Selling AV — rAVe [Publications]

This week I’m in flooding social media with a rant in a common way everyone starts their presentations. Click play to hear why you should never start a meeting with your “About Us” slide.

Big meetings can be nerve-wracking, and it’s tempting to plan your responses down to the letter. This week I talk about the difference between being prepared and being scripted.

Sometimes we need to leave tech speak behind and adopt analogies that everyone can understand. Today I offer a fun way to talk about audio.

Seeing that this episode is 101, I thought I’d go back to basics. Responsiveness is the stone in your sling that will help defeat Goliath.

When meeting with a client, not all roads have to lead back to your product or service. In this episode, I talk about how connection may be a more realistic and valuable goal for your meeting than a PO.

AV is an industry built around communication, but often times we fail to communicate or even understand our true value proposition. Listen to this episode to find out what we should be communicating to our clients.

This week’s Selling AV comes from a post I did on Linked In stating that I no longer want to have technology conversations. How do you have deeper conversations? Take a step back.

A major reason industries get commoditized is that they fall into selling products. This week I talk about asking a single question that helps you sell impact instead, which is something worth paying for.

As AV professionals, sometimes we get caught up in how cool technology is and talk a lot about “how” we do things. This week in Selling AV I share how to pivot and make those conversations count.

How do you escape some of your insecurities and give yourself permission to be the best version of yourself? Create a personal brand. Find out what I’m talking about on this episode of Selling AV.

Many times we have our clients compare the cost of our services to those provided by other trades like electricians. It’s tempting to match pricing to gain a client relationship, but in this week’s Selling AV, I talk about why this may be a very bad idea.

Sometimes, even after creating alignment and demonstrating value, a sale can get stuck. This week I talk about two ways to move things forward that may just mean checking your ego at the door.

Sometimes the answer to a better sale may not be in trying to force a close, but in walking away and leaving a trail. Find out how in my latest Selling AV.

The latest question from the AV Industry Professionals Group asks how we tackle the challenge of the consumerization of our industry. Here is a great way to start that conversation.

I received quite a few suggestions from other AV Pros for this year’s episodes of Selling AV. This week I talk about knowing your enemy because it just might not be who you think it is.

The first Selling AV topic of 2019 comes to us from an integrator in Australia. How do integrators better work with consultants to deliver value? Tune in to find out!

I want to make Selling AV a collaborative effort in 2019, so here’s how I propose we do that with a new format in the New Year.

2018 is all but gone and it’s time to focus on success in the New Year. The best thing to do this week is to focus on how to do that. Learn how in this episode of Selling AV.

Old school sales knowledge says to Always Be Closing. In today’s world that just doesn’t work. In this week’s Selling AV, I update the methodology to help you better serve your clients.

Even in an industry as exciting as AV, it can be hard to be excited about the product or service you represent day-in and day-out. In this week’s Selling AV, I talk about a couple ways to rekindle that passion.

It’s the end of the year and you’re trying to hit that next level in your sales number. There’s only one sure way to fail. Find out what that is in this episode of selling AV.

This week’s Selling AV was inspired by a question I saw on Twitter. How do you overcome the objection that a client doesn’t want to invest in technology that will become obsolete in a few years? Take 4 minutes to hear my thoughts.

Most of my sales advice is aimed at helping you develop skills for your own job. This week, I am encouraging you to learn someone else’s job instead. Find out why by listening to this week’s Selling AV.

Large organizations are often difficult to navigate, and if you’re selling AV, you want all the advantages that you can get. This week, I talk a little about developing coaches to help you close more deals.

As salespeople, we want to be sensitive to not stepping on any toes, and as such, sometimes our diplomacy can go awry. This week, I share a meeting that I had last week where this exact thing happened to me.

It’s great to have knowledge of your potential client’s business, that is unless that knowledge becomes baggage. This week, learn how to listen with a blank mind to better serve your customers.

If you’re in residential integration, it’s hard to get a quick read on how technical your homeowner is. In this week’s Selling AV, I share a little trick I used to use to steer my technology conversations.

InfoComm 2018 is behind us and we’re back to work, trying to close out the last half of the year. This week, find out how integrators can use InfoComm to boost sales over the next few months.

The inspiration for this week’s Selling AV came from a friend who asked me what I thought of emailing proposals. Listen to hear a couple of my thoughts on the matter.

Many times we bend over backward trying to win that big client, doing everything they ask without ever getting anything in return. This week we talk about how to reverse that tide and get something we need as well.

This weekend in a Twitter chat, someone asked what career advice you’d give your younger self. Two main themes emerged. Listen in to hear what they were.

If you’re selling AV, you’re most likely making phone calls. This week I talk about the worst possible reason to make a call and how to avoid it.

Many times in AV we focus on our closest manufacturing or integration competitors when selling our products and services. However, in today’s environment, there is always a hidden competitor you should be watching out for.

Today we talk about three things successful comics do well that we should learn from in sales. Think of it as your 5 minute sales manager.

As salespeople, we’re told persistence is a virtue. This week I share a sales call gone wrong to show why persistence may sometimes be a liability.

If we’ve seen one trend over the last several years, it’s the customer’s increasing interest in using consumer and home technologies in their professional spaces. This week in Selling AV I talk about developing your strategy to address these questions in 2018.

This week is typically slow for most companies. In fact, many are closed until after the 1st of the year. However, if your job is selling AV, you should be spending 15 minutes a day this week prepping for 2018. Listen to this episode to find out why.

It’s the end of the year which means not only are you and your company trying to finish strong, but your customers may be trying to do the same. On this episode I talk about a couple things to consider when closing out the year.

When you go to a sales meeting you most likely bring your phone, your computer, product brochures, and maybe even some ideas about what products and services your client may need to buy. This week I cast all those aside to relay what I think is the most important tool. Are you bringing it to your meetings? Tune in to find out!

Having a potential client that is a friend seems like the perfect situation. Many times however we overestimate the impact that friendship will have on our business relationships. Tune in to hear how to make sure this doesn’t happen to you.

Communication is all about meeting people where they are at. This week I talk about why responding to customer communications in the way that’s best for you may be the wrong approach.

Sometimes when we call a customer and get their voicemail we end up saying the wrong thing. This week I share one thing you should never do when you get voicemail.

Many times we try to avoid facing our problems head on, instead choosing to take the path of least resistance. This week I talk about running toward conflict as a way to create opportunities.

Having trouble getting that certain someone to call you back? Listen in to this week’s Selling AV for a couple of tips on professional cold calling.

In today’s world of free information, trying to sell ice to Eskimos is not a salesperson’s job. What is your job? Listen to this week’s Selling AV to find out.

How do you follow up with someone who wasn’t even at the InfoComm show? Listen to this week’s Selling AV to get some tips.

InfoComm is always a great place to meet potential new clients and this year the show touted more end users than ever. How do you combine these two facts to create great InfoComm follow-up? Tune in and find out.

Sometimes it’s hard to know where to start when you return from a large show like InfoComm. This week, I talk about how to approach existing clients you met at the show.

AV systems are used everyday to help give company presentations to potential clients. How many of you are positioning the AV systems you design and install as marketing tools? Listen to this week’s Selling AV to learn why you should.

Sometimes the difference between being dismissive or accepting of new ideas is not being so sure of ourselves. Listen to this week’s Selling AV to learn why.

Many times as AV sales people we are asked to itemize pricing on our bids. In this week’s show, I give a couple strategies on how to handle that request.