Sales Archives - Learning Cog

5 10, 2020

Pitch Community

By RicHayden|2021-10-11T12:21:59+01:00October 5th, 2020|Announcements, Sales, Sales Performance|Comments Off on Pitch Community

PRESS RELEASE LearningCog Limited is proud to announce a new sales training and development venture for independent sole traders, small and medium size business across East Sussex. ----- Ric Hayden, owner and director of LearningCog is taking his global expertise in people development and sales training to create a new community of training and development - specifically designed for the small business community. Pitch has been designed to support small business, independent sole traders and creatives. The programme is for those that do not fall into a full-time salesperson role - but are the subject matter experts in their field. [...]

17 03, 2014

Features and Benefits, what’s the difference?

By RicHayden|2021-10-11T12:26:33+01:00March 17th, 2014|Consultative Selling, Customer Service, Engagement, Passion, Sales, Sales Performance, Success|Comments Off on Features and Benefits, what’s the difference?

Nobody who bought an alarm clock wanted an alarm clock… Last week I was running a sales training workshop with a group of experienced sales people. Some had been on previous training programmes over the years and all of them thought they could explain the difference between a Feature and a Benefit, in a sales situation. None of them got it right. It even got a bit heated when someone continued to try and benefit sell to me using only the features of the product. So here goes: FEATURE = a characteristic of your product or promotion. [...]

9 01, 2014

Is competition good for small businesses?

By RicHayden|2021-10-11T12:26:33+01:00January 9th, 2014|Leadership, Management, Sales, Success, Uncategorized|Comments Off on Is competition good for small businesses?

Many people when running a business think it's a good idea to try and avoid competition within the market. Now everyone has their own opinion, it really depends on the type of business you are running and the people that you work with. It doesn't work for everyone. BUT here are a few reasons why a bit of market competition is good for a small business. 1. Competition gives you time to improve your customer service When your business is booming in sales and in profits, there simply isn't enough time to evaluate every customer but when there’s market competition, you’ll [...]

13 12, 2013

A Consultative Approach

By RicHayden|2021-10-11T12:26:34+01:00December 13th, 2013|Consultative Selling, Sales, Sales Performance|Comments Off on A Consultative Approach

When it comes to sales understanding the requirements of clients/customers is extremely important. Of course you don't want to start selling them the wrong thing. The more time you take to get to know each key client in store and understand their needs, the more likely you are able to create rapport and trust. There are a number of deciding factors in gaining their commitment to your proposed actions. A consultative sales approach focuses on gaining an in-depth appreciation of each of your key clients requirements before proposing any actions. This approach can make the sales process very simple. A successful presentation involves finding out [...]

27 09, 2013

Don’t say you ‘can’t’ when you can

By RicHayden|2021-10-11T12:26:34+01:00September 27th, 2013|Consultative Selling, Goal Setting, Sales, Sales Performance, Success|Comments Off on Don’t say you ‘can’t’ when you can

How many times do you hear yourself or other people say 'can't'? Too many? Often we have no idea whether we can actually do something or not because we have never actually tried! Imagine the things that we could do if we all freed ourselves from the limitations imposed by the word 'can't'. It’s interesting to think that the word ‘cannot’, linguistically, is made up of ‘can’ and ‘not’ - so it actually means that you are capable of ‘not doing’ whatever it is that you think you can’t do! Of course this is word-play, but it does offer a [...]

7 08, 2013

Matchmaker

By RicHayden|2021-10-11T12:28:52+01:00August 7th, 2013|Consultative Selling, Customer Service, Sales, Sales Performance|Comments Off on Matchmaker

Now if you have read any of our previous blogs then you will have probably heard us going on about something called Rapport. Well of course that's because it is really important when it comes to selling.Here is another technique that can help to build good rapport between you and your customers. Rapport is the foundation for effective communication and positive relationship-building. It stems from finding and/or creating common ground. In general, customers like people like themselves. So one of the easiest ways to build rapport and ensure store contacts feel comfortable with you is to be as much like [...]

31 07, 2013

Passion and Belief… the driving force behind successful business

By RicHayden|2023-09-21T13:02:08+01:00July 31st, 2013|Belief, Engagement, Goal Setting, Happiness, High Performance Culture, Leadership, Organisational Culture, Organisational Happiness, Organisational Performance, Passion, Sales, Sales Performance, Success, The Happiness Effect|Comments Off on Passion and Belief… the driving force behind successful business

passion and belief, the driving force behind successful business I just watched “Peter Jones meets...” I have been working flat out for the last few weeks and took some time today to catch up on some of the television I had been recording. I won’t get in to telling you about the dramas I watch and giving away any plot spoilers on your favourite soap. I haven’t caught up on them (yet) as I was glued to Peter Jones documentary anyway. In the opening sequence Peter Jones, an entrepreneur, Dragon and business man of a high caliber [...]

26 07, 2013

Face-To-Face Communication

By RicHayden|2021-10-11T12:28:52+01:00July 26th, 2013|Customer Service, Engagement, Sales|Comments Off on Face-To-Face Communication

Body language is 48% more powerful than words according to Robert Birdwhistle's research in 1970. Face-to-Face communication is based on 3 factors: our body language, our voice qualities and the words that we use. In fact, most of our communication happens non-verbally. Contrary to popular belief, what we say is actually less important than the way in which we say it and this is true even when communicating over the telephone. Body Language is all the non-verbal communication we make – both conscious and unconscious. The reason why it is so important? Well firstly it determines [...]

25 07, 2013

Consultative Selling Programme

By RicHayden|2021-10-11T12:28:52+01:00July 25th, 2013|Consultative Selling, Sales, Uncategorized|Comments Off on Consultative Selling Programme

Last week our 3 day consultative selling training took place in London and we can happily say that it was a great few days. We definitely can't complain about the weather either, it was hot and sunny but it didn't affect anyone. We had Estate Agents, Mortgage Advisors, Catering Sales and even someone who works with private jets attending. It was a really interesting group with everyone realising they can learn a few things from each other. Everyone loved the programme and we had some great feedback, everyone seemed to like the fact that they got a video of their [...]

11 07, 2013

Fulfilling Requirements – Positive Language

By RicHayden|2021-10-11T12:28:52+01:00July 11th, 2013|Customer Service, Sales, Sales Performance|Comments Off on Fulfilling Requirements – Positive Language

Language is a very powerful tool and the way you express yourself will affect whether your proposals are received positively or negatively. Even when you are conveying unpleasant news, the impact can be softened byt the use of what we call positive language. Everything you say to your customers affects their thoughts and emotions. If your customers are in a cheerful mood they are more likely to agree with your proposals. Therefore your choice of words and phrases can create a positive emotional reaction within your customers.