2009 was a bad year for most Sales executive’s quota achievement, and quotas have risen in 2010. This puts most sales leaders behind the eight ball, and hiring more sales people isn’t a likely solution (your quotas will probably reflect any new hires anyway). So with an increasing quota and an underperforming economy/sales numbers, the [...]
Learn about the difference between hunter and farmer salespeople, and how you organize you sales force to support these two distinct personalities/job roles.
This past year (2009) was tough for most businesses, and 2010 will be tough too. Current account lists have been trimmed (in both numbers and profitability) because of the global economic contraction, and the focus of most business has turned to new business development to drive revenue growth. In fact, the majority of sales job [...]
In part 1 of this article, I explored the reason why practice is integral in successfully adopting the skills and methodologies taught in sales training, and why the excuses I have heard from some executives who “don’t have time for practice” are just plain silly. If the comments in part 1 are any indication, there [...]
I spent about 80% of my first 18 years on earth learning or practicing. For every math test I took in school I practiced every day and night for at least two weeks; for every sports game I played (baseball, basketball, soccer, etc.) I practiced after school three times a week. A young person’s life is filled [...]
Trust is the single most important purchasing factor in any sale, yet buyers naturally distrust sellers. That is why it is important to build a trusting relationship through empathy. Cultivating empathy in yourself will help you build the foundation for a trusting relationship, encourage your customers to surface information that they normally wouldn’t, give you insight into what makes your customers tick, and form a connection with your customer that cannot be broken.
I have heard over a number of blogs, books, and even television that the traditional sales funnel is dead, and is being replaced with a new funnel based on the customer buying process. The problem is, the new funnel has almost the same fatal flaw as the old funnel…..it ignores the other party involved in [...]
sales, activity based commission, management by objectives
