Search Results
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Mastering Sales and Sales Management
- February 16, 2010
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
We’re talking about Mastery of things you have a passion for.
Do you and your salespeople have a passion for sales? What is the thing you do that is equal to repeated listening, watching or practicing? What do you do to know your material cold? Do you attend training as often as you attend concerts, theater or movies? Do you listen to sales training as often as you listen to music? You should be getting exposed to the artist (sales expert) at least twice monthly and listening to their recordings (archives or supplemental material) even more often. In addition, you should be practicing (role playing like our son does) at least 30 minutes per day!
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How to Get Business to Fall From the Sky
- January 20, 2010
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
It’s predictable, phenomenal, and fulfilling. I’m talking about the magic that occurs when you and your salespeople leave their comfort zone and work hard to perform the very activity, behavior and actions which, when left to your own devices, you would choose not to do. Whether it’s a salesperson who finally:
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Are Sales Cycles Really Getting Shorter?
- December 11, 2009
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I read an article that claimed that winning sales cycles are getting shorter.
While I agree with everything else in the article, I questioned the 23% shorter because our substantial data does not support this claim. So where could the discrepancy be?
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Options – 7th of the 10 Kurlan Sales Competencies that are Key to Building a Sales Culture
- October 22, 2009
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
This the 7th in my series on the 10 Kurlan Sales Competencies that are Key to Building a Sales Culture.
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Happy Ears or an Empty Sales Pipeline?
- September 23, 2009
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Very often, when an opportunity dies, salespeople will ask their managers or me for help.
After debriefing, when it’s clear that the opportunity is hopeless, and the salesperson continues to ask for help, still wants to sche
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Good News Not a Substitute for Sales Force Competencies
- April 8, 2009
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Do you want to hear something crazy?
I’m a very prolific writer – not to say I’m a good writer, just that I post a lot. And of the dozens and dozens of posts from the last three months, would you like to guess what the LEAST read post was?
It was the one where I wrote about signs that the economy was improving! And one of the MOST read posts was the one where I wrote about the media making the economy worse.
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Exposed – Personality Tests Disguised as Sales Assessments
- January 28, 2009
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Yesterday, I met with a long-time client who, in his previous company, used OMG’s Assessments to identify what needed to change in order to double revenue from $30 million to $60 million. In his new company, which is already about 12x that size, he wants to double revenue again. He said, “I just wasted two years with the _____ Assessment.” The assessment to which he referred was a personality assessment marketed as a sales assessment. It could have referred to any personality or behavioral-styles assessment.
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Who Should Your Sales Force Call On?
- January 27, 2009
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
It’s not always obvious. If your company sells oil drilling rigs to oil companies, then your salespeople know who to call on. If your company sell luxury cars to wealthy people, you know where to find your prospects. But what if you sell products or services that could be sold to a much broader range of customers or clients? Who should your salespeople call on then?
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Take Empathy Out of the Sales Hiring and Selection Process
- September 18, 2008
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
If an applicant is a good candidate for a sales management position, does that make the applicant a good candidate for a sales position?
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Developing Salespeople – a Hidden Finding
- November 14, 2007
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
When salespeople are thinking about what they need to do rather than just doing it (think golf lessons, tennis lessons, skiing lessons, etc. and how they affect your game), they will be emotionally involved – even when they are supposedly getting better in every other area.