresses, your subconscious ...Read more

Chris Lytle Sales Tip: "The juggler can't tell you which ball is more important. Drop just one and the show is over." I was particularly intrigued by this thought from Joan Magretta's book, What Management Is. In selling you have to have a lot of balls in the air because some will drop. But the show is not over. You simply add another prospect ...Read more

Chris Lytle Success Tip: Overheard on the driving range one afternoon: "I'm playing Pebble Beach this Friday and I figured I'd better come see you," a man said to the assistant pro. Imagine paying $380 to play at Pebble Beach and standing at the first tee having taken one golf lesson. How many of us wait too long before asking for help? The ...Read more

Chris Lytle Sales Tip: Want to be more persuasive? Dale Carnegie offered this timeless advice for winning people to your way of thinking: "To get the best of a situation, avoid arguments." Selling is not about fighting your way to a sale. It's about finding a fit between what your company offers and the solution or outcome that the client ...Read more

Chris Lytle's Success Tip: "Companies that are truly successful are different from their competitors. It gives them control over their destiny. If you are not different, your dumbest competitor will set your prices. And, the market will show you no respect." Benson P. Shapiro may live in an ivory tower as Harvard's Malcolm P. McNair Professor of...Read more

Chris Lytle Sales Management Tip: Too many companies have wishes instead of standards. "I wish my people would make more calls," one manager told me. A standard is a measurable indicator of performance involving a consequence. If you're a manager, confront lack of sustained effort with coaching. If you're in sales, take action instead of looking...Read more

Chris Lytle Sales Tip: Can a politician teach you anything about sales? Benjamin Disraeli was a British Prime Minister. "The fool wonders, the wise man asks," he said. Of course, a wise man also knows what he doesn't know. Who are you seeing today? What question do you need to ask that person?

Click here to visit ...Read more

Chris Lytle's Sales Tip: "When I'm selling at my best, I'm more playful," said a seminar participant recently. "Work is more fun than fun," suggests Noel Coward. Selling at your best is fun. You smile more. You are more at ease with your customers and they react accordingly. Customers sit through plenty of boring meetings. What can you do to add...Read more

Chris Lytle Sales Tip: If you've ever made less than a positive first impression on a customer, remember this advice from a very wise person: "No one can go back and make a brand new start. Anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending."

Click here to visit Lytle's site.

Chris Lytle Sales Tip: Just in case you haven't gotten around to re-reading Plato, consider this: "Self-conquest is the greatest of all victories." Plato's advice resonates 2400 years later. To triumph in sales you need to defeat your own bad sales habits and make yourself do the things--every day--that you already know will help you win more ...Read more

Chris Lytle Proposal Writing Tip: I once interviewed 40-plus clients of a major Canadian corporation. "What does good look like in a written proposal?" I asked. The consensus was that conciseness is good. "Edit and summarize," they said. "Cut to the chase" came up a lot too.

Check the length of your next proposal. What words and sections could...Read more

Chris Lytle Sales Tip: "The juggler can't tell you which ball is more important. Drop just one and the show is over." I was particularly intrigued by this thought from Joan Magretta's book, What Management Is. In selling you have to have a lot of balls in the air because some will drop. But the show is not over. You simply add another prospect ...Read more

Chris Lytle Sales Tip: Want to be more persuasive? Dale Carnegie offered this timeless advice for winning people to your way of thinking: "To get the best of a situation, avoid arguments." Selling is not about fighting your way to a sale. It's about finding a fit between what your company offers and the solution or outcome that the client ...Read more

Chris Lytle Sales Tip: If you've ever made less than a positive first impression on a customer, remember this advice from a very wise person: "No one can go back and make a brand new start. Anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending."

Click here to visit Lytle's site.

Chris Lytle Sales Meeting Tip: The very best meetings with prospects are two-way exchanges of information. Getting people involved in a sales conversation is a lot different than making a sales pitch. "Don't spend hours and hours doing a fancy PowerPoint presentation," suggests a buyer. "Come to me with an idea and let's talk about it." Bringing...Read more