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If we're not careful, we can get in our own way. We make assumptions about how our prospects will react to something and can really foul things up. It happens all the time! You have to take care of those things early on in the process.

Your sales team is important. If you run a business or sales team, you likely know what they do is the engine that drives your business. So hopefully you're investing time and resources in making sure they're well equipped to make sales.

But others in your organization have to be well equipped also. Your entire team is a potential sales force for you, if you've done a good job of preparing them.

It's amazing how often prospects talk about price being the issue. But when you dig a little deeper, it's almost never the real issue.

One of our clients was talking with a prospect that was referred to him and lived out of town. The client was going to do some work as a result of an insurance claim, and the prospect wanted to get a bid from him before she gave him the insurance paperwork. When he asked why, she said, "I want to see what you're going to give me first."

Just because a prospect has a problem that we can fix doesn't mean it matters to them. One of our Sandler Rules is No Pain = No Sale. And while you can't take that too literally, a lack of personal impact definitely makes a sale much harder to make.

One of my roofing clients met with an insurance adjuster a while back. My client does a great job at making the interaction all about the other person, so he let the adjuster take the lead in looking at the roof. In this interaction, that meant letting the adjuster go up the ladder first to look around for damage. The adjuster seemed a little surprised, but he examined the roof with my client.

If you're in sales, you need to be aware of the perception other people have. Not only are they mentally comparing you to others in your industry, but really they're comparing you to all the other salespeople they've interacted with and even stories they've heard from others!

It's easy to get caught up in the trap of thinking when your prospect has pain, they must not have money. But that's not always the case. Plenty of times cash doesn't mean a lack of pain, and pain doesn't mean a lack of cash. Someone you're meeting with could be in plenty of pain and still easily be able to invest in your help.

Many well-known businesses around the country are franchises that are run by national organizations. Depending on your business and depending on the franchise, there could be some opportunity for you there, even when starting at the local level.

I typically work with people who want to grow their business or organization. A huge part of that is understanding the cast of characters in the decision-making process. When you're talking to a customer or prospect, who can say yes? Who can say no? Who has just a little input? Who has veto power?

Most of the people and organizations I work with prefer to be seen as a trusted advisor rather than a commodity. It allows them to make more money and help their clients on an ongoing basis.