Chris Lytle Sales Tip: A top-producing salesperson recently had a Botox injection to eliminate some lines in her forehead. According to a colleague of hers, this sales pro is can hardly wait for the effects to wear off. Why? She can't frown. When the customer reveals a problem or pain, all she can do is look back at him with her unfurrowed brow....Read more

Chris Lytle Tip -- Focus: "Chronic preoccupation" is epidemic. It means thinking about what you aren't doing rather than paying attention to what you are doing. Cell phones and wireless email now interrupt meetings and derail trains of thought. It's very difficult to be there for your customer when you're available to everyone else. What can you...Read more

Chris Lytle's Sales Tip: Don't worry about being liked. The prospect doesn't have to like you to buy from you. The prospect does have to trust you and your company. The prospect has to need or want what you're selling. You have to have a service or product to fit the need. Your timing has to be right. And the prospect has to believe that he or ...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 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 Career Tip: "Would you hire you?" That question, attributed to advertising legend Jane Trahey, makes you stop and think, doesn't it? In behavioral terms what do you need to do to make the answer an unqualified "Yes"?

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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: The nature of selling is that you can succeed and fail on a daily basis. Control your emotions by putting wins and losses in perspective. Don Shula puts it this way, "Success is not forever, and failure is never final." Understand that there are cycles. Then trust the process.

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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: 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?

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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 Management Tip: "As soon as the boss decides he wants his workers to do something he has two problems: making them do it and monitoring what they do." Robert Krulwich captures the essence of why many change initiatives fail. Now, forget about your boss and think only about your own success. What do you have to do more of to be ...Read more

Chris Lytle's Sales Tip: Life is a seminar, and lifelong learners get more out of life. What lessons will you learn today? Who will your teachers be? You never know. Just be open to learning from everyone and every experience.

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Chris Lytle's Sales Tip: Don't worry about being liked. The prospect doesn't have to like you to buy from you. The prospect does have to trust you and your company. The prospect has to need or want what you're selling. You have to have a service or product to fit the need. Your timing has to be right. And the prospect has to believe that he or ...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: 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 frustrated CEO complained to me. "After reading your book, I find I have a very low tolerance level for salespeople who don't approach me at a higher level. There's too much 'fluff' and not enough getting to the point. Insurance people are the worst. All they want to do is give me quotes, without giving me any ideas." ...Read more

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

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 you eliminate? What if your ...Read more