Being a Sales Manager is a hard job! It was described to me once like being trapped between to funnels. The funnel at the top is pressure coming from the C-Suite, shareholders and other departments (credit, transportation, and operations come to mind). This pressure comes in the form of new company initiatives, minimum expectations for …
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I propose you STOP sending quotes. Itʼs just a bigger word for this one; Bid. A different word for this one; Price. After meeting with a potential buyer too often, the meeting ends with the following “Thank you for your time today Mr. Customer, Iʼll get you a quote in the next (insert timeline here).” …
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CEOs and business owners are always asking me “Who makes the best salespeople?” I get questions like; “Should I look for someone with industry knowledge, or sales experience, or both?” Should I look for introverts or extroverts? Someone new and inexperienced, or a veteran of the game? Leaders looking for sales growth agonize over whom …
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Giving people critical feedback is hard to do. The goal of sales coaching is to change behavior. Either get a salesperson to start doing something they’re not, stop doing something they are, or do something they are doing only better. Part of the challenge is most sales managers have never been trained to give critical …
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A client recently asked about sales contests and promotions. Whether or not I felt they are an effective and worthwhile investment. My response was a guarded “Yes.” Guarded because not all promotions are successful and not all contests leave the seller, the company, or even the customer better off than where they started. It boils …
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Yes, you read that right, it’s becoming harder to buy every day. Don’t believe me? Put your consumer hat on for a minute and think about every time you’ve been frustrated as a buyer. Think about every piece of bad information, unanswered question, broken promise, missed deadline or disappointment you’ve experienced as a customer. If …
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“I’m not sure if I have the right people and I am not sure if they’re doing the right things.”—Every Leader I’ve heard this from countless CEO’s, Sales Leaders, and Business Owners over the past ten years. That’s not to say the companies aren’t doing well or thriving. It’s typically born of a company not …
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As you navigate the sales cycle (from prospecting to closing the deal), you will encounter several types of people along the way. Knowing who they are and their role in the process is critical to your success. Information Gathers This person is doing just that; gathering information about your product or service. If it’s a …
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Most sales meetings are just awful. At least for the sellers. Weekly, monthly, quarterly—it doesn’t matter. Most of the attendees would rather be doing something, anything, else. The reason? There are lots of them, but mostly it’s about value, or a lack of it, for the attendees. Sales managers, company leaders and HR can easily …
Read moreThe most effective salespeople are those who understand themselves, both their strengths and weaknesses, so they can develop strategies to meet the demands of their environment. The Sales Assessment outlines your performance tendencies within each specific phase of the Professional Selling Model.
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