Blog
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10 Steps to Create More of a Sales Culture
- October 18, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I spoke to a very lively group of 130 CEO’s in Cincinnati today and the question about creating more of a sales culture came up. There are several steps to accomplishing this:
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Sales Emotions and Out of Control Salespeople
- October 11, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
One of the weaknesses we often identify is when salespeople become emotionally involved. This isn’t a case of them getting too close to their prospects, customers and clients as much as it is a case of them reacting emotionally. When salespeople become emotional, they don’t see things as objectively, react when they should respond and don’t present themselves as effectively and professionally as when they are under control.
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Golf Nuts and Commitment to Sales Success
- October 10, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Based on my research data of more than 300,000 salespeople, it’s evident that no more than 6% of the sales population is so motivated as to get coached, attend seminars, watch videos, read books and practice every day.
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Denial Over a Sales Force Evaluation
- October 3, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Sales Managers have a difficult time with the results of a sales force evaluation. While some handle it quite well, a significant percentage just can’t deal with the fact that some of their “superstars” are weak salespeople who have succeeded because they are good account managers and have been able to get some growth from the accounts they inherited.
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Why Salespeople Fail and How You Could Have Predicted It
- September 28, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
This happens at companies all the time when companies hope to recreate the success a salesperson enjoyed at another company. But you have to look at what you’ll need them to do and compare that with what they were expected to do before. In this case, one is not the same as the other and the failure of the $130,000 man could have been easily predicted with OMG’s Sales Candidate Assessments.
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How Long Does it Take for a Salesperson to Get It?
- September 24, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
So for two hundred and seventy one weeks he can’t do this stuff and then in one day he can. Overnight sensation? Hardly. He has been preparing for these events for his entire life. It’s the same with salespeople.
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Will Salespeople Take a Straight Commission Job?
- September 24, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
The correct question should be, “How can I get good salespeople to work in a straight commission environment?”
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It’s Easy to Say ‘Yes’ to Food
- September 12, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I wasn’t able to sleep – at all – because of the incredible discomfort I was having. When you put stuff in that shouldn’t go in, it has a way of coming back out.
The exact same thing can be said about the pipeline of a salespeople that don’t create enough opportunities.
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Another Connection Between Sales and Baseball
- September 7, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
You have to make sure your salespeople are prepared for those situations. Do you coach them so that when the opportunity presents itself they’re able to capitalize on it? That’s the essence of your role as their sales manager!
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We Stopped Getting Resumes from Sales Candidates
- September 6, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I hear that one a lot. The assumption here is that you were getting resumes before and you’re not now. This is almost always a case of not understanding the need to repost your ad each week.