Search Results
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One Question Provides Salespeople with Instant Feedback on How Well They Differentiated
- March 13, 2019
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Most salespeople do not know the difference between their prospects’ decision-making process compared with their decision-making criteria.
What’s worse is that even more salespeople don’t even bother asking about it. According to data from Objective Management Group (OMG) who has evaluated/assessed 1,843,105 salespeople, only 27% of all salespeople are strong qualifiers so it’s likely that the majority are not asking.
If you do ask a prospect about their decision-making process, you might hear about the steps they will take. If you ask about criteria, you might hear about the topics they’ll consider when they make their decision.
I’ll take you through an example.
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Dave Kurlan’s 10 Rules for Effective Sales Emails That Connect With New Prospects
- March 10, 2019
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
They aren’t personal, they aren’t written well, their messages are identical, you want to delete them and I know you get these emails too. I had already decided to save some of these worthless emails for an upcoming article when Keenan posted this rant on LinkedIn. After you read his rant and related comments, please return to my article for a short tutorial on what’s wrong with these emails and how to make them stickier.
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The Top 8 Requirements for Becoming a Great Salesperson
- January 14, 2019
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Do you remember the moment you became a Salesperson? Not a presenter, Not an order taker, but a true consultative sales professional?
Here are some guidelines to identify the moment you turned professional.
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Popularity Polls are Just Like Sales Management Tracking Metrics!
- January 8, 2019
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Have you ever watched a news program where they presented poll results, like the number of people in favor of legalizing marijuana? The poll shows popular opinion, but not the facts, logic, or impact on arrests, the economy, traffic accidents, unemployment, addiction, death rates, etc. There is a huge difference between people’s often uninformed opinions, versus what the facts might suggest. That’s the problem with the statistics I’m going to share in this article. The stats show what sales managers are doing but those managers are largely uninformed. They don’t know what’s good for them, haven’t been asked or held accountable to doing it differently, and aren’t in any way shape or form following best practices. John Pattison, Objective Management Group’s COO, mined some data on salespeople who report to sales managers. I was appalled by what I saw. Check this out!
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The Top 10 Sales Articles of 2018
- December 13, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
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Why are Half of All Sales Reps Still Missing Quota in a Booming US Economy?
- December 10, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Between 2010 and 2016, and soaring revenue during 2017-2018, the percentage of reps making quota has not only remained flat, but the percentage hasn’t even returned to pre 2008 rates. This article attempts to explain why.
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Would Henry Ford be Able to Sell Cars Today?
- November 29, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
What would Henry Ford think if he were alive today? I’m thinking that he would ask, “What the hell happened to my motor car and what are all these SUV’s, crossovers, smart cars, hybrids and electric cars? And what are all these pictures, icons, buttons, knobs and dials for?” I think he would also say, “So let me get this straight. You need to pay for a government issued license and pass an exam to operate it? You need to register the motor car with the government and pay for that too? You need to buy insurance before you can use it? You have to pay an excise tax to your city or town to maintain ownership? And they sell for how much? Holy shit! What did they do to my Model T? I innovated a car, not a home on wheels!”
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Which 4 Sales Competencies Best Differentiate Top from Bottom Salespeople?
- October 9, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I reviewed data from nearly 511,000 sales evaluations and assessments from among the that Objective Management Group (OMG) has produced to date. I compared 21 Sales Core Competencies (you can see much of that data here) of the top 5% (elite) with the bottom 50% of all salespeople. Then I identified the 4 competencies with the biggest gaps and you can see those in the image below.
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Data Shows 1st Year Sales Improvement of 51% in this Competency
- September 18, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I looked at the before and after scores for eight of the 21 Sales Core Competencies as well as the Reaches Decision Makers, Account Manager and Farmer competencies for a total of 11. See the table below:
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How to Achieve Short-Term Explosive Growth from your Sales Team
- September 14, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Explosive Growth. Positive Momentum. Better Morale. Greater Confidence. Improved Capabilities.
Wouldn’t you just love using those phrases to describe your sales force?
We know from the data in this article that according to Objective Management Group (OMG), sales managers who spend at least 50% of their time coaching have salespeople who are 28% more effective.
We know from OMG’s data in this article that sales managers who are effective at coaching have salespeople who are 16% more effective.
And we know from the same data that sales managers who spend at least 50% of their time coaching AND are effective at coaching have salespeople who are 49% more effective.
That’s 49% more effective!
So what would a 49% bump mean to you and your company and what will it take to get there?