Jody Williamson

In the world of Chicago area B2B sales, understanding the intricacies of the buying process is critical to closing deals successfully. This comprehensive guide will decode the roles of Economic Buyer, Decision Maker, and Technical Buyer, empowering you to strategize effectively.

Did you know you can tell ChatGPT, the reigning large-language-model AI resource, to radically simplify any written content… by issuing the command “ELI5”?

This new world seems to be one with fewer societal borders, but with more and more being closed every day. A world that pushes fear, while in reality, people are banding together like never before. A world that will one day emerge stronger because those that ARE strong are standing up and pushing through it.

Ask salespeople to list their least favorite selling activities, and you can count on “prospecting” being at the top of the list. And, the least favorite of all prospecting activities is unquestionably making cold calls.

If we aren’t genuinely curious about ‘why we are talking’, ‘why the problem exists’ and at least 15 ‘why’s’ after that, we run the risk of taking too long to close the sale, becoming an unpaid consultant, or getting ourselves backed into a corner answering their ‘why questions’, like: ‘Why should I buy from you’, ultimately losing the sale.

It’s human nature to get into a comfort zone. Losing that hunger affects ambition and drive. Ask yourself these questions: Are some of your salespeople in comfort zones? What can you do to help keep their Desire high? Are you in a comfort zone yourself?

How many of your salespeople are content and in comfort zones? With the aggressive sales goals that most companies have going into 2012, having a team of content salespeople will not work. The latest research shows that unconditional commitment is a requirement in today’s competitive selling environment. Which of your salespeople should be cut from the team because they are coasting?

This time of year, most people I speak with are setting goals. I rarely have anyone argue with the validity of setting goals….but those same people will either still not set goals or will set them and then not do what it takes to achieve them.

Of the thousands of albums created every year, Rolling Stone magazine annually narrows it down to the top 50. Of course, the younger artists always dominate…from Adele to Kanye West to Radiohead to the Fleet Foxes, music is continually driven by younger artists. Yet lurking at #3 this year is Paul Simon’s “So Beautiful or So What”, which Rolling Stone feels is his best album since Graceland was released 25 years ago.

What if a team like the Chicago Bears was to make a statement like “don’t worry about your performance, you’ll always have a spot on the team as long as you just show up.” ? Do you think the player would play as hard. Do you think they would give it their all?