Take a moment to think about NOT making these common positioning mistakes:

• Relying too much on cold calling
• Appearing as a pest or as pushy to your prospect
• Coming across as desperate to make a sale
• Coming across as a stereotypical, fast-talking salesperson
• Immediately dropping your price, rate or fee
• Being a product pusher or data-dumper
• Too much social talk

Instead of mis-positioning yourself with these old school tactics, take 5 more minutes and think about incorporating these strategies as a way to position yourself as a resource:

• Research the organizations your customer belongs to and join them (associations, clubs etc.)
• Read the publications / materials your customer reads
• Search the web for information related to their industry
• Ethically and professionally gather information about their customers
• Talk to other salespeople who sell to their organization and find out what they know (NOT those who sell the same products and services you sell)
• Dress one notch above your customer – appear as an expert who knows the importance of respect and image
• Work smarter, longer, harder than your competition

Begin (gradually) to include these as more effective ways to position yourself. Add one at a time to your toolbox. You’ll be amazed at the result – from just 5 more minutes.

Submitted by: Richard Dickerson

(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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