Here’s a question I received the other day:
"What is the best, quickest way to increase sales by phone?"
At first glance I dismissed this as one of the many questions I often get from people who think there is a simple, easy answer to doing well in sales.
But after pondering this, there is a relatively simple [...]

Here’s a call I received at my office:
"Art, this is Joe Collins with Data International. We’re the most respected provider of data funneling (or something like that–I had never heard the term before). We work with the IBM’s, AT&T’s …,"
Huh?
The guy lost me already, but I let him go on for at least 90 seconds,  [...]

Here’s part of an email I received from a reader.

"Art, an email I received from a vendor, in response to a question we asked about a policy issue, started out with, ‘You’re not going to like this, but …’
"I continued reading, now feeling bitter. However, what was said was really nothing more than what we [...]

It was finally my turn in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles. I was hoping the simple transaction wouldn’t take too long. The computer had other ideas.
 
While a clerk, a manager, and a person who, I guess, is paid to simply observe such things and smirk tried to sort things out, I figured I’d entertain [...]

While doing a client seminar on the east coast, I heard  a radio commercial for a real estate mortgage broker. He said, 

“I have personally closed over one BILLION dollars  worth of mortgages over the past seven years. Do you want to trust your biggest purchase ever to someone with little experience?” 

A billion is a lot. That got my attention, [...]

One  magazine that I read every month is Men’s Health. In addition to the great exercise, nutrition, and style information, there’s always good stuff about communication. One recent article focused on the fine art of conversation.
The author, a college professor shared the story of how the students’ final exam grade in the nonfiction-writing class he [...]

On the phone, what might seem like tiny nuances in speech can be major hindrances. Think about it, because of the absence of visual communication, the listeners complete perception of you is based on the words you use, and the way you deliver them.
A habit that some people have is prefacing their questions with “May [...]

A guy working a booth for the US Airways VISA card at the Phoenix airport stood in the middle of the concourse yelling to anyone who would listen, “Free stuff!”
He apparently was giving away some type of t-shirt or stuffed animal for signing up for their card. I wasn’t quite sure, since I, like everyone [...]

Campaigning for office is sales.
 

And the office of President is perhaps the ultimate sale. Regardless of your personal political view, you gotta admit, Barack Obama can flat out sell.
 

He had Invesco field rocking last night louder than after a Bronco’s
touchdown.
 

Perhaps the biggest cheer, and one of his more brilliant points came when [...]

On the phone we have about 10 seconds or less to capture a listener’s attention, break their preoccupation with whatever they were doing when you called, and place them in a positive, receptive frame of mind to share information with you and listen with an open mind.
Therefore, you don’t want [...]