- June 5, 2008
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Following yesterday’s post one reader asked, “what about Maximum Smart?”
That’s a worthy topic.
Just to be clear though, maximum smart doesn’t replace maximum effort. I’ve seen plenty of salespeople who sell smart without maximum effort and they get mediocre results. I’ve seen plenty of salespeople who put forth the maximum effort without selling smart and still perform quite well. So the clear advantage goes to the salesperson who puts forth maximum effort supported by maximum smart.
Maximum Effort prospecting will help salespeople book appointments. Maximum Effort prospecting supported by Maximum Smart will yield more targeted, quality appointments.
Maximum Effort moving through the sales process will keep more opportunities in the pipeline. Maximum Effort through the sales process supported by Maximum Smart will focus the salesperson’s efforts on two groups of opportunities – those with the best chances of closing in a defined, realistic time frame; and those that are great opportunities for the company, which deserve time and resources, even if the likelihood of closing isn’t as strong. Maximum Smart requires that when pursuing the big, but less likely opportunites, that a salesperson doesn’t place all of his eggs in that basket but has plenty of other good opportunities to work as well.
Maximum Effort, supported by Maximum Smart. Can you provide some other examples of Maximum Smart supporting Maximum Effort?