- July 8, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I was on vacation for the past 2 weeks and didn’t post – didn’t even want to – but I’m back and ready to catch up. While I was gone, Business Week posted a podcast they did with me. Michelle Nichols, the Savvy Selling columnist for Business Week Small Business, interviewed me on the subject of Baseball and Selling, based on my book, Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about Baseball. Believe it or not, it was the first interview where the interviewer actually played around with the Baseball theme!
I’m often asked about the sales management side of Baseline Selling so I’ll include a few words today. In the table below, I’ve included the four bases in Baseline Selling, the sales criteria for reaching each base, challenges your salespeople must overcome to reach the base. In the last column I’ve included the sales management functions required to help your salespeople execute the process.
| Base | Criteria | Comments | Sales Management Function |
| 1st | Salesperson got first appointment | The path to first base requires that the salesperson conduct lots of prospecting and pipeline building. | Motivation (to get started), Accountability (for calls and appointments), and tactical Coaching are all important. |
| 2nd | Prospect Needs What You Sell; They Have Compelling Reasons to Buy; They Have Compelling Reasons to Buy from You; Salesperson Has Differentiated Your Company from the Competition by Building a Strong Relationship Asking Lots of Good Questions, Showing Expertise, etc. | The path to 2nd Base requires your salespeople to have great listening and questioning skills, relationship building skills, and no need for approval so they can actually execute. | Coaching (Pre-Call Strategy), Pipeline Management,(base moves) and Motivation (to execute) are important. |
| 3rd | Prospect is completely qualified to do business with you and you are completely qualified to do business with your prospect. | The path to 3rd base requires your salespeople to ask the tough questions they are often uncomfortable asking. | Coaching (Post Call Debrief ), Accountability (for complete qualification), and Pipeline Management (base moves) are important. |
| Home | Salesperson got the business. | The path to Home Plate requires the salesperson to make both a needs and cost appropriate presentation or proposal. | Coaching (Post Call Debrief), Accountability (for only appropriate proposals and presentations), Pipeline Management |
As you can see, coaching, albeit different coaching , is required for each base. Motivation is most important for getting your salespeople to first base while pipeline management and accountability are crucial along the way.