Search Results
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Top 13 Requirements to Help You Soar as a Sales Manager
- January 17, 2019
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
In my last article I shared the top 8 requirements for becoming a great salesperson. Wow, did that resonate with people and there was a great discussion about it on LinkedIn. In addition to that, I received a number of emails asking, what are the requirements for becoming a great sales manager?
I’ll share those in a moment but first, since they were so popular, a few more “do you remember the first time” questions:
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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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Speed Limits, the Flow of Traffic, and Sales Pipelines
- November 19, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I don’t get stressed anymore when I’m driving. All it took was for me to not exceed the speed limit. I’m not sure whether it was my navigation system repeatedly telling me to “obey all traffic laws” each time I started the car, or my wife reminding me that I needed to be a good role model for our soon-to-be driving 16 year-old son. I admit that this was much easier for me to do after I gave up my Jaguar for a Lincoln Navigator. It holds much more baseball equipment!
There is an exception to not exceeding the speed limit. When the flow of traffic in all lanes is moving exponentially faster than you are, you must increase your speed to match the flow of traffic or risk getting run over!
That brings me to pipeline flow.
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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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Discovered – Data Reveals the Second Biggest Obstacle to Closing More Sales
- May 7, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Whichever way you turn, wherever you look, and whatever you listen to there is data. Polls, surveys, metrics, analytics, analyses, white papers, graphs, charts, infographics, tables, spreadsheets and more. There is data everywhere. 5 of my last 10 articles were based on data and I know that my regular readers love the articles that are based on data so I am writing about data again today.
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Discovered – Data Reveals the Biggest Obstacle to Closing More Sales
- April 30, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
Humans have been waiting for thousands of years to discover the secrets of life. Why are we here? Why do bad things happen? What happens after we die? Is Heaven real? What is God’s plan for us?
While many experts have attempted to answer all of these questions, most of us lack proof. There’s no data. If we wake up tomorrow morning and suddenly there are not only answers to these questions, but science-based proof, that would be a game-changer for us.
Likewise, every day most companies try to determine why their salespeople don’t close more business, why so many opportunities die on the vine, and what they need to do differently to change their results. They try everything! Most leaders think it’s an issue of closing skills. It’s not. Others think it’s about prospecting. While that has an impact on the size and quality of the pipeline, it has little to do with results. But I have discovered the cause, will show you the data, and discuss how to fix it.
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Improper Use of BANT Will Cause You to Kill Opportunities
- April 26, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I received an email asking me to check out an article on the Salesforce.com blog that features an infographic they hoped I would promote.
The article focuses on the middle of the funnel and the handoff between marketing and sales. In doing so, they discuss MQL’s (Marketing Qualified Leads) and SQL’s (Sales Qualified Leads). While I don’t have an issue with the infographic, I have huge issues with the content of the article and if you follow the advice in this article, you’ll have far fewer MQL’s that your salespeople can turn into SQL’s.
Here’s why.
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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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Predictions for 2018 – The Sales Triad Will Provide Record Sales Growth
- January 29, 2018
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
With and additional competition, I can tell you this. If you aren’t the low price leader, the best-known company, or the safest decision that a buyer can make, you will have to do some real SELLING to get that business. And not just selling, but thoughtfully, effectively, efficiently, and articulately selling value. What? You already sell value? Really? I’ll bet you don’t.
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Insights Revealed in The Ultimate Analysis of the Sales Force
- August 16, 2017
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
They say that data is king and all this time I thought it was Elvis who was King. Who knew? Unfortunately, it all sounds a bit authoritarian so what if we just say that great data can provide us with great insights so that we can make better decisions?