Steve Waterhouse

How WWII Taught Us A Little Known Lesson

WWII taught us a lesson that few are aware of. Not all people fit in all jobs! Prior to the war, the attitude had been, “anyone can do virtually any job it they have good training". During the war, the military realized the fallacy of this attitude and... Read >

Arguing With A General About Guns...

Would you argue about guns with a General? It was a 7 am on a gorgeous Friday morning as we all marched onto the shuttle bus headed for the airport and home for the weekend. Now, I am naturally curious about people, so when a six foot 5 inch man in his... Read >

10 Tips For Excellence In Sales

1. Learn continually – Successful people invest in their own development. You must do the same. Don’t wait for your company to bring in a training program to start learning. Read books, listen to tapes and take courses (online and live) to fill your head ... Read >

RFP: Respond, You Lose!

The most dangerous letters in sales are RFP. Respond, and you lose… One of my clients emailed me an RFP (request for proposal) that they received yesterday. It came from a company who had never done business with them and who they had never even ca... Read >

Ssssh! The Hidden Buyer

The meeting ended with smiles and handshakes but the next day you learned the truth. You had lost the deal. What went wrong? One possibility is your proposal. Most of us are pretty good at selling. We do it face to face. We do it over the phone. Som... Read >

Selling Versus Service

I’m exhausted, and I’m broke… That’s what a top sales person said to me last week after one of my talks. He said he was working harder than ever but that his territory was not growing. It seems that with every new account or project he sold, there was ... Read >

Keeping Your Sales Team On The Right Path

The 5 Steps to Keeping Your Sales Team Focused Every sales manager believes that if they hire good people and train them well, they will do the right thing. They will, but they will do the right thing for them. The secret to keeping your team focused i... Read >

Stop! The Demonstrations

Control Your Demos! The demo is at time bomb that destroys as many sales than it makes. I’ve seen the prospect choose the wrong products because the best team did an awful demo and the worst product because that team aced it. A demo can only do three t... Read >

How To Play Your Role On A Team

Playing your role By Steve Waterhouse I just had a conversation with a very good client on the roles of non-sales people in the field. Specifically, he was asking what non-sales people should do on client visits to go beyond simply fixing a specific p... Read >

The Right Price For Successful Sales

“If you can do it for $12, you can have the business." With his next three words, Bill lost thousands of dollars of business. He said, “I’ll take it!" Too many sales people focus on price and forget about value. Price is simply what you charge. Value i... Read >

Selling What You Have

If we only had … I just spent two days on the road with one of my client’s sales reps. Like any sales manager, I like to do ride-alongs when I can because it is the best way to really get the lay of the land and see what the client is facing in the mar... Read >

Questions To Ask, Answers To Tell

I can’t tell them that… I love coaching new clients. I think I learn as much from them as they do from me. It also gives me a reminder of some of the issues that you may be struggling with. Today, Martha called to say that her manager was refusing to g... Read >

Two Words Were All I Needed

It was 7 am when I opened my office door and saw my boss sitting at my desk. He had just two words for me… The day before had not gone that well. First, I was late meeting my local rep, Bill, for breakfast. We choked down a few eggs and waited so long ... Read >

Building A Sales Team: Hiring The Right People

Are you hiring? I was just consulting with one of my clients who has had an awful time finding a new sales person. They have hired several, but they just never worked out. This company is similar to many of my clients in that their offering is fairly c... Read >

The Best Business Lunch In Sales

A leaf of lettuce on her head saved the sale. True!!!! One of my past coaching clients wrote to tell me about one of her worst business lunches ever. I love this story because it has happened to all of us in some way. I also like it because Wendy has t... Read >