Do your homework and know your numbers before you meet with an executive prospect

It is easy to communicate processes with new customers or prospects if you have a highly developed implementation planning focus.  That builds trust.

Do what you say you are going to do and never promise mountains when all you have to offer are mole hills.

You need to be realistic on what you're selling from the eyes of a buyer.

They don't buy on blind wishes unless you can craft a proposal that solves ISSUES or problems.

Be knowledgeable about your product, your industry, you prospect, their industry, their customers, how they market themselves and how they seem to show themselves to the world online.

Go to Quora.com or even Linked In and post a question (with a graphic image whenever possible) asking others about an industry or problems that are typical in that world.

Don't lead in with bells and whistles or a dog and pony show of this speed, feed, process rate, production model ... etc. etc. unless you know that is what your audience is interested in.

Know that you are usually meeting with an audience of one.  You can display competence and credibility when you have done your homework.

CRMs are the ideal way to keep track of all of this valuable morsels of information.  You can use Outlook or a Calendar or Notes type APPs without being fancy dancey .... color coded diaries that allow you to sync work appointments with training and driving the kids to soccer, or a doctor's appointment or parent/teacher interviews .... the reality being you work hard and smart, so that real life has time to fit into your schedule and create a balanced approach.

If you put all your eggs in one basket (one major account customer or client) then you may lose them to a price-hungry competitor chopping at the bit to displace you based on price.  That is risky.  During turbulent economic times, everyone shops, compares to complete the assessment that they still have value in the relationship and how much of a hassle it could be to change from your company.

You can't do that unless you are intertwined with intricate processes of the customer, not who fits into your wheel house.  Someone who will pay top dollar for REAL VALUE is who you should be looking for in that case.

Those sales take a lot longer and too few companies get that or align their sales coverage to compensate for the larger fish.

Do your homework before you even hire a sales professional.  Create a value-attractive career environment for them to want to follow.

The best ones are harder to find.  The ones who are pounding the pavement, making the cold calls, setting up appointments shrewdly, balancing time management with real surprises.

Training is more sophisticated than most Companies are willing to commit.  They think it is about touring around, shadowing someone in the front lines or background, are all important with onboarding, but so is training on your company, industry, realistic research on where the company sits.