Salespeople in this twenty-first century need to sell much more than products, services, relationships, or solutions. They need to sell Respect and Admiration. Some years ago I purchased a car from Bill at Jim Gauthier Chevrolet/Oldsmobile in Winnipeg. Bill greeted me graciously as I stepped through the glass doors of the dealership that morning. He asked me a [...]

"We're adding a little something to this month's sales contest. As you know, first prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Anybody want to see second prize? Second prize is a set of stake knives. Third prize is, you're fired." (quotation from Glengarry Glen Ross ... not 'a movie' but 'THE movie' about salesmen and selling. Blair [...]

The absence of stress in selling would be welcomed by buyer and seller. Today's 'sell-to-close' selling model, introduced in North America in the 1960's and widely used to this day, no longer serves our sophisticated, time-starved buyers and sellers as it once did. 'Sell-to-close' selling tends to waste time and money. Most notably neither salespeople nor the prospects [...]