Search Results
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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?
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How the Cheesecake Factory Menu Can Make You a Better Closer
- September 13, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Have you ever visited a Cheesecake Factory? I LOVE the menu – they offer EVERYTHING. The downside is that because there are so many items to choose from, it’s difficult to decide what to order. That’s better than the options you have with my Blog.
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Finally! Science Reveals the Actual Impact of Sales Coaching
- September 7, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
You must have heard the joke that 73.6% of statistics are made up!
I have read and even reported that sales leaders who coach their salespeople see a boost in revenue of around 27%. It sounds like a realistic number but I have not seen any science to back it up. Until now. Check this out!
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Elite Salespeople are 26 Times More Effective at This Competency Than Weak Salespeople
- August 14, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Elite salespeople don’t need to close and weak salespeople suck at closing. Want proof? Let’s review some data from 1831605 evaluations and assessments of salespeople conducted by Objective Management Group (OMG). You can see and play with the data here.
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New Data Shows How Relationships and the Need to be Liked Impact Sales Performance
- June 4, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
In my most recent article, I shared data that showed a chain reaction would occur when salespeople have more than one major weakness in their Sales DNA and the second major weakness is their tendency to become emotional. As a trigger, the first major weakness causes the salesperson to become emotional, at which time their listening skills become compromised.
That article can be found here and as of this writing nearly 6 dozen LinkedIn subscribers have contributed some very insightful comments here. Their comments inspired me to dig even further and look into the correlation between relationship building that salespeople do and their need to be liked. In this study, even I was surprised by what I found!
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Is the Sales Force Getting Dressed Up or are Real Changes Taking Place?
- February 7, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Yesterday I received an email from Richardson Training, letting me know that they have completed their 2018 Selling Challenges Study. The data in the report, which you can download here, hasn’t changed a great deal since 2017, but the report’s new look is awesome. I reported on last year’s report in detail here, but my conclusion for 2018 is the exact same conclusion I came to in 2017.
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What You Should Know When Your Cold Prospect Suddenly Returns From the Dead
- January 15, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Last week I wrote about the deep freeze, why prospects suddenly go cold, and how you can prevent that from happening. That article was instantly as popular as any I have ever written. I also posted a 6-minute cold-calling rant on LinkedIn that had more than five-thousand views after just a couple of days. The video, like the article, was about mindset, not scripting and tactics. And last week I also posted an article about writing a good prospecting email. It seems that there was a theme to the week and it resonated really well with the readers.